Nightshade's eyes fluttered open. Calmly, she sat up on her cot inside the pale-white infirmary. As the blood rushed back to her ears, she heard the struggled of multiple pony bodies through the nearest wall.
Swiftly, she kicked off the table—stumbling only slightly—and trotted a brisk path into the hallway outside. Once there, all she had to do was raise her voice once, and two dozen workers parted ways, allowing her unimpeded access to the operations room.
Inside, the room resonated with moans and grunts of pain. A pile of angry stallions had formed on a writhing figure, and were kicking the poor unicorn's body to a bruised pile of meat.
"Enough..." Nightshade calmly said.
There were two more lingering hoof-bucks, and the combination of guards and engineers stood up from Phoenix's agonized body. The stallion rolled over, sputtering and coughing up blood as his entire frame quivered.
Nightshade gazed down at him, then over at a pair of stallions squatting beside the far door. "The sequencing room. How long until you can make it through?"
"Just a few seconds, madame!" one engineer said over the blaring of a manatorch. "That intruder gave us quite the show when we first stomped in here—"
"I don't need a play by play. Just open the door to the foals, thank you."
"Madame..." Sir Ordo stumbled over, wincing as he covered a fresh whelt on his shoulder. "Whoever this stallion is, he's well-trained. Heck, he could even have military experience! I haven't seen moves like that since the last time the company made a trip to the weapons testing facility south of the capitol—"
"What matters is that he has been subdued," the mare said calmly. "Unless you have something pertinent to update me with, Ordo, I would prefer you leave the situation to the engineers."
"Right, madame. Of course, madame." The stallion nevertheless flung a nervous glance towards the tip of her horn. "Who... who was it, madame? Who or what did you see in there?"
Nightshade didn't reply. With steely eyes, she spoke towards the pair of engineers. "How's the progress..."
"Aaaaaaand... done!" The stallions stepped back. After a final flash from the torch, the door slid open.
Madame Nightshade glanced aside at her guards. She nodded.
Those who were well enough after the recent fight to stand nodded back. With managuns trained, they slithered into the dark chamber, one after another. A few seconds passed by, and yet there were no sounds from the far end, save for the sniffling of foals.
"They... they're still there...?" Ordo thought aloud.
Madame Nightshade marched into the room.
"Madame! Please! It m-might not be safe—"
She entered nonetheless. With squinting eyes, she swept her gaze across the room. She saw dangling wires along the wall, including a cot that had been stretched out.
The mare's brow furrowed in thought. Swiftly, Ordo brushed past her and attended to the foals. The children stood up from their chairs, one by one, overcome with tears.
"They're all here..." Ordo exclaimed with a gasp of relief. "Everyone of them is accounted for!"
"I don't think they're what the intruders wanted," Nightshade said.
"So there was more than the stallion?"
"One more." She jolted in place. "No... two more. She was protecting somepony..."
"Huh? Who?"
Nightshade's nostrils flared. "I need answers..." She pivoted to face a guard by her side. "Take him into the infirmary," she said, pointing into the operations room. "Make sure he stays conscious. Keep four guards on him at all times."
"Yes, madame."
"Madame!" One of the front guards exclaimed from the stairwell. "It's a mess upstairs! Somepony must have made access!"
She nodded and said, "Explore every inch of the upper floor. There's only one way out."
The guards shouted commands to one another and scurried up in a series of armored blurs. In the opposite direction, a living wave of fumbling life crawled. One by one, the foals gathered around Madame Nightshade's legs, bowing and nuzzling her in foalish ritual.
"We're s-so sorry, Madame..." They sobbed.
"We d-didn't mean to make you angry!"
"Please... Please forgive us..."
"We're so sorry for what we did..."
"Do not worry, my foals," she said in a neutral tone, brushing their tattooed faces, one at a time as they huddled beside her. She rested her forelimbs protectively on a shoulder or two as she gazed towards the stairwell. "It was not your fault. And even if it was, you have the madame's forgiveness..."
Uh oh. Looks like Pilate's in for some baddies.
That ending line is both ominous and scary as hell.
Kinda surprised Phoenix is still alive. I guess it makes sense; trends indicate that the only way a main character can die post-Austraeoh is to have their head explode.
I don't know, I sort of sympathize with what Nightshade said a few chapters back, of ending all monsters, even if she must be recorded as the last monster in history? I mean, we have no idea what she's doing yet, but maybe if we somehow got her full story, I feel like we might find she's not all that bad at heart. Possibly?
I'm with Floydien on this one. Nightshade's giving me the willies.
Now we just have to hope that Belle and Kera can avoid pursuit, and that Phoenix doesn't repeat past mistakes.
Thank god Phoenix is still alive. But now the question is: how long does Nightshade want him that way?
...Nah, I'm sure he'll be fine. Battered, but fine.
Did Nightshade build her own tower? She seems to think she knows all the ins and outs of everywhere, but Kera has found a way to roam around undetected for a while, and now she brought two fully grown ponies along for the ride. She has managed to evade Nightshade's guards again, this time with Belle in tow. If Nightshade didn't build the tower, could it be a conduit for some of the world's machinery? That would explain how the fire could be stably contained with the aid of the pegasi skeletons and how Kera's magic works so well with various secret passages.
2743815 2743727
Of course Phoenix is still alive. In the previous chapter, the guard stallions only piled up on him like hoofball players. :3
2743727
Don't keep your hopes up. He isn't out of enemy territory yet, and Nightshade hasn't shown us whether she has .40 revolvers hanging around or not.
dayattherange.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/Harry_Callahan.jpg
I recall how in the Stacraft 2 campaign, Raynor comments how the he wouldn't be part of the bright future, just as another monster with a gun. That's what Nightshade's comment about how she is willing to be the last monster reminds me of. Unfortunately, utopias are, by definition, practically impossible to reach without a major case of attitude control, which borders on mind control, which then becomes a dystopia in disguise.
I wonder if Nightshade's gonna connect the dots and realize the second pony is Kera. What sorts of tricks might she have up her sleeve to deal with her?
"Don't worry little children, you have my forgiveness until I KILL YOU!!!! Ahem..."
Well maybe not
2743753
I'm afraid I must disagree, as the most horrifying atrocities tend to be committed in pursuit of lofty and noble ambitions. Save us all from arrogant mares, and all the causes they're for. I won't be righteous again, I'm not that sure any more.
Madame Nightshade has permitted herself the folly of redundantly justifying her horrifying decisions by using benevolent and altruistic objectives as an excuse. In other words, the end justifies the means.
Slowly, she is twisting herself into a monster, becoming less and less good as she rationalizes ever-greater atrocities and her objectives slip further away from her, and become less tangible. Now, it is all about control, and she believes the following:
Change does not come easily, or willingly. Change must be forced. With force, comes conflict. With conflict, ponies will suffer, and ponies will die. In the end, the conflict will be eliminated, and despite the loss of lives, there will be peace.
Unfortunately, she does not seem to realize there will always be more monsters.
Also, it appears likely some very bad things may happen to Mr Phoenix very soon.
Perhaps his ordeal will diminish any sympathy you may feel for Madame Nightshade.
2743946
But you see, we're still very much in the dark as to what her full means are, and just what she truly hopes to see as an end result. All we've seen is atrocities, and all she's given us is a very vague statement as to what she hopes to accomplish. As such without knowing her full story, it's unfair and unjust to label her as evil at heart. I won't attempt to defend her means (they are consciously chosen, so she knows what she's doing), but who knows what their purpose is. I'm just one of those people who give the benefit of doubt until there's enough evidence stacked against to do otherwise.
As for Phoenix, I see any conscious and thought-out action performed by her, no mater how horrendous, is only condemnable on a moral and ethical scale, but not on a utilitarian scale. Now if she acts irrationally, then I lose all respect for her, as that's all she's got left. Cold calculations.
2743815 Wait -- we want Phoenix alive now?
Nightshade, can you please give us a straight answer as to whether you're a well-intentioned extremist or a Shell-esque barren-hearted psychopath already?
YOU'RE TEARING ME APART LISA
Demon Cleaner - Kyuss
Well, time to see if Phoenix is going to repeat what he did last time and tell his captors about his companions, or refuse and get tortured. My money's on the latter because you know... Character development.
Phoenix would've probably been better off dead, poor bastard. At least Nightshade's got her groove back.
2744110
Being well-intentioned is exactly what makes Madame Nightshade so dangerous.
I think you'll find that many tyrants and monsters have had good intentions, which they have used to excuse their horrible actions.
Not only do they use it to excuse what they're doing, but they gain support from others as well who enable them in their destructive endeavors 'for the greater good', both naively, and in some cases with full knowledge of what they're doing.
We already know about some of the things she's done. Don't forget about the experiments at Ridge Side Research Facility on 'second class citizens'. How many died there in agony, both as a result of surgical complications, and as a result of... well, getting fried by mana?
Do you know why they use 'second class citizens' and not pony volunteers? It's because they're not intended to survive. Those who recover are vivisected for data. It's how that kind of research works. Nightshade is responsible for this.
She had children's horns amputated, for sequencing, crippling them for life. They are survivors, stolen from the enemy, who probably saw their family members get executed by Ledomaritan soldiers. They're basically child slaves, under her complete control, and despite being ponies, they are also disposable. Nopony will miss the enemy's children. What are their futures once they have outlived their usefulness? Do you think they can realistically look forward to a future involving anything more than a mana-bolt to the skull when they are no longer needed?
All of this is reminiscent of mistreatment of non-Germans and minorities in Germany during world war II, and provide support for my suspicion that she is already having horrible things done in her twisted quest for peace.
She called herself a monster, and she's right.
2745161
Now look, I'll agree with you that her actions cannot be defended, but that's not my point. My point is that without having heard the full story, and determining who's won this encounter (Nightshade vs. Council+RD's group it seems), we can't assign blame yet. After all, history is written by the victors.
I mean, who is it that determines who was right and who was wrong in the end? The survivor. So if Nightshade would be the victor, then she would be entirely morally justified, as we'd only hear her story. All these tyrants and villains, if they can convince others that they are justified, then why couldn't they be?
Let's go back a bit here, shall we? Wasn't it RD's fault her friends are dead? Wasn't it her who abandoned them causing their burning? Sure, we can claim, "oh she was discorded!", so on and such, but now we're finding reasons why the protagonist is right. But when the "villain" or the loser in the end is gone, all they will be labelled is "evil" and "cruel" at the end, no matter what had happened.
Point in case being that although she is a monster, that's only because she's not the protagonist, and being a "villain" with a potentially realistic goal, which potentially realistic methods of achieving it, have earned the Madame my sympathies. Not that I want her to win, just that I'll recognize that her elimination as another classic "my morals are better than yours" case.
2744110>>2745161 "I do not want to do this, but I have to! For the greater good atrocities must be made! And if the world condemns me, I am willing to make that sacrifice. This is not about me, this is about a noble cause!"
Probably the most dangerous mindset there is, indeed. Fanatics are much more determined and usually much smarter than power-hungry hedonists could ever hope to be. I've said it before: that woman is capable, powerful, strong-willed and single-minded. She is a visionary that uses her tremendeous ability to push forward - into the wrong direction. This puts her in line with people like Chancellor Sutler from V for Vendetta, Kira from Death Note and quite right, Adolf Hitler.
2745278 History is written by the winners, not morals. History determines who claims to be right, moral determines who is.
The crucial separation between good and bad guy is an interesting subject though. Chancellor Sutler is different from V just in terms of his goal. Both are fanatics, but in V's case, many people would say that his means were justified. But in Nightshade's case is quite simple: her motifs (ending the war) are fine, but the motifs of her motifs are wrong. She does what she does without consideration or second thought. Just like Sutler or V, she is willing to do anything and everything to see her goals fulfilled. In contrary to V, however, her ultimate goal is not a better world but a peaceful one. Even if it's peaceful ashes.
In addition, consequentialisticly speaking, her actions have likey caused more damage already than her goals would prevent, especially considering that she seeks to establish peace by complete eradication of the enemy (which once again shows that she doesn't really do this for anyone but herself and Novus). She has created a cure that is worse than any illness.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yUpbOliTHJY
the greater good
I don't know why, but this makes my heart warm slightly towards Nightshade. She actually seems to care about her foals... Or 'test subjects', rather.
Damn it all! i though Phoenix would be dead, or killed on the spot. ah well. Now Nightshade's cronies are gonna have a rough time with him.
Nightshade is tearing Nightshade apart! Nightshade does not know if Nightshade is a bad mare or not... Truely nothing is ever simply black and white...
Am I the only one who imagines Nightshade as a Rarity recolor?
Anyways. We are already halfways through the house of Gemini. The Party was separated long time ago, and we are reaching the part where we lose some party members. Sadly, some of those will never be reunited again, but the rest will be together at the start of the next story. Of course, the 4th story is important because 4 is death, according to TVTropes.
2745345
Yet still, on to that point of her being like Hitler, had he won the war, would he not have been considered right? Jews would be virtually entirely eradicated, and he could achieve his goal of an Aryan race. When the victor establishes their new world order, morals (which are determined by people), can easily follow suit as you either conform to the change or be left out. As such, she is indeed a fanatic, and indeed her actions are horrendous, but if she truly believes in what she's doing, can we fully blame her for trying to accomplish her dreams? A lot of us are taught growing up after all that when we try to reach our goals, others may not always be on board with the idea. But we're taught to persevere and believe in our-selves, that if someone is "bullying" you, you should just ignore them. Any and all resistance to a person's dreams can be viewed as bullying, as you bring them down so that you benefit in some way.
All I'm trying to say is that yes she's done bad things, but she's in the perfect environment and doing the perfect actions for these horrendous things, with virtually not a hitch until recently going off in her plans. She's just a normal pony, just with dreams a bit different than everyone else's. Her society has quite a bit of blame to share in the creation of this monster.
2747743 Morals, if based on ethics, are based on people's reasoning and are thus not fully flexible. Even those who favour the approach of cultural relativism will still draw a line at certain points. The eradication of innocent minorities, for instance, is so completely against all reason and logic that it can never be thought right. All of the major ethical theories would agree on this point: even if not a single being in the entire universe were aware of its wrongness, it would still be wrong, the same way that 100+900 would still be 1000, even if we hadn't found out yet.
Definitely, yes, no doubt. The true extent of a being's personal responsibility - the freedom of its will - remains one of the most tricky questions there is. But for the time being, let us assume the common non-philosophical view on the matter: humans are massively influenced by their genes, upbringing and surroundings, but ultimately free to decide which path to take (since if we assume determinism, no one is responsible for anything ever). In that case, Nightshade's surroundings are merely a reason for her actions, not a justification (and she got more than enough reasons already, mind you!). She had the chance to see the wrongness in her doing. She had the chance to reason, to stand back, to consider. Instead, she blindly followed her impulses and allowed her feelings to drag her into fanatism. From that point onwards, her remarkable intelligence became a slave to an agenda that it could never agree with - if it were to test it. In this matter, Nightshade is no different than any other criminal: when the voice of reason should have told her that what she was doing is wrong, she failed to hear it. This element constitutes her guilt.
I like her, yet hate her... I need to know more.
Nah, it was totally the foals's fault.
Ugh, Nightshade, I wanna smack you. Pretending to be the foals' salvation while really you're the the thing they fear - its a precarious ledge she walks, that's for sure. Now Pilate just has to find Phoenix and set him free. I don't know who's actually going to get to fight NIghtshade in the end (if her own foolishness doesn't kill her, or she doesn't come to some last minute "Oh God, what have I done?" realization), but its bound to be interesting.
IIIIIt's Dashie's evaluation time!
Well then, I guess that Phoenix survived. That's good news. And wow...I feel terrible for those foals...Nightshade is a high class jerk. She could be Shell's beloved.
...
...MAKE IT HAPPEN.
These are my thoughts so far.
-MASH
Well, I'm no longer working 7 days a week with barely any time to read, so YAY! I get to start catching up on fics again!
... Wait... Innavedr is done and there's another installment being worked on already?... FFFFfffff...... Wait, that's good. Means I've got lots to read.
That last line...*shudders*
-SPirit
Poor Phoenix.
Gotta say, Nightshade is not a mare I like. She's . . . pretty fucked up.
See, Phoenix is a tough guy, he can handle a bit of rough and tumble.
Now, hopefully Kera and Belle can get out fast, because I don't see them getting as lucky.
Belle, Kera; y'all better run.
This has 'Abusive Relationship' splattered all over it. How long before it comes crashing down?
05/15/2017 00:48 UTC
Hhmmm... I smell Stockholm Syndrome.
Hm, looks like Nightshade isn't as merciless as expected.