Nightingale couldn't help but grin as they planned for things to do with Lamplight's huge lantern during the holidays, excitement about actually being allowed a large project like that--where lots of other ponies would see it--making her giddy despite her exhaustion. Then, the grin widened as Lamplight agreed to have Nightingale teach her a few things about illusions, only to nod in agreement when she said Nightingale would get it all down eventually.

Then, as she was asked how long she'd been doing illusions, Nightingale's grin turned into one of pride. "Ever since Trixie first came to Ponyville and did her shows! I managed to catch the first show she did, and after seeing how cool she was and how cool everything she did was, I told myself I wanted to be just like her! So, you know, I started experimenting, one thing led to another, and I got this awesome eye on my flank. Beats me why it's an eye of all things though and not... Like, a wand, or a mask or something. I've been working on a masterpiece since then to show Trixie just in case I ever get the chance, but it's still... it's hard to get it just right. It's also kinda tiring. So... Yeah. There's that. Hey, how old are you anyway? You don't seem like you're a stuffy old turd, unlike most grown-ups around here. Especially that Queen Turd Twilight..."

R.I.P.

To Lamplight's surprise of not having seen each other before, Nightingale only shrugged as best she could atop the mare's back, gaze not really settling on any one thing around as she battled with her shame and fatigue. However, when they rounded the corner and approached what Lamplight introduced as the Guiding Light, Nightingale's attention finally settled on the building, mouth curved into a small 'o' as she looked in wonder at the large decoration that was the lantern adorning it. "Whoooa, that thing is cool," Nightingale said, trying her best to get a good look at it from where she was. "So bright and pretty." She blinked then, pausing for a moment as a few things clicked for her. "So wait... Your name's Lamplight, you got an inn that's called the Guiding Light, and your cutie mark is," she paused again, turning her head so she could look at the mark on the mare's flank. "A lantern... Are you, like, a lantern wizard, or is that one of those things that seems like it means one thing but really means another?"

Nightingale stared expectantly at Agilene after suggesting Agilene could assist by helping Nightingale off Lamplight's back, before twisting her face into a teary-eyed sneer when there was no apparent response. "Beh! You're no help!" she grumped in the pegasus's general direction before glancing sideways to Lamplight when the mare asked what she was doing outside so late. She continued to wear her sneer for a moment before the previous grumpy pout came back to her face and she hung her head in defeat. "I was... I... The thing is..." she floundered as if trying to stall for a moment in order to think of a proper response, before eventually failing and simply admitting, once again, "I h-hate that place so m... much... It's boring! I-it's depressing! It's always 'you c-can't do this, Nightingale', or 'you can't do that, Nightingale'! We do wh-what they tell us to do when th-they tell us to do it... So I sneak out sometimes 'cause I like being in control of something... And I messed that up too..."

Focused on her own world and trying to get away from the two ponies she thought were heckling her, Nightingale didn't seem to hear or pay any attention to the scheming the two were doing nearby. She continued to sing weakly instead, putting one hoof in front of the other as she kept on crawling away in defeat, in shame. It wasn't until after Lamplight suggested they take her back to the inn, and Agilene agreed, that Nightingale addressed them once more, her tone still indignant and wounded. "What do you want?" she whined pitifully, changing course to crawl towards the nearby hill so she could try and roll down it to get away from them faster--apparently not keeping in mind that they had functioning legs and could easily keep up. "Why are you following meeeee?"

The little filly, in her current state, would be very easy to pick up. She'd try and kick and buck her way out of any kind of hold but it would be to no avail--even while she was carried, she'd attempt to push herself off, or roll back off onto the ground, though she'd either make little progress or be very easy to stop.

Why couldn't they just go away? Or just stop asking so many questions? All Nightingale wanted to do was hide somewhere--under the sheets in her bed in the orphanage, behind some shrubbery somewhere, in the apple orchard... just, anywhere, but she couldn't. Even if she knew how to teleport, she couldn't even do that, what with her magic exhaustion. What if... she tried rolling away...?

"I-I'm the Black..." Nightingale started to respond, reluctantly, before cutting herself short and giving a pouting huff. "Wh-what's it matter who I a-am?" she grumped past her involuntary gasps of air. "You d-don't really ca-are..." Then, when Agilene mentioned being able to lead her 'home', Nightingale pulled her hooves free from her eyes so she could look at the mare with her grumpy pout. "The o-orphanage isn't a 'home'. It's a p-prison! I hate that place!"

Now enraged by the thought of going back to that place just yet after her most recent blunder, Nightingale shifted her body around and started to try and crawl away since nothing else would work.

Perfect. Now she felt like a dog retreating with its tail between its legs...

Briefly, Nightingale's gaze shot over to Lamplight when the mare approached and asked if she was alright. An indignant huff escaped Nightingale, moments before she responded with, "What's with the third degree? Of course I'm okay!" Upon saying this, she looked back to Agilene, her cheeks puffing up a little bit when the mare said that she could stop whenever she wanted.

"Pfft, civilized? Says the criminal! You know you can give up whenever you want too, right?" Nightingale's tone was childish as she said this, and continued when she kept speaking. "But that's probably not gonna happen! Even though you really should before Qing Long does something to you!" After saying this, the dragon seemed to 'breathe' in alongside Nightingale, the filly's horn flashing a little brighter as a little bit more of her magic was poured into the illusion, the others still floating around somewhere nearby as she had yet to think to cut them in the heat of things.

Though before anything could 'happen', the green aura surrounding her horn suddenly cut out as she collapsed onto the ground with her legs underneath her, the dizziness that suddenly took hold of her proving too much for her to shake off this time around. With the magic suddenly cut, all five of her illusions disappeared along with the aura; in the dark-coated filly's place was now a burgundy-coated filly with a blue-streaked, purple mane. Her head hung as she wallowed in her shame, an angry expression on her face as unwanted tears began to well in her eyes, apparently not quite ready to look at the two grown ponies next to her.

Nightingale's eyes narrowed when Agilene directed her attention to Lamplight, watching to see if the mare was going to try anything through misdirection. Her ears perked at the response, followed by her nose scrunching a little bit at the mare saying she was going to stay. She was starting to get a little frustrated--not many ponies had stuck around this long. Either most had just turned a cold shoulder to the overactive filly by this point, or she'd already run off to unwittingly terrorize a different pony. But there was another pony involved this time, she couldn't just back out... At this point she only had to hope the pegasus would admit defeat, because Nightingale, being the stubborn little filly she was, certainly wasn't going to.

"Yeah, well... Get ready, you big turd!" Nightingale finally called out to Agilene as she dug her hooves into the dirt beneath her in preparation. A large breath of air was inhaled, shortly before her horn flashed brighter for a moment. This was followed by the sparking kitten dashing forward towards Agilene, electricity flashing with every bound forward. At the same time, the two cardinals swooped in on Agilene from the sides, as if to catch her in a pincer attack. Just as with the missiles, there would be no harm coming from the illusions making contact. Just an underwhelming 'poof', if even that.

By the time these 'attacks' had completed--regardless of their success--sweat had already begun to bead on Nightingale's forehead as her eyes narrowed, doing her best to focus on the tricky illusions and not overdo herself... though at this rate she'd quickly fail, despite her natural talent and daily practice.