//------------------------------// // Nightshades Nightmare Night // Story: Monster // by BlackWing //------------------------------// Nightshades Nightmare Night As Nightshade slept, he found that Lyra wasn't there yet, so he let his mind wander. He refused to let Lyra in his mind while he was awake, because then she would see where he was, not what was in his mind, and might figure out that he was in Equestria. Then he wouldn't be able to escape from her questions awake OR asleep. Not having that familiar presence knocking on the doors to his mind was slightly unnerving though, but then again, he had gone to sleep at the same time as his new daughter, which was still rather early. "Peekaboo." Lyra said as she popped in his head. "You're here early." "I had a long three days, I've kind of been building a house out in the woods where I'm living." He replied. "Actually, it's more of a cabin." "Can I see it?" She asked. "How can I go about doing that?" He inquired. "Well, from whenever my dreams aren't about humans, I can often change what I want with them, simply by picturing it." She said in a know it all tone of voice commonly used by teachers. "Besides, floating around in this void is really getting dull." "Alright, I'll try." Straining a little bit, the cabin popped up in front of them. Nightshade remembered to remove Scootaloo from the image before inviting Lyra inside, because that would be a dead giveaway. Looking around for a bit, Lyra didn't seem to be too fond of the rustic feel, and cringed slightly. Seeing this, he made the image disappear, and brought up a new one. An apartment building, somewhat modern, with an new style elevator and everything. "My old house, from before I went on the run." He said. "It...it....it's HUGE!" Lyra's eyes popped out. "You lived in this all by yourself?" "Oh no no, at least a hundred humans live, or lived, here. We each got our own rooms." Nightshade spent the night remembering things, letting Lyra experience them with him. The elevator confused her. The doors closed, and when they opened you were somewhere completely different. She also noted how he used his hands for various things, finally understanding how they SHOULD be used. She became particularly fond of playing Crash Team Racing, even though with hooves, she couldn't grip the controller very well. "Dang it, I got last again!" She said. "Well, that's because you don't have thumbs." He mocked. Waking up the next morning before Scootaloo, he went and got breakfast ready. Now with an almost complete knowledge of forest plants thanks to Zecora, he could have proper meals, instead of 10 kind o fish medley. He was seriously getting sick of fish, and this was a nice change. The orange pegasus got up, wished her new dad good morning, ate breakfast, and headed off to school. Since she couldn't fly yet, she got walked to the edge of the forest by her dad, who noticed that she was a LOT happier than she had been before. She had been absent for a couple days, so the teacher got a little worried. "Just spending some time with my new dad." she said proudly. "You got adopted? That's so wonderful Scootaloo! You must be so happy!" Cherilee always liked to see her students happy, it was the reason she became a teacher in the first place. "So, when do we get to meet him?" The teacher asked. The orange pegasus turned a little pale. "Oh crud, now what do I do? I can't tell her I'm living with a forest monster, ummm." she thought. Everypony was waiting for her reply. "I'm not sure, I'll have to ask him. We're living in the Everfree forest, where he, umm, studies the plants and trees! And some of the animals too. He's been helping Zecora gather plants and stuff for her potions." It wasn't exactly a lie, but it wasn't the truth either. Studying meant learning the best was to fight, or run away from them, and came from experience, not note taking. "He looks a little scary until you get to know him, but he's super nice. He likes to avoid town, mostly because he's shy, so he's scared everypony will freak out when they see him, kinda like Zecora a while back." "I understand. It's hard fitting in when you're different, and he'd rather take his time and make a good impression the first time around." said the teacher knowingly. Later, at recess, Applebloom and Sweetie Belle found her, and couldn't wait to get the details. "Yeah, I was kind of nervous about asking him, but he adopted me right away! He even told me to call him dad! And tomorrow, he's gonna start teaching me to fly, and how to deal with forest plants and animals, he's even more awesome than Rainbow Dash!" "More awesome than who?" Came a cocky voice from on a cloud. The cyan pegasus floated down. "Nopony is more awesome than me!" "Yeah, you're right Rainbow, no pony is more awesome than you." Said Scootaloo, disheveled. "That's right, now I'm goin back to my nap, see ya later squirt." Said the Rainbow maned mare. Still, what the orange filly said had bothered her. "How can there be somepony more awesome than me? There's no way, is there?" "Yeah, no pony." the three fillies giggled. Their laughter stopped when Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon walked up. "Well, you're in a good mood blank flanks, so, where's your freak of a father?" Tiara sneered. "He's in the forest, doing his job, and he's not a freak, he's just shy is all. Mind your own business. You're just spoiled brats anyway." Scootaloo, who would normally just sit back and take the abuse, not caring what others said about her, couldn't help herself when they insulted the one who had given her so much. Somewhat shocked, as they had never been so openly insulted, Diamond Tiara decided to leave. "Later, blank flanks." They teased. "Don't mind them Scootaloo, they don't know what they're talking about. so, when do we get to see your house?" The unicorn squeaked. "Not sure, I'll have to ask dad when you can come over, that way he can get some more food ready." She replied. Months passed without incident, almost a year, things carrying on as they had before, with periodic visits from her friends. She still went about her crusading, taking some hints from her dad. During they day, Nightshade would bring Scootaloo to the edge of the forest, making sure to keep himself hidden of course, then go about his business, getting food, maintaining their home, and working for Zecora. She was able to make many more potions than normal, because with him as her assistant, she could brew potions without having to go out and gather ingredients, and many of her concoctions required a watchful eye. Then at the end of the school day, he would wait at the edge of the forest, collect his daughter, and bring her home to teach her about the forest, and to train her. Over time, Scootaloo began to grow. She became bigger, and her wings were a lot stronger too. She learned how to climb up trees, without flying, using her natural agility and her wings to give her the thrust and grip she needed to run right up the trunks, and could now glide safely to the ground as well. It was the weekend, so she didn't have school. Now was the time for her to learn to fly properly. "Alright, so just like we practiced. Jump up, using your wings for extra lift, and start flapping them as much as you can. Remember to use your tail for balance, that way you don't tip over like last time. There you go, you're doing it!" Nightshade was so proud. He had finally given Scootaloo the one thing she wanted more than anything, the gift of flight, although she earned it just as much as it was given. She flew around the clearing for a bit, and then landed with a *thud*. "Don't worry, we'll work on your landings next." The pair collapsed in a heap of laughter, and went back to the house for some food. Being sore from having flown for so long when she wasn't used to it, Nightshade told her that this was one pain that he shouldn't take away, it meant that she was becoming stronger, and that she would be a better flyer. "Come on my little bumblebee, let's get something to eat." Scootaloo blushed at the nickname, remembering what he had told her over a yeah ago when they first met, how insecure she had been, and how her confidence and skills had grown since. They went inside and got lunch. Once it was night , she asked another difficult question. "Hey dad, you know how nightmare night is coming up right? Scootaloo said, a little afraid of being turned down. "You want me to come this year, don't you?" He answered her question before she asked it. "You can stop reading my mind now you know." She said sarcastically. "Will you come?" "Well, I don't want to get noticed, so I'll follow in the shadows. I shouldn't stick out too much, If I get caught, I can just say it's a costume. If that doesn't work, well, I can't stay a secret FOREVER can I? I'll get found out eventually, might as well take some risks. And besides, it's nightmare night. There will be plenty of monsters in the streets, might just lessen the fright" He said knowingly. "Oh and by the way, I can't read your mind, I just know you too well." "Thankyouthankyouthankyou!" She hadn't been this happy since he agreed to adopt her. Something in his gut told him it would be a bad idea, but he just couldn't say no to that face. Looks like he wasn't immune to the puppy dog eyes after all. Nightmare night came, and true to his word, he was there, hiding in the darkness. Nopony noticed him except for the CMC, mostly because they were all too busy getting candy and dealing with Pinkie Pie's insane antics. Occasionally, the crusaders would look over in dark corner to see a bit of black, tattered coat flowing in the wind. They knew he was watching, and he just smiled. That's when he saw a sight that made his blood boil. A griffin, stealing candy from kids. "No, it's better I don't get involved. Some guards will deal with this when they get here. I know it's wrong, but it's not worth giving myself away." Then he saw Scootaloo, right in the path of the griffin. "Well look who we have here!" Said the griffin. Nightshade recognized the voice as female. "G-G-Gilda" The crusaders shrunk. "Yeah. I'm back. An I'm NOT happy." She said as she stepped towards the trio. "Because you were too much of a wimp to fly, now I'm a wanted criminal. I've been on the run for the past year and a half because of YOU. And now? I'm gonna take it out on your hide." That was all he needed to hear. The griffin threatening Scootaloo was the very same as the one who threw her into the forest almost a year ago. If he hadn't come along, she would have died. Gilda raised her sharp talons, and the three froze in fear. Just as she was bringing her claw down on the poor filly, she toppled over, and Scootaloo saw the most amazing thing she had ever seen. Her dad, the one being in the world who she loved more than Rainbow Dash, had buried his fist right in the side of the griffin's face, sending her skidding across the ground. "What the hell." Said the griffin as she stood up and got her bearings. Spotting the black cloaked figure that was even taller than her, she walked up to it. "You do that?" No answer. "I said were you the one who did that!" Still silent, the hooded figure nodded. Now furious, the enraged griffin stood on her back legs, and let out a terrible shriek, blowing the hood right off his head. The face that she saw made her blood run cold. It was not a face covered by fear, it was a face that bore a wicked grin, and had a hint of murder in it's eyes. "Boo." Said the no longer hooded creature, with a voice so sinister, she swore she could see the hatred dripping off it's tongue. Gilda recoiled, but not one to be scared off, she began to swing wildly at the imposing figure. Gilda was a bully however, not a real fighter, and so only had brute force. She had no skill whatsoever. Nightshade easily dodged every attack, weaving between the slashing claws with unheard of grace, as Gilda became even angrier. "Why...can't....I....HIT.....YOU!" She huffed. Just as she thought she had finally got him, she found her claw had been stopped by the creatures hand, and her strength began to drain from her. "What are you?" the now exhausted griffin demanded, trying to catch her breath. "I'm your worst nightmare." He said with the same, sinister voice, before he slammed his fist into her jaw again, hearing a satisfying snap of breaking bones. Gilda slumped to the ground, unconscious. He had really REALLY wanted to kill the griffin, but Scootaloo was watching, he couldn't subject her to that. That and since crime was almost non existent, he figured the pushishment would be much worse than what he would do, and a broken jaw was enough. He turned and saw the growing crowd of ponies, and jerked his head slightly in Scootaloo's direction. They had already gone over the plan that, if anything went wrong, she would sleep in the crusader clubhouse till things blew over. That was her cue to get out of there. Then he heard a shout. "It's a MOSNTER! It got Gilda and we're next! RUUUUUUUN!" ".........Pinkie Pie." He had been told to avoid her at all possible, considering what happened last year with Princess Luna. "Well, it could be worse." Just as he turned to run back towards the forest, A lavender unicorn, rainbow pegasus, and orange earth pony all showed up, all in costume. Despite their disguises, he recognized the orange one as Applejack, Applebloom's sister the one from his extremely painful encounter the previous year which he had neglected to mention to the yellow earth pony. It made him feel sore just thinking about it. Flying down from above, he saw her. The princess of the night herself, Luna, along with several of her bat winged guards. Apparently, they had come to deal with Gilda themselves, the three because they had a personal problem, and Luna because not only was she a wanted criminal, but also because she was ruining HER holiday. When they found the culprit lying on the ground, and a strange creature wearing a tattered, blood stained cloak, they decided the criminal griffin was the least of their worries. Now, Nightshade had heard from the crusaders and Zecora about the princesses, and how long they had lived, and how powerful they were. Standing in front of one was a completely different story. Looking at Luna, it was like the moon wasn't in the sky overhead, but right next to him. Her life force was MASSIVE. She absolutely radiated it. It was insane how one living thing could have that much life energy and not have the ground spring to life in grass and flowers wherever she walked. This was no time to be admiring her however, as she was glaring at him angrily, and judging by her vitality, she was a force to be reckoned with. So here he had a unicorn of unknown abilities, a determined looking pegasus, an earth pony who he already had a painful experience with, and a freaking godess, along with her four guards. Needless to say, he ran his ass off. "You four, stay here and restrain the griffin." Luna motioned to the guards. Since last year, Luna had obviously learned to speak more plainly, and so was no longer using old Equestrian, or the Royal Canterlot Voice. "Twilight, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, you're with me. We have a monster to catch." See, I told you I'd get to the main six, so I was a chapter late with it. Not a big deal, especially since it was a d'awwwwww fest. So far, we just haven't seen Rarity. As usual, she's inside on nightmare night, because she just can't STAND to see all the horribly made, hideous costumes. It would drive her insane, and she'd run around town, chasing children with scissors, trying to fix their outfits. That would be even scarier than Nightmare Moon. I made Nightshade as scary as possible when dealing with Gilda. He was mad, he considers himself a monster, and he was going to beat her up physically and mentally, to make sure that she couldn't even THINK of hurting Scootaloo again. Protective parent instinct. Also, I had a bunch of people asking me questions in the comments in regard to Nightshade's powers, and what they would be like when faced with an immortal. I had actually finished writing this, and just hadn't posted it yet. (That's right, I'm sticking to my word, and making you wait.) This chapter and the next I actually had planned to showcase what would happen, and then as soon as I'm finished planning/writing it, all the comments came out, asking questions and coming up with surprisingly accurate theories on what would occur. I know damn well that this is a unique and original plot line, so either you guys are geniuses, or mind readers. I'm gonna go with mind readers, because it's more fun. You keep asking questions that will be explained in the next chapter, but I love you guys so much and am NOT annoyed with your questions like Nightshade is with Lyra's, so I feel compelled to answer them. Oh come on, you know what's going to happen next. You can tell just by following natural plot progression. They're gonna chase him. He's gonna run. Something big is gonna happen. I'm leaving it at that. What will happen to Nightshade now that he's been discovered? Will Scootaloo ever see her dad again? (Yes she will, I'm not heartless you know), Will I EVER get to the main plot? Find out in the next chapter.