//------------------------------// // Chapter 4 // Story: The Light Side of the Moon // by Black sun and white mist //------------------------------// It was dinnertime at the hideout and Cheese Sandwich was as hungry as a horse. Due to the limited supply of food, the Cult of the Sun gave out very little food. The Cult's scouts would send down what little food they could scavenge and it usually wasn't very much. Crops don't grow well under moonlight. However, the cooks always seemed to find a way to make the food delicious and filling. The food had to be filling because they only got to eat every few days. Unfortunately, Cheese wasn't here to eat. He was here on a mission. A mission to gain Pinkamena's trust. Cheese had tried numerous attempts to get closer to her. All of his tries had been fruitless. It always ended in either a growl or something being thrown at him. Cheese decided he was going a bit too big with the trust stuff. Smaller was what was needed. He looked down at his small lunch. A carrot, some bread, and a cupcake. Cheese didn't want to miss the chance to eat the rare delicacy of a dessert but sacrifices must be made. He walked into the containment center of the hideout. Cheese quickly stuffed the food into an air pocket in his curly mane. "Good night, Everdawn!" Cheese exclaimed to the light orange secretary pony. "Just here for my nightly visit." She only grunted. Everdawn was used to seeing him and she didn't care anymore that the lanky orange stallion walked right in. Cheese casually strolled past Everdawn's desk. Cheese looked up at the different hall numbers. The Cult of the Sun had ten hallways for the cells of the convicts and creatures they had captured. Cheese walked past the nine halls and ended up at Pinkamena's hall. Hall number 0. This hall was reserved for the most dangerous nightmares and was restricted to everypony except for a few select guards and the ponies who had permission from the higher ranks. Cheese flashed a smile at one of the stone-like guards. The guard didn't even blink. Cheese sighed. He'd have to work on the guards sometime but this wasn't the time. Creatures of all sorts growled as Cheese walked by. Cheese was used to the enraged creatures. He was proud that didn't even flinch anymore. With a sharp turn, Cheese headed for the Element containers. Apparently, the Cult of the Sun had the cells built to "accommodate" ponies like Pinkamena. He stepped up to Pinkamena's sliding steel door but before he could open it, he found Pinkamena's meal with a note."To be given to Prisoner 839." Cheese thought it was silly to give a real pony a number. Why couldn't they just call the criminal ponies by their real names? That would sure make them happier. Pinkamena's meal consisted of gray, bubbling...stuff. Cheese leaned down to sniff the foul looking stuff. It smelled as bad as it looked. Cheese crinkled his nose and took a step back. Was this even real food? Cheese picked up the note and cocked his head to the side. Suddenly, the most brilliant idea appeared in his head. Cheese grinned and took out a pencil from his tail (no pony knows how he can store it like that). This idea was sure to give Pinkamena a push into trusting him. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Pinkamena stared at the ceiling and sighed. She was so hungry. When was that wretched food going to get here? Without turning her head, Pinkamena heard her steel door open, something being slid her way, and the immediate closing of her steel door again. All of it happened in a matter of seconds. Pinkamena moved her head to the side to find her tray of food. Due to the lack of light in the room, she had to squint to see it. What she found was not the usual bubbly stuff but a carrot, bread, and something that was strange. It was a cupcake. Cupcakes were illegal in Equestria because they were party related. How did the Cult acquire such a thing and why was all this good food being given to her? Pinkamena rose from her bed and headed towards the tray. As she got closer, she discovered a note. It was standing on its edges. Pinkamena saw her name printed on the front in the most beautiful mouth writing she had ever seen. She picked up the note and threw it on her bed. She gobbled down the carrot and bread until only the cupcake was left. Pinkamena glared at the icing-covered atrocity. It was against all of her morals to eat such a thing. She nosed it to set it off to the side so it could rot but in the process, she got a whiff of the cupcake. Pinkamena reared back and covered her nose. It smelled...good. Pinkamena was expecting it to smell like the garbage it was supposed to be. She sniffed at it and decided it would be best to eat it. For research, of course. Pinkamena snorted. She sounded like that stupid purple unicorn back at the castle. She devoured the cupcake in mere seconds. Pinkamena wiped the icing off of her face. Cupcakes were better than she had been told. Once her fellow elements came and rescued her, she would have to talk to the Queen about bringing back cupcakes. Pinkamena plopped back down onto her bed and patted her stomach, satisfied but still wondering about why her enemies had showed her such kindness. She took the tray note and set it to the side. Her eyes drooped and she soon fell into a peaceful sleep. Unbeknownst to her, the jewel on her chest glowed a soft blue. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Cheese smiled as he watched Pinkamena eat on the security camera screen. Once she finished, Cheese turned around and silently headed towards the door not wanting to wake up the guards. Once Cheese was out, he released a deep sigh. Pinkamena actually ate the illegal dessert he had given her. It was too bad that she didn't read the note he'd included, but it was still nice to see Pinkamena eating his food. "She actually kinda looks cute when she's eating,"Cheese thought affectionately. His eyes widened when he realized what he had thought. Cheese shook his head wondering where in the wide world of Equestria it had come from. Oh well. It didn't matter. What mattered was that he successfully took his first step towards his end goal. Cheese walked into his dorm. Most of the stallions in the dorm were sleeping so Cheese quietly slinked into his room. He walked over to his table and ran a hoof through his hair. The food Pinkamena should have originally ate sat on the table in front of Cheese. With a deep breath, Cheese plunged his face into the foul 'food' and began to suck down the fluid. Gasping for air, he lifted his head up after he sucked most of it down. Cheese heard a growl coming from his stomach and realized that maybe it wasn't the best idea to drink the 'food'. Cheese headed for his sink groaning. He looked into his mirror to find that his eyes had bags under them and he was practically green. Cheese hobbled over to his bed and passed out. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "He's got food poisoning all right," a doctor said to Shining Armor. Shining was hunched over Cheese's bed. Cheese himself was groaning with pain. Cheese didn't appear for training so Shining had come to get him. To Shining's dismay, Cheese was the poster colt for sickness. "How could he have gotten it?" Shining thought aloud. "All of our cooks check the food before it goes out." "I don't know," the doctor replied, "but it definitely is food poisoning." "Is he going to be okay?" Shining asked concerned. The doctor turned to him and saw something written on Shining's face that the doctor had never seen on him before. Worry. "He just needs some bed rest," the doctor told Shining confidently. Shining nodded and the doctor took it as a sign that his job was done. Shining listened to the doctor's echoing footsteps as he walked away. Cheese groaned once more. Shining rubbed Cheese's arm. Cheese seemed to relax considerably. Shining didn't know what it was about the lanky stallion but Shining had taken a liking to Cheese. He began to think of Cheese as a brother. It was strange because Shining hadn't known Cheese for very long but something felt right to trust Cheese. Shining knew that Cheese wouldn't let him down. Especially with his mission. Shining turned to walk out the door but not without one last glance at the sick pony. The white stallion felt something he hadn't for a year. Love and happiness. Shining walked out and put on a silent smile.