//------------------------------// // Chapter seventeen. The Spook part one // Story: Shadow in the Dark // by Thestoryteller //------------------------------// Nightwing stared at Cheese sandwich with a look of confusion. "What?" "It's a simple question Nightwing, do you want to go skateboards? Yes or no?" Cheese asked. Nightwing tried to sit up but found that he was strapped down to the bed by five straps that wrapped around the bed he was in. He didn't see this as a problem, all he needed to do was use his crystal to undo the straps and he was free. There was just one problem, he didn't have his crystal. Nightwing's hooves searched frantically under the sheets in case it was lost in the covers. "Looking for this?" Cheese asked as he held up Nightwing's crystal by the bracelet. "Give that back, now Cheese." Nightwing demanded. "Sure thing, but I took it because I need an audience with you. Oh btw, this is for you." Cheese said as he picked up a folded piece of paper and handed it to Nightwing. Nightwing glared at Cheese. "Oh right." Cheese chuckled as he hopped off the bed and unfolded the note in front of Nightwing. 'Dear Student. It as come to our attention that the one known as Cheese sandwich has discovered something that endangers the town of Ponyville. I have come to the decision that you and Cheese sandwich are to go to the town and solve this threat at once. I wish I could tell you more but Cheese has said that he will explain the details later. And do not fear for your friends Flash sentry and Lightning strike. They are both in the hospital making a full recovery. Make me proud dear Student. Your Teacher, Luna.' "So. You want to capture a monster that's terrifying as Tartarus?" Cheese smiled. "I don't think I have much of a choice, get me out of this Bed and we can begin." Nightwing answered which made Cheese smile. "Hi-ho let's begin." Cheese said as he walked to the other side of Nightwing's bed and unlatch end the buckles. Now free, Nightwing sat up and snatch his crystal from Cheese and placed on his right hoof. Making sure it worked Nightwing used his crystal to levitate the glass of water that was next to his bed. Satisfied, Nightwing placed the glass back down. "So, where do we start?" Nightwing asked. "We go to my house first." Cheese answered. "Great." Nightwing said as he placed a hoof on Cheese and the two vanished. "Congratulations First base. You've officially earned your cutie mark." Applebloom congratulated First base. All of the CMC had gathered I their clubhouse to congratulate their friend First base. Who, of course, had earned his cutie mark which was a baseball with a baseball bat next to it. "You guys didn't need to go through all this trouble for me, you know that right?" First base asked as he rubbed the back of his head. "Go through all the trouble?!" Pip asked astonished by what his ears just heard. "Mate, you just earned your cutie mark. Of course we should celebrate." '*sigh*' First base sighed in his head, making sure not to offend the others. 'I know I should be happy about earning my cutie mark again, but really. All that I see that as is just a reminder of my dad.' First base thought sadly as his mind began to wander back to the day he got his cutie mark Flashback "You ready kiddo?" Comet tail asked a young First base. "You bet dad!" First base cheered with glee. Both Fist base and Comet tail were at a baseball field. First base held a bat in his mouth as he stood at the home plate, while Comet tail stood at the pitcher plate holding a baseball in his magic. "All right, I'm gonna go easy on you cause it's your first time Base." Comet tail said. "Heh. Don't go easy on me just cause I'm a kid dad, hit me with everything you've got." First base said as he cocked his bat. "You sure?" Comet tail asked in suprise. "100%." "Okay." Comet tail said as he reared back the ball, then shot the ball forward and released it from his magical grip. The ball soared through the air until First base struck it with his bat. A loud crack was heard the instant it happened and the ball flew into the clouds. "Woah." Comet tail said in amazement. "Dad! Dad! Look!" First base shouted. Comet tail averted his gaze from the sky and to his son. Where on his flank was his cutie mark. "I got my cutie mark! I got my cutie mark!" First base yelled as he pranced around in circles. "Base?" Rumble's question cut through First base's flashback like a knife through cheese. "You okay bro?" First base looked up at all of his friends, all seemed to have worried expressions. He place a hoof to his cheek only to feel that it was wet, he had been crying. "Yeah...I'm okay." First said as he rubbed the tears out of his eyes. "Just...remembering a painful memory." First base said, hoping that his friends wouldn't pry any further. "Well...if you say so." Scootaloo said. "Now then, let's talk about a very special holiday that were all looking forward to." Rumble said. "What holiday would that be?" Button mash asked. "You know, Nightmare night." Rumble answered. "Oh yeah, I can't wait for Nightmare night." Pip squeaked. "Say, y'all gonna be joinin my family for our corn maze this year?" Applebloom asked. "Wouldn't miss it." First base said which made Sweetie bell smile. "You can count on us being there." Pip said for him and Rumble. "I'll be there too." Button mash said. "Then it's settled we'll all meet at the entrance at 7:00 NT." Scootaloo said. "See you all there." As the group began to disband from the club house, a thought occurred inside First base head. He trotted up to Pip squeak and asked. "Is Dinkie gonna join Nightmare night?" Pip cringed at the question. "Ah wouldn't count on it, Sis never really liked Nightmare night. Said it always gave her bad dreams." "Well...let's go see if we can talk her into coming." First said as he trotted ahead. "Your wasting your breath mate." Pip sighed as he followed Base. "Cheese." Nightwing said. "Yes." Cheese replied. "Where are we?" Nightwing said in controlled demanding voice. "In front of a taco stand." Cheese answered. "Extra cheese my good mare." Cheese asked to the mare who scooped an extra set of cheese on Cheese sandwich's taco. "Yes, now can you tell me what's the problem with being here?" Nightwing's tone didn't change. "Mhh mmh?" Cheese shrugged as he took a bite out of his vegetarian taco that was loaded with cheese. "Well I'll tell you what's wrong. WERE IN FRONT OF A BUCKING TACO STAND WHEN WERE SUPPOSED TO BE AT YOU BUCKING HOUSE YOU IMBECILE!!!!!!" Nightwing roared. "So?" Cheese asked, unfazed by Nightwing's shout. "SO!!" Nightwing yelled. "Your beginning to test my patience Cheese." "Hey your the one who used Shadow stalking, so it's not really my fault." "And your the one who thought of a taco stand instead of your house, so I think it's safe to assume it's your fault!" "Hey can you two yell at one another somewhere else?" A mare in the line behind Nightwing and Cheese asked. "Your holding up the line." Nightwing stomped his hoof, causing the ground to crack as a physical impact mark was imprinted on the ground making Everypony in the line to become quite. "Shove it!" Nightwing shouted. "You have a bad temper you know that right?" Cheese asked. "I have a bad temper because that idiotic brain of yours is responsible for all this!" "*sigh* Fine." Cheese sighed as he ate the last of his taco and rubbed his hooves against the dirt to clean them off. "Just use Shadow stalking again and I promise will be at my house." "How do you know about my shadow stalking spell?" Nightwing asked in a slightly calmer tone. "Easy, it's called looking through space and reality and seeing all of space and time knowing what's about to happen that others don't while talking to the reader slash writer and talking about things that make absolutely no sense at all." Cheese said. "...What?" "It's called breaking the fourth wall num-nuts." Cheese sandwich stuck out his tongue. "Ugh...fine. Can you just lead me to your house?" Nightwing groaned. "Why didn't you say so in the first place!" Cheese asked as he picked up Nightwing and shoved him inside a large cannon. "Ladies and gentlemen, welcome aboard and thank you for flying air-cannon. We hope you enjoy your flight and that you land safely. FIRE IN THE HOLE!" Cheese shouted as he pulled a rope that was connected to the back of the cannon. *BOOOOOM!* a large explosion was formed as both Nightwing and Cheese were fired out of said cannon and off to who knows where. "Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!" Cheese shouted as he bounced off a mattress that he had landed gracefully on. Nightwing however bounced off the mattress and hit the ground on his back. "Ow." Nightwing winced. "Ah Cheese sandwich." A voice half full of posh said. Nightwing lifted his head up a bit to see the voice belonged to a unicorn stallion with white fur, a navy blue mane, had blue eyes, wore a very fancy looking black suit, and had a monocle placed about three centimeters away from his right eye. Next to the unicorn was another unicorn stallion who seemed to be younger than the first unicorn. The second unicorn had matching white fur, a navy blue mane, green eyes, and wore a butler suit. "Fancy pants, high hoof." Cheese said to the first unicorn as the two high hoofed. "And Silver platter, how's it going?" "Okay...I guess." Said the second unicorn. "Ow." Nightwing winced again as he cracked something in his back. "Oh, where are my manors?" Cheese asked as he lifted Nightwing up. "Nightwing this is Fancy pants and Silver platter. Fancy pants and Silver platter, Nightwing." "Charmed to meet you." Fancy pants said as he shook Nightwing's hoof. "As am I." Silver did the same. "Welcome Nightwing. To the Cheese mansion." Cheese said dramatically as Nightwing looked at the ginormous building in front of them. "For those of you who don't know, my family comes from a long generation of wealth. How? Dear reader you might ask, simple, see my family was the first to invent cheese. That's right, and we didn't stop there, we began opening up restaurants that sold top of the line cheese based foods. So come on down and visit you local Cheesy shack today." Cheese sandwich said as he held up a cup that had a slice of cheese logo on it along with the words 'the Cheese shack' plastered on it. "Who are talking to?" "Everything. Oh and Fancy, my father is in room 15438." Cheese said as he trotted past the two and into the house, along with Nightwing following him. The hallway was very well lit with lanterns as the duo continued to follow the long red rug that was laced along the hard stone floor. Pictures of what seemed to be past family residences were nailed to the wall as well, but whoever put them their was very wary of the fire in the lanterns. "How do you know those two?" Nightwing asked, deciding that it was best to start a conversation. "Fancy and Silver? Easy, the Pant's family is a common neighbor to the Cheese family. They helped fund most of our restaurants and our business. Because of them both of our families are very rich." Cheese explained. "Why do you say that like Fancy and Silver are-" "Brothers? Your correct." "I was gonna suggest, friends but their brothers?" "That's right." "Wait...if Fancy pants and Silver platter are brothers then, why was Silver dressed like a servant?" Nightwing asked. "Mmh, don't know. Never wanted to pry." Cheese shrugged. "I doubt that." "Come on Sis. It's nightmare night, you gotta come." Pipsqueak said. "No! Never, you know what happens on nightmare night. Theirs no way in Tartarus I'm going out their!" Dinkie shouted behind her barred bedroom door. "Language young lady." Pip scolded. "And come on, me mate First base wants you to come along." "First base?" Dinkie asked. "Yeah, mate would be really bummed if you didn't come." "Well..." "Come on Sis...I know you wouldn't want to miss a date with Base would you. A gasp was heard from inside Dinkies room. "How...how long have you-" "The day he showed up at our door, you made it pretty obvious when you were blushing like a tomato and ran upstairs to go hide in your room." Pip chuckled. "Now come on, are you gonna come or not?" There was a sound of moving furniture and locks being unlatched rom the inside of the room. When the sounds stopped the door opened and Dinkie stepped out. "Okay...lets go." "So First base, how have you been?" Derpy asked as she handed him a bland muffin and a glass of milk. First base was sitting at the dinner table waiting for Pipsqueak to talk his Sis into joining him and his friends for Nightmare night. "I've been great actually, I don't know if you heard but I got my cutie mark." First base said, taking a small bite out of his muffin. "Congratulations!" Derpy shouted with glee. "I remember when I first got my cutie mark." "Yeah." First base muttered sadly. "So, would you mind telling me the story about how you got your cutie mark?" First base asked, hoping that a conversation would push away his depressed memories. "Well...I suppose I could...but where would I start?" Derpy questioned as she rubbed her chin. "How about what you cutie mark means?" First base suggested. "Ah, that's easy. My cutie mark means I love bubble baths." Derpy said. "Bubble...baths?" "Yes. When I was a filly I used to love playing in bubble baths, almost everyday I would play in one. One day I was playing in my bubble bath and I then got my cutie mark." Derpy said. "So your talent is playing with bubbles?" Base asked quizzically. "At first I thought so, but then I realized that my true talent was to just have fun. My cutie mark represents that the fun I had in the bubble baths could be the same fun I have with everything else. So everyday whenever I goof up or do something silly, I take a bubble bath to remind me that I everything I do is fun." Derpy explained. "Wow..." Base said astonished. "Oh, listen to me like I'm a fifty year old mare. Tell me what you think your cutie mark represents." "Well..." First base trailed off as he looked at his cutie mark. 'What does my cutie mark mean? I mean sure I love to play baseball and I'm very good at it but...but there has to be more to it than that.' First base thought. Then a spark ignited in his mind, reeling him back to the day he first got his cutie mark. "I think it represents to not be alone. Like in a game of baseball, you need a complete team to beat the other team. So I think it means that you should always have someone to help you no matter what." "Cool." Derpy said calmly. "So...where do we begin exactly?" Nightwing asked as he placed his hoof carefully on the floor. Making sure not to step on any of the stacks of papers that were spread throughout the room. The room was nearly covered in pictures, numbers, words, and papers all around. "Where do I begin?" Cheese asked as he stroked his new brown mustache that had appeared on his muzzle. "How about, exactly four hundred years ago. On the night of October, farmer ponies saw a creature that was almost the most terrifying thing imaginable. The next day a foal that belonged to the farmer ponies vanished. Only to return three days later." "Okay...so?" "So? So these disappearances haven't been random, I've traveled over almost all of Equestria and every town I've been to I've heard the same story, terrifying creature, foals from family vanish, only to return three days later." "What does this have to do with Ponyville?" Nightwing raised an eyebrow. "Because, Ponyville is the only town where the creature hasn't shown up. And I can guarantee you that's the creatures next target." "So you got my Teach involved in this whole 'dangerous creature' thing just on a hunch?" "Yep." "Are you sure your not crazy?" "Crazy is just a word for those who don't understand reality. Like how you don't believe me when I say there's a dangerous monster on the loose that's gonna foalnap a foal and do who knows what with him slash her. "...what?" "Exactly. Now are you gonna help me track down a monster that may or may not exist? Or are you gonna sit in your destroyed house and be sad that no one remembers the true reason of Nightmare night?" That question caught Nightwing off guard. "How do you-" "Come on, did you completely ignore the words 'break the fourth wall'?" Cheese asked, putting a foreleg over Nightwing's shoulder. "And besides, I know that Everypony no longer remembers the true meaning of Nightmare night because of Celestia but come on, is it really something to cry over?" "Your provoking me to tell you the real reason Nightmare night was made aren't you?" "No need!" Cheese shouted as he shoved Nightwing to the side. "I'll tell the dear reader myself. In song!" Cheese said as he put on a show stallion hat and grabbed a cane. "Welllll-" "Start singing and you'll know what it's like to live without a mouth." Nightwing growled. "Fine." Cheese sighed in defeat as he threw his hat and cane away. "Doesn't matter, do you want to come help me or not?" "We've already established this, I don't really have a choice in the matter so the answer is already a yes." "That's the spirt! Now let's get to business." "No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no-" Dinkie continued to repeat no after no as she threw out costume after costume from her closet and onto the pile of not gonna wear costume. "How many of these do you have?" Pip asked, removing a wizard hat from his head that was tossed onto him. "I have lots, but I want to look good for First base." "Sis, Base ain't gonna care how pretty you look, all he cares is that you attend Nightmare night nothing more." Pipsqueak said hoping that his Sis would calm down. But that was not the case. "Are you joking?!" Dinkie screamed. "On the first date, appearances always matter!" Pip rolled his eyes. "Then why not just wear this?" Pip asked as he picked up a costume. Dinkie ceased her search for the perfect costume and looked at the one her brother was holding. "Ummm..." "You should wear this, there's nothing wrong with it." "But-" "No buts your gonna wear this for Nightmare night, go trick or treating, and have fun. Got it?" Pip said in a firm tome. "...okay." "Great I'll go tell Base." Pip smiled as he dropped the costume and trotted out of Dinkies room. Back in Canterlot hospital, Flash was currently sleeping in a hospital bed. In his mind Flash was in another endless dark void which he floated easily through. "Great, another memory from somepony that held the Element of Shadow." Flash huffed. "Sorry, but that's not the case today." A voice echoed throughout the void. Flash turned his head to come face to face with himself. Or at least it looked kinda like him. The Flash in front of the real Flash had a black mane where the tips were crimson red and his entire eyes were completely red. "Who-" "I'll save you the breath of your pointless question. I'm you, or rather, your Dark side I think Shadow called it." the Dark side said. "Anyways, you and I are in your subconscious in case you were wondering. As for why you can see and talk to me, you can thank the Element of Shadow for that." Flash shook his head. "Your not real, your just an illusion." Dark side closed the distance between Flash and himself and grabbed him by the neck. "I've got news for you Flash, this isn't some nightmare you can just wake up from, this is real. I'm real. Everything that's happening is real, and it's not going away anytime soon." Flash refused to show any fear as he stared into Dark sides evil eyes. "What do you want with me?" Flash demanded. "Good, your not as stupid as I thought you were." Dark side smiled, releasing Flash from his grip. "What I want is simple. Control. "Control of what?" "Control of you, that is what the Dark side of everyone who used the Element of Shadow wanted." "What...why?" "Like I said, it's what all Dark sides want. I can't explain it, especially to someone like you." "What if I just stop you from taking control?" "That's the best part, you can't stop me from taking control. Every time you use the Element of Shadows power the more I gain control, like how I made you think your friend was dead." "Wait...what?" "You really are dumb, the brain controls the body. I simply made your eyes see your friend dead, your ears hear no heartbeat or pause. That's the power of the brain, everything in your body centers back to it. "So...Nightwing's-" "Not dead? No, he's not. But you bought it and that's all that matters, because you got angry, turned into Shadow and fought Scorch, I gained more control. If it hadn't been for that meddlesome Thunderstorm I would have had full control." "Who's Thunderstorm?" "What am I, a guid to everything? Figure it out yourself." Dark side jabbed a hoof at Flash's chest. " Ah, looks like our time here is up. But trust me Sentry. We'll meet again very soon." Dark side chuckled as he faded to nothing.