KNOCK KNOCK
Loyalty walked to the door for the hundredth time that night, while he did enjoy seeing the happy faces of the dressed up youngsters every year, it was long and repetitive work, as Fancy Manor was always a main destination on Nightmare night.
Fancy’s mother had begun the tradition of giving out large amounts of candy and sporting tons of high quality decorations on Nightmare night. Fancypants had added the haunted house though.
The two colts happily accepted their large hooffull of candy, and quickly bounded around to the back of the mansion for the “Spooky Tour,” which was being run by a large number of Pokemon volunteers. Mostly Pyschics, Ghosts, and Dark-Types. Fancy had been very strict about the Pokemon not making the attraction over the top, as the target audience was rather young.
Shadow wanted to help with the haunted house, but instead decided to go along with Valerie for Trick-or-Treating around Canterlot, since the Eeveelution had never properly participated in a
holiday before.
Tyler had decided to dress as an Altaria, and Queen as a human. The Ampharos wrapped several bundles of wool around his arms, and Queen wore a dark brown wig and a shirt, which was far too small. The two had worked the front door for a while, but decided to take a break so they could go take part in some of the city wide festivities. Tyler knocked on Damian’s door as he passed on his way out, the cotton on his arms muffling the knock far too much to be heard. Sighing in exasperation the Electric-Type swung around and gave the door two sharp smacks with the hard orb on the end of his tail, and yelled in, “Hey Damian, is your surprise costume ready yet?”
After a few moments BBK opened the door in her tiny witch costume and gave a wicked grin. “He’s all finished but he’s refusing to come out.”
“You should’ve thought of that before you chose the costume,” Queen pointed out.
“The rules of the bet said the winner got to pick the loser’s costume, he lost fair and square. So he should get his PRISSY PRINCESS REAR OUT HERE” She yelled into the room behind her.
“Only if I can take off the tiara!” The Scrafty called out in return.
“Don’t make me add more bows!” She turned around and slammed the door behind her.
“I think we should just head out to the town square without them.” Tyler recommended.
Queen giggled, “Good idea.”
Valerie had gotten an early start on the Trick-or-Treating. As soon as she saw ponies coming to the mansion she rushed to get on her costume, a Sanabit. After she had learned to read, she took a liking to Fancypants’s library, especially some of the books documenting Equusian creatures.
The sanabit was an extremely rare quadrupedal creature, similar somewhat in form and size to a Vulpix, but blue, with only one tail, and prominent spines on the back. All of their bodily fluids were capable of healing any sort of poison, and were hunted nearly to extinction for their healing abilities. Valerie was rather fascinated with them, as they were a near polar opposite to herself. The doctor had conducted numerous experiments, and concluded that her blood, saliva, stomach acids, and even her urine was highly poisonous. She had decided that nothing would fit her better than the sanabit.
Shadow’s costume was somewhat less creative. Valerie had helped him paint a black cardboard tube for his torso, and a gray cone for his head, and so he was a flashlight. It was slightly humiliating, but Valerie thought it looked cute on him, which was reason enough for him to wear it in public.
Once the two were all dressed up they were on their way through the city. Fancy had explained to them that most of the ponies giving out candy were in the lower parts of the city, where more middle class ponies resided. The noble ponies giving out candy were unfortunately a rarity, but those that did often gave out larger amounts of higher sweets, and more dazzling attractions than anywhere else in the city.
Valerie had decided to start in the lower sector, just because she wanted to knock on as many doors as possible, as she was in it for the experience more than the candy. She knew that Fancy had already bought enough to carry them through any apocalypse should they not share it.
Most of the Trick-or-Treaters were ponies, as it was a pony holiday, but there were a considerable number of pokemon about too, many with pony companions.
The pony costumes were all very colorful. Valerie saw everything from Clowns to Mummies, her favorite being a filly with an enchanted mane that made her resemble a Rapidash. Despite the stunning pony dress up, post of her favorite costumes were worn by Pokemon. She saw a Tyranitar in a tutu, a Charizard with gray spray painted cardboard attached to it, most likely to look like a robot’s armor, a shiny Druddigon with a cape with a flaming skull and a pair of orange pointy sunglasses, a Banette with green face paint, a green wig, and a green dress, a Growlithe with a top hat and monocle, and more. She felt as if each was some sort of obscure reference to something, but she had no idea what.
They eventually came across a massive house, one that looked more like it belonged in the Noble’s district, but it also had a rustic charm to it. Very… Johto in design.
One thing the Veneon also picked up on was the scent of apples.
When they knocked on the door, one decorated with a skull with glowing eyes that seemed to follow them, it swung open slowly, a long, low creaking groan that seemed to echo throughout them.
A mare had answered the door. She wore long, green leafy covers over her ears and the fringe was gelled into a crescent shape. Tan socks covered her hooves and she wore a cover over her tail that gave it the same leaf-like design as her ears.
An earth pony mare dressed as a Leafeon.
“Well, howdy there!’ she greeted with a chipper smile. “Y’all havin’ a great Nightmare Night?”
“Yeah!” Valerie nodded. “This is great! I’ve never really experienced a holiday before."
"Glad t'hear it," Apple Fritter smiled as she dropped a few treats into their bags. Some hard apple candies and some mini-cupcakes made from berries.
And that was when something else dropped in Shadow’s bag. It kind of looked like a block or something a child would play with, Only it had some weird angles.
“Um… what’s the block thing?” The Umbreon asked, trying not to be rude. The object suddenly moved as a pair of eyes opened on it, the disembodied head of the Porygon staring at the Umbreon.
"Hello there~" she said in a bone chilling tone.
Shadow’s eyes widened and he dropped the bag as if it were hot, causing all of the candy, and the disembodied head to spill out. After a few moments he realized what had happened and began picking it up, ignoring Valerie’s chuckling beside him, and donning his best poker face. “Very funny. Thanks for the candy.”
“Don’t be rude Shadow,” the Poison-Type chided, “I thought the whole point of the holiday was candy and scaring people, in good humor of course."
"Hahaha!!" A cackling could be heard as an Absol stepped out of the bushes next to them as Dextra, the Porygon, reassembled herself. "You should have seen to look on your face... Oh, and duck."
As he did, an orange and black striped creature shot from the door, flying over Shadow and tackle-hugging Valerie.
"Vally!" Rika giggled, the Sylveon wearing some kind of pink bodysuit. She had a poofy pink mane and tail, and her rump depicted three balloons as a Cutie Mark. It was scarily realistic and the Veneon could have sworn Rika was a pony for a moment there.
“Hey Rika!” Valerie smiled, “I would’ve thought you’d be out getting candy!”
"Soon, I'm waiting for Sethy to get ready, but he's being a bit fussy."
"Friends?" Someone asked as a petite human woman leant against the door, moving some of her hair out her eyes.
Valerie’s eyes widened and she took a tentative step back, unsure about the peculiar sight before her. “Please tell me that’s a very convincing costume.”
Shadow took a defensive step in front of her, and did his best to look intimidating, despite the flashlight getup. After a moment he realized it wasn’t working, and settled for a mild glare.
"Aw, the nightlight thinks he's scary," Zinnia giggled. "Well I'm off to take Aster out for candy." She rubbed Shadow’s head as she walked past, before turning into a Noivern and flying off.
Valerie and Shadow simultaneously loosened up, before the Umbreon gave Rika a questioning glance. “I honestly have no idea at this point,” he muttered. "
"Zinnia's... special," Selena noted. She didn't trust the girl fully, but she did trust Seth, so she'd leave it be for now.
"Sooo," Rika giggled and looked at Shadow. "Having fun on your date~"
Shadow reddened up a bit, and nodded, “Well… yeah. We are. We’ve already been out for almost two hours, and Valerie still isn’t satisfied. We’ve had to go back to the mansion to empty our bags twice.”
“I don’t think I’ll even be able to eat all my candy in an entire lifetime,” Valerie giggled, “But it’s the fun of collecting it that matters. I just wish I had someone to compete with for candy collection. I’d challenge you but we already have a huge head start."
"Is...is that a challenge?" Rika said and a wide smile crossed her face. "It. Is. On!"
"Well that's just great," Seth replied as he came down the stairs. He was wearing a white and grey body suit, his waist had a spiky gold ring around it. Seth… made an interesting Arceus. "So much for a relaxing evening."
“I’m doubtful of whether you’d get one with or without the competition,” Shadow pointed out.
"True," Seth nodded. “Relaxation is being in a separate dimension to my lovely Rika. Ah well, I’d best catch up before she cleans out the whole city.” The Luxray gave them a polite nod and followed after the Sylveon. All he had to do was follow the insane giggling.
“I’m really starting to regret this costume,” Tyler complained. “How do you deal with having such fluffy appendages? They catch on everything!
“Awareness of myself and my surroundings, not to mention a great deal of practice,” the dragon type smirked.
“I should’ve just gone as a skeleton or something.”
“Where are you gonna find a skeleton costume that fits you?” Queen retorted, “Most skeleton costumes around here look like pony skeletons anyway.”
“But skeletons are spooky! Altaria are just cuddly, not scary. What was I thinking.”
“Don’t be rude,” Queen gave Tyler a light peck on the back of his head. “Anything can be scary if you get it angry enough.”
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen you that angry, you’ve always been a giant cotton ball of cute,” the Ampharos smirked. “I don’t think you’re even capable of being that angry.”
The Altaria thought for a moment, before shrugging her wings, “I can’t think of an instance where I was that angry either. I got pretty angry at my dad a few times when I was still a Swablu, but at that size I just became more adorable.”
“My point exactly. The inverted species idea was cool and all, but it’s lacking in the scary factor. Maybe we can find someone selling fake blood and I can be a dying altaria.”
“I guess I could do it too, then I’d be a dying species.”
Tyler stopped and looked at the Altaria, “While that was a good crack, I think I prefer the dark humor from Kenny and Damian.”
The Flying-Type giggled, “Don’t be a spoil sport.”
After some walking they made it to the squre outside the castle. The first thing they noticed were the games. There was spider throwing, apple bobbing, pin the tailbone on the skeleton, and many more. There were also signs pointing to something called “Pumpkin Launching,” which Tyler filed away mentally for later. Tyler counted five different puppet shows around. Two depicting the fall of Nightmare Moon, a story he had read about in Fancy’s library. Another depicted some sort of superhero, in a black and purple suit, which he noticed about a dozen foals around it were dressed as. The other four he couldn’t tell, but looked rather dull for someone his age anyway.
The pair approached a large table with food and drinks, A sign next to the table, with fake cobwebs lacing the edges stated that they could have access to the food if they left a tip in the jar. Tyler pulled up the fluff on his arms, and dropped about twenty bits in, which he figured was more than enough. They grabbed some plates and piled on some of the assorted halloween themed sweets on. Tyler was about to dig in when an orange hand swooped down and snatched the plate from his grasp.
The costumed Electric-Type looked up in annoyance to find a hooded figure, with a skull mask and a wooden staff with a curved plastic blade strapped to it perpendicularly. “Thanks for the grub,” the figure acknowledged before lifting his mask to reveal Kenny, who immediately began stuffing his face.
“I thought you weren’t doing anything tonight, Kenny,” Tyler questioned while getting another plate.
“I changed my mind last minute when I saw this costume. I thought it was pretty cool.”
The Ampharos looked over the getup, before asking “What’s it supposed to be?”
Kenny shrugged and took a bite out of a large worm shaped gummy, and answered with his mouth still full. “I dunno. I think it’s like the pony version of Yveltal, but just a made up thing for stories instead of a legit thing. I think they called it the Grim Harvester or something at the store.”
Valerie and Shadow were swinging by the mansion, again. The ponies here we so generous, they barely had to visit any houses before their bags were filled to the brim. Loyalty let the two in, and they dumped their candy out in Valeries room for counting later. Valerie practically dragged Shadow out the front door, and they were on the street again.
Shadow took out the map to check where they had been so far, as Valerie wanted to maximize efficiency in their Trick-or-Treating. The two quickly set off to a part of town they hadn’t been to. But before they could even make it down the street, they were stopped by the sound of someone running up behind them, panting in exhaustion. Valerie turned around, and rolled her eyes when she saw it was a Sylveon dressed as a vampire. “Rika, I know you love candy, but changning costumes to hit all of the houses twice is cheating.”
“Well, spending Halloween with someone other than your own brother is cheating too.” The Sylveon said with a smirk, and an unexpectedly masculine voice, “By the way, who the fuck is Rika?”
Valerie instantly beamed, and grabbed Frederick in a bone crushing hug. “Freddy! I can’t believe you made it!”
“Of course I did, I wouldn’t miss another Halloween with you, Val.” The Sylveon replied with a grin as he hugged the Veneon, “Hey easy now, I know I can heal myself but you’re kind of crushing my body.”
The Poison-Type loosened up slightly, “Sorry, I’ve been taking hugging lessons from another Sylveon friend. If you think this is tight you have no idea.” The two finally broke away, and Frederick finally acknowledged Shadow. The two gave each other a simultaneous nod of understanding. They both understood the other wanted to help Valerie enjoy her night.
“I didn’t think you’d be able to make it.” Valerie smiled, “I thought about you earlier, and our last Halloween together.”
“Tell me you skipped the part where dad grounded me.” Frederick chuckled, as he gave her a noogie with one of his ribbons, “I see you’re already into the whole… how did Pockets call it, Nightmare Night spirit?”
Valerie nodded, “Yeah. I’m an Equestrian creature called a sanabit. They’re like the polar opposite of me, instead of oozing poisons they ooze antidotes!”
“And I’m a flashlight,” Shadow said, before adding, “It was your sister’s idea.”
Frederick laughed loudly at that, “That’s why I love you sis. I didn’t think he was very bright before, but I guess I’m mistaken.”
“Ha, ha. Well, would you like to join us for Trick-or-Treating, or do you have other idea’s for what you’d like to do with Valerie?”
“I think I’m about ready to do something else for a while.” Valerie mentioned.
“I’ll just follow you two around, Pockets is busy, possibly drinking at some bar or something, told her I’d meet her later. So I’m all yours Sis, lead the way!” The Sylveon said with a grin.
“I think Tyler and Queen were headed to town square, they have some sort of festivities down there. Food, games, puppet shows. That sound fun Freddy?”
“As long as I spend it with you, ‘course.” He replied happily.
Valerie nodded happily, and Shadow led the way, as he knew held the map. Not long after they arrived. Valerie spotted Queen and Tyler rather quickly, and quickly dragged Frederick over to introduce the two.
“Hi Queen! This is my brother I told you about, Freddy. He prefers it if most people call him Fredrick though.”
“Charmed,” the Altaria held out a wing to the Sylveon.
Frederick would have usually just ignored the greeting, or on some rare situations just comment with a sarcastic opinion on her looks, yet he didn’t want the night to go wrong, nor did he want his sister to get mad at her. “Pleasure is mine. I must say, you look quite stunning.”
Queen blushed slightly and chuckled, “Well, thank you. I didn’t think that dressing as a large disproportionate human would look so good. Maybe I’ll stick with it.”
“It doesn’t look half bad. At least you’re not a flashlight.” Frederick chuckled as he looked at Shadow for a slight moment.
Shadow huffed, “It was Valerie’s idea. I’d have gone as something scarier.”
“Like a vampire?” Frederick said in a devilish tone as he smiled wickedly, showcasing his red-tinted fangs, “Don’t worry, I’m sure a Ghastly would find you terrifying.” He smirked.
“Nah, vampires are too cliche.”
“And flashlights are too hipster.” The fairy replied with a defiant tone.yet his usual smirk. Before chuckling and changing the topic, not giving the Umbreon time to reply, “So anyways, what are we going to do now, Val?”
The Veneon shrugged, “I was thinking we could hang out with Tyler and Queen. What were you guys doing?”
“We were about to go check out the pumpkin launchers,” Tyler pointed to a nearby sign. “I thought that sounded like hearty destructive fun.”
“Oh, my favorite kind of fun! We should do that.” The Sylveon said happily.
“Well let’s go then” Valerie beckoned the group, following the signs.
As the rest of the group advanced, Shadow and Frederick stood behind. Unknowingly to anyone though, the Sylveon wrapped the Umbreon with his ribbons, covering his mouth and forcing him to face Frederick.
“Listen pal, I want to make this the best possible night for Valerie. I don’t like you, and I think you probably don’t like me either, but let’s agree to aim for the same thing, Valerie’s enjoyment, capiche?”
Shadow waited for Frederick to remove the ribbon from his mouth, before answering, “What do you think I’ve been doing all night? I wanted to help out with the haunted house Fancy set up, but Val wanted to spend the night with me. You can see how my priorities are.”
“Fair enough.” Frederick said as he removed the other ribbon, letting the Dark type free. With a fake yet rather convincing smile, he left him behind and went ahead to be next to his sister.
It didn’t take long for the group to reach the cliffs where the pumpkin launchers were. There wasn’t much of a crowd either. Valerie immediately rushed towards the closest available catapult and tried to load one of the orange gourds on. After a few moments of fruitless shoving Shadow came over to help, but before he could touch it Frederick picked it up with his ribbons and set in on the mechanism, shooting the Umbreon a quick smirk.
Shadow attempted to pull the crank, and load the tension onto the spring. After a few moments he gave up, and looked to Queen, who giggled and rotated the mechanism twice, until it was taught enough to launch the melon a fair distance. Valerie beckoned Shadow forward, and they aimed it together, and let Frederick pull the lever. The Pumpkin soared through the air, landing in the empty forest below
“That was fun!” The fairy said as he turned around to give Valerie a honest grin, “Let’s shoot another one!”
Frederick loaded on another pumpkin, and turned the crank without anyones help. Valerie looked over the cliff, this time looking for some sort of landmark to aim for. She spotted a large rock formation far below, and began instructing Shadow on where to aim.
“A little to the left, no not that far. Frederick, release a bit of tension from the spring. Ok… launch!” This time Queen pulled the lever to release the pumpkin. It arced through the air, lazily accelerating towards the ground, but fell short of the rocks significantly.
“Well, you win some you lose some.” Frederick shrugged, “Want to try again, Val?”
Valerie nodded, and looked towards the pile of pumpkins nearby, which Shadow had already extracted a pumpkin from and loaded it onto the launcher. Queen came over and turned the crank slightly more than the previous time. This time the gourd landed directly on target. After a few moments the rocks started to move, and the group realized the rock formation was actually a large group of Graveler and Boldore. Valerie and Frederick fell out laughing at the spectacle of the apparently enraged Rock-Types fumbling around trying to find the source of the airborne fruit. Queen seemed concerned for the Pokemon, but decided against going down to check on them.
“While that is pretty funny, maybe we should find something else to do before those guys decide to tear down the city or something,” Shadow half joked, knowing very well that that was a possibility if the Pokemon became mad enough..
“Aww, don’t be a spoilsport,” Frederick grinned at the Umbreon. “I doubt they’d do that much damage.”
“No, Shadow is right,” Valerie countered. “We don’t want to be responsible for the whole city falling off the face of the mountain. What now?”
Frederick’s stomach growled loudly just then, and the Fairy blushed slightly. “Heh, I sorta skipped dinner trying to find you.”
Valerie gave a wry smile, “Alright, I’m sorta hungry too. Let’s go find a place to get dinner. And ideas Shadow?”
“Depends on what your brother wants to eat. I’m up for anything not too sweet, I’ve already had way too many sweets tonight,” the Umbreon groaned slightly and rubbed his stomach.
“Yeah, same,” Tyler nodded. “The only food they had at the square was sugary stuff.”
“Well I have no idea what kind of food they sell around here, so everything’s good with me, wanna scout the place to see if we find anything interesting?” Frederick replied with a grin. Deep inside he wanted to scream meat, but this was a night for Valerie, not for himself, so he had to keep himself calm and as positive as he could ever be, even if it physically pained him to do so.
Valerie thought some, “I think there’s a place nearby that has barbecue. You like that idea Frederick? I remember you used to love when uncle Lecter fried our fish with electricity.”
“And that’s why I love you Sis.” Frederick smiled, relieved that he didn’t have to eat that crap ponies usually eat. “Lead the way captain!”
Much to Fredericks distaste, instead of Valerie, Shadow led the way to the restaurant. There wasn’t much of a crowd, and there was no one outside but a bored looking thestral in a waitress’s uniform. When the group approached she instantly perked up. “Hi! Welcome to Bloody Bites! Table for five?”
Shadow nodded, and the mare showed them to a booth. Shadow, Valerie, and Frederick all sat on the same side, with the Poison-Type in between the two, while Tyler and Queen on the other side.
The mare came back and handed out some menus. “Just so you know, our special tonight is the special holiday themed Beef Brisket with red dyed sauce to look like blood! It does stain fur though, so careful if you decide to get it. Also, we have a unicorn employee who can use a translation spell for you if you like.”
Tyler nodded, and the mare went back into the kitchen. After a few moments a unicorn stallion came out, cast the spell, and took their drink orders.
“I’ll have sweet tea please,” Valerie requested.
“A glass of water for me,” Shadow ordered.
“Do you perhaps sell Margaritas in here?” Frederick asked with a raised eyebrow.
The unicorn nodded, and scribbled down the order, then looked to Tyler, “I’ll have a margarita too.”
Queen smacked the Ampharos in the back of the head and gave him a disapproving look. “Tyler, you aren’t 21.”
“So? I’m twice Fredericks age and he’s getting one!”
“Well… I can’t really think of a good retort for that.”
“Actually, I can.” The unicorn informed them, “We don’t serve alcohol to anyone under 21. So you’ll have to get something different,” He looked to Frederick, who was practically fuming at Tyler now.
“I’m almost 9 years old and I have fucked more beings than you’ll ever fuck, unicorn twat.” Frederick would have loved to say, but he took a deep breath and smiled, “Well, I have to follow this world’s rules, so I guess I’ll take a lemonade, thank you very much.”
“You got any cola?” Tyler asked, and the unicorn nodded, then looked to Queen, who requested water as well.
Once the server was gone, Tyler gave Frederick an apologetic smile. “Sorry about that, I didn’t mean to keep both of us from getting one.”
“Yeah thanks asshat, I don’t even like lemonade that much.” The Sylveon thought to himself, but smiled instead, “Don’t worry, gotta follow the rules. Say, Val.” Frederick turned to the Poison type, “What have you been up to lately?”
Valerie smiled widely, “Well, Shadow and I learned how to read together with some help from Damian and Tyler. One of the books I read is where I go the idea for this costume from. Other than that it’s been pretty boring. Nothing has really happened since I went to see mom and dad.”
A rather grim expression showed in Frederick, as he did his best to keep his smile yet failed, “How are they doing?”
Valerie smiled, “Well, for one, our family is getting bigger again.”
The sadness was then replaced by shock and confusion, did Frederick just heard what he just heard, “What… do you mean…”
“Yes! Mom laid another egg! We’re gonna have another little sibling!” Valerie smiled proudly. “I’m going to be the best big sister ever!”
Frederick jumped and then tackle-hugged Valerie, a single tear on his face, “Yes you will, another fucking sibling!” He said, before hitting himself mentally, “Sorry, that word was not supposed to go through.”
Valerie returned the hug, “Don’t worry, I know you’re excited. But I also know you’re probably pretty worried. Just know this, Vincent Nurem lives only a few miles away. He’d do anything to protect his family, and their family. He’d never let what happened to me happen to my little brother or sister.”
“Well then that’s just awesome.” Frederick smiled, as flashbacks of… that evening went back to him. Lost in the woods, alone, his siblings gone. He shrugged it off, it was not the time to hate the world.
“Mom laid the egg only a few days before the shift. So it should be hatching pretty soon. We’ll probably head back to Las Pegasus then. You should go too if you can.”
“Go and meet dad again… I don’t know Val, that may not be a good idea.” Frederick said uneased.
“They aren’t mad at you over anything,” Valerie comforted him, “They just want to see you again. They never blamed you for anything.”
Frederick shook his head no and left Valerie’s arms, “It’s not that, they wouldn’t like the new me, you know what dad thought of our uncle, I’m an even worse version of him.”
“Dad just thought Lectre was a bad influence on us when we were little. He still loved his brother,” Valerie pointed out, “You remember how broken up he was when he got caught.”
Frederick went silent for a few seconds, and smiled, “I think I could do a trip to Las Pegasus to see our little brother, or sister.”
But before anyone could say anything, something crawled onto Valerie’s back, before jumping on her head and blowing and giggling. Looking up, she spotted two mauve and yellow ears, her smile instantly grew even bigger. “Freddy! You didn’t tell me Wendy was here.”
“Surprise!” A rough feminine voice said from nearby, as a unicon with an adventurer pith hat and a khaki vest walked closer, “I knew Wendy had found you, Fred. Hello everyone, Tyler, Shadow, Valerie, nic seeing ya again” Pockets greeted with a soft grin, “And nice to meet you, ‘mon I’ve never seen.”
“Nice to meet you too, pony I’ve never met before. My name is Queen.”
“Pockets, Frederick’s friend. The idiot just disappeared on me and we’ve been looking around for hours.” She huffed as she hoofed the Fairy, who just chuckled, “You guys mind if we join?”
“Course you can join,” Valerie nodded. Pockets came around to sit with Tyler and Queen, but found there wasn’t enough room, as the dragon took up far too much space in the seat.
“I can stand,” Queen offered. “Most bird Pokemon don’t really need seats.”
“Nah no need, I’m used to eating like this.” Pockets chuckled as she stood up to free space, “It’s a pony thing. Say, you guys plan on doing anything fun for Nightmare Night?”
“Well, we already catapulted pumpkins at innocent and confused Rock Pokémon before, so I’d say we’re already on it.” Frederick smirked.
“You bastards dared to do that without me!?” Pockets exclaimed faking shock, “Out of ALL the things you could possibly do, this is the WORST. POSSIBLE. THING!”
“Shush you drama queen.” Frederick reached across the table and put a ribbon to the ponies mouth.
The server came back then with their drinks, and asked for their order. Which is when they all realized none of them had looked at the menu. “Give us a few more minutes please,” Tyler gave a sheepish grin. The stallion nodded and retreated to the kitchens, and the table looked over their menus.
“I think I’ll get the vegetable soup,” Queen commented, “They have a special pot deal, anyone wanna share? It’s cheaper for two.”
“I can do that if you like,” Tyler shrugged, “this body doesn’t handle meat well, and I’ve had enough pasta for a lifetime in the past few months.”
“Shadow, do you want to share the Beef Brisket special?” Valerie offered, “I don’t think I’d be able to finish it myself.”
“I guess, I was thinking of getting one of their chicken dishes.”
“I wouldn’t mind sharing the beef with you, Val. Let these weak stomached beings eat their chicken and veggies.” The fairy replied with a smirk directed straight to Shadow.
“Ok, I’ll get the Celestial Sun spicy chicken wings. I love spicy foods after all,” the Umbreon smirked back. “I understand that spicy foods don’t get along with fairies very well.”
“Oh wow, impressive, mister Flashlight thinks he’s all cool because he can eat spicy food, tell me when you manage to beat an entire forest full of wild Pokémon and become their ruler, and then we’re talking.” Frederick replied with a grin, yet this time accompanied with a death stare.
Valerie simultaneously smacked Frederck with her tail and punched Shadow in the shoulder at their antics, “Shut up both of you. Frederick, you told me they democratically elected you because of how likeable you were,” she glared at him.
“Well, it was more because of how strong I was, and not really democratically elected… but rather a takeover… Those were hard time for me, okay?” Frederick huffed, taking a deep breath and smiling again, “Sorry Val, I didn’t want to tell you much about my past self, that’s all in the past now though, so… do you forgive me?”
“Hmm… well if you promise you don’t act like that anymore,” she gave her brother a dubious look, “But now I think the spicy chicken sounds good.”
“Oh come on! What happened with sharing with your brother? You’re gonna get plenty of times to eat with that as- I mean, to eat with Shadow! Pretty please?” Frederick pouted
“Ok, this is getting out of odd and straight up into impossible town, what’s with you Frederick? You’re acting incredibly nice right now.” Pockets interrupted.
“Well excsuuuse me Pockets, I’m just trying to be a nice ‘mon for the sake of my sister, I already told you I was trying to change ya dingus.” Frederick huffed again, “You don’t have to bash it all up on me.”
“Maybe you could share some of that change around the rest of us,” Pockets countered.
Before anyone else could continue to argue, Queen called out, “Cotton Guard.” Her fluffy wings instantly grew much larger, and she wrapped them around the entire table pulling them closer to her, in one giant hug. “Stop arguing, everyone. Frederick is obviously trying right now. So let’s just calm down and enjoy the holiday, and Frederick, don’t lie. It’s a bad habit. You and Valerie can still enjoy a meal together without having the same food.” She inhaled, and pulled everyone slightly closer, “I’m going to release all of you in a moment, and I expect everyone to forget what happened just now, and act civilized. No one bother apologizing, it doesn’t matter now.” She retracted her wings, and let the move fade, causing her fluff to shrink back down to normal.
Once everyone was back in their seats, there was an uncomfortable silence. The pony server returned and they all placed their orders, and the silence continued on. Eventually Tyler spoke up again, “So what have you been up to, Pockets?”
“Well, ya know, the usual. Broke into an army’s stronghold, fought against giant dragons, destroyed my ex-boyfriend’s teen-filled mafia, that kinda stuff.” The unicorn shrugged.
“I meant tonight,” Tyler deadpanned.
“Oh… well, when Frederick disappeared on me, Wendy and I went looking for him, hoping he hadn’t gotten into a fight again…” Pockets began
Frederick loudly cleared his throat, shouting “Shut up or I’ll cut you.” without words.
Pockets rolled her eyes and this and decided to slightly sugar-coat the parts involving Frederick, “What I meant is, I was worried something would have happened to him, So yeah, we have been looking for him… we also kinda Trick-o-treated a little, but everypony kept giving all the good candy to Wendy cus she’s cute as hell.” She grunted, to what Wendy smiled mouth open, revealing some remainings of candy between her teeth.
“Close your mouth we’re planning on eating soon,” Frederick commented.
Shadow nodded, “I agree with Frederick for once.”
“What bout you, Tyler, what have you been up to tonight?” Pockets asked back.
The Ampharos just shrugged and gave a brief summary. “We gave out candy for a while, then Loyalty took over for us and we went and got some ‘food’ that was really just large amounts of sugary baked goods and candy. We ran into Kenny but he ran off somewhere. Then we joined up with Shadow, Val, and Freddy, and launched pumpkins.”
“Frederick, only Val can call me that thank you very much.” Frederick grunted with a faked smile.
Tyler gave a grin, “I know, you’re not the only one who can be a sarcastic ass sometimes,”
Pockets ignored the Sylveon’s attitude and kept the conversation going, turning to Shadow and Valerie “What about you two, lovebirds. When is Fred going to become an uncle?” The unicorn smirked, causing Frederick to spit out the lemonade that was recently brought up to him..
Valerie put a paw in the air and looked away smiling,“I wouldn’t count on that any time soon. I don’t think either of us are anywhere near that step.”
“Oh come on! I’m sure Frederick would love to babysit a little niece or nephew, specially if he or she ends up looking like Shadow.” Pockets said with a more evident smirk, looking at Frederick who rapidly sipped his lemonade, holding his need to tackle the unicorn.
“So. funny.” Frederick growled, “And for your information, you can’t give birth to an Umbreon, we are all born as Eevees, get educated ya dingus.” .
“And I’d rather Frederick not watch my children when I eventually have them. I just know they’d end up learning language unbefitting of their age,” Valerie pointed out.
“They’ll end up learning it sooner or later anyways.” Frederick chuckled in his defense, but he knew she was right. “And I can’t be that bad of an uncle, I mean, look at how many wonderful things uncle Lecter taught us!”
“My oldest clear memory of uncle Lester was him teaching us about sex and mom throwing a tantrum at him,” Valerie pointed out.
“See? Top notch uncle!” Frederick smiled, “I’d tell you how that helped out, but there are kids present.” He smirked as he looked at Shadow.
“I honestly refuse to believe you’re not a virgin,” Valerie pointed out.
“When you’re alone in the woods during mating season, it’s not that hard to lose it ya know?” Frederick replied with a devilish smile, “At least my sexual life is not as weird as Pocket’s.”
“You want me to kick your sorry ass towards the moon don’t you Fred? Keep your mouth shut, Be thankful Wendy doesn’t understand half of what you’re saying cus I won’t let you keep going so she can figure it out.” Pockets grunted.
Queen chuckled at the conversation, “Well, Frederick isn’t wrong on his point, that’s how I came to exist. But in a desert.”
“See? She understands! Although I’d never do it with someone of my same eggroup unless I wanted to be a dad.” Frederick countered, yet being bucked to the head before he could add anything else.
“There’s a kid in the table gosh darnit!” Pockets grunted.
Shadow chuckled, “Well I don’t know if anyone but me noticed, but she’s been asleep since she got here. It is pretty late.”
Pockets raised her sight to see the little Whismur deeply asleep on Valerie’s head. “Huh, she was always a fast sleeper.”
The door to the kitchen opened then, and a number of dishes floated out onto the table. Frederick immediately dug in without using any utensils, getting the red sauce all of his coat, further enhancing his vampire getup.
Valerie slapped him with her tail and pushed a folded napkin with utensils inside towards him. “Honestly Freddy. Some of us don’t even have our food on the table.”
“Give me a break, I haven’t eaten meat in like, ages. Meat back at Tall Tale is meant for rich griffins and we barely have any money thanks to knuckle head here.” Frederick grunted as he looked at Pockets, who waved happily to annoy him even further, “But fine.” He surrendered, grabbing the utensils with his ribbons, and waiting for all the other dishes to be placed on the table. Once everyone had their food, he quickly unwrapped the silverware and began digging in again, not doing much better to keep the sauce out of his fur.
The table was quiet for some time, as everyone thoroughly enjoyed their food. They had some more conversation as some of the group finished, and not long later, they paid and walked out the front door, feeling thoroughly satisfied and stuffed.
“So, Flashlight, you mentioned something about a haunted house earlier? Wanna go see how terrible it is since you helped out?”
“Uh, sure, if Val wants to.”
“Sounds fun. I haven’t really seen much of the house. Isn’t it more foal oriented though?” The Poison-Type questioned.
“Supposedly it becomes more adult oriented after nine o-clock,” Queen pitched in. “I think it’s about eight forty five right now, so we could check out the late night version.”
“Sounds good to me,” Tyler shrugged. “I didn’t really get to help out at all other than collecting some fake cobwebs and other decorations for the house.”
“Considering you helped out, I think the scariest part will be to see how long it takes before the whole thing falls apart.” The fairy smirked, “Let’s do this, see how long it takes before any of you sets off running.”
“It’s actually in an old part of the mansion that isn’t used often. I think it used to have Fancy’s playroom like twenty something years ago,” Valerie explained. “I looked around once and found some old kids sporting equipment and stuff. Other than that it was mostly empty so they can do whatever they want there.”
“They have a bunch of Ghost, Psychic, and Dark types helping out, there’s a Zoroark doing illusions too,” Tyler mentioned. “His name was Raphael I think. I ran into him when they were rehearsing yesterday.”
“A Zoroark named Raphael? If you ask me he sounds like a loser, or a pedophile” Frederick whispered to himself, he didn’t want to call Valeries’ attention, in his mind he kept repeating “This is her night, not yours.”
“What was that Freddy?” Valerie turned towards him, with a confused look.
“Oh, sorry, was just thinking that he sounds like a lovely individual, I’m sure this’ll be fun!” The fairy replied with a grin.
Valerie squinted at her brother, before shrugging, “I’m not stupid Frederick, you obviously said something else. But I won’t push the issue.”
Shadow chuckled to himself slightly at the conversation.
“You’re just as bad, Shadow,” Valerie turned to him. “Everyone needs to stop trying to be rude quietly and just not be rude at all. Now let’s go try the haunted house.”
It wasn’t far to the mansion, and the crowds of young ponies trick-or-treating had mostly died down, so that it was mostly adults going to and from parties, many drunk. Once they arrived, loyalty was outside putting up the sign for the Late Night Horror House, and removing the one for Kiddie’s Spook House.
“Is it ready for Late Night stuff yet?” Tyler asked on approach.
“Almost.” The old unicorn answered, “Go on around back. The Hypno outside is managing the lines. There’s only a few ponies ahead of you.”
The group went around to the back, Frederick giving disdainful looks toward the cheap animatronics and decorations that were being removed. “So without all this junk, what are they going to use for props?” the Sylveon asked aloud.
“We’re switching to smoke machines and illusions for the late night bit,” a voice behind him answered. Frederick turned around quickly, but didn’t see anyone there. “Other side dude.” The Sylveon whirled around again, once again seeing empty air. “You’re pretty bad at this ain'tcha.” The Fairy-Type felt a hand wrap down around his barrel and set him on a head. Looking down he found a Zoroark, a rather small one at that. “Sup man, name’s Raphael. I run the show after nine o-clock.”
“Gah!” Frederick shouted in surprise, “You fucking bastard… do that again and I’ll Moonblast you till you can see nothing but pink!”
“Chill man it’s a joke,” the Zoroark laughed as he dumped the fairy back on the ground, “It’ll get much scarier inside, so remember it isn’t too late to back out… yet.”
“Oh please, you got me by surprise, I was thinking about something else. I don’t get scared that easily you fucking fox, so don’t get your hopes up.” Frederick grunted as he walked away.
“I think this’ll be entertaining,” Tyler smirked. “How long until it’s ready, Raphael?”
“I think that’s the last of it there,” the Zoroark pointed to a purple animatronic rabbit that was being carried out. “I have no idea how anyone can find any of that junk scary,” he commented.
The group all got in line, and the group of ponies in front of them all went through. After a minute some screaming could be heard, then some laughing, and the ponies came around from the back, poking fun at each other for getting scared, even though they all had. The Hypno opened the metal gate that had been installed in the place of a regular back door, gesturing inward. When Frederick tried to go through he closed it on him though
“Only five at a time sir. You can go in once they’re done,” the Psychic informed him.
Frederick made to say something, but Valerie just shook her head. “We’ll meet you outside the exit. Just don’t get too scared you lug.”
“Do you perhaps need diapers so you don’t end up peeing yourself, lil sis?” Frederick replied with a smirk, “I’ll be fine, take care ya dingus.”
The group disappeared into the artificial fog, and Frederick was left waiting outside. He heard some small screams, and some giggling, then the Psychic opened the gate for him, gesturing inside with a smile.
“What’s the worst that can happen? Some bad disguises and cheap jump-scares?” Frederick shrugged, before walking inside expecting to get bored.
As he stepped in, the door closed behind him. He looked around and found that it was just as he expected, disappointing. Cheap decorations on the walls, and a lame eerie feel fed by the darkness and silence.
Moans of pain and suffering could be heard as he walked the hallway, yet the Fairy was far from amused. A pony who looked bloody and in despair was dragging some chains in a room next to the hallway, and before Frederick could take a closer look, a Banette jumped from the ceiling and closed the door right in his nose, yet Frederick felt more insulted than scared, grumbling, he realized between the obviously faked moans and grunts, that fog was coming from the end of the hallway, an image flashed in his head, but it disappeared as soon as it came, so the Sylveon just ignored it.
Walking further, the fog became thicker, maniacal laughs coming from the nearby rooms, in one, a Cofragrius seemingly levitating a bloody and disfigured unicorn while laughing devilishly, before the door closed on him again.
“Is this going to be a common theme through the entire thing? Because I swear if they close the door on me again-”
“Help us!”
Frederick’s ear flickered, was that what he thought it was? Possibly not, it was probably just another one of the faked screams of agony and distress that came from the different rooms. As the fog thickened, and he reached the next door, a deep laugh called his attention, there stood a Gallade disguised as a vampire, cape and everything, with a limb Bunnelby on his arms, seemingly bloodied all over, he just let out a soft phrase.
“What a catch!”
Frederick became rooted on his own feet, unable to move, and just watch as the Gallade disappeared into nothingness, the door closing as he did so. Shaking his head, he growled at the mind games his brain was playing, was the fog getting thicker? He had enough, time to find the exit from that sorry excuse of a haunted house.
And that’s when he heard them, the shots, the cries of several Pokémon, and that damn scream.
“Humans! Pokémon Hunters!”
“Stop it!” Frederick growled at his own head, the images were coming back, the pictures of that dreary day. And then, clinks, and sounds of fast projectiles rushing about. To anyone paying attention, they’d notice several bug Pokémon shooting Pin Missile attacks and webbings around the visitors, yet Frederick saw something else, he saw tranquilizer darts, flying around as several Pokémon fell to the ground. “That’s fucking enough!” He shouted in anger, and rushed to follow the path, fake tombs, no, sharp rocks surrounded him. Thick fog covering his sight, and lights in front of him.
A cage. A cage holding three unconscious Eevees.
“Get back here! Don’t take them!” Frederick shouted, as both reality and the images in his head mixed into one. He followed the hunters, but they were getting further away, they were unreachable. Was that rain he felt? His fur was wet, puddles causing him to slip, and when the hunters couldn’t be any further, he blacked out.
Opening his eyes, the Sylveon saw a halloween-themed decorated wall, with a bright red smile on top, except… was the smile laughing?
And around the smile, the figure of a bloodied Zoroark with a butcher axe in hand and red bright eyes appeared, maniacal laughter was the only thing Frederick could hear, his heart was still pounding from his flashback, and this just broke him entirely.
“Well hello there you pussy ca-”
The Zoroark was interrupted when a Moonblast struck him in the face, the Sylveon with his hair standing on end, and when the Zoroark recovered from the strike, he managed to see a small Fairy type rushing through the exit, screaming “Bring them back you monsters!”
“Geez, the house wasn’t even THAT scary. So much for the brave Sylveon.” He grunted as he went back into his position, waiting for the next guests to pass by.
Valerie and the rest of the group outside heard his anguished yells, and weren’t sure whether or not they should go in. “Is it part of the house?” Tyler wondered, “It’s supposed to be different for everyone that goes through. The psychics are supposed to scan some stray thoughts to formulate something scarier for each group.”
“I don’t know,” Valerie shrugged, “He did sound pretty freaked out. Maybe Raphael made a copy of him that’s doing all the yelling, I don’t know why he’d get that scared.
Suddenly a pink blur flew out of the house and ran down the pathway to the street, Valerie identified it as Frederick and ran after him, but right as Frederick went around the corner there was a loud thump, two simultaneous yelps, and the sound of a lot of candy spilling on the ground.
[hr}
Rika gave a wide smile as she hauled a sack several times her size, full to bursting with candy.
“I can’t believe you got all that,” Seth sighed as he looked at the bag. “Seriously Rika. How old are you again?”
“You’re NEVER too old for free candy!” Rika yelled as she stuffed a wad of the confectionary into her mouth. Her sack had been significantly larger before, but she’d already consumed her own body-weight in sweets.
“You’re sleeping on the couch tonight,” Seth muttered, “I’m not sleeping in the same bed as a vibrating Sylveon. Rika gasped and opened her mouth, presumably to say something that Abby would be proud of, but she was interrupted by something, or rather, someone. A pink blur slammed into her, her giant sack of candy spilling everywhere.
“Oh come on!” Rika cried as she started to scoop up her loot. “Blood is gonna spill for this!”
Valerie ran around the corner then, “Frederick! What’s going on, why’d you run off like that?”
“I know that voice,” Rika said as she scooped up her candy. “Vally! Are you trying to sabotage my looting by throwing Sylveons at me?”
“NO! STOP, PLEASE, STOP!” The running Sylveon shouted, tears falling behind him as he kept running.
“Rika, grab him!” Valerie quickly commanded. The Sylveon’s ribbons lashed out, snaring the other one around the midsection and lifting him off of the ground. But once it clicked that it was a male Sylveon, she yelped and dropped him, her ribbons retreating back to her sides.
Luckily, Frederick was still stunned enough that he didn’t keep running, and Valerie quickly made her way to him. “What has gotten into you Freddy? I didn’t think the haunted house was that scary, and who are you chasing?”
Frederick panted rapidly, looking around and taking deep breaths, once his mind came back to reality, he saw the purple fur of his sister. He grabbed her with his ribbons and closed her in for a hug, taking slower breaths as he cursed the haunted house.
“I’m so sorry, it was all my fault, I’m so… so sorry Val. I won’t let them take you away, I won’t.” Frederick said rapidly, strengthening his grip.
“Frederick, what’s going on. Who do you think is gonna take me away?” Valerie calmly inquired, being careful not to upset him again.
He released Valerie, and sighed, growling and mumbling under his breath, before sighing and standing up, “It’s nothing, just my mind playing tricks on me. Sorry I scared you like that.”
“Um, hello? Confused as heck Rika here!” the Sylveon, now dressed as a Breezie said. She set aside her massive horde of candy and folded her ribbons. “And who do you think you are? Vally belongs to Shad!”
“I’m her brother, and she doesn’t belong to anyone.” Frederick grunted, still mildly shocked by the flashbacks. “And who are you? Grabbing me like that.”
“First, my name is Rika and I’m Vally’s friend,” the Sylveon nodded. “Second, I did it cause you knocked me over and still haven’t apologised!!”
“Well sorry for that, but it’s not that easy to see where you’re going when you’re in the middle of a fucking panic attack!” The male Sylveon sighed.
“Frederick!” Valerie scolded, “Don’t be rude. And why do you say that like it’s happened before?”
Frederick took some more deep breaths, and calmed down, “I’m sorry, that was uncalled for. And it’s nothing really, sis, I just don’t go well with fog. Name’s Frederick by the way, sorry I knocked you over.” He didn’t want to ruin the night for Valerie, even if every single cell of his body wanted to tell them to fuck off, to then leave the city and go back to his bed back in Tall Tale.
“It’s fine,” Rika said quickly, moving away from him a little. Seth sighed and spoke up finally.
“Sorry about that though, someone’s just a little eager to win a contest I’m sure doens’t exist…”
“I will beat Vally in looting ALL the candy!” Rika declared.
“Changing costumes to loot the same houses multiple times is cheating,” the Luxray deadpanned.
“So that’s what Valerie meant when I bumped into her.” Frederick chuckled, “I must say though, your costume is astonishing, same goes to you too… uhm, I didn’t quite catch your name.”
“Seth Crescent,” the Luxray said, extending a paw. “Former trainer and now mate to this one here,” he bumped Rika, who was pouting over her awesome scheme being busted.
“A pleasure to meet you.” Words Frederick never thought he would say to a human. “Hey, where’s Pockets Val?”
“I think they’re all back at the mansion,” the Veneon replied.
“Well, do you want to do anything else, or should we go back to the mansion?” Frederick asked, wishing to lay down on any bed and call it a day.
There were some more screams as several ponies bolted from the mansion. Seth raised an eyebrow and shook his head. “Well, seems that place is upholding the spirit huh?”
“Yeah, looks like Raphael sure is doing his job,” Frederick grumbled.
“Is everything ok Val?” Shadow came around the corner, “The rest of the guys decided to turn in for the night, I wasn’t sure what was going on when you didn’t come back.”
“Rika and I managed to stop him before he got too far,” Valerie informed him, “What do you think we should do now?”
A thestral mare in gold armour suddenly dropped out of the sky, landing right in front of Frederick, giving him a small heart attack and causing his fur to stand on end. “Hey Boss, we got a little problem on our hooves,” she said to the Luxray.
“Typical,” the Luxray sighed and looked at Rika. “Think you can head home on your own? Hopefully this shouldn’t take too long.”
“Aww,” Rika pouted. “Fine… just as it was gonna get good as well.”
“Whats going on?” Shadow inquired.
“What is this about anyway?” Seth asked his partner.
“We got a report of some Ghost-types causing trouble at one of the mansions in the Cloud District,” the thestral explained. “Though, I think the two of us should be able to handle it.”
“Probably,” Seth nodded as he started to remove his costume. “Might wanna get Houndoom as well. She could help with this.”
Midnight tapped a crystal earing she was wearing and nodded. “She says she’s busy. and I quote, ‘quit being a fucking pansy to do it yourself’.”
“Ooh, ooh! Can we help?” Rika jumped up and down in front of Seth, “It doesn’t sound dangerous, and ghost busting is perfect for Halloween!”
“Yeah,” Val agreed, “That does sound sorta fun. What do you guys think,” she asked looking to Shadow and Frederick.
“I don’t have anything else to do, and if I get to kick some ghost butts then sure, why not. Besides, someone has to watch out for you” Frederick smirked as he gave her another noogie.
“As long as Seth’s ok with it I’ll come along,” Shadow added.
Well, at the least the Umbreon could be useful, but still…
“This is Guard stuff, I can’t just drag civilians along for the ride,” he said with an exasperated sigh.
“Pleeeeeeease?” Rika pouted and turned her Baby Doll Eyes to maximum setting. Seth started before groaning and shaking his head.
“Urgh! Fine.”
“Woohoo! Civilian justice!” Valerie yelled.
“Yeah, time for a lynching!” Frederick cheered. If anything could get what happened out of his head, it’d have to be a good battle.
“Oh bloody hell,” Seth groaned, realising that they were all possibly insane.
As they walked, Midnight moved up next to Shadow and licked her lips. “So,” she purred in a tone that got most males standing at attention. “Who might you be, Mr.Dark and Mysterious~”
“He’s my boyfriend,” Valerie intervened, stepping between them. “Mess with him and face my brother’s wrath.”
“Now, now,” Midnight giggled and looked at Valerie. “You can play too cutie~”
“She’s my sister, if she gets to play, I get to play” Frederick smirked to taunt his sister.
“Ohh, it’s been a while since I played with twins~” Midnight giggled, remembering a cute pegasus pair in Ponyville. “Sure, one more never hurt anypony~”
“We’re not twins, but incest is wincest I suppose,” Valerie laughed, catching onto the joke.
“Oh my, Valerie making an incest joke? And you were saying I’d be a bad influence for your future son or daughter.” Frederick laughed as well, nudging the Veneon.
“I heard Tyler say it at some point.” Valerie chuckled, “It took me a while to figure out what he meant.”
Frederick chuckled at that, before looking at the Luxray and the Sylveon, “So, hope you don’t mind the curiosity, but what’s your story? How come you’re working with the royal guards ‘n stuff?”
Seth had tuned out the conversation until now. Something he did whenever Midnight was involved. It wasn’t until Rika poked him that he blinked and turned so he was walking backwards. “I’m sorry, what?”
“Well ain’t that rude?” Frederick chuckled, “I said, what’s you guys’ story? How’d you end up involved in the guard and all?”
“Ah, that’s kind of a long story,” Seth said. “Suffice to say, Princess Celestia realised she needed someone with knowledge to Pokemon and Earth, in order to keep peace and harmony around here. I’d recently helped deal with one such case, so she asked me.”
“Huh, neato. Maybe I could help with that in Tall Tale.” Frederick rubbed his chin with a ribbon.
“Don’t trust him with a badge,” Shadow pleaded, his eyes widening.
“Tall Tale?” Seth blinked. he’d never heard of that place.
“Yeah, it’s this city near the beach west from here. I live there with Pockets, that try-hard champion Steven, and their Pokémon.” Frederick commented dryly, getting anxious as the walk seemed to be taking forever.
“Huh? I wonder if Diantha knows Steven is around?” Seth commented idly. Midnight got a message saying that some ponies were acting up, she sighed and looked at Seth.
“Think you can handle this one on your own?”
“Yeah, I think we got this,” Seth said as the mansion came into view. Midnight nodded and turned to the other Pokemon.
“Well, I gotta fly, but it was fun meeting you cuties~’ she giggled and gave Valerie a kiss. “We’ll meet up for that meet up sometime~” and with that, the thestral disappeared into the night sky.
“Ladies and gentlemon, I give you Midnight Song,” Seth sighed.
“I liked her, she seemed fun.” Frederick chuckled.
“I hope I get a partner so… interesting if I ever get a job,” Valerie laughed.
“So, where's the house we were supposed to go to?” Shadow asked, remembering that he hadn’t heard Midnight tell Seth where to go.
Just then, across the street a group of ponies ran down the pathway from a mansion screaming, as a group of Ghastly chased them. Once the ponies reached the main street, the ghosts turned around and returned to the mansion.
“I think that may be the place,” Valerie guessed.
“You think?” Seth deadpanned. His eye suddenly took a golden hue as he scanned the building with his xray vision. “Seems we have a little over a dozen. Most are unevolved Gastly and Misdreavus. Though… oh, there’s a Gengar. This should be interesting.”
“Gengar aren’t that tough,” Shadow shrugged. “I fought a few before, but it depends mostly on the Pokemon itself, since I think they can learn Dazzling Gleam.”
“Blah blah blah, let’s just get in there and mess that ghost up!” Frederick said as he took the first step forwards. “You guys coming, or are you pansies afraid of ghosts?”
“I know I’m not!” Valerie put a paw to her chest, “Y’know, not acknowledging the fact that all of the Gengar line has four times resistance to all but two of my attacks. Three I guess, ghosts are resistant to Ice only two times.”
“What attacks do you know?” Seth asked, switching to trainer mode. Valerie listed her attacks as Seth nodded. “Okay, so dark Pulse will be your best bet here. Just don’t try to use Quick Attack.”
“Too bad Selly isn’t here, she’d clean this up in a few minutes,” Rika nodded.
“Eeyup, ah well,” Seth nodded.
“Screw whoever that is, we can do this on our own. So, will you stay here and keep talking trainer? Or will you come with me to beat this thi-” When Frederick opened the door, looking behind him as he spoke, a barrage of purple gunk was shot at him, accompanied by a devilish yet playful laugh that echoed in his ears. “Of freaking course.”
Rika laughed as she hit him with Heal Bell, just in case he got poisoned. “Wow Freddy! You took that like a champ~”
“Give me a break… Is that all you got ghost?” He shouted at the ghost, before looking back at the group, “Hey flashlight, get to work, this place is too dark and I’m too lazy to use Flash myself.”
“Fine, whatever. I should probably take this costume off.” Shadow grumbled as he stepped in and let off more light. “I think it’s clear. But they could be lurking in walls.”
“Aw, don’t take it off, it cheers me up to see you humiliated.” Frederick pouted. As Shadow’s rings glowed brightly, they saw the inside of the house. The main foyer was quite large, with a staircase leading up and separating off to the left and right. A crystal chandelier hung from the ceiling, but it was covered in dust and cobwebs, and the whole house looked like it hadn’t seen use in years. The dirty windows creaked and groaned in the wind and with a resounding ‘SLAM’ the doors shut behind them, sealing them inside. “How the heck do you clear out a place so creepy looking in one night?”
“We could try asking politely before we actually start attacking them. Tell them not to scare ponies or something.” Valerie suggested. “Maybe tell them their trespassing.”
“Actually, you are the ones trespassing,” a voice stated from below them. “I will politely ask you to leave, before we start attacking you”
“I understand that you like to scare,” Seth called out. “But several ponies have been injured as a result. If you promise to tone it down, we can work out something.”
There was no verbal reply, but rather the sound of turning metal, as the chandelier above them suddenly fell from the ceiling. Everyone managed to dodge, but Frederick who was trying to think of a witty insult for the joke. As the dust settled, a very scared, and dusty Sylveon was caught underneath it like a cage.
“Okay, that tears it,” Seth nodded as he nudged nose under it and flipped it off of the fairy pokemon. “You alright Frederick?”
“That… ghost… “ The Sylveon growled and coughed, “Is going to pay: Less talking, more smashin! Can anyone find out where they’re at?”
Several Misdreavus came through a wall, and shot several Shadow Balls at the group, which Shadow block with protect. “Foul Play!” he yelled, before rushing forward and slamming one into another.
“Shadow Ball!” Frederick called, generating one big orb, which split in two, four, eight smaller orbs, which he moved around him swiftly controlled by his shining ribbons, striking several of the Ghost types and sending them back into the walls they came from. “That’s how you deal with masses, let’s get this party started!” The Sylveon growled, not many could make fun of him and make it out alive. The Sylveon generated another swarm of Shadow Ball attacks, but before he could launch them, an Ominous Wind attack blew over him, causing them all to explode in his face. “God dammit, why does this always happen when I’m trying to be cool?”
“Yep, always gonna surround myself with explosive attacks, great idea Frederick,” Shadow chuckled as he sent out a Dark Pulse attack, taking out five Gastlys at once.
“Get down!” Seth called out as Rika took a deep breath. The others barely had time to respond before the Sylveon unleashed her Hyper Voice attack! The blast of sound rattled windows and shook the floorboards. Any remaining crystals on the fallen chandelier were shattered. The smaller ghosts fled as several of the Misdreavus were knocked out.
Frederick saw the chance, and he took it. Taking a deep breath himself, he prepared his throat for the inevitable pain he’d feel in the morning, and also released another Hyper Voice, knocking the final ones out.
Yet the crew had little time to celebrate, as an angry groan echoed through the house. The windows were slammed close, the ground began shattering and purple sludge dripped from the roof. More ghost type Pokémon came from all directions, before at the middle of it all, a bigger pool of purple sludge formed, before joining together in an orb and forming small pointy feet, arms, and ears. A white smile and bright red eyes revealed themselves in the orb of sludge, and the blob dropped when his transformation was completed, a devilish laughter coming from it as it landed.
“Now the real fun starts! You should have left when you had the time, trespassers! Now I’ll-”
“Oh quiet you.” Frederick interrupted the Gengar, shooting two consecutive Shadow Balls, which the Gengar managed to dodge just in time as he sunk through the floor, emerging with an ‘Did you seriously just…?’ look on his face.
“Just… take them out, leave the Sylveon to me though, I’ll teach him to not interrupt me WHILE I’M GIVING A SPEECH!” And with that, the Gengar disappeared again with a poof, laughter coming from all directions due to all the different Ghost types that were ready to strike.
“Everyone form a group,” Seth said. “Get as close to one another as possible!”
“I thought you said there were only a little over a dozen,” Valerie looked to Seth, distressed.
“They must have hid from my vision somehow,” Seth admitted his mistake. As they bunched up, Rika took point.
“Rika, Protect!”
The sylveon nodded as she formed an aqua-hued shield. Once it was up, Seth tapped his torc as he gave an earth-shattering roar and unleashed his Discharge attack, the wild bolts flinging out and hitting all the ghosts around them. Most of the ghosts fled instantly, and the ones that remained seemed mostly dazed.
Frederick’s feelers shined bright, and after one deep breath, pink fog began emanating from Frederick’s body, surrounding the main hall and climbing up the walls, even getting rid of some of the Gengar’s illusions, “All yours Rika, get rid of these bastards.”
“Misty Terrain,” she nodded as several orbs of fairy energy hung around her.
“What can little trainer’s pet do?” one of the ghosts taunted and Frederick could almost hear something snap inside of Rika’s head.
“Heeheehee,” she giggled and licked her lips. “So many naughty little spirits. Rika is going to punish you now~” She fired multiple Moonblasts, nailing several ghosts as she snared another with her glowing ribbons, whipping it fiercely. “Kyahaha! Cry for me! Those screams make me so mmm~”
The ghosts that did not faint at the powerful attack, were barely able to breath, and they took off out of the house without a second thought. Even if they were ghost types, they had never seen something as scary as that Sylveon. The illusions were gone, and the house went once again back to its normal appearance. But things were not over yet. From behind them, the Gengar emerged, grabbing Valerie and taking off towards the other side of the room, laughing maniacally. “Well well well, look what we got here? I feel the poison in your body, yet I have never seen anything like you. You’ll be a great addition to my spooky team of spooks. Just some hypnosis and you’ll be my new freak!”
And there was another snap, but this time it wasn’t Rika.
“Drop her, now.” Frederick growled in a grim tone, his eyes darkened.
“Or what? You can’t hurt me, you don’t want to end up hurting her instead now do you?”The Gengar laughed.
“I’ll give you one final chance, drop. her. NOW!”
“Please listen,” Valerie whispered, “I’m not a fan of the sight of blood, even if I’m not sure if ghosts can bleed.”
The Gengar giggled and grabbed Valerie with one paw, making her hang in the air helplessly, “Oh please, what can a little fairy do?”
Frederick smiled wickedly, a grim laugh emanating from his mouth, his fangs showing that red dye he had set up, and then he raised his head. Red fiery eyes, blood-thirsty smile and a laugh that could make a dragon shudder. “Oh, this fairy can do A LOT!”
The Sylveon growled as he rushed forwards at amazing speeds, jumping on a wall and then immediately jumping again to tackle the Gengar, who was forced to become intangible in order to avoid the attack. Yet this is exactly what Frederick wanted, as Val fell down to the ground as soon as the Ghost type did so. But that was not the end of it, two massive Shadow Balls formed in each of Frederick’s neck feelers’ tip, which were rapidly sent at the Gengar, striking him and sending him to the ground, stunned by the attack..
Walking slowly with his devilish laugh, Frederick stepped on his stomach, looking at him eye to eye, “Now you fucking bastard will get away from here, you’ll never come back and you’ll never try to scare anyone ever again, or else… I’ll make sure to find a way to FUCKING KILL A GHOST!”
“F-fine! I’m sorry, we were just trying to have fun, that’s all, I’ll- I’ll leave right now!” The Gengar stuttered in fear, becoming intangible and leaving the scene in mere seconds.
Shadow came over and checked on Valerie once the Gengar was gone. “I’m fine,” she assured him. “Just a little sore from how he held me.”
“Are you completely sure?” Frederick asked worriedly, “You’re not still freaked out or anything are you? It’s ok he’s gone.”
“I’m fine,” she repeated to her brother. “I think that freaked you out way more than it did me. I’ve never seen you like that before.”
“I… I’m fine. Let’s just go back to Fancy’s mansion,” he looked to Seth and Rika, “You think you can finish up here with that asshole gone?”
“I think we’re done already,” Seth nodded as Rika tied up a bunch of the ghosts as a Houndoom and a Chandelure turned up, the latter smacking the ghosts with Disable. “Thanks for the assist.”
“No problem,” Shadow nodded. “You ready to go to bed Val? I’m pretty tired now.”
The Poison-type nodded immediately went for the door without a verbal response, the two male Eeveelutions trailing behind her.
“Something wrong sis?”
“No, I’m just tired too. You staying at the mansion overnight?” She asked.
Frederick nodded “Sure. I’ll take the same room as last time.”
The three quickly returned to the mansion, and ascended the stairs. Loyalty showed Frederick to the room he had set up in front of Valerie and Shadow’s room. The three exchanged goodnights, and the couple returned to their room. Frederick climbed into his bed, reflecting on the day. As he was about to drift off to sleep, he snapped awake with a realization. “Wait… did they go into the same room?” he looked towards the door on his left, before turning over, “Fuck it, I’m too tired to deal with this bullshit anymore.”