//------------------------------// // Chapter twenty three. Loss // Story: Shadow in the Dark // by Thestoryteller //------------------------------// Nightwing growled in anger as he bared his fangs. The more he stared at the vampire batpony mare in front of him, the more angry he got. He couldn't, no, wouldn't allow whoever was responsible for this live. He would make sure that he would make whoever did this wish that him or her was in Tartarus by the end of the day. "I don't believe it." Flash said as he continued to stare in disbelief. "Nightwing...this...this is wonderful!" Flash smiled at Nightwing. Nightwing looked away from the capsule and stared at Flash with a 'Are you crazy or something boy' look. "I mean, if all of these capsules have vampire Batponies in them. Then that means that your race isn't dead. Nightwing these are your ponies, so why aren't you happy?" Flash asked. Nightwing thought that question over. Why wasn't he happy? He thought that his race was all but extinct, but here one was perfectly healthy and in perfect shape and very decent looking- 'Gah!' Nightwing shouted at himself. 'No, no you are not going to be thinking about repopulation! None of that!' Still. As Nightwing continued to stare at the mare the more something seemed off about her. Making up his mind Nightwing turned around and approached the capsule behind him. Wiping away the fog, sure enough there was another vampire Batpony inside. "Hey Nightwing...I'm sorry." Flash apologized. "I acted to hastily when I thought they were vampire Batponies. There probably just regular batponies." Flash's eyes then widen. "Not that there's anything wrong with that of course!" "Flash calm down." Nightwing said in a cool tone. "These aren't regular Batponies because Batponies are all the same. Literally they all look alike, minus the gender differences." "So...if you know that, then why aren't you happy?" Flash cocked his head and raised an eyebrow. The question danced around in Nightwing's head as it continuously mocked him. Why didn't Nightwing feel happy? He wanted more than anything to see another one of his kind, ever since his family died- And then it clicked. The reason Nightwing couldn't find himself to smile, it was because even though his race had returned. It still meant that his family was still dead, and there was nothing Nightwing could do to change that. "Hey?" Flash asked, placing a hoof on Nightwing's shoulder. "You okay?" "Yeah-yeah...lets see who's responsible for this." Nightwing said shakily. Getting up Nightwing shoved away the thoughts of confusion and distraught, and instead focused on who in the hay was the cause of all this. His question was soon answered when a light blue fur unicorn mare with a short black mane and green eyes who was levitating a clipboard in her magic walked into the hallway. She looked up from her clipboard and stood in shock when she saw Nightwing. In a instant Nightwing used his crystal to imprison the mare in a blue aura bubble. The mare became even more shocked when she became trapped. Nightwing approached the bubble, a look of scorn and hatred was plastered on his face. The mare sunk down as she tried to avert the gaze of the very, very, angry vampire batpony. "The name of who's in charge." Nightwing growled. "NOW!" "You...you can talk?" The mare asked in surprise. The question angered Nightwing further. "Answer me!" He yelled. "I-I-I-I can't." The mare stammered. "I don't know who's in charge." Nightwing barred his teeth, showing off his menace looking fangs. But he sighed, despite his anger he could still tell that the mare wasn't lying. But that didn't mean she didn't know anything. "Okay, let's say you don't know who's in charge." Nightwing suggested. "But you do know something, so your gonna answer my questions truthfully. And trust me, I'll know if your lying. Understand?" The mare nodded her head slowly. "Good. First question, what is this place?" Nightwing asked. "This is a research lab." The mare answered. "We-" "What do you research? And what does it have to do with them?" Nightwing demanded, cutting off the mare and pointing to one of capsules. The mare looked at one of the capsules. Then back to Nightwing. "You mean that...your not one of the experiments are you?" The mare asked. "What is that supposed to mean?" Nightwing growled. "Let me explain. These aren't true vampire Batponies, there normal ponies." The mare said, her eyes facing the floor and her tone saddened. "Or at least, they were." "What the hay are you talking about?" Nightwing demanded. "Like I said before this is a research lab. But I was about to say that we focus on genetics." The mare explained. "Ummm..." Flash said, trying to remember what the word 'genetics' meant. Knowing right away, Nightwing answered, "Genetics are pretty much the building blocks of us, it defines what race we are, how we look, what we are, and-" Nightwing paused as he realized what the mare said earlier. "Wait...let me get this straight. You were ordered, by whoever is in charge, to take normal, regular ponies, modify their DNA, and turn them into vampire Batponies?" "That is correct. It took some time, but we soon discovered that the vampire batpony DNA only works well with Pegasi DNA." "Next question, did any of your experiments escape?" "Umm..." The mare said, hoping she didn't have to answer. "Answer me." Nightwing growled, making the bubble cause pain to the mare. "Ahhh!" The mare howled in pain. "Yes, yes! One of the test subjects escaped its capsule and ran out, we wanted to do something about it but that would draw attention to our operation!" The mare screamed. Nightwing ceased the pain on the bubble. "Did you say one?" "Yes, just one escaped." "But...that doesn't make any sense. The witnesses from the attacks all said that they were attacked by two creatures, not one." Nightwing asked outloud. "Come on Flash." Nightwing said, walking away from the still trapped mare. "Where are going?" Flash asked. "Back outside. We need to find and capture this batpony." Nightwing said, levitating the aura ball to follow him. "And your gonna help us." The Suns light began to slowly din as it began to set over the horizon. In the town where the attacks took place Nightwing's hooves walked along the road as well as both Flash and the mare. Lightning strike and Ranger had been told to stand guard at the entrance in case the rouge vampire batpony returned back to the lab. As for the mare, Nightwing took down the bubble that she had been trapped in and instead Nightwing had placed a spell on her to make sure she wouldn't be able to run off or speak out of place and so she couldn't use magic. As Nightwing walked along the road the residential ponies gave him dirty looks. However Nightwing was somewhat used to the looks, ever since he was a foal that is. "Hey." Nightwing turned his head to the mare as he continued to walk. "What's your name?" "It's Shine." The mare answered. "Tell me Shine. Were you born in that lab?" Nightwing asked. "I was...how did you-" "You went under the effects of light-loss-insanity." Nightwing cut the mare off. "Light-loss?" Flash asked quizzically. "It's not the actual name for it, but those ponies we saw earlier were insane because they've been down there for so long." Nightwing explained. "However, you were born down there." Nightwing said to Shine. "Which means you can't go insane. However I assume that there are others down there besides you?" "Yes." Shine answered. "On a unrelated subject, how do you plan on capturing the mare anyway?" "Wait, mare?" Nightwing questioned. "Did you just say that vampire batpony that escaped is a mare?" "Um yes." Shine said. "What does it matter if it's a mare?" Flash asked. "I have a thought as to why the vampire batpony escaped. But I can't be truly sure." Nightwing said. "So anyway, how do you plan to capture the other vampire Batponies?" Flash asked. "Flash, I have a complex crystal. A crystal that can use magic, they don't have magic. Therefore I have the advantage here whereas they don't." Nightwing explained. "Basically I'm gonna trap it in a bubble and then put it in a cage." Flash sighed. "I'm sorry but...it feels kinda wrong to be calling the escaped vampire batpony an 'it'." "Believe me, I feel the same way. But imagine how awkward it'd be if we called 'it' a 'he' when 'it' is a 'she'?" Nightwing said before turning to the mare. "Unless you know if 'it' is a 'she' or a 'he'?" "Like I tried to say before." Shine said in a more frustrated tone rather than a angry one. "My department is only making sure that all capsules are functional and all of the inmates are completely healthy." Shine did her best to explain. "I don't know anything you want to know, I don't know who's in charge, I don't know how the tests are done, I don't know know why we're not allowed to leave the lab, and I don't know the purpose behind these tests anyways!" Shine ranted. Nightwing stopped in his tracks, then Flash and Shine did the same. Nightwing turned to face Shine to see that she was breathing in large gulps of air as she panted. Nightwing however didn't care at all of tired and alien she felt, mostly because he knew that Shine was lying. Well actually she wasn't exactly lying, more or less, she was just avoiding the real and main question. Turning his body, Nightwing glared at Shine. His red batpony eyes could see that she was struck with fear. She did a good job at hiding it but he, hay even that Shadow guy that lives inside Flash's head, knew that she was afraid. A sly grin formed on Nightwing's face as his mind began to figure out how he could get the information out of Shine. Without using any physical matters, which weren't really his specialty. "Okay then." Nightwing admitted, causing Shine to give birth to a look of shock. "Flash once we get out of view from witnesses, I want you to dispose of Shine." Nightwing said getting a look of shock from both Flash and Shine who was now even more shocked. Flash couldn't believe what his best friend just asked him to do. Nightwing wouldn't go so far as to killing Shine just because she didn't have information Nightwing could use. That wasn't like his best friend, he'd never do something like that. 'Unless.' Flash paused in thought as he figured out Nightwing's plan. "Yeah. Whatever you say Nightwing." Flash said. The trio continued on their walk, only this time they were heading to the forest and had a mare struggling to run away, to scream for help, use her magic, anything. But alas it was no use, the complex crystal that kept her bound seemed to be impossible for her to break. But that didn't stop her from trying to get free. Her struggling doubled the instant she saw the entrance to the nearby forest, the large pine trees loomed over her, blocking out the light from Celestia's nice, warm, shining sun. It was no use, Shine had slipped back into the darkness from where she was once born. "Here's good." Nightwing said, coming to a halt. "Alright Flash, you know what to do." Flash nodded in understanding, holding up his hoof a lightning ball formed slightly above his hoof. Closing his eyes Flash began to concentrate on the lightning ball, then the ball began to change. The ball began to deflate and flatten itself until it was no longer a ball, now it looked like a three point five spike, but it was made out of lightning. Flash reared back his hoof, the lightning spike hovering barely centimeters away from his hoof. "WAIT!" Shine shouted. No idea how, but Flash had halted on throwing his spike so that was a plus. "What, would you like to say some final words?" Nightwing asked sarcastically. "No I...I know why the batpony escaped." Shine croaked. Nightwing smiled, feeling triumphant that his plan had worked. "Proceed." Shine sighed. "You see, the capsules were designed to keep the subject in a unconscious state so that the vampire batpony DNA would settle better with the ponies DNA. But...some of the tests we received were, *ahem* carrying." Shine said a little embarrassed and shameful. "You mean that you experimented on ponies that were pregnant?" Flash asked, as his lightning spike disappeared. Shine nodded sadly. "We had no equipment that we could use to even see if they were pregnant or not." "But it's a baby growing inside a mares belly." Flash exclaimed. "How on earth do you miss that?" "I believe that the reason is because the baby's DNA became merged with the batpony DNA you gave the pregnant mares." Nightwing said. "But still. It's a baby growing inside a mares belly." "True, but a newborn vampire Batpony baby is different than a normal pony baby. When a vampire batpony mare is pregnant it only takes about a month for them to give birth." Nightwing explained. "Oh..." Flash said surprised. "Unlike normal pony baby's, vampire baby's age the second their born. They don't need the nurture of a mother, they can survive on their own." Nightwing explained the biology of his race. "However, the reason the vampire batpony escaped is because the capsule it was in instantly becomes null void. In short the reason the batpony escaped was because it gave birth to a little batpony." "Um...okay." Flash said shakily. "Yes...that's the reason, however-" Shine was cut off as her entire body became cold. Her vision became blurred, a constant ring echoed through her hears, her body went numb, and she felt like her very live was being drained. Of course from Shine's point of view we have no idea what's happening so allow me to explain. Shine was cut off as a black blur shot out of the trees like a rocket and tackled Shine to the ground. The creature made a hiss and then sunk its fangs into Shine's neck, drinking her very blood. The creature I'm talking about is a small vampire batpony mare with black fur, a short red mane, and of course red eyes with dragon like pupils. "NO!" Nightwing shouted. The vampire's response was a venomous hiss as she unfolded her wings and jumped back to the tree tops. "She can already fly?" Flash asked. "Like I said before, newborns age very quickly." Nightwing explained hastily. "Stay here and make sure Shine's alright. I'll be right back." Nightwing said, unfolding his wings and flying after the vampire. Nightwing soared above the tree line, looking around for the missing vampire. He searched all over for the mare but soon found her. Or rather, she found him. Once more the vampire mare tackled her prey from above. The mare hissed at Nightwing as she tried to bite Nightwing's neck but was held back by Nightwing. Looking down Nightwing saw that the ground was getting dangerously closer. "Alright, enough of this!" He shouted as he and the mare vanished. Then reappeared on the ground where Nightwing had pinned the mare down. The mare thrashed and hissed as she tried to free herself from the pin. Tapping his crystal against the mare's forehead Nightwing casted a sleep spell on the mare. The mare's thrashing began to slowly stop as her eyes became heavy and her body got weaker until she was fast asleep. Making sure that the mare was completely out of it Nightwing got off the mare and trapped her in a blue aura bubble. "I wonder if my sister was ever like this to my parents when she was this old?" Nightwing questioned out-loud. Using Shadow stalking once more Nightwing and the bubble vanished and reappeared back to where Flash was. Once Nightwing reappeared next to Flash he was greeted with a most unusual sight. Flash was kissing Shine. Flash was kissing Shine, on the lips. Nightwing stood in shock at what he was currently seeing, his pupils shrunk along with the one thousandth part of his brain straight up exploding. Flash pulled back from Shine's lips and looked to Nightwing with a look of relief. "Oh good your here." Flash said relived. "I've tried everything to help her but she's not breathing and...her...heart..." Flash began to trail off as he stared at Nightwing quizzically. "Why are you looking at me like that?" "You were kissing a mare...other than Twilight..." Nightwing said out-loud hoping that his mind could get a better understanding of the situation. But his mind kept repeating DOES NOT COMPUTE DOES NOT COMPUTE DOES NOT COMPUTE DOES NOT COMPUTE DOES NOT COMPUTE DOES NOT COMPUTE DOES NOT COMPUTE DOES NOT COMPUTE DOES NOT COMPUTE!!! Over and over again in his head. "What?" Flash raised an eyebrow, then looked back to the unconscious Shine. ".......Oh, OH!" Flash said standing on his hind legs and waving his forelegs in front of him. "Nononono! I wasn't kissing her, I was trying to give her CPR!" "Oh...yeah that makes sense. Wait did you say she stopped breathing?" Nightwing asked, regaining his focus. "Yeah, her hearts still beating but I don't thing she's gonna last much longer." "She's been poisoned." Nightwing said, approaching Shine. "Wait, you mean that the vampire batpony has poison in her fangs?" "She only has one of the three." "There's three?!" "Calm down." Nightwing said observing Shine. "Just as I thought, CPR isn't gonna work on her because oxygen is trapped inside her lungs. We need to release it quickly or she's gonna die." Nightwing explained using his crystal to create a blue aura knife which he used to make a small cut on Shine's chest. The second the cut was made Shine began to cough, which was a sign that she was still alive. "Is she gonna be alright?" Flash asked. "What? No. The poisons still in her and it's still killing her. We need to get her to a doctor right now." Nightwing said, picking up Shine and placing her on his back, then placed a hoof on Flash and vanished. Back in the town, Flash, Nightwing, unconscious Shine, and the sleeping vampire batpony that is currently trapped in a magic bubble all reappeared in a crevasse between two buildings. "Um...why did we teleport here instead of at the hospital?" Flash asked as he observed his surroundings. "Because you need to think before you act." Nightwing answered. Once again, Nightwing used his crystal to cast a camouflage spell on himself and the sleeping vampire batpony mare. Nightwing's fur instantly began to slowly change from dark grey to light blue, his blue mane slowly changed to a light brown, his eyes changed from blood red dragon like eyes to normal rounded blue eyes, and his once bat like wings turned into regular light blue feathered Pegasus wings. As for the vampire mare, she simply turned invisible. "Woah." Flash said, stunned at what his friend just did. "I never knew you could do that." "It's just a simple illusion spell that readjust's light. A unicorn foal could do it." Nightwing responded. "Now come on, she needs medical now!" Nightwing said before running off. "Got it." Flash said running after Nightwing. Running out of the crevasse between the two buildings, Nightwing and Flash ran off to the hospital. "Just a sudden thought, but do you even know where the hospital is?" Shadow asked in Flash's mind. Flash's eyes widened in realization. Shadow was right, Nightwing and him had no idea where the hay the hospital was. Maybe they should ask around and see if they have one. Then another realization hit him. Where the hay was Everypony else? The whole town looked deserted. "You noticed it to huh?" Nightwing asked. "Yeah, where is Everypony else?" Flash asked. Flash's question was answered as him and Nightwing rounded a corner. In the town square all of the towns ponies were gathered around a wooden stake. But Nightwing was not concerned with the crowd, he was concerned with what was tied up at the stake. Bonded to the stake was a vampire batpony mare with black fur, red mane, and red dragon like eyes. Her hind legs were held to the stake by rope along with her forelegs that were tied to the stake and behind her back. The mare snarled and thrashed as she tried to free herself from the ropes. "Ladies and gentlecolts!" A unicorn stallion with yellow fur, baby blue eyes, and teal mane walked in front of the crowd. "This monster has threatened the very lives of our town, but no more! Tonight, justice will be served to this monster!" The crowd cheered in loud applause. The unicorn called up four other ponies, each held a loaded crossbow in their hooves. The four aimed their crossbows at the mare, two aimed at her heart and two aimed at her head. Nightwing's eyes widened as he knew what was about to happened. His concentration and train of thought all ceased as his camouflage spell vanished, revealing his bat like wings, dark grey fur, short light blue mane, and dragon like red eyes. Acting on impulse, Nightwing ran towards the crowd. Any tactical thought that he could've been used to safe her was out of reach of his grasp. "Ready!" The unicorn shouted to the four. Nightwing made it to the back of the crowd, he wasted no time as he began to slowly push past the groups of ponies. "Aim!" The unicorn shouted once more, the four crossbow wielders unlocked the safety on their weapons. Nightwing had almost made his way through the crowd. He was so close to the four ponies who had the crossbows. He extended his hoof to one of the pony's, nearly inches away from one of them. "Fire!" "Fire!" "Fire!" The words echoed through his ears. All of time slowed down as the ponies pulled on the trigger of their crossbow. The string pushed the arrow forward and out of the crossbow. The arrows soared through the air to the mare. Nightwing wanted to stop it, no, could've stopped this. He could've used his magic to stop the arrows, to create a shield around the mare, to use shadow stalking and get in the way of the arrows. But he did nothing. Nothing but stand motionless and frozen, cursed to watch one of his own be killed right before his eyes. *thunk* *thunk* *thunk* *thunk* The sound of the arrows piercing the mare's flesh and hitting the wood of the stake was the first sound that Nightwing's ears were greeted with. Time flowed normally once more as the crowd cheered wildly. Only Nightwing didn't cheer, he didn't clap, he didn't smile, all he did was stare motionless at the dead mare. Blood dripped down from the mares chest and head, staining the wood that she once stood on. As the wood was stained Nightwing's mind was stained as well by the sight of the mares death. A stain that would never wash away. In another land a local stallion farmer was working hard on his crops. He had brown fur, an orange mane, and orange eyes. He wore a pair of overalls and a trucker hat, he held a plow in his mouth which he used to dig and break up the dirt so he could plant his crops. But then in the corner of his eye he saw something bright. The flaw of curiosity took control of the farmers mind as he turned his head around. Looking up he saw the bright thing was something falling from the sky. It was a shooting star. The falling star burned yellow as it neared the surface of earth. *KABOOOOM!* the ground shook as the star hit the surface. Throwing away his plow the farmer ran towards where the object had crashed. Coming out of the entrance of the forest the farmer spotted the crater. In the center of it was a golden star about three times his size. As curiosity took control once more the farmer slid down into the crater and approached the star. The star pulsed with a golden aura as the farmer approached it. *crack!* The farmer stopped dead in his tracks the second he heard that sound. It wasn't the crack that caused him to halt, but the thing that was laughing inside it.