Driven Batty

Days strung along, meshing into nothing more than tedious testing and recording. Machines of all shapes and sizes were attached to Fluttershy. Spells of all sorts were also used on the pegasus. If she hadn’t refused to eat anything other than apples, Twilight and Starlight would have no doubt made her eat all sorts of things as well.

Progress was so slow as to seem nonexistent. Whenever it seemed as if they might make a breakthrough, with some spell or old tomb sent from Canterlot, it would fall through. Spells that seemed to have an effect one day would be useless the next. Books that looked like they would have the proper information would become nonsensical or would be damaged just as they were about to spill their secrets. Even the machines, some of the most advanced pieces of machinery in the Equestrian medical field, had issues where the same test done ten times in a row in the same conditions would have ten different results.

Some sort of tampering was expected on Fluttershy’s part, but no matter how hard they tried they couldn’t catch her doing anything. Having ten scry spells in and around her room showed her cuddled up with Anon and nothing more every night.

It was clear to see that the constant stream of failures were getting to both Twilight and Starlight. Both mares were losing what little sleep they had been getting before. They rarely left the library, and had recently stopped taking their meals in the kitchen. It was hard to even get them to eat whatever Anon tried to make them, both just preferring to munch on an apple. There was something… else off about them. Maybe it was the long days and sleepless nights, but he swore both of them were acting funny.

They were little things. The way Starlight spoke and then trailed off for no reason. Twilight’s ears twitching as if she were listening to someone even though no one was speaking. Once or twice--though he might have just imagined it--he swore he saw Twilight move like a puppet on strings.

While he was tired, and most days it felt like his brain was going to ooze out of his head, warning blairs were going off in his head. He had all but forced Starlight to strip so he could look her over for bite marks. For Twilight, he had “accidently” dumped some rice in front of her. He had also gotten both mares to eat some soup that just so happened to have been stuffed with garlic.

There were no bite marks that he could find, no matter how hard he looked. The rice stunt had gotten him yelled at by an exhausted alicorn. Twilight and Starlight took one bite of his soup and then pushed their plates away, which had been disconcerting until he had tried the soup himself and found it utterly inedible. When his attempt to check their teeth had almost gotten him punched, he gave up on checking to see if Fluttershy had gotten to them. Most likely, his mind was just playing tricks, and both mares were totally fine.

Still, in the back of his mind, he had a nagging feeling that something was wrong. At this point, he could only hope that wasn’t the case and they’d see the light at the end of the tunnel in the best few days.

It was evening on another day of endless research and testing. Starlight was calibrating a machine and Twilight was reading through some ancient home. Anon was at a table, feet propped up. Books were on either side of him, stacked so high that they rose a foot over his head. The desk was covered in papers, writing utensils, pots of ink and glue. There was a book in the human’s hands that he had been staring at since midnight the day before. For the past ten minus, he had been attempting to read the same paragraph, only to immediately forget and read again.

“Anon?”

Anon nearly fell out of his chair. Looking up, he saw Twilight staring at him. The alicorn had a far-off, dreamy look in her eyes, as if she weren’t quite here with him but somewhere else.

“What’s up, Twi?” he said, pulling his feet off the table and sitting correctly.

“If you’re up for it, could you go to the market?” she asked. “We need to stock up on apples.”

Anon frowned. Applejack, knowing what was going on along with the rest of the town, came once a week to drop off a few bins of apples. It wasn’t just apples either; everything from laundry detergent to food to paper was left on their doorstep, usually brought by Spike or one of the other girls.

“Leave the castle? What are you talking about, Twi?” he said.

“I think it would do you some good to get out for a little while,” the alicorn replied.

“I could argue the same for you and Starlight. If we need apples why don’t you just teleport a note to her like you usually do?”

“I don’t want to be more of a bother than I already am. Her and the whole town are doing so much for us, and I feel like we’re taking advantage.”

“That’s--”

“I would go, or at least send Starlight, but she can’t step away from the Hydro-Decalcifier for at least the next few hours, and I should stay close in case she needs any help.”

Twilight walked over, placing a hand on his shoulder.

“I also think one of us stepping away from our work for a little while will do us some good. Maybe allow us to see something we haven’t seen before?”

“What about if something happens with Fluttershy? I don’t want to leave you two alon--”

“We’ll be fine,” Twilight assured with a small smile. “You just need to run to the market. I doubt she’ll get into any mischief if you’re gone for an hour or two.”

She nudged him when he hesitated.

“There’s a bag of bits by the door. Starlight and I can hold the fort down. Trust me.”

It had been so long since the human had stepped outside of this castle. Sure, it was a big place, and the mares were a joy to be around, but being locked up for weeks made one urn for the outside. Anon, as much as he wanted to stay and make sure everything was alright, couldn’t resist the offer. Going outside, speaking with ponies other than Twilight and Starlight, seeing his buddies and having a quick chat; it all sounded really lovely.

He looked at the books all around him, realizing that if he didn’t get some fresh air soon he was going to possibly lose his mind and start smashing his head against the walls. The thought sunk into his stomach like a rock, causing him to sit back in his chair.

Fluttershy had been as quiet as a church mouse for these past few weeks. Surely it wouldn’t hurt anything if he was gone for a little bit, right?

“I… are you sure you both will be okay?” he asked.

“Of course,” Twilight said with a nod. “It’s that right, Starlight?”

Starlight, focused on her machine, said nothing, simply giving them a thumbs up.

When Anon still didn’t get up Twilight pulled him to his feet. She pushed him out of the library and toward the front door. He made a half-hearted attempt at resistance, trying to get back toward the library, but the alicorn wasn’t having any of it.

“Alright, alright. I’m going. I’m going. Just let me get my shoes on.”

“Come on. If you keep lollygagging the shops might close before you get to the market. You know Applejack likes to get home before sundown.”

“If you were so worried about that, why wait until now to kick me out?”

“Hush. Now grab those bits. There’s a good human.”

Twilight opened the door. As she did so, a ray of evening sunlight poured into the hall. It washed over the mare, making her let out a startled yelp. Though she still held the door open, she quickly ducked behind the door as Anon let out a laugh.

“You need to get out in the sun too, Sporkle,” he said, excitement building as he looked outside. “Being locked up in here is gonna turn you and Starlight into a pair of goblins.”

Twilight gave him a dirty look before chuckling. “You know what? I think you might be right. Starlight and myself could use a bit of social interaction. Maybe the two of us could go see the girls sometime tomorrow?”

“If you’re making me leave you both definitely need to get out too,” Anon said, stepping outside.

He took a deep breath, taking in the evening air. A gust of light wind hit his midsection. He could feel the warmth of the sun over the top of his head and face. As he stood there, a feeling he couldn’t quite place welled up in his chest, making him smile.

The urge to get away from the castle as quickly as his legs could take him came, but he brushed it aside, looking back through the doorway.

“Do you need anything else while I’m out?”

“Nope, just the apples,” Twilight replied, still hiding behind the door.

“And you’re sure you and Starlight will be okay?”

“Sure as sugar. Remember; if you don’t hurry Applejack won’t be in the market. We need as many apples as she has left. Okay?”

Before Anon could reply, Twilight closed the door. The human stared at it and, for a second, almost turned to go back inside. However, the siren’s call that was the outside world was far too strong. So, with hefting his bag of bits and whistling a tune, Anon made his way toward the main street.

“I wonder how the fellas are doing…”

~_~_~_~_~_~_

The front door of the castle closed with a click. Twilight stood in front of it, arms at her sides, wings tucked in tightly against her body. She leaned forward slightly, eyes becoming unfocused and her face losing all expression. A minute ticked by, then another, without the mare moving so much as an inch. She just stared straight ahead, not blinking, barely breathing; more of a puppet than a pony. Then, without warning, she spun around on a hoof and began walking down the hall.

Her steps were jerky and stiff, as if some part of her were resisting the act of motion. She made her way through the castle, not turning her head, not looking around the hall, just looking ahead in some sort of trance. She navigated the twists and turns, eventually finding herself in front of Fluttershy’s chambers.

The magical rune on the door flickered before her unfocused eyes. What had once been one of the most powerful, enduring spells maintained in modern times had become nothing more than an illusion, and a poor one at that. Had a novice spellcaster looked at it, they would have been able to tell that it was a sham. Unfortunately, as poor as it was, the illusion was good enough to trick any suspecting humans.

Twilight reached up and grabbed the door knob and gave it a twist. The illusion flickered off as the door swung open. Starlight was already there, still in her lab coat, seated at the hoof of Fluttershy, who was seated at the edge of her bed with a small smile.

“Come in,” the pegasus said, eyes glowing in the dying sunlight as she beckoned her with a finger. “Close the door behind you.”

Without saying a word, Twilight did as she was biddened. Fluttershy leaned back in the bed, watching as the alicorn made her way over and sat down to her left facing Starlight. She examined them both before clicking her tongue.

“I would have you both reveal your true selves,” she said. “These… weak forms unbecome you.”

As one, Starlight and Twilight’s horns glowed. The illusion magic cloaking both of them disappeared. In their wake was a unicorn with a set of furry, long ears, blood red eyes that held an unending hunger, and long, sharp fangs. Twilight was much the same, though, like Fluttershy, her wings had transformed into the wings of a great bat.

Starlight had been fully transformed in just a few days, breaking the trance Fluttershy had ensnared her with when she became a full vampony. Twilight, on the other hand, had been much more resistant to her bite. Though she was a weakling compared to the Nightmare, she was still a goddess in her own right. It had taken weeks of both Starlight and Fluttershy keeping the mare under trance along with nightly bitings, but their work had finally paid off. Even fully turned, Twilight had some… quirks, but Fluttershy was still confident that she’d play her part in what needed to be done.

As amusing as all of this had been, Fluttershy was tired of playing prisoner. It was time to leave this place. It was time to go out, expand, conquer, and send the tyrant sun crashing into the never ending darkness.

The pegasus grinned. “When the sun hides we shall strike out,” she said. “We shall bring the other elements here and turn them to our cause. After them, the entire town. After that, all of Equestria and beyond.”

Her words were greeted with equally toothy grins.

~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~

By the time Anon managed to get to the market, most of the shops and carts were locking up for the evening. Applejack had been getting Big Mac strapped into her cart’s harness so the big guy could walk it back to the farm when he ran over. Both Apples seemed surprised that he was out and about. After a quick explanation, the human walked away with a big bag of Apples free of charge. Applejack insisted that they would have thrown them out anyway, and Anon wasn’t one to turn away charity.

The orange mare had pulled him into a hug--nearly breaking his back--before giving him a wink and going on her way. Big Mac, thankfully, wasn’t so handsy, just giving him a nod before following his little sister.

Anon milled around the market, talking to ponies, all of whom were just as surprised that he was walking outside as the Apples. He was forced to spend the next hour answering a barrage of questions thrown at him by curious ponies.

Yes, they were still working to fix Fluttershy. No, she hadn’t turned into a giant mouth filled with fangs longer than swords. No, they weren’t stealing blood from the local horsepital to feed her. No, a big song and dance number probably wouldn’t solve the issue. Twilight had already considered it, and thought it would be a terrible idea.

What would have been annoying weeks ago was an absolute joy as he answered each question. More and more, he was understanding just how much isolating himself like he had poorly affected him. Tomorrow morning, he was going to kick Starlight and Twilight out of the house. They definitely needed it.

Even as nosey as ponies were, eventually the crowd went their separate ways. Anon was given some words of encouragement, a hug or two, and some treats and sweets and shoved into his arms. Laden with all sorts of goodies, he was about to make his way back to the castle, when he saw a certain dragon waddling by.

Spike looked exhausted; with a sort of hollow, empty look that one got after watching the Crusaders for more than a few hours. The little guy perked up after seeing him. He ran over, and, after the dragon launched himself at the human and wrapped his claws and legs around his thigh in a tight embrace, the two found themselves at Sugarcube Corner sharing a sundae not long after.

Spike, in fact, had been watching the Crusaders ever since Applejack had invited him to the farm. From sunup to sunset, it had been his job making sure the girls didn’t burn a barn down, a task which the dragon really wasn’t thrilled about, and they spent their first twenty minutes together bitterly complaining about it. Being an overachiever, and certified number one assistant, he also found time out of his busy schedule of filly-wrangling to help put Sweet Apple Acres finances in order. Apparently, none of the Apples were all that big on numbers, and if they sent in the tax return that had been filing the horse IRS would have descended upon them with fury and hellfire.

Anon told him of some of the goings on in the castle; how progress was very slow. The dragon seemed to perk up when he said that he was going to try to get the mares out of the castle for the day. He agreed that some sunshine would be just what Twilight needed. That confirmation was quickly followed by more Apple related complaints

“--Did you know that Granny Smith likes to play the banjo all night until the sun comes up? I swear to Celestia, I don’t know how Big Mac and the others sleep through it. You know what’s the craziest thing though? Granny plays all night and she doesn’t sleep during the day!”

“Oh, yeah she does,” Anon said with a wave of a hand, jamming another mouthful of sundae into his mouth. “Everytime I’m over there she sleeps on her rocking chair.”

“She only does that once or twice for ten minutes tops,” Spike insisted, jabbing his spoon at him. “I watched her one day; I mean, I was in the house all day, and she didn’t sleep for more than an hour.”

“You’re full of crap.”

“I am not! Dragons’ honor.”

“Maybe she just didn’t sleep that day? You know some folks have insomnia, right bud?”

“Ooooor…”

“...Or?”

Spike looked around, before leaning forward. “What if she’s some sort of super pony?”

“A super pony? The eighty year old grandmother that can barely walk around because of her bad hip is a super pony?”

“Yep,” Spike said with a smile.

“Could I ask what sort of powers this grandmother would have?”

“Something apple related I guess. Also, I’m pretty sure her limp is fake, so nopony thinks she’s super.”

Anon slowly nodded. “Spike, buddy. I’m gonna be honest with you, I think you’re reading too many of those comic books. That or being around the Crusaders is starting to melt that brain of yours.”

Spike, his eyebrows furrowing, opened his mouth to reply, pointing a claw at the bemused human. He managed the first syllable of a word before it turned into a loud belch. Flame shot out of the dragon’s mouth, forcing Anon to duck underneath the table. Thankfully, he was fast enough that his hair was only singed a little. He heard something hitting the table. Cautiously poking his head up--because he knew from experience that a second burp could come right after the first--he saw a scroll sitting right on top of what was left of their sundae. The Imperial Sun seal could be clearly seen on it.

“Oof, sorry Anon,” Spike said, lightly smacking his chest. “Usually there’s some warning before a message gets to me.”

He picked up the scroll,

“Huh, looks like it’s from Princess Celestia,” he said, breaking the seal with a claw.

“That’s probably for Twilight,” Anon said.

“I know. I’m Twilight’s number one assistant. If there’s anypony out there other than Twilight that’s allowed to read this it’s me.”

“Hey, I wasn’t trying to stop you from reading it. When you’re done I wanna read too. After that you can melt the seal back on.”

Spike scoffed, eyes scanning the page. “Please, this isn’t the first time I’ve… I’ve…”

The scroll went taunt as the drake stiffened. He wrenched it downward, revealing wide, excited eyes.

“What’s going on?” Anon asked. “Everything alright?”

Instead of answering, Spike all but threw the scroll at him. Anon took it up, reading it’s contents:

Dear Twilight,

I believe that I’ve found a solution to Fluttershy’s sickness. One of the royal librarians discovered an old tome that was written by a witch hunter who was rather famous right after my sister’s falling. The records told of ponies with the likeness of bats and a great fondness for apples.

The stallion, it seemed, was rather studious, and he went through great lengths to record and study the creatures. His time was… less civilized, meaning that some of his methods in attempting to restore these mares and stallions to their former selves more often than not lead to their untimely demise, but it does seem as if he found a reliable cure. This disease, or magical curse, is created from pure blackness, full of malice and hate. The only sure thing to cast away such darkness is light; light magic to be more precise. Very powerful light magic.

Over the centuries, such magic has largely gone out of favor, especially since the invention of electricity. There are few in Equestria able to do such magic now, and fewer even still with the knowledge and skill to cast out what haunts your friend. While I’m sure you’d be thrilled to study an old, archaic discipline such as this, I imagine that you want Fluttershy to be returned to normal as soon as possible. So, with that in mind, I will be coming to Ponyville with all due haste.

I beg your pardon that I cannot come immediately. Urgent royal matters have reared their ugly heads, and I unfortunately cannot ignore them. I will venture to finish them as quickly as I am able, and with some luck I should arrive in town before I need to raise the sun.

I hope you are well, and I hope this news lifts your spirits. By lunchtime, if all goes well, the Element of Kindness will be her old self again. Thanks will not be necessary, but I would not refuse a dozen of Sugarcube Corner’s finest donuts.

Yours, with all my affection,

Celestia

Anon read the whole letter, then read it three more times. With each read he could feel a smile coming to his face. Excitement bubbled in his chest, and it took some effort not to jump up onto the air and shout like some crazy person.

This was it. There actually was light at the end of this seemingly endless tunnel. He wouldn’t have to worry about Fluttershy breaking out and eating somepony. He didn’t need to work from sun up to sun down on machines and books so complex and scientific that just their titles gave him a headache. He’d be able to go home, sit in his living room, take a big ol’ crap in his own, lovely custom made john.

He wrenched the scroll down to look at Spike. The dragon had the same wide-eyed, wild look that he no doubt had.

“We need to go tell Twilight,” Spike whispered, leaning forward in his chair.

“What, you want to come over? What about Flutters?”

“What about her, she’ll be fixed tomorrow!” Spike said, voice rising as he rubbed his claws together. “I can go back home! No more foalsitting for this drake! Here, give me that bag! We’re going right now.!”

The two scrambled to their feet. Anon tossed a handful of bits onto the table before grabbing some bags. Spike grabbed the bag of apples, his tail wagging from side to side like a happy dog. The dragon managed to leap over the small fence separating the outer patio from the street, racing off in the direction of the castle. Anon, stepping over the same fence, was right behind him.

In no time at all, the two were standing at the front doors. The sun had just set, and from the look of the castle it seemed that nopony had turned any lights on.

Anon opened the door, beckoning the dragon to set inside. With a confident swagger, Spike made his way into the castle. Still excitedly smiling, Anon was right behind him, the door closing with a click as he shut it.

In the dim, dark hallway, he could make out Spike standing in the middle of the hallway. His arms were held tightly to his sides, and his tail was sticking straight out. The dragon looked as stiff as a board. He seemed… terrified. Looking down the hall, he instantly saw why.

There were three figures standing at the end of the hallway. Three pairs of red eyes glinted in the darkness. Two of them bore the wings of a bat. The third’s horn glowed with an eerie, blood-red aura, casting a light on all three of them. Fluttershy, Twilight, and Starlight stared at them. Each looked as hungry as the last.

“...FUCK,” Anon grumbled.