Death Petal skipped along happily as she made her way through the Everfree Forest, making her weekly trip to her friend Zecora’s. She was still going over her recent encounter with Fuedal, and she found herself more and more fantasizing about spending time with the likable stallion. True, their was the fact that he could have just been being likable just to know how she had turned into what she was, but just this once she was willing to take a risk, especially if it would mean getting to hang out with another who enjoyed such…particular nighttime activities.

She was halfway down the trail when she heard a familiar singsong voice on the air, and as if on que, jumped in and began singing in tune as a familiar melon yellow pegasus came into view.

“What is this place
Filled with so many wonders?
Casting its spell
That I am now under

Squirrels in the trees
And the cute little bunnies
Birds flying free
And bees with their honey

Hooooonneeeeeeey!

Oooh, what a magical place
And I owe it all to the Pegasus race
If I knew the ground had so much up its sleeve
I'd have come here sooner, and never leave

Yes, I love everythiiiiing!”

They finished singing and then burst into a fit of giggles as Death Petal came up beside her other friend Fluttershy, smiling through her giggles. “Nice to see you here Fluttershy; what brings you out to the Everfree this time of day?”

“Oh just heading over to Zecora’s for some potions, my animals have been getting sick lately and she always makes the best remedies.”

“What a coincidence, I was heading to her place myself, I have to go drop these potions off for Zecora, she can never seem to get enough of the potions I make with gems.”

“Oh that reminds me, Rarity told me to tell you that your next order of gemstones was ready to be picked up.”

“Excellent,” said Death Petal, hopping a little at the thought of all those gems ready to be collected. It could be reasonably said that Death Petal’s greed for gems rivaled even Rarity’s, causing her to horde any and all precious stones whenever she came across them.

This greed was tempered by her love for potion making, which required her to sacrifice many of said stones in order to get the desired potions she made for Ponyville. Potions for sickness, potions for healing bumps and bruises, and even a potion for repressing estrus, though that one was more for personal use, seeing as how the ponies of Ponyville for some reason refused it when offered.

“You seem to have an extra spring in your step Petal, anything good happen last night?”

Petal flashed a grin, “I was hoping you were going to ask me that, I actually met a stallion last night, and he seemed interested in me!”

Fluttershy squealed, her rarely exposed gossip side which Rarity had been slowly bringing out for air kicking in as she got closer to her friend. “Well tell me more, is he somepony I know?”

“I don’t think you do, he’s a bat pony named Fuedal…”

“Oh I know him, he’s student to Princess Luna, and he’s been staying in the library ever since Twilight moved to Canterlot.”

“At the library?” asked Petal, her excitement growing at finding out where the stallion lived.

“Yes, he took over after Twilight left, plus I think he mention something about needing to get some life experience before Luna would let him continue studying magic of the night, though when I asked him what kind of life experience he would just blush and say I wouldn’t want to know.”

Death Petal giggled at the thought of Fuedal blush, and then got a wonderful idea. “Hey Fluttershy, do you mind taking these potions to Zecora for me, I want to go and talk to Fuedal for a bit.”

“Oh no problem, just remember you have to come by and visit Shadowmere today, she has been missing you terribly since you dropped her off at my place.”

“I will don’t worry,” said Petal, and then she turned and ran off in the direction of Ponyville.

* * *

Fuedal carefully placed the last book on the shelf, having managed to get the cutie mark crusaders out of the library. They had for some reason taken to hanging out their ever since he had moved in, and he had a sneaking suspicion that they were crushing on him hard.

“That is all I need, three young fillies going stir crazy over a stallion like me…especially considering the culture.”

He had to admit, if they had been bat ponies he wouldn’t have been so miffed about them crushing on him, as they were normal ponies however, he knew to stay clear for their safety. It wasn’t that they weren’t attractive, and by extension it wasn’t that any of the other mares in Ponyville weren’t attractive, it was just due to his culture he could not be with them, especially when it came to bat pony mating practices.

It wasn’t known outside of bat pony society, but a bat ponies fangs were not just used as a means to open up a victims veins to get blood, it was also used as a way for mates to mark each other. It went back to the days when their ruler Luna had been banished to the moon, the bat ponies had left to the darker reaches of Equestria due to not being liked by the other tribes due to their absolute loyalty to the moon goddess even when she had gone mad. Life in the dark lands had been rough on them, and mating had turned from a choice into a need, such an important need that it had even changed there how bat ponies responded to each other genetically.

Fuedal was taken out of his musings by a knock at the door; which he went over to and opened, smiling when he saw Death Petal standing outside. “Petal, come in come in, I didn’t know you were coming into town.”

“I wasn’t really planning on it,” said Petal with a grin, “but then a little bird told me that you took over Ponyville library so I had to come over.”

She gently brushed herself against Fuedal, making him blush as she brushed her tail under his nose, letting him get a whiff of her scent. “Oh boy,” he thought, “just what I need. Here I was thinking about why I couldn’t mate with any of the Ponyville folk and now she comes walking into my home and shows she is interested, god I hope I can keep it…”

“You know you’re the first stallion who has ever taken interest in me,” said Petal, catching him completely off guard. “I must admit I have never really given much thought to “coupling”, but after you showed such interest I realized I have been putting it off for far to long, and I know we may not know each other that well, but I have a feeling your just the stallion I would want to get to know in every single way.”

She had been slowly backing him into a corner the entire time, and on top of that Fuedal’s brain had frozen due to everything she had just said. He quickly shook off the feeling however, he still had an image to uphold. “As much as your offer entices me lady Petal, I would much prefer getting to know you as a pony before um…other activities take up our time,” he said with a modest blush.

“So wining, dining, and conversation first, nighttime activities latter?”

“Uh…uh yeah, pretty much.”

She giggled, turning around to look at the books on the shelves. “I guess we shouldn’t really rush into things,” she said, though he could tell by the sound of her voice she had really wanted to rush.

“Hey,” he said, waling over and draping a wing over her for comfort. “I admit there is chemistry here, and I do really like you, but I think it would be better if we took are time with this.”

She nodded, smiling as she leaned against him. “I understand, I guess it’s just been a really long time since I felt this way about somepony before. But that is a story for another time, do you think it would be ok for me to take my cloak off, it’s getting rather hot but I don’t want to risk getting seen.”

“No its ok, the library is closed to public access till I’ve settled in, so you’re safe to take off your cloak.”

She smiled and did, draping it over the couch and then sitting down, reaching out and going for a book on the shelf. “I see your already changing up the organization around here; I remember when the fantasy section was in the basement.”

Fuedal laughed, “Yeah, I always thought she was a bit too focused about making sure everypony got a healthy dose of educational literature, I’m more lax in that department, I mean you got to get the kids inside reading somehow.”

She laughed, smiling as she put the book back. She browsed around some more, till she found a set of books that caught her interest. “Hey Fuedal, what are these?”

He walked over, and upon spotting what she was looking at he smiled. “These books are to help the ponies of Ponyville get better acquainted with bat ponies, as were starting to reintegrate ourselves back into pony society once again. These works were written by my grandfather after Luna returned, it was his hope that with these ponies would be able to better understand us and thus allow are return to be as smooth a transition as possible.”

“Really…um…do you mind if I check out some of these?”

“I’ll do you one better, wait here a moment.”

She watched him go upstairs, waiting patiently until he returned with a set of books, handing them to her gently but keeping hold to allow their magic to mingle a little, which Petal had to admit felt nice. “These…these books were the first my grandfather wrote, he passed them onto me before he died, and I have kept them close ever since.”

“Fuedal I can’t accept…”

“Sure you can, and anyway there is a lot they left out in the copies that you can only find in these books, plus I trust you’ll bring them back.”

“I…I don’t know what to say.”

Fuedal smiled, “just promise your read through every book, I’m sure it will answer many questions about yourself as it will about the rest of our people.”

“And what makes you think I have questions about myself that would need answering?”

“How long did it take you to figure out you needed animal protein to survive after your transformation?”

She blushed, “um…about a week.”

He smiled, patting her on the back before letting go of the books. “It’s understandable, you didn’t know how your body had changed, and hopefully these books will help you with any other questions you might have. And just remember, if you run into something in the books you don’t understand, just swing by, I’ll help you anyway I can.”

“Ok…thank you,” she said, giving him a quick peck on the cheek, before turning to go. However Fuedal pulled her back, leaning close and kissing her on the lips, causing her to melt into his forelegs as they stayed their for a few moments, all other worldly desires vanishing from their thoughts entirely.

Author's Note

As always if you guys have any questions or comments please feel free to drop them on by, and I hope you guys have enjoyed the chapter.