Queen of the Nightby Drizzle QuillChaptersNew Habits Die HardKnock, Knock - Who's There?Tea and ApplesNew Habits Die HardEight days. It had been eight days since Twilight had used the spell that had transformed her back into a pegasus pony, and still she had the undeniable craving for the juice of plump, scarlet, tantalizing apples. That wasn’t the only thing that was different, either. Fluttershy was often up late at night to feed her nocturnal critter friends, often in a drowsy, lumbering state expressing her exhaustion. But for the past seven nights, she had felt more…awake at night. Her ears twitched with every whistle of wind, and her wings felt tense, ready to fly at any moment. Her intelligence began to fog, giving way to an animal-like instinct to suck the juice from fruit. Something was wrong with her. Something was very, very wrong. “Something is very, very wrong,” Twilight remarked, and Fluttershy started, jerking backwards as she snapped out of her daze. “Did you figure it out?” she managed to squeak, allowing her mind to slowly recover from the sudden shock and settle into the reason she had come to the library in the first place, after having been cooped up in her cottage for a week trying to make her predicament go away by simply ignoring it. In short, it didn't exactly work out. Twilight levitated the book down back onto the table, mouth curved in a jagged frown. Fluttershy could practically see the gears working in her mind as she began to pace in a slow circle. “No…no, I haven’t. It just doesn’t make any sense! I correctly used the radiation spell on you, which should have cleared all vampire fruit bat instincts from your mind instantly, but you say—” “They’re still there,” Fluttershy confirmed half-heartedly. Twilight shook her head. “It’s impossible. It’s absolutely impossible! There is no way…” Her ears drooped. “How could it have failed? It wasn’t incomplete, not at all! The only possible explanation is that you already had vampire fruit bat blood in you, or some other kind of bat blood, but that’s also impossible….wait, none of them bit you, did they?” Fluttershy shook her head and bit her lip, feeling alarmed by the mere idea of a sweet little bat biting her. Sure, sometimes when creatures got a little upset they would nip, but to bite a pony on purpose? How could Twilight even conceive such an idea? The pegasus watched her friend pace back and forth, hooves tapping on the wooden floor. Back and forth, back and forth, then Twilight muttering under her breath and occasionally stopping to scribble something down on a piece of parchment, then more pacing. A never-ending cycle. Though she had no ideas about how to fix their current predicament, Fluttershy was starting to feel a little out of place, and Spike, currently at Rarity's, wasn't even here for her to converse with. Maybe staying with Twilight wasn’t the best idea. Maybe she should just let Twilight do her own thing. Fluttershy squeaked under her breath that she was going outside for fresh air – though she doubted Twilight heard her anyways – and excused herself, stepping outside into the blustery day. It was a regular day in Ponyville. The wind had kicked up a bit more than it usually did, and Fluttershy had to struggle not to be blown away by the sheer force of it – a sure sign that autumn was in full swing and that the Running of the Leaves would be held soon, an event she adored to watch. Not to take part in, of course. The stress would make her crack under the pressure! Curiosity overtaking her, Fluttershy turned around to look back at the library, placing one hoof on the window, rubbing it to clean it ever-so-slightly, and squinting as she peered through. Sure enough, Twilight was in the same spot she had left her in, still pacing and muttering to herself. Turning away from the window, the pegasus mare rolled her eyes and began to walk – where to, she didn’t know. Somewhere else. Perhaps the market, where she could do some shopping. But that could be a bad idea... Her hooves ended up carrying her to Sweet Apple Acres - an even worse idea. Or maybe they were intending to carry her home, but her mind drove them elsewhere. It didn’t really matter in the end, except that she was at the farm now, and it would be rude to simply stand outside and gawk, after all, so Fluttershy trotted up to the barn and raised her hoof to knock, trying her hardest to ignore all the delicious, juicy apples hanging behind her...Oh, please let Applejack be in the barn... The friendly call came from behind her. Of course. “Howdy, Fluttershy!” Though she was more annoyed than startled, the pegasus still had a sharp intake of breath as she turned to face the orange earth pony trotting up to her with a barrel of shiny red apples on her back. “Oh, hello, Applejack…” Applejack’s grin spread the length of her muzzle. “Ah sure am mighty glad ya stopped by. Ah’ve been meanin’ to call ya down here, but Ah keep forgetting, what with the harvesting of the new apples an’ all.” “Is that so?” Fluttershy smiled nervously, attempting to ignore the saliva rapidly forming in the corners of her mouth by staring up at the light blue sky swirled with cotton-puff clouds. “How nice of you.” Applejack nodded, shifting her weight a little bit so that the basket wouldn’t fall. The slight movement made Fluttershy’s gaze fall and meet the basket again, and she licked her lips, already feeling the fangs she had come to hate slip from their hidden sheaths. Her mind was fogging over, and her hunger was intensifying…she hadn’t even known she was hungry… “Ah’m going to take you to see how the fruit bats are doing!” Applejack announced loudly. “Just follow me and Ah’ll take ya there – Ah think you’ll love it.” Blinking rapidly, Fluttershy nodded, nervously smiling and slipping into place a little ahead of the farm pony. The fangs slipped back into their hidden sheathes, and her mind cleared. Just don't think about the apples. Don't think about the apples. Don't think about the apples... The walk, though it must have only taken a few minutes, could have taken years, especially if one is trying to ignore the bountiful amount of fruit surrounding them on every side. Fluttershy hadn't even known apples had such a strong scent. The grey bat rested upside-down on the branch, staring out at the trees surrounding him. He had a colony of fellow vampire fruit bats that got along relatively well. He had a whole section of an apple orchard for said vampire fruit bats. But he was unhappy. And he wasn't quite sure why. Distressed by this thought, the bat reached out to snatch a piece of apple hanging next to him but was slightly shocked to discover it had already been whipped out of his grasp. It was a darker furred bat, one he didn't know particularly well; the bat stuck out his tongue at him and stuck his fangs into the apple, absorbing the juice with an idiotic grin on his face. Irritated, the grey bat flipped right-side up on the branch. 'That doesn't bother you?' The black bat looked at him with apple juice still on his chin, confused. 'What?' 'You just took my food. And you don't even care.' The black bat rolled his dark, beady eyes and snorted. 'Am I supposed to care?' The grey bat crossed his arms and shook his head sadly. 'My point exactly.' He didn't even know why he was thinking of such things, honestly. All his life, he had been exactly like that black bat - a mindless fruit gobbler, willing to take another's piece of food for his own personal pleasure. But now he was finding a problem with it? Perhaps he had sucked on a bad apple last night. That had to have been it. Satisfied with this result, the bat curled up on his perch once again and closed his eyes. The thoughts didn't seem to leave his head. What was messing with him? Every fruit bat in the history of fruit bats ever had been uncivilized and rude and grabby, and his colony shouldn't be an exception. Their purpose was to suck the juice from the fruit and spread the seeds, and that was it. There was no other special thing they were supposed to do in life. But eight days ago they had been forced to do other things. They simply hadn't wanted to eat apples anymore. The grey bat knew that for that day, they hadn't had a purpose. And if you have no purpose, what are you, exactly? Big thoughts for a little bat. He released a breath of air and tried to stop thinking, but the thoughts just kept on rolling. Maybe, if it was possible for them not to eat fruit, fruit eating was not their purpose. And if fruit eating wasn't their purpose, maybe they weren't supposed to be grabby and rude and uncivilized. Maybe they could become the first respectable fruit bat colony. The bat actually made a chuckling noise out loud. Wheeze, wheeze, wheeze. That was impossible. Yes, he had sucked on a bad apple last night for certain. To even come up with such an idea was outrageous in its own right! After all, the colony didn't even have a queen! Everybat knew that a respectable colony had to have a queen to lead them. None of the females in this colony were even close to being qualified, anyways. The grey bat sighed. There really was never any doubt his plan wouldn't work, but it was worth a thought. He closed his eyes, preparing for sleep... And then there were voices, and they were coming closer to the orchard. The bat opened one eye to see the orange pony that he didn't like - the one who always called him an ugly, stupid pest, and the yellow pony that he did. She was the one, he knew, that had convinced the orange one to give the bats their orchard. "They're all hidden up in there, happy as can be," the orange mare announced loudly. She seemed to yell unnecessarily a whole lot of the time, and the bat didn't really find it very pleasant. "They still have enough fruit?" came the softer voice. "Plenty of it, Ah'd say! We did go an' give 'em a sixth of the orchard at yer request, after all." The yellow mare tilted her head and stared at the apples. The grey bat found this quite odd behavior for a pony, but decided to let it go. Ponies did awfully strange things. "Enough fruit," the pony repeated in a dreamlike tone, but then shook her head rapidly and stared at the ground. "Are they getting along?" "Well," the orange pony said, scrunching her muzzle into a frown, "No. Still stealin' food from each other an' all that stuff. But it's in their nature, Fluttershy, so you shouldn't worry yer head over it." It's how we are, the bat reminded himself. But still the yellow mare looked displeased, head tilted to one side as she stared up with teal eyes confused and wistful into the trees. The bat had seen a lot of ponies in his life, and that wasn't how most ponies looked when they looked at fruit-gobblers. Especially not fruit gobblers in an orchard. "Well, Ah'd best be getting back," the orange earth pony commented. Loudly. "Wanna come along back with me, Fluttershy, or stay here a bit longer?" "If you don't mind," the pegasus pony whispered, "I'd like to stay here." Then they were alone - just the pony and the bats. The one known as Fluttershy spread her wings and soared upward, into the orchard so that she could stare around at all of the assembled bats watching her, wondering why she was there. She frowned. "You need to stop being mean to each other." One of the bats screeched. 'It's what we do, sister. There ain't no changing it.' Fluttershy's eyes grew wide at the insult, and then narrowed into little slits. "You want to play that game, huh? Well, mister -" Slowly she trailed off, staring behind the bat at the apple hanging above it. Her eyes grew wide; saliva began dripping from the cornera of her mouth. The bats gasped. Yelped. Screeched in confusion. Because the pony in front of them was not a pony at all, but a bat - or part of a bat - or part of a bat of a bat, because she hadn't completed the transformation yet...but her eyes were no longer teal. They were a pale scarlet. Fluttershy seemed to realize this as well; she shook her head rapidly, allowing the saliva to drip down to the ground and her eyes to return to their normal color. "I...I think I'd better go now," she whispered quietly, before flapping her wings as fast as they could take her away from the orchard. As she left, many pairs of bright red eyes trailed her in complete silence. As soon as she was out of sight, all the bats burst into chaos. 'Did you see that? That is just unnatural! She should be destroyed!' 'I thought it was kind of neat. If we add a pony to our colony, she can add more ponies, right?' 'No she can't, stupid.' The grey bat, however, hung on his perch silently. He only had one thought going through his head, and the thought was making him tremble all over with excitement. I've found our queen. Knock, Knock - Who's There?Fluttershy took a deep breath. "Alright, Angel. You know what you have to do." The little white rabbit twitched one ear, clearly not impressed, but didn't move an inch from his designated spot. After having a final good-bye conversation with Applejack, the earth pony had insisted that she take a few apples with her back to the cottage for the critters. Fluttershy had tried to deny, she really had, but how rude would that be? No, she had to be nice and take the apples, drooling the whole way home and looking like a fool. It was only after she had hurried into the cottage did she realize that the apples could be used to her advantage. Angel had cautiously accepted her immediately-formulated plan, and here they were. The scenario was this: there was an apple on the table about three feet away from Fluttershy. Angel was going to fake a hurt paw and collapse about three feet away from the pegasus - in the opposite direction - while the other critters prepared to dig into the apple if Fluttershy didn't move fast enough. The choice would be Fluttershy's, and she knew she couldn't turn down an injured animal - it was impossible, against her nature. Though it was a strange method, it had a chance of working, and a sometimes a chance was good enough. The pegasus mare took another breath, inhaling through her nose and exhaling through her mouth. In, out. In, out. "Ready." With a final roll of his beady black eyes, Angel Bunny collapsed to the ground, wailing and clutching his paw in mock pain. His little pink nose twitched; his small white lip quivered as his eyes seemingly melted. The act was killing him, simply killing him. He couldn't do this much longer. Where was Fluttershy, with her comfort and kisses and - Sllluuuuurrrrrppppp Angel dared to lift his head and look. There was Fluttershy, clutching onto the no-longer juicy apple like it was her lifeline, sucking all of the juice out of it with fresh fangs, a content expression in her scarlet eyes; wings now long and leathery, they furled and unfurled with pleasure. One of the squirrels which had been assigned to eat the apple let out a wail of disappointment and reached for the piece of tantalizing fruit, but recoiled when Fluttershy turned and glared at him, revealing her fangs in their entirety and hissing, drawing back her gums to do so. The squirrel's lip trembled; it turned and scampered under the couch as a pleased Fluttershy continued her drinking. Angel frowned. This wasn't right. This wasn't his Fluttershy. And it was the right time he decided to do something about it. Pulling himself up onto the table with tiny white paws, he opened his mouth to speak some sense into her when there was a commotion at the front door - lots of screeching and the beatings of leathery wings. Fluttershy's head jerked up, eyes still bright scarlet. She hissed in the direction of the door. Angel shook his head, gesturing he would go get it, and the pony he had been proud to call his owner once more vanished into her own batty realm. The little bunny hopped off the table and scampered on all fours towards the door, performing an incredible leap and hooking his paws onto the doorknob. With a final twist he landed on the ground, allowing a smug smile to creep across his face as the door slowly inched open... ...revealing three flapping, sharp-toothed, angry-looking bats. Blinking, Angel stared at them; they stared back at him with an equally confused expression; it took a few seconds for either one to move. One of the bats, a smaller grey one in the front, opened his mouth, and, in a bat's hissing, wheezing sort of manner, spoke. 'Where is the one they call Fluttershy?' The bunny shook his head, a firmly planted "no." The creeps could not go and see the pegasus, especially not in her current state. The bat glanced back over his shoulder at his friends. One of them hissed, extending his wings and making an attempt to look menacing. It probably would have worked, too, if Angel hadn't already been so unnerved by a certain bat - or bat-pony - in particular that afternoon. He shook his head "no." They still could not come in, and they most certainly could not see Fluttershy. It was unfortunate, really, that he was still holding the door open. The grey bat screeched loudly at his companions and zoomed in through the open crack; the others followed suit, and Angel Bunny could have sworn they were smiling at him. Slamming the door in pure irritation, he stormed over to where the other critters were cowering in fear as the bats drew closer. Fluttershy had moved on to her fourth apple; her fangs sunk deep into its flesh and her expression was one of contentment, though it changed instantly when she saw the bats approaching. Tilting her head to one side, she unfurled her wings and came to meet her houseguests in midair. Angel, from his place with the others, knew something was about to happen. The problem was that he didn't know if it would be good or bad. He supposed, grim as the thought may be, he was about to find out. The bats and Flutterbat surveyed each other from the air, Fluttershy squinting as if it was difficult to see, the bats' eyes wide as they took in all parts of the former pegasus - leathery, long wings, small, blindingly white fangs, and apple-red eyes. For a few moments, neither of them did anything, until one of the bats burst into the closest imitation of a smile it could. The other ones looked skeptical, but copied the motion. One of the bats, the grey one that appeared to be the leader and had 'smiled' first, literally hissed in delight. 'I told you both! I told you she was more bat than pony! Look at her now!' Angel bared his teeth and growled, the rumble echoing deep in his throat. This was Fluttershy. He had known her for most of his life. She had only started her weird phases recently! How dare these intruders insult her! The growl grew louder, and the other animals around him stirred in unease. Some looked like they wanted to go hide; others looked just as angry as Angel. Fluttershy tilted her head. The language of the bats came easy to her. 'What - what do you mean?' The smallest bat laughed. '"What do you mean," she says. I told you! She's stupid and your idea is heading nowhere. You better just give it up while it's still fresh in your head.' That was it. That. Was. It. Angel Bunny was not going to let those jerky bats decide they could make fun of his Fluttershy any longer. Call her stupid, break into her home...something bad was going on and he didn't like it one bit! Clenching his paws into tiny white fists, the rabbit stormed forward, ready to begin his rant... ...but Flutterbat beat him to it. 'How dare you, you insulting scum! How dare you make fun of me like that!' she screeched, baring her teeth and narrowing her eyes, moving closer towards the bat that had made the comment. Said bat jerked backwards in surprise, blinking several times in abrupt confusion before baring its teeth and moving closer to accept the silent challenge. Bat and batpony circled each other, eyeing their opponent; Fluttershy's face was one of silent contentment. The obvious size difference presented her with an automatic win, all tied up with a beautiful bow. The bat did not look fazed. Angel knew there were several things he could do right now. He could go and hide. He could support Fluttershy in her fight. He could try and get the other two bats out of the house. Or he could help the other animals that were trembling around them. Despite his awful behavior, Angel knew that deep down he was quite caring. It was cheesy and typical, but he really didn't care all that much. Especially not now, as the others either looked as if they would faint or go out there to fight the bats themselves. A shame Harry the bear wasn't visiting that day. Turning to them, he lifted his forelegs above his head, waving so that all the animals would catch his eye. They did, rather nervously, and with a few loud squeaks and some well placed paw directions, the critters of Fluttershy's cottage slowly filed up the stairs, restraining themselves from bursting into an all-out sprint. One of the tiniest mice began to cry. What's wrong with Fluttershy? Why is she fighting a bat? Why do the bats want to talk to her? Why is she hissing at us? Angel had no answers to any of these questions, so he just patted the mouse on the back, sent her up the stairs, and headed back for the next group. In a situation such as this, one had to take the initiative. There were times to be irritating and times to be smart. And now was a time to be smart. The grey bat shrieked to see his companion and the batpony about to tear out each other's throats. Flapping his wings angrily, he burst into the middle of them, breaking apart their fight. Fluttershy recoiled, looking shocked, but the other bat continued to advance, teeth bared. 'What're you doing?' the grey bat screamed. 'She challenged me, and a challenge is a challenge.' 'But that's not why we came!' 'Then...why are you here?' The last voice was quieter, female. Fluttershy had spoken. 'I'm assuming you didn't come here just to attack my home and me, so...why?' With the last word she gave a little start; shaking her head, her eyes began to revert to teal and her wingbeats became quicker as her wingspan decreased on the spot. The grey bat winced. They were losing her, and as a pony, who knew if she would ever agree to their idea? His eyes scanned the room quickly, and landed on a bucket of a certain scarlet fruit. His smile, his horrible, toothy smile, widened. 'How about we sit down and tell you,' the grey bat suggested, 'over a bucket of apples? Doesn't that sound lovely?' Fluttershy's mouth began to drip longing saliva. The bat could see her gleaming white fangs already reappearing. Everything was going according to plan. Tea and ApplesFlutterbat truly was quite a beautiful creature. Before, when she had come to the orchard, the grey bat had only been able to get a quick glimpse of her, enough to see her long, leathery wings and her bright red, voracious eyes. But now, now that he could behold her in all of her true glory, now he was beginning to see how perfect his choice was. There was no one alive, bat or pony, better for the job of Queen. She was large and intimidating enough to scare away possible rivals, yet gentle and kind enough to talk sense out of the ponies who tried to come and take their apples away every year. She could be menacing if she wished, and she could communicate with every creature the woods could throw at them. The grey bat knew this; now he just had to make sure his comrades felt the same. It was difficult, choosing two other bats come with him to see their new Queen, but in the end he had decided on his bratty little brother and another who had always seemed quite a bit nicer than the others in the colony. He had hoped that perhaps they could see his reasoning better than any others. It was predictable – they couldn’t. But they had still tagged along to see how things had turned out, and, ‘laugh at his miserable failure afterword.’ If that wasn’t absolutely infuriating, what was? He had to convince them; it was now or never. Fluttershy sat across from them at her kitchen table, slurping up apple after apple while the bats tried to keep up. The grey bat sighed. Either they left with a Queen or left with no dignity. He doubted his companions would care either way. Indeed, they were leaning against the side of the apple bucket. His brother had actually started to fall asleep, while the other was making faces at a bunny that kept poking his head out from the top floor. Clearly it was up to him. ‘Miss Fluttershy,’ the bat began, and she looked up at him, fangs showing. Oh, those fangs! So much longer than the fangs of any bat! ‘We have come to offer you a…proposition, of sorts.’ She cocked her head to the side. ‘What’s your name?’ It was a question that caught him completely off-guard. Vampire fruit bats had no friends. They had relatives, but they had no one they were particularly close to; in a world where everything was ‘fight for your own fruit’ what was the need for company you enjoyed if they could just backstab you and take your fruit? And if you had no friends, no need to refer to anyone or call out to them, why have names at all? Siblings or mothers or fathers called each other just that – ‘Mother,’ ‘Brother,’ ‘Son,’ and so on and so on. But after that, there was nothing at all the fruit bats were called. So he answered truthfully. ‘Brother, to one. Son, to two. There is no name other than those that I have; no name other than those is required.’ Fluttershy contemplated this, brow furrowing in concentration, before she turned back to him and smiled, a delicate little movement that perfectly showed off her exquisite fangs. ‘Then we’ll have to fix that, won’t we?’ The grey bat’s brother choked on the apple he was sucking; the companion froze. Both turned and stared at Fluttershy as if she was the strangest thing they had ever seen, and frankly, the grey bat couldn’t blame them; he was doing the same thing. Give him a name? That…that wasn’t done! ‘What do you mean?’ he hissed nervously, anxious to hear that he had misheard her, that she had misspoken. But in a way, he was curious. A name, like Fluttershy or Applejack? His own name? ‘Well,’ she reasoned, ‘I can’t just call you Grey Bat for the rest of this talk, can I? It would get terribly redundant, and I can imagine that would annoy you greatly.’ The grey bat blinked. It was something he had never thought of before, and he didn’t particularly like thinking of it now. So much difference! An actual name for him? ‘What about us?’ his brother asked, clawing his way up the side of the nearly-empty apple basket and peering at Fluttershy curiously. ‘Do we get names too?’ ‘I suppose,’ she replied, looking at him; he flushed and dropped out of sight, back behind the basket to his safe haven. ‘Now,’ Fluttershy said, stroking the grey bat’s head on a whim; he nearly winced and pulled back, but quickly decided he enjoyed the feel of her almost-velvety hoof on him – it felt quite nice, in a way. ‘What to call you?’ She inspected him up and down with those beautiful scarlet eyes, stroking his side with one hoof and feeling the leathery texture of his wings at the same time. ‘You’re quite skinny.’ His brother snickered; the grey bat glared at him through eyes half-shut. ‘I believe,’ Fluttershy continued, in the language of the bats, ‘that I’ll call you…Worm.’ Worm? Of all the possible names out there, she chose Worm? The newly named bat sputtered in protest; his brother collapsed on the table, rolling back and forth, propelled by fits of laughter. ‘Why?’ he yelped, trying hard to suppress a screech. ‘You’re skinny,’ she explained, giving a firm glare to Worm’s brother, ‘and you seem sneaky. Quiet. Peaceful. These are all qualities that a worm has, you see. I’ve talked to quite a few of them myself.’ Worm had to bite his lip to stop himself from whining and lowered his head, as if he was a baby bat being scolded by his mother. ‘I understand.’ And that was when it hit him. The power to give them names – names that fit their personalities and individual tastes. The power to hold authority over others, maintaining balance and managing to stay kind in the process. The power of a Queen. Worm shot bolt upright. ‘Miss Fluttershy! I’ve almost forgotten the reason we’ve come to speak with you!’ His brother rolled his eyes; their companion hissed softly. ‘The Worm still hasn’t given it up, has he?’ Fluttershy tipped her head to the side. ‘I’m all ears.’ Worm inhaled. Exhaled. And spoke. ‘Will you lead us? Will you become our Queen, our leader, our mother, our ruler, our…other large, looming things? Will you protect us from danger? Will you become the Mistress of the Night, the Queen of the Night, and eat apples with us? Will you give us all names, give us a purpose other than to fight each other and take away the reputation that has so sourly poisoned our species? ‘Will you be our Queen, Miss Fluttershy?’ She stared at him, mouth slightly agape, looking incredibly flustered and quite pink in the face. ‘Worm…I…’ His heart sank, slowly at first, and then faster and faster until it was falling, falling, falling down into a bottomless pit because this wasn’t good it wasn’t good it wasn’t good she was going to – ‘I’m sorry, but I’ll have to say no.’ Worm’s heart came crashing to the bottom of that bottomless pit, and splintered into a million pieces. His brother laughed out loud. ‘Told you so.’ The grey bat had never hated another of his species so much as he did right that very moment. His wings flared; his eyes narrowed, and he let out an ear-piercing shriek that trembled the walls of the cottage. Fluttershy stared at him in shock, and when he looked at her, the first thing he noticed was that her eyes were no longer the beautiful crimson they once had been, but were now quite an ugly shade of teal. ‘Worm,’ she sputtered, clearly out of breath. But that was it. He was done. Out the door Worm flew, going so fast no one could see but a grey blur and hear nothing but a whisper of wind. A mare’s voice, not the screech of a vampire fruit bat, whimpered. “Oh…I do hope he’s alright.” Worm’s brother turned and followed, their companion lagging slowly behind, as one by one the vampire fruit bats turned and flew out the door, leaving a partially confused pegasus mare staring after them with eyes of teal. The wind whistled through an empty basket of apples placed on the tabletop. “And we have Mr. Nibbles, Mrs. Nibbles, and the little baby Nibbles’. I think that’s everyone, Angel, or am I wrong?” Fluttershy frowned, placing a hoof to her chin as she thought; Angel pulled on her tail and shook his head in response to her question. Out from the doorway peeped the head of a tiny, shivering, red-furred squirrel. Fluttershy didn’t know his name, but she did know that he looked like a sweetheart. Grinning and clucking her tongue, she called him forward. “Come out little one, the bats are all gone now.” But instead of coming into her welcome embrace, the squirrel shivered uncontrollably and darted back behind the shelter of the doorway. Fluttershy frowned. What did I do wrong? Again she called out, voice a little bit softer and a tiny bit sweeter than before, “All the bats are gone; it’s safe to come out.” The squirrel shook his head, beady black eyes wide and bright with fear. His mouth moved, but no sound came out of the rapidly opening and closing jaws. “Angel,” the pegasus whispered to her steadfast rabbit companion, watching out of the corner of her eye at the shivering squirrel, “what’s wrong with him? Can you ask?” The bunny saluted, breaking form to bounce forward and cautiously whisper something in the nerve-wracked squirrel’s ear. It hastily squeaked something back in reply, so soft that Fluttershy couldn’t make out the words, but Angel obviously could, as he frowned, eyes narrowing into an angered position. Fluttershy knew that face all too well. Someone had said something that had upset him, and he didn’t like it. The little squirrel already looked like he was going to crack under the pressure of being spoken to, and the pegasus didn’t want that feeling tripled when Angel began to yell at him; quickly she intervened, calling her bunny friend back to her side. He came, but his eyes were still narrowed into tiny slits and his stomps shook the floor like thunder. “What’s wrong?” Fluttershy asked, afraid to hear the answer. Angel exhaled. ‘You know that stupid thing you did with the apples ‘bout twenty or so minutes ago?’ Biting her lip, Fluttershy nodded in response, ignoring his insulting remark. ‘Well, you hissed at one of the squirrels when ‘e tried to take your food, and you got all scary-like. Your eyes got red and you had big teeth – really, really big! – and your eyes were all slit, dragon-style. That was the guy you got mad at.’ Angel tipped his head back towards the still-nervously huddling ball of fur in the doorway. Fluttershy shook her head. “But I don’t understand. Why is he scared of me?” Angel’s eyes flitted off to the side. ‘’E said something. It wasn’t a good thing to say. ‘Specially not to me.’ “Angel Bunny.” She had to fight hard to suppress her voice from rising into a shrill shriek. “What did the squirrel say?” The rabbit coughed into his paw. ‘You know how you told ‘im all the bats were gone, and it was safe now?’ Curious, Fluttershy nodded slowly. ‘Well...’e said that not all the bats were gone, not yet.’ Angel looked her straight in the eyes for the first time, and she was shocked to see that his gaze was full of dismay. ‘’E said there’s still one left, and that it wasn’t safe, not yet. Especially since that bat’s the one who takes care of us.’ He sighed. ‘And ‘e’s referring to you.’
New Habits Die HardEight days. It had been eight days since Twilight had used the spell that had transformed her back into a pegasus pony, and still she had the undeniable craving for the juice of plump, scarlet, tantalizing apples. That wasn’t the only thing that was different, either. Fluttershy was often up late at night to feed her nocturnal critter friends, often in a drowsy, lumbering state expressing her exhaustion. But for the past seven nights, she had felt more…awake at night. Her ears twitched with every whistle of wind, and her wings felt tense, ready to fly at any moment. Her intelligence began to fog, giving way to an animal-like instinct to suck the juice from fruit. Something was wrong with her. Something was very, very wrong. “Something is very, very wrong,” Twilight remarked, and Fluttershy started, jerking backwards as she snapped out of her daze. “Did you figure it out?” she managed to squeak, allowing her mind to slowly recover from the sudden shock and settle into the reason she had come to the library in the first place, after having been cooped up in her cottage for a week trying to make her predicament go away by simply ignoring it. In short, it didn't exactly work out. Twilight levitated the book down back onto the table, mouth curved in a jagged frown. Fluttershy could practically see the gears working in her mind as she began to pace in a slow circle. “No…no, I haven’t. It just doesn’t make any sense! I correctly used the radiation spell on you, which should have cleared all vampire fruit bat instincts from your mind instantly, but you say—” “They’re still there,” Fluttershy confirmed half-heartedly. Twilight shook her head. “It’s impossible. It’s absolutely impossible! There is no way…” Her ears drooped. “How could it have failed? It wasn’t incomplete, not at all! The only possible explanation is that you already had vampire fruit bat blood in you, or some other kind of bat blood, but that’s also impossible….wait, none of them bit you, did they?” Fluttershy shook her head and bit her lip, feeling alarmed by the mere idea of a sweet little bat biting her. Sure, sometimes when creatures got a little upset they would nip, but to bite a pony on purpose? How could Twilight even conceive such an idea? The pegasus watched her friend pace back and forth, hooves tapping on the wooden floor. Back and forth, back and forth, then Twilight muttering under her breath and occasionally stopping to scribble something down on a piece of parchment, then more pacing. A never-ending cycle. Though she had no ideas about how to fix their current predicament, Fluttershy was starting to feel a little out of place, and Spike, currently at Rarity's, wasn't even here for her to converse with. Maybe staying with Twilight wasn’t the best idea. Maybe she should just let Twilight do her own thing. Fluttershy squeaked under her breath that she was going outside for fresh air – though she doubted Twilight heard her anyways – and excused herself, stepping outside into the blustery day. It was a regular day in Ponyville. The wind had kicked up a bit more than it usually did, and Fluttershy had to struggle not to be blown away by the sheer force of it – a sure sign that autumn was in full swing and that the Running of the Leaves would be held soon, an event she adored to watch. Not to take part in, of course. The stress would make her crack under the pressure! Curiosity overtaking her, Fluttershy turned around to look back at the library, placing one hoof on the window, rubbing it to clean it ever-so-slightly, and squinting as she peered through. Sure enough, Twilight was in the same spot she had left her in, still pacing and muttering to herself. Turning away from the window, the pegasus mare rolled her eyes and began to walk – where to, she didn’t know. Somewhere else. Perhaps the market, where she could do some shopping. But that could be a bad idea... Her hooves ended up carrying her to Sweet Apple Acres - an even worse idea. Or maybe they were intending to carry her home, but her mind drove them elsewhere. It didn’t really matter in the end, except that she was at the farm now, and it would be rude to simply stand outside and gawk, after all, so Fluttershy trotted up to the barn and raised her hoof to knock, trying her hardest to ignore all the delicious, juicy apples hanging behind her...Oh, please let Applejack be in the barn... The friendly call came from behind her. Of course. “Howdy, Fluttershy!” Though she was more annoyed than startled, the pegasus still had a sharp intake of breath as she turned to face the orange earth pony trotting up to her with a barrel of shiny red apples on her back. “Oh, hello, Applejack…” Applejack’s grin spread the length of her muzzle. “Ah sure am mighty glad ya stopped by. Ah’ve been meanin’ to call ya down here, but Ah keep forgetting, what with the harvesting of the new apples an’ all.” “Is that so?” Fluttershy smiled nervously, attempting to ignore the saliva rapidly forming in the corners of her mouth by staring up at the light blue sky swirled with cotton-puff clouds. “How nice of you.” Applejack nodded, shifting her weight a little bit so that the basket wouldn’t fall. The slight movement made Fluttershy’s gaze fall and meet the basket again, and she licked her lips, already feeling the fangs she had come to hate slip from their hidden sheaths. Her mind was fogging over, and her hunger was intensifying…she hadn’t even known she was hungry… “Ah’m going to take you to see how the fruit bats are doing!” Applejack announced loudly. “Just follow me and Ah’ll take ya there – Ah think you’ll love it.” Blinking rapidly, Fluttershy nodded, nervously smiling and slipping into place a little ahead of the farm pony. The fangs slipped back into their hidden sheathes, and her mind cleared. Just don't think about the apples. Don't think about the apples. Don't think about the apples... The walk, though it must have only taken a few minutes, could have taken years, especially if one is trying to ignore the bountiful amount of fruit surrounding them on every side. Fluttershy hadn't even known apples had such a strong scent. The grey bat rested upside-down on the branch, staring out at the trees surrounding him. He had a colony of fellow vampire fruit bats that got along relatively well. He had a whole section of an apple orchard for said vampire fruit bats. But he was unhappy. And he wasn't quite sure why. Distressed by this thought, the bat reached out to snatch a piece of apple hanging next to him but was slightly shocked to discover it had already been whipped out of his grasp. It was a darker furred bat, one he didn't know particularly well; the bat stuck out his tongue at him and stuck his fangs into the apple, absorbing the juice with an idiotic grin on his face. Irritated, the grey bat flipped right-side up on the branch. 'That doesn't bother you?' The black bat looked at him with apple juice still on his chin, confused. 'What?' 'You just took my food. And you don't even care.' The black bat rolled his dark, beady eyes and snorted. 'Am I supposed to care?' The grey bat crossed his arms and shook his head sadly. 'My point exactly.' He didn't even know why he was thinking of such things, honestly. All his life, he had been exactly like that black bat - a mindless fruit gobbler, willing to take another's piece of food for his own personal pleasure. But now he was finding a problem with it? Perhaps he had sucked on a bad apple last night. That had to have been it. Satisfied with this result, the bat curled up on his perch once again and closed his eyes. The thoughts didn't seem to leave his head. What was messing with him? Every fruit bat in the history of fruit bats ever had been uncivilized and rude and grabby, and his colony shouldn't be an exception. Their purpose was to suck the juice from the fruit and spread the seeds, and that was it. There was no other special thing they were supposed to do in life. But eight days ago they had been forced to do other things. They simply hadn't wanted to eat apples anymore. The grey bat knew that for that day, they hadn't had a purpose. And if you have no purpose, what are you, exactly? Big thoughts for a little bat. He released a breath of air and tried to stop thinking, but the thoughts just kept on rolling. Maybe, if it was possible for them not to eat fruit, fruit eating was not their purpose. And if fruit eating wasn't their purpose, maybe they weren't supposed to be grabby and rude and uncivilized. Maybe they could become the first respectable fruit bat colony. The bat actually made a chuckling noise out loud. Wheeze, wheeze, wheeze. That was impossible. Yes, he had sucked on a bad apple last night for certain. To even come up with such an idea was outrageous in its own right! After all, the colony didn't even have a queen! Everybat knew that a respectable colony had to have a queen to lead them. None of the females in this colony were even close to being qualified, anyways. The grey bat sighed. There really was never any doubt his plan wouldn't work, but it was worth a thought. He closed his eyes, preparing for sleep... And then there were voices, and they were coming closer to the orchard. The bat opened one eye to see the orange pony that he didn't like - the one who always called him an ugly, stupid pest, and the yellow pony that he did. She was the one, he knew, that had convinced the orange one to give the bats their orchard. "They're all hidden up in there, happy as can be," the orange mare announced loudly. She seemed to yell unnecessarily a whole lot of the time, and the bat didn't really find it very pleasant. "They still have enough fruit?" came the softer voice. "Plenty of it, Ah'd say! We did go an' give 'em a sixth of the orchard at yer request, after all." The yellow mare tilted her head and stared at the apples. The grey bat found this quite odd behavior for a pony, but decided to let it go. Ponies did awfully strange things. "Enough fruit," the pony repeated in a dreamlike tone, but then shook her head rapidly and stared at the ground. "Are they getting along?" "Well," the orange pony said, scrunching her muzzle into a frown, "No. Still stealin' food from each other an' all that stuff. But it's in their nature, Fluttershy, so you shouldn't worry yer head over it." It's how we are, the bat reminded himself. But still the yellow mare looked displeased, head tilted to one side as she stared up with teal eyes confused and wistful into the trees. The bat had seen a lot of ponies in his life, and that wasn't how most ponies looked when they looked at fruit-gobblers. Especially not fruit gobblers in an orchard. "Well, Ah'd best be getting back," the orange earth pony commented. Loudly. "Wanna come along back with me, Fluttershy, or stay here a bit longer?" "If you don't mind," the pegasus pony whispered, "I'd like to stay here." Then they were alone - just the pony and the bats. The one known as Fluttershy spread her wings and soared upward, into the orchard so that she could stare around at all of the assembled bats watching her, wondering why she was there. She frowned. "You need to stop being mean to each other." One of the bats screeched. 'It's what we do, sister. There ain't no changing it.' Fluttershy's eyes grew wide at the insult, and then narrowed into little slits. "You want to play that game, huh? Well, mister -" Slowly she trailed off, staring behind the bat at the apple hanging above it. Her eyes grew wide; saliva began dripping from the cornera of her mouth. The bats gasped. Yelped. Screeched in confusion. Because the pony in front of them was not a pony at all, but a bat - or part of a bat - or part of a bat of a bat, because she hadn't completed the transformation yet...but her eyes were no longer teal. They were a pale scarlet. Fluttershy seemed to realize this as well; she shook her head rapidly, allowing the saliva to drip down to the ground and her eyes to return to their normal color. "I...I think I'd better go now," she whispered quietly, before flapping her wings as fast as they could take her away from the orchard. As she left, many pairs of bright red eyes trailed her in complete silence. As soon as she was out of sight, all the bats burst into chaos. 'Did you see that? That is just unnatural! She should be destroyed!' 'I thought it was kind of neat. If we add a pony to our colony, she can add more ponies, right?' 'No she can't, stupid.' The grey bat, however, hung on his perch silently. He only had one thought going through his head, and the thought was making him tremble all over with excitement. I've found our queen.
Knock, Knock - Who's There?Fluttershy took a deep breath. "Alright, Angel. You know what you have to do." The little white rabbit twitched one ear, clearly not impressed, but didn't move an inch from his designated spot. After having a final good-bye conversation with Applejack, the earth pony had insisted that she take a few apples with her back to the cottage for the critters. Fluttershy had tried to deny, she really had, but how rude would that be? No, she had to be nice and take the apples, drooling the whole way home and looking like a fool. It was only after she had hurried into the cottage did she realize that the apples could be used to her advantage. Angel had cautiously accepted her immediately-formulated plan, and here they were. The scenario was this: there was an apple on the table about three feet away from Fluttershy. Angel was going to fake a hurt paw and collapse about three feet away from the pegasus - in the opposite direction - while the other critters prepared to dig into the apple if Fluttershy didn't move fast enough. The choice would be Fluttershy's, and she knew she couldn't turn down an injured animal - it was impossible, against her nature. Though it was a strange method, it had a chance of working, and a sometimes a chance was good enough. The pegasus mare took another breath, inhaling through her nose and exhaling through her mouth. In, out. In, out. "Ready." With a final roll of his beady black eyes, Angel Bunny collapsed to the ground, wailing and clutching his paw in mock pain. His little pink nose twitched; his small white lip quivered as his eyes seemingly melted. The act was killing him, simply killing him. He couldn't do this much longer. Where was Fluttershy, with her comfort and kisses and - Sllluuuuurrrrrppppp Angel dared to lift his head and look. There was Fluttershy, clutching onto the no-longer juicy apple like it was her lifeline, sucking all of the juice out of it with fresh fangs, a content expression in her scarlet eyes; wings now long and leathery, they furled and unfurled with pleasure. One of the squirrels which had been assigned to eat the apple let out a wail of disappointment and reached for the piece of tantalizing fruit, but recoiled when Fluttershy turned and glared at him, revealing her fangs in their entirety and hissing, drawing back her gums to do so. The squirrel's lip trembled; it turned and scampered under the couch as a pleased Fluttershy continued her drinking. Angel frowned. This wasn't right. This wasn't his Fluttershy. And it was the right time he decided to do something about it. Pulling himself up onto the table with tiny white paws, he opened his mouth to speak some sense into her when there was a commotion at the front door - lots of screeching and the beatings of leathery wings. Fluttershy's head jerked up, eyes still bright scarlet. She hissed in the direction of the door. Angel shook his head, gesturing he would go get it, and the pony he had been proud to call his owner once more vanished into her own batty realm. The little bunny hopped off the table and scampered on all fours towards the door, performing an incredible leap and hooking his paws onto the doorknob. With a final twist he landed on the ground, allowing a smug smile to creep across his face as the door slowly inched open... ...revealing three flapping, sharp-toothed, angry-looking bats. Blinking, Angel stared at them; they stared back at him with an equally confused expression; it took a few seconds for either one to move. One of the bats, a smaller grey one in the front, opened his mouth, and, in a bat's hissing, wheezing sort of manner, spoke. 'Where is the one they call Fluttershy?' The bunny shook his head, a firmly planted "no." The creeps could not go and see the pegasus, especially not in her current state. The bat glanced back over his shoulder at his friends. One of them hissed, extending his wings and making an attempt to look menacing. It probably would have worked, too, if Angel hadn't already been so unnerved by a certain bat - or bat-pony - in particular that afternoon. He shook his head "no." They still could not come in, and they most certainly could not see Fluttershy. It was unfortunate, really, that he was still holding the door open. The grey bat screeched loudly at his companions and zoomed in through the open crack; the others followed suit, and Angel Bunny could have sworn they were smiling at him. Slamming the door in pure irritation, he stormed over to where the other critters were cowering in fear as the bats drew closer. Fluttershy had moved on to her fourth apple; her fangs sunk deep into its flesh and her expression was one of contentment, though it changed instantly when she saw the bats approaching. Tilting her head to one side, she unfurled her wings and came to meet her houseguests in midair. Angel, from his place with the others, knew something was about to happen. The problem was that he didn't know if it would be good or bad. He supposed, grim as the thought may be, he was about to find out. The bats and Flutterbat surveyed each other from the air, Fluttershy squinting as if it was difficult to see, the bats' eyes wide as they took in all parts of the former pegasus - leathery, long wings, small, blindingly white fangs, and apple-red eyes. For a few moments, neither of them did anything, until one of the bats burst into the closest imitation of a smile it could. The other ones looked skeptical, but copied the motion. One of the bats, the grey one that appeared to be the leader and had 'smiled' first, literally hissed in delight. 'I told you both! I told you she was more bat than pony! Look at her now!' Angel bared his teeth and growled, the rumble echoing deep in his throat. This was Fluttershy. He had known her for most of his life. She had only started her weird phases recently! How dare these intruders insult her! The growl grew louder, and the other animals around him stirred in unease. Some looked like they wanted to go hide; others looked just as angry as Angel. Fluttershy tilted her head. The language of the bats came easy to her. 'What - what do you mean?' The smallest bat laughed. '"What do you mean," she says. I told you! She's stupid and your idea is heading nowhere. You better just give it up while it's still fresh in your head.' That was it. That. Was. It. Angel Bunny was not going to let those jerky bats decide they could make fun of his Fluttershy any longer. Call her stupid, break into her home...something bad was going on and he didn't like it one bit! Clenching his paws into tiny white fists, the rabbit stormed forward, ready to begin his rant... ...but Flutterbat beat him to it. 'How dare you, you insulting scum! How dare you make fun of me like that!' she screeched, baring her teeth and narrowing her eyes, moving closer towards the bat that had made the comment. Said bat jerked backwards in surprise, blinking several times in abrupt confusion before baring its teeth and moving closer to accept the silent challenge. Bat and batpony circled each other, eyeing their opponent; Fluttershy's face was one of silent contentment. The obvious size difference presented her with an automatic win, all tied up with a beautiful bow. The bat did not look fazed. Angel knew there were several things he could do right now. He could go and hide. He could support Fluttershy in her fight. He could try and get the other two bats out of the house. Or he could help the other animals that were trembling around them. Despite his awful behavior, Angel knew that deep down he was quite caring. It was cheesy and typical, but he really didn't care all that much. Especially not now, as the others either looked as if they would faint or go out there to fight the bats themselves. A shame Harry the bear wasn't visiting that day. Turning to them, he lifted his forelegs above his head, waving so that all the animals would catch his eye. They did, rather nervously, and with a few loud squeaks and some well placed paw directions, the critters of Fluttershy's cottage slowly filed up the stairs, restraining themselves from bursting into an all-out sprint. One of the tiniest mice began to cry. What's wrong with Fluttershy? Why is she fighting a bat? Why do the bats want to talk to her? Why is she hissing at us? Angel had no answers to any of these questions, so he just patted the mouse on the back, sent her up the stairs, and headed back for the next group. In a situation such as this, one had to take the initiative. There were times to be irritating and times to be smart. And now was a time to be smart. The grey bat shrieked to see his companion and the batpony about to tear out each other's throats. Flapping his wings angrily, he burst into the middle of them, breaking apart their fight. Fluttershy recoiled, looking shocked, but the other bat continued to advance, teeth bared. 'What're you doing?' the grey bat screamed. 'She challenged me, and a challenge is a challenge.' 'But that's not why we came!' 'Then...why are you here?' The last voice was quieter, female. Fluttershy had spoken. 'I'm assuming you didn't come here just to attack my home and me, so...why?' With the last word she gave a little start; shaking her head, her eyes began to revert to teal and her wingbeats became quicker as her wingspan decreased on the spot. The grey bat winced. They were losing her, and as a pony, who knew if she would ever agree to their idea? His eyes scanned the room quickly, and landed on a bucket of a certain scarlet fruit. His smile, his horrible, toothy smile, widened. 'How about we sit down and tell you,' the grey bat suggested, 'over a bucket of apples? Doesn't that sound lovely?' Fluttershy's mouth began to drip longing saliva. The bat could see her gleaming white fangs already reappearing. Everything was going according to plan.
Tea and ApplesFlutterbat truly was quite a beautiful creature. Before, when she had come to the orchard, the grey bat had only been able to get a quick glimpse of her, enough to see her long, leathery wings and her bright red, voracious eyes. But now, now that he could behold her in all of her true glory, now he was beginning to see how perfect his choice was. There was no one alive, bat or pony, better for the job of Queen. She was large and intimidating enough to scare away possible rivals, yet gentle and kind enough to talk sense out of the ponies who tried to come and take their apples away every year. She could be menacing if she wished, and she could communicate with every creature the woods could throw at them. The grey bat knew this; now he just had to make sure his comrades felt the same. It was difficult, choosing two other bats come with him to see their new Queen, but in the end he had decided on his bratty little brother and another who had always seemed quite a bit nicer than the others in the colony. He had hoped that perhaps they could see his reasoning better than any others. It was predictable – they couldn’t. But they had still tagged along to see how things had turned out, and, ‘laugh at his miserable failure afterword.’ If that wasn’t absolutely infuriating, what was? He had to convince them; it was now or never. Fluttershy sat across from them at her kitchen table, slurping up apple after apple while the bats tried to keep up. The grey bat sighed. Either they left with a Queen or left with no dignity. He doubted his companions would care either way. Indeed, they were leaning against the side of the apple bucket. His brother had actually started to fall asleep, while the other was making faces at a bunny that kept poking his head out from the top floor. Clearly it was up to him. ‘Miss Fluttershy,’ the bat began, and she looked up at him, fangs showing. Oh, those fangs! So much longer than the fangs of any bat! ‘We have come to offer you a…proposition, of sorts.’ She cocked her head to the side. ‘What’s your name?’ It was a question that caught him completely off-guard. Vampire fruit bats had no friends. They had relatives, but they had no one they were particularly close to; in a world where everything was ‘fight for your own fruit’ what was the need for company you enjoyed if they could just backstab you and take your fruit? And if you had no friends, no need to refer to anyone or call out to them, why have names at all? Siblings or mothers or fathers called each other just that – ‘Mother,’ ‘Brother,’ ‘Son,’ and so on and so on. But after that, there was nothing at all the fruit bats were called. So he answered truthfully. ‘Brother, to one. Son, to two. There is no name other than those that I have; no name other than those is required.’ Fluttershy contemplated this, brow furrowing in concentration, before she turned back to him and smiled, a delicate little movement that perfectly showed off her exquisite fangs. ‘Then we’ll have to fix that, won’t we?’ The grey bat’s brother choked on the apple he was sucking; the companion froze. Both turned and stared at Fluttershy as if she was the strangest thing they had ever seen, and frankly, the grey bat couldn’t blame them; he was doing the same thing. Give him a name? That…that wasn’t done! ‘What do you mean?’ he hissed nervously, anxious to hear that he had misheard her, that she had misspoken. But in a way, he was curious. A name, like Fluttershy or Applejack? His own name? ‘Well,’ she reasoned, ‘I can’t just call you Grey Bat for the rest of this talk, can I? It would get terribly redundant, and I can imagine that would annoy you greatly.’ The grey bat blinked. It was something he had never thought of before, and he didn’t particularly like thinking of it now. So much difference! An actual name for him? ‘What about us?’ his brother asked, clawing his way up the side of the nearly-empty apple basket and peering at Fluttershy curiously. ‘Do we get names too?’ ‘I suppose,’ she replied, looking at him; he flushed and dropped out of sight, back behind the basket to his safe haven. ‘Now,’ Fluttershy said, stroking the grey bat’s head on a whim; he nearly winced and pulled back, but quickly decided he enjoyed the feel of her almost-velvety hoof on him – it felt quite nice, in a way. ‘What to call you?’ She inspected him up and down with those beautiful scarlet eyes, stroking his side with one hoof and feeling the leathery texture of his wings at the same time. ‘You’re quite skinny.’ His brother snickered; the grey bat glared at him through eyes half-shut. ‘I believe,’ Fluttershy continued, in the language of the bats, ‘that I’ll call you…Worm.’ Worm? Of all the possible names out there, she chose Worm? The newly named bat sputtered in protest; his brother collapsed on the table, rolling back and forth, propelled by fits of laughter. ‘Why?’ he yelped, trying hard to suppress a screech. ‘You’re skinny,’ she explained, giving a firm glare to Worm’s brother, ‘and you seem sneaky. Quiet. Peaceful. These are all qualities that a worm has, you see. I’ve talked to quite a few of them myself.’ Worm had to bite his lip to stop himself from whining and lowered his head, as if he was a baby bat being scolded by his mother. ‘I understand.’ And that was when it hit him. The power to give them names – names that fit their personalities and individual tastes. The power to hold authority over others, maintaining balance and managing to stay kind in the process. The power of a Queen. Worm shot bolt upright. ‘Miss Fluttershy! I’ve almost forgotten the reason we’ve come to speak with you!’ His brother rolled his eyes; their companion hissed softly. ‘The Worm still hasn’t given it up, has he?’ Fluttershy tipped her head to the side. ‘I’m all ears.’ Worm inhaled. Exhaled. And spoke. ‘Will you lead us? Will you become our Queen, our leader, our mother, our ruler, our…other large, looming things? Will you protect us from danger? Will you become the Mistress of the Night, the Queen of the Night, and eat apples with us? Will you give us all names, give us a purpose other than to fight each other and take away the reputation that has so sourly poisoned our species? ‘Will you be our Queen, Miss Fluttershy?’ She stared at him, mouth slightly agape, looking incredibly flustered and quite pink in the face. ‘Worm…I…’ His heart sank, slowly at first, and then faster and faster until it was falling, falling, falling down into a bottomless pit because this wasn’t good it wasn’t good it wasn’t good she was going to – ‘I’m sorry, but I’ll have to say no.’ Worm’s heart came crashing to the bottom of that bottomless pit, and splintered into a million pieces. His brother laughed out loud. ‘Told you so.’ The grey bat had never hated another of his species so much as he did right that very moment. His wings flared; his eyes narrowed, and he let out an ear-piercing shriek that trembled the walls of the cottage. Fluttershy stared at him in shock, and when he looked at her, the first thing he noticed was that her eyes were no longer the beautiful crimson they once had been, but were now quite an ugly shade of teal. ‘Worm,’ she sputtered, clearly out of breath. But that was it. He was done. Out the door Worm flew, going so fast no one could see but a grey blur and hear nothing but a whisper of wind. A mare’s voice, not the screech of a vampire fruit bat, whimpered. “Oh…I do hope he’s alright.” Worm’s brother turned and followed, their companion lagging slowly behind, as one by one the vampire fruit bats turned and flew out the door, leaving a partially confused pegasus mare staring after them with eyes of teal. The wind whistled through an empty basket of apples placed on the tabletop. “And we have Mr. Nibbles, Mrs. Nibbles, and the little baby Nibbles’. I think that’s everyone, Angel, or am I wrong?” Fluttershy frowned, placing a hoof to her chin as she thought; Angel pulled on her tail and shook his head in response to her question. Out from the doorway peeped the head of a tiny, shivering, red-furred squirrel. Fluttershy didn’t know his name, but she did know that he looked like a sweetheart. Grinning and clucking her tongue, she called him forward. “Come out little one, the bats are all gone now.” But instead of coming into her welcome embrace, the squirrel shivered uncontrollably and darted back behind the shelter of the doorway. Fluttershy frowned. What did I do wrong? Again she called out, voice a little bit softer and a tiny bit sweeter than before, “All the bats are gone; it’s safe to come out.” The squirrel shook his head, beady black eyes wide and bright with fear. His mouth moved, but no sound came out of the rapidly opening and closing jaws. “Angel,” the pegasus whispered to her steadfast rabbit companion, watching out of the corner of her eye at the shivering squirrel, “what’s wrong with him? Can you ask?” The bunny saluted, breaking form to bounce forward and cautiously whisper something in the nerve-wracked squirrel’s ear. It hastily squeaked something back in reply, so soft that Fluttershy couldn’t make out the words, but Angel obviously could, as he frowned, eyes narrowing into an angered position. Fluttershy knew that face all too well. Someone had said something that had upset him, and he didn’t like it. The little squirrel already looked like he was going to crack under the pressure of being spoken to, and the pegasus didn’t want that feeling tripled when Angel began to yell at him; quickly she intervened, calling her bunny friend back to her side. He came, but his eyes were still narrowed into tiny slits and his stomps shook the floor like thunder. “What’s wrong?” Fluttershy asked, afraid to hear the answer. Angel exhaled. ‘You know that stupid thing you did with the apples ‘bout twenty or so minutes ago?’ Biting her lip, Fluttershy nodded in response, ignoring his insulting remark. ‘Well, you hissed at one of the squirrels when ‘e tried to take your food, and you got all scary-like. Your eyes got red and you had big teeth – really, really big! – and your eyes were all slit, dragon-style. That was the guy you got mad at.’ Angel tipped his head back towards the still-nervously huddling ball of fur in the doorway. Fluttershy shook her head. “But I don’t understand. Why is he scared of me?” Angel’s eyes flitted off to the side. ‘’E said something. It wasn’t a good thing to say. ‘Specially not to me.’ “Angel Bunny.” She had to fight hard to suppress her voice from rising into a shrill shriek. “What did the squirrel say?” The rabbit coughed into his paw. ‘You know how you told ‘im all the bats were gone, and it was safe now?’ Curious, Fluttershy nodded slowly. ‘Well...’e said that not all the bats were gone, not yet.’ Angel looked her straight in the eyes for the first time, and she was shocked to see that his gaze was full of dismay. ‘’E said there’s still one left, and that it wasn’t safe, not yet. Especially since that bat’s the one who takes care of us.’ He sighed. ‘And ‘e’s referring to you.’
