Disguised Dreams

In Equestria, there were three types of ponies.

The ponies who were the natural citizens of most of the country.

The crystal ponies of the frozen north, who had no natural unicorns or pegasi in its society

Then there were bat ponies.

A pony whose DNA was magically altered with bat DNA.

They were made to serve as Luna's nannies when she was little, but they now served as Luna's guards.

At least, what was left of them.

Of course, most of them left with Luna to the Everfree, but there were those who tried staying.

But Celestia executed them all.

The remaining Bat ponies in Equestria were scattered, and ever dwindling.

Then there was Midnight Beauty.

She looked like most female Bat ponies; grey coat, short, purple mane and tail, and piercing yellow eyes.

One must also take note of her other features; bat wings, fluffy ears, a distinct dislike for daylight…

She was living in the abandoned buildings, just as the other surviving bat ponies She would've been content, but her burden kept her from it.

For the mare was bearing a foal, and a special one at that.

Of course, no one knew why her foal was special, no one except Midnight.

And she was terrified.

Where there was no possible way her baby could be born safely.

The only remotely safe place was the castle infirmary in the Everfree. There was no doubt her baby would be protected and welcomed in the place of her rightful queen, but Beauty was unsure she would make the journey fast enough.

It had been nearly a year since her foal was conceived, and Beauty knew she likely only had a few, short days before the foal would make itself known to the world.

For now, she was in a tiny camp far from Night's embrace, but it was her only chance at two ponies' survival.

Midnight felt a slight kick within her.

She smiled, but still felt discontented. Even more so now.

In Midnight's tiny tent, all she truly had was a haystack to sleep on and a dark cloak. But what pushed her to go the distance for both her and her baby was a song.

A song the father shared with her.

A song Beauty sung to herself when she cried herself to sleep at night.

A simple, sweet song.

Beauty pressed her hoof to her heart, quietly humming the first two lines.

This world has changed, and so have I

A world where I need you so much more

The bat mare sighed, and picked up her dark cloak.

There's a hint of difficulty donning it, but it was nothing she couldn't handle.

Sticking to the deep shadows, and staying away from the beating heat, Beauty began her journey.

Deep down, Beauty didn't desire the will to live most had.

Had fear not been the obstacle it had been, Beauty could have imagined her corpse hanging from a railing, or muzzle-down in the water. And she could never bring her imagination towards reality.

Night's embrace! What is wrong with me!? You mustn't try to think of what could've been, you must think about now. For him. with increasingly heaving effort, Beauty continued, though she found herself unable to rid of her suicidal thoughts.

Not two minutes later, she had a small coughing fit.

In fact, when Beauty really thought about her condition in terms of traveling, she felt dizzy and achey.

The bat mare didn't know it, but she was sick, very sick.

It took two days of surviving on mud puddles and grazing on crab-grass, but the near-hopeless mare found herself in the town of Ponyville. However, joy swiftly turned to terror.

For Ponyville had been shifted from a tiny, peaceful hamlet, into a dark place. Guards patrolled every area except a few dark alleyways, and posters claiming that Celestia was ever watchful.

The residents, once known for their kind, outspoken nature, were not all their reputation wanted them to be. No, the residents all had dark bags under their eyes. Each struggled to avoid the guards.

Then came the incident.

A young, pretty mare, only seventeen or eighteen, had accidentally gotten in a guard's way. He immediately grabbed her hoof in an iron grip, much to her terror.

The mare squealed aloud, inciting laughter from the guards.

The guard who grabbed looked over the fearful mare, and began asking her questions. Questions no mare should ever answer to anyone.

The two stallions egged him on, and at one point, he tried dragging her away.

The mare was unable to think due to fear. She opened her mouth, and sunk her blunt teeth into the guard's fore-hoof.

He cried out in sheer pain, letting her go, but the mare couldn't escape that easily.

One of the other guards kicked her in the gut, and she keeled over in pain.

The leader was bleeding freely from his front-right fore hoof, and his veins had popped.

He beat her mercilessly, and Beauty lost control.

She galloped faster than she ever had in her life, and threw her body against his, allowing the mare a few precious seconds to escape, which she gratefully took.

Beauty would've been out of the situation in a second if she hadn't realized her cloak was gone. Her daze took more than enough time for the two guards to grab one of the creatures their queen loathed.

They threw her to the ground, ready to pleasurably kill this menace, when a rock hit one of their heads.

The mare! In those few moments, she had rallied two of her brothers to help her rescuer.

The two stallions had several piles of rocks next to them. With no hesitation, they unloaded them on the guards.

More soon arrived to take care of the two whom had intervened with business, but soon another rock hit one of them. And so on and so on.

The whole town was revolting! From the tiniest foals, to the oldest ponies, they all helped themselves to the granite on the sidewalk. These stallions had stolen their mothers and sisters and aunts. Killed their fathers and brothers and uncles. They all wanted to help take that first step into a rebellion.

As Beauty tried to slip away from the hectic scene, the mare tapped on her shoulder.

"Go through the library, the path there is a shortcut. And the guards will never try to find you there."

Beauty flashed her brightest smile, and the most knowing nod she could, then ran off.

And as she slipped through the desolate library, she bumped into another mare.

With her heightened reflexes, Beauty easily recovered from the blow quicker than the other mare.

It only took a glance to know who this  mare was, even with the concealing cloak on her back.

She was lavender, with a straight mane and tale, and she had a horn…and wings.

Twilight

Beauty bolted before the mare could even speak to her.

Why was Princess Twilight there?

She had her Canterlot library, didn't she?

Was that fear Beauty had caught in her eyes?

The princess, a beacon for Celestia's subjects, what was her reason for being so far from her home?

The quiet of the Everfree was much consolation compared to the chaos of the prior situation, but Beauty didn't have long to enjoy it.

Pain suddenly stabbed through her, she never felt such agony, but she knew what it meant.

The more the pains occurred, the faster Beauty went. But it was difficult, the faster she went, the more she coughed, and the farther she moved, the more disoriented she became.

Not far from the castle, the bat mare tumbled over the edge of a tiny cliff. But fortunately, a night guard had caught sight of her.

Beauty soon found herself being wheeled into the infirmary, but at the first glance at the horrors of war, she broke down into hysterics

She saw a two foals desperately searching for their mother, both had bandages on their head.

A mare with bloody bandages over her eye touched her son's face, which was filled with guilt.

A stallion watched in horror as a blanket was thrown over a bloody corpse.

She screamed, and broke down into sobs as she was rolled into a bed.

but awhile later, the cries of a foal rang through the Infirmary.

The whole world seemed to stop, if not just to hear the newborn's announcement on how she was alive.

Everypony stopped their fear, their screams, their sobbing.

Many trotted just to see the little foal, and many were surprised at it's appearance.

Indeed, the new filly was special.

She was black, and the little mane and tail was dark teal.

She had bat wings, but also a gangly horn on her head.

The foal's father had been a changeling.

The crowd parted to let in Luna, and relief finally washed over Beauty.

Even in her princess's eyes, there was a glimmer of surprise and love.

She reached her hoof out to the filly, who happily took it. Her crying turned into a gurgling giggle.

Beauty was at peace. She pushed her baby into Luna's fore hoof with pleading eyes before a violent coughing fit.

"Please, name her something meaningful," she begged.

Fear swept over her as she broke into a seizure.

Reluctantly, Luna reached for a needle.

And plunged in into Beauty's throat.

Beauty went limp.

Luna's sense of hope diminished by the minute.

She had no idea of what she could do to stop her sister.

Then this filly came.

A combination of what everyone was fighting for.

She was hardly an hour old, and she had already distilled the fear of the lost, the sick, and the injured.

She pressed her hoof against the glass of the nursery, where the foal slept soundly.

Chrysalis appeared next to Luna.

"H-have you decided on what to name her?"

Luna just shrugged.

Chrysalis took another look at the foal. An odd…spark of magic surged through her.

"A changeling and a pony finding love. Real, mutual love," Chrysalis pressed her head against Luna's. "Before this war, I would be shocked if a pony didn't scream at the sight of us. But that mare let one into her heart. Now she's posthumous mother of a beacon of hope. I-it surprises me.

Luna smiled and nuzzled the Changeling queen, making her blush.

"Hope."

"I will name her Hope."

Meanwhile

Celestia was annoyed.

This wasn't a simple riot.

The whole village of Ponyville rebelled.

Not even the guards could stop it.

Now she had to quarantine the town in a magic forcefield to keep their influence from spreading.

She needed to get more guards, which involved a lot of spells.

Twilight entered the room.

"Where have you been!?" Celestia immediately questioned.

Twilight hid a shudder. "I-I've been surveying the castle's p-perimeter."

Celestia wouldn't let herself be fooled so easily. "You were at Ponyville, again. Twilight, you know I put that place under lockdown!"

"I know, I know! I'm sor-"

"Sorry won't cut it, it never cuts it. I need to know, why do you go there so often?"

Twilight whimpered. "I want him to know I haven't abandoned him, I-I want to try to find him, but he's never there." Twilight sobbed, unable to form coherent words.

"Who?" Celestia sharply asked.

"Spike," she weakly answered.

Indeed, Spike was alive.

And heading for the Everfree.