Bats and Silver Linings
This was the night.
The night that he’d weather her fears, convince her to agree, and finally cure her. It wouldn’t be easy he was sure of that, but he’d do it because that’s what a good friend would do.
Spike shuddered as a voice so similar to his own whispered in his thoughts. “..A true friend would keep his promise.” Gripping the basket filled to the brim with various apples tighter, Spike stopped in his tracks to remind himself that this was only part of the problem...a problem he had a hand in letting get this bad.
“You promised Spike...she trusts you.”
Another jab at his resolve. Shaking his head to halt the incriminating thoughts that began to sprout in his noggin, Spike willed himself to continue forward. Just over the horizon a single cottage sat ominously in the Summer night. Yes, he had promised, and yes she trusted him, but he hadn’t asked for this.
He was only one baby dragon. If it had been anyone else they would have made the right decision, and would have stuck to that decision no matter what.
“Would they have ignored her pleas? Would they be able to do what was right despite the tears, and the look of fear in her eyes? Anypony that could still carry though even after what he had witnessed….didn’t deserve to call themselves her friend.”
“So a real friend would rather relent? Ignore the way that she changed every time she tried to to will herself into going a day without one apple?” And now he was arguing with himself again. When he told Twilight that he was merely going out for a late night stroll, like he had been more and more frequently over the weeks, Spike inwardly commanded himself not to let it go this far. The voice in his head was supposed to be ignored; he was supposed to pretend not to hear it. but it was persistent. “A real friend wouldn’t let her suffer like this all by herself. Keeping this secret doesn’t make me a real friend, it makes me an enabler.”
An enabler doesn’t fix a problem; an enabler only allow the problem to continue until it runs it’s course. Spike didn’t want to be an enabler, he wanted to help the kind mare that had been so eager to be his friend the moment that she met him.
“You know why she doesn’t want to tell the others. She’s afraid of them, afraid that instead of their friend, the others will only see a monster. What if Twilight’s spell fails again, and they have to round her up like some sort of predator to be sent away. This time they would know, this time they’d watch her every move just in case. Just like they did when..”
“Shut up!”
Already his iron resolve was beginning to rust in sickly brown blotches.
“You’re perfect for this: the only one who could possibly understand the turmoil that comes with fighting one’s nature, the only one who’d be safe if she suddenly turned dangerous.”
The voice had a point, as much as Spike would hate to admit it. Looking up at the residence of one yellow-furred, pink-maned pegasus, the little drake shuddered at the potential danger within. Woe upon any ignorant creature foolhardy enough to visit at this time of night without being covered head to toe in near impenetrable scales. Though she only seemed to hunger for delicious juicy apples, Fluttershy’s fangs could easily sink into the soft fur of an unsuspecting pony.
A few small dents in his scales was proof enough that even at her calmest Fluttershy was certainly capable of nipping without provocation.
As he reached for the door Spike was disgusted by the small swell of pride that built up in his chest. Part of him was glad that only he could truly be safe from an enraged vampiric Fluttershy, happy that no one else could get as close to her without fear of danger as he had. That again was part of the problem. Despite the horribleness of this whole situation, Spike the dragon came to the realization that there was a silver lining to all of this.
Scraping a single talon again the door once, then following it with three quick knocks. Spike reached out to open the door that acted as a last line of defense from the cold Summer night, and the residents inside. With the door opening with a loud creeeek Spike walked inside without fear; he had used ‘their code’ so that he could enter without frightening her and so she wouldn’t worry about frightening anyone else.
A single lit candle sat atop a small table across the room, it’s dancing flame illuminating the room only slightly and casting everything else in moving shadows. Turning to close the door behind him Spike’s ears picked up the sound of leathery wings flapping within the room, and his scales could feel the disturbance of air that came with something moving close to him.
“Would Rainbow Dash, or Applejack be this safe? Could they just stroll into Fluttershy’s house unannounced at this time of night without ‘something’ happening?”
“It’s not like they’d be in any real danger. She’d be surprised...frightened even, a scare is all they would get and then they would actually get this problem solved. If anyone else had stumbled upon the timid mare’s secret instead of me Fluttershy would be cured by now.” But Spike knew the truth. If anyone else had stumbled upon the timid mare’s secret instead of him Fluttershy might have hurt them. Spike nodded to himself as he felt assured that he had won a personal victory over the voice.
“Ever see what a frightened little rabbit can do when cornered?”
Spike gulped as he turned around to face the creature that was surely waiting behind him. The voice seemed just as resolute to win as he was, and it’s reply was only made more valid by the sight before him.
Fluttershy was no little rabbit; no, she was a grown mare, and a tall one at that. Though she was a tad bit more lanky then her friends, and at most times possessed the disposition of a scared kitten she was still solid enough to knock over an athlete like Rainbow Dash right on her cutie mark if she was pushed to. Adding on the new features that came with her ‘ailment’ Fluttershy certainly possessed the means to injure someone if she truly wanted to.
Looking down at him with bright red eyes instead of the brilliant cyan ones that everyone else was accustomed too stood Fluttershy. Her normally long light rose mane that she used for hiding behind in her moments of shyness had greyed a bit in color and splintered off in various parts giving her an almost ‘feral’ look. The yellow of her fur had greyed as well while her signature cutie mark of three butterflies had changed to the outlines of bats instead. Tucked into her sides wings that had once been soft and feathered were now leathery, strong, and even came with a claw-like protrusion near the middle. Most notable of all were the two fangs that crept past her lips and shined like beacons to the drake’s eyes.
“Uhhh h-hey there..Fluttershy.” Secure in his safety as he was, Spike had noticed that sometimes, his friend seemed to forget who he was during her hungrier moments; he developed a habit of slowly, and calmly introducing himself whenever she looked particularly ‘batty’. “It’s me...Spike.”
Immediately Fluttershy’s crimson eyes narrowed, her wings unfurled to their full length, and she elicited a threatening hiss.
“Easy there..no need to..ooph!”
The full weight of a mare pegasus slammed into the drake as Fluttershy tackled him onto the floor hissing the entire time. Within the confines of the cottage, the sounds of a struggle lasted for a minute before long fangs finally sank into their target.
From his position on the floor Spike rolled his eyes as Fluttershy drained a large red delicious of it’s juicy contents before spitting the mushy husk onto the floor beside them. Spike had forgotten to place the basket down, and take a quick step back so now he had to patiently lay there with a full grown mare on top of him until Flutterbat had eaten its fill and Fluttershy regained control.
After another two apples had been mercilessly drained and discarded, Flutterbat turned it’s attention to the dragon beneath it. Bits and spurts of apple juices had attempted to escape their fate by dripping onto a less than pleased looking Spike. Had the elusive bits fallen upon the floor, the bat pony would have dismissed this as a lost cause, but Flutterbat was...familiar with the drake.
“Fluttershy we need to have a talk about your table man...what?” Noticing the appraising look on the mare’s face, Spike’s disgruntled expression switched to confused.
A long tongue slithered out between Flutterbat’s fangs and flicked slightly toward the young dragon.
His mind putting the pieces together Spike struggled to wipe the squirted apple juice from his face. “Whoa! H-hold on there!”
Spike’s battle of squirming and pleas for her to reconsider was soon lost, and within a few seconds, the drake felt the odd sensation of Flutterbat’s tongue swirling around his face. The mare made a sound akin to a giggle at about the same time as Spike let out an exasperated sigh. This hadn’t been the first time this had happened, much to the embarrassment of one drake, and…
Gasp!
...one now fully in control pegasus. Immediately Fluttershy threw her head back in embarrassment as the color of her face began to match that of her eyes.
It had happened again. Fluttershy had nearly gone an entire day without wanting an apple, in celebration she had planned to brew up some of her favorite tea for herself and Spike to share when he arrived..then her head had started to ache. And now here she was, with the taste of sweet..sweet apples on her tongue, and straddling a red faced Spike. Oh...wait.
“O-o-oh m-my!” Flapping her still bat-like wings frantically Fluttershy backpedaled as fast as she could causing her to trip and fall right on her back with a small *squeak*.
Standing up so he could brush himself off as well as wipe some Flutterbat saliva off of his face, Spike shook his head at the huddled mare a few feet away trying her darndest to hide beneath her mane and wings. “Are you ok Fluttershy?”
The cowering mare on the floor merely trembled for a moment before another quiet squeak answered him.
“It’s ok Fluttershy, really. I know sometimes you lose control.”
This time the response was a short series of murmurs and near silent whispers.
“I’m fine. You didn’t hurt me, and you probably wouldn’t be able to if you wanted.”
Words muffled by her pinkish mane, and the two wings reached Spike’s ears. Rubbing the back of his head Spike frowned before moving toward his apologetic friend.
“You know that I know that you would never hurt me too.” Reaching a clawed hand down Spike tried to unclasp the first wing that stood before him and Fluttershy. If he eliminated the small barriers between them she would calm down faster, and then they could ‘really’ talk. “If you’d look for yourself you’d see that I’m perfectly fine.”
This had become near routine much to both Spike’s displeasure..and his enjoyment. It was bad that he had become so used to the series of actions regarding Flutterbat’s behavior, and his gradual disregard for having someone other than Twilight, Celestia, or Rarity within his personal bubble. Yet part of him thought it was good that he possessed the ability to talk a freaked out, and embarrassed Fluttershy back to normalcy.
Faster than his eyes could follow the closed wing along with it’s sibling opened up, clasped behind the off guard drake, and dragged him down to lay in a somewhat unexpected embrace. Beneath the darkness created by the still bat-like wings that enveloped him Spike strained his emerald eyes to see past the pink mane that he was now pressed into. Though he couldn’t see them Spike knew that on the other side of the forest of hair a pair of red (maybe cyan now) eyes were looking sadly back at him.
“...I-I’m sorry Spike.” Her quiet voice, now loud and clear to his ears, Spike sighed out loud. Once again this wasn’t new, the familiar smells of pine, the multiple scents of berries that Fluttershy often brewed in her tea, and of course the fragrance of apples filled his nostrils. A large part of him greatly enjoyed that scent.
“It’s okay Fluttershy. Really. I’m here for you.” Spike knew that he had to confront the pegasus, and now was possibly the best time for it. She was close, she would hear everything he had to say about the negatives of letting this vampirism continue to be a part of her, and maybe...just maybe she’d let him finally tell Twilight. Then a pair of hooves dragged their way across his back, telltale signs that she was accepting his words with the beginnings of a hug.
“I-I’m just so afraid.” A small sniffle escaped through the mare’s mane prompting Spike to try returning the small hug, his iron will rusting even more. “I’m afraid that I’ll hurt you one night. Afraid that I’ll scare you off.”
Spike hated how much that the very fears this poor, timid, harmless pony had been dealing with for the past couple of weeks were so similar to the ones he’d been struggling with since the day after his first birthday in Ponyville. When it had all been said and done Spike had been left with a terrifying realization that despite all the chaos, and destruction he had wrought whilst running around as a greed filled giant, they had all gotten off soo lucky. How easy it would have been for that colossus...for that ‘other’ him to just step on an unlucky pony without noticing, for his swishing tail to smash right into an escaping civilian, or for the white unicorn that held his heart to have just been mistaken for a marshmallow chaser to a fire ruby snack.
Though Twilight had hugged him just as fiercely the morning after as she had before he had changed, Spike noticed the way everyone else…acted around him. It hadn’t been for long, but for a few days heck a week for some, eyes carefully watched his every move, ponies were quick to give the little dragon a wide berth, a few even trembled when he waved at them from across the street.
Spike was dangerous, just as capable of reverting to a terrifying monster as the kind mare that feared that her own transformation would scare him off this very instant. Sure his level of destruction dwarfed hers, literally and figuratively, but that didn’t make the fear any less dreadful for Fluttershy. That part of Spike, the one that fought his weakening resolve every step of the way, enjoyed the silver lining that came with knowing Fluttershy better as a friend due to her ‘condition’, and the one that was content with having the pegasus hold him close. That part of Spike identified with Fluttershy’s fear, because it too was terrified of his friends suddenly fearing him, cornering him so that he could be magically altered, or worst of all casting him out.
“You’ll never scare me off Fluttershy. I promised that I’d take care of you, and that I would keep your secret for as long as you need.” The hooves crossed across his back even more so, and the mare’s arms pressed against him as Spike was hugged for all he was worth. And just like that the iron walls were rusted away, sent tumbling down to lay in the dust, and once again Spike had lost. Wrapping his arms across Fluttershy as best as he could from his position Spike returned the hug, a warm tingling sweeping through him and a small sigh of happiness escaping past Fluttershy’s mane to reach the drake’s ears.
“...You know. I managed to go all day without wanting any apples.”
“Oh yeah? That’s great Fluttershy!”
“I think I’m getting better. Maybe this...this ‘thing’ really will leave on it’s own.”
Despite being defeated, a few remaining pieces of Spike’s resolve pleaded inside of him to fulfill the task he has set forth to do when he left his home. “Tell her that Twilight could fix this in mere seconds. Tell her that she doesn’t have to be afraid of herself anymore.”
For a moment Spike’s mouth opened as if he was going to actually go through with it, but somehow he had gotten comfortable. The smell of the mare’s mane was so pleasant, the warm hug she was giving him rivaled the levels of affection he desperately wished to receive from Rarity one day, and she was happy. Would a real friend ruin all of this just to try to argue a point that was possibly invalid now? What if Fluttershy was actually getting better on her own? What if they could fix this all without getting the others involved? He wouldn’t have to break his promise, wouldn’t have to see Fluttershy’s terrified tears as she pleaded him to not tell, and he wouldn’t have to see the panic in her eyes as the part of her that wasn’t supposed to be there willed her to tell him every scary scenario that might come forth.
Maybe a real friend would just keep hugging her close, let her know that she wasn’t facing this alone, and that he trusted her decision to keep the matter between them. No telling the others, no seeing them chase the poor mare around Ponyville, and no chance of seeing the betrayal in her eyes when Twilight zapped her with a spell to fix it all.
“I..I hope so. Until it does though, we’re in this together.” Another sigh reached Spike’s ears this time accompanied by what felt like Fluttershy resting her chin on his shoulder. The closeness caused Spike’s mind to go blank scattering those pieces of stubborn resolve like fallen leaves in the wind. Eventually Fluttershy would consume the rest of the apples, and the vampire side fully satisfied would fade away back into her subconscious taking with it the wings, the red eyes, the feral appearance, and most of all, the fangs. When the sun finally rose the next morning, Fluttershy would look like her normal self to any pony she came across for another day. Right now they just had to wait.
A calm moment passed by as the cottage creaked and groaned. The bitter wind outside blew a little more gently, and the animals that lived with Fluttershy felt comfortable enough to renew their activities now that the worst of it seemed to be over. For the little drake, still wrapped within the embrace of a pair of hooves and a curtain of wings, a comfortable calm began to fall across him.
For the moment Spike didn’t feel like an enabler. He felt like a friend that Fluttershy could trust, a friend that understood her better than any other possibly could. Maybe in truth this was wrong, to find a comfort amidst all of this, to focus so much on the silver lining instead of the dark cloud within it. Feeling the mare nuzzle closer to his neck, Spike could at least agree with the voice inside his head that he believed he had made the right decision.
That is..until a familiar pinching sensation ran up Spike’s neck.
Rolling his eyes, and even chuckling to himself the drake narrowed his eyes before letting out a tired “..Really?!”
“I-I’m sorry...I-I-I just couldn’t help it.” Fluttershy was glad that the little dragon couldn’t see her face as she blushed deeply. Spike’s constant delivery of apples to her had just about permeated the dragon with the smell of apples as much as they did the farm pony who grew them. Sometimes she just couldn’t resist Flutterbat whenever Spike was this close to her.
Whether he liked the closeness or not, another failed attempt to bite through his scales reminded the dragon just exactly what he had signed up for. “Well at least I have thick scales, or this would be something to be concerned about for the next time we do this.”
“Next time we do what?”
“This. You know the uhh hugging thing. Unless you want to stop or something.”
“Oh!” At this point Fluttershy would normally feel embarrassed, and probably move to put a little space between the two of them, but instead she found herself giving the drake in her forelegs another affectionate squeeze, which to her inward delight was quickly returned. “Well would it be ok if we, um...kept doing this?”
Surprised as he was at the question, Spike was much too comfortable now to argue. Plus it felt like the leathery wings that held him in place were beginning to sprout feathers if the tickling sensation on his back were correct. It couldn’t hurt to stay like this just for a little longer. “I’m ok with it if you are Fluttershy.”
The feeling of butterflies in her tummy grew prevalent as the yellow mare listened to her friend’s reply. A small smile formed on her face as she admitted to herself that despite the ongoing complications that came with the vampirism, and keeping it a secret from all but one special dragon, at least she could enjoy her own silver lining to it all. So happy that she could partake in her guilty pleasure for a while longer, Fluttershy didn’t even notice her fangs recede back to their normal shape.
The worst of the night had been weathered for the drake and the mare, with only subtle changes differentiating it from the previous ones they had endured together. For the moment I can’t tell you what else came of that night, or what might have transpired afterwards as a result. What I can tell you, dear reader, is that Spike and Fluttershy both found a little good in their predicament, the kind that led them to agree “it had been worth it”.
End of Chapter 1
Author's Note
....And there you go! as you can probably ascertain this immediately popped up in my head after I watched the episode 'Bats!'.
Thank you xgfhj for pointing out the lingering errors that had managed to allude me for this long.
How psyched is everyone one else for Chapter 2?
