Flutterbat.
That’s what they had called her, and that is what she was. Not that she really knew what she was - all she really knew was hunger. She swooped through the darkness, not thinking, just gliding on leathery wings.
Flutterbat - Rarity had screamed it, in perfect horror movie maiden pitch. Fluttershy hated it, shuddered at the very thought.
Flutterbat would have liked it. Maybe. She didn’t really care - Fluttershy’s friends were just other animals to her, making nonsense noises. Chasing her with lights. Getting in her way.
She hung upside down from a branch, snarling and sniffing loudly. Her long, pointed tongue snapped out and captured an apple, pulling it in to be sucked dry in seconds. She snarled and gulped and shivered at the taste, the flavor, the sweet juice being gulped down her throat and running up over her nose and flooding her every sense in the devilishly delicious tang of apple juice.
The dried husk of an apple fell to the ground below her, immediately forgotten.
Her ears, tufted with fur, twitched and turned. There were noises nearby - more pony voices.
“Apple Bloom!” Applejack’s voice rang out through the orchard, carrying far and wide. It meant nothing to Flutterbat.
She held still. They must have been looking for her, shining those awful, mean lights around and-
“Apple Bloom!” Another voice, deep and male.
Flutterbat could see a flashlight, sweeping through the trees. Getting closer. Her pupils shrunk to slits and she hissed quietly, drawing her wings in tight around herself. She waited, tensed to strike or run.
The light grew closer and brighter and closer still, until two ponies came stumbling into view near her, tripping over roots. One held a flashlight in her mouth, and the other had a lantern hanging off his collar.
Flutterbat forgot all about the lights.
They were apples. Both of them. An orange mare, with three succulent red apples on her rump. A larger red stallion, with one big, juicy green apple. They stopped, almost right beneath her, looking around and quietly talking.
Flutterbat’s eyes grew again, just as her mouth hung open slightly. She was drooling, swallowing it down to keep it from dripping out of her aching mouth. She ran her tongue over her fangs, eyes darting from orange rump to red and then back again. She held her breath and tensed up, ready to drop, heart pounding at the thought of sinking her fangs into those delicious-
Three smaller creatures came tumbling out of the darkness, scampering up to her prey and making high-pitched noises every step. Flutterbat shrunk in again, flattening her ears out and hissing almost silently.
“Now where the heck have you girls been?” Applejack said, too relieved to even try to sound angry.
“Looking for Flutterbats!” Scootaloo said.
Flutterbat’s ear twitched a little at the word, but she wasn’t sure why.
“Cutie Mark Crusader Vampire Hunters!” Sweetie Belle said, her excited voice breaking just a little.
The big red horse, the tasty looking one, chuckled, his chest shaking and making the lantern light shudder.
“Oh for the love of - you girls know Fluttershy ain’t a bat anymore,” Applejack said, shaking her head. “Twilight fixed her right up. No vampire ponies out in this orchard.”
“Yeah but how do we know fer sure?” Apple Bloom said. She had a ring of awful, stinky little fruits draped over her neck, disgusting dried out white things that made Flutterbat’s nose crinkle.
“Is that…? Dangit, Apple Bloom! Did you steal all my garlic?” Applejack said.
“...I just borrowed it.”
Applejack sighed loudly. “Alright, that’s it. Back to the house, everypony.”
Flutterbat watched them go, her eyes lingering on the older two. The big one, the male, lagged behind a little, and she felt her heart pick up, watching him fall behind, just enough, just enough to drop down and take a quick bite before anypony…
He stopped, looking down at his hooves. Flutterbat froze.
He looked down, at the sucked-dry husk of an apple. He nudged it with a hoof and looked around, cocking one eyebrow.
Flutterbat didn’t move, hanging perfectly still. There were still too many of them, too close. She didn’t want too many ponies. She wanted one pony, by himself, the soft light of the lantern nowhere near as eye-searing as that awful flashlight.
Big Mac stood there for a second, staring into the darkness beyond his lantern. Then he shrugged, shook his head, and caught up to the others.
Flutterbat let out a breath. Close. Too close. In seconds they were gone, lights fading through the trees, until even the loud, braying voices of the three little ones had faded to nothing.
* * *
She was hungry.
It was even worse than before, worse than ever. She leapt from tree to tree, frantically gobbling down every fruit she could wrap her tongue around.
So close, sooooooooooooo close. The most sumptuous, heart-stopping apples she’d ever seen, right beneath her, one swoop of her wings away from being under her fangs.
Her heart pounded, her nostrils flared. She growled and shrieked and snarled with each kill, tossing the dried-out husks of apples behind her. Her stomach growled back even louder, feeling more and more empty with each gulp of juice.
The fruits on these trees, once so sweet, just weren’t good enough anymore.
She hung from a branch again, swinging by her tail and angrily finishing off her latest apple. She spit out the seeds and gnashed her teeth, grumbling quietly to herself in wordless snarls.
Stupid, awful little ponies and their awful little lights. Her stomach howled, with an awful, aching hunger at the thought. Both of them, the big green apple and the three small red apples, hovering in her animal mind, her lips quivering at just how delicious they must be.
Her mind wandered off, flitting about quickly. They were gone, quickly fading to a distant memory. One of her wings twitched and she set to nibbling it, hanging in the darkness by herself, growling along with her stomach.
She froze.
Something hit her nose. A smell. Something different. Something wonderful.
A moment later, it was joined by a sound, low and dark and humming. Her normal pony ears would never have heard it, but now it was a constant thrumming.
A faint, thumping beat, pulsing through her ears.
She sniffed loudly, again and again. Her ears twitched two and fro, feeling around the night air.
Another strong sniff and yes, she was sure - that way. She dropped and flapped and sped off, weaving between the trees and branches, flying by sound. Rainbow Dash would have been impressed. Fluttershy would have been embarrassed. Flutterbat just flew, for how long she did not know, drifting over miles as the stars above turned in the night sky.
The smell, and the sound, grew stronger. She was going mad - she half-expected that orange pony’s rump to be the source of it, or the orange pony’s big brother.
Brother?
The word murmured in a strange, quiet, sweet voice in her head, and then vanished. Flutterbat didn’t know or care for the word. Only drink.
The trees thinned out, but Flutterbat hardly noticed. The smell was overpowering now, and the gentle hum from before had grown to a throbbing, pumping beat in her ears, wet and hot and overpowering. Her whole body buzzed with excitement.
She flew up, through cool, clear air, hovering over old stones covered with cracks and moss. Fluttershy would’ve recognized the old Everfree castle, still being repaired and renovated. Flutterbat saw nothing she cared for - the smell was coming from higher up.
She hovered up to the top of a tower, what was surely once a stately room. The roof had collapsed, leaving nothing but bare stone on top and the broken remains of a wall around the edge.
And there, she saw it.
A silver bowl, placed in the middle of the open floor.
Flutterbat landed on the edge, perching on a lonely bit of stone. She would’ve darted her eyes around, checked her surroundings, sniffed the air carefully.
She did none of these things. Her eyes didn’t leave the bowl - something was in it, but she didn’t know what.
It smelled delicious.
She crept up to the bowl, mouth hanging open, tongue cleaning the drool now freely flowing from her lips. She shuddered and lashed her tail as she got closer - it was almost hard to walk, hard not to walk, her insides twisted and tight with anticipation.
Her lips trembled, her wings twitched and strained. Blinking, she peered into the bowl.
There was no fruit.
She grunted and growled. No fruit… but the smell? The wonderful, wonderful smell?
She leaned closer to the bowl. It was filled with something thick and dark and red. It wasn’t fruit, no, but the smell was coming from the bowl. And the sound was surrounding her now, shaking through her hooves and up into her chest, pounding along with her own beating heart.
She sniffed again, and leaned in closer. She stuck out her tongue.
“FLUTTERSHY!”
She jumped and yelped - a large pony was right in front of her, tall and sleek and dark as midnight. The ponies eyes glowed with moonlight, and stars shimmered in her mane.
“HALT, FLUTTERSHY!”
Flutterbat didn’t recognize the words. She just saw a large, loud pony, bigger than herself. Maybe another hunter. She thought to run, but this pony had wings as well, and they looked fast.
And besides, that delicious smell was so close.
Flutterbat stood her ground instead. She squared up on her hooves and hissed, sticking her tongue out at the dark shape.
“FLUTTERSHY! ANSWER US!”
Flutterbat could feel the force of her voice, but it didn’t shake her in the slightest. She flared her wings out and focused her gaze, leveling the awful power of her stare at the alicorn.
Luna grunted and winced, just slightly, and if Flutterbat had been anything but an animal, she might have realized just how impressive her stare really was.
Princess Luna smirked and brushed it off. She lit up her horn, leaning closer to the bat pony.
Flutterbat recoiled and hissed again, backing away. But not enough.
The light of Luna’s horn touched her, gently probing Flutterbat’s forehead, and in an instant, everything came back.
That’s not Fluttershy, it’s…!
...I don’t really have any control over when it happens, it just happens.
I tried to eat...ponies?!
Fluttershy gasped and fell to the stone floor. Her mind jumped and wailed and retched for long seconds.
“Fluttershy?” Luna asked carefully.
Fluttershy blinked and groggily shook her head. Her head hurt. Her eyes burned, and everything was blurry. She tried to look around and saw only dark shapes and felt cold and smacked her lips, feeling them strangely sweet and sticky.
“Are you alright, dear Fluttershy?”
Fluttershy put her hooves to her head and blinked one last, long blink. When she opened her eyes…
“...Princess Luna?” she asked.
“Oh, good,” the Princess said. “I will confess I was slightly worried. I know the transformation can be disorienting at first, but you were quite…” Luna paused, smirking as she chose the next word. “...Feral.”
“F… feral?” Fluttershy shot her forehooves up to her ears, felt furry tufts, then flapped her wings once - leathery and taut, not a feather to be felt.
She tried to bite her lip and felt two sharp fangs press into her own flesh instead.
“Oh no!” Fluttershy gasped. Her night’s wanderings were coming back to her, in quick flashes, scary glimpses of snarls and hisses and apple murder and dark, wild cravings. “Oh no! Oh no, no no no!”
“Now Fluttershy, calm down…”
“I can’t be a bat pony!” Fluttershy wailed. “Twilight fixed me… I’ve been fine ever since! I only felt a little bit like I wanted to suck every fruit I saw dry!”
“Fluttershy, please,” Luna said, rolling her eyes. “That was only three nights ago. Twilight Sparkle did not fix anything. For once.”
“She didn’t?” Fluttershy galloped in place, shaking her bat wings up and down. “Then I’m a… oh, this is just awful! All those poor apples! I’m going to ruin Applejack’s farm. I’m a… I’m a monster!”
“FLUTTERSHY.”
Fluttershy froze. Luna’s hoof was resting heavy on her shoulder, and the blast of her voice had certainly gotten her attention.
“I need you to stay calm. Everything is going to be fine,” Luna said.
“So you can fix me? I’m not a monster?” Fluttershy said.
“Of course not.”
Fluttershy started to let out a sigh of relief.
“You are most definitely a monster, and you will remain one,” Luna said nonchalantly.
Fluttershy opened her mouth to loudly panic, but Luna’s hoof tensed up against her - faced with either a panic attack or the full force of the traditional Royal Canterlot Voice, Fluttershy chose neither.
She snapped her mouth shut, willing herself to stay still.
“That’s better,” Luna said. “Now, I’m afraid it seems that all Twilight Sparkle did was succeed in temporarily suppressing your symptoms. Inside, you have become a creature of the night.”
“A… a bat pony?” Fluttershy said with trembling lips.
“Mmm, yes. A vampire. Nosferatu. Strigoi!” Luna said, with a thrilled glint in her eyes. “Noble creatures, for whom I have always had a particular fondness.”
“Oh.” Fluttershy didn’t know what to make of any of that. “So they’re not… scary?”
“They most definitely are,” Luna said, with a wicked smile. “But no more scary than normal ponies.”
“...Oh.”
“Do not be afraid, dear Fluttershy.”
Fluttershy narrowed her eyes, for just a second. Being afraid was something she was good at, at least.
“You simply require some guidance - a helping hoof, if you will,” Luna said, giggling silently. “For centuries, I have been there for those of your kind, to shelter and nurture and-”
Fluttershy wasn’t particularly listening. She knew it was rude, but there were words she was looking for, like cure and back to normal, and Luna wasn’t saying them.
She needed to go home, get away, hide somewhere until she looked normal again and then...
“Where are we?” Fluttershy asked.
Luna blinked. “Excuse me?”
“Is this the old castle in the Everfree?”
“Why yes, yes it is.” Luna looked around, as if she hadn’t noticed where they were. “Our former castle. It will make a lovely home for Princess Sparkle, I am sure.”
Fluttershy looked around them - they were high up, after all, and she should have been frightened. She should have been thinking a lot of things, honestly, foremost among them begging Luna or Twilight or anybody to help her not be a bat pony monster any more.
Instead, her nose crinkled on its own.
The smell. It still surrounded them, and now that her nerves were calming down, her mouth was starting to water again. Her eyes wandered to the mysterious silver bowl.
“What… is that?” Fluttershy asked, her eyes wide and hungry.
“Oh, that?” Luna said, grinning. “A gift. To honor you, Fluttershy - to celebrate the beginning of your new life. Your prima nocta, if you will.”
“...Celebrate?” Fluttershy whispered, her eyes never leaving the bowl. She crept closer, staring at the red liquid.
“There is no known cure, Fluttershy,” Luna said, still smiling. “This is who you are now. You will have to learn how to live anew, learn how to control your…” Luna leaned in close to Fluttershy, hovering over her “...urges.”
Fluttershy, again, barely heard her. She licked her lips, forgetting all about monsters or home or apples or anything but the big, delicious bowl in front of her.
“W...What is it?” she murmured.
“Blood, of course,” Luna said.
That she did hear. Fluttershy jolted, jumping away from the bowl. “Blood?!” she yelled, still unable to look away.
“Why yes, blood,” Luna said, her eyes lighting up. “You didn’t think I would bring you apple juice?”
“B...Blood…” Fluttershy stammered, clapping her hooves over her mouth. It smelled so good, it couldn’t be blood, but what else could it be? Her stomach churned and lurched and was hungry all the same, and she fought down a choking retch writhing in her throat.
“You are hungry, aren’t you?” Luna asked, in a disturbingly knowing way. “All the time, I am sure. You eat and eat, but those tiny apples are only enough for a bat. This will slake your thirst, well and truly. You could drain every fruit in Sweet Apple Acres and still hear your stomach moan for more, but blood will sate you.”
Fluttershy shook her head, feeling tears form in her eyes. “How… how could you?!”
“Excuse me?”
“You call this a present?!” Fluttershy said, her tears hardening into anger. “You killed some poor, innocent pony just so you could put their blood in a bowl and-”
“Oh, Fluttershy!” Luna laughed, a real laugh, closing her eyes and lifting her chin to the sky. “You poor thing. I did not kill anypony.”
Fluttershy blinked, stopping her rant cold. “You didn’t?”
“Of course not.” Luna slid the bowl closer to Fluttershy, nudging it with a hoof. The thick blood inside sloshed lazily around, staining the pristine silver. “I merely took a little blood. No lives were lost, I can assure you.”
Fluttershy stared at the bowl, trying to ignore her wailing stomach. “...Whose is it?” she asked.
“Who?” Luna cocked an eyebrow. “I do not know specifically, to be honest. Several ponies. Volunteers, before you ask.”
Fluttershy tried to look at it as just a drink - not somepony’s blood, no, just a nice drink Luna made for her. It didn’t work - her mouth was still watering at the smell, sure, but it was still a bowl of blood sitting in front of her, for pony’s sake. Just… wrong.
“...Don’t they need that?” Fluttershy asked.
Luna rolled her eyes again, but she was smiling this time. “They are fine, Fluttershy. Now, are you going to drink this or not? It’s getting cold.”
She wanted to, oh dear sun in the sky did she ever. She swallowed hard, trying not to retch again at the very idea that blood smelled so good. “I’m very sorry, Princess, and I appreciate the, uh… gift, I really do, but I don’t think I can… I mean…”
Luna’s smile grew. She slithered over nearer to Fluttershy, circling her body around the little batpony and draping a wing over Fluttershy’s shoulders. “Ah, I see how it is. A bit… hmm, impersonal, isn’t it?”
“...What?” Fluttershy stiffened up under Luna’s touch, sitting up straight.
“My apologies - offering you a bowl to slurp out of, like some kind of animal. How dreadful. What fun is there in that, after all?” Luna leaned in even closer, blowing every word gently over Fluttershy’s fur-tufted ear. “Truly, it has been too long. I have forgotten my manners.”
“Oh, that’s okay… I forgive you,” Fluttershy said. She breathed out a sigh - all fine, just a little misstep, Luna was from another time, after all, and she acted strangely sometimes and that was just A-Okay.
“Perhaps you would prefer some of mine.”
“Meep!” Fluttershy squeaked, snapping her forehooves over her mouth again, panicking at the surging growl of hunger in her belly. She couldn’t really have just…? “I’m sorry, Princess, but I could’ve sworn you just said…”
She couldn’t have. Fluttershy was just imagining things. Just wishful thinking.
Wishful?
No! No, no, no...
“No harm in that, is there?” Luna raised one foreleg, hanging it right in front of Fluttershy’s face. Her horn glowed, and a thin blade of magic appeared, dragging a small, deep cut across Luna’s leg. “You could drink of me until your stomach burst and I would be unharmed, little one.”
Fluttershy’s jaw dropped.
Luna’s magic disappeared, and behind it was a slender tendril of dark blood, slowly leaking down Luna’s leg. It was almost black, and thick, and it smelled like heaven and hugs with Angel and every delicious treat Pinkie ever baked wrapped into one glorious drink.
It made the blood in the bowl smell every bit as disgusting as it was. It made Fluttershy forget apples, if only for a moment. Just like that, Flutterbat was back, panting and sticking her tongue out towards the Princess’ leg.
“Much better, I see,” Luna whispered into her ear. “Enjoy it, Fluttershy. Don’t hold back.”
Fluttershy squeezed her eyes shut, hard, and pulled her tongue back. “Can I… I shouldn’t. I just shouldn’t!” She gritted her teeth, rubbing her fangs against her lip. “Oh but it smells… so… ohhhhhh…”
She felt Luna smile against her ear. “Please, Fluttershy,” Luna said. “I offer it freely to you. Fighting your desire only makes it more intense.”
“Oh… of course…but I...” Fluttershy half-said, half-moaned, lost in a trance. She saw nothing but the dark streak of Luna’s blood down her leg until she closed her eyes, jaw wide, panting as she stuck her tongue out, inching closer and closer to that wonderful, perfect smell.
There was a moment, just before her tongue touched Luna’s blood, where she cried out inside - this was wrong, bad, disgusting, and she was a disgusting pony for wanting it.
Oh but it smells so GOOD just a teeny tiny taste and then...
And then the tip of her tongue touched something both warm and cold, thick and sweet and sharp with a harsh touch of iron and so, so good.
She dove forward with a throaty growl, licking up the streak of blood in one stroke and then sucking greedily at the wound. Later - everything else could wait. Later, she would ask Luna or Twilight or anypony about a cure.
Right now, there was just this heavenly drink.
“Oh!” Luna gasped aloud, squeezing Fluttershy tight with her other foreleg. “Very hungry, I see. You poor thing, getting by on apples this whole time.”
Fluttershy moaned something incoherent in response, lapping frantically at the cut on Luna’s leg, dragging her tongue up the shallow slit over and over again. It tasted worlds better than it smelled, and for once, finally, finally, the hungry growl in her stomach died down.
But that didn’t come close to making her stop. It tasted far too good to stop.
“Let’s just get comfortable, shall we?” Luna purred into her ear, and Fluttershy was vaguely aware of both of them rolling onto their sides together, lying down on the cold stone under the moonlight.
She lapped at Luna’s leg for what felt like only seconds, savoring every tiny dribble of blood to ooze out. Her eyes rolled back in her head and her wings spasmed with every succulent taste.
Luna nuzzled against the back of her head. “I am only sorry this took so long,” she whispered. “In the past, I took care to welcome your kind personally. You are all special to me, Fluttershy.”
“Mmm,” Fluttershy said, barely listening. She felt rude, but Luna’s blood was just… so good. She was having a hard time thinking about anything else.
“Of course, when I heard of what happened, I came to find you right away. I couldn’t bear the thought of you wandering about and getting into trouble.” Luna held herself closer to Fluttershy, spooning against her back and rubbing an idle hoof against her leathery wings. “At least, not without me.”
“Mmmhmm.” Fluttershy was trying to listen, honest. She still couldn’t help it.
“I know it can be scary at first, Fluttershy, but trust me, you’ll come to understand… oh. Oooooooh, oh my.” Luna rolled onto her back, away from Fluttershy, and put her free hoof to her forehead.
Fluttershy jolted upright, her tongue reluctantly leaving Luna’s leg. “Are you okay?”
“Just faint, for a moment. Do not worry.”
Fluttershy felt that old familiar anxious panic returning - what if she killed Luna? What if she drank too much blood and the Princess died and everypony knew it was her fault and they chased her deep into the Everfree forest with torches and pitchforks and all her friends told her she was ugly and…
“Do not be afraid, Fluttershy. I am fine.” Luna touched a hoof to her chest, just for a moment. “You should know, actually, that a vampire’s kiss has certain… interesting qualities.”
Kiss?
Fluttershy wouldn’t have thought of what she was doing as anything near kissing.
“My… spit?” Fluttershy stared at Luna’s leg, where a patch of her coat was soaked through from Fluttershy rubbing her tongue all over an open wound.
“Mmmm, yes,” Luna said, biting her lip ever so slightly. “It induces a sort of trance in the vi- er, partner. A euphoric state. Very suggestable, and, dare I say, mmm… easily aroused.” Luna rolled and stretched on the stone floor like a cat, then wiggled her hips, running one forehoof lazily over her chest and stomach.
“Oh. Um… wow,” Fluttershy said, not at all staring at Luna or her slightly flushed cheeks, her slightly askew crown or the wicked, knowing grin she was making.
“Wow, indeed.” Luna spread her wings against the floor, rolling onto her side towards Fluttershy and taking care to part her legs just enough. “I would do almost anything you asked of me right now, Fluttershy.”
“Um… that sounds very…”
“Anything.” Luna said again, pulling Fluttershy close. “Anything you could desire.”
Luna locked eyes with her, and Fluttershy stared back - Luna’s eyes were huge, stars twinkling in her dilated pupils. She was panting slightly, her chest brushing against Fluttershy with every breath.
“What do you want, Fluttershy?” Luna whispered, just barely reigning in a moan. “What would you ask of your Princess?”
Fluttershy’s eyes darted away, towards Luna’s leg, where even now a thin trickle of blood was seeping out. Luna followed her gaze.
“Ah, yes.” She released Fluttershy and held her leg out again. “You are still young, for a vampire. Still hungry.”
“Mmmmm!” Fluttershy wasted no time, going right back to suckling.
“It will pass,” Luna said. “Your hunger is intense now. Soon you will calm down, and learn of other… hungers.” Luna smiled deviously to herself.
Fluttershy grunted and nodded. Something about hunger. She knew all about hunger.
“Fluttershy?”
“Ugh!” Something caught in Fluttershy’s throat, and she pulled back, choking and coughing.
“Careful!” Luna said, grinning. “You drink so much. I’ve been told that consuming my blood can be quite… intense. I should have warned you.”
Fluttershy blinked and sniffed and blinked - something was tickling in the back of her throat, up her nose. Her ears flipped and flopped, and suddenly she was short of breath.
“Fluttershy? Can you hear me?”
Luna’s voice was muffled, far away and deafeningly close. Fluttershy staggered to her feet - it was hard to see, Luna was blurred and bright and glowing with stars and light and power, the voice of every night creature thrumming through her veins glowing like lines along her coat.
“...Fluttershy?”
Fluttershy shook her head, blinking over and over again, snorting and snuffling. She could see every star as one lone point of light, read every crack and curl of moss in the stone wall on the other side of the castle, hear an apple weigh down its stem until it broke and fell down to Sweet Apple earth with a crash that rang in her ears from miles away.
Her fangs buzzed, numb and alive. Her mouth ached. All kinds of body parts ached.
The hunger was back, but different, twisted, wet and pulsing and eager. She swayed and stumbled and felt the Princess cry out to her, felt her beautiful muzzle against her own whispering words that should have carried calm but only stoked the fire roaring in her belly.
She was hungry, so hungry, and not even the Princess could give Fluttershy what she REALLY wanted right now. It was lower in her belly, hotter and louder and...
She felt herself doing something unthinkable, indulging an unknown impulse - she was kissing the Princess, or the Princess was kissing her? She felt herself snake her tongue between Luna’s lips and moan into her, snapping away as suddenly as it had begun.
Still hungry. Apples, consuming her thoughts again. One big, green apple in particular.
Flutterbat howled, long and loud into the night, and sprang up into the stars, snarling as she swept away on wings grown great and terrible with blood-stoked thirst. She dimly heard Luna call out after her, but she neither understood nor cared what the Princess had to say.
They were just gibberish pony noises, after all.
* * *
Big Mac stirred in bed. It was very late, or very early, but he barely knew that. He was half awake, stuck in that late night in-between of restless rest, eyes tired but reluctant to stay closed. He dipped and drifted, in and out of sleep, muttering as he fluttered back and forth.
Bats flapped and hissed in his dreams, not quite nightmares but enough to startle him out of sleep here and there. He’d come back from Appleloosa to tales from his sister of some very strange goings-on in the orchard. It shouldn’t have bothered him -- just another on the long list of crazy adventures Applejack and her friends ended up on, and not the first time their crop had been threatened.
But he was very bothered. Something inside him was fidgeting, tickling the back of his mind, something he couldn’t quite put a hoof to. Despite the ache in his eyes and the muddle in his thoughts, sleep felt very far away.
It certainly didn’t help that he had a raging, throbbing hard on.
He sighed and rolled over onto his back. Nothing else for it, really -- he hadn’t even been dreaming anything sexy, far as he could tell. And yet there it was, lying stiff against his belly. He stroked it with a hoof, absent-mindedly gathering his thoughts, halfway between daydream and real dream.
All the talk, all the commotion, over one little pegasus. It was hard, almost impossible for him to imagine Fluttershy, of all ponies, swooping around the orchard in the night, growling and hissing.
She wasn’t like that. She was never like that, always sweet and quiet and eyes full of warm kindness, the sort of warmth you just can’t fake. She was one of the most perfect mares he’d ever met, they very definition of a lady love.
And damn what a backside! Not a big, round rump like the ones that usually caught his eye, but smooth and perfectly shaped and just tight enough...
He tried not to think about his sister’s friends like that, honestly, but Fluttershy tended to bring out the beast in his thoughts.
He wuffed, quietly, picking up speed a little, his brow furrowing as he pictured three butterflies on a round, lovely yellow curve. Thinking about Fluttershy like that really did make him feel bad, especially afterwards. She was such a shy little thing. Surely she deserved better than dancing around in some tawdry jerk-off fantasy.
With a snort, he proceeded to have a tawdry jerk-off dream anyway. Wouldn’t hurt anypony -- it wasn’t like she would ever find out, right?
She crept into bed with him, silently sneaking on the tips of her hooves and burrowing under the covers, snuggling up against his side. It was always different when he imagined being with her -- he could spend long minutes just thinking about lying with her, trading gentle kisses and hushed nuzzles and letting the heat between them slowly grow, a spark catching and spreading without flame.
He never dreamed about fucking Fluttershy. He always imagined making love to her.
She clung close to him, resting her head perfectly in the crook of his neck, and he held her in his arms, the two of them lying side by side, just being together.
Mac felt his nostrils flare, nodding to himself. He’d never pictured himself as big on cuddling, but thinking about this had him raring to go.
“...Mac?”
He leaned back, to look down at her. She was just a dark, beautiful shape in his bed, her huge eyes shining up at him.
“...Hi,” she said, whispering so low she was almost mouthing it.
“...Hey,” he said back, hushed and low.
“Is this… okay?” she asked, shifting closer against his body.
He chuckled silently. “I hope so.”
She smiled -- he wasn’t sure how he knew in the dark, but he knew. She darted up, leaving one wet peck right on the tip of his nose, and then snagged him in a long, juicy kiss before he could react.
That was different. His eyes stayed open as she worked on him, letting out silent, breathy moans and nibbling on his lower lip.
He’d always liked it when a mare did that. He closed his eyes and rolled with it, settling into her kisses, wondering why he’d never imagined Fluttershy doing that before. It was so hot, imagining this innocent little mare kissing him, rubbing her hips against him, pushing back on his tongue with her own just as hard.
“Mmmm…” she sighed, loudly for her. “Oh, Mac, please!”
Please?
She was pulling him, rolling on her back and pulling him with her, so much stronger than he’d ever thought. This was crazy -- he usually pictured her blushing and biting her tongue, all Oh we shouldn’t and Oh Mac gently and Okay maybe just a little.
“I want you right now,” she said, holding him close on top of her.
She was still blushing, at least.
“...Fluttershy?” he said, hazy even to his own ears. His blanket had fallen off as she pulled him closer, and he felt his coat prickling up all over, partly from the heart-racing mare under him and partly from the cold -- it was downright chilly. And drafty, too. Huh. He was sure he’d closed his bedroom window. Not the kind of night you would just leave it open. He started to look up...
She grabbed him by the chin, yanking him into another kiss, almost rough this time. “Make love to me, Mac,” she whispered in his ear. “I’ve…um... I’ve always wanted you.”
Ohhhhhhh DAMN.
“Shoot, Fluttershy, I’ve wanted you for a long time,” he said, drunk on the feeling of her slim body rubbing against his.
“Really?” she said, lighting up and straining her leathery wings against the sheets. “I mean… I mean… really?” she said again, a little more her usual self.
“Of course, girl. Why, you’re the purdiest, sweetest…”
“Shh!” She put a hoof to his lips, shushing him quietly. It almost sounded like a low hiss. She pulled it away just as quick, sealing it with a quick kiss.
She broke it off, leaving his mouth hanging open. This wasn’t any kind of Fluttershy he’d dreamed about before - hell, this was a regular little minx in his bed. Must’ve been all those weird stories going around, bouncing around in his head, keeping him up late at night with a hard-on that wouldn’t go away...
“...I can help you with that,” Fluttershy said, moaning a little, stroking up the side of his shaft with one of her back legs.
Mac jolted. Had he even said that out loud?
“Oooh!” Fluttershy purred. “Oh, my, it’s so… big…”
He shuddered - she was flagging her tail and slapping it up at him, teasing his balls. He froze there, hovering, resting against all that could be heaven.
Something about this didn’t seem right. But it didn’t seem right in a way that Mac was altogether okay with.
“Mac...” Her lips shook against his cheek, and he could feel the same trembling against the head of his cock. She was gaping for him, just sopping wet, drawing a rough snort from him and making his head flare out so hard it ached.
There was no reason not to thrust right in, to drive himself deep inside her and take her, just like he’d always dreamed of. Hell, just like she was begging, literally begging him to do.
But something still wasn’t right here.
“Hey, uh… ‘Shy?” he asked. He’d never called her that before, but it felt right, old and easy and familiar.
“What are you waiting for?” she pulled at his shoulders with her forehooves, urging him on. “Don’t worry, Mac, you won’t hurt me.”
“Don’t…?” He was having trouble finding words, even more so than usual. There was something he wanted to say, and it was important, but she was kissing him and thrusting her hips up against his and actually, no-goddamn-kidding winking against him.
“I need you, Mac…” she whispered into his ear, flicking her tongue out and just barely tickling it at the base. “Please?”
Well,shoot.
He wasn’t about to argue with that. Hell, he knew he wasn’t the sharpest apple on the branch all the time, and here a beautiful mare, a former supermodel, was in his bed, begging and pleading and telling him to give it to her.
“Just do it, please… I want it...um… so bad,” she moaned quietly, still in that adorably shy way she had about her. Then she snagged him in a long, deep kiss, carefully chewing on his lip again, sharp points pressing almost hard enough to draw blood.
And that was it, far too much for his fuzzy, pleasure-addled brain. He took in one sharp, deep breath and pushed, groaning as he slid in up to his ring.
Fluttershy’s arms tightened around him and she let out a loud-for-her squeak, clamping her teeth on his shoulder, near the base of his neck. Mac hardly even noticed - she was snug and warm and gushingly wet, worlds better than he ever imagined. He’d always pictured a slow battle, working his way into her inch by tight inch, taking it slow and easy.
She was nothing like that, taking him in like it was nothing, molded around him like perfection. He almost came right away, clenching everything he could to keep the shaking in his legs from spilling up and out and ending this too early.
“Mmmm!” Fluttershy moaned, bucking her hips impatiently against him. “Mmmmmmm Mac,” she said, muffled through the flesh of shoulder.
He thrust into her, slow and careful, all the way to the hilt.
Ohhhhhhhh no that’s good. REAL good. Aww horse apples.
Slow, out and in again, slow and careful and really, really slow. Yeah. Gentle.
Think about something else, anything else, blank mind blank mind blank mind…
She wasn’t helping, not one bit, thrusting back into him and straining her wings against the bed, pushing herself close against his body.
Nice and slow, nice and slooooooow…
He snorted and grit his teeth, leaning in to nuzzle her ear - which felt kind of furry, mare needed to trim it up a bit maybe. It tickled his nose, making him grin like a little colt.
Okay, okay… heh, tickles… that’s better, calm, caaaaaaalm, maybe give it a little harder…
She squealed in delight, nuzzling against his neck, grunting and moaning a little more loud and throaty than he ever would have imagined. He felt her nibbling on him, trailing down to the same spot on his shoulder and pinching with her teeth.
Not bad, not a problem at all. He bucked into her harder, and the bed rocked with them, creaking and knocking into the wall with a muffled thunk.
Aww crap, quiet… too hot. Too hot, too loud.
Ease it back, that’s right, treat her like a lady. This is Fluttershy we’re doing here, take it easy.
“Mmmmm?!” Fluttershy moaned, still hanging onto his shoulder. This moan was different - not breathy and shy, but annoyed and frustrated.
Take it easy, girl, take it nice and slow, just for you…
He nuzzled into her again - her mane was wild and unkempt, like they had been going at it for hours. She smelled like the orchard at night, like wet grass and moonlight and the distant hooting of owls. It almost felt like they were outside, rutting among the fallen leaves.
“...Mac, come on,” she said, only leaving his shoulder for a second. She grunted and wrapped her back legs around his, yanking him in close and grinding against him.
“Shoot, uh… really?” he said, trying hard to think of anything else but the way she was squeezing around him.
“Really?” she growled, “Really?!” She bucked up into him harder and faster, making out with his shoulder with low, throaty growls.
Heh, damn, I was all kinds of wrong about…
“Ow!” He jolted. Something pinched hard at the skin on his shoulder, sharp enough to break through the haze in his head.
They both froze. Mac opened his eyes. Fluttershy was staring up at him, mouth hanging open in guilty shock.
He shook his head, blinking to clear things up - his head hurt, skipping from drunk right to the hangover, a dull ache that made everything feel… fuzzy. He could’ve sworn that Fluttershy had something thick and red running down her chin.
“...What the…?” he started to say.
“HrrrrrrmmmmmMMMMAC!” Fluttershy snarled at him, sticking out her long, pointed tongue.
“Ooof!” Suddenly Big Mac was flipped on his back, his shoulders pinned down by her unnaturally strong hooves. “Uh… Fluttershy?”
“Not NOW Mac!” she said, low and mean and intense. “If you would just… oh… harder! Like this!”
Fluttershy raised her hips, pulling out right to the very tip of his cock, and then slammed back down with a loud, slick squelch.
Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh no
Her inner walls were squeezing him, choking so hard it pinched, rocking her hips and massaging his length so expertly that he almost forgot about all the snarling.
“Uh…?” he forced his head up, panting to catch his breath. Fluttershy fanned out two great, leathery wings, panting loudly up at the ceiling. Then she looked down at him and grinned, teeth bright and huge in the dark.
She darted down and bit him on the chest, three times, striking like a snake.
“Ow! AH! Now just what the hell…?!” She cut him off with a rough kiss, invading his mouth with her tongue, coiling it around his own. He was glad about the bites, actually.
Would’ve come right there if she hadn’t bit me, damn… and now what?
Sharp. Sharp fangs. He could feel them against his lips, feel them…
“WHOA!” he yelped, losing all other thoughts as Fluttershy reared up again, riding him.
“Hard, Mac!” she said, “Like this!” She slammed her hips up and down once more. And again. And again, slapping her perfect rump down against his balls as she grunted and snarled and licked up the blood leaking from the bites on his chest.
WOW. Dammit, dammit dammit damn, gonna… gonna...
She was slamming him, railing up and down so fast his legs spasmed and kicked with each slap, fast and hard and hot. He’d never imagined Fluttershy bucking on top of him like this. She reared up, growling and tossing her mane around before grinning down at him and going right back to greedily licking the darker red stains off his coat.
Good GODDESS.
He was going to come any second now, could feel the heart-skipping pressure building up between his legs. He tried to sit up…
“HARDER!” She slammed him back down into the bed, pushing effortlessly with her hooves, slapping her hips down even stronger somehow, grinding around on his crotch to punctuate her point.
“Shy?” he gasped out, moaning as she went right back to fucking the hell out of him. “Fluttershy, I’m… I’m gonna…”
“Harder… Mmmmnn!” She trailed off into a growl, pulling back up into words… “Like this, Mac, like THIS…”
The bed groaned as she slammed down into him.
No no no gonna come, gotta slow down
“Shy!” he whined.
“Grrrrrr aaaaaaaaAAAH!” she snarled, her eyes wild, shining at him red in the dark. She braced her front hooves on his shoulders, rearing up and bucking her hips down so hard the bed creaked and shook.
Crap crap crap alright this is happening
“...I’m gonna come!” he yelped.
She grabbed his mane in her hooves and yanked him into a rough kiss, pulling his head up and straining his neck to meet hers. She slammed down one last time, so hard it hurt in his hips, forcing a splintering CRACK out of the bed as it shifted beneath them.
He tried not to, tried with all his might, but he was buried deep inside her and it was perfect and it was like nothing he’d ever known and it was all too much.
He came, spasming over and over and howling into her mouth. She dropped his head, leaning back and letting out a long, growling sigh as he spent himself inside her, her eyes hazy and half-lidded and finally, finally satisfied.
Mac just laid back and shuddered, jerking his hips as he finished.
“...Wow,” was all he managed to say.
Maybe it was his guilty conscience, after all, but he’d never before imagined coming inside Fluttershy. He always politely pulled out just in time, relishing her alarmed gasps as he rested it on her mound and shot white spurts all over her butter yellow coat.
Instead she was resting on top of him, humming pleasantly to herself and rolling her hips around, sighing with contentment. He’d come for what felt like minutes, shooting into her more times than he could count, and she’d gladly, hungrily taken it.
Mac just gasped for breath, hardly able to move.
Fluttershy lifted herself off him with a happy little purr, and Mac felt his own seed dripping back onto him as cold air chilled the wet flesh. He was still reeling, groggily trying to lift his head, feeling tired in his neck, hell, all over really.
Gosh, mare wore me out.
Fluttershy, of all ponies.
Straight up, took me to town and fucked me under the table.
He started to chuckle, still finding it hard to move. Fluttershy was hovering near his crotch, fangs glinting in the dim light, staring at his dick with rapt hunger.
...Fangs?!
Mac panicked, rolling his hips away and crossing his legs. Dream or whatever the hell was going on, his brain saw sharp teeth next to Little Mac and didn’t like it one bit.
Fluttershy growled, but dropped it immediately, her eyes lighting up. She stared at the green apple on his flank, lips trembling and curling back, showing off her new teeth.
He barely had time to think before she reared up and bit him, hard, right on the apple.
“OW!” he yelped, far more high-pitched than he would’ve liked to admit.
Fluttershy hummed and sighed, dragging her snake-like tongue all over his cutie mark, lapping up the slow trickle of blood.
He blinked a few times, still feeling groggy and high on the breathless afterglow of one of the best fucks he could remember. “Uh… Fluttershy?” he said.
She snapped towards him, onto him, on top of him and in his face in an instant. She smiled wickedly and kissed him, burying her forehooves in his mane and holding him close for long seconds as he tasted the acrid tang of his own blood on her lips.
“Um… thank you,” he heard her blurt out.
Then she was gone. He heard the flap of her wings and a few clops of hooves and caught a glimpse of her, three pink bats on her rump instead of butterflies, just for an instant as she leapt out his window.
He sat in his bed, staring at the open window for a long time. His coat shone with sweat and he could feel crusty patches of drying blood on his skin.
He flopped back, lying there with arms outstretched, his breath slowly catching up as his heart slowly, cautiously stopped hammering in his chest.
Golly, was all he managed to think before passing back into sleep.