A Shiver of Sympathy

by Crystal Ash

Rating: teen
Tags: Random, Sad, Nightmare Moon, Princess Luna, Drama, Original Character, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Fluttershy
Length: 3861

Shiver, a batpony lacking a purpose, knows that Luna despises her, even if she doesn't know why. So when the princess sends for her, Shiver doesn't know what to expect...

Shiver, a batpony still searching for her purpose, knows that Princess Luna hated her since the day they met.

So when she receives a letter from Luna asking for her, Shiver has no idea what to expect....
=~o~=
Written for the Second Annual Batpony Writing Contest. I tried to write a semi-sentimental story, it didn't really work, but here ya go!

Published 2016-10-17 21:50:01 UTC
Last updated 2016-10-17 21:50:01 UTC

Chapter 1

Shiver stared down at the letter. Its royal seal and silver and black lining could only mean trouble.

Because it could only mean the letter came from Luna.

Princess Luna.

Shiver knew (or suspected, rather) that Luna didn't, well, like her.

Shiver was the daughter of Discord and Fluttershy, so Luna wasn't her only enemy (crushed shippings and all that), but she was a powerful one: an extremely powerful one. Shiver didn't have a clue why Luna didn't like her, in fact, she would think Luna would favor her.

She was a bat pony, after all, and there weren't a lot of her kind left.

Shiver remembered her first encounter with Luna...

=~o~=

"Hello, Princess," Twilight greeted the alicorn as she stepped into the room. Luna surveyed the room with an air of authority. The Mane Six were all present, excepting Applejack, of course, with Fluttershy holding the hoof of a small filly. However, it was uncharacteristically quiet; there was no snide comments from Rainbow or randomness from Pinkie.

"I had expected Discord to be here." Luna spoke without a trace of embarrassment.

Twilight blushed and fumbled, "Well, you see, Princess, we figured the process would be easier without Discord, charming as he is. It's not exactly a serious matter, but enough so that it would be unadvisbale to allow Discord to be present," Twilight explained, running out of breath. "Although, I'm sure he'll turn up anyway," she muttered, more to herself, than to Luna.

The dark princess stepped past Twilight over to Fluttershy, her gaze fixed on the filly, who stared right back at her.

The filly, of course, was Shiver.

My mother began to speak. "Um, this is... Shiver. She is only a filly, you see, so ple-."

Luna cut her off. "I will deal the foal as I deem appropriate." She turned. "Child, do you understand why I am here?"

Shiver paused thoughtfully. "Well... probably something to do with the fact that I'm a bat pony. I know they are rare and you like them because bats are night creatures and you're, well, the princess of the night! But... I don't really know."

Luna glanced at Fluttershy, who was hanging her head in defeat. The kind pony thought that Luna was here to take away Shiver, but that wasn't the case. She may be a bat pony, but Luna had her reasons to avoid the filly.

Twilight's eyes flickered between Luna and Fluttershy, unknowing of the conflict. "Anyway, Shiver is a bat pony for two reasons, at least, that's what we think. First, Discord being, well, Discord probably increased the chance the baby to be a bat pony. The chance already being there, of course, from Fluttershy's history with bat ponies. You see, we were trying to banish vampire fruit bats from Sweet Apple Acres, and she was required to do her stare, an-."

"I am aware of this event," confirmed Luna, cutting off yet another pony. Twilight nodded, embarrassed. The purple alicorn didn't suspect Luna's real reason for interrupting her, and Luna preferred to keep it that way. "I must be on my way now. The filly is..." Luna paused. "The filly is beautiful, and I'm glad to meet her."

Luna strode out and the door shut with a bang.

The group looked at each other, confused. However, the friends stayed silent, keeping their suspicions to themselves. Each of the Mane Six exited, until only Fluttershy and young Shiver remained. "She has a kind heart, really, she does," Fluttershy assured the filly gently.

But Shiver remembered the look of hatred on the princess's face, and she knew that even if Luna had a kind heart, Shiver wouldn't be graced with seeing it.

=~o~=

So, now, Shiver was confused. She gently tore open the envelope with her teeth. In large letters, the paper proclaimed:

Your presence is desired by the Princess of the Night in the Canterlot libraries at 9:00 pm.

Well, that totally cleared up everything...

What?

Shiver considered it, then realized there was nothing to consider. Her presence had been requested by the princess and there was nothing she could do to avoid it.

=~o~=

When Shiver stepped into the libraries, she felt a shudder go through her that could only be magic: a shield, probably. The pony was immediately on guard, but forced herself to relax. She had to trust Luna.

Turning the corner, she found a small, cozy spot. It had pillows and a small table with mini powdered donuts, but Luna was nowhere to be found.

Shiver thought about continuing searching the endless library, but she had a feeling this was the meeting place, so she positioned herself snugly on a pillow, her silver coat against the dark pillow creating an image of the night sky.

Not a minute later, Luna emerged from the darkness. Silently, the alicorn folded herself down on a pillow and crossed her hooves.

Shiver fidgeted, flexing her wings, but remained quiet. She had the suspicion that this was a test. After two minutes of awkward silence, Shiver began to rethink her hunch. Just as she was about to open her mouth, however, Luna's horn glowed and levitated a donut to herself and Shiver.

The bat pony took it hesitantly, wondering if this was a signal to begin conversation.

"I realize that I may have treated you unfairly in the past," Luna spoke, startling Shiver out of her thoughts.

"Oh! I, um... what?" Shiver stuttered, beginning to self-consciously stroke her swirled mint mane.

Luna allowed herself a small smile, and Shiver grinned awkwardly. "I know I expressed an unreasonable dislike for you when we first met. You are intelligent enough to have seen this, so don't pretend you didn't realize."

Shiver just looked at the princess, speechless. Luna cleared her throat nervously; she had expected a response, and a smart one. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea.

"I asked you here to invite you into the Night Guard." There, she said it.

Shiver's eyes widened and her breathing quickened. "Apologies, Princess, but I... I must decline your invitation," Shiver said carefully. Any other pony would have jumped for joy, but she had no interest in the Guard. Being in the Night Guard had been one of her fondest dreams, but that was when she was just a filly. Anypony wanted to be in the Guard at that age. Now that she was an adult, Shiver knew it wasn't for her. Besides, Shiver still didn't have a cutie mark, and, in fact, was wondering if bat ponies even got them. But the pony would wait for something to come up, and she would know it was meant for her

Luna raised an eyebrow, trying to remain calm. This wasn't going how she planned. The princess turned her head and closed her eyes, breathing. Shiver looked at her, concerned.

"Is something wrong, Princess?" Shiver asked. She wasn't sure that it was her place to pry, but the princess just looked like she needed some love.

Luna looked at Shiver with tears in her eyes. "I, I just.. I just.... oh, I don't know! I feel like I can't communicate with anypony, cause they're all scared of me, and I get nervous, and.. and..," Luna sniffed. "I just want to have a friend. And now I've embarrassed myself, and you're probably disgusted with me, an-."

The princess stopped suddenly. Shiver had placed her hoof on Luna's back and was now stroking her fur, comforting the princess. She looked down into Shiver's kind eyes. "Go on," the batpony said softly.

Luna took a deep, shuddering breath. "Th-thank you. I.. I feel better now."

Shiver continued patting her and they stayed that way for a while, Luna leaning into Shiver, whose wing wrapped around the princess.

Finally, after what seemed like a lifetime, Shiver gently stood up, careful not to jostle the sleeping princess.

As she walked out, she spoke to the nearest guard. "Don't let Luna be disturbed." The guard nodded, and Shiver continued on her way, unaware of the pink and black heart on her flank.

=~o~=
Shiver slid into her seat at the table. Her mother was seated across from her, smiling. "Hello, Mother. How are you?"

"I'm doing well, thank you. I'm very proud of you, Shiver. What do you think your cutie mark means?" Fluttershy wasted no time on small talk. Shiver smiled; her mother hadn't changed. She knew Fluttershy acted differently around other ponies, but she and Shiver had always had an easy relationship.

Turning back to the topic of conversation, Shiver turned to look at her cutie mark, lifting her wings. The mark depicted a heart with a jagged line running down the middle; one side was pink and the other, black. "Well, I think my cutie mark has something to do with kindness and... understanding." Shiver had already told her mother about the evening with Luna; this discussion was about her cutie mark. Shiver continued, "I think it means I am there to listen and comfort, no matter what a pony did or who a pony is. And I think that's important."

The batpony turned to look at her flank again. She noticed something she hadn't before: a silver star in the middle of the line. Shiver pointed it out and shifted so her mother could see. Fluttershy studied it carefully and nodded for her to continue. "I believe the star probably has some thing to do with Luna and, of course, the fact that I'm a batpony; a creature of the night."

Fluttershy paused thoughtfully. "Well, that's interesting. Have you co-." She was interrupted by a knock on the door. Shiver watched her stand up and go to the door. When she opened it, it revealed a royal guard standing outside.

Fumbling, he took out an envelope. "Uh, a message from Princess Luna." He handed the letter to Fluttershy sheepishly. She waved the guard goodbye and turned back to Shiver. Silently, she sat down again and handed her daughter the letter. "I guess that ends our time together, for now?" Shiver said. Fluttershy nodded softly and saved Shiver out the door.

=~o~=

Shiver slowly pushed open the door, which creaked obnoxiously. The batpony glared at the door, then she continued trotting down to the cozy spot she and Luna had used before. Sure enough, when she arrived, Luna was waiting for her with a plate of small sandwiches.

"I see you got your cutie mark," Luna noted as Shiver knelt onto a pillow, spreading her wings for balance.

Shiver grinned proudly. "I did indeed! And apologies, Princess, but why exactly did you call me here?"

"Well... I figured you would want to know why I had a dislike for you in the past," Luna said, sounding uncertain. "At least, I know I would want to know," she added, chewing on her lip.

Shiver paused, looking at the princess. She wasn't sure if she wanted to the hear the reason, but she knew that it would improve their relationship. Besides, wasn't this why she got her cutie mark? To be a good friend and listen? So, coming to a conclusion, Shiver slowly nodded.

Luna let out a breath and thought for a moment. "Well..."

=~o~=

Shiver flopped onto her bed, curling up and throwing a blanket over herself. The night had been filled with talking, mostly from Luna. Nevertheless, Shiver had enjoyed it. It was her special talent, after all.

Luna had grudge against her parents: if one could call it a grudge. Surprisingly, Discord had been a good, though slightly annoying, friend of Luna's after he was reformed. Of course, she had dreamed of them becoming more than friends, but Discord had his heart on another pony: Fluttershy, my mother. Apparently, their marriage had caused Luna terrible heartbreak, for Fluttershy was extremely different from herself, which made Luna wonder if Discord had ever liked her at all. At this point, Shiver had assured the princess that he did indeed, because he had spoken fondly of her often. This was a kind lie, although would have been true if Luna hadn't been a practically forbidden subject in the household.

The most surprising thing about the conversation was Luna's view of Fluttershy. The first real interaction she'd had with the shy pony was when she visited for Nightmare Night. The memory that came up whenever Fluttershy was involved was her terror at seeing Luna. The princess still remembered how much it had hurt to see one of her subjects, the element of kindness, of all things, cowering in front of her. In the time it took for Fluttershy to get used to Luna, the princess had hardened herself to ignore Fluttershy's fright.

There was a very unexpected point to their conversation too. A griffon called Scarlet Shade had attracted Luna's attention for the Night Guard, but it turned out the griffon was feeding her lies and reporting back to Griffonstone. The griffon kingdom had fallen into tough times once again, and they were trying a new angle. Long story short, Scarlet was a spy. Luna had described the event with great detail, and it made Shiver feel like Scarlet would jump out at her at any moment.

So, that was the night's discussion summarized. Shiver let out a long sigh. It had been exhausting, but Luna had so obviously needed to tell someone about those topics, and seeing the princess so content afterwards had assured her that this was what she was menat to do. Nonetheless, she was still tired, and Shiver folded her wings around her as everything faded into black.

=~o~=

Shiver felt a rough cloth being thrust into her mouth and was thrown into blackness. She began to struggle, thrashing around, flapping her wings, but was quickly whacked on the head, leaving her dazed. The frightened pony tried to scream, but only produced a strangled noise. She was whacked again, and she let the darkness overtake her.

Shiver opened her eyes, finding herself in a dark room, seated at a table. She heard a lock click behind her, tried to turn, but found herself lashed to a chair. A dark shape passed into her view, and Shiver followed it with her gaze, breathing heavily. The figure slowly came into view, and Shiver's eyes widened. A blood-red griffon stood before her: a griffon. that could only be Scarlet Shade.

"Tell me what you know about her!" Scarlet snarled. Shiver shook her head violently.

"I don't know anything about anyone! What do you want to know? About who? Why am I here?" Shiver sobbed.

The griffon slammed her claw on the table, rising above the frightened batpony. "I said, tell me what you know about her!!"

Shiver only looked at her with scared eyes, wrapping her wings around herself protectively. She had began to suspect what Scarlet wanted from her, and she didn't like it. "No... no... I won't tell you anything!"

Scarlet Shade glared at her, and began to lift her claw, bringing it down upon Shiver....

"Enough!" a voice cried, and Scarlet and the room promptly disappeared. Shiver took a deep, shuddering breath, raising her head to meet Luna's eyes. The princess moved towards the batpony, her expression filled with concern. "I am sorry to have not been able to stop this nightmare earlier."

Shiver looked at the princess. "You have nothing to apologize for, Luna," Shiver said gently. "Oh, I mean, Princess."

"Thank you," Luna replied softly. "9:00, tomorrow?"

Shiver nodded. The last thing she saw was Luna's horn igniting and coming down gently on her forehead.

=~o~=

The next few weeks passed by quickly. Despite the past, she and Luna became close friends and grew accustomed to counting on the other to be there in times of trouble. They had a lot in common and began talking quite often. Their meetings starred to have a pattern; they would have a small snack in a quiet place, like the library or the gardens, Luna would talk about her troubles and Shiver would listen and comfort, and afterwards, to shake off the serious, sad mood, they would play a game or something of the sort.

Shiver was usually in a happy mood nowadays, and she didn't know how she had gotten by before with no friends. She now had a reputation; she was Luna's Official... er, friend? Maybe an entertainer, a storyteller perhaps? Nopony was really sure of what Shiver was, but it was a well-known fact that she often visited the Princess of the Night.

The worst thing, however, was that now it was like everypony knew her. Shiver couldn't take a walk on the street without attracting stares and whispers, and she feared her nightmare had a chance of taking place, except without Scarlet. The, er, suggestive looks were especially embarrassing. Meeting Luna at night didn't really pose as evidence, since Luna was the Princess of the Night, but ponies could twist anything into a reason for scorn. Meeting Luna at night with no other ponies was a different matter, and some ponies took this as a chance to spread as many dirty rumors as possible, even though they didn't know Shiver. She supposed they were trying to get Luna in trouble for something, since ponies were still restless because of Nightmare Moon and all.

Luna had seem particularly troubled lately, and Shiver was worried about her. They had planned on having a meeting tomorrow, and Shiver awaited it with a feeling of growing dread.

=~o~=

Shiver pushed open the door to Luna's dark room uneasily. Strangely, there were no guards around.

Shiver had first gone to the library for the meeting, but their cozy spot wasn't there and neither was Luna, so she tried the gardens. Again, nopony was there. She had even checked the small cafe where they once had tea, but had no luck there either.

So now she was standing on the doorway of Luna's bedroom. The princess had showed it to her on one occasion, but they hadn't stayed. Shiver now crept inside nervously. She took a few steps, revealing a figure crouched on the floor. Shiver walked forward, concerned, and she tried not to startle the princess.

Luna was kneeling on the floor, her hooves wrapped around her chest as if in pain. Her breath came in short, sharp gasps. Shiver took a step back, frightened, and tripped over a small stool. Luna raised her head; her eyes were slits, and her mane seemed to be blurring; the border looked like it was fading, and quickly.

Shiver's eyes began to fill with tears. What was happening to her friend? Luna rose to her feet. She was taller, and was she wearing some sort of armor?

"And who are you, little filly? Come to take back your weak, helpless princess?" bellowed Lun- no, it wasn't Luna. It was Nightmare Moon, and Shiver couldn't deny it any longer. "Well, she's not here anymore. I am Nightmare Moon, stronger and powerful than Luna, and you will bow to me!"

Shiver sank to the floor, on the verge of tears. But, no, she wouldn't let this, this monster see her cry. This wasn't Luna; but Shiver knew the princess she knew and loved was in there somewhere.

"Where is Celestia!?!" Nightmare Moon yelled in a voice that was Luna's, but not Luna's.

Shiver ignored the question and rose shakily to her feet. "Luna," she said, summoning strength. "Luna, come back to me, please." Her eyes met the towering figure before her, and Nightmare Moon began to laugh. Shiver lowered her head in defeat, but quickly looked up again when she heard a choking sound. Nightmare had been cut off mid-laugh, and had crumpled to the ground, choking. Shiver sued to her side, trying to save the Luna inside the monster.

Luna's body stilled, her mane returning to its normal starry border. Shiver began to cry, not noticing about her tears running onto Luna's fur. One rolled down onto the eyelid.

The princess blinked, shaking her head. "I would appreciate it if you wouldn't cry on me," Luna said, teasing. Shiver looked at her, now crying tears of joy. Luna booped her on the nose. "Oh, stop. You're going to make me get all emotional too," she said, tears already forming in her eyes.

"It-it was so scary, Luna. You were gone and I couldn't help you and Nightmare Moon was gonna kill me, and.. and, oh, Luna, it was terrifying," Shiver sobbed. Luna extended a wing and pulled the batpony closer.

"It was a pretty frightening experience for both of us," said Luna gently. Shiver sniffed and nodded. They comforted each other for a while, waiting for the scare to wear off.

Shiver decided to bring up a topic that needed to be addressed. "Um... Luna, you know... you know ponies don't know what we do together and um.... I just want you to know that I don't like you romantically. That's just.... not our relationship."

Luna nodded distantly. "Nor do I. We have a unique relationship, you and I. We are.... we're like..." Luna trailed off, at a loss for words.

"Sisters?" Shiver suggested softly. The princess visibly winced.

"I... I do not have good experiences with sisters," Luna said apologetically.

Shiver smiled up at the princess. "Well, I think we can change that."

Author's Note

Thanks for reading my story! I wrote it for the Batpony Writing Competition, so wish me luck. As usual, tell me what you thought and point out mistakes! :derpytongue2: Your input will be super helpful before I submit the story for the contest.

Also, tell me what you/your OC would dress up as for Nightmare Night in Equestria!
Happy Halloween!

Epilogue

Luna knelt in front of the grave, her face devoid of any emotion.

She glanced at the three tombstones behind her. Applejack, Fluttershy, and Rarity. The princess smiled sadly. She had managed to become good friends with all of them, even Fluttershy.

She turned back to the grave before her. In swirled letters, it showed off one word.

Shiver.

"You're taking this surprisingly well," a voice said from behind her. Luna didn't need to look to see who it was.

She replied, "It was her time." Luna sensed Celestia kneel beside her.

"It was the others' time too, when they passed away, but you took their deaths horribly. What's different?" Celestia pryed.

"You have no right to talk to me about them or Shiver," Luna replied coldly.

Celestia raised her eyebrow. "Of course I have the right. I'm your sister."

Luna whirled on her. "You liar! You don't care about me." Luna turned her back on Celestia. "Not like Shiver did... I could talk to her about anything, you know. We were sisters in a way you and I never were. You couldn't care about me in the way a sister could then, and you haven't changed."

Celestia looked at her sister, on the verge of tears, but hiding them well. "Well," Celestia said slowly. "I think we can change that."

Author's Note

I know it's short, but I needed to write it.