"Is everything alright darling? You seem a tad distracted."
"What? Oh, yes, sure, the dress looks great Rarity, I'm sure she'll love it."
"Twilight dear, I stopped working on the dress ages ago, have you been spacing out this whole time? What's got into you?"
With Rarity's polite indignation now obvious Twilight Sparkle was forced back into reality, had she really been lost in her own anxiety for so long? With a quick shake she focused her eyes and mind on Rarity and organized her thoughts.
"Oh, I'm sorry Rarity, it's just, Princess Celestia's given me a new friendship task and I've been stressing out over the whole thing. You see, she wants me to help with integrating the Bat Ponies into Equestrian society but I hardly know anything about Bat Ponies! They're so solitary and remote, most books about Bat culture are antiquated and their content is questionable at best! I don't know what to do!"
"Darling is that all? You're the Princess of Friendship and no pony in all of Equestria can plan like you, I'm sure you'll manage."
"That's the problem Rarity! The delegation from Hollow Shades arrives later this evening, I don't have time to plan!"
"Well uh... You know sometimes amazing things can happen in the spur of the moment, don't you remember the night of that big storm, you, Applejack and I spent the night together, it was-"
Twilight burst out of deep thought, cutting her off before she could finish.
"That's it! Rarity you're a genius!"
"I am? I mean, of course, I am. What exactly did I do?"
"Isn't it obvious? A sleepover! Bat Ponies are highly active at night, it's the perfect idea! I can't think of a better way to get to know each other and show them a fun time here in Ponyville!"
~~~ ~~~ ~~~
Much to her relief, it didn't take any convincing to get her friends help for the sleepover and in a few short hours they had managed to throw together a decent plan. Rarity, Pinkie Pie and Applejack stayed back to finish preparing the castle and snacks for the night. Twilight went to meet the Bats at the train station along with Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy.
"So, what's the plan? How long do we have to distract them to buy time for the setup group?"
"Rainbow Dash, we aren't distracting them. We're giving them a tour of Ponyville, I'm sure they'll appreciate the gesture. The extra time it gives the others to setup is just... a bonus."
"Sure Twi, whatever you say"
Dash winked and nodded casually but Twilight only shrugged and looked away
"Oh ummm, I hate to interrupt but I think I can see the train, they're almost here"
The train was small, not too many ponies traveled to that part of Equestria. It came to a halt beside the platform, empty except for the three mares waiting for their new friends. A few ponies got off the train first and went on their way but at the end out came a group of three mares who stood out, to say the least. Twilight met them with the biggest grin she could muster.
"Oh you must be the Princess!" Said the bat with the lightest coat, her indigo mane stood out against her grayish white fur, what looked like a constellation of blue stars adorned her flank. She rushed up to Twilight and quickly booped her nose with a soft hoof, much to Twilight's surprise.
"My name's Starry Sky! It's so nice to meet you"
Despite her initial shock Twilight couldn't stop smiling at the silly bat. A short but audible cough from one of the other bats caught the attention of Starry Sky
"Oh, right, sorry. That's a Bat Pony thing, it's how we greet friends y'know? Do you do that here?"
Twilight giggled and responded "Actually we usually just shake hooves but I can see the appeal of your way. It's nice to meet you too Starry Sky, these are my friends Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy"
Dash unfolded her wings and struck a pose, Fluttershy simply nodded nervously, Star smiled happily and waved a hoof at them in response. The two other bats trotted up to join Star and the rest of the group.
"Right, well I'm Dusk Lotus, but you can call me Dusk" The lavender mare spoke up, her voice formal but friendly. She had a smoke grey mane styled in a simple practical fashion. She smiled and proceed to shake hooves with the three ponies who had greeted her. Despite a moment of hesitation she seemed to grasp the concept of the foreign greeting well.
Perhaps emboldened by Dusk's greeting the third bat who had been silent to this point raised her hoof excitedly in front of Twilight, who took a moment to observe the final bat. Her coat was a deep midnight blue, the darkest of the three. Her disheveled mane was a muted pink and she had the biggest toothiest grin and her hoof was still raised.
Realizing this Twilight quickly grabbed her hoof and shook it, smiling at the bat "And... you are?"
"Tumble!" The bat responded ecstatically, shaking Twi's hoof manically in response. "I'm sorry I just got all excited is all, I feel like I got fireflies in my belly y'know? I mean I'm nopony special but you, you're a princess! A really real princess! It's like a story or something!"
Dusk Lotus let out a barely audible sigh, Twilight noticed, though she couldn't help but focus on the grinning mare who was still shaking her hoof. After a quick apology she proceeded to greet Dash and Fluttershy in a similar fashion, much to Fluttershy's bewilderment, though she was polite enough to hold herself together for the time.
With introductions out of the way and the rest of the train ponies long gone it was time for the bats to begin their tour of Ponyville.
~~~ ~~~ ~~~
"Ponies actually live, in these things? They're so square like a bunch of big boxes all around." The shock in her voice was evident as she gawked at first row of homes and shops she saw in town.
"Oh yes, houses like this are actually quite common throughout Equestria. What kind of homes do you have in back Hollow Shades? If you don't mind me asking of course." Twilight responded curiously, these Bat Ponies fascinated her and she was earnestly preparing to fill out her notes on every little detail of their society.
"Well most bats live in trees, big, old carved out trees. Hollow Shades is an ancient forest after all, it's where we've always made our homes" Dusk joined the conversation, she seemed the most comfortable and happy answering Twilight's many questions about her home.
Dash, who had been gliding just above the rest of the ponies landed next to Dusk with a grin "Oh really? Well you would have loved Twilight's old house! She used to live in a tree too, it was also a library, there's something you two have in common isn't that sweet?"
"Umm, I also live in a tree, just outside of town actually."
Rainbow Dash was taken aback for a moment "Oh, you're right, well maybe it's not that uncommon. Hey did I mention that I live in a floating mansion made of clouds? It's pretty rad, I know." This comment managed to refocus Star's attention, she instantly perked up finished with her scrutiny of Ponyvilles foreign architecture.
"A house, made of clouds? That sounds... awesome!" That was all the validation Dash needed, her face was adorned with a smug smile for the rest of the tour as they made their way through town towards the Castle of Friendship.
"Trees and clouds aside, Twi's new place is pretty sweet. I think you're gonna be impressed"
~~~ ~~~ ~~~
And impressed they were. The bats had never seen anything like this before. They could have been visiting Canterlot Castle based on their reactions, a whole cacophony of excited skrees and squeaks filled the air. Tumble even jumped and fluttered on her wings as she took in the beauty of the crystal spires. Twilight tried to hide her embarrassment, she still wasn't used to the whole royal castle thing but she did her best to keep the persona going. The rest of Twilight's friends met the group outside the castle doors. Introductions were made, hooves were shook. With all of that out of the way it was time to show the bats around the inside of the castle.
The foyer had been decorated to suit the guests, long flowing dark fabrics hung along the walls and a fair share of Nightmare Night decorations to add to the theme. Luckily the holiday was coming up so Twilight had already been organizing the seasonal flair. The bats' reactions seemed just as positive as they had been outside, the three of them all found different things they loved about the interior aesthetic and were made sure to point it out to their humble host, who made sure to remind them, that it was her friends who had worked so hard on beautifying the place for their arrival.
"Here you've been carrying those bags all day, I'll leave them in the main room for you, we'll be back there soon." Before moving on Twilight quickly and politely levitated the bats' saddle bags into the center room of the castle so that they could walk around without all of their luggage. Tumble thanked her host with yet another excited hoof shake.
The group went about the castle on a grand royal tour of all of it's many facilities. The general amazement of the bats only seemed to grow as they went on, each visitor finding something they loved the most throughout the tour. Dusk was left speechless by the Grand Library, Twilight had ascertained that she was some sort of history buff interested in old Equestrian lore and she was looking forward to discussing the topic with her at length later. Star found the many balconies and observation rooms to her liking, here the view of the night sky was unobscured by trees or fog or clouds and she could take it all in. The very idea of a telescope seemed to excite her before Twilight even showed her how to use it. It was at one of the last stops that Tumble fell in love. The royal kitchen and it's larder simply blew her away, she had never seen so much food and ingredients she was practically shaking from sheer excitement at the sight of it all.
Their little trip around the many crystal rooms ended at the heart of the castle, the map room where the Elements of Harmony sat around the Cutie Map and attended to matters of the utmost importance to friendship in Equestria. Tonight the room would serve a somewhat different purpose. Food and snacks had been set out on tables around the circular room, various games and party favors were scattered around and three extra chairs had been crafted from the finest wood in Ponyville and arranged around the map so that the entire group could sit together.
Altogether it was a lot to take in and the bat ponies were far from lacking in excitability. Now the nights festivities were about to begin.
~~~ ~~~ ~~~
"So now that you know a little bit more about all of us and what we do here in Ponyville, why don't you tell us a bit about yourselves?" Twilight asked her guests with a smile, having just gone through the more detailed introductions with her friends, the bats had listened politely.
Dusk took the cue and spoke up from her chair between the two other bats. "Alright, I'll start. I'm a captain in the Night's Watch, don't get too excited though, the title's mostly antiquated. There hasn't been a serious monster threat in Hollow Shades since before I was a little filly. It's mostly a lot of paperwork and long patrols on cold nights. All worth it for that armor though, I think those silver scale plates look good on me. Plus one day I might even be considered to join the actual Night's Guard in Canterlot and serve Princess Luna herself! That's kind of my dream really."
Twilight was visibly happy that her new friend was willing to open up so freely it was a good sign. "You know Dusk, I actually talk to Princess Luna on a regular basis, I could introduce you two and I'll certainly put in a good word for you if you wanted" That was it, Twilight broke Dusk Lotus. She was truly speechless, wide eyed, stunned. When her response came it was so excited and so high pitched that it was almost unintelligible, proof that beneath her aloof exterior was a friendly dork. Her response was met by giggles around the table especially from the other bats and she was instantly crimson with blush but it was obvious she was getting more comfortable around the group as the night went on.
Starry Sky took the opportunity to go next, sitting up from her chair. "Well, I'm a mail mare. I go around the town delivering everypony's messages and packages to each other and every once in a few moons we actually get a shipment from outside the forest for somepony, those days are pretty exciting." She bounced a bit as she talked a smile on her face that showed just how proud she was of her job.
"Mail mare huh? Bet you got some speedy tricks to get through your route! " Dash asked, sitting next to Starry Sky in the circle she leaned over to tap the mare with a hoof.
Star jumped a bit, startled but grinning nonetheless as she responded "Oh, well, the Shades aren't exactly that big but sure, I guess I can be pretty fast when I wanna be."
"Awesome! You know I'm pretty much the fastest pony here in Ponyville, we should have a race!"
"You mean right now? Like a night race?"
"You're on!"
The two eager mares were practically out of their seats and to the doors before Twilight could stop them. "Ahem. Girls!"
Dash sighed and turned, bouncing on her hooves ready to get past the interruption. "What is it Twi? You wanna join us? You could be the judge I guess"
"Rainbow Dash, not all of our guests have introduced themselves yet, you could at least wait for Tumble to speak before you run out to do... whatever it is you're going to do." Twilight spoke directly but without being curt, she was used to Dash's antics by now.
A wave of guilt swept over Dash and she sat down on her haunches politely "Sorry Tumble, I didn't mean to-"
"It's fine! I can be quick." Tumble didn't seem phased by the near interruption and responded in her usual cheery tone before continuing. "Not much to say anyway, name's Tumble, I'm a mango vendor. Seems simple sure, but it actually takes a keen eye to pick the perfect mangos, not every bat's gonna appreciate it but it makes me happy to do a good job and that's what matters. You two can go race now, show her some bat speed Starry!"
Dash smiled and thanked Tumble for her understanding, Star ran over to her and booped her quickly before running back to the door with Dash, giggling as they left into the night.
"Don't mind Dash, she's always been pretty competitive and she can get excitable, especially when she's been drinking cider." Twilight attempted to offer some explanation to her guests who nodded in understanding.
"Yeah don't worry, this isn't the first time Star's acted like this." Dusk reassured Twilight that they were apparenly no strangers to these sorts of antics.
"I reckon I should apologize for that by the way. Didn't realize y'all would get through two barrels so fast. I guess at least that means yah liked it though, still I shoulda brought some more with me." Applejack spoke up, after seeing just how fast the group had cleaned out two whole barrels she was secretly somewhat thankful she had only brought two but felt the need to apologize regardless.
Tumble nodded towards AJ, waving a hoof "Oh yes the fizzy drinks were so good! The foam tickled my nose and all the bubbles make me feel like I drank a bunch of fireflies, I like it!" The whole group giggled but before they could continue their cider discussion they were interrupted by Pinkie Pie practically exploding out of her chair.
"It's Board Game o'clock!"
A stack of boxes containing various board games were thrown onto the map table in the center of the room a few opened in the process, scattering game pieces and instructions across the table. Despite all of Twilight and Dusk's allegations Pinkie assured them that was all part of the fun.
~~~ ~~~ ~~~
At some point, it had begun to rain outside and the falling droplets became audible from within the map room. The ongoing games and the surrounding conversations had drowned the sound out for awhile. Twilight had been shocked by how familiar the bats were with common pony board games but Pinkie Pie was sure to remind her that board games were the great equalizer of all Equestria.
As the games began to die down the group moved to snacks and small talk. The bats considered most of the common food to be exotic compared to their normal diets, which typically consisted of more fruity flavors than the ponies, but overall were happy with the abundance of snacks Pinkie had brought with her. After confusing an apple for a very malformed mango Tumble and AJ got into a heated debate over which fruit was superior, naturally Tumble's saddle bags were mostly full of mangos she had brought to share with her new friends, in the end both conceded that the other may have a point and that both fruits were pretty great. This outcome filled Twilight with joy and the whole night seemed to be going even better than she could have ever expected.
The calm moment was ended when suddenly Dash and Star burst into the room, both soaking wet and panting, out of breath. "Well, we're back, why are you all staring at us?" Dash looked from pony to pony and nervously adjusted her mane.
Twilight, the only one without a smug grin broke the silence. "So you two, how did your little race go?"
Dash stammered just a bit trying to find her words as quick as she could "Fine! It was, fine. She's uh, pretty fast."
"Oh, not as fast as you Dashie." Star pressed a hoof to Dash's flank, making her jump instantly, a now noticeable blush forming on her face.
"Oh Darling don't be embarrassed, I'm glad you enjoyed your little race around the block."
The other bats merely nodded, proud looks on their faces as Star trotted over to them, in a soft squeaky whisper Star assured Tumble she would get the details back at home.
AJ didn't have to say anything, it almost made it worse that she didn't. Teasing aside her friends seemed genuinely happy for her but she shrugged it off. A sideways wink from Star caught the corner of her eye and she felt the blush overtaking her again, she merely grumbled under her breath and sat back down, burning red in the face.
Twilight gave an innocent, but oblivious look towards the rest of the ponies, full of confusion. "I still don't know who won the race!"
~~~ ~~~ ~~~
The rest of the night went by uneventfully into the late hours of the night. When the yawning had spread to the whole group, they began to set up pillows and blankets on the floor and Twilight dimmed the magical lights of the room. After a failed attempt to build a pillow fort by the bats' a small pillow fight broke out but was ended quickly by how tired everypony was from the days events. Twilight happily checked it off her mental list of traditional sleepover events as she laid back into her comfy bed of pillows, her friends, old and new settling down around her.
As the night came to a close they shared a few stories and some light gossip. Twilight and Dusk shared a book on ancient pony history, AJ and Pinkie Pie discussed all kinds of snacks, fruit and recipes with Tumble who was eager to share the appreciation of the mango. Dash even let Star boop her in front of the others and managed to boop her back without much of a dramatic response. The quick peck on the cheek however seemed to send her back into a nervous wreck. However it seemed that she slept ever so slightly closer to the bats that night. All in all it was a lovely end to a lovely a day, the group of new friends laid down together like they had been friends forever and slowly drifted off into peaceful dreams.
~~~ ~~~ ~~~
The morning came too quickly as it so often does after such a long cheerful night with friends. The mares were content but not without the looming sadness of goodbyes, all great parties must eventually come to and end, so with some lighthearted hesitation they cleaned up the map room and helped repack saddlebags in preparation for the long train ride home.
The scene at the platform was a solemnly pleasant one. The nine of them were the only ponies at the station this morning, aside from the crew prepping yesterdays train for the return trip. They were happy, even if they had to part ways for now they knew they would see each other again soon enough and could take pleasure in the great time they had shared together. The bats each individually thanked the ponies they spent the night with and shook hooves happily embracing the new gesture they had learned.
Tumble booped her six new friends and urged them to visit Hollow Shades soon, excitedly swearing she would prepare them the best mango dishes in all of Equestria. Twilight and Dusk made a promise to keep in touch through letters and Star assured the two that she would come back to Ponyville from time to time to hand deliver them, not without a playful wink at Dash, who was at least getting more comfortable with her reactions. She went to boop Star but was quickly tackled by the bat mare and trapped in a tight hug.
With that the final goodbyes were said and the bats boarded the train, Twilight and her friends waited to wave them off. They had been the only passengers that morning and the nearly empty train left post haste on it's way back to the home of the bats. Both groups sharing a happy moment together and apart. The train slowly passed over the hills towards the fields and trees far out of town. Both groups quietly reflected on the great night and their new friends as they headed back home.
Twilight didn't even need to check it off her mental list, she already knew, everything had gone better than she could have ever hoped, to think, hardly a day ago she had been stressing over the arrival of the bats. Together her friends hadn't just completed the friendship quest, their list of friends had grown three silly ponies longer and Twilight couldn't wait to see her newest friends again.
Author's Note
Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed the story. I got a bit more rushed than I had expected with the contest deadline and had a generally busy month so I had to cut some of what I originally planned. A few scenes and some dialogue got scrapped to make it feel more contained and I ended up with a story more stylized like a show episode than I had intended. However I'm mostly okay with how it turned out and genuinely enjoyed writing the characters in the story so I could see myself trying something out with them later given more time and planning.
Regardless, thank you again, any feedback and criticism is greatly appreciated.
