‘Dear diary,
Everyone hates us.
Fuck Twilight Sparkle.
I have a plan but it’ll take a few years.
Give me luck.
Batponies are ponies too.’
~ ~ ~
Luna stepped up to the entrance of the cobblestone-fortified castle, the place clearly aged, moss covering its walls…yet the inside was so pristine and modern. Rustic in visual appeal, yet clearly designed or renovated in the modern age. Well, the entrance at least. The rest of the interior was sleeker and monochrome save for some splashes of hot pink in the decor, standing out against the greys and black, the windows large and gazing at the beautiful cliffsides and waterfalls surrounding the palace.
“…Luna?” A mare walked down the steps. Her trimmed coat and long, waving mane were similar in colour to the walls and floor. She had her mane brushed to the right, hanging nearly to her hooves. She had a thick accent, her voice soft yet firm.
Luna nodded, appreciating the care put into the place. She’d visited once as a filly, but it had been forgotten for so long. Until troubling reports emerged, that was. Ponies reporting on a family of vampiric batponies living out in the outskirts…
It wasn’t this family that was the problem.
“How often do you go out into town?” She asked the mare, who stood not much shorter than the alicorn.
“Hm? Oh…” she looked down, a small sigh escaping her lips. “…i don’t. Last time i did, they attempted murder.”
She gazes in the direction of the first floor living room, which looked…surprisingly average. Something one would find in Ponyville or a small town.
Multiple batpony mares were sat together, giggling and eating snacks, drinking what was clearly blood…watching television. Something plenty of families tended to do together.
“They’re like my children. Youngest is eighteen, but they’re family.” She patted one on the head, the crimson-maned light grey batmare looking up and smiling.
Her fangs were covered in the blood she was drinking, some spilled onto her body as well. Her left foreleg had bandages all over it, a pretty white collar with a black rose on the front fit onto her neck. The mare looked to Luna, recognizing her and jolting to a standing position. Then she bowed, which in this circumstance…bothered Luna. How bad was this issue? It already seemed a lot worse than she had anticipated.
“Please.” The older mare went in front of Luna, brushing a hoof through the alicorn’s mane, which bore the colours of a blood moon, a departure from her normal appearance. “We need safety. I don’t like…stealing blood, but…” she looked to the bats again.
“I will break skulls if they are harmed.” She spoke bluntly. Anger snuck into her tone, but she kept her cool otherwise…she seemed uneasy around Luna. “…Crimson, please relax…”
The bat got up from the bowing position, quickly sitting back on the couch. That made the concern worse, but also mixed it with confusion…they knew Luna wasn’t hostile, yet they were acting as if they’d die from the slightest misstep. She sat down for a moment, deep in thought…
Then it clicked, about as cliché in terms of timing as it was in trope. She gazed over to the eldest pony of them, sighing softly. “I have two questions…might i ask them?”
“If one is requesting my name, that is Aphrodisiana.” Disi slipped on a fluffy pink sweater as she answered, sitting down as well, making sure she wasn’t looking down towards Luna.
“Well, Aphrodisiana. Tell me this…have any other alicorns spoken to you?” Luna sped over to her question, not wanting to waste her time here. Celestia needed her at the gala, but the lunar princess was ready to ditch that if necessary.
This was worth more than pleasing a crowd.
“I…” Disi nodded, seeming surprised by the question, “yes. Sparkle and most of her friends seemed antagonistic towards all four of us, especially little Crimson…” she pulled that bat into a hug. “All of them besides Fluttershy.”
She gave an offended scoff. “So much for the friendship alicorn.”
Luna would need a word with Twilight later…but she wanted to also speak with Fluttershy. The unicorn was well-known enough to persuade away from the prejudice apparently aimed at batponies, and another voice on the team was always welcome.
“Most of them here…haven’t left this castle in years. Fear for their safety.” Disi sighed out, walking with Luna to the front doors. “The eldest hasn’t gone outside in a hundred.”
She seemed less tense around Luna, but acted almost as if someone with mal intent would be eavesdropping, eyes flickering this way and that, her ears primed to detect sounds.
She recoiled harshly when Luna leaned in without warning to embrace her, but fell into it after a few moments. She let go of the hug after a few seconds, walking back towards the bats. Luna watched for a few moments, noting how calm and non hostile they all were…and were more afraid of other ponies than they of them, it seemed. Or was it something else she sensed?
An hour later she’d find Fluttershy, out deep in the woods. She was speaking to batponies while tending to injuries one of them had endured…they weren’t life threatening, but some were grisly to look at..Flutter’s medic training came in use there.
“Shh, its okay, its almost done…” the one she was speaking softly to was a bat filly, who had blood covering her stomach. Luna looked over with concern, rustling bushes as she walked over to speak.
Fluttershy, on hearing such, grew worried and cast a dome shield around the group of batponies and herself. She’d learned that from Twilight, after the six had been attacked in the past months. They’d each lost a life, and bore big scars on the sides of the necks, each roughly in the same position.
“Don’t worry, I…I’ll, um…” she wasn’t the violent type, but she wanted to protect the batponies as best as she could. “If they’re mean I’ll…banish them.”
She took, from her bag that was strapped along her left side, a spellbook she had stolen from Twilight. Stealing wasn’t usually her thing, but after hearing how the others felt about batponies…Fluttershy felt a duty to protect them. She’d become one herself for a time, and they had treated her like a freak of nature…just as they treated the whole species now.
“Fluttershy?” She relaxed on hearing Luna’s voice. Of any other ponies, she knew the one who specifically employed batponies as her guard would be an ally. “I’d like to speak to you.”
She gave the filly a soothing kiss to the forehead as she finished patching the wound up, keeping the shield while turning to the alicorn. “…”
She realized Luna was waiting for her to move the shield. “No. I trust you, but…this is for safety. Especially during the daytime.”
Luna looked worriedly at the bat filly. Her wounds were no longer bleeding, but damage had been done, clearly. She was asleep in her mother’s embrace, who looked just as afraid as the filly.
Fluttershy exhaled, running a hoof through her mane, which went down on the left side to be bunched up into a single ponytail, running down over her shoulder. “She tried sending the kid to the local school, hiding her wings under clothes…but the claws on her wings accidentally ripped them. Things went…bad.”
“They hurt the poor kid.” The batmare replied, sighing. Her coat was a deep and vibrant purple, a horn coming off of her head as well, mane wavy in a similar fashion to the alicorn’s own. “You’ll help, right Luna?”
Luna sat down, quiet for a few moments. There was a lot to take in…those injuries showed the problem was more systemic. It made her think of how Changelings often had been treated, before Chrysalis and Luna changed things. She had never realized that this went beyond the Changelings…
“I won’t hesitate to help.” Luna spoke firmly and sternly, feeling the anger from both this mare and Disi. “You two shall come with me to somewhere safer…what is thy name?”
The mare stood up, looking to Fluttershy, who was patching up the other batponies. “Tide. Eclipsed Tide.” The baticorn bowed.
It was almost uncomfortably long how she stayed down in the bow, but Luna gave her a comforting embrace afterwards. “We’ll handle this…as soon as-“ her eyes fell onto the spellbook Fluttershy had.
“Keep a hoof on that. Better with you than Twilight.” That was the mare she was the most furious with, besides Celestia for keeping her in the dark assumedly. How could Twilight turn to be such a…bigot?
Luna cast a teleportation spell, bringing her, Tide and the filly into her personal chambers. She conjured up a second bed as well, enchanting the door so no guards or maids would come in and see the baticorn and the child.
“I’ll get you food and everything…just remain in the room.” Luna zapped outside of the door, walking down to the kitchen, which seemed to be bustling…she’d forgotten!
They’d been meant to meet with Chrysalis today to discuss plans. Celestia was sat at the table, mane tied in a small? messy bun at the back, a red streak going all the way through it, some cute pink legwarmers adorning her pearly white legs. She wore a comfortable hoodie, as was Luna.
The solar alicorn waved Luna over, Chrysalis already sat there. The Changeling queen looked much different from when she was hostile, wearing a fluffy pink sweater, her mane being shorter and neater. All three of them stood around the same size, about a foot over the average pony.
“You’re late, Luna…” Celestia gave an exasperated glare, Luna replying with a sigh and apologetic glance.
“Tia, can it. I was busy.”
Chrysalis adjusted her glasses, levitating some papers out in front of the two. “Reports say there’s a…disturbing rise in xenophobia-related issues in Equestria in the past couple of years. Why hasn’t anything been done?”
That was one reason Luna liked Chrysalis so much…she wasted no time, and was good at getting answers. To the point and clever about it. She was also quite cute…
Celestia sipped on a coffee, looking at Chrysalis with confusion. “I highly doubt it, Chrysalis. We’ve gone above and beyond to make sure all are treated fairly…”
“That justifies your past actions? If i recall, a millennium ago you allowed a genocide of multiple spe-“
Celestia glared at her. “That was our mother! Shut-“
“Tia, we were in charge then…”
“Luna, go to Tartarus.”
“Celestia, listen. This is Changelings and batponies we’re-“ she groaned internally…she hadn’t wanted to mention the bats to Celestia.
“What?” Chrysalis turned alert to Luna immediately. “Its being levied towards them as well?” She had her hooves on the table, standing up.
Celestia closed her eyes, getting a message on her cellular. “Oh, Twilight needs me…” she showed the message to prove it wasn’t a cheap excuse, teleporting away from the mares. Leaving them alone to discuss.
“I am afraid so. They’ve been getting assaulted and threatened by other ponies. Its unsafe for them until we solve this issue. It is systemic, yet…i feel its a more aggravated minority expressing bigotry than the majority. Thus, we need to take care in handling this situation…” she explained as concisely as she could, hoping Chrysalis would think of some good solutions…Luna was drawing blanks on how to handle it as peacefully as possible.
Unfortunately for her, the changeling didn’t give such a reponse. “Whatever has indoctrinated them needs to be dealt with. Maybe not with violence, but…disprove it.”
“Disprove?” Luna’s ears flicked, an idea forming in her mind. How did she not think of that before? What needed to happen was for ponies to see that batponies weren’t any different at the core. They were ponies too.
They shouldn’t be treated any differently.
Three days later, Luna stood on a large stage, an enormous crowd gathered. She has Crimson with her - protected by an invisible shield. Disi wasn’t comfortable with it, but Luna assured her this needed to happen. They needed to see that even though she was a vampiric bat/pony hybrid, she was just like the rest of them. A pony.
Crimson walked up to the microphone, beyond anxious. Her legs trembled, eyes brimming with tears. She couldn’t mess this up. It was her one chance to help ponies realize their mistake.
She stammered before speaking, fangs chattering. “I-i…i’m Crimson…”
Fluttershy was right next to her, giving her comfort to help along. At least a quarter of ponies chattered, realizing…the mare had emotions. She wasn’t a coldhearted monster!
In fact, she seemed like…a normal pony, just with bat wings and fangs. That’s it. The response was gradual, but ponies were realizing their own bigotry, even if not crossing the bridge entirely to the other side so quickly. It was progress. Now for step two…
“C-can i talk?” Crimson asked Fluttershy, who’d been about to explain things, and try to use her influence to help guide ponies along…she was Kindness after all.
“Go ahead.” She smiled warmly, giving the bat a hug before stepping away slightly, letting the bat talk.
“I…I’m Crimson Flower. I…” she gave a low gulp, nerves still plaguing her, voice trembling. “…i’m a batpony. Vampire batpony. I-I was turned recently by Mom- ah, Disia…” she looked towards the castle she lived in.
“I was about to die…she saved my life by making me a- vam…pire.” Whatever the memory was like, it was very evidently traumatic..she teared up, hooves shaking so much she nearly fell if not for a catch from Luna’s magic.
“I…we don’t hunt ponies.” She switched on a dime, forcing her emotional side to make way for the serious Crimson. “We don’t. We get blood from the hospital out in Ponyville. Special blood drives, and ponies know where its going when they send it. The ones who haven’t hated us. We never leave the castle because…we’re scared. The world looked like it hated us, and Momma said we would be tortured and…bad things would happen if we left the castle. Some of my sisters haven’t left in a really, really, really long time…i tried befriending a pony once, and she was really nice…but then her marefriend came and…” she turned, showing a scar below her short mane. “Gave me this. Wanted to kill me.”
“When it didn’t work…she kidnapped me. Tortured me by depriving me of blood, and…” she shrunk backwards, breathing suddenly panicked. “…when you’re as new as I had been, blood deprivation basically takes you out of control until its satisfied. So…i-i-i…”
There was a dead silence. They all knew her trauma now, and how it was their own beliefs that caused the young mare such torment. It poured along the crowd, no objections heard until…
“Are you kidding me? We had to work to change Fluttershy back…”
Fluttershy glared at the voice. Why was Twilight acting like this? She stood between her and Crimson, clutching the spellbook. “Twilight…fuck off.”
There was a brief shock, as nobody had really heard Fluttershy use such language before. The unicorn didn’t care, stepping up to Twilight. The purple alicorn glared back.
“Out of the way, Fluttershy. Stop defending freaks of nature. These strange hybrids are dangerous!” She growled, trying to intimidate Fluttershy. She was instead met with an angry resistance.
“No. Stop being a racist pig.” She opened the spellbook, reading something before putting it back in her bag. “You’re asking me to pick between you and a whole damned race! Get a grip, princess of fuckship!”
There was a loud gasp from the crowd, the words that came from Fluttershy’s mouth unexpected and surprising. She never insulted in public!
Luna stepped forwards, casting a few more layers of shield on both Crimson and the castle. Twilight wasn’t exactly a pony to be taken lightly in terms of her strength, especially not when she was angry.
“Fluttershy…out of the way. I don’t want to need to hurt or banish you…” she stepped forwards, horn glowing up. She was serious, but so was the pink-maned unicorn. There was an oddity about Twilight, but nobody quite could put a hoof on it.
The yellow unicorn mumbled a chant, pushing a hoof to Twilight’s horn, the magical glow suddenly vanishing. In response, Twilight glared, grabbing a knife from her own bag. “Fluttershy. Get. Away. From. The. Bat.”
There was a dead silence, everyone afraid to see two of the Elements of Harmony fighting. Twilight’s support seemed to dwindle as well, voices being raised and cheering Fluttershy on, or at least just rooting for her side of things. They’d realized by now that they didn’t want to see batponies harmed just for being the race they were. The racist bigotry was dissolving and turning into support. It wouldn’t heal wounds, but prevention was the key.
Twilight ignored the crowd, stepping forwards before charging. Fluttershy’s right hoof got a glow as it touched Twilight’s neck, the other grabbing the knife and quickly turning it, stabbing the alicorn in the neck and making her slump to the ground.
“She’s not dead…used a charm to make sure of it.” Fluttershy pulled Twilight away…they’d be talking later, big time. “it worked, right?”
Luna was in shock, and also impressed. She hasn’t seen Fluttershy in a year, and she’d gotten so skilled at magic…it made all the years of trial and error teaching her feel even more worth it. She nodded to assure her, before eyes drifted to the many ponies who’d laid witness. The crowd seemed stunned, never having been exposed to that side of the assumedly shy and reclusive pony.
She dismissed the crowd, leaving Crimson to roam - finally free of the antagonizing behaviour - able to enjoy the town for once. Luna teleported to her bedroom, finding Tide speaking with Celestia, the solar alicorn looking apologetic. Instantly, Luna had been ready for combat, but an assuring gaze from Tide calmed her.
“I owe you an apology Luna. Tide here just informed me of the…truly awful conditions batponies have faces. I’m sorry.” She gave a respectful bow, leaving the room before the scene would drag on any further.
Luna smiled to Tide, feeling endlessly good. It had happened…change was made!
“We did it.” she smiled, hugging the batpony.
~ ~ ~
‘Dear diary,
Its been five years.
The Elements of Harmony split up and don’t see each other anymore.
Twilight was under some sort of influence…she publicly apologized and basically made it water under the bridge. In a good way.
Batponies are finally accepted.
But the undertones of society still affect us.
We can’t get good jobs and when we do, its less pay.
My plan will finish in a few months.
Should make things more equal.
Starlight would like that.
Goodnight diary, I’m happy tonight.
I helped make a difference.
I’ll be helping to finish the process.
Luna give me good dreams tonight.’