Moondancer woke up groggy as she rubbed them and started to look around, adjusting herself and looking up to see. She looked around her study, realizing she was on the ground, feeling a bit achy as she stretched her body. The mare turned to see she was literally on the ground! She then rose up and looked around, readjusting her gaze, and then she came to the realization that she wasn’t on the ceiling anymore. The mare then slowly got up and realized that something was different as she tried to figure out what was happening to her. The unicorn then got on all fours and looked at herself in a dimly lit room, seeing a mirror nearby, and that was when the realization came as she looked at herself, seeing she was a unicorn again. The mare turned to see Echo flying over with a smile, “Good eve-” Before she finished, the mare gasped, looking her over, and asked, “Oh wow!? I didn’t expect you to be a unicorn again!?”

Moondancer looked herself over, seeing no batwings, and said, “Yeah, that part doesn’t make any sense.”

Echo flew over and gave her an inspection, and added, “It's so weird; maybe this curse was temporary.”

“Do you think so? Is there any way to be sure?”

Echo shrugged and replied, “Well, um…I don’t know, but maybe you can ask the Queen.”

“The Queen!?” Mooondancer cried out, being rather taken aback by the suggestion.

The unicorn was also a bit stunned as well and replied, “Wait, your queen wants an audience with me!?”

“Yeah, she um…well…seeing you thwarted Count Appleblood’s plans, and she has a report from me, but um…she wants to have a council with you, me, and Doctor Blitzenbolt.”

Moondancer slowly nodded, but as she looked around, she couldn’t see anything. Everything was now so dark, with the cave gently illuminated with glowing moss. Echo then took out a necklace with a magic pebble and placed it on her chest, and it glowed, shining up the area around her. “There, that's much better, huh?”

“Yeah, it is. Thank you,” the unicorn squinted as Echo was now blurry as she whispered, “Um…you wouldn’t happen to a.” Before she finished, Echo picked up her glasses and adjusted them on her eyes. “There, I picked them up from Minuette.”

“Wait, how is she!? Does she know I'm ok!?”

“Yeah, don’t worry. I used my disguise kit and told her that you're with me nursing a hangover. She’s relieved to know you're okay.”

“That’s good to hear,” Moondancer replied with a sigh of relief. “Well, so um, when does the Queen want to see me?”

“Right now, actually, we better hurry!” She then took the unicorn under her forelegs, and they flew off together.

They continued to be taken through the Cavern, and they eventually came upon a Stalagmite that was at the center of it. As they landed, the two were escorted through a grand hall filled with glowing statues of other bat ponies and tapestries from the past. They eventually came upon the throne room. Along the throne room, a few bat pony soldiers were standing at each other's side, wings folded back beneath their silver and dark blue colored armor. Then, at the end of the hall was the Queen herself, a massive dark her sides as she was escorted to see a tall and powerful looking bat pony; she had a silver grey coat with eyes of sparkling crystal white that shimmered, her mane was a long slender white and black mane, and she looked down at her with a smile on her face and said, “Good Evening.”

“Good Evening, Your Majesty,” Moondancer squeaked as she quickly bowed her head. The guards looked at each other confused. The Queen blushed as she threw a hoof, “Rise, Moondancer, we don't do that here.”

“Oh, thank you,” the unicorn whispered. Still rather intimidated by someone as regal as this, she was still rather in awe of her presence and didn’t want to make the situation any worse.

“Now, let me properly introduce myself. I am Queen Nova. Also, do not worry. I am not here to punish you. In fact, I am here to reward you for helping stop what could have been a coup that would have thrown not only my kingdom into turmoil but yours as well.”

“Thank you.”

“And so, your name is Moondancer, is it?”

“Yes, that’s my name.”

“Well, Moondancer you may be wondering what exactly turned you into a batpony? As you surmised, I looked into our archives and believe there is enough evidence to conclude that you are the great ancestor of this Count Appleblood.”

Moondancer paused, seeing she wasn’t the only one wondering if that was a lie, and then said, “I was already aware of this.”

“And the concoction he had, Dr. Blitzenbolt's design was supposed to activate that DNA, correct?” she turned to the griffin, who bowed his head. “Yes itz true.”

“How was it that he was going to turn everypony in Ponyville into bat ponies? This Blood Punch turned Moondancer because she had batpony DNA in her?”

The doctor gulped as he explained, “Um, well, you see, we strengthened the brew with his powers, and um…we would have spread it among the populace. Not everyone would be guaranteed to turn into one, but most would, and they would all be susceptible to his mind manipulation.”

“I see, and where is this Count Appleblood now? It seems he fled his castle.”

“I don’t know; I was not privy to all of his plans.”

“I see; also, can you explain why you were working with him?”

The doctor was looking rather nervous as he explained, “He kidnapped my family a few months ago and has been holding them hostage with my wife and our eggs. I…I only helped him because of that.”

“I see. " She still eyed the griffin, but her face softened a bit and she finished, “Well, that leaves us with a few other questions, doesn’t it?”

She turned to face Moondancer, “When you first came here, I was told you were an alicorn batpony, the first of your kind, and now you're a normal unicorn. How did you change back?”

“Well, um, I don’t know, but I swear I wasn’t here to usurp your reign.”

“No, you may not have, but your presence was enough to cause a wave of misinformation and turmoil. I cannot allow this chaos to go unanswered without the Count to be held accountable.”

“I thought you said we wouldn’t be punished!?” Moondancer asked in response.

The Queen blushed a little and explained, “You're not; I was simply going to say you are welcome to stay here and learn about your condition so we can work together to learn why you turned into a batpony alicorn in the first place and why you reverted to a unicorn. I want to educate my kind as to what is happening and It would bring peace of mind to my people and yours.”

Moondancer was taken aback by the response, and gave a sigh of relief as she most definitely wasn’t expecting to be allowed to return. She asked, “Wait, you're saying I'll be allowed to visit Ec—I mean Thestral whenever I want?”

“Precisely, and speaking of Echo.” she turned towards her and said, “Echo, you broke one of our most sacred rules interacting with daywalkers without a permit or consent.”

“I understand,” the mare whispered.

“But, It's clear if you hadn't, Count Appleblood would be sitting on the throne, and I most likely would be usurped or dead. You risked a lot to help your friend, and that is admirable. Therefore, you will be given a permit to visit the daywalkers whenever you like and help build our relations with them as an official royal ambassador.”

Echo's ears perked up, and she jumped up into the air with a squeal, “Oh, thank you, Queen Nova! You won’t regret it!”
Moondancer winced a little, and some guards gave some loud, exaggerated coughs as Echo calmed herself as she settled down and said, “I mean, thank you."

“Very well, now that that is over, you are dismissed. Please stay as long as you like; you have my blessing.”

With that, the group left the halls of the Batpony Queen. As they left, the doctor turned to Moondancer and whispered, “I am so sorry for deceiving you. I really would have told you it was trapped, but the Count can read minds, and I-”

Moondancer put a hoof up and said, “Doctor, I admit I was furious when I first saw you working with the Count, but your family was in danger. Don’t blame yourself for his actions.”

He cried, tears running down his cheeks, “Moondancer, thank you. If it weren't for you, I…”

She took him and hugged him a little as he seemed to calm down. He left with a wave as Echo nudged her. “So, are you planning on staying?”

As much as Moondancer wanted to explore Thestral, she decided she needed to get back to her home just in case her friends were looking for her. “Maybe, but I think that I better get back. I'm sure Minuette and Twilight are still worried sick about me.”

“Right, come on!” Echo placed her contacts into her eyes and then picked Moondancer up with her hooves and carried her out of the cave and into the bright light of the sun; the bat pony winced a little but seemed to adjust as she flew to Canterlot.

Back in her old home, Moondancer looked around at her dingy little study room, which was covered almost entirely by books. She was happy to be back after a long adventure but a bit embarrassed by the state of her place, as Echo looked around with a smug grin. " Wow, this is exactly how I pictured your place looking.”

“Yeah, it's um, I don’t usually have guests over,” Moondancer admitted sheepishly as she trotted inside and tried to tidy up a bit, and Echo helped out. As they continued to finish cleaning up the place and as they finished Moondancer and Echo both sat down and started to have a little meal; she whipped as the worked and baked a Fruit Cake together, and as they ate, Moondancer couldn’t help but admire how brave and kind Echo was the way she laughed, and how she it stirred something in her as despite being friends she felt there might be something more. Echo then flew off to use the bathroom, and the mare then heard a knock at the door. She slowly trotted over, and then, as she opened the door, she was caught off and somewhat surprised. Twilight stood there and cried, “Moondancer!”

She flew, threw her hooves around her, and asked, “Are you alright? Is everything ok?”

“Yeah, I am; why are you asking?”

“You just left the party last night, and I heard you were sick! Did you drink too much!? Do you need anything!?”

Moondancer, still taken aback by Twilight’s presence, simply “shook” her head and then replied, “What!? No! I mean…I’m fine. I…um…just had a bit too much punch last night.”

“Ok, I'm sorry if you felt left out at the party; I should’ve known it might have been too much.” Twilight sighed.

Moondancer paused for a second. Seeing how Twilight was acting, she couldn’t help but notice she was still trying to make up for the past. She said, “Twilight, it’s alright. I’m perfectly fine. I promise if something is wrong, I’ll tell you."

“Ok, I’m sorry I overreacted. Well, I did fly all the way here. Would it be okay if I took a minute to rest?” Twilight wheezed as Moondancer stood there with a confused look and said, “Yeah, of course.” She then escorted her old friend inside, and then she heard Echos’ voice.

“So anyways, I have to say you daywalkers are so wei-” Echo was half finished as she flew over with a smile, and then Twilight looked up, and upon seeing the batpony, she collapsed.

After Twilight woke up, Moondancer and Echo convinced her that she wasn’t hallucinating, and they sat down and continue to eat some fruit cake and chat. During their conversation Moondancer relayed everything that happened the night before to her, and Twilight sat there just nodding away and cried, “So there’s an entire civilization of bat ponies!?”

Echo then explained, “Yes, and most of us want to live in peace, but we don’t want any trouble. That's why we have strict rules about dealing with outsiders.”

Moondancer nodded and replied, “Echo did a lot for me and risked a lot. I'm hoping she can help bridge our worlds together, but for now, please do not tell anyone, okay?”

“Alright,” Twilight replied. “But still doesn’t explain why you're a unicorn again?”

Moondancer sighed, “We still don’t understand everything happening with me. But the Queen of the bat ponies has permitted me to access her royal library.”

“Really, oh my gosh, that's so cool!” Twilight exclaimed in response. “I’m guessing you’ll be doing a lot of studying then, huh?”

“Yeah, but I'll be doing it with a friend,” Moondancer replied back as she nudged Echo, who nuzzled back.

“Aww, well, I didn’t mean to intrude; I just wanted to make sure you're okay.” Twilight got up to leave, and Echo quickly cried, “Wait, you’re leaving!?”

Twilight threw a hoof and said, “Oh, don’t worry about me; you two should spend some time together.”

Echo took Twilight by the hoof and said, “Come on, I want to know you better. I know you and Moondancer had a difficult past. But since you made up, why not help me get to know her other friends better?"

"Well, if you insist? I don't see why not?" She then trotted back to the table as Moondancer turned to Echo and asked, “So um…guess now Twilight knows I'm okay. Do you want to hang out with us?”

“Oh, that sounds like a great idea! I can show you around Canterlot? If you like,” Twilight exclaimed.

“Yeah, why not!?” Echo chirped in excitement then added, "but let me get my disguise on first!"

Echo then started to place her face contacts and then she placed a magical amulet around her neck. Then with a flash of light it suddenly made her bat wings look to be feathered. “As much as I would like to walk around as a bat pony, it’s probably best to hide my appearance for now.”

“Yeah, we don’t want to give the ponies of Canterlot a heart attack,” Twilight joked then added, "but I'm sure in time you can walk around without having to hide who you are."

"Yeah, that would be nice," Echo replied as they all got up to leave Moondancer looked over at Twilight; despite her misgivings of the past, her old friend came all the way here to check on her and made sure she was ok and greeted Echo. The Twilight Moondancer realized she wouldn’t have done anything like that; Twilight truly had changed, and she couldn’t help but admire that and hope that their friendship can grow. The three mares then trotted out the door as they went off to explore Canterlot together.

Author's Note

So, I was originally going to end the story here, but I feel like it can continue but I want to finish some other stories first so for now I'll leave it as is. I'll update it later this year.