Beasts and Beings - Stories of Equestria's Inhabitants

by Strongbolt Stonewing

Fruit Bats

There are actually two known types of Fruit Bats in existence: Regular and Vampire.

We'll do our best to explain both types, so for now, let's start with Regular Fruit Bats.

Regular Fruit Bats, as the name suggests, are bat-like creatures that feed off of various types of fruit.

Unlike normal bats, they are multicoloured and have bodies that closely resemble different types of fruit. The fruit that their body resembles usually corresponds to the fruit they eat.

For example: yellow Fruit Bats, whose bodies resemble lemons, are very fond of lemons. Scientists believe that this trait is due to the Fruit Bats' colourblindness. Fruit Bats can only see their own colour, making their fruit less inconspicuous.

Is colourblindness even a real word?

There's no red line on autocorrect.

What's an autocorrect?

It's a magical program that prevents spelling errors.

Sounds useful.

It's actually pretty annoying, especially when you're writing letters to someone. Why the heck does 'Pegasus' have to spelled with a capital P? And why is 'Equestria' not in the dictionary?

Wait, why did you get autocorrect?

Well, I thought you'd probably make the odd mistake or two...

What are you trying to say?

Um... I love you?

That only works when I say it.

I think we're going off topic.

Ah, true. Back to Fruit Bats. They are known to be generally harmless to pony-kind, however, they do damage a large portion of crop harvest. Some towns have been known to almost starve to death because of Fruit Bat infestations. There's only one way to get rid of them, and that is-

Intense heat.

That's funny, I thought I was speaking.

Oh, sorry. Carry on.

No, no, you've already interrupted now, you carry on.

*Hugs*

Better now?

I think I can make an exception... just this time. So, yeah, Fruit Bats can't take heat. They dry up like, well, fruit.

You may now wonder: how does one go about supplying heat? Well, you'll need somebody with a lot of magical experience.

You always need a unicorn, eh?

Heat wave spells can be performed or, if the situation is especially desperate, a letter may be sent to Princess Celestia requesting an increase in heat from the sun at a particular area.

Now, if you think Regular Fruit Bats are bad, wait until you hear about the Vampire versions.

Vampire Fruit Bats are twice as fast...

...twice as hungry...

...twice as strong...

...and twice as relentless.

They're generally peaceful, they just tend to eat a lot.

Peaceful? They're ruthless! Unlike their Regular counterparts, they suck the innards straight out and reduce their unsuspecting prey to a pile of rotten mush.

Well, they're only trying to look out for their families.

Vampire Fruit Bats care only for themselves and their gigantic appetites. They obliterate orchards overnight!

But, in fairness, they do spit out the seeds so more trees can grow.

There's no time to wait for the trees to grow!

Hm.

What?

I feel like we should be singing right now.

Strangely enough, so do I. But this is a book of stories, not songs.

Very true. So let me tell you the story of when we met the Vampire Fruit Bats.

Yay, story time.

There is a small forest made entirely of apple trees on the outskirts of the Badlands. At the time, we were unaware of the population of Vampire Fruit Bats living in the area. We couldn't see any in the trees and so assumed we were safe.

What we also didn't know was that Vampire Fruit Bats disguise themselves beneath the shadows of a tree's canopy.

Yes, it gave us quite the fright when a dozen red eyes appeared beneath the leaves. It gave us more of a fright when an army of Vampire Fruit Bats burst out into the forest.

I think you mean: it gave you quite a fright.

What are you talking about? You must have flown at least ten feet into the air.

Well, I am a pegasus. We do tend to fly.

No, I mean you were terrified.

I was not! I stood proudly and laughed a hearty stallion's laugh.

More like a little filly's scream.

Well, either way, the bats didn't dare come close.

That's because they're not hostile.

No, I think it's because they were afraid.

Afraid of what?

Me, of course!

...

...

Seriously?

Seriously.

...

...

Have I ever told you that you can be an idiot sometimes.

Yep, I believe you said it in the Cockatrice chapter.

Oh yes, I remember, now. You're still an idiot.