Dee was a very brave batpony who always obeyed her Mama, but every year during the full moon, when the leaves began to change and the cold winds blew, she felt the tug of a city far, far away, where the other children told of monsters who came out to play for one night. This year she is determined to travel all the way through the forest to the city and see with her own eyes just what is so special, no matter how dangerous the trip is, no matter how far she has to fly, or how frighteningly different the monsters are.
Or how similar.
Thanks to my editors: Tek, Peter, Seether00, Pascoite
Cover picture Inkscaped together from several online vectors and files
Nightmare Night in the Everfree Forest by Hellswolfeh
1000 Year Slumber by Chromadancer for the Pre-S1 Moon.
Dragoart.com for the vectorized and modified bat image.
Now on Equestria Daily!
With review by Paul Asaran
First comment reserved for the author. This is my entry in the Halloween October fic contest, and is a companion fic to Child of Nightmares and Everfree, which is now complete.
It's National Bat Week. Be careful flying home. The Owls are out tonight. And they're hungry.
September 2016 - Submitted to EqD
It was good.
Oooo, well isn't she just a cutie.
And interesting idea for sure, we know Luna has a few thestral( bat pony) guards but how extreme of a change might have happened to thestral culture after 1000 years of hiding? I'd actually be interested to see Dee taking that risk to "contact" the monsters and her reaction, especially if we are talking post Luna's return. Always liked the idea of Luna seeing the thestral as her "children", and seeing Luna's reaction to them still existing and their reaction to Luna being back and not exactly what they expected (if they fear normal ponies I imagine they envision Luna as a thestral) would be a great story idea.
Fascinating. I love stories written from unusual viewpoints, and this one was especially well done. Thank you for it. Now to read the companion piece.
What made you decide to write these Dee stories as 2 separate stories?
Every once in a while you come across a gem of a story, a diamond in the rough. This is one of them.
I am still not sure what Dee is.
Alright, I am seeing what is going on here. I thought Dee was raised by her own kind but apparently not. So that is why she describes herself as being malformed.
Is there more of Dee? I like the premise and would enjoy more about this character.
6571975
Hoo?
Couple weeks back had a Great Horned Owl setup shop in one of the trees in the yard. I was surprised at how big it was.
6577226 I extended this answer in my blog post on this, but here's the summary:
Several reasons, first of which is the Fimfiction Halloween Competition this year, which would require a completed story, and which there is no way I could have completed 'Child' the way I want to do it in just a week or two. (edit: even with the now extended deadline) 'Child' has been banging around in the back of my brain for a couple of years now, since the female-centric focus of FIM as well as most fics tend to push fatherhood to the back of the stack. The thing is once I started writing about a page into 'City' I found myself backtracking over to the notes for 'Child' to make sure all of the little fiddly bits lined up, and then back over to 'City' and back to 'Child'...
Now normally I've found that keeping a story until it's all done gives me a far better product, but at my normal rate, 'Child' would not be ready until March or April, and the lead chapter is 100% Halloween, so what the heck. Even if I had written 'City' as the first chapter of 'Child,' that still would have confused the readers as there is a year between them. (And it probably still confuses the readers, but I left as many breadcrumbs as I could.)
6578291 a bat pony maybe or a changeling, since the love filled her. I would like more as well maybe she could meet the cmc and become friends.
I have no idea WHAT Dee is supposed to be....she has skin/fur, and hands like a human...wings like a bat pony....yet she keeps saying she looks like the monsters.....i'm confuzzled. Still, adorable story.
6578755
Dee is a batpony/thestral/nocturne. It is stated early in the story but the narration seems to confuse this by mentioning things as malformed. Turns out Dee was raised by bats and that is why she thinks she is weird; leading to some confusion.
Very nice story! Happy bat pony batling!
This is a wonderful little story, cute and heartfelt but also tucked away under that there is an element of tragedy.
6576461 I think you misunderstood this story. It's "Jungle Book", but with bat pony instead of human, and Manticores (I think) instead of wolves.
I presume it's a Manticore, because it's the only creature I can think of; excluding dragons; that lives in Equestria, that is clawed quadruped, has wings, hard tail and hunts for food.
6580218 I don't think I'm able to write a happy story without an element of tragedy in it, or a tragic story without a whoopie cushion or two in it. Heck, The One Who Got Away is the first shipfic I've written without a fountain or a party cannon in it. Um. Having a steam engine blow up in your face doesn't count, right? (Hm, maybe I'm stuck on a trend.)
6579633 Very happy. Until the next year, when she visits the town again. (next story)
6578991 I really need to put together a Tropes page for the two stories. Right now I've got:
Unreliable Narator
Raised by Wolves
Wild Child
Mommy is a Monster
Pursued Protagonist
But still a little short
6580380
The problem is she uses terms that make "The Folk" sound like bat ponies not manticores. She recognizes fruit bats are related to the folk but unable to speak and uses the term "batling" to refer to her idea of a baby. I hate to say the story is confusing as Dee seems to be describing "The Folk" both the thestals and manticores
6580451 if those are bat ponies, than please, explain to me, why she says she's not like them, that she has foreclaws (forehooves) like "monsters" in town, not like rest of The Folk, and why she calls them foreclaws in the first place, when she has no claws? Maybe mother teach her this, because she herself has claws? Why her "mother" has solid tail, not like hers, made of hair? etc.
If you don't believe me, lets just ask author:
6571975 could you tell me. Is this your version of Jungle Book, with bat pony being raised by wild animals, or is this about some colony of 'wild' bat ponies?
6580483
I don't need to explain I already said "Dee seems to be describing "The Folk" both the thestals and manticores" so yes she describes them in terms that clearly say "Bat pony" and ALSO clearly say "Manticore", that she describes them as Manticores makes it confusing as up to that point all indications where they where bat ponies
6580423
Everyone talks about TVTropes but I hardly ever read that website. There are too many blue links and I quickly end up far away from where I started.
I really liked this story. of there is ever a sequel or something be sure to put an update chapter on this story so I can read it!
There should be a comedy tag for the "You shall not pass" gag.
Amazing story!
What a unique take on the "raised by wolfs" idea. I really like this.
I admit it took till near the end of the story for me to get it, but it seems obvious to me that Dee is a batpony who was raised by bats. She calls her hooves claws because that's what bats have.
A batpony that comes of age sneaking Nightmare Night candy- and doesn't care, because nobody's told them why a cutie mark matters or even what a cutie mark is. Now that's something.
Dee-Dee, don't eat too many of those rinds, there's a good chirpling.
6581034 This is a side story, from Dee's point of view, of a much larger story that Georg is working on. He's posted the first chapter of that one as well. If you check his most recent stories it will be there.
6583892
oh cool thanks I'll be sure to read it!
You know, coincidence alone has me reading this at the right season and so close to the right day. Also, giant bats raising a young bat pony mare who has never met with a pony she could actually understand is an interesting concept that I can get behind.
This was a real treat (that's not a Halloween pun - probably). The outsider's perspective the reader brings to the tale gives Dee a lot of charming naivete and her simplistic, almost animalistic behavior is well-balanced by her cunning and her clear personality. The fish-out-of-water/raised-by-wolves scenario against the backdrop of Nightmare Night is a very creative twist and I just loved every bit of it.
This one's getting a fave. And though I may be a day late, Happy Halloween to you regardless.
I'm not sure why I took so long to read this, but I enjoyed it very much.I suppose, depending on Dee's age at this point, that she will be quite the little protector at some point down the line. No owl will get away with messing with her family when she grows up! I know Dee's a bat pony, but I'm still not positive if her family are just bats, or some type of fairy. Calling them The Folk is what throws me off. A cute little fic and i enjoyed it very much.
I see more Tarzan than Jungle Book. But then the old Tarzan books were my favorites.
Aww, such a sweet story. I definitely get a Tarzan/Jungle Book feel from the story. I'll admit that I'm not 100% sure what she was raised by. My guess is Manticore given that I can't think of too many creatures that would feast on rabbits and squirrels and have bat wings. I can't think of any bats that do that either so I believe that rules out the raised by wild bats and Dee talks about how different she looks from The Folk so that rules out feral batponies. I can't wait until the other/main story for this is finished so I can see what happens when she finally meets her real dad.
This story made my list of Top 10 Favorite Stories of 2015! Congratulations, and thanks for the great story.
Oh please don't end this HERE. Someone has to find that poor thing and bring her back to Ponyville.
6805701 That's what Child of Nightmares and Everfree is for.
When a frantic Night Guard seeks help in finding his lost daughter in the middle of the Everfree Forest, he finds that only Fluttershy is willing to guide him on his dangerous quest. But as they search, they find far more than they expected, and in the end, he may be forced to accept the painful reality that the daughter he seeks may not want to return with him.
The only thing in the Everfree Forest more frightening than a father trying to find his lost daughter, is a mother who does not want to let go.
This was so, so adorable, reading the sequal now! :D Great job!
You can has review!
9507854 Thank you!
No X of monsters is not complete without the King of Monsters.
I have reviewed this here.