//------------------------------// // Ch. 9 - When One Door Closes // Story: Child of Nightmares and Everfree // by Georg //------------------------------// Child of Nightmares and Everfree When One Door Closes Dee was brave. She was Mama’s little batling, and Mama showed no sign of fear, so she should not either, no matter how strange the inside of the yellow monster’s den looked, or how fiercely the owner protected it. Fluttershy was brave too. She stalked right up to Mama and made her spit out the mouse she had snapped up when they first entered the den. Mama never spit anything out, but after looking at the yellow monster for a long time, she opened her jaws and released the wet rodent unharmed. The creatures in the monster’s den were not brave. They cowered in corners, all except for the little bunny who glared at Dee and Mama with fierce furry fury. Fluttershy was not terrified, of course. She fluttered from small nook to tiny cranny, gently reassuring all of the little creatures who made their homes in her den, although none of them came within pouncing range of Dee or Mama. Again. The tension in their return to Fluttershy’s den had not been limited to a mouse, though. Several of her monster friends had been sleeping on the floor, awaiting her return. They had jumped up when Fluttershy came through the door, rushed forward with happy smiles when Dee had followed, and departed in giant leaps like a flock of frightened tree-frogs when Mama had swept in right on her tail. The other monsters did come back, although they looked embarrassed, and one of the ‘windows’ would need to be replaced. Afterwards, monsters had come and gone in a confusing hustle while Dee and Mama retreated to the far corner of Fluttershy’s den. There had been a purple monster who removed Fluttershy’s disguise and turned her back into a yellow feathered monster, which was a little sad, because she looked prettier with normal wings. Then there were several other monsters who only stopped by for a few breaths, including a brightly colored monster who could not hold still, a brilliantly-pink monster who seemed so excited she could not stop bouncing around the den, and several other monsters who the bunny met at the door and kept from entering, one of whom he actually slammed the door on. They all had looked at Mama rather skittishly, much as if they expected her to bite them, but the last of Fluttershy’s friends, a striped monster named ‘Zecora’ behaved in a far stranger way. She bowed her head respectfully at Mama in the same way one of The Folk would use to show deference to her position, gave Dee a small smile as if she somehow knew everything would turn out well, and joined the purple monster in the other room. When the huge, dark monster who had been in the city a few nights ago strode in through the door, Dee’s heart almost stopped. Despite how much she had changed by being turned from stone back into a living monster, she was unmistakably the same fierce monster who the rest of the monsters in the city had bowed down in front of and given all of their delicious fruits to. She must have been the most terrifying monster outside of the forest in order for the monsters to be so subservient to her, but the feeling of unreasoning terror only lasted until she swept her gaze up to meet Dee’s eyes, and all of the tension which had held Dee paralyzed vanished in a hammering heartbeat. Those huge blue-green eyes were unmistakably those of a Mama. They had a depth she could have swum in, and for just one tiny fraction of a moment, the unmistakable impression of wanting to run across the room and sweep Dee up into a crushing hug, complete with tears, just like Dee’s own Mama. But the big dark monster recovered with a short nod in Dee’s direction before proceeding slowly across the floor and vanishing into the other room where the smaller purple monster was examining Mama’s little stone batling. It was such a shock to Dee that she almost did not notice the even larger monster walking past, this one a creamy white with a flowing mane all the colors of sweetflowers. She followed the other monster with an inestimable grace almost step for step, giving Dee a sideways glance with a reassuring smile before she too vanished into the other room. It took Dee a few tense breaths before she recognized the smile as one a Mama of many Mamas would give to her little batlings. From the size of her, she was probably the dark monster’s Mama, which would make the purple monster a child of the dark monster, three generations of magical Mamas trying to restore the small stone bat. Dee ran her deformed claw which was called a hoof down her Mama’s back, rubbing up and down in the way she had always done to reassure Dee during fierce storms. There was a subdued trembling to her muscles, showing Mama was not as calm as she pretended to be, and Dee huddled closer against her warm coat. “Dee loves Mama.” The quiet trembling calmed and Mama ran her fangs through Dee’s thick and tangled hair just behind her ears. “Mama loves Dee,” she squeaked back. After grooming her adopted daughter for a time, she asked, “Do you think the monsters can do it? Can they bring back my little batling?” “They seem to think so,” squeaked Dee. “After all, the big dark monster was stone and now she is not.” She took a deep breath and looked at the stone head of ‘Spark Gap,’ sitting all chipped and fractured on a nearby table. Mama gave her a reassuring lick across the head to quell the tremors, and gave Dee enough courage to continue. “Sunshine said they can’t save my monster Mama. She’s dead because the lizard broke her. Your little batling didn’t get broken, so…” The idea of her mother being dead bothered Dee less than the thought of Mama’s real daughter. Dee had always thought of Mama as her real mother, all to herself with no other batlings, big or small to share her with. Now, if the horned monsters, the ‘unicorns’ could turn the little stone back into Mama’s real daughter, the two of them would be a family again, just like before. The little batling would be just like Mama, able to hang by her hind hands in Home, or cling to Mama’s coat while they soared through the night sky. She even had a name. Ling. The only thing keeping Dee from panic was the knowledge that Mama was just as nervous as herself. Bitter smells and little flares of light continued to escape from under the closed doors as the monsters did strange things with the little stone bat. Even Sunshine seemed to be afraid of the grouping of big monsters behind the door, with his eyes flickering to every corner of the den, and in particular, his mate, the ‘pegasus’ who continued to flit around above them. Fluttershy looked odd with feathered wings, but somehow more comfortable too, singing quietly to herself and giving little glances back at Sunshine whenever he was not looking. After giving Dee’s wing a lick, Mama stopped in her grooming with a puckered-up expression and stuck her tongue out at the sour taste. Resuming her grooming at the top of Dee’s head and keeping an eye on Fluttershy, still fluttering around the den, Mama added in a very quiet squeak, “Your new Mama will treat you well. She has much food in her den. Particularly the fat rabbit.” Mama licked her lips. “We could share it with her while waiting.” “Not the rabbit,” said Dee, taking a look at where the bunny was suspiciously glaring back from between the bear’s back paws. “The bear would be easier to fight.” “Definitely not the rabbit,” said Sunshine abruptly from across the room, which made Fluttershy look up from where she had been reassuring a family of voles. “Probably not the bear either. They are—” Dee screwed up her face at the strange word “—pets. Not for eating.” “Oh,” chirped Mama. She huddled closer to Dee, covering her back with one broad wing. After a time, Fluttershy slipped closer, taking frequent glances at the room where the other monsters were trying to change the little batling back. She made a few of the mouth-noises at Mama, which Dee still felt a little upset about just barely not being able to understand, although it did get her a quiet nuzzle from Mama afterwards. Dee nuzzled back while Mama chirped the strange word as well as her mouth was able. “Fluttershy. Is good. She will be a good Mama for you.” Fluttershy’s squeak in response was almost too high for Dee to hear. ~^^~ When it finally happened, the event was almost a disappointment. The flashes of light and high-pitched hissing of ‘magic’ from the other room cut off abruptly with one final bright flare and a sharp popping noise that hurt Dee’s ears, then a series of piercing screeches mixed with a frantic fluttering burst against the closed door, which did not stay closed long. A tiny batling only about half Dee’s size launched out of the door and was caught by Mama in one broad dark wing, spinning her almost all of the way around and landing the both of them on the floor. “Mama! Mama!” screeched the little batling. “Monsters! Monsters!” Dee almost could not watch as Mama hugged and cuddled the little batling, covering its flat little face with sharp nips and brushing her fangs over its fuzzy little head. Her tears made the long-delayed reunion blur into a one huge dark smear and Dee’s hind legs gave out as she watched, plunking her rear down on Fluttershy’s floor with a thud. The little batling was where Dee should have been, in Mama’s tight embrace, being nibbled and kissed with little squeaks of joy. She jumped when Sunshine’s dark wing spread out across Dee’s back, a cautious embrace which trembled as if the big monster were also about ready for his hind legs to give out and involuntarily plunk his rump down next to hers. As much as she just wanted to fly away back in time to when it was only Mama and Dee, she hesitantly reached out her own wing and scooted a little closer to him. It felt as if her heart was being ripped out of her chest as she watched Mama and the little batling nuzzle once it had calmed down in her presence, but it was the way things were meant to be. Bats lived with bats. Ponies lived with Ponies. Even as different as ponies were, they were still all ponies, and not monsters as she kept thinking. A small noise from the other side of the room made Dee aware of the monsters… that is unicorns who had turned the stone little batling back into herself. They had all quietly slipped out of the room and were watching the Mama/batling reunion with a few sniffles of their own. Dee wanted with all of her mind for them to have failed, but her heart, as pained as it was, was fairly singing with joy at Mama’s happiness. The little batling gave off a short squeak of terror and hid under Mama’s wing when it spotted the big monsters, but Mama nudged it out into the open with encouraging chirps. “Ling. Do not be afraid.” The little batling most certainly was afraid, with huge, staring eyes fixed on the towering monsters so nearby they could have taken several steps and touched it, but Mama’s calm chirps calmed it down enough to give a quick glance around the rest of the room. It still was frightened, but it pointed one little wing and chirped, “Monsters?” “Not monsters,” said Mama. She pointed at the largest of the ponies, the one all pale with the flowing mane of soft colors. “Sun,” said Mama. The dark pony with the sad eyes she pointed to and declared, “Moon.” The tip of her wing faltered as she pointed at the purple pony and the one with stripes. “Others,” she declared after a short pause. Dee could see her reflection in the big, dark eyes of the little batling as she looked up from under Mama’s enfolding wing. “Monster?” “Dee,” said Mama, giving her a short lick across the forehead. “Sister.” “Sister,” chirped the little batling. It shuffled across the floor in an awkward fashion until it could hold up a little clawed wing in her direction, which Dee matched by holding her hoof up against it. “Sister?” said the little batling, more than a little confused. “Different sister,” said Mama with a sniff. “Love Mama.” “Love Mama,” said Dee. She forced her eyes down to look at the tiny little batling, only half her size, and squeaked the words she did not want to. “Love Ling. You take good care of Mama. I’ll miss you both.” “Sister!” declared the little batling with all of the force of a small child. She lept off the ground with rapid beats of her tiny wings and flung herself on top of Dee’s head. “Sister!” she repeated. “Not go! Play!” Dee put a hoof up on top of her head and stroked the little ball of fluff. Even though Ling was very young and not a stone any more, she was still heavy. Mama moved over and tried to remove the not-so-little batling, but she had dug all of her little fingers into Dee’s tangled hair, repeating two words over and over. “Sister! Play! Sister! Play!” The dark pony, ‘Moon’ took several slow steps forward. All of the other ponies were afraid of Mama, even Sunshine who pretended not to be, but the dark pony met Mama’s eyes without the slightest flinch. She nodded ever so slightly, then helped Mama and Sunshine get the squalling Ling untangled from Dee’s tangled mane and placed on Mama’s back. Once there, the batling scurried around and dug thin fingers into Mama’s hair to cling tight, just like all of the little ones in The Folk, and like Dee had tried and failed to do for many seasons. “We have to go,” squeaked Mama. She ran thin fingers through Dee’s hair, although she trembled when doing it. “You have to stay with your… ponies. Your father. You will be fat during the cold times, not alone and hungry. You will feast on the delicious fruit, and be happy.” Dee sniffed as her tears started up again. “Not happy. Need Mama.” “Need father like Dee,” said Mama. She reached out with thin fingers and fitted Sunshine’s wing over her trembling body, pressing down with her own warm, dark wing. Her dark eyes flickered over to the broken stone head on the nearby table before Mama gave the top of her head another lick. “Remember your monster Mama and how she saved you. How she saved Ling.” Mama licked her several more times before whispering, “Mama love Dee. Mama always love Dee. Even when you are gone, Mama will remember.” She held her daughter close, with Sunshine’s wing pinned under hers while she trembled for a long time, before Mama took a hesitant breath and squeaked, “I’m afraid.” “Why, Mama?” Dee struggled to get out from under Sunshine’s wing, but Mama only squeezed tighter. “Why are you afraid, Mama? Do you think they will hurt me?” “No.” Mama relaxed her crushing grip and turned Dee to face upward, her dark gaze damp with tears. “I’m afraid they will turn you into a pony.” “Will I ever see you again?” squeaked Dee. Sunshine spoke up abruptly. “Yes.”