Rarity, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash bowed politely while Twilight Sparkle’s ears flopped down. She knew she would have to explain the situation to the Princesses sooner or later. She stepped forward and bowed.
“Princess Celestia, Princess Luna. We saw there was a change with the Castle of the Two Sisters and we went to investigate. We found a mysterious mare that had the wings of a bat. She somehow restored the castle and claims it’s hers.” Twilight explained.
“A mysterious mare with bat wings? The only ponies who have bat wings, that I know of, are my guards.” Luna stated. “So who would this mare be?”
“We don’t know. We are just as curious as you are to know. But I don’t even know if we can get back to the Castle.” Twilight sighed. “I’m very sorry, Princesses.”
“Fear not, Twilight Sparkle. We are not upset with you.” Princess Celestia placed a hoof on Twilight’s shoulder. “This mare might not be an enemy, but we cannot know for sure.”
“We could send guards to survey the castle.” Luna suggested.
“No, that might anger her.” Celestia said.
“We must do something, sister. We cannot let a possible threat stay unattended to.” Luna insisted, stomping her dark blue hoof on the ground.
“Perhaps this is a job the Princess of Friendship should handle. Twilight, is there anything you noticed in the castle?” Celestia asked, laying a settling hoof on her sister’s shoulder.
Twilight rubbed her hoof under her chin. “Before she woke up, I saw two thrones. One was marked with a “K” and the other with a “Q”. I’m assuming they are marked for “King” and “Queen” since she was sleeping in the “Q” throne.” She informed them. “So…perhaps…she simply wants a King?”
“A King? As in…a stallion?! Impossible!” Luna huffed.
“Nothing is impossible, Luna. We thought it would be impossible for Fluttershy to reform Discord, but it happened. So perhaps we shouldn’t be so doubtful.” Celestia said. “This bat pony could simply be lonely. We shouldn’t judge.”
“Princess, if it’s alright, I would...I would like to go back to the castle and speak with her alone.” Twilight said, earning gasps from her friends.
“Have you gone mad Twilight?! You can’t go back there alone!” Rainbow Dash protested. “You don’t know what she’ll do to you.”
“Please darling, we insist you reconsider going alone. We know absolutely nothing about this mare and with what happened earlier, going alone is most unwise.” Rarity stomped her hoof. “At least let one of us go with you.”
“A-At least take me with you, I can understand all kinds of animals. Maybe the bats will be more cooperative than her.” Fluttershy said, being unusually brave.
“No, I can’t take any of you with me. As the Princess of Friendship, I have to go alone to at least break the ice. If we all go together, it might unsettle her again and prompt her to attack.” Twilight turned to face her friend. “Please trust me. Give me a few days to go there alone and talk to her. Perhaps I’ll get the reason why she’s here to begin with.”
Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash all looked at each other before looking at their Alicorn Princess. Applejack was the first to give in saying, “Well sugar cube, as much as we might wanna stop you, your eyes are saying your mind is made up. There a’int nothin’ we can do to talk you out of it.”
“While reckless, I believe Twilight’s suggestion would be the wisest at this time” Celestia said and every pony looked towards the Everfree forest.
“Then it’s settled. In the morning, I’ll head into the forest and back to the castle.” Twilight said as bravely as she could, but inside, she was pretty nervous.
*****
In the morning, Twilight went through a checklist with Spike and their friends of things preparing her for her self appointed task. “Ok I have apples, plenty of scrolls and quills, and a book the dangerous plants in the Everfree forest so I know to avoid them.” Twilight said while Spike checked them off.
“You’ve got everything Twilight. But are you sure you have to go alone?” Spike asked.
“Yes, I’m sure Spike. If any pony else went with me, it could result in her attacking again. So going alone would be the only logical solution.” Twilight strapped her saddlebag on. “Now I have to go. Hopefully, if all goes well, I’ll be back before nightfall.” And with that, Twilight galloped back to the Everfree Forest and to the newly restored castle.
*****
Getting back to the castle, Twilight was starting to lose her nerve a bit, but didn’t stop herself from crossing the bridge. She kept telling herself that she was the Princess of Friendship and it was her duty to show this mare a second chance no matter how long it took. Once across the bridge, she noticed soft screeching again from the bats and took caution when entering this time around. With the door creaking open, pushed by her hoof, Twilight walked carefully with her hoof steps echoing in the corridor. The morning sun illuminated the corridor, which was dark before, but it was a dim light due to the thick trees in the Everfree Forest. Twilight illuminated her horn with a gentle glow, giving off a low hum. “Teleporting or even flying here would have been faster than running. But flying in the Everfree Forest is a little dangerous…and I am still getting used to my wings. And teleporting her might upset her as well as prompt another attack.” She mumbled to herself. Flapping wings could be heard in the distance, putting Twilight on guard.
The purple mare entered the throne room, seeing bats in the rafters. Looking around more, she finally spotted blue-eyed pony bat seated on her throne. Twilight gulped softly as she came closer to the pony bat and bowed politely. “H-Hello. I am Twilight Sparkle, the Princess of Friendship. I’m afraid we got off on the wrong hoof before.” She chuckled nervously. “I was hoping we could talk…I do have a few questions for you.”
The mare stood up and off her throne, her hoof steps getting closer till she was in front of Twilight. Twilight looked up at her, the light from her horn showing more details of the taller mare’s face. She had a medium to dull red coat. Her mane was red and black, sleeked back with her tail matching. Her sky blue eyes were almost like focused ice daggers, glaring down at the princess. “First of all, would you mind turning off your horn? Light is slightly uncomfortable to me.” Her voice was almost demanding, but gently regal like Celestia’s.
“Oh, of course.” The light disappeared and Twilight’s eyes adjusted to the dim lighting. “I’m sorry for before. My friends and I were a bit…jumpy upon seeing you. It’s just…we’ve been working together to redecorate this castle for ourselves and preserve some of the old history here.” She said, informatively. “So seeing some pony else do it was a bit of a surprise. And we’ve never seen any pony like you before…well we have since one of my friends turned into a bat pony because of a little spell bouncing off of the vampire fruit bats…but I’m getting off topic.”
“I see, well you irritated me and my children. Barging in and disturbing us the way you did.” She said and turned, her wings clamped on her back. Her cutie mark, a ruby stone in between a pair of bat wings, was fully visible on her flank. “Anyway, you said you have questions. My time is brief since I have to feed my children soon. So speak quickly.”
“Well…I was curious…why are you here? Who are you?” Twilight asked, standing. “And what…what are your intentions?”
“Intentions? Do you see me as some kind of threat?!” Her leathery wings expanded as she glared at Twilight, her sharp teeth showing as she hissed. Twilight instantly took a few steps back.
“N-No! Well…m-maybe. You attacked Ponyville, or rather Sweet Apple Acres, with your bats. It’s not a very good first impression.” Twilight tried to smooth things over, but had a feeling she was making things worse. “I just…want to be sure we can trust you.”
“I attacked because you and your friends provoked me!” She stomped her hoof on the marble floor. “And bringing up trust after implying that I pose some kind of threat to your precious town.” With a powerful flap of her bat wings, she was hovering off the ground. “Out! Get out! Leave my castle immediately!” She screeched. Being hesitant at first, Twilight teleported out of the castle when several of the bats in the rafters started to fly towards her. She ended up in the cave where the Tree of Harmony was located.
“That was close. Way too close.” She sighed. “I can’t believe I said those things. I should leave honesty to Applejack.” She set her saddlebag down and set up a tent, afterwards she pulled out scroll, quill, and some ink and started writing. “Day 1: I managed to meet the mysterious bat pony occupying the Castle of the Two Sisters. She is slightly prone to anger when insulted, gotta watch out for that.” She wrote down a few more things before putting her scroll away. “I have enough food to last me for about three days. Not that it’ll matter. After what I said to her today, I doubt she’ll let me close to her again.” She sighed heavily.