Night and I had managed through the woods and made it into an empty field. She gathered some foliage as we walked through. I didn’t quite think we needed it, but night came sooner than I thought it would. I felt the cold looming in the air. It took me a moment to realize that it was winter in Equestria. The grass and sticks made a bit more sense now, and I could guess she had prepared for a long stay with the satchels she was carrying the supplies in. Probably an outdoors pony.
Once Night had set up a fire, she took off her rather big dress and hat. Her mane and tail were a light brown compared to the rest of her. It caught my attention that she wasn’t wearing clothes now. She was unpacking something, but I was a bit distracted. She stepped over to where I was sitting. I leaned away to be cautious. She touched my side. I held in a small sensation, but then she clicked something onto my horn. I was intrigued by this. I shook my head and noticed I was suddenly out of my disguise. Whatever she did was clearly something in my design.
I still felt the case on my horn, and shook my head. Night had started walking over to her clothes which were spread on the ground. I then realized that all of her clothes also held supplies as well. She had pulled out a bedroll and a few apples. She sunk a fang into an apple which crinkled and withered. I was aware of the functions of Bat Ponies, but seeing it was something else. She tossed it blindly behind her. She yawned and went to lie in her bedroll and stare blankly into the sky. However, she was glancing over at me. I stretched a little bit with the cold nipping gently on me. I let out a breath that was visible in the air.
“Why did you let me put that on you?” Night rested her head on the bedroll.
“I was a little occupied with something I noticed,” I answered with a shaky shrug. “What did you put on my horn anyway?”
“Really?” The resting Bat Pony sighed. “I put a device on your horn that suppresses your magic.”
“Oh…” I looked towards the sky thinking about something. “Say? Would this work on normal ponies?”
Night gritted her teeth and I scooted away. I don’t know what I said, but I didn’t want to get on her bad side now. She scanned me and eased a little bit. She closed her eyes and turned back to the night sky.
“No, it was made specifically for Clockwork.” She turned to look at me expectantly. “Also, be careful about classifying ponies. I understand that you don’t mean offense, but no pony is ‘normal’ in certain meanings.”
“I’ll say,” I attempted a subject change she may like. “You seem pretty special yourself!”
“… What was that?” She rose her head a little at my comment.
“Oh, I, uh…” I tried to find a good way to reword it. “I think you’re pretty cool.”
Night gazed at me, then looked at the ground shaking her head. I shifted with some clear discomfort.
“Don’t worry, I’m not mad.” The Bat Pony gazed at the stars now. “I appreciate the compliment. At least you weren’t glorifying me as anything like ‘royal’ or ‘beyond others’ or anything so trivial. I’ve heard too much like that for one life time. I’m hoping to never hear it again. I suppose I must at some point.”
“I thought you’d like that kind of compliment,” I tilted my head. “Bat Ponies aren’t exactly of clean image in Equestria from what I’ve read.”
“If you read about Bat Ponies, you probably saw a stereotype.” Night pulled herself out of her bedroll and sat up to face me. “I only know a few other Bat Ponies and only one is as vicious as portrayed naturally. While it’s true they are often nocturnal, that’s all which is portrayed correctly. Intelligent ones being malicious is mostly false in my experience. Our worst times are when we start off, but I passed that stage through my drive. It’s ignorant to believe we are the most ruthless among the ponies. Most of us patiently hide in plain sight. Others only come out at night to avoid direct light revealing them… I’m getting off the topic of your question. Most of those flamboyant words are intertwined with this path I’ve chosen.”
“A-alright,” I tried to keep track of everything she had revealed. “You chose to become a Bat Pony?”
Night let out a sigh at the question, giving me a distinct feeling I pressed a button. I turned my head just a little bit in case she was aggravated. I expected some fury, but instead she just looked at the stars again.
“You don’t have to tell me if it’s uncomfortable,” I added.
“No,” Night shook her head. “I need to get this off my shoulders anyway. I chose to become a Bat Pony for the extra benefits. There was that I didn’t need as much food to sustain myself, greater awareness, more speed, but most of all, I needed more time. I won’t say more than that. I can’t trust you with the knowledge and depth of my struggle.”
“I understand,” I nodded. “We just met. I don’t want to pry too much. I’ll just say that I think you’re pretty awesome. I don’t think there are many Ponies determined enough to make such sacrifices to achieve their goals. If I could offer more than words to show my respect, I would. I’ll just wish you luck on your endeavor, no matter what it is.
A spark ignited stars within Night’s eyes. Tears began to gather in her eyes, but she rubbed them out before they could escape themselves. I pondered if I had offended her, so I turned my head keeping an eye on her. She made a soft noise. After the following silence, she spoke.
“Y-you’re one of the few ponies to speak so kindly of me,” She shook her head with a sad laugh. “You are stupid, huh? I-I don’t need your compliments. I just told you t-to make you feel better about yourself…”
I wasn’t sure what to think of what she said. Night was in mixed emotions from what she was saying and how she sounded, but I couldn’t tell what she needed to feel better.
“No need to start calling names,” I sighed, lowering my head.
Night’s eyes jumped right to me and she followed suit. She suddenly held me pushing me onto the ground. She had a firm hold on me. I could see tears forming in her eyes more.
“I’ll call you what I w-want stupid,” Her eyes met mine and she tried to hit me many times, but she kept slowing down. I couldn’t move, so I let things play out. “You’re just a machine, you shouldn’t care. Y-you should hate me like everypony. Hate me for w-what I’ve done. I tried to d-destroy you, so stop messing with me. You stupid h-heartless machine, b-be honest!”
I could see what her problem was now. I wrapped my front hooves around her. “You tried to destroy me, but you didn’t. You could’ve just done me in, you still can. I’m putting my trust in you and I’ll continue to do so while I’m here. I may also have to rely on you even more, I don’t think I brought enough of anything to get me through Equestria. I didn’t exactly prepare well. Now that I think about it, I may have left my writing equipment back home…”
Night stopped and looked at me once again. I shook my head and tried to focus again. The mare stared blankly at me, but her tears were seeming to slow. Her face changed in emotion. I could tell she was overwhelmed. I could feel something inside myself as well, but it quickly subsided. She stood up and pulled me up with ease. Night glanced around before moving her mouth. She was attempting to speak, but perhaps overwhelmed.
“I think you should just take some deep breaths,” I yawned getting a bit tired from the day’s events. “I’ll probably fall asleep soon, so if you cou-“Everything went pitch black with a sound of a faint thud on the ground.
I had dozed off for a little bit, but it wasn’t too long before I awoke again. I was still tired, but the cold air woke me up. I shifted a little uncomfortably as the cold air enveloped me. I was eventually shivering and chattering due to the cold. Luckily it wasn’t raining or I’d have a serious problem. The current problem was still pretty bad, I wouldn’t be rested enough like this. Suddenly, something was wrapped around me. I started feeling just a little warmer. My shivering and chattering faded and I could relax.
“Thank you,” Night whispered as she turned to where her bedroll was. I snuggled into the fabric I was wrapped in. It was warm enough for me to be happy. I could feel myself drifting off this time. I felt like nothing could go wrong anymore. What would come the next day? I didn’t know, but I was perfectly fine with that new question.
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Birds began to chirp giving me a feeling that some time had passed. I opened my eyes and could see a morning sky. I could see an area on the horizon. I got up and began to walk towards it still half asleep. I stopped upon stepping in a bed of ash. I quickly recollected the events prior. I glanced around the immediate area, but I couldn’t see where Night was. After digging through my supplies, I greased myself and polished my metal body. Once again, I faced the horizon. There was a figure in the field by a river. It was a pony, but I couldn’t tell who. I had guessed it was Night, but I was very wrong…
I unthoughtfully hiked towards the pony. They weren’t too far away when I was becoming more certain it wasn’t Night. A dark stallion in a top hat and suit was looking in the stream. I shook my head remembering I wasn’t disguised and started making my way back towards the campfire area. As I was sneaking back, Night came back out of the woods and after a brief pause she blazed in my direction with a panicked expression. I hadn’t expected her next action.
“Whistle!” She called my name. The sound pointed towards danger. I read the signs and turned quickly to the threat.
The pony by the stream had turned towards me and I could see his sunglasses. He was the stallion from the castle when I took Transfer to Chasy, the unicorn of restlessness. With his horn alight, he dashed at me. I dodged the horn with a flap of my wings and a sidestep. There was a blast of pale magic where I stood before. I could see that Night was frozen in place now. I quickly returned my attention to the black maned stallion. For some reason, he smiled facing me.
“Whistle, is it?” The unicorn approached me. He glided and swayed. “You have good luck. You even managed to avoid an icky muck. Quick on the draw too, I give you the respect due. However, there’s a brighter light. I wonder how you befriended Night…”
The stallion ranted and rhymed. I couldn’t quite tell where he was going after trying to scrap me. Unsurprisingly, I’d find out.
“Here is some news,” He continued to circle me. “Being batty bears bad blues. Night is burdened by a certain plight which makes seeing you quite a sight… I’m willing to tell you who you are meant to be and my request is not far you see.”
“What do you want?” I was overall curious by what he had said. I couldn’t tell what he meant by who I was meant to be. The unicorn took the encasement restricting my magic off using his own magic. The small piece of machinery fell to the ground and I saw a smile forming on his face. It was becoming more and more twisted as it widened. I knew already this stallion was suspicious, but what came next only cemented that fact.
“I request that you slaughter Night,” With a flash behind his sunglasses, he revealed a snake like tongue as he spoke. “That shall set my world right!”
I was about to offer a protest when he passed through me. I couldn’t feel him at all. There was something inside of me screaming at me, but I couldn’t make it out. I fell down onto the ground, thrashing about. There was something so odd as well, a sense of completion. That completion felt so close, but it faded away quickly once more. The crushing feeling had subsided.
I lifted my head and noticed that the Unicorn had vanished. Night was still frozen in place, but that wasn’t for very long. She abruptly relocated in front of me. I was startled at first and jumped back, but I eased quickly enough.
“You’re okay?” She seemed confused. “Weird, he must have left you alone and went straight for me.”
“What?” I let out in disbelief. “He tried to turn me into scraps, he seemed to ignore you!”
“Wha- he actually…?” Night covered her mouth with a hoof. “He let you into his zone? Why would he choose you? Any Clockwork for that matter?”
“He said he knew something about who I was supposed to be.” I stood up and looked around some more. “I- he told me that he’d explain if I were to kill you. He just seems like a rhyming fruit to me.”
“He’s still on about that, huh?” Night let out a sigh. “Great.”
“You know what he’s all about?”
“I wish,” Night rolled her eyes. “I can’t see him going through with anything he has claimed before. He just tries to be intimidating. He’ll just follow us around some more. If he comes again, don’t take your eyes off of him. He’s been following me in recent years. I’m not sure what he’s hoping to accomplish with you, but I doubt we’ll find out.”
Night picked up the small device off of the ground and we walked back to where we left our stuff for the morning. She started packing her things and I returned her clothes to her.
“Thanks for last night,” I commented. “Actually, where were you this morning?”
“I was just going for a quick stroll through the woods,” Night explained as she was finishing up her minimal packing. “I feel in place with natures acceptance. There was some harvesting as well.”
“Soul or blood harvesting?” I teased.
“Oh, shut up.” Night walked over and rubbed the top of my head with her hoof playfully. “Luckily we have a lot of time this morning. We’ve got a trek to traverse.”
“Right.” I reactivated my disguise and began to follow Night across the bridge of the river bank. We’d likely make it to the town on the horizon before noon. I wondered what would come next on my mission. �Շ� 1611:ݾ�N*