//------------------------------//
// 2. Bats! 
// Story: Of Light, Dark and The Soul 
// by Wext_Nensday 
//------------------------------//

It was getting dark, the lights of fires were beginning to shine through the windows of the small town by the sea. In the town centre, across from the meeting hall stood the library, an old barn repurposed to store books. The lights inside began to flicker off and two ponies exited the front door.

"Have a good evening Brightstar. I'll get that letter delivered for you."

"Thanks Lavender, I appreciate it. Travel safe."

The two ponies parted ways. Brightstar walked forlornly down street, his sad gaze fixed on the gravel beneath his hooves.  The sun was setting and he cast a long shadow on the lonely road. The street was deserted. Brightstar decided he liked that, he was still embarrassed after his sudden entrance at the meeting.

It seemed a long walk home from the library, made worse by the silence of the streets around him. If only Meadow were with him. Then he wouldn't feel so lonely. But after the last disappearance she and Cloudy had personal stake in the mystery.

He'd checked every book in the library twice, read through all the journals of the original settlers, checked the town records going back a century, and still had found no mention of disappearances or strange creatures in the night. But he hadn't expected to find anything, the town's library was small, and most of it—like most of the town—was dedicated to farming or fishing.

Eventually it got dark, but Brightstar continued on, lost in his thoughts until he heard the flapping of wings behind him. "Meadow?" He said, turning around, "I thought-ugh." He grunted as he was knocked to the ground by something large. Whatever it was had claws, Brightstar knew this because as soon as he hit the ground he felt them digging into his sides. "Aaaaagh" He screamed in pain. He bucked backwards behind him in an attempt to knock whatever the thing was off him. His hooves made contact with something tough and leathery and it was knocked off him.

He jumped up and spun around to see what the thing was. All he saw was something large and brown flying at his face. It collided with him assaulting his senses with the smell of blood and rotten meat. The creature rolled on top of him and reached out it's claws once more. 

For an instant he got a good look at it. It was large, bigger than a pony. Where its front legs should have been were a set of large, leathery wings like a bat. It's hind legs were short, but they had long, sharp talons on them, already red with his blood. The thing screeched as it grabbed him and revealed two sets of razor sharp teeth. 

The thing's talons dug into his flesh causing him to scream again. The monster began flapping its wings, attempting to carry him away. As Brightstar was lifted off the ground he reached up and punched at the creature's exposed stomach. His hoof made contact and the thing screeched again and dropped him.

Brightstar fell to the ground with a thud and the creature flew away into the dark sky, deprived of its catch. Then, bleeding and bruised, Brightstar stood up and began hobbling back the way he had come.





Cloud White sat at a table, a cup of cider in front of him. He stared at it, as though it were a puzzle he was trying to solve. He was vaguely aware of the voices in the room around him.

A mare and a stallion were arguing.

"We can't give them nothing, they're scared already, and scared farmers are not fun." Said the mare. "We find something or we forfeit our jobs, maybe our lives."

"You're being over-dramatic," replied the stallion, "They're not going to come for you with pitch forks and torches."

"You know full well that that is something they would do, Chaser." Snapped the mare in reply. "Three ponies go missing, not a scrap of evidence to show how and now Cloudy's all distant and unhelpful." She gestured at the stallion sitting down. His gaze was still fixed firmly on the cup in front on him.

Chaser looked sympathetically at the distant stallion, "He's allowed to be upset, how could he not be?" He turned back to the mare, "What if it was me that disappeared? How would you feel?"

The mare sighed, "I'm sorry, I know. I'm just frustrated."

Chaser approached and wrapped an arm around her, "I know darling, we all are. But we can't go and get mad at Cloudy."

At that moment Meadow Breeze entered from another room carrying a tray of food. "If you two are done arguing it's time to eat." She said placing the food on the table in front of Cloudy and sitting down.

With a laugh the others joined them and began eating. Cloudy sat at the head of the table with Meadow to his left. Next to her sat the other stallion, Storm Chaser and opposite him, the mare, Ivy Rose. The seat to Cloudy's right remained empty, though the place was still set for eating. Cloudy kept glancing at the chair there, as if expecting to see something different each time. But it remained the same. Empty.

Thud, thud, thud. A knock at the door.

The Pony's heads shot up and they looked around at each other, confused. 

Thud, thud, thud, thud, thud. Faster and more urgent this time.

Cloudy got up and approached the door slowly, cautiously.

Thud, thud, thud, thud, thud, thud, thud, thud, thud. Even faster and this time, and accompanied by a voice. "Meadow! Meadow, it's me, I need help."

At that, Cloudy opened the door and a bloodied and bruised Brightstar fell through. He stumbled into the room and on seeing Meadow at the table, let out a relieved sigh and collapsed to the floor.





The creature flew through the cold night sky. It flew northward along the coast, battling the air currents coming in from the ocean.

A faint pain still persisted in its stomach, and that made it mad. It remembered the blue and red pony that it had tried and failed to capture. It remembered how that pony had hurt it, how that pony had escaped. It became even more mad. With primitive thoughts the creature knew it had to go back and find that stallion. And it knew that this time it wouldn't fail.