//------------------------------// // 5 - Whispers of the Past // Story: Deep Delver // by Night_Writer //------------------------------// Chapter 5 - Whispers of the Past After what had seemed to be an eternity of walking, Glint suddenly stopped. l groaned, my muscles burning. I just closed my eyes and took a few deep breaths. Ugh, its impossible to tell how long I've been down here. I wish I'd brought a watch or something. "Glint, are you there?" I asked. I opened my eyes when nopony answered. Glint was gone. "Glint... Glint!" I said. I felt my heartbeat beginning to pound. "Glint, where are you? This isn't funny." Where the heck did she go? she was just standing right there. I got up and began to move over to where I'd seen Glint last. I stopped in surprise as a squealing voice hissed at me. "Coooome clossser..." I screwed up my eyes in confusion. Did the rock wall just... talk to me? I edged closer hesitantly, my heartbeat fluttering faster. "Closser, Flash.... closssssser..." I gulped and whispered into the gloom around me. "C'mon Glint, this isn't funny... just come out again. I'm sorry if I made you angry or anything, but c'mon this is just cruel. Come on out, would you?" A a fanged face suddenly popped out of the rock right in front of mine, yellow eyes flashing. "Boo!" I gave a high pitched yelp of surprise as Glint's head poked out from the side of rock wall in front of me. She gave a barely contained giggle as I clutched at my chest and felt my heart painfully pound against my bruised ribs. "Don't do that!" I shouted as I sat up, glaring at her as she continued to chuckled at me. "What? you asked me to come out, so I did. Don't ask for something if your going to be a little foal about it. Also, I enjoyed that little high-pitched filly scream of yours." I glared at her, cheeks red as I coughed and cleared by throat. Glint covered her mouth with a hoof as she failed to contain her quiet laughter as I got back onto my hooves and tried to salvage whatever was left of my masculinity. She gave a few more barely stifled giggles from behind her hoof before finally taking a deep satisfied breath and finally calming down. I glared at her. Glint rolled her eyes at me, still smiling. "Oh, stop it with the glaring, Flash. I've been dealing with your whining all day, This is nothing in comparison. Besides, you'll forgive me soon enough once you see where I've taken us." Glint motioned me to follow as she disappeared once more from view. I walked right up to the rock, investigating the spot I'd seen Glint standing just moments ago. There was a crevice in the stone of the wall, nearly invisible unless you were looking directly at it. It looked like it would be a bit tight since the rough passage was just barely a pony's-width wide, but it looked like I could make it through as I pushed into the passage to follow after Glint. It took a little wiggling, but I eventually was able to squeeze through the tight space, having a little more difficulty than my skinny guide had. Ugh, I'm not fat, I'm just... larger. Yeah, that's right. Stallions were typically larger than mares anyways, that made sense. It definitely doesn't have anything to do with my being fat... nope, not at all. I'm just... large. I finally pushed my way through the crevice, and stepped into a sandy-floored cave. I looked around in surprise at the quaint little place, a trickling pool at its center held what appeared to be an endless supply of cool and clear water. But the most magnificient part of the little cave was the ceiling. I gave a gasp of surprise as I looked up. Stars Hundreds upon hundreds of twinkling blue stars hung overhead in a nebula of twinkling lights. I looked up, my mouth hanging open. "It's beautiful, isn't it?" said Glint off to the side as she also looked up with a small smile. "But... that's impossible. We're still underground, aren't we?" I whispered, bedazzled by the twinkling lights. The stars stretched off in all directions, an absolute infinite-looking stretch of soft blue and white light hanging above. I continued to stare, flabbergasted with the beauty hanging above us. It was awe inspiring. I suddenly felt the urge to draw it, to try and capture this moment and that beauty in some way that I could always look back on it. I really wished I'd thought to bring a camera with me, I'd give anything to capture the serene warmth of the vista above. But as I looked, I began to notice little irregularities with the stars. I'd never paid much attention in astronomy class when I'd still been going to the academy, but even I could identify the most obvious constellations; like the Big Princess and the Little Princess, or Starswirl the Bearded's Belt. Also, the color just seemed a bit off and not quite the same as I'd remembered it. I frowned, trying to figure out why it seemed so familiar yet strange. "Noticing the abnormalities yet?" asked Glint off to the side. "They' not really stars, Sorry if you had your hopes up." "Then, how is it glowing like that? magic?" I asked. "Actually, all those little lights are glow worms. An entire ceiling of them. All up there, gleaming through the darkness." replied Glint, continuing to look up and grin. "Glow worms?" I said incredulously, looking back up in surprise. "That's all being put off by glow worms? That's... absolutely amazing." "Is it really like that?" asked Glint in a hushed tone. "Is what like that?" I responded, still looking up. "The night sky, is it really like that?" asked Glint, her eyes twinkling almost as brightly as the ceiling above. I looked at Glint in shock. Had She really never seen the night sky? I'd just assumed that since she knew a way out to the surface she would have at least glimpsed it once or twice before. I said as much to Glint questioningly. "Oh, no, I've never been up to the surface personally, I just know the way. I'm not... allowed to go up there..." said Glint, her smile faltering as she continued to look. Glint was quiet for a second as she continued to look up wistfully. "But I always imagined it would be like this. So many dots of light, hanging upon a never ending ceiling." "This is nothing like it," I said quietly. She looked at me with a scowl as I quickly waved my hooves to cut her off. "No wait, I didn't mean that in a bad way. I'm just saying that this doesn't even compare to the real thing. It's like... " I tried to come up with an analogy that she'd probably understand, "It's like measuring up that small pool over there to an ocean. They're both made up of water, but the ocean is just so much more massive and awing in comparison. The sound, the smell, the look, it's just totally different!" I said at last, smiling. Good job Flash, that was a damned good analogy, even for you! Glint looked at me blankly, "What's an ocean?" I looked at Glint in disbelief. "You've never seen an ocean before..." She shook her head. I sighed, and facehoofed in disbelief. The one time I say something that could have been considered a bit smart or poetic, and the pony I tell doesn't even know what a damn ocean is. Wonderful. Then again, she did say she'd never been outside... so maybe I was the real idiot here. "Look, it's just... different. That's the best way I can say it." "Why aren't you allowed to see it?" I asked. "Its prohibited for ponies of my station to go up to the surface. Such actions can be... punished, depending on the circumstances." "Wait, but you're taking me up to the surface. Doesn't that mean you're going to get into trouble?" I asked. "Like I said, except under special circumstances. I'm helping you, and outsider, get home. They couldn't get mad at me for helping out a lost unicorn." "Wait, but you're just a scout for an expedition, right? Why not just sneak off and just... I dunno, catch a glimpse," I said. I didn't see any reason why Glint couldn't just sneak up and see it on her own. "It's... complicated," said Glint, the smile fading slightly from her face. "Lets just say that if I did, it might come back to cause problems for some ponies I know... and I'd rather not mess up their lives anymore than I already have..." Now I was simply burning with questions. But I stayed quiet as Glint continued to look up at the ceiling with an almost sad expression. She almost looks like she's in pain. Whoever those ponies are she's talking about, she must really care about them if she'd be so cautious of even sneaking a peek at the surface for fear of causing them trouble. "Maybe when you lead me up, it'll be night time and you can see for yourself," I said, "and you know... I am injured. I might need somepony to watch over me while I'm sleeping outside when we get out. Protect me from dangerous predators and stuff..." I said casually. Glint looked at me in surprise as she listened to me. A small grin worked its way onto her lips again as she looked up and gave a low hum. I smiled a little in response, it felt nice to see her so happy for once instead of so serious and dour. "I think I could do that..." said Glint, responding just as casually. "I mean, you are injured... besides, you'd probably just stumble down another hole and fall right back down and then I'd have to walk you back out again. Might as well be thorough once we get you out." "Definitely." We stayed like that for a while. Just sitting there as we looked at the organic ceiling of stars overhead and drank in the peace of the moment. Glint was the first to get up and stretch before she moved across the cave and started to pull her gear off. "Go ahead and get some water from the pool over there and get comfortable, we'll be staying here for the night," said Glint. Glint pulled her harness and saddlebags off and began to unpack a simple bedroll and a blanket onto the ground to sleep on. It was about this time I realized I didn't even have a bedroll or a blanket. None of my friends or I had been expecting to explore the cave for very long. "Um, Glint," I said, "I just realized something..." "Yeah?" replied Glint as she continued to work. "I don't have anything to sleep on..." I said lamely. "alright, what about it?" said Glint, continuing to set up her spot. "Well... what am I going to sleep on?" I said, looking at the sandy ground. "Use your hiking harness and saddlebag and lay on those. Besides, the ground is mostly soft sand anyways, you'll be fine," said Glint. I whined a little and sighed as I kicked a hoof half-heartedly into the sand. "What, were you expecting me to share my bedroll or something? In your dreams, buddy. I carried it, I'm using it." "B-but, I've never slept on the ground like this before!" I complained. "Black void, Flash. Sleeping on the ground isn't going to kill you. Honestly I think a little bit of 'roughing it' might help to toughen you up before you get back to your big comfy bed back home." I pouted a little as I pulled my hiking harness off. I tried to set up the webbing into something resembling a bed, with my bags as a sort of impromptu pillow. I messed with it a bit until I decided that nothing I did was going to make the cured leather any softer. I sighed, realizing my 'bed' wasn't going to get any more comfortable no matter how much I fidgeted with it. Perhaps a nice long drink at the pool would help raise my spirits. I raised my head up from the pool after taking a nice long refreshing drink, wiping my mouth with a foreleg. Well, at least the water is nice around here, I thought sullenly as I glanced at Glint and scowled a bit. Glint wasn't paying attention to me as she pulled out a couple objects from her bag and moved over to the entrance with them. Shortly thereafter, the sound of a hammer hitting something metallic began to "tink" through the cavern quietly. "What's that?" I asked as I curiously followed after her, peeking over her shoulder. "Just a little trick I learned to help ensure us a nice restful nights sleep. Also, if you wouldn't mind could you not look over my shoulder? it's distracting," said Glint. "Oh, sorry," I said as I stepped off to the side and continued to watch her work. She was hammering some pitons into the rock around the entrance, just like I'd seen Granite and Slate use in the past for rock climbing. I watched with some confusion as she looped a piece of rope through a circular hoop on the end of the pitons. It all made sense, though, when she began to add small bells to with sides of the rope, and gave the rope an experimental little tug and caused the bells to give a jingle. "You made a trap!" I said, enthralled. It was so clever. "Alarm, actually," said Glint. I scrutinized the alarm-trap. I'd always been interested in clever little contraptions like this built by ponies. "So, If a pony, or a critter, walks into the ropes looped across the entrance, it'll trigger the bells and should wake us up. ingenious." "Not bad, for a brain-dead unicorn. looks like you actually can rub two synapse together and make a spark. Yes, that is the general idea of how its supposed to work," said Glint with a nod. "You don't have to be mean," I said, looking at the ground. "You are seriously way too sensitive, Flash." Glint walked back into the cavern, carrying the tiny hammer she'd been using on the pitons back to her bags. "I'm not sensitive!" I mumbled with a huff as I slowly followed her. Glint rolled her eyes, and finished putting her tools away. I just pouted past her, and trotted back to my own bags as I pulled out what little food I'd packed into my bag: three granola bars, a big bag of trail-mix, and one honey-oat candy bar. Well Flash, guess its time to go on that diet you've always thought about. I opened one of the granola bars and munched into it sadly. As I ate, I suddenly realized that Glint was just watching me eat. I stopped for a second and looked over at her mid-chew, feeling a little awkward as I ate and she just stared at me. "Um... you want some?" I asked, offering the other half of the granola bar lamely to her. "No, I'm fine," said Glint as she continued to watch me. "okay..." I said, rubbing my bandaged hoof. It was beginning to itch a bit, and it only seemed to get worse as Glint stayed focused upon me. Wow, this isn't awkward at all. Now that I thought about it, I realized that I'd never seen Glint stop to eat, drink, rest, or even go to the bathroom. Either she had the bodily control of a god, or she was the sneakiest ninja in the world. I wondered if bat ponies ate the same foods as unicorns, earth ponies, and pegasus. Although, if Glint really did drink blood like she'd hinted at earlier, she might just be waiting for me to go to sleep so she could sneak over and sink her fangs into my neck. Its okay Flash, she's not going to hurt you. Besides, she's a regular pony, she probably just eats the same food as you. She was just trying to shake you up. It's not like she's going to try and jump you in your sleep or anything... I shivered at the thought, and suddenly felt even more uncomfortable as she continued to stare at me. "Hey Glint," I said as I licked some stray sticky crumbs from my muzzle. She flicked one of her large ears towards me, the other one facing the entrance and her alarm. "Are you in something like what Equestria has for a military? Like some sort of underground Equestrian guard?" I asked, pulling out another granola bar. "Something like that," said Glint, finally breaking her stare as she began to draw little symbols in the sand with a hoof. I waited for her to say something more but she didn't as she continued to play with the sand. "Well..." I prompted, "would you mind telling me?" "Why?" asked Glint quietly, "it's not like it actually matters in the long." "Well, I was thinking I might go ahead and record what we've been doing done here. like a... 'memoirs of' kind of thing, " I said. I rustled around in my bag it until I pulled out a small worn-out black journal with a smile. I blew some sand off of it, and opened it up as I pulled out a pen to begin writing down in it all that'd happened since my fall. It'd been a while since I'd put any new entries in it, but as I'd been walking I'd begun to get the idea of writing a short book detailing this entire little venture of mine. "Like what? a book?" asked Glint as she looked at my journal. "Exactly, a book! I mean, it plays into my cutie mark... " I said, happy she was getting it. I angled my hips so she could see the image emblazoned onto it. A blank page with a quill and mostly-full inkwell. I'd never really understood cutie marks, or even my own for that matter. I mean, its not like I'd ever been especially good at writing research papers and stuff at the academy, and who used an actual quill or an inkwell these days? Weird... "Hey, what do you know Flash. Your cutie mark matches you perfectly; blank, just like your brain!" said Glint with a chuckle. "Ha-ha-ha," I said, emphasizing my words. "Look, I've always enjoyed writing, even though I've never been able to do anything with it for myself, and I was thinking that this... well, situation, might make for a nice story." Glint smirked," So once you're on the surface you're planning on writing a big story about this and becoming a famous author?" I nodded enthusiastically, smiling at her. "Yeah, exactly! the tale of my journey through the Everdark, and of the mysterious bat pony I met! Sounds exciting, does it?" "Your journey? Oh please, Flash, you're making it sound like you planned this entire trip. We both know that there was no way you could have ever 'planned' any of this, empty-headed as you are." I snorted, ignoring her jibe at me. "Well, be that as it may, this 'empty-headed' pony happens to know that most ponies like in a good adventure story, having read quite a few myself. So I was thinking that this would make a good story. And, I mean, its not like I need to present myself as a total loser for it. It'd be kinda lame if I did," I said reasonably. "Besides, I could always just label it off as fiction and say its based on "true-events". Then it'll be okay!" The smile disappeared from Glint's face as I continued to speak. She began to growl faintly. "So, you're going to write a little book about your adventures down here, and pretty it up so its more exciting for somepony else to read? Give the world your epic tale of your daring adventure through the Everdark? how you courageously voyaged into the dark tunnels, and came out the other side?" "Well, maybe not quite like that, but yeah that's the idea," I said, not really paying attention as I continued to write and finished off the second granola bar. "Don't belittle me, unicorn," spat Glint. I looked up in surprise, eyes getting wide as I saw her advancing on me. "Whoa, Glint, why are you so angry? I didn't mean anything bad by it, I just want to write about you and everything we've gone through so far. About this!" I said, motioning around us. "By twisting the facts and making some story about you being some sort of super-pony, Flash?" She scowled, hissing at me as she flared her wings out threateningly. "So what, you can sell stories about this to wide-eyed foals and other surfacers? Probably mention that some bitch bat pony mare helped save your life? And don't deny it, I see how you look at me. How you shiver when you see my fangs. You fear me, and you should. The only smart thing you've done since I rescued you is fear me." She bared her teeth at me to make her point as I scrambled back from her until I felt the cold cave wall press up against my back. I raised up shivering hooves as she continued to stride towards me, eyes glinting threateningly. "You'd be setting this up under the pretense of doing me a favor, while all it would be doing is lining your own pockets," she growled. "And in the end, you'll forget about me... about all of this. All it'll be is a little fairy-tale you pack away onto a book shelf and pull out occasionally to share with your friends for a few laughs or to impress some mare." She snarled, and pulled her hoof back. I gave a little squeak of fear, and wrapped my hooves protectively around my head awaited the inevitable blow. A soft "whump" smacked into the rock right by my ear. I peeked out fearfully to see Glint's hoof shaking against the rock wall next to my head, her eyes narrowed at me. I trembled before her rage. "You'd just twist the facts. Make yourself into some sort of damned hero and paint me as the freak. You're no better than they are..." she murmured quietly, closing her eyes as she gritted her teeth and took a deep breath. Whoa, where did that all come from. I didn't dare say a word for a second as I slowly remembered how to talk. "Glint you saved my life," I said in a hoarse whisper, scared that speaking to her might cause her to actually lash out at me. But I was also afraid that not speaking to her might cause her to attack me anyway. "Maybe saving a ponies life is common or something down here in the 'Everdark,' but up in Equestria it's not. I've heard that ponies will swear themselves to other ponies for such a tremendous deed. I can't offer you anything as extravagant, but I wouldn't do that to you... even if you do piss me off someteimes." I said. Glint just continued to glare at me, I did my best to meet her stare evenly, but I felt myself trembling. "So, you're completely set on writing this book?" said Glint menacingly. I shuddered, not sure if I should nod or not. "Maybe I should just kill you now. Then I wont have to worry about you and your stupid book." I'm dead. This is it, I screwed myself. I'm totally dead. I whimpered, and tried to sink lower from her. Glint grabbed me by the neck and shoved me up against the rock so I was looking her dead in the eye. "Now you listen here Flash. Because I'm a lot of thing, but a murderer isn't one of them. But If you dare to write that book, and you lie about what happened down here, or present anything in a way that doesn't express the 'truth,' then I will find out about it. Don't ask me when or how, but I wear I'll find out. And when I do..." Glint gave a low growl and squeezed my neck tightly, choking me as she whispered into my ear. ".. Then I'll do things to you that'll make you wish I had killed you down here in the dark instead of letting you live. Do we have an understanding?" I gave a squeak as she pressed against my neck painfully. "I said, do we have an understanding!" I gave a gurgle, and nodded quickly as black spots began to swim across my vision. "Good," said Glint simply as she let me go and I slumped back down, gasping for air. She stomped off back to her bed, and fell onto it as she continued to scowl at the wall. I just sat there, taking in shallow breaths as my brain slowly registered I wasn't dead. I cautiously walked back over to my bed. I felt a few tears ran out of my eyes, but I quickly wiped them away. I looked over at her, but decided that trying to do anything else would be extremely unwise. I lay down, and tried to get comfortable on my sandy bed. That was... intense. I always thought Glint was a little freaky because of the wings and fangs, but that was something else. I closed my eyes and berated myself for calling her a freak in my head. Dammit Flash... you're doing everything she just said you might. You're not like that, you wouldn't do that to another pony, would you? That thought gave me pause. I'd never thought of myself as a bad pony. Sure, I might not have always gotten along well with others, and I certainly had my less than glamorous moments, but who didn't? It didn't make me bad. Sure, I was a social introvert, I knew that, and I'd made peace with that part of myself... but did I really have Glint's best intentions, or really anypony's, in mind when I'd thought writing up this story would be fun? No, I'd just thought it would be cool. A cool way to show off to my friends. Dang it... she's totally right. Maybe not about everything, but she's generally right about what I would have treated something like this had aI created it. Hell, knowing me, I'll probably never even make it... I continued to lay there and think about that for what felt like an eternity. I didn't know if Glint was still awake, but I felt like I had to say something, anything, to smooth over this tension between us. "Look... I'm sorry about what I said. I didn't mean to make you angry or anything. I just... thought it'd be cool to write a story about this. You're right... I wouldn't have respected it. I'm just so scared about everything right now. I don't know what I'm doing, and it just felt good to think I could do something useful with what I'm doing for a change." Glint didn't respond. I awkwardly continued, getting a bit more courageous as I continued to speak into the dark, "I guess I just don't really know anything about you or where you're from... so it's gonna be really hard to tell the truth about you if I don't even know anything about you." I was burning to turn over and see if Glint was awake, but still didn't dare to move. "It would... mean a lot to me if you'd be willing to share something about yourself and your mysterious race. Anything at all..." I added quietly, trying to be as sincere and humble as I could muster to be. I jumped a bit as I heard a quiet sigh from where Glint was resting. "Fine," said Glint, "But I'm not telling you this for Free. In return, I'm going to require you tell me something..." "What do you want?" I asked, curious as to what Glint might want from me. I pulled out the journal to another blank page, holding the pen at the ready. "In return... I want to know about the surface. And about you and your family." said Glint. "Kinda weird thing to ask for in return... ." I said with a frown. "Do you want to know more about me?" asked Glint. "Well, yes, but-" "Then you agree to my terms?" "... yes, I do. I'll tell you about my family in return for you talking about yourself and stuff," I said. "But I'll warn you, I'm the least interesting unicorn on the face of the planet." "I don't care what you think about yourself, if you're asking something personal about me then I want to be able to pry into your own life as well," said Glint. "A fair trade in information, is it not?" "True enough, I suppose," I said. It made sense in a sort of language-bartering sort of way. "Also, I wont promise to tell you everything. Some things are just too personnal, or weren't meant to be shared with others, alright?" said Glint. "That's fine," I said. Pen poised as I prepared to write down what she told me. "Good. Just making sure we understand each other on this," said Glint. She took a deep breath and slowly let it out. I waited excitedly. She didn't respond for the longest time, and for a second I was afraid she'd decided to not tell me about herself after all, but suddenly in that quiet lilting tone of her's she began to speak. "DeepHollow, my home city, is one of the few remaining great bat pony cities left beneath the deep earth," started out Glint simply, her quiet voice floating through the air to me in its musical tones. "Before the purge there were many such bat pony cities and underground settlements, but over the last thousand years our race has become much less and thinned in number. Today we live in large clans of our kind for survival. Where once we were a wide-sweeping race, we are now only a shadow of our former size and power." She spoke with a quiet intensity, her quiet voice floating through the air. "Wait, why are there so few of you?" I asked, looking over my shoulder at Glint. Glint glared back at me in return as I interrupted her. "Do you want to actually hear the answer to your original questions, or are you just going to interrupt me with evermore of them? You asked for the story of my people, and I will share it to the best of my ability." said Glint irritably. I made a point to shut my mouth, and listen. "... thank you. We'll get to the why in due time, so patience, Flash," said Glint. "First you must know that we have not always lived beneath the soil." "Wait, you haven't?" I asked, surprised. "No," replied Glint "But, you just said you have an entire city built underground. It just seems like it'd take a long time to tunnel something out like that if you weren't living in it all the..." I stopped talking as I noticed Glint scowling at me again. I shut my mouth again. I really did need to get better at listening. "... now, as I was saying, we didn't always live beneath the soil," said Glint. "Before we moved deeper into the earth, documents tell that a majority of our race lived in shallow caves upon the surface. We cannot confirm when, or how, or at what time, age, or era; but at one point we, the Bauht, lived above ground." "The Bauht?" I asked. Glint sighed," you're going to keep interrupting me, aren't you..." "Probably," I said, smiling sheepishly. Glint gave an irritated growl before continuing. "Bauht is the proper name for my species. When your ancestors first met my ancestors they mistook the word for 'bat,' and thus the term bat-pony has existed ever-after." "Well, to be fair they sound very similar..." I said. "How would you like it if I called you a Dony?" "What? but I'm not a... whatever you called me, I'm a pony. with a P..." Glint just smirked at me as I started to defend the proper pronunciation of my racial name. I flushed and mumbled, "alright, alright. Point taken." Glint nodded. "All we know is that something drastic happened. Old documents and records of the time talk of the world shattering, of the ground breaking and forests burning. It was a time of unspeakable horrors, and our race began to worry that the land itself would eat them up. It's said that in an effort to escape the terrible calamity that plagued the surface, our kind slipped beneath the cracks in the mantle of the world and carved our own place in the dark rock and stones of the deep, to create a safe and stable home we could live in peacefully for all time." Wow... how about that for ancient history. "Our race flourished for a time. Our bodies adapted to our new home quickly and our hearing became more keen, our sight clearer, and our noses more sensitive to the scents of our new home. The Everdark is filled with many horrors and creatures of the dark, but we were not so weak as to let them conquer us. We fought them, and pushed them back. Our martial prowess grew over the years, the tradition of fighting became an art to our race, and we passed it down to each and every foal so that none would be defenseless from the creatures of the Everdark." "And so we thrived within the deep stone, and spread out to claim ever more territory. Unlike your kingdom of Equestria though, you must understand that bat ponies are not united into a single country or under a single banner. We are many spread out clans, tribes, settlements, and colonies of separate families, groups, and clans. We all have our own histories, traditions, and teachings, and it is only during times of great war, duress, or trouble, that we bat ponies have ever united to fight side by side." "We can be a very violent race when tempers flare, and in the past it wasn't uncommon for entire bat pony clans to fight battles against eachother over slights or insults to their honor or families. Because of the near constant threat of danger, battles, and minor skirmishes fought nearly year-round, many of the smaller clans did unite into larger clans to make bigger and greater tribes; to found 'cities' in an effort to better protect themselves." "Through these alliances, our greatest cities were built, such as DeepHollow. And for a time, it was good. We were even beginning plans to build an actual subterranean highway through the Everdark between the other great bat pony cities. We continued to mine deeper and deeper, learning to craft more cleverly and exquisitely in our everlasting push for supremacy of the deep and the world around us. Our race felt as if the entire world were opening up to us, and for a time it seemed exactly as if it were so. But that was all before... before the incident occurred. Before our race's Fall." "The 'Fall?'" I asked, pausing in my furious note-taking for a second. "It is a time that is still upon my kind, and what many bat ponies now call loosly 'The Fall.' It is a story that tells of our races diminishing... and in the end, it will only end with our extinction..." "holy Celestia," I said, "that's... kinda dark." "It is simply the truth. I don't like it myself, but that doesn't make it any less real. The truth is always ever-present, no matter how hard we might try to run from the past..." murmured Glint. I had the feeling that sentence meant a bit more than she was letting on, but I almost felt like a looming weight hung in the air. I really wanted to offer Glint some solace as I watched her look at the ground sadly. Obviously, something hurt her badly to think about this, and I wished that I had the capability to comfort her as she hung her head. But she would most likely see any offer of "sympathy" as an insult, or patronizing on my part. I was happy to hear her share the history of her race with me, but I was beginning to feel horrible for asking as I watched a lingering depression seem to take hold of her. I rubbed my neck awkwardly, and waited for her to continue patiently. "About 2000 years ago, our race made contact with an Alicorn. Specifically, the Alicorn of the moon," continued Glint finally. "Princess Luna?" I asked. "Yes, Gol'kai Luna," said Glint with a nod. "Gol'kai is an ancient honorific. I believe the Equestrian equivalent for our term would be Commander, but what it roughly translates out to in Bauhtin, my native language, is 'destined to rule.'" I nodded in reply, finding it strange yet intriguing. Baughtin, I should look into that, it sounds really interesting. "The story of how She achieved such an honor is a truely epic tale to be sure, but it is long and not crucial towards the one I'm telling now. A story for another time, perhaps. All that matters is that you know is that Luna impressed our kind immensely." "In response to the deeds Luna undertook for our kind, many of our race gathered and for the first and last time, all the bat ponies present, regardless of status, tribe, or family, pledged their loyalty to Princess Luna and said they would aid her in her time of need should she call upon us. To settle this alliance and oath, we also agreed to send her a contingent of our best and brightest warriors. A hoof-full from each clan, to show our continued dedication." "We shared our knowledge of fighting and war, and in turn helped to found and develop your modern day 'Lunar Guard,' and to this day many of us still uphold our oath of service and send warriors to protect and serve princess Luna. Bat ponies do not make promises lightly, and to break one is considered a horrible dishonor." "Wait, then why aren't there more bat ponies around?" I said, confused, "if you guys helped to found the Lunar Guard and have been sending warriors every 10 years for the past 2000 or so years, there should be... well... a lot of you guys, even if you go by a typical ponies life-span." "True, but you're forgetting the Nightmare Moon incident," said Glint. "During those years, many of our race began to venerate Princess Luna as a true goddess, not just a ruler." "Well, that's not so odd. I mean, lots of ponies do that these days," I said with a shrug as I grunted and rolled over to look at her so I wasn't craning my neck at her. "No, Flash, you don't understand," said Glint, turning over herself to look at me. "We worshiped her. she became more than just somepony to look up to and be in awe of. She became the focus of our entire civilization. many of us become zealots and proclaimed her as the one true ruler of not only our entire race, but the world. That she was considered our true creator, and that we, her children of the night, owed her not only our lives, but our very souls." Glint rubbed her face, "During that time, what we now call the 'purge' occured. Entire families, settlements, and respected families were removed from power, or had their titles and honors stricken for not adhering to the new religion or for speaking out against Luna. It got... bad." "Wow, that's..." I didn't even know what to say. "You don't need to say anything. Hindsight is twenty-twenty, and we most assuredly see our mistakes for what they are now. Fanaticism blinded us to the truth of what was happening to our beloved living goddess as she slowly became the dreaded Nightmare Moon. And so, when Luna rose up against Celestia and tried to overthrow Equestria and lay down an everlasting night, the bat ponies took it as the destiny of our race to follow Luna and return to the surface once more, to rule it as we once had." "But, our living goddess was quickly banished from this world to the moon. And we, her 'chosen,' were chased back into the deep places of the world. Celestia cut off our supplies, and left us to fend for ourselves beneath the ground. She wouldn't dare send her soldiers into our tunnels, knowing we would simply send back out their corpses, but Celestia also knew how much we'd depended upon the supply of food and goods to keep our mighty civilization and cities alive. So Celestia starved us out as so many of our rulers proudly refused to meet her talks for peace or diplomacy. We were too proud to admit our defeat, and so... we began to perish for it..." "Entire cities died out... others turned on each other, killing other ponies for what supplies remained, or even..." Glint shuddered, "eating others to survive." "But... don't you eat meat?" I asked. My ears pressed back on my head as Glint glared at me. "What, j-just saying... with the fangs, and all the stuff you were saying earlier, it just seems like its possible. I'm not saying its bad or anything, I mean, Griffins and the Minotaurs do that." "No. I don't eat meat. I'm not some filthy wraith," growled Glint. "A Wraith?" I asked. "A blood drinker," growled Glint, "they're a dirty stain upon our kind, and they represent the worst of us. Those that drink blood and eat the flesh of other creatures... and of ponies. So no, I am NOT a wraith, Flash." "But... I mean... you.... what do you eat?!" "fruit," said Glint. "Fruit?" I said, surprised. Glint smirked, "yes. fruit. I'm a 'fruit bat,' like the majority of my kind, idiot." "Oh.... oh! Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry! All this time I've though I thought... Oh wow, I feel so dumb." I stammered, burning with embarassment. "What, thought that I might try and take a nibble out of you?" offered Glint. "well... yeah," I said. "Sweet Luna, Flash. If you were any other pony I might actually feel offended by your ignorance," chuckled Glint. "Thanks... glad my sub-par intelligence is paying off for me here," I said with a little pout. "Will you continue the damn story already?" "Fine, just hold your ponies," said Glint, waving a hoof back and forth for me to calm down. "Suffice to say we had a bit of a civil war, and in the end the last of us decided to meet Celestia and come to an agreement. By this time the only cities left were Eventide, DeepHollow, and Duskhaven of the great bauht cities, and only a few outposts and colonies close to the surviving cities. Surprisingly Celestia was quite kind to our kind and treated us with respect in return for our submission to her authority. We agreed to never raise arms against her again, and to return to our duties, as we had promised to her sister, Luna, as protectors of Equestria in the Lunar Guard. In return she would once again give us the much needed food and goods so that we could survive." "Wow, that's pretty awesome. Did nothing else happen? No secret or sneaky ways to get back at you guys?" I asked. I doubted that such an awesome pony as Celestia would do such a thing, but if the bat ponies were such a threat in the past I was surprised that she'd simply let them go with a relative pat on the head. "It was degrading," said Glint. "Celestia didn't have to do anything. Us coming crawling to her to admit defeat was all the force she needed to use against us, and then she spared us and showed us mercy she made it clear that she put our entire race into her debt for saving it. We're just lucky Celestia seems content to leave us alone underground as long as we carry out our oath of protecting Equestria." "Damn," I said, giving a low whistle. "Indeed. So we returned to our original positions, fewer in number but still strong if not a little less proud. The Lunar Guard is now mostly just regular ponies, but there is always a standing garrison of our kind in Canterlot and across Equestria to help wherever we're needed." But, our troubles were far from over we'd soon discover." "While we recovered some of our power, a new problem arose. A genetic deficiency which has now become a raging problem among our kind. infertility." "infertility? but... that's natural, every society has ponies that can't give birth or whatever reason." "Oh really? and is it as prominent in other species as to occur in six out of ten bat ponies?" growled Glint. I balked, six out of ten?! That was... that was insane. I sucked at math, and even I knew that was REALLY bad for any society, let alone a species! "Are you kidding, six out of ten!" I said, sitting up. "But that's... how are you sustaining yourselves? How are you guys going to keep making it?" "We aren't..." said Glint simply. "Many of us say its the price we must pay for our arrogance, that we were cursed for not stopping Luna before her madness took hold." "That's bullshit. You guys make it through all that shit, and in the end you're just going to disappear?" I said. "Flash, calm down..." said Glint quietly. "No, this is ridiculous! How are you so calm? this is horrible! Your race is dying, we have to.... there has to be something, a doctor, or a scientist, or somepony out there that can help you guys out!" I ranted, pacing back and forth in place. "Flash," said Glint a little louder, a warning tone in her voice. "No, I'm not calming down. You saved my life, and while you may be a total bitch and I sometimes hate you for giving me shit, I refuse to hear of a species being wiped off the map simply for making a... a few bad choices! I'm not going to sit by while you all die!" I didn't even see when she'd stood up and moved over towards me, but I felt it when her hoof slammed into my cheek. I stumbled back, landing on my rump, shocked. "You... you hit me..." I gasped. "Yes, I did," said Glint, suddenly standing in front of me. She popped the bones in her hoof absentmindedly as she looked at me calmly. "you were getting hysterical, and being noisy/" I scowled, and crossed my hooves. still angry about the entire situation. "I can't believe you're being so calm about this..." "You think I'm calm about this?" whispered Glint, and I looked at her. Her face was no longer holding the mask of indifference. In its place was a deep pain. One of extreme loss, of knowing one's end and having no power to stop it. "You think I'm not mad that I wont ever have a foal? That I'm just going to die out with the rest of my generation, and leave our kind smaller and smaller? That I enjoy watching as our cities shrink decade by decade, knowing that soon our only legacy will be empty ghost cities and towns to be taken over by diamond dogs and filthy changelings; to be remembered only as the "oppressors" of Equestria. The dark creatures that aided a monster, Nightmare Moon, and were defeated and forgotten for it. Just another bad memory, like discord... and Chrysalis..." I sat quietly, looking at the floor in shame. "Flash... you just feel bad about it. I have to actually live with it." Glint silently turned back to her bedroll, and crawled into it, pulling the simple blanket over herself as she rested with her back to me. "Get some sleep... we have another long day ahead of us tomorrow, Flash," said Glint. I sat on the ground for a while, just looking at the glowing pinpricks of light as I felt the pulsing sting of Glint's punch. I felt wished that the blow hurt more than how I felt inside. Glint was right. Celestia and Luna be damned, she was right! I had just been throwing a tantrum over something I had little to no idea about, and now I looked and felt like the little foal I'd been being. I rubbed at the growing bruise on my cheek, and suddenly felt like I deserved a lot more than a smack to the head for what I'd said earlier about writing some stupid fake book about all of this. I don't know a damn thing. I noticed my journal laying on the ground nearby. I quietly picked it up, and looked at where I'd stopped writing. I finished up the sentence, and closed the journal. I considered saying something to Glint. That, somehow, maybe I could say some magic words that would just automatically make everything better. I had nothing to offer. I'd said enough today to offend her anyways, might as well stop while I was ahead. I lay back down on my simple bed and just tried to sleep, the leather journal clutched against my chest. I quietly wished that Glint would forgive me for everything that I'd said as I lay there and looked towards the ceiling. I tried to get some sleep, but I just stared at the ceiling and the soft light of the worms glowing high above.