//------------------------------// // Ch.14 - A Bat Day At School // Story: The Witching Hour // by Chaotic Ink //------------------------------// The multitudes of blankets and pillows shifted as the bed’s occupant rolled over. *Thoom* The mare’s ear twitched as the sound of distant thunder gently woke her up. Midnight let out a contented sigh as her eyelids rose up slightly. She’d always liked thunder storms no matter how close or loud they were, and even the biggest booms woke her up as gently as a soft nudge. She even woke up feeling fully rested, despite only going to bed three hours prior. This storm, however, was currently out over the Everfree and according to the weather patrols likely to stay there. Since the large snow storm a week and a half ago the pegasi were determined to keep any kind of precipitation, especially from the Everfree Forest, out of town. To that end they currently had a bank of clouds arranged on the border between the town and the forest to act as both a buffer and early warning system to give them enough time to assemble and beat any weather systems back. A week and a half ago. Midnight was amazed how things had changed in such a short amount of time. She found a filly, nursed her back to health, brought her to Canterlot, defended her against the insanities of the filly’s colony, and adopted her. She’d even met both princesses, who were both investigating into the Lunar Guard to weed out all those involved in similar crimes. Two weeks ago she would have scoffed at the very idea of being a mother, now… now she couldn’t imagine not being one. As she listened for another distant thunderclap she heard a pattering of hooves on carpet and then a series of soft, yet frantic, knocks on her door. “Mom?!” the voice of Squeaks called out just before there was another muffled boom. There was a loud squeak of surprise and fear from the other side of the door. Leaning over to the side of the bed Midnight extended her wing out and opened the door. With a dark blur of cream and orange Squeaks was through the doorway and up against the side of the bed. “Squeaks, what’s wrong?” Midnight asked as she closed the door and brought her wing down for Squeaks to grab. The bat pony grabbed the wing and held on like a monster was out to get her. “I-I don’t like thunder.” Another soft boom and Squeaks was now holding onto her mother’s wing with all her limbs. Midnight lifted her up and onto the bed. Once there, Squeaks let go of her wing and bolted up against Midnight, snuggling up against her like she was trying to squeeze under her. Midnight brought her wing down over Squeaks and curled around the filly. “You know it can’t get you in here, right? And that it’s far into the forest?” Squeaks nodded. “But it still sounds really scary. It’s almost like a dragon roaring.” Midnight smiled down at her daughter. “So you go running to a pony that’s half dragon?” Squeaks smiled back, a bit embarrassed, and Midnight bent down and nuzzled her. “You know, I always felt comforted whenever there was thunder and lightning.” “Really?” Squeaks asked. Midnight nodded. “Yes. I always imagined it was my… my dad outside, roaring and breathing fire. It helped me feel safe and… happy.” Midnight allowed herself to think back to those nights back in Manehattan; lying in bed and praying that the noises were her father returning from wherever he’d gone. “Anyway,” she said as she returned to the present, “you’d better get to sleep young lady; you’ve got your first day of school tomorrow.” Squeaks squirmed as Midnight laid her head back down. “Umm… mom?” “Hmm?” One of Midnight’s eyes slid open slightly. “Do I really have to go to school?” “We’ve already been over this Squeaks.” Midnight said with a groan. “But why can’t I be home-schooled like you were?” That caught Midnight’s attention. “Where did you hear that?” Squeaks squirmed again. “I heard you and Sapphire talking about sending me to school and you telling her about it.” Midnight silently groaned. After arriving back from Canterlot, Squeaks had almost immediately come down with a cold like Nurse Redheart said might happen. The treatment had been plenty of liquids and rest as well as some medicine she prescribed them. While Squeaks slept in her new bunk-bed at night, during the day she rested on the couch. Apparently she’d been awake during one of the times Midnight and Sapphire had talked about sending her to school. “My mom felt that home-school would be best for me. You’re not me, Squeaks, and I think you’d do well and have fun at school. You’re already friends with Dinky and Pinchy; they go to school, too. Maybe you’ll make even more friends there.” At the mention of her two friends Squeaks smiled slightly. Both fillies had come over while she was sick for a real play-date and they’d become quick friends. They even made her a “pillow knight”, although they couldn’t really do much since she was sick. “Do you know any other foals at school?” “Not really. I’m friends with Dinky and Pinchy’s moms so that’s how I know them. Oh, Applejack’s and Rarity’s younger sisters go to school as well; maybe you can be friends with them?” Squeaks thought back over the past week. Besides being sick she also had quite a few visitors. They’d all been very nice, but a few had also made her feel uneasy. The orange earth pony, Applejack, the first to visit, had been very nice; she’d even given her a fresh-baked apple pie as a get well / welcome to Ponyville gift. The white unicorn, Rarity, had been nice, too, but Squeaks had noticed how her eyes always seemed to drift back to her wings or fangs. The yellow pegasus, Fluttershy, who smelled like animals, had been very nice; she even kept her voice low around her, but from what Midnight had told her that was how she always talked. The purple unicorn, Twilight Sparkle, to be frank, made Squeaks very uncomfortable. The moment they met Twilight had begun bombarding her with questions about herself, her colony, and bat ponies in general. For a filly that had been told to be quiet and not be seen all her life the sudden perceived interrogation, even if Twilight had been wearing a friendly grin the whole time, was a bit traumatizing. Twilight had the second shortest visit since, after Squeaks had tearfully ducked under her blanket, Midnight politely threw Twilight out. The last visitor, Pinkie Pie, was both the scariest and most confusing. All Squeaks could remember of it, as she had been dozing at the time, was what sounded like arguing in the front, followed by being suddenly lifted up and spun around by a pink blur that began shooting off questions even faster than Twilight, then dropped her back on the couch and began rattling off all the things she needed to show her between questions. Thankfully, it didn’t last long as Midnight plowed into her, pinning her to the floor and laying into her how Squeaks was sick and didn’t like to be questioned like that. There was also some yelling about a party, but in the end Midnight also threw Pinkie out, literally this time. The next day two small chocolate cakes were delivered, one reading “Sorry I scared you!” and the other “Welcome to Ponyville! Maybe we can party next time!” “I think I might like Applejack’s sister.” “Good,” Midnight said with a smile. “Now, get some sleep. We don’t want to be late for your first day.” ----------------------------- “Have a good day at school Squeaky!” Sapphire called out after them the next morning. Squeaks waved back then continued trotting along after Midnight. The morning was rather nice; very little wind and the sun would peak out from behind the clouds every few minutes. Of course, since it was still the middle of winter, both Midnight and Squeaks had something on. Midnight had her new scarf wrapped around her neck and Squeaks could see her swallow some fire as they approached the school. Squeaks had on her new winter coat; bright blue and complete with both wing muffs and slots in the hood for her ears. She also had a set of new snow boots Midnight had picked up for her. All in all, the only part of Squeaks that was really exposed was her nose. Since the school house was the closest thing they had to a neighbor, the walk to it was very short. The whole way Squeaks kept up with her mother, but with each step Squeaks felt more and more uneasy. While back in her colony she had wanted more than anything to be playing outside with the other foals, now, however, all she wanted to do was stay at home with Midnight and Sapphire; ponies she knew and cared for her. Here were ponies that could possibly hate her just for what she was, and it was something she didn’t want to go through again. There were still several parents and foals outside the school house when they arrived, and several heads turned and stared at them. Both ponies immediately began to tense up, but thankfully Midnight found a familiar face. “Good morning Berry!” Midnight called out when she saw the purple earth pony, who waved them over. “Good morning Midnight. Good morning Squeaks; are you all ready for your first day of school?” Squeaks shuffled a bit before giving a non-committal nod. “Don’t worry about it too much,” Berry told her with a smile, “almost every foal is nervous about their first day. But, sometimes they're even excited!” “Or even nervous-cited!” All three ponies jumped and spun around to find Pinkie Pie standing behind them. “That’s when you’re so excited you just want to jump around but you also want to ball up and hide!” To emphasize her points she did each. “Why are you here at the school house Pinkie?” Berry asked, “You or the Cakes don’t have any foals.” “No, but Cheerilee did order a bunch of cupcakes for today!” With that she reached into her mane and pulled out a large box that was indeed full of cupcakes. “She said something about a new student and wanting to welcome her!” With that Pinkie hopped into the school house. Midnight smiled down at Squeaks. “See that? Miss Cheerilee’s got a nice surprise for you on your first day.” Squeaks smiled a bit as well. “Where are Dinky and Pinchy, by the way?” Midnight asked as she turned back to Berry. “Inside.” Berry nodded at the building. “They wanted to make sure Squeaky got a seat next to them, so they were one of the first ones in.” As Midnight nodded the school bell began ringing and another purple earth pony stuck her head out of the building. “Time for school everypony!” Miss Cheerilee called out to the crowd. Foals stopped what they were doing and began sulking over to the school house, occasionally being given stern stares or slight pushes from parents to hurry them along. Midnight and Squeaks said their goodbyes to Berry then headed over. “Good morning Miss Storm; I take it this is our new student?” Cheerilee asked as they reached the front door. “Yes, this is Squeaky Wings. Squeaks, say hello to Miss Cheerilee, your new teacher.” Squeaks looked up at the school teacher. She had a warm, welcoming smile that made her feel a little better about the whole situation. Even so, she still stayed close to Midnight. “H-Hello.” “Hello Squeaky. Why don’t you head inside and take your things off so we can get you introduced to the class?” Squeaks looked up at Midnight, who bent down and nuzzled her. “It’ll be fine Squeaks, and I’ll be looking forward to you telling me all about it when I pick you up.” With that Midnight gave her a quick kiss on the forehead, then urged her to go inside with a push of her wing. “She… she will be fine, right?” Midnight asked Cheerilee as soon as Squeaks was inside. “I highly doubt any of my students will give her any kind of trouble. She might get a few stares since she’s the first bat pony they’ve ever seen,” hers, too, to be honest, “but I think that’ll be the worst of it.” Midnight nodded, a bit solemn, then let Cheerilee return to the class. ----------------------------- “Quiet down everypony!” Cheerilee called out over the din her class was making. As usual the class quieted down almost immediately, allowing the teacher to continue. “Alright class, today somepony new is going to start joining us. I’d like you all to give a very warm welcome to your new classmate: Squeaky Wings!” At the sound of her name Squeaks slowly trotted out from the corner by the door she was standing in and made her way over to Cheerilee’s desk. The class’ welcome was about average; most simply applauded while a few called out half-hearted hellos and welcomes. Dinky and Pinchy were more enthusiastic in their applause and hellos; Dinky knocking on her desk a bit harder and faster and Pinchy even whooped. Cheerilee motioned for the class to calm down again. “Squeaky, why don’t you tell us a little about yourself?” “O-Okay. M-My name is Squeaky Wings, and-” "No duh.” Squeaks’ ears perked up and focused on a pink filly sitting near the back with a bored look on her face. “-and I live with my mom, Midnight Storm, and her friend, Sapphire Breeze, in that house next to the cliff face near here. I’ve only been in Ponyville for about a week and a half, but almost all the ponies I’ve met have been really nice.” It took a few seconds of silence before Cheerilee realized Squeaks was finished. “That was very good Squeaky, but is there anything else you’d like to tell the class, like your favorite food or favorite season?” Squeaks thought for a second. “Um… I really like mangos and fall.” Seeing that the filly wasn’t going to continue on her own, Miss Cheerilee decided to move forward. “Alright, well does anypony else have any questions for Squeaky?” A colt sitting in the back raised his hoof. “Yes, Snails?” “Is she a vampony?” At this there was a general murmuring around the class room, with Squeaks picking out words like “fangs” and “weird wings”. “Of course she isn’t!” The entire class turned and looked at Pinchy, who had pushed herself up to look out over them. “Me and Dinky have been over her house before and all she eats is fruit!” “Well, what about garlic? Can she eat it?” asked a colt sitting next to Snails. “And does she have a reflection?” Snails added. “Snips, Snails, that’s enough!” Cheerilee scolded. “I’ve told you both many times before there are no such things as vamponies. Squeaky Wings is a bat pony, also known as a… um, thestral?” Cheerilee turned to Squeaks who nodded. “Right, thestral, and is no different than any other foal in this class room. Now, does anypony else have any questions that do not have to do with vamponies?” A filly with large glasses and a big, red, curly mane and tail raised a hoof. “Yes, Twist?” “Can you thee in the dark?” she asked, her lisp coming through slightly. Squeaks nodded, and a positive sounding clamor went through the class. "I wonder how good she can hear. Like, can she hear as good as a bat?” “Well, I can hear you whispering.” Squeaks answered, shocking the filly who whispered it. A slightly less positive round of noise came out of this, but Cheerilee called for their attention. “Anymore questions?” When there weren’t any Miss Cheerilee bent down behind her desk and reemerged with the box of cupcakes Pinkie had delivered. “In that case I’ll have Squeaky begin passing out cupcakes,” a few happy cheers went up, “and while she’s doing that we’ll start with our spelling lesson for today,” then immediately became groans. ------------------------------ By the time lunch / recess had come around Squeaks had decided that school wasn’t that bad. Yes, she could see how coming in every day in the early morning, listening to somepony talk all day, and stay seated in the same place the whole time could get boring and unpleasant, but on the other hoof one got to meet others, some of the subjects could be fun, and for Squeaks it was something entirely new for her, so she embraced it as much as she could. Add to the fact that her two friends were right next to her, along with Pinchy keeping a running commentary on how this was boring or that was stupid, and Squeaks was pretty sure she liked being at school. For lunch she had apple and pear slices with a small thermos of orange juice while Pinchy had a peanut butter and banana sandwich with milk and Dinky had cranberry muffin and a juice box. “Wanna head outside and have a snowball fight?” Pinchy asked when they were done. Squeaks looked outside and shook her head. “I-I rather stay inside; I don’t know if I’m feeling well enough to play outside.” This was technically true, as Sapphire had told her that morning that if she played outside she needed to be fully buttoned up, or else her cold could relapse. But, the real reason she didn’t want to go out was that she still didn’t like the cold; it reminded her too much of being left in the Everfree. Thankfully Dinky found a board game they could all agree on. Before they could begin, however, several voices from across the classroom caught their attention. “Gith it bath, Diamond!” “Why don’t you, like, make me?” Over by the arts and crafts area was the red-maned filly who had asked Squeaks if she could see in the dark, and she was arguing with the pink filly who had muttered during Squeaks’ introduction. The pink filly was giving a box of crayons to a grey filly standing next to her. “I had the crayonth firtht!” “Well, like, then you should have drawn faster; me and Silver Spoon are, like, using them now.” “Yeah, like, they’re ours now!” Silver Spoon added. “Can’t you at leath thare them!?” “Alright Twitht, I’ll, like, share them, but only if you say: She sells seashells by the sea shore, as well as salt and sassafras.” Diamond told her with a smug smile. Twist only gave her an angry scowl. “I thought so.” With that Twist walked back to her desk dejected while Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon began drawing. “Even with her cutie mark she can’t catch a break from those two.” Pinchy said darkly. “Why did they do that?” Squeaks asked. “Because they’re bullies.” Dinky said. “They both have parents who are some of the most richest and important ponies in town, so they can get away with almost anything.” Pinchy clarified. Then her frown changed into a small smile. “Me and Dinky were actually getting the same treatment when we met your mom. We wanted to play at the playground here but Diamond and Silver kept telling us to get lost. Next thing we knew Midnight had scared them off and soon she and our moms were good friends!” Squeaks watched Twist mope at her desk, then looked at the board, then back to Twist. “We have room for another player, right?” Pinchy and Dinky looked at the board. “Yeah,” Pinchy said, “why?” “Is it alright if she can play, too?” The two unicorns thought for a few seconds. “Sure, she’s an okay filly, and there’s room for a fourth player.” Squeaks nodded and got up. ----------------------------- “Thupid Diamond; thupid Thilther.” Twist mumbled at her desk. Why did they always have to pick on her? First it was because of her lisp, then because she was a blank-flank, and now it was back to her lisp. At least before she had Applebloom as her only friend and source of comfort, but now that Twist had her cutie mark her old friend didn’t want to hang out with her anymore. Now she had to endure the teasing alone. “Um… excuse me?” Twist jumped and so did the owner of the voice. Twist recognized her as the new girl from this morning. “We’ve got room for a fourth player, and we were wondering if you wanted to join us?” The new girl, Squeaky Wings, shuffled her wings a bit as she motioned to where Dinky and Pinchy were sitting with a board game laid out in front of them, keeping her head down and avoiding eye contact the whole time. “You want me to play?” Twist asked, not sure if she wanted to believe the invitation. “I-If you don’t want to that’s fine…” Squeaky said, shuffling back a bit. “No, I lothed to!” Twist hopped down from her desk, a big smile on her face. “My name ith Twitht, by the way.” “My name is Squeaky Wings,” Squeaks said, finally starting to make eye contact, “but you can call me Squeaky or Squeaks if you like.” “Okay Theaky, but are you thure you want to play with me? I mean, I already got my cutie mark, and I know my lithp makth me hard to underthand thometimeth.” Squeaks cocked her head a little. “Well, bat ponies don’t get cutie marks as far as I know, and sometimes I squeak a bit when I talk. Besides, I can understand you just fine.” “Really?” Squeaks nodded. “So… do you still want to play with us?” “Thure!” Twist followed Squeaks back to the game board. ----------------------------- “Midnight, calm down.” “How can I be calm right now!? I may as well have thrown her back to the Timber Wolves!” A few of the other parents put a bit more space between themselves and the agitated kirin. “I admit that,” Berry took a quick look around, “Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon aren’t the nicest of ponies, but I think you’re exaggerating just a little.” “I told her it would all be fine!” Midnight continued, ignoring her. “I told her she’d love it! How could I forget those two went to school!? What if she never trusts me again!? What if she doesn’t want me taking care of her anymore!?” With some effort, Berry grabbed Midnight and forced her to sit down. “Midnight; get a grip! She’s got Pinchy and Dinky with her, so even if she did run afoul of those two, she’s got friends to help her forget about them; maybe she even made some more friends! Either way, you have to calm down!” At that Midnight finally shut her trap and sat in silence, but she still had the look of one being led to the gallows. After what seemed like an eternity the school bell finally rang and foals began emerging from the school house. It didn’t help that Squeaks was one of the last ones to leave. “Squeaks!” Midnight called out as soon as she saw her. Squeaks waved and came trotting over with Pinchy, Dinky, and… another filly Midnight didn’t know. “Hi mom!” “H-Hi Squeaks… how was school?” The kirin braced herself. “It was fun! Miss Cheerilee’s really nice, and I made a new friend; Twist!” The new filly stepped forward at the mention of her name. “Hello.” She said a bit timidly. “Hello.” Midnight said back. “Is everything okay mom?” Squeaks asked at the look of surprise on Midnight’s face. “Your mother was just a bit worried that you might not have had a good first day.” Berry piped up. “But I think we can all see that you did and that some of us were worked up over nothing.” Midnight shuffled her wings. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.” They all chuckled. “Hey mom, can Twist, Dinky, and Pinchy come over to play after school sometime this week?” Squeaks asked. Midnight looked down and was met with four pleading faces. “If each of their moms agrees, then yes, they can.” The fillies cheered, and they all began walking home. “Now, how did you and Twist meet?” “Well, there were these two fillies, Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon…” Midnight’s eye twitched.