//------------------------------// // My Only Day Off // Story: Fruit Bats // by 007Delta //------------------------------// I swear, Haven has no sense of enjoyment.  He gets here, gets briefed, and just like that, he wants to leave.  He never wants to take a break, he never wants to go hang out, and he's always killing the fun.   Well, I guess I can't blame him entirely.  Ponies don't like him because he's part griffon, griffons don't like him because he's part pony, and everyone else doesn't like him because he's kinda sour to begin with.  Well, when people hate you by default, I suppose it's only natural to feel the same way. That's probably why he wants to get out of here so bad.  Not only is he a hippogriff, but he's a Fruit Bat as well.  He's a pariah among the pariahs. Well, I guess he'll put up with me running off for about a day, after that he'll want to leave whether I like it or not, so I might as well enjoy it... Reverie trotted eagerly by my side, an excited smile plastered across her face.  We weaved around the jumbled mess of tents, looking for somewhere at least semi-private to lie down. "There's a few empty tents down this way," offered Reverie. "That's not going to work... too exposed," "Perhaps in the castle then?" "I doubt we'd ever sneak past the guards... besides, that's just in bad taste.  I insulted a soldier not too long ago, and now they might see me in my most vulnerable state, trespassing in their castle?  I'd hate to have to tell Haven I got fired for breaking and entering and entering," "So what do you suppose we do?" asked Reverie. "We would have to leave camp.  We're not going to find a quiet spot anywhere near here," I said, turning to Reverie. "The forest?" she offered.  "We can make noise there," I gave a small laugh.  "Yes we can... we most certainly can. I don't see any reason why not," "Well what are we waiting for?" asked Reverie with a smile, as she broke into a fast canter. We made our way towards the edge of camp, dodging the oncoming guards in a small flurry of giggles.  Every so often, she would look back at me, giving me an eager grin as she went. Oh I simply couldn't wait, the life Haven and I lead is really quite a lonely one.  Chances like this are rare, and with someone with a power like her's... this is an opportunity I refuse to leave hanging. A few yards after we passed the last tent, I felt a tingling sensation.  we must have stepped through the camp's perimeter.  There was some magical tinkling as we phased through the clear, gelatinous wall, before the chase was on once more. We waded through the tall grass and brambles, with me following her perfect flank with both my eyes and my body. The camp slowly disappeared behind us, leaving nothing but tree trunks and tall grass.  Reverie and I found our way to a small clearing, figuring it was a nice place to stop. She gave a giggle, turning wildly around. "Are you ready?" she asked. "Very much so," I said, shooting her a smile, Suddenly, she pounced on me, knocking me on my back.  She straddled my waist, looking down on me with a smirk.  She traced a circle in my chest, before leaning in with a rough kiss.  Her soft lips pressed firmly into mine, with her tongue prodding indignantly into my mouth. I hadn't even had time to catch my breath from our little chase, and already things were getting heavy. She broke the kiss, leaving me panting for air.  Her head was cocked in a half lidded smirk.  "Enjoying yourself?" "Very much," I said, wrapping my hoof behind her head and bringing her back in.  Soon enough, we were back into a second embrace.  I ran my hoof from the back of her head down her neck, before drifting to her flank.  I traced little figures into it as her lips found themselves onto my neck.  Soon enough, my senses were on fire with ripples of pleasure.  My panting turned into needy gasps as her tonge ran itself along my neck. Her red hair draped beautifully over her head, her back arched down as she leaned into the kiss.  I felt my wings spread to either side of me, as my eyes rolled to the back of my head. It was pure bliss.  I just laid my head back and let Reverie work her magic. Soon enough, her tongue withdrew from it place on my neck, leaving me in my state of euphoria. "Would you like to return the favor?" she asked in a husky tone. "Oh you know I would," I said, looking up mischievously. She gave a naughty giggle, before rolling off me.  "Just give me a second to change," I gave a cheesy growl, rolling onto my stomach.   I watched as she turned into a gray blob once more... before reassembling into a much larger figure.  It sprouted a thick beak, along with tan feathers, and rippling... intimidating muscles. I felt the blood drain from my face. "Oh goodness..." I said, rising to my hooves, a bit nervous. "I thought you were just going to turn into another pony..." Reverie gave a laugh... Except her... no, his voice was a lot deeper now... and more resonant. "You said it was my turn... ladies first," he said seductively. "You aren't a lady anymore!" I said a bit distressed, catching sight of something most certainly unlady like out of the corner of my eye.  "What happened to the curvy, red-haired mare?" The griffon smiled at me mischievously.  "She's still here, and she'd love to see you turn around and relax for her real quick..." "Oh god, I just realized why wouldn't tell me your gender," I said, slapping a hoof to my face.  "I don't think I'm going to be able to enjoy this if you're going to be in that... form," "Don't worry, relax," said Reverie cooly.  "You let me go first, and you can get as many turns with the curvy red-haired mare as you want," the bulky griffon took a sultry step forward, his eyes still half lidded. I took a large step back.  "As if I'd still be able to stand!  No thank you, Miss Reverie," The bulky griffon took a casual look up at the setting sun.  "Too late to go back anyhow," he said.  "The perimeter of the camp seals off after sunset... you need special permission to get in after hours," Suddenly, Reverie produced a silver medallion from behind her.  "This will let you back inside... but you can't have it unless you stop being so closed-minded," "I'll just spend the night out here if you're gonna be like that, unless you want to go back to the original plan," "And if I don't?" "Then I'll spend the night up in the clouds," "Oh, well that's a shame," he said, faking a sad frown.  "I certainly hope your safe up there..." I looked at him... my expression hardening.  He didn't just say what I think he did, did he?   "Excuse me?" I said, my tone becoming more angry. "Well... the creatures here get a bit more predatorial as night sets in," she narrowed her eyes in a lusty smirk.  "They're less likely to ask for permission," Oh no this bitch didn't. "Okay, I'll tolerate the negotiation.  I'll be honest, if you came correct, I would've played along... but you better not start threatening rape," Reverie let out a laugh.  "Oh please, don't start with that crap.  You can let me go first and have a nice time after, or you can try and run off and bite your finger when I catch you.  The choice is yours," "You didn't," I said, anger and disbelief in my voice.  "You better step back, or you and I or going to have a serious problem," "I like it when they fight," he said lustily.  "It's no love lost on this end," I looked up, to see half of the sun slowly dipping over the horizon... perhaps if I hurried, I could make it back before nighttime. I looked back over at Reverie, before extending my right wing.  I lowered all the feathers... Except for one in the middle. "Piss off, you perverted trap," Reverie let out a sigh.  "I had a feeling you might be hard-headed," "What did you just say to-" Suddenly, her wings splayed, and she rocketed forward. Before I even had time react, Reverie slammed into me, sending both of us tumbling through the grass. We rolled slightly, before I hit the ground hard, my head striking what felt like a small rock.  I could feel Reverie's weight on top of me, his muscular arms pinning my front legs to the ground with ease. I tried to ignore the pain in my head and focus... he had tackled me rather quickly, and I had to do something to get out of this- oh shit! I barely had time to move my head out of the way as Reverie's massive right claw connected with the ground.  I felt the impact of her fisted talon against the ground, sending a small cloud of dust in its wake. She lifted her hand up for another strike... but I already had my counter. I focused my magic, sapping all the energy from the rock beneath my head... I channelled its energy and focused right on my face, just as her fisted talon connected. I felt a crunch as the bones in her hand connected with my now rock hard skin, causing Reverie to let out a shrill squawk of pain.  Taking advantage of her weakness, I thrust myself up with my wings, my hardened head bashing straight into Reverie's chin. Reverie rolled off me with the impact, reeling with pain.  I felt my face return to it's normal state, as I pumped my wings hard, sending myself flying out from under Reverie.  I twisted my body to level myself out, but I had underestimated Reverie's speed. I felt a talon grab hold of my back leg, bringing me to a halt, mid-flight.  Soon enough, my other leg was caught by Reverie, before she slammed me into the ground.  I felt some of the wind get knocked out of me, along with a numbing pain along my stomach.   I felt slightly dizzy, as I tried to remain conscious, my vision blurred and my head ringing. Then Reverie began to roughly spread my legs apart. As you could imaging, that snapped me back into action.  I pumped my wings once again, raising my body into the air, keeping myself away from Reverie's lustful desires. He tried to pull me back down, but I twisted and turned in the air, causing Reverie to stumble along as he struggled to hold on to me.  I ignored the quickly growing fatigue in the base of my wings, trying my best to shake Reverie's grip, only to feel myself being slowly dragged down. I let out a pained yell as I fought Reverie's sheer muscle. He couldn't hold onto me forever, surely his muscles would be aching... I felt a shimmer of hope as his arms extend, along with his tightly gripped talons slowly slipping down to my hooves, before I felt myself finally break free. I slammed my wings to my sides as hard as I could, opening my eyes as I felt myself break loose... only to find the hard trunk of a tree filling my field of view. I tried to bank right, but I felt my back leg clip the trunk, sending me spiraling into the forest floor.  The world turned into a blur of color as I spun, before I slammed into the grass on the ground. I heard the faint tinkling of glass as I crashed, which meant my flasks must've spilled out of my satchel. Wait, my flasks!  I could use one!  Oh god, I hope one of these Fruit Bats gave me a power I could use right about now... I glanced over, catching sight of Reverie, who was sprinting towards me.  Luckily, he had a good distance to go... But by god he was fast. I scrambled around, trying to find one of the small flasks amidst the tall grass.  I ran my hooves everywhere around me, but found nothing. Dammit, I hit the ground hard... those flasks could be anywhere around me. I worriedly looked over again, letting out a small yell.  Reverie was no more than 40 feet away, and he was showing no signs of slowing. I let out a worried shriek in my panic. Where were the damn flasks! I ripped through the green tangle of grass, but all I could sift through was dirt. I started to lose hope, before my hoof finally felt what it had been looking for. I brought the flask to my mouth, before biting the cork from the top.  I felt the liquid slosh down my throat, before I spat the spongey cork out and stood fast. And just like that, it happened. I felt magic coursing maniacally through my veins.  My heart rate sped up as I felt the energy build up inside me. I had no idea what I was about to unleash, but it felt powerful.  I could only hope it was strong enough to stop this hulking mass of muscle and feather... I let out a scream as I felt the magic leave my body in an explosive wave.  My skin tingled all over as the energy conducted itself through me. I felt a chill all around me, along with a roaring boom that sent the surrounding plant life bending with the force of the blast.  There was a shrill ringing in my ears to accompany the thunderous blast that hung all around, along with a terrible numbing of my whole body.  I had been channeling magic for no more than 5 seconds, but almost immediately, I started to feel exhausted.  The magic I had captured was expending itself quickly.   There was a small pop as the last of the magic left me, leaving me to collapse on my stomach.  Pins and needles seemed to poke all around my body as I slowly regained feeling. Just like that, I had taken in and emptied the magic around me.  Normally, I could handle the magic I took in... But this one brought me to my knees. I opened my eyes, only to see something that nearly frightened me. I was standing at the center of what looked like a crater... a crater caused by an explosion.  However, instead of fire and ash, the area around me was completely blanketed in a layer of snow and ice.  Plants had been bent back and frozen solid, making the area around me look like it had been paused during a hurricane... that came from me. I had to cover my body with my wings, as the air around me stung with a sharp chill. And that's when I saw Reverie.  He was caught, mid run, under a thick block of ice.  His face was still frozen in the same look of anger, as if she hadn't even had time to react to the explosive flash freeze that had turned the area around them into a miniature winter. All of a sudden, I felt a deep stone sit in my stomach.  Not out of sympathy for the rapist I had frozen, but who the hell did I steal this power from? I'd never gotten that potent an effect out that little essence... Not from anyone, not even Haven, and he's pretty strong. It made me uneasy knowing that there is someone that strong just walking around. I examined Reverie's frozen cell.  Icicles had formed parallel to the ground... And that's when I saw the medallion around her neck.  Stuck under several inches of thick ice. I felt my stomach drop, as a sigh of annoyance escaped my nose.  Looks like I'd have to spend the night out here whether I liked it or not. On the bright side, I managed to avoid getting raped by an enormous, muscular griffon. Well, I suppose that isn't a total loss, all that was left to do now was find the rest of the flasks and find somewhere safe to sleep for tonight. But from who did that power come from...