//------------------------------//
// Escape (Edited) 
// Story: The Bats Return 
// by MetalBrony823 
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It was just about bedtime for Spike. He was just sitting on his bed, yawning. Fluttershy was also about to get ready to go asleep on the bed that she will share with Spike tonight. Sure she is a vampire, but even vampires need their sleep, even if these type of vampire ponies are perfectly fine in the sun, they still need their sleep sometime. As for Pip, he was already fast asleep alone in his little chamber where he will stay for the night. It was it, tomorrow, Fluttershy and her brainwashed friends invade all of Equestria, starting with it's capital, Canterlot and then the rest of the earth.

The baby dragon was still heavily conflicted about this. Should he put an end to this since it is all up to him and Pip now (mostly Spike)? or will he be happy as a new king of everything in the future, and be given more popularity than ever?

Meanwhile with little Pip, right before he fell asleep, also felt the same way as Spike did. His parents still love him, and he loves the, back since he forgave them for their little... "Skirmish" trying to turn Pip into on of the vampire bat servants too. The crusaders were nice to him, and the other bat ponies were really nice to him, even though they have turned into evil monsters and being brainwashed. Pip wondered if this was all real, or all just a dream, a really bad dream. The only thing he will know is when he wakes up. He wondered of he should stay with his parents and live in a world ruled by bat-ponies, or come with Discord and w other freedom fighters to put Fluttershy's evil dream before it all comes true.

"Oh mom, dad." Pip said to himself, highly confused and conflicted. "I would love to be with you... But... Are you just going to bite me someday?" He tucked himself on his own bed. "Or... Should I try and save you from all this chaos?" Speaking of which, Discord will coming to his rescue tonight. Although he did not know when it would happen since Fluttershy and her minions made the night last longer than ever.

Nevertheless, Pipsqueak was too tired to think this through any further. He decided to just hit the hay for the night, and thought to himself "Maybe this is all just a nightmare." He sat up for the last time. "Yeah, maybe it is just a bad dream after all. Maybe when I wake up, I will be back in my own bed." Then he fell asleep.

With Spike, he was just as worried as Pip was feeling. Unlike Pip however, He did not know of Discord's second attempt to rescue him and the others tonight. For that, he was kind of having a feeling of mild lost hope. Of course he still has that half feeling where being a king of all would be great. The question in his head was: "Should I go with this? Or not?"

"Spike, are you alright?" Fluttershy asked with concern, realizing that Spike was thinking about something.

"What? oh yeah yeah, I'm fine." Spike replied to her. "I was just a little nervous about tomorrow."

"Oh Spike, don't worry, it will be great." Fluttershy said to him in a comforting tone. She got off of her side of the bed, and then she sat next to Spike's side of it. "And I promise you that nopony will get hurt during our world domination." 

Spike remained emotionless. After a few long seconds, he said. "Okay. You treated me and Pipsqueak with kindness, so I'll believe you."

Fluttershy smiled at him. "Good." she got off of his side of the bed, and asked "Would you like me to tuck you in?"

the baby dragon thought of it for a moment, and he finally said "Yeah. Why not?". He slowly got his head on the pillow and Fluttershy lifted the blanket over him, and tucked him in gently. The baby dragon felt a tad bit more comfortable with this, and gave a cute slight smile on his face.

"See, there's a face I want to see." Fluttershy said, noticing his little smile. She bent down, and gave him a good night kiss. "Goodnight, my little king." she said to him sweetly.

"Goodnight." was all the baby dragon replied. He turned himself over, and vampire-pony queen laid down on her bed, and then she slept close to her king. She wanted to make him feel as comfortable as he can be, so that is the reason she decided to stay close to him, and also because she loves him very much. She really hope that Spike will be alright for the invasion tomorrow. What also concerned her was that she would have to turn him into a vampire-drake, and didn't want to hurt him by doing that. However, she decided to leave him the way he is for now. 

After many minutes later, she and Spike fell asleep, very peacefully.

Two hours later (feels like four or five hours later thanks to the vampire dark magic.)

It was time at last. It was the time where Discord and the freedom fighters newest member: Achilles the Minotaur free the others and restore peace to Ponyville to save Equestria from a world ruled by evil vampire-ponies. He and his comrade were invisible, both tip-toeing through the streets of Ponyville, which looked almost completely empty. Discord prayed that this attempt will work, or die trying. E approached the castle and noticed two guards patrolling the front doors.

"How are we going to get past them?" Asked Achilles in a whisper. "Should we hypnotize them? Should you do your mind tricks on them?"

"No, there is too many witnesses here. if we cause something like that, many ponies will notice something suspicious and them it would cause am uproar" He replied. "Hang on." He had a large rock in his hand and then he threw it at a small flower pot on a window cil at somepony'a house, breaking the pot instantly. The two guards heard it and then they rushed to see what they noise was all about. "Now's our chance, go." He whispered. They both quietly snuk past the two guards and they silently poofed to the other side of the door, inside the castle.

"Oh wow. Look at this." Said Achilles. Amazed by the inside of the castle.

Discord and Achilles looked around for any guards or other bat-ponies. On the positive side, there were not. For good measure however, they found this little room that looked like a storage room. They decided to hide their so the can talk about the plan. "Well, I guess it's alright if we turn divisible." He said to his comrade. He snapped his finger and then he and Achilles became not invisible again.

"So, what do we do first?" Achilles asked.

"The first thing is we get Zecora and Big Mac of their cells first, like Pip told me about. next we rescue him and Spike. lastly we pull out the antidote." he lifted his other hand that held the antidote for Fluttershy to drink. "Spike put it in her drink and when she drinks it, she and everypony will go back to normal and we will save Equestria."

"The dragon kid is going to do that?" Asked Achilles "isn't that dangerous for a kid to do?"

"Don't you worry, mon ami." Said Discord. "Spike is supposed to be the new king like I said before. Everypony around here trusts him."

"Well, let's get the first two you mention first, and then the other two." Achilles reminded.

Discord nodded his head a yes, then he and Achilles turned invisible again, and then they quietly made their way upstairs. They saw a couple of guards with bright flashlights passing them, but they haven't seen them. When their were guards, Discord and Achilles kept absolute quiet so the vampires won't know any trace of them. Then, while they were still snooping around the hallways. Discord saw a flight of stairs going down. "Hmmm. This must be where it leads to the dungeon." He thought. "Down their Achilles. Down there. He whispered to him "downstairs. I think that's where Big Mac and Zecora are held."

Achilles had am uncertain feeling about this. He really hated dungeons more than anything else he would possibly hate, but what other choice did he have. They both went down the stairs and the torches lit their way down the path to the dungeon. when they finally reached the dungeon level, shivers went down both of their spines from a cold chill blowing into them. They quietly looked through other passage ways for any cells that contain Zecora and or Big Mac in them. 

"How are we gonna to find them in this place?" Achilles asked.

"We just have to keep looking that is all." Discord whispered back to him. "We'll find them." he peeked through a room with empty cells in them. "We just have to keep digging." Then they both continued their searching. The sneaked past many guards through their search and kept absolute quiet as they were tip-toeing past all of them. Finally, they found the room where the other two freedom fighters were held. It was exactly as Discord predicted, there were two guards on each side of the entrance. They both hid behind a stone pillar to discuss their plan.

"You know what to do right?" Achilles whispered to his friend

"Of course I do." said Discord. He turned visible once again, and transformed himself into a vampire-pony guard. He walked up to them, and he said to them. "Excuse me fellas, but I would like to take over for you."

The two guards looked suspicious. "Sorry, fellow guard, but queen Fluttershy gave us explicit orders for us to stay guard with nopony else." said one of them

"Thanks for your help anyway, but we already have this under control." said another

It turned out being nice didn't work, so the disguised Discord decided to lift his hoof a little bit and he said "You should really have a break."

"uhhh... excuse me." said one of the confused guards.

"You REALLY need to have a break." said Discord with his hoof still.

"Is this some kind of mind trick?" said another guard, becoming a little suspicious.

"Oh no, no. I am just saying is.... umm... well you see.... Dah!" Discord panicked and used his eyes to hypnotize them, but to no avail. "Oh for the love of Celestia!" he said in frustration. He poofed himself back to his real form, really scaring the guards in alarm.

"Discord?!" they both said in shock at the same time. Just then, they felt something big pound their heads, really hard, and then, they both fell to the floor unconscious. Discord was a little confused but realized who it was. He smiled in a sly way and snapped his finger to reveal who just did that. It was Achilles, he gave them both a hard whack to the head with his big meaty fists.

"Thank you, my friend." Discord said to Achilles.

"That's what friends are friends are for, buddy." said Achilles. "I'll hide them." he picked up the bodies, and put them in a closet where he can hide them. "that takes care of that." he said while wiping his hands.

"Perfect. Now to get our two friends out of here." said Discord. He and Achilles walked into the room, and saw Big Mac and Zecora sleeping in their own little cells. They both walked up to Zecora's cell first. "Hey, Zecora. It's me, Discord." he said

The zebra began to stir and couldn't believe her eyes. "Discord, it is you." she said as she woke. She began to notice Achilles. "But who might this be with you?"

"I'm Achilles, a good friend of Discord." the minotaur answered to her. "We'll get you out of here." he pulled out a key. Before he hid those two guards, he took the key from them as well. He unlocked the cell and Zecora was free at last. Now, after that, they moved on to Big Mac.

"Big Mac, you must awake. For we finally make our escape." Said Zecora.

The red stallion began to stir like the same way she did. "What what?" He said, wondering what was going on right now. He looked at his now open cell door, and was more than happy to see Zecora and Discord coming to his rescue. He was also alarmed by Achilles. "Who are you?" He asked him

"The name's Achilles. Look, I'll introduce myself to you more later, but for now, we got to get you two our of here to somewhere safe, and then get Pip, and this Spike out of here." He said

"Right." Said both Zecora and Big Mac in unison.

Discord snapped his finger and they were all back at Zecora's hut. "Here we are." Said Discord. Zecora felt never happy than to be back home. "Now, we must free the others." He snapped his finger again, and he and Achilles returned back to the castle. This time, they were both disguised as bat-pony guards so it would be easier for them to look without making so much noise.

"I look so.... Wimpy." Said Achilles, feeling uncomfortable with his disguise.

"Oh relax." Said Discord a little irritated by the minotaur's whining. "This will help us. It's not permanent you know?"

"Alright." Said Achilles, reluctant about this. They both looked at some rooms, and then when guards were walking last the two, they would both wave at all of the, to be friendly, and gave compliments to them. So far, it was working perfectly like a charm.

To was quite a big castle after all, and there were a lot of rooms inside it. They all searched upstairs and downstairs, and yet their were dozens of rooms, but no sign of Spike or Pipsqueak anywhere.





Spike was dreaming about something peculiar. He could not describe it,  ht it was so familiar in some way like in a sense of déjà vu. He was in a world with nothingness and emptiness, as if he was having a conflict.

"Don't listen to her." Said a voice. It sounded exactly like Spike's voice. "She's just tricking you so that she would turn you into a vampire bat-dragon

"What?" Spike said, highly confused. "She... She loves me. Se said she wouldn't turn me into one of them. She declared me a new king of all vampire bat-ponies, and I have my own throne like one."

"Perhaps, but she is still trying to take over Equestria and all it's inhabitants into bat-po ies without any choice." The voice reminded

"I know but... But..." Spike didn't know what to say at the moment

"But what?" Said the voice. "Do you want to be king of subjects that have all been brainwashed by Fluttershy and her fellow comrades? Or do you want to make it all right, by ending all this chaos, and restoring peace to all of Equestria?"

Spike was now right on the spot, feeling highly conflicted. "How... How would you know that?" He asked the voice.

Then, another Spike, like a clone came in front of him out of nowhere, like a ghost. "Because I am you." It replied calmly. The other Spike placed his hand on the real Spike's shoulder. "I know she is treating you and Pip and all her sump jets with great kindness. But she is still evil, along with your friends too."

"I know." Spike replied. "Well, will Discord come back and safe me our something, and free the others to cure Fluttershy?"

"I'm just a figment of your imagination. If you don't know, then I don't know, but what I DO know, is that you must make up your mind." Then, the other Spike began to fade away.

"What wait, come back!" Spike pleaded. "Do you really think that she will turn me into a vampire?" But it was no use, his other half was gone. It was just then he woke up, and looked around his surroundings. He looked at Fluttershy who was still asleep. "I just need a small glass of water and then it's back to bed." he slowly got out of bed, and the. Exited the room. He walked through a scary hallway, and looked for the nearest sink on the nearest kitchen. It was a rather terrifying thing for Spike, especially since the guards turned all the lights out leaving the reflection on the moon through the red stain-glass windows.

Finally. He found the kitchen. And reached for a glass on the counter. He went into the fridge and then filled it with cold water from the small water barrel. He closed the fridge, and sat on the table to drink it all.

When he was finished, he placed the glass in the kitchen sink. He was about to walk back to bed when he felt like he needed to pee. 

"Oh man." He said. "Now I have to use the bathroom." He walked to the nearest bathroom from the master bedroom, and closed the door behind him. It was a consequence for drinking water on the middle of the night, but it was better than him wetting the bed on the middle of the night while dreaming.

He finished doing his own business and then he exited out the door, when he bumped into two guards. He was alarmed about this, worrying that he angered the, "oh I am terribly sorry." He said. "It was an accident."

"Spike?" Said one of them. "Is that you?"

"Yeah." Then a small magical explosion came out of nowhere. It was Discord and Achilles. "Discord?" Spike said, very happy to see him again

"Yes Spike. It's me." The creature replied backs to him.

"Who is this?"

"I am Achilles." The Minotaur answered. "Don't be afraid, I am very good friend of Discord."

"Nice to meet you." The baby dragon said to him

"Come, let's talk on the bathroom." The creature said. It felt a little strange, but the bathroom is indeed a perfect place to talk. Discord checked if there would be any bat-ponies to hear them from the outside and there were not.

"I never thought you would come back." Said Spike.

"Oh why would you think that?" Discord blush. "Of course I came back. I just needed a plan to get you out of here before I can do anything else."

"Oh. I see."

"Well kid, I don't mean to interrupt, but did Fluttershy make you a king?" Asked Achilels curiously

"Oh yes. She gave me my own throne and everypony worships me like I am a god." The baby dragon replied. "She gave me my own little library with all my favorite comic books, even ones from the future. Isn't that cool,

Discord and Achilles were a little confused.

"So, she hasn't done you any harm?" Asked Discord

"No, of course not." The baby dragon replied. "She and the others were really nice to me, and the same thing for Pip, even though he is not a vampire bat pony."

"I noticed that, because I told him earlier that we would help him escape tonight." Discord stated. "So she really has been kind to you and Pip?"

"Of course. She even offered Pip to stay here for the night." 

"Hmm. Well, I'm glad she still has a little bit of kindness left in her." Said Discord, relived to hear that Fluttershy was not completely turned evil. "Well, never mind that, we need to get you boys out of here."

Spike had a look of sadness of his face. "Oh.... I see." was all he replied.

"What's the problem, Spike?" Discord asked curiously.

"Yeah, you should be happy that we are busting you out." Achilles added.

"I am... I am." Spike admitted. "But... She made me her king... and... she gives me whatever I want. I never have been given this kind of treatment before, well- maybe in the Crystal Empire, but not like this. It... it feels good to be king, and..." he was softly silenced by Discord

"Spike." he said calmly. "I understand how you feel. But, Fluttershy and all your friends, minus us of course, are evil and plan to take over Equestria with her vampire-pony army and will stop at nothing to turn everypony into one of them."

"I know, but..." Spike was gently silenced by the master of chaos once again before he can finish

"And I wanted to inform you that she is going to turn you into a vampire-dragon someday. Well, maybe not now, but maybe someday in the future." Discord continued

Spike didn't know what to say, and couldn't believe what he just said "What? How... how do you know that?"

"She said it in a conference with her Twilight and the others. They were discussing the invasion tomorrow, and... she said that she wanted to turn you into a vampire too. However, she didn't say she would bite you, and that she didn't want to hurt you while doing it."

The baby dragon hardly believe what he was saying. "I... I don't know if I believe you." he said, conflicted

"Spike, have I ever lied to you?" asked Discord "On second thought, don't answer that. I am telling you the truth this time." Spike still looked conflicted about this, and a little skeptical. "Look, we'll get Pipsqueak back to the hut in one piece first, and then we can pick you up then."

"What? but... Discord, i thought we were going to get both of them out of here." said Achilles, feeling uneasy about his decision.

"We are, I just think that Spike is a little... conflicted about this. He just needs to think things through." Discord answered. He turned his attention back to the child. "I promise you, I did hear that." Then he disappeared in a snap of his finger, with Achilles too. Spike was alone again.

"Wait! Discord, come back!" Spike called out. But it was no use, he and Achilles were gone, at least for a little while. He did say they will come back to him after they were done talking with Pip and bringing him back to the hut. Spike never got out what Discord just warned him about out of his head. Should he really believe him? Or is he just trying to keep Spike away from the pony their cares about him, even though she is a vampire bat pony now? Nevertheless, he came out of the bathroom again, and looked around and he saw that their were no guards. He quietly walked through the hallway to get back into his own master bedroom to sleep with Fluttershy, and then something halted him. A small burst of light came out of nowhere on front of him. He began to panic a little, for he was quite startled by how it just came out of nowhere.

"Oh, King Spike. It's just you." Said a familiar voice. The light lowered and it revealed Thunderlane. With him were Lyra and Bon Bon, in their vampire forms.

"Oh... Hello, Thunderlane, Lyra, Bon Bon." Spike said. He felt really awkward right now, and felt really sheepish. He worried that he was going to get punished for being up so late, and decided to just prepare himself for what might happen to him.

"Our sincere apologies your majesties but... What are you doing up?" Thunderlane asked curiously. "You really should be getting some sleep."

"Yeah, Spike. Queen Fluttershy wouldn't want you to look so tired tomorrow." Bon Bon added

"Yeah, tomorrow's our big day for the invasion. It will be great, with everypony as a vampire, it will be a whole new world, with you and Fluttershy in it." Lyra said encouragingly. It was supposed to make Spike feel better, but he knows that an invasion by spreading and brainwashing will always be a bad thing.

"I know. I just.... I just...." Spike was trying to think of what to say. " just needed to use the bathroom, that's all. You see I was thirsty, and I felt like I needed some water to help with that. So, yeah, I just needed to use the bathroom so I wouldn't..." He blushed about what he was about to say next. He gulped with embarrassment. "Wet the bed." He finished. He really hated to say that, but he needed to say something to convince the three why he was out in the middle of the night.

"Oh your majesty." Said Thunderlane. "You don't have to be ashamed. When you got to go, you gotta go."

"Yeah, Spike. We understand. Right Bon Bon?" Lyra added

"Right."

Spike smiled at that. "Okay well, continue your duties, soldiers." He said, like a proud captain of an army

"Yes your majesty." All three said in unison. En they all walked right by them, continuing their night patrol around the castle. Spike felt a little proud and felt like fun to give out orders like that. He continued to walk back to his room, and then he noticed something: their was a door that was open a crack that spelled out "Conference Room" on it. Spike was awfully curious about what might be inside, and see if maybe their was proof about Discord's warning being true. He tip toed into the conference room, and turned the lights on. He was quite amazed with the room looked. Impressed as he was, he stumbled upon something. A scroll that looked awfully familiar, like a clue. He slowly picked it up, and then went back out the door before he turned out the lights of the conference room.

He decided to read it in the living room right next to the master bedroom to see what was inside it, or what type of secrets this scroll contained. He housed his fire to lit a few candles around him so that he can see better. He began to slowly read. However, as he read further and further, he began to become horrified. It turned out that this scroll was a list of ideas on how to turn Spike into a VAMPIRE! He could hardly be,I've it. Fluttershy said that she wouldn't do that, but she lied to him? How could she?

"Spike." Said a familiar voice. The baby dragon turned around and it was Fluttershy along with Twilight, Pinkie, Rarity, Rainbow, and Applejack with her. "What are you doing?" She asked calmly

The baby dragon was now becoming more scared than ever. He hid the scroll behind his back, and pretended like he did nothing. "Oh well I umm.... Uhh, I was just doing some chores around here so that.... Vampire dust won't get on the floor." He bent down, and rubbed the floor with her first finger.

Fluttershy and the others were too smart for him. They did not believe a word he said, which was exactly what Spike worried about.

"Spike, what do you have behind your back" Fluttershy asked calmly.

"Okay. It's... It's a list of how you are going to turn me into a vampire okay?" Spike said truthfully. He felt like shedding tears from his eyes again

"Oh Spike." Fluttershy said sympathetically. She walked up to him and tried to touch him, but the baby dragon swiped her arm away from him.

"You lied to me, Fluttershy." Spike exclaimed, about to shed tears. "You said you weren't going to turn me into a vampire, but you lied and planned on doing it behind my back." Then the tears escaped from him for he couldn't hold it. "I knew you were trying to bite me."

"Spike, no no." Said Twilight sympathetically. "We're not going to bite you. We don't want to cause pain on you."

"Yeah, Sugarcube." Said Applejack. "We're just trying to create a solution that would be painless for ya."

"It was silent again, and then Spike asked "why do you want me to turn you to to a vampire anyway?"

"To become a true vampire king." Pinkie answered. "So it would make more sense." Everypony glared at her.

"What she means, is that we are doing it so you would live forever." Rainbow said.

Spike now had another thought. "Am I really a king? Or... Are you just using me?"

"No, Spike. You are a king." Said Fluttershy. "We just want to help you."

It was all coming to him now. Spike then said "are you planning to turn Pip into a vampire too?"

"Well, yes." Rarity admitted. "But it will be painless for him as well, we promise you, Spike."

"Well, what, are you going to make it painful for the ponies that you might bite tomorrow? You can't just force somepony to like you by turning them evil. What good is it to be a king if your subjects are turned into evil bat ponies against their will."

"Spike, listen to me." Fluttershy said.

"No. Please. Just don't. You will never turn me into a vampire dragon." Spike said to her sternly. 

Fluttershy gave a little sigh and then bowed her head. " understand. Then, with a change of tone in her voice, an evil look appeared on her face, ginning evilly, bearing her teeth. Then, Twilight and the others had the same look as Fluttershy was. Their eyes were glowing all red, like red Hearth's Warming lights. "Looks like we'll just have to make you understand." Fluttershy said evilly. Her voice was like morphed with a demonic voice, which really scared the baby dragon. "Minions, seize him."

"Yes, mistress." Said the other five ponies in unison. They all, along with Fluttershy on front of the, all, evilly walked up to him, still smiling evilly.

"No, please... Don't come near me!" Spike shouted. It looked like this was it. He was about to meet his end in the days as being a normal good baby dragon into an evil baby dragon that's a vampire. Just as soon as they were about to touch him, something came

"Hang on, Spike. I'll save you." It was Discord. It turns out he did came back for him after all. He gently grabbed the baby dragon's body and then snapped his finger after saying "Au revoir, mon cheries." And then he along with Spike, were gone.

Spike was now back at Zecora's hut. Big Mac, Zecora. And Pip were all there, Achilles also. "Guys!" The Baby dragon exclaimed with happiness. He ran up to them and they all hugged eachother into one big group hug, minus Achilles. "I am so glad you're okay."

"It is good to see you too, but I am afraid it is still up to you." Zecora replied to him.

"Yeah, it's not over yet." Said Big Mac.

Spike hated to admit it, but he was right, and then realized how Fluttershy was lying to him about not biting him. And then he began to sob on the bed.

"Spike? Are you okay?" Asked Pip.

"He just.... Needs some time alone, Pip." Discord said to him softly. They all decided to leave Spike alone like he suggested, and then thought over what she should do now."