//------------------------------// // The Beginning // Story: The Bat of Everfree Forest // by xXCrossArrowXx //------------------------------// The cold wind flowed through Black Cloud's mane as she soared through the night sky. The beat of her wings drowned out the sounds of the chirping crickets below. She knew she had a job to do, but she never felt she had time to just let loose and really fly. She looked up at the full moon above her. The stars twinkled around it, each giving off enough light for her to see the town below. Ponies walked with lanterns in the dark streets; many heading home from work for the day. The town was small, in fact it was just beginning to be built. A local family business had brought these travelers here, and now slowly a new town was beginning to be built. Black Cloud had just saved up enough money from her job to have a home of her own in the town now. She still needed bits for food and furniture though, so she continued to do her job. She had the night duty of cloud clearing. Her boss and co-workers say clear nights help ponies see in the dark and young fillies and colts sleep better at night. Returning her focus back to the sky, she eyed a couple dark clouds floating just a few ways in front of her. She grinned and sped towards them, reaching out her hind hooves to give them a good kick. One by one the clouds were cleared, making way for a starry sky. Smiling at her work, she was about to consider it a job well done. Then, out of the corner of her eye she noticed something dark moving in the sky. Turning in the direction, she saw a dark cloud seeming to drift at quite a fast pace. She raised a brow, odd; she's never seen a cloud move on it's own before. Fluttering her wings, she began to make her way towards the cloud. Suddenly it seemed to pick up speed and veer away from her. Her eyes widened a bit and she squinted. "Oh no you don't..." She whispered to herself. Taking off, she charged toward the cloud and stuck out a hoof. Her wings flapped violently as she headed straight for the dark object. Making impact with the cloud, she felt proud to have caught it. But instead of her hoof hitting something soft, it knocked into something hard. As the cloud poofed away, a dark figure fell from it. She gasped as she watched the body begin to plummet toward the ground. She had kicked a pony! And they seemed to be unconscious! Extending her hooves forward, she dived down for the falling pony. She felt the air swirl around her as speed increased the more she dived downward. She wouldn't be able to live with herself if she let his pony fall to their death. Slowly she began to pass them in the air and managed to get under them. She braced herself and opened her wings. Instantly the air pushed her upwards and she felt her back collide with the body. She felt the breathe get knocked out of her; this pony was heavy! She flapped her wings as fast as she could as the ground began to come closer. Slowly the speed of their fall began to slow until eventually they both hit the ground with a soft thud. Black Cloud laid there for a minute, trying to catch her breath. Her limbs felt shaky as she stood herself onto her hooves. Trying to ignore the pain in her back, she focused her attention on the pony she had kicked. "Hello! Are you ok? I'm so sorry I kicked you. I was doing my job and I thought you were a cloud and-" She stopped talking and stared at the body. The pony didn't make a sound or move. Oh gosh...are they dead? She couldn't see them very well in the dark and she approached them quickly. Laying her ear against their chest she listened. She could hear a steady "thump-thump" from inside and let out a sigh of relief. Thank Celestia... Black Cloud looked around. They were just on the outskirts of town, and her home wasn't that far away from where they were. There was no hospital in town yet, so she'd have to tend to their wound's herself. She opened her mouth and bit down lightly on the skin around the pony's neck. Using the remaining strength she had, she began to slowly drag the pony in the direction of her home. She just hoped no pony would be out in the town at this hour, it almost looks like she's dragging a dead body... Arriving at her steps, she pulled the key from under her mat and unlocked the front door. Pushing it open and keeping it open with a single wing, she pulled the body inside and quickly shut the door. Once inside, she wrapped her hooves around the body and pulled them up onto her couch. She ran over and opened one of her drawers, pulling out a box of matches and striking one against it. Galloping over to the various lanterns around her house, she lit them as fast as she could one by one. Now that the room was lit, could be able to see who she had kicked. Turning around, she felt the pace of her heart quicken at the sight of the pony in front of her. This wasn't no ordinary pony. Their coat was a dark gray, and the mane was an even darker shade of blue. Their ears were pointed and spiked. Their wings appeared to be almost dragon like. Their mouth was opened, revealing a set of sharp fangs inside. She approached them cautiously, extending a hoof out to place it gently against their eye lid. Lifting it up slowly, the pupil was constricted and the eye color was a blood red. This didn't seem like a pony at all...this pony was more bat-like than anything! "Oh Celestia...what did I kick?" Suddenly, the creature's eye focused and moved to stare at her. Black Cloud yelped with surprise and shot backwards. The bat pony themself yelled in response, covering his face with his hooves. "No! Please, don't hurt me!" They cried out, pressing themself against the couch as they tried to back away. The voice was male, it's tone was frightful. Black Cloud watched in odd wonder as the bat pony cowered in front of her. He was...scared of her? Did he even know how frightening he looked like? She took a breath in, in an attempt to calm herself down enough to speak to the guy. "No I..i'm not going to hurt you. I'm just...a little more afraid you're going to hurt me." The bat pony uncovered his face and stared at her with wide eyes. "What? But...didn't you kick me out of the sky? Aren't you going to kill me?" Black Cloud couldn't believe what she was hearing. How could she kill something like him? And why was he afraid of her? She didn't exactly look that menacing. "What? No i'd never do something like that. But...yeah I did kick you out of the sky. I'm really sorry, my job is to clear the night sky of clouds. I thought you were a cloud." "I was using that cloud to hide myself. That way none of you pegasus ponies would see me. Well... you sure did your job huh?" He huffed out, leaning his head against his hoof and immediately retreating back. "Ow!" "What's wrong?" She walked a few steps closer to him, beginning to feel a bit more comfortable; she still kept her guard up though. "My head really hurts..." "Here, let me see." She reached a hoof out, hoping he could he trusted. The bat pony stared at her for a bit, then hesitantly turned his head to the side. She let out a small gasp at the sight. There was a big lump on the side out his head with a gash in it. Blood was beginning to trickle out from the wound and down his neck. "Oh dear, I kicked you real good. You've got a nasty gash on the side of your head. Hang on, I got some bandages!" She quickly ran over to her drawers again and pulled out the bandages she had. Trotting back over to him, she hopped up onto the couch next to him. He flinched at her now being very close and gave her a worried look. "I promise I won't hurt you, just let me patch you up." He stared at her for a bit and turned his head to the side. Stretching out the bandage, she began to slowly wrap it around his head and the wound. He winced at the pressure against the gash but held his tongue. Once it seemed to be secure, she ripped off the end and patted it on good. "There, that should do it." She then went back to the drawer to put the bandages away and got out a rag. Placing it under her sink, she dampened it with water and brought it back to him. Sitting back onto the couch, she offered the rag to him with a smile. "Here...it's for the blood." "Thank you..." He reached a hoof out and took the rag, slowly rubbing it over the area where the blood had stained his fur. "I'm Black Cloud by the way." "I'm Sharp Wing." Black Cloud gave him a soft smile and looked into his eyes. They didn't seem so creepy all of a sudden, nor did his appearance. The sides of his mouth rose a bit into his own small smile for her. Suddenly, there was a knock on the door and Black Cloud saw Sharp Wing almost jump off the couch. "Hello? It's the leader of the guard. I'd like to have a word with you." Black Cloud felt her heart drop and she slowly looked over at Sharp Wing. She could see the fear in his eyes as he stared directly at the door. "Here," she quickly hopped off the couch and blew out most of the lantern lights in their area, "stay behind the couch, ok?" Sharp Wing nodded and quickly scrambled off to get behind the couch. Black Cloud regained a normal posture and tried to calm herself. Walking up to the door, she opened it and stared at the pony of authority in front of her. "Yes mam?" "I was just patrolling the town on my night watch duty when I noticed you falling from the sky with another pony as well. Are you alright? Is the other pony alright?" Black Cloud chuckled and shifted her hooves awkwardly. "Oh! That? Just an accidental run in with another cloud clearer. When it's dark it's kind of hard to see in front of your own hooves, they almost looked like a cloud to me! They're ok, I made sure before they headed off back home." "Good. Well I'm glad no pony got hurt. If you ever need anything, just contact me or one of my soldiers or workers." Black Cloud nodded, then paused. The pony in her house was some sort of vampire bat. Could she really trust them? For all she knew tonight she could have all the blood sucked out of her in her sleep. Should she tell the guard about him? She looked down thinking to herself, then raised her head back up. "Thanks for the offer, mam. What's you're name by the way?" "Iron Guard. Celestia has recently appointed me in charge of all the workers, soldiers, and as the supervisor of town. I guess you could consider me your mayor for the time being." "Alright, thank you again." "Have a good night." Iron Guard said, and turned to start heading away. Black Cloud watched till she was at least half way down the street before shutting the door. She blinked a bit, taking in what she had done. But she's made up her mind. "Sharp Wing, she's left. It's safe now." In the dark, she saw two glowing red eyes peer from behind the couch. Relighting the lanterns again, she sat back onto the couch and let out a tired sigh. Sharp Wing joined her and the two sat in the silence for awhile. "Thank you, for not telling that guard about me being here. I would've been killed if she would've found out." Black Cloud looked at Sharp Wing with concern. "Is it because you...look like a bat?" "It's because i'm a vampire bat pony, yes. According to you ponies, I'm a freak of nature, dangerous...a monster." Black Cloud frowned and her ears drooped. Looking at the creature before her, he was definitely no pony. But he was no monster either. "You're not a monster. You're just...different." "Yeah, that's just another word for monster..." His head lowered and he sighed. Black Cloud looked at him, seeing all this emotion come from him. He seemed like any other pony she's ever met. The only difference was his appearance... She slowly leaned her head against his shoulder for comfort. "Well, I don't see you as a monster." Sharp Wing perked up and looked down at her. His face began to feel warmer, this was...a new feeling. He's never really had someone comfort him like this before...it felt nice. He gave her a half smile and leaned his head against her's briefly. "Well, thanks." Leaning away from her, he stretched his front legs out. "I better go. I wouldn't want to attract any unwanted attention to your home. It's a nice one." He opened his wings to lift himself off the couch, but with one flap he instantly fell over and groaned in pain. Black Cloud rushed to his side and looked over him. "What's wrong?" "Augh, my wing. It hurts really bad." Black Cloud looked at the outstretched wing. It looked a bit crooked in some spots. "It looks like it's broken. Aw gosh, i'm so sorry, this is all my fault-" "Hey, woah woah stop. It's alright really..." he paused to sigh, "I'll just have to stay grounded. I guess I can hide in Everfree Forest till it heals." "Wait, Everfree Forest? Are you sure, there are horrible creatures that live in there. Timber wolves, Hydras, and-" she stopped herself, realizing the creature she was talking to, "Oh yeah...sorry." "It's fine, they aren't going to bother me. Though I don't know how I'm going to hunt with a broken wing but...I'll survive." Lifting himself up, he waved a hoof goodbye and began to make his way to the door. "Thanks for helping me out." Black Cloud waved back and watched as he opened the door. She felt weird though...as if this wasn't the right choice. She thought to herself, looking back at Sharp Wing before stepping forward. "Wait! Why don't you stay with me till it's healed?" Sharp Wing stopped and looked back at her, brows raised. "Stay with you? You do realize what you'd be keeping in your house right?" "Yes. I'd be keeping an injured pony who needs help and healing. I don't care if you're a vampire bat pony, all I care about is who you are on the inside. So please, let me help you." Sharp Wing's expression softened and he turned his head too look back outside. No pony has ever reacted to him this way before...it was so different. Why wasn't she afraid of him? Slowly the door closed and he walked back up to her. She gave him a smile and he just chuckled to himself. "I hope you don't mind getting me some forest animals for my future meals, do ya? You know cause I'm a vampire bat pony so...I got to drink that blood." Black Cloud felt a shiver run down her back at that thought. Ew...ok she was just going to have to get used to that. "It'll be fine. I'm not going to be the one to kill them though, ok?" "That'll be no problem." She shared a few laughs with him before gesturing a hoof in the direction of her stairs. The two headed up to the second floor of the home and entered into the bedroom. Sharp Wing looked over the room : a bed, two drawers, a mirror, and a jar full of bits. "Nice little bedroom you got up here." "Thanks." Black Cloud managed to say as she dragged out a mattress from under her bed. She patted it with her hoof and grinned at Sharp Wing. "You can sleep on this. I hope it's ok compared to...what ever you usually sleep in." Sharp Wing trotted up to the mattress, lying down on his stomach with a content sigh. "I usually sleep in trees, this feels like heaven to me..." Black Cloud giggled and rolled her eyes. "Well, I'm glad you like it." She made her way over to her own bed and hopped in. Snuggling into the pillows, she pulled up the covers and closed her eyes. It had been a long and interesting day. She felt exhausted; she also was remembering the pain in her back now and cringed. She'd have to just put up with it. "Goodnight, Sharp Wing." Sharp Wing peeked his eyes open, looking around the room again. He wasn't dreaming right? A pony actually helped him when he was hurt and didn't try to kill him. A pony didn't run or scream at him just for his appearance. Wow....what a day. Looking down at the mattress, he ran a single hoof across the soft surface and smiled. "Night, Cloud." A wide grin spread across Black Cloud's face. It's been awhile since someone just called her Cloud. Setting her alarm clock for work tomorrow, she got comfortable in her bed before slowly drifting off into sleep. ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ The sounds of hooves scraping on wood awoke Black Cloud from her slumber. Blinking her tired eyes, she turned to look at her clock. The little arms were pointing at 6:50, only ten minutes before her alarm was supposed to go off. She brought her hooves up to her face to rub the sleep out of her eyes. Sitting up in bed, her eyes finally adjusted to her surroundings. She blinked a bit, trying to take in what she saw in front of her. Sharp Wing was perched up on one of her drawers, he seemed to be in some kind of crouch position. His ears were perked forward in attention, and his mouth was parted; showing off those pointy fangs of his again. His eyes stared attentively, focused on something outside the window. "Sharp?" Black Cloud whispered in an attempt to figure out what was going on. Sharp Wing let out a hushed "shhh" before slowly gesturing a hoof in the direction of the window. Black Cloud slowly scooted up to the end of her bed to get a good look at what he was pointing at. Perched on the window ledge was a robin, it's back turned to the window. Fully unaware of the hunter stalking it from behind. Black Cloud then understood exactly what Sharp Wing was doing : he was hunting. Sharp Wing took a couple hoof steps forward, the way he moved was so animal like. Crouching down low, he wiggled his back haunches. Then, in the blink of an eye he lunged forward. A sharp, ear piercing chirp was let out, mixed in with muffled grunts from Sharp Wing. She noticed he seemed to be struggling and slipping. "H-help!" Was what she managed to hear from him as she saw him just barely hanging out by his hind hooves. Scrambling out of bed, Black Cloud rushed over to the window as fast as she could. But she was just a little too late, she saw his hooves slip off the ledge and heard a thud from down below. Looking out the window, she stared down at the poor guy. "Sharp Wing! Are you ok?" Sharp Wing laid on the ground for a bit, obviously in pain. But in the whole process, he had never let go of the robin. Black Cloud hopped out of the window and flew down next to him. She approached him and nudged him a bit with her hoof. "Sharp Wing?" His eyes slowly opened, and through the clumps of feathers covering his face she saw him smile. "I got..breakfast." He managed to get out, and then plopped his head back onto the ground. Black Cloud let out a puff of air and attempted to push him up onto his hooves. "Ok, you. lets get you back inside before anyone sees you." The two walked back into the house, unnoticed by any pony thankfully. "Most ponies are still asleep, and others are busy focusing on building. You're lucky no one saw you." She said as she lit the stove, setting a frying pan on it. Sharp Wing had made himself comfortable on the couch, and was busy drinking the blood from the robin he had caught. "I'm sorry. I saw a good opportunity and took it. At least I spared you a hunt for my breakfast." Black Cloud let out a small chuckle as she began to stir her mixture in her bowl. Setting the spoon down she poured it into the pan and nodded to herself. "Good, that means I have time to focus on my own breakfast then." While Sharp Wing was busy with his own meal, Black Cloud focused on hers. In the process while the pancakes were cooking, Black Cloud took the time to tie her dark blue bow tie around the base of her tail. Then she tended to her smoky colored fur, brushing it so she would look her best for the day. After she was satisfied with her look, she returned to her breakfast. Soon, she had a delicious pile of pancakes made. Opening a cabinet, she pulled out a jar labeled "Apple Syrup". Pouring it over her pancakes she headed over to the couch and sat down next to Sharp Wing. "What's that?" "Pancakes!" Black Cloud said happily, taking off a piece and eating it with glee. "No I mean, what's on them?" "Oh, it's apple syrup. I bought it from the local business around here. They're a huge apple farming family." Sharp Wing's expression seemed to turn into a small scowl. "Oh them..." "What? What's wrong with them?" "Well, the place where they've built their orchard and homes on, that used to be the forest I lived in. Since they came to the area I've had to hide in what little forests that are left around here. That's why you saw me in the cloud last night, I was heading over to Everfree Forest to hopefully find a place to live there." Black Cloud set her fork down on the plate and looked at him sadly. "Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't know." "It's ok, you ponies are a growing population. It was bound to happen sooner or later." Sharp Wing look down at the dead bird in his hands and gave out an awkward chuckle. "Um, any place where I can dispose of this?" "Oh! Um yeah, the trash can outside is fine. The trash ponies come by and pick it up every three days so, hopefully it won't start stinking till then." "Ok, thanks." Sharp Wing hopped off the couch to go dispose of the robin. Black Cloud tried to get the image of the dead bird out of her mind and turned her focus back to her breakfast. Watching Sharp Wing come back she noticed he seemed to be limping a bit. "Did you hurt yourself when you fell out of the window?" "No! ...well maybe." Black Cloud sighed and set down her plate on the coffee table. "Come here, let me see." Sharp Wing got back onto the couch next to her and extended his left front hoof out to her. Black Cloud looked over and squeezed it between her hooves a bit before setting it down. "It doesn't look or feel broken. You probably just landed on it funny. By the way, how's that gash doing?" She asked him, looking at the bandage around his head. "Well it feels sore, but it doesn't much anymore." "And your wing?" He looked down at it and frowned, shaking his head at her. "I should put a bandage around that too. The last thing I need is you getting hurt even more." "Well, at least I know I always have you to help me out." Black Cloud reached into the drawer to pull out the bandages and smiled to herself. It felt nice to be able to care for some pony like this. She'd been living alone since the day she left home for Ponyville, she'd almost forgotten what it felt like to have a pony by your side. She'd never except the pony she would become close to though would in fact be a vampire bat pony. I guess fate just works that way sometimes. Trotting back to him, she began to gently wrap up his wing. "Yeah, you'll always have me."