Batty Love

by Lotus Moon

Chapter 1

Author's Note:

Now I'd like to introduce you to an OC, Ruby Bat. Of course, you'll know more of her back story as the story goes on.

It was an ordinary day in Ponyville, the same as any other had been. Twilight Sparkle, the Princess of Friendship, and her friends were in the map room discussing different issues. It was the apple-bucking season and, like any other year, the vampire fruit bats were back in town. The Southern pony couldn’t understand why Fluttershy’s stare didn’t work to keep them away or at least uninterested in the apples.

“I just don’t get it. Fluttershy’s stare and Twilight’s magic worked to get them uninterested in my apple last year, granted it bounced back and turned Fluttershy into a Flutterbat. So why in tarnation did they come back to eat my apples this year? Those varmints have sucked up like 25% of my orchard! On top of what they had in the apple section, I had for them!” Applejack lightly stomped her hoof on the table.

“We don’t know how the vampire fruit bats mentality works. They could have turned back to normal from then to now. And they aren’t varmint, they’re living creatures like any one of us” Fluttershy said and squeaked when Applejack stomped her hooves harder.

“Then we need a much stronger and longer lasting solution! Twilight, you’re the element of magic and Princess Celestia’s prized student. Don’t you have some stronger spell that’ll fix this?”

“Sadly I don’t Applejack. I’ve been reading up about vampire fruit bats and unless I could study them, even I don’t know how the spells would, or even could, affect them. Maybe we could try Fluttershy’s stare again and try reasoning with them.” Twilight said and rubbed her hoof under her chin.

Suddenly the map started altering a bit, specifically around the Everfree Forest where the Castle of the Two Sisters was located. It looked to be changing from ruins to a normal castle again. Everyone’ cutie marks started resonating and gathered over the changing location. Spike, who was sleeping in the little throne next to Twilight’s, woke up. He noticed the cutie marks gathered in the one spot. “Whoa, what’s going on in the Everfree Forest? Last I checked there wasn’t a friendship problem to solve there. The only pony I know who lives out there is Zecora and she’s a zebra.”

“Yeah, I know. But maybe there’s something going on? I mean, there haven’t been any incidents out there but maybe there’s something going on out there that should be stopped before it starts.” The purple pony said and stood up. “Why don’t we go check it out and see if we can talk to Zecora for advice about how to deal with the vampire fruit bats?”

“Y’all go on ahead. I’m gonna go and protect my orchard.” Applejack huffed and galloped out of the map room.

“Poor Applejack. The apple-bucking season is so important to her. I do hope we help her soon.” Rarity said, getting out of her seat.

“Yeah, hopefully, Zecora will have some advice for us and then we’ll deal with those vampire fruit bats in no time.” Rainbow Dash hovered out of her seat.

“I hope so too. Without apples, we won’t get to have any more of those delicious treats Applejack makes, or Zap Apple Jam, or any more cider, or treats during Nightmare Night! Could you imagine Nightmare Night without apple bobbing?” Pinkie Pie said, bouncing towards the door.

“Oh, I’m sure Zecora will know what to do. She’s helped us many times before and she’s very knowledgeable about things.” Fluttershy said, following everyone.

“Spike, while we’re out, look through the library for anything you can find about the vampire fruit bats. There might be something we overlooked. Owlowiscious will help you. We’ll check out the Everfree Forest and see what’s going on.” Twilight instructed.

“I’m on it. You can count on me. Come on, Owlowiscious.” Spike said and sprinted out to the library with the owl.

Getting to the Everfree Forest, Twilight and the others had no clue what to expect other than what they’ve already seen. Fluttershy stayed close to her friends, jumping at the smallest noise, a leaf brushing against her, or even just bumping up against a tree. They walked through the forest, getting to the bridge that leads to the Castle of the Two Sisters. Or rather, the bridge that was supposed to be there. The roped looked to have been gnawed through.

“What in the name of Celestia did this? Ponies don’t bite through ropes.” Twilight shrieked a bit.

“M-Maybe it was something in the forest? Something dangerous even! We should go back.” Fluttershy panicked a bit.

“No way, we’ve come too far to turn back now. We have to investigate this.” The purple pony insisted. “I can use my magic to make the vines reconnect the bridge even if it’s temporary.” Twilight’s horn glowed and made the vines create a makeshift rope for the bridge to be held up. After testing it herself, everyone else walked across one by one. Once everyone was across, they were shocked to see that the Castle of the Two Sisters looks completely repaired just like the map showed; it just looked darker and more haunted. Fluttershy hid behind Rarity.

“Oh, Sweet Celestia! Who did this? We’ve been working to fix this place up and make it look dazzling. But even we couldn’t pull off this much restoration.” Rarity said, a little jealous.

“It’s as if the castle was never left to ruin. A-And the battle between Princess Celestia and Nightmare Moon never happened. This makes it even more suspicious. Come on, girls, we have to investigate.” Twilight said and started walking in, with Pinkie Pie and Rarity following her and Rainbow Dash pulling Fluttershy along. Inside the castle, the tapestries and carpet were repaired and altered drastically. The tapestries had a ruby on them with a bat in the middle. The carpet was red and black. There were no decorations to adorn the halls and everything the girls had put in the castle already was gone. The wind whistled through the quiet hallway and the only sounds there were the echoing sounds of hooves.

“Wow, it’s completely different inside. It looks nothing like what I saw in my vision of the past when Princess Celestia and Princess Luna still lived here” Twilight said as she looked around.

“You bet it’s completely different. It’s so bland and boring. What happened to the pictures and flowers and streamers we put up? All that hard work for nothing!” Rarity brooded a little. “Whoever did this has no sense of style.”

“We can worry about decorations later, for now, we have to find out why this happened.” Rainbow Dash. Walking around more, they came to the throne room and it was pretty dark. Twilight and Rarity lit up their horns so they could see where they were going. Going further in, they say the two thrones were repaired and had the letters “Q” and “K” engraved in them. Looking closer, they saw something in the “Q” throne. It moved for a bit and then a pair of bright blue eyes was seen in the darkness followed by a loud hiss.

“Who dares to intrude in my castle!” The being hissed. It was the voice of a female.

“Your castle? This castle belongs to Princess Celestia and Princess Luna! You’re the intruder! Who are you?!” Twilight stood her ground.

“Get out!” The being stood up, showing the outline of a pony about the same height as Princess Luna.

“No way! This castle belongs to our Princesses and we’re not gonna let you take over!” Rainbow Dash charged at the pony but crashed into the throne. The mysterious pony flew up, but the wings didn’t look right.

The mare flew around them, hissing and pushing them around. It wasn’t until Twilight called a retreat that they were able to lure the mare out into the light. The mare was indeed a pony, but she has the wings of a bat. She looked almost identical to Fluttershy’s Flutterbat, except her ears were the same as any other pony, just slightly curved and pointed. The mare glared down at them. “I don’t care who the previous owners were, this castle is mine now and no one trespasses in my territory!” She screeched loudly, causing Twilight and the others to cover their ears. Within seconds, a horde of bats swarmed and surrounded the other ponies before swooping in for an attack. Before the bats got to them, Twilight teleported herself and her friends out of the castle and into Zecora’s hut.