Love at First Bite

by uniquecorn

Recovering (Flutterbat)

Ponies consider me as a scary monster, some fear me but are brave enough to stay, while still others leave me be to avoid death.

I’m okay with that. I mean, my appearance as a Flutterbat is a frightening nightmare. I understand everypony’s opinion on me, especially since I acted as a nightmare myself. Not just a scary one, but a heartless and bloodthirsty monster.

When I first arose at Sweet Apple Acres at night, there were the five ponies who were the first to see me. I didn’t last long however as I was removed from Equestria via an alicorn’s effective reverse spell.

Or so they thought it’s effective, as after what felt like three years, I returned. I returned in a completely new location that’s not an apple farm. I was in a little dwelling with the rainbow-maned pegasus a short distance away from me looking at me frightened.

I quickly recognized her because she’s one of the vampire slayers. Rainbow Dash and the other four mares were the ones who deleted me for three years, so I wanted to kill them for payback. She dared to step forward and talk, but I didn’t take any chances, I bit her right leg as hard as I could that she screamed in pain. That transfers to her reflex of a punch on my head and knocking me out.

I was unconscious for many minutes until I woke up being surrounded by Twilight, Rainbow and Applejack with no where to run as I got lassoed and eventually got framed on a wall of a barn in Sweet Apple Acres.

They wanted to erase me again, they really don’t want me in Equestria. Can’t a pony just live for at least a week?

Unfortunately for them, their methods have failed. Either nothing changes or they make it worse for themselves. They eventually gave up.

Everypony that tried gave up, but not Rainbow Dash, my victim. Later that night, she entered my prison cell and walked closer to me. She held her hoof up so that her scar is in my sight. I wanted to smirk at it.

That was a mistake. She didn’t come here to see me, but she came here to kill me. She’s holding a knife on the other hoof and was prepared to stab me. As soon as I knew what he’s gonna do, I panicked.

I can’t escape, I can’t move away, I can’t defend myself. I didn’t want to accept this fate!

“Rainbow Dash! Stop!”

I was on the edge of a cliff when I suddenly heard somepony and then the next thing I knew, Rainbow Dash was being tackled from the side by that grey-coated red-maned stallion, Silver Trust.

“Argh! What the hay?!”

I watched and heard Rainbow angrily shouted at the top of her lungs. It was so loud that it feels like she grounded me hard. Has she been this angry ever since I appeared? But nopony ever said anything out loud to me. But it’s like I’ve been shouted at that I should’ve known something has happened.

Thankfully, Silver Trust came and stopped Rainbow’s urge to stab, so an explanation gets said out loud so that I can hear it. But what I heard is surprisingly heartbreaking, I don’t even know why I felt this way. I heard a Fluttershy being mentioned 5 times throughout the whole dialogue. But most importantly, I heard that Rainbow wants to end my life because this Fluttershy, her love, is trapped in my mind.

I…I don’t know what to say. Rainbow’s love is gone because I’m here? Did I remove somepony that she loved?

I also heard that Silver’s trying to unveil my good side and it’s working. I have to help Rainbow Dash, I’m the one responsible for everything. I got Silver’s attention by hissing softly, since that’s my only way of communicating.

“Have you been listening to our conversation?”

I was surprised that he responded to me, so I nodded to answer his question. I wanted to say

“Yes, I did hear your chat, Silver.”

I had to answer more questions from Silver, including a morbid one like…

“Are you…thirsty? Do you want…blood?”

“No! I’m not! I can’t and won’t suck anymore blood! Please don’t ask questions like that again!”

“Do you want to be released?”

That is the one question that strikes me. I thought for a second before I nervously nodded. Yes, I want to be released, but…at the same time, I don’t. I don’t want to harm another pony.

I didn’t expect to be free though. Answering that question does not necessarily mean I get to be free. I wanted to pay my life for the wounds I committed via the blade on the floor through my heart.

“Rainbow, give me the knife.”

By the time Silver mentions those five words, I was panicking in my mind. Why does he need the knife? The only answer I can think of is that he’s going to end my life here.

But I deserve to die. If they want to get rid of me, then so be it. If there is a Fluttershy inside me, then it’s called sacrifice for the greater good. If my death means that Rainbow’s love becomes an angel, then I’ll die for both Fluttershy and Rainbow.

I closed my eyes, trying hard not to think about the knife and where it’s gonna strike. Where is the knife gonna strike? My heart? My neck? My head?

Fortunately, though, the possible outcome didn’t match with my fate as Silver decided to break the chains. He dropped me off the wall and onto the floor.

After I realized I’ve been released, I regretfully eyed Rainbow Dash and embraced her in tears.

“I’m so sorry, Rainbow Dash! Really, I am! I made your Fluttershy disappear. She can’t exist when I exist! I’m so sorry!”

I can’t forget about her scar. I’m the one responsible for that scar on her foreleg via my sharp canines. I don’t know why, but I tried to lick the wound trying to either heal it or ease the pain I caused.

“I’m sorry for the scar, Rainbow Dash! I’m the one who gave you the scar, but you don’t deserve it at all! I’d try to heal it if I can, I mean it! Spare your forgiveness if you want to, I may or may not deserve it!”

It was burden that she felt, now it’s guilt that I felt. Can she really forgive me after a bitten leg?

“It’s okay, Flutterbat. You may not be the mare I like to see, but I’m not upset now that you understand what I felt.”

I kept on weeping even after those words of comfort. I mean, what have I done from when I first appeared? I removed somepony’s important pony. I bit Rainbow’s leg as a nightmarish version of her love. I took over her love’s body, but the transformation is irreversable. Do I really deserve to be forgiven?

“Don’t worry about all the harm you caused today.”

Silver said to me. I’d try not to think about the past.

“Flutterbat, tomorrow morning, you need to start making friends.”

That last word, ‘friends’. I had to think about what kind of friends he’s mentioning. My guess is he must be talking about the other four ponies that were with Rainbow Dash, then again, I could be wrong and he’s talking about making friends with random ponies. But if he was talking about them, I’d be nervous about that. But it’s like he’d like it to happen, so I nodded, for him.

We have our agreement, it’s time for Silver to leave so that he could rest. Rainbow Dash and I had to spend the night in the barn for the best.

---

Unfortunately, I’m a nocturnal creature, so, although I would love to, I can’t sleep next to Rainbow Dash. But I also don’t want to leave the barn because I don’t want the risk of being spotted, so I hanged upside down in a corner to pass the night while Rainbow is asleep.

The barn’s window was next to where I’m positioned. I looked at my reflection through the surface of the glass and saw my nightmarish appearance that everypony’s been looking at all this time.

Crimson blood-red eyes staring at my ruffled up mane hanging down from my head. Leather bat wings unlike feathery pegasi wings covering three pink bats as my cutie mark. Long sharp canines like sharp daggers perfect for tearing a pony’s flesh and pumping their blood out of their bodies.

Everypony sees me as a vampire, a scary creature and I was unaware of that. Once I see it, I can’t unsee it. I saw what I really am, a horrifying blood-thirsty transmogrified monster made harshly everlasting. Poor Rainbow sees her love like this. Sweet, kind and caring into scary, vicious and dangerous. I made her Fluttershy disappear, I turned her into a creature that nopony is safe from.

I looked away from the window to watch Rainbow as she’s sleeping. Looking at her, she looks adorable. She sleeps like a dog, her soft belly making contact with the floor with her tail along her side. If Silver hadn’t come to disarm Rainbow’s knife, I wouldn’t be able to see this adorableness.

But then I felt like we should talk to each other for longer, making sure everything is truly settled. Although I was hesitant, I quietly flew down and walked to Rainbow’s side. Now, I’m able to see how cute her sleeping position is from a close-up perspective.

But before I try to communicate with her, I wanted to stroke her mane and fur. I gave Rainbow the lightest touch I could provide her with and felt a nice soft texture. I’ve only touched Rainbow with the tip of my hoof when I heard a little groan.

“Is it morning already?”

Rainbow woke up, but I suspected that I’m the one who accidentally woke her up. I hid behind my mane as she had her eye on me as if I’m apologizing for waking her up. When she saw me, she began to talk, reassuring me that she doesn’t mind about waking up.

“I don’t mind waking up, you know? But unless you were actually trying to wake me up for something, I’ll be falling asleep. You can stroke me if you want to, it’s not like a nocturnal creature like you have anything awesome to do in an empty box or in this case, a barn used as a prison cell where you’re not supposed to escape.”

Although I felt a little better from Rainbow’s dialogue and smiled at her saying that I accept it, sorrow suddenly fills me up. I wanted to apologize about her Fluttershy, but unfortunately, I can only communicate with hisses, so I’m unable to tell her about it easily. When Rainbow saw my sorrow, she immediately made a false conclusion.

“Flutterbat, Silver and I told you that you don’t need to worry about all the intentional injuries you’ve caused today. You didn’t realize that I wedded, well, you as a pegasus and so you didn’t care about harming an innocent pony. You only understand my feelings because somepony else spoke out loud to you.”

”I thought we’ve established and settled that already. I’ll take your advice, but I’m talking about something else.”

Rainbow Dash became confused as I kept the sorrow in me. She had no idea what we’re discussing, so I put my hoof on my heart, trying to symbolize Fluttershy. As I pondered about if it’s a good representation, she suddenly knows what I want to say and tried to tweak my apology.

“It’s okay, Flutterbat. I know that taking away Fluttershy from me is wrong, you’re responsible for her absence and you want to preserve it. But it’s not your fault, don’t blame yourself. Actually, it was me and my friends that accidentally made you alive in the first place.”

It was that last sentence that hits me. Rainbow and her friends made me exist? I know it was an accidental incident, but I can’t believe that it’s them to blame for making me exist. I’m pretty sure they’re not dark wizards, perhaps they tried to cast a helpful spell, but it’s somehow rendered negatively to a mare named Fluttershy and turned her into a vampire like myself, but maybe somepony would explain what really happened.

“But if you’re really blaming yourself for removing Fluttershy from my picture, just know that you understood how I feel about my vanished love and wanted to bond me and Fluttershy again.”

That’s the truth. I declared myself guilty for taking away Rainbow’s love, I wished that I could fit two mares in a picture frame and repair a broken heart that I shattered. I still possess a small amount guilt, but a small hint of motivation fills me up enough to make me smile at Rainbow. But then, out of nowhere, I noticed that Rainbow’s starting to frown. Why?

“I’m sorry I was about to kill you with the knife, Flutterbat. I was just truly convinced that Fluttershy is gone, but I made the claim that she’s alive but trapped in the darkness. I wanted to kill you so that she can go to rest in peace, but then Silver Trust came to make you and me understand the love and friendship between us. Can you forgive me?”

Rainbow is apologizing for trying to stab me. Apparently, I’m not the only one in sorrow for a reason. The details she mentioned was convincible, Rainbow was truly convinced of Fluttershy’s permanent absence, but her insanity drove her into a false belief of “Alive but trapped” and so it’s why she wanted to knife me dead, to free her love. Until Silver Trust came and stopped her in the end. “Can you forgive me?” is Rainbow’s next question.

“Of course, Rainbow. I forgive you.

I still can’t speak english, so to signify my response, I put my hoof on Rainbow’s back and nodded. It looked like she took it way better than me, it’s hard to forgive yourself after a horrible incident, whether it’s attempted or already happened.

“I should go back to sleep. You should go back to whatever you noctural creatures do at night.”

I allowed Rainbow to set her head down so that she can sleep, but I decided to sit beside her to stroke her back for a little more time, even though I woke him up by doing so last time. I slowly reached my hoof to Rainbow’s body and felt her soft fur once again and this time, I’m able to caress her in peace as she didn’t seem to mind.

I continued to stay beside and stroke her for a few more hours before I proceed to hang on the ceiling, but not near the window though. I don’t like to see my reflection now, maybe someday I’ll get used to it, but not today. Although it was boring, I was patient and satisfied. I was able to stay up until the sun rises, for the second day for my existence.

To be continued…