Gabriela, the Batpony

by Betty_Starlight

Chapter 7: Desires

“SHIIIIIITTTTT!” Gabriela screams as she flies forward into the blackness and her vision adjusts for even greater darkness as she descends into the chasm. She can hear Dusk Shine giggling behind her as she’s held in her forehooves, the spiky anklets no longer irritating her at this point as she’s now focused on her descent and the fact that she’s certain she will not survive this. “What’s so funny?” Gabriela asks with her head cocked to the left to speak more clearly to Dusk.

“Oh, just you! Relax Gabs! I gotcha! And hey! Check out what everything looks like down here! You’re flying!” Dusk says exuberantly.

Gabriela then looks forward with her slitted blue eyes as the pupils widen and she perks her fluffy ears with interest. She begins to see the ground some distance below as they descend, and she sees cliff walls on either side of her as the gray rocks and crags fly past while they sail through the air. “I uh, wow Dusk! This sure is pretty!”

“There you go Gabs! Can’t appreciate things unless you look!”

Gabriela’s eyes widen with this realization, and as the ground gets closer, she looks ahead and says, “Uh, what are you gonna do if we hit a cliff face?”

Dusk says securely from behind her, “Not gonna happen!” before shifting her left wing down and right wing higher to take a sharp left just several feet away from the cliff face both batponies were careening towards and Gabriela flinches before opening her eyes once more and seeing another section of chasm as they turn that direction and continue to fly through it.

“You’re pretty confident, aren’t you?”

Dusk giggles, “You think I haven’t done this before?”

Gabriela begins to relax as she suddenly realizes she’s very tense.

“There you go! Just enjoy the ride! You might not get another one!”

“I uh, wow! This is really cool!” Gabriela says as she stares forward into more blackness while a cliff face is on either side of her. She also sees the ground approaching at a slightly faster rate as the rocks and debris below move past with speed.

Soon, the ground begins to approach faster than ever as both batponies race forward and then, they slam into the ground with a thud, Gabriela a split second before Dusk Shine as their hooves contact the rocky terrain. Gabriela flies forward with a gallop as she lands and Dusk finally lets go of her.

“AAAAAAAAHHHH!!!!” Gabriela happily screams as she races forward on her hooves shortly before skidding to a stop and veering to the right as her body twists with the action. She then looks behind to her back left to Dusk to see her face grimaced. She perks her head and ears up and looks inquisitively with wide-open eyes, “Uh, you okay Dusk?”

Dusk stops grimacing to look over at Gabriela while standing on her hooves as she says, “Yeah! Landing that way is always a shock and kinda painful, but I’m good!”

“Uh…” Gabriela chirps before correcting herself to all four hooves and looking up at the cloudy night sky with her night vision, now between two cliff faces in her sight. She looks back to Dusk, “Don’t suppose you know the way out of here?”

Dusk smiles her fanged grin once more, “You kidding? Follow me!”

<*****>

Both batponies trot down the darkened trail, towards the edge of the forest to the South. Gabriela looks over at Dusk Shine from the right and asks, “That sure was a lot of fun!”

Dusk smiles to Gabriela and says, “Yup!”

“How did you know about that anyway?” Gabriela asks curiously.

“Well uh, lets just say I’ve dived off a few cliffs in my time…”

“Why would you do that?” Gabriela replies curiously.

“Because, well…” Dusk looks down, away from Gabriela’s eyes.

“Well, what?” Gabriela asks while craning her neck to the other batpony with both fluffy ears perked her way.

Dusk looks back to Gabriela’s eyes, “Let’s just say, living didn’t always seem like the best option for me…”

Gabriela stops trotting and Dusk sees and stops herself.

Gabriela faces Dusk with wide blue-slitted eyes and head craned forward, “You mean to tell me that you actually tried to kill yourself?”

Dusk frowns and looks to her lower right, “Well, not exactly? More like, I leapt down there and just sailed with my wings, not sure if I’d make it or live or die…” She leans forward and raises her voice, “You’d be amazed at what you can do when you no longer care!”

Gabriela starts as she can’t fathom having no desire to live. She then looks up when she realizes that she could, but also realized that she had long since learned to bury her existential dread and take solace in herself and tending to her life and cat. And only when those thoughts crossed her mind did Gabriela suddenly understand Dusk Shine more clearly… While this wasn’t exactly a cry for help, she could tell that her friend might need her a bit more than she previously believed… She leans forward interestedly and asks, “Well, doesn’t Nightshade help with that? Loneliness and depression and whatnot?”

Dusk frowns, “Sorta? But she’s a loner type and we don’t hang out as much as you might think…”

Gabriela frowns and narrows her eyes, “So, what am I then? A distraction?”

“Ugh!” Dusk says while flinching. She stares at Gabriela with new resolve in her eyes, “You’re special, okay?”

“Yeah, I know!” Gabriela says while looking up at her curved unicorn horn.

“Ugh! No! Not like that! I mean,” Dusk flinches again before strengthening her determination and expression, “I like being with you and I love your personality!”

Gabriela frowns and widens her eyes to Dusk, “Yeah, I know!”

Dusk narrows her eyes and frowns, “So, why are we making this more complicated than it has to be?”

“Because…” Gabriela flinches and looks to the bottom right, “Why would anypony like me?” She stares to Dusk wide-eyed, “I’m too different!”

Dusk slowly exhales through her nose, “You ever think maybe the biggest problems are all in your head?”

“Huh?” Gabriela replies interestedly as her neck leans forward.

“Well, yeah! Think about it! You’re a unicorn batpony, right? A “unicorn of the night” or whatever! Sure, you don’t have anypony local that you can talk about night magic with or dark unicorn things, but so what? You still got me!”

“Well, how could you know what it’s like to be me?” Gabriela asks.

“Well, how the hay are we gonna find out if you don’t tell me about these things?” Dusk boldly retorts.

“What do you mean?” Gabriela asks before frowning.

Dusk sighs, “What I mean is, how do you know I won’t understand unless you talk to me about it? Ever hear that old expression about judging a book?”

Gabriela suddenly smiles, “By its cover!”

“Exactly!” Dusk adjusts her footing and says, “You need to let me in Gabriela…”, and then, with wide eyes, she nods and continues, “I swear, I’m here to help you!”

Gabriela narrows her eyes, “Why would you want to help me?”

“Because that’s what friends do!” Dusk happily chirps back before trotting forward and embracing Gabriela.

“EEP!” Gabriela exclaims as she’s embraced by the other night pony. She regains composure and returns the hug with her own forehooves.

<*****>

They both emerge from the thick forest down the trail on the South end of the Everfree Forest. Gabriela looks to Dusk trotting next to her on the left and asks, “So uh, what do you wanna do now?”

Dusk looks back at her, “Well, what would you like to do Gabriela?”

Gabriela narrows her eyes, “Well, a good cappuccino sounds lovely about now?”

“There’s the coffee shop on the other end of town? It’s only a block South and two blocks West?”

Gabriela smiles, “Sounds good!”

Dusk stops and motions forward with her right wing, “Lead on m’lady!”

Gabriela giggles, “Knock it off, jerk!” before trotting forward.

Dusk soon joins her on the left as both batponies turn right to face West, “Yeah, I admit that the first time I did that, I didn’t really care if I made it or not. But after that, I sometimes do it to clear my head. Never did it while holding another pony though!”

Gabriela looks to Dusk, “So, what made you decide not to live anyway?”

Both ponies trot down the desolate streets of Ponyville in the early morning hours while Dusk says while looking at Gabriela, “I just, well… I didn’t see the point anymore?”

“What do you mean?” Gabriela asks as her head moves slightly to Dusk with her blue eyes wide.

“Well…” Dusk says as she stops trotting and positions her body to face Gabriela while Gabriela does the same. She looks forward with wide eyes, “Think about it! I go to work! I listen to music! I smoke and drink and get bucked up! What else was there? I just…” she closes her eyes before opening them and looks to Gabriela, “What is my purpose?”

Gabriela frowns, “So, you felt you had no reason to live anymore?”

“Exactly!” Dusk says as she leans forward. “But then, I read the Friendship Journal and it talked about how we, as ponies need other ponies and how we all interact to make each other stronger and better! And that made me think that maybe, just maybe, I was going about this the wrong way? And then…” Dusk looks over Gabriela carefully before smiling, “I remembered you… The pretty night unicorn I work with…”

Gabriela starts and perks her ears to Dusk once more, “Wait! You think I’m pretty?”

Dusk narrows her eyes and straightens her mouth before saying whimsically, “Oh no! I like to buck ugly mares! It’s a fun pastime of mine for some strange reason!”

“Oh gosh!” Gabriela says as she looks down slightly and her cheeks begin to redden.

Dusk trots towards her and raises her chin with her right forehoof, “Nopony told you, you were pretty before?”

“Well, um…”

“Well, what?” Dusk asks while looking deep into Gabriela’s eyes.

“Heh! Several ponies have told me that… But I never believed them?”

“Why not?” Dusk asks curiously with her head cocked to the right slightly.

“Because of what I am… I just, well…”

“Well, what?” Dusk persists with her head slightly forward.

Gabriela starts, “Well, since I don't belong, that must mean I can’t look pretty, right? I can’t be aesthetically pleasing! I mean, come on! I’m me!”

At that point, the spiky haired punk rock batpony did the unthinkable… She craned her neck forward and kissed Gabriela on the lips!

Gabriela’s slitted eyes widen as she feels Dusk’s lips on hers and she feels her legs begin to quiver before she corrects herself with new resolve.

Dusk pulls back, “Well, guess what Gabriela? You actually are a very beautiful unicorn batpony and I love you!”

Gabriela stares at the punker wide-eyed, “I-idiot!”*

Dusk lowers her forehoof and giggles before asking, “What?”

“I uh, nothing… Gabriela looks down for a moment before returning her eyes to Dusk and smiling, “I love you too Dusk Shine!”

Dusk smiles and nods, “Good! But we’re not getting to the coffee shop by just standing here!”

Gabriela smiles back, “True! Uh, come on! Let’s go!”

<*****>

Gabriela sits in front of her triple amaretto cappuccino while watching the punk rock batpony gulp down her own double latte. She looks to the winged pony, frowns, and asks, “Dusk Shine! How do you really feel about me?”

Dusk sets her cup down with her forehooves, “I love you a lot, Gabs!”

Gabriela flinches before staring back and perking her head forward with a curious look in her blue eyes, “No, what I mean is… Are you in love with me?”

Dusk frowns, “Uh, why would you think that Gabs?”

Gabriela flippantly tilts her head to the left, “Oh, I don’t know! Probably the sensual kiss on the walk up here?”

“Well, um…” Dusk looks down before back to Gabriela, “I could not kiss you anymore if you don’t want me to?”

Gabriela starts and looks to Dusk, “Uh, no!”

“What?”

“Um…” Gabriela looks down and blushes slightly, “I liked that…”

Dusk leans forward, “So, what’s the problem?”

“Um, well…”

“Well, what?”

“Well…” Gabriela looks back to Dusk with a start, “I wasn’t expecting it!”

“So, you don’t want me to kiss you out of the blue anymore?” Dusk asks curiously while staring intently at the night magic user with her ears moved that way.

“Umm…” Gabriela says as her cheeks redden even more, “I kinda liked that too…”

“You’re still not describing any sort of problem to me?” Dusk asks intently from her side of the table while frowning.

“Well, um…” Gabriela composes herself once more, “I guess there isn’t a problem? I guess I’m okay with being kissed by you?”

“Kissing and snuggling on my pillow nest before work tomorrow?”

“Hey! I still need to feed Pete! I gave him plenty of food earlier, but he’s probably just now beginning to run out!” Gabriela says while leaning forward wide-eyed.

Dusk rolls her eyes, “Because Ponyville is SO large and you’ll NEVER find the time to swing by your place for a few minutes, right?”

Gabriela narrows her eyes at this obstinate punker, “Okay, you got me there!”

Dusk leans forward with a smile, “You worry too much! We’ll take care of everything!”

Gabriela sighs, “So, you’re sure this is okay?”

<*****>

Gabriela goes inside her house to sure enough, sees a meowing gray tabby cat greet her. She looks down at the lean animal and says, “It’s okay Pete! Mommy’s here now and she’ll feed you! Should also tend to your litter box!

She trots through the backdoor and looks to the left to see Pete’s bowl there almost empty. She smiles as he walks up to it and says, “Well, I wasn’t too late anyway! My baby won’t go hungry!” before smiling as the small yellow bag of cat food floats down towards the bowl while glowing pale blue. She tilts the bag to pour more food into his bowl while he starts to munch on it. She giggles as she sees some of the food land on his head only to fall back down into the bowl. She then looks up and floats the bag back to the shelf in her blue grasp before looking back down and floating her beloved cat to her from the floor. She holds him in her right forehoof while nuzzling him and says lowly, “I know momma’s been away boy! But worry not for I still love you and I’ll always be back to take care of you!”

Gabriela floats the cat back down and looks to verify that he has plenty of water. She whispers to herself, “Okay, now the litter box! Then, we raid my stash for the good shit!”

<*****>

Dusk Shine looks down at the colorful pink and purple bong and says, “Okay, so what did you do here Gabs?”

Gabriela smiles and looks to Dusk from the other side of the bong in her room as both batponies are surrounded by blue velvety pillows, three on Dusk’s side of the room and two more on Gabriela’s, “Well, my bong has what’s called an ice-catcher! This holds blocks of ice in the neck so that it will cool the smoke as it rises towards the mouthpiece. Which is good because we’ll be using my butane torch to burn some of your herb that I mixed with my hash in there and it can get pretty hot!”**

Dusk looks to Gabriela, “Oh, cool!”

Gabriela continues, “And as an added bonus, this will slow how fast the smoke rises so that you can take in more as you inhale!”

“This is pretty sophisticated!”

Gabriela giggles, “Well, I’ve been smoking devil weed for awhile now!”

Dusk smiles, “And now, you’re gonna teach me stuff!”

Gabriela starts, “Well uh, I guess so? I mean, I don’t drink anymore and so, that’s how I unwind. Well, that and it calms my overactive mind…”

Dusk frowns and asks inquisitively, “Is that a serious problem with you?”

“Not often, and as long as I smoke up on occasion, I’m normally fine!”

“But you don’t drink anymore?” Dusk asks inquiringly while lurching forward.

“No!” Gabriela says with a start, “You see, earlier in my life, I used to get bucked up every night on rum and whiskey and well, eventually I realized that I was killing myself… So, I put a stop to it! Just herb from here on out!”

“Did you actually have any health problems before that point?”

Gabriela leans forward, “What do you mean?”

“What I mean is, did anything go awry with your health before you stopped drinking? I mean, how did you decide that anyway?”

“Oh!” Gabriela smiles and says, “Well, outside of the normal lapses in memory and occasional vomiting that come with excessive drinking, I don’t think so?” before looking up with her eyes.

“Oh okay, good! I just wanted to know if you freak out or anything!”

Gabriela giggles, “Oh no Dusk! I haven’t had the stuff in years and I’ve long since cleaned out from it!”

“Okay, good! I want my pretty Gabs to be healthy!”

Gabriela blushes and says, “Jerk!”

Dusk giggles and asks, “What?”

“You’re a jerk!”

Dusk starts, “For calling you pretty?”

“Yes!” Gabriela says with wide eyes.

Dusk leans forward and asks inquisitively, “Uh, how the hay does that make any sense?”

Gabriela squints her eyes, “Oh, you know exactly how it makes sense!”

“I’m gonna kiss you again!”

“Oh, you wouldn’t dare!” Gabriela says defiantly.

Dusk suddenly gets up from her pillow and trots two paces to Gabriela’s face, “I’m not sure you realize who you’re talking to here…”

Gabriela leans back slightly and smiles, “Oh yeah?”

Dusk leans forward to nuzzle Gabriela as she has her own fanged grin on her face, “Is that a challenge?”

Gabriela giggles, “What do you think?”

“I think I need to give that cute rump of yours a spanking tonight!” Dusk says before leaning in all the way with her head slightly cocked to the left to deliver a slow sensual kiss to Gabriela.

As Gabriela widens her eyes, she can’t help but think that she asked for this, although she can’t for the life of herself, figure out why…

Dusk disengages her lips and moves her head back, “Better?”

“W-what do you mean?”

“Well!” Dusk says carefully, “You obviously wanted a kiss, otherwise, you wouldn’t taunt me like that…”

Gabriela narrows her eyes, “You’re serious, aren’t you?”

“About what?” Dusk asks quizzically with her eyes open.

“About loving me!”

(To be continued…)

Author's Note:

*That’s my usual reaction whenever somebody says that I’m pretty.

**My bong does feature an ice catcher, but it works as a percolator as well when not loaded.

***This is a typical setup like a stoner might make. I’ve often employed my ice catcher to mellow out shatter and resin in the past so it’s not as harsh when I inhale and I can take in more of it that when I breath in.