The Only Chapter
Thestrals, Lunar Knights and Bat Ponies are just a few of the names that Princess Luna's guards were called. They were another sub-species of ponies that are not well known until recently. They are quite similar to pegasi. Bat ponies are mostly nocturnal, preferring to work at night.
Bat ponies were not well received even during the ancient times. They were feared. There are a few stories about the bat ponies that mostly involve blood sucking. It wasn't true, of course. Not all of them suck blood. Either way, they wouldn't suck on another pony's blood. A blood sucker will always use animal blood, and it will not change.
Constantly being chased away and killed, their kind moved to the forest and lived in caves hidden away from society. They would come out at night to steal food and other basic needs from unsuspecting 'normal' ponies. This continued on for years until a young Luna discovered them. She was playing hide and seek with her sister and friends, and was hiding somewhere in the forest, giggling.
"Thou't encave forever, Luna! I shall find thou!" said a younger Celestia, looking around. She got close to Luna's hiding spot but thankfully didn't notice her. When the older alicorn moved from her hiding spot, Luna quietly ran further into the forest. Unfortunately, she stepped on a twig which gave her away. Celestia turned. "Found thou! Now I hast to chase thou!"
Screaming excitedly, Luna ran in circles, Celestia not far behind her. When the alabaster alicorn was about to catch her little sister, Luna ran further in the forest, too carried away with the game and wanting to win. Celestia gasped, crying out, "Luna, wait! Come back!"
The filly ignored her sister, thinking it was just another one of her tricks. She ran until she couldn't. Soon, the adrenaline wore off and she stopped to catch her breath. When she was done with that, she looked around and realized where she had gone - the forest her parents told her to stay out from. She had heard the tales about blood-sucking bat ponies and quite honestly, she was a bit terrified.
Every foal was. Nopony wants to get their blood sucked from their bodies.
Luna walked around, calling out her sister's name. "Tia?"
She had no idea where she was going. She could be closer to the exit and she could be walking further inside and it confused and terrified Luna. She called out to her sister once more, "Tia?"
Out of the corner of her eyes, she could see a figure flying from a tree branch to another, staying hidden in the tree's leaves. She gasped, turning her head towards that direction. She didn't take her eyes of where she saw the figure. Stuttering, she said, "Who's... Who's there?"
She tried to sound brave like her father but it just made her sound scared. There wasn't any respond. Desperate to live, Luna said, "Please don't hurt me... I-I just want to go home."
The same figure revealed itself, staring at the small filly. Was the figure deciding to let her go? Hopefully. It flared it's wings, making Luna back away as it flew to her. She let out a small, terrified scream, covering her eyes.
"Calm down, young filly. I shall not harm thou." said a voice. It sounded like a stallion. Slowly, Luna opened her eyes.
It was a bat pony! Luna didn't say anything, afraid that she'll say something to offend the bat pony.
"This is a dangerous place for a filly like thou. What art thou doing here?" the bat pony asked. He had a grey-ish coat, small fangs, bat wings and yellow slitted-pupil eyes. His mane was a dark blue and if Luna was being honest with herself, he was quite beautiful. He didn't have large fangs and thousands of sharp teeth like how parents would tell their children and his eyeballs definitely wasn't red.
"I... I got lost..." Luna responded. She stood and cautiously approached the bat pony.
"What were thou doing?" asked the bat pony.
"I was playing encave and seek with mine sister," Luna responded. "Could you help me get home?"
The bat pony agreed to help her, which surprise Luna. They walked in silence until the filly decided that she didn't want to refer him as 'bat pony'. "Sir, may I bid what thy name is?"
"Mine name is Sirius. I am the leader of the thestrals," Sirius responded. "And thou are?"
"I am Luna. Sister to Celestia and daughter to Prince Altan and Princess Andromeda."
"A royalty? Hm.. Pleasure to meet thou."
"It is a pleasure to meet thou, too!" Luna smiled. Sirius looked away from the filly after a few seconds. "Sirius, what are thestrals?"
"Another name for our species."
Luna immediately fired another question. "Methought thestrals are nocturnal? What is thy purpose being awake?"
"I had trouble sleeping. Somepony hath to patrol the forest for potential threats, anyways. And that is me today." Sirius answered.
"True... Why doth everyone despise thou?" Luna asked bluntly.
"It is because we are different from 'normal' ponies. We move quieter. We are stronger. We work at night. Ponies fear us because we are stronger than 'em. They see us as a threat." There was a bit of anger in Sirius' voice.
"Thou also suck blood."
"Not all of us, only a few. We never suck pony blood, only animals. We never harm others,"
"Oh... But -"
"We are here," Sirius said as he stayed in the shadows. "Now begone."
"Luna!" It was the voice of Celestia. Sirius stepped back, trying to hide in the shadows. The alabaster alicorn noticed him and gasped softly, fear evident.
"Tia!" Luna ran to her sister, hugging her. "I got lost in the forest and then I met sirius! That gent's a bat pony, can thee believeth it? That gent's very much nice and that gent's not liketh the ones in stories!"
"Truly? Well then... I might not but thanketh thee for helping mine own sister." Celestia said, grateful.
Sirius bowed a bit, and turned to leave. Luna cried, "Wait! Will I see you again?"
Sirius stared a her for a while, then left after he said, "We will see."
Visits from Luna were very frequent. Celestia helped her sister keep her visits a secret. Eventually, Sirius trusted the dark unicorn enough to being her to where the rest of his kinds were living. They were suspicious and cautious around her but soon warmed up to her after deciding she wasn't a threat, trusting their leader, Sirius.
They watched her grow up throughout the years by her visits. When her parents got suspicious, Luna started visiting during the night. Luna would often help watch the baby bat ponies or sneak food and basic needs to them whenever she could. Years later, their parents passed away in a fight against the dragons. Celestia and Luna managed to make peace, being crowned princesses after.
Now that she was a ruler, Luna convinced the bat ponies to come the castle, giving them jobs as guards which they accepted. Fear and doubt filled the ponies, especially the royal guards, but they learned to work and live alongside with them.
The bat ponies, who were once outcasts and seen as monsters are finally accepted and content, until the events of Nightmare Moon. Once Nightmare Moon was banished, the bat ponies left and went back to the forests and caves despite Celestia's efforts to convince them to make them stay.
"Our kind shall cometh backeth once our mistress returns," said Orion, Sirius' grown son. Thesterals live longer than normal ponies. But that didn't stop them from dying of old age. "Until then, we shalt stayeth enshielf,"
Orion turned and flared his wings. Before he flew off, he said, "We would stay, but the ponies would surely riot. Thee shall sayeth we have fled to thy subjects. Do not search for us. We know when to return."
And they left, never to be seen again for a thousand years.