"It's happening again."

Reddling found himself wandering down the streets of Silverfield, staring at husks of buildings he could recall. Although he was careful to not come close to anypony, one oaf still managed to bump into him.

"Sorry, Reddling." The pony said, stopping and turning to look him in the face. The pony's face flashed from normal to something ugly and twisted in a second. They were nothing but a murky grey entity cast in different hues of greyscale, yet that did nothing to blunt the disgust on their face. The sound of knives and swords unsheathing all around Reddling made his heart panic, but before he could become air born, magical binds tied his hooves to the ground, forcing him to stay put.

Staring around, Reddling's heart stopped as he finally caught sight of them. Hooded figures with hidden faces approaching. Under their cloaks they produced large, angry sickle blades.

"We take care of our ponies around here!" Cried a pony in the crowd. Reddling felt a frosty shiver travel down his spine as he failed to break free of his bonds. He could not tear his eyes off the glistening weapon as they drew closer, reflecting the not light from above. It was neither night nor day here, and yet somehow light illuminated the blades around him.

Despite attempts to fight the magic and ponies near him, Reddling felt his leathery wings spread wide as two long curved scythes were raised. "Get off me!" Reddling screamed. His heart was beating into his throat as he thought of any escape. Surely, somepony might help him.

"Tops!" Reddling screamed again, "Nightshade! Luna! Somepony! Somepony help me!" Reddling felt his voice die as he shut his eyes, every fiber in his body exploding with violent force in anticipation of the end. Being wingless was a fate worse than death.

A loud bang sounded above. Reddling's eyes flew open as he looked up. With a sudden concussive blast the hooded ponies were blown back, their forms shredding and becoming less real as they faded into the ground. The world regained purple hues as the blast faded, illuminating the world with a brilliant luminance. Reddling could hardly catch his breath as he wrapped his wings around himself ,staring around for the source of the blast.

Rise above this, Reddling. You are greater than your fears. Princess Luna's voice sounded distant, as if she had already vanished back into some surreal realm she had emerged from. Looking around, Reddling saw bat ponies sucking on apples and doing shopping on the town street alongside other ponies joyfully.

A few ponies still stood strong however, and raised their weapons, preparing to hold Reddling down again. Flapping his wings, Reddling lifted himself into the sky, flying away from his hometown and vanishing into the faded sky. The moon and the sun both were out together, and as Reddling soared around the town high above the ponies wanting to harm him, he glanced at clocks that continued to change their time very rapidly. All he had to do was blink and the time would change. Reddling blinked away a few tears in his eyes as he landed next to a small filly writing something on a board.

"What?" Reddling asked her. The filly did not look up at him, but instead showed him the clipboard.

"Look, I can spell 'Apples!'" the filly exclaimed. The letters on the board were little more than terrifying squiggles of somepony trying to emulate composition skills. Reddling reasoned that even a filly of that age should know how to write the word apples though. Turning to look at a sign, Reddling let out a scream as the letters twisted before his eyes. Surely, just a moment ago it had read Bar'Fervor, yet now it's syntax had been utterly corrupted, translated into something that surely could not be a language.

Reddling felt his fear slowly decline as he looked around at the various buildings, avoiding reading any signs and looking at any clocks. Breathing deeply, he imagined himself beside a river. The sound of soft rushing water slapping rocks soon filled his ears as he found himself alone. Once more the dream was his, and he was free to enjoy some pretty scenery as the sun and moon set simultaneously.

Reddling yawned as he trotted into the mess hall. He had been able to get some restful sleep after Luna's visit, and the barracks was totally empty today. Most ponies were likely at the service, and that was just fine with Reddling. Being a foreigner, he felt that it would have been odd for him to attend the mourning of countryponies that were not his own.

Giving a little flap to his wings, Reddling bounded over the sneeze guard and landed gracefully behind the counter, snatching an apple with one of his claws and putting it into his mouth. Behind the counter was a large crate marked "red bat pony" laying somewhat in the open.

That's mine, then. The rations for me, Tops, and Nightshade. I should go pick up our medical supplies and my coat before we go as well. I didn't want to be at the service, anyway.

When the moon finally began to rise and the sun left it's red rays only barely marring the hills, Reddling landed outside Canterlot's gates. Tops and Nightshade swooped down soon after, their traveling gear packed in saddlebags. Tops had added an extra jar into his saddlebags, which stuck out at a slightly odd angle. Reddling brushed his coat back as he peered curiously at the jar.

"Dragonfire." Tops said, reading Reddling's curiosity. "If we put something flammable in front of it, it will appear in front of Lunar, so we get to send one message back for free. I got a chance to talk to the captain and he told us most of the Changelings fled to the south west. Appleoosa and the buffalo ranges are to the east, and the badlands are south west of that."

"Silverfield is to the south..." Reddling pondered. "It's right on the way, so we can make the stop and sleep in actual beds tomorrow morning. After that we can do a full sweep of the Badlands and loop back up towards Appleloosa before returning to Canterlot."

"Sounds like a plan." Tops nodded his head. "Did you get a chance to talk to Web?"

"Yeah, I did." Reddling nodded back. "If things go bad, we're going to blow some bugs up. Literally."

"Oh?" Nightshade asked, looking up and gazing harshly at Reddling. They were never on good terms, but the recent meeting in the mess hall before Reddling had stopped by to pick up his coat after it finished had left both of them bitter.

"We'll kiss them!" Reddling laughed manically, trying to emulate some of Web's cheeriness.

Nightshade was silent for a few moments before she opened her mouth. "I worry about you sometimes, Reddling."

"How sweet." Reddling said bitterly, producing the vial Web had given him. "This is called Widow's Kiss. Give a changeling a dose of this, and they're going to die the most horrible, painful death you'll witness. The problem is we've only got one shot with this, so if we waste it then it's gone."

"How pleasant." Nightshade said sarcastically. "Hopefully we won't have to use that."

"We're not going to get a chance to use it if we don't get on the road. Are you two ready!?" Reddling cried. Despite his attempts, it was hard to hide the rising excitement in his voice as he soared into the sky, staring down at his friends and they took off and brought up his flanks. Both of them let Reddling take the lead as he began to soar over the Equestrian countryside. Little lights here and there marked happy towns and villages below enjoying their late fall evenings.

Something was alight in Reddling again as he felt the air begin to change. Each flap of his wings kept him moving closer to home. The Night passed away to early morning as the moon tapped the horizon. Although it would be another hour or two before light would come about, Reddling had an urge to find someplace that he could hide away from the sun and sleep until it was time to be active again.

Taking a dive, Reddling led his friends to a lower altitude as they passed over a few cliffs, catching the first glimpse of rolling hills and silver grass. The landscape was littered with various green bushes here and there that cropped up like sore thumbs among an otherwise nigh unbroken sea to grey-silver blades of grass. The moon's light bounced against several hills, casting a glorious light onto purple flowers that were blooming for the final time in autumn. Here and there trees spouted into the sky, but their leaves had changed to orange and red colours, making it impossible to tell if they were normally green or not in the summers.

Reddling blinked, trying to get his bearings. He had never seen his homeland from the sky, so this was quite the experience for him. The air was colder out here, and the winds seemed somehow wilder. Flying a bit lower, Reddling managed to pick out a few roads and decide which one he wanted.

"Ah!" Nightshade cried to the side. Reddling and Tops both turned to see her flapping her wings awkwardly and gliding towards the ground. Following downward, Tops and Reddling gave their wings a few odd flaps as air currents caught them, making the landing quite difficult. Tops and Reddling hit the ground at a bit of a run, staring at their companion. Nightshade could not say the same about a graceful landing. She had nearly crashed into a hill and was currently dusting herself off.

"I thought I'd be the one hugging the grass." Reddling said, bending down and taking a bite out of the grass. In truth, the grass didn't taste all that different from Equestrian grass, but it was the feeling of being home that Reddling was really looking for. The grass here had hexagonal shapes instead of the normal oval-like plant cells one might expect to find.

"Damn air currents!" Nightshade said. "Don't the pegasi take care of their weather at all here? I could hardly fly at all there for a moment."

"No, The pegasi don't really do that, because we don't have any Nightshade." Reddling said moodily, staring harshly at her. "Get used to it, the Badlands probably aren't going to be much better."

Nightshade made an angry sound like "Tushch!" before trotting to the road, looking from Tops to Reddling. "How much further, Reddling?"

"Not far, maybe another few minutes and we'll be able to see the town." Reddling assured them, turning his tail to them and flying back into the sky, although at a much lower altitude. Nightshade and Tops both followed with a little more distance this time, as wary as Reddling of any random air currents that might blow them off course.

Sure enough, it was not more than a few minutes later that some rolling hills gave way to a town in the distance. Reddling veered away from the town however, heading towards a tall stone building in the distance. Nightshade and Tops seemed unsure for a moment as they approached, but maintained their following of Reddling.

I'm home. Reddling sighed to himself, smiling up at the old crumbling keep as he landed inside the courtyard. turning to his friends as they landed, Reddling folded his wings under his coat. Reddling turned to his friends and took a step back. Both of them were panting heavily, Nightshade leaning on Tops for support. All three of them were drenched in sweat, although Reddling had barely registered this with the euphoria of being home once again.

"Alright, Tops, Nightshade, The town is completely off limits. I'll handle looking around on my own, I'd prefer to not put the two of you in harm's way."

"Right... they won't take kindly to us..." Tops said, looking himself over. "This is your hometown, do you have some plan?"

"Of course." Reddling said idly, pointing up at the keep of the castle. "We're going to stay at my house."

"What was the point of this again?" Nightshade said, leading to a heavy sigh from Reddling.

"The sun is coming up soon and we need a place to stay." Reddling said angrily. Nightshade's attitude was beginning to grind his gears a little too much as of late. "Plus while we're here I'm going to check the area and make sure Changelings aren't around here. Before I joined the Night Guard I helped the- the local law enforcement hunt monsters. Somepony may have seen something notable."

"Are you sure you'll- well, be alright, asking them?" Tops asked carefully.

"Why wouldn't I be?" Reddling blinked, "I'll have my dark sunglasses and coat on."

"Alright, we'll just follow your lead..." Tops said, still obviously wary.

"Great," Reddling said, turning to face the keep and talking over his shoulder as he trotted forward. "My nephew is probably home, and he's really pretty nice and curious. Let's go." Reddling removed his helmet as he pushed open the main doors, depositing it on a bench inside. Rather than leave on a helmet that blocked off his whole face, Reddling figured it a better idea to try and look as normal as he could with sunglasses and a long coat on in the middle of the early morning hours. with the exception of his tufted ears, fangs, and discolored coat, he was sure that he could pass for being almost the same pony.

"This place is ruined." Tops said, staring around at various cracks in the walls. Indeed, the castle had seen better days. The main complaints that Reddling had always had was the missing parts of the roof, but otherwise it was the east wing and battlements that really needed repair. Signs of a battle that happened long ago still scared the vacant greeting halls.

"Nah, it's great. Always looks like this." Reddling said, turning his head forward and calling out for his nephew. "Rainy! HEY! Rainy!"

Trotting up to the throne room here, Reddling pushed the door open and climbed over some loose books. The room might once have been fit for lords and ladies, but not more. The room was now nothing more than an extended makeshift study the was piled with more than enough books to threaten a fire hazard. A few chairs and an old throne with two cushions on it were the only breaks in the piles of books and writing supplies. Off to the side was a door that lead into some side bedroom. Reddling knocked on the door and called again for Rainy.

"Ugh- Reddling- I'm trying to sleep." Rainy's tired voice came from the other side of the door. Reddling waited for a few moments as the voice paused.

"REDDLING?" Rainy's voice rang from the other side of the door. There was a thud as something hit the ground, followed by the scampering of hooves towards the door. Reddling could barely conceal the grin on his face as his heart soared. If there was anypony in the world that Reddling had no doubt he could trust, that he would always protect with his life, it was this little blue unicorn galloping to open the door right now.

"Reddling!" Rainy cried as the door swung inward, revealing a small blue colt that could have passed just as well for a filly.

"Rainy!" Reddling breathed happily. The unicorn launched himself into Reddling's hooves as they both hugged each other, embracing tightly for quite some time.

"What're you doing back?" Rainy asked, his voice just a little muffled at first as he pulled back from the hug, not leaving the embrace. "Did- did you succeed? With the other-"

"Ah! uh," Reddling said, looking to the side quickly before returning his eyes to Rainy. "Yes and no, Rainy. We have some guests. I'll be headed back to Equestria soonish, but our work brought us by."

Rainy peeled himself away from Reddling's embrace to stare hard at the guests, taking a good look at Tops and Nightshade.

"Tops." Reddling said, pointing at the green pony. "And Nightshade." Reddling just waved at the lavender maned bat, his hoof dropping before he was even half finished with her introduction.

"Rainy, pleased to meet you." Tops said.

"Hey." Nightshade said, her voice taking on what Reddling guessed was her attempt at a friendly tone.

"Reddling!" Rainy hissed. "You brought Equestrians to- to-" Rainy's eyes moved down to the wings on Tops and Nightshade, his eyes growing a bit wider each second.

Were they any other Equestrians except for Web, I wouldn't have considered this. Reddling thought, looking down at Rainy. "Like I said, "work" brought me here."

"What the hell are they?" Rainy asked in a shocked voice, still looking over the two strange bats. Nightshade frowned at the question, clearing a little upset at Rainy's lack of tact.

"Well, uh, they're like- like fruit vampires!" Reddling said, nodding to himself. It wasn't really a lie, most bat ponies as far as he knew did drink almost entirely fruits and water. "They look like vampires, but they don't feast on the blood of innocent ponies."

Reddling shot Tops a pleading glance as the green pony nodded, "Yeah- exactly."

Please play along you two, please... Reddling thought as Rainy's eyes turned bat to Reddling. Rainy took a step back as he stared long and hard over Reddling's figure, his face growing slightly pale. the little colt seemed to be very freaked out now, his face one of complete shock and something bordering on terror

"Reddling, your coat-" Rainy said in a faint voice, fear gripping his vocals.

God Dammit.

"I work with these two- it does not afford me much time to get sunlight." Reddling said. That wasn't a lie either, but it didn't seem enough to convince Rainy either.

"What... what did they do to you?" Rainy asked, backing up into his room.

"Rainy!" Reddling said sadly, pulling his glasses down a bit. "Equestria commits many sins. This is simply one of the sins some of us endure."

"Hey!" Tops said, stepping forward heatedly. "Reddling, you chose this, and besides, it got you your wings back!"

Reddling felt his whole mouth twitch. As he turned to Tops, one of his ears gave a few mad twitches. Lowering his brow, Reddling hoped that the cold stare he was shooting Tops conveyed just how much of an idiot his friend was being right now.

Rainy's door closed with a slam in Reddling's face. Panicked "oh god, oh god!" could be heard from the inside of the room as Rainy scrambled around the room.

"Excellent." Reddling said sarcastically as Tops backed away at the virulent glare Reddling was giving him. Pushing the door open, Reddling trotted in to see Rainy pulling out a impressive greatsword. While to an Equestrian it might have just been a longsword with extra reach, in Silverfield it was quite a blade, and even moreso for a young colt that was at most half the size of the blade.

"Ah!" Rainy cried as Reddling entered. "You're not supposed to go into houses if you aren't invited! Bloody hell, you're breaking the rules!"

"Except I live here too!" Reddling said angrily. "So that logic doesn't even work."

"They got you, I'm not letting them get me too!" Rainy panicked.

"Nopony is going to get you, Rainy." Reddling sighed. At that moment Rainy picked up a large bag with magic and threw it onto the ground. At least a hundred bits flew all over the ground. For a second Reddling pondered whether he was supposed to count them. With a roll of his eyes, Reddling kept his gaze on Rainy, shaking his head at the silly old story. Rainy was trying to run past Reddling, his sword not drawn yet. The colt didn't seem to want a fight, so much as to just escape.

Reaching out, Reddling grabbed the colt lightly on the horn and jerked back, causing him to lose hold on his sword with a yelp of pain as the weapon clattered to the ground.

"Ah! Aaah! That hurts, get off!" Rainy cried in pain. "I had garlic for breakfast! Get off!"

Reddling shook his head at the silly excuses as Tops and Nightshade poked their heads into the room, looking around at the almost comedic scene.

"Rainy." Reddling said, pulling the colt's head and neck close to his mouth. "You knew certain costs came with my mission, this is one of them."

"Reddling, you're freaking him out." Nightshade said idly.

Rainy let out a loud scream. "HELP! Somepony HELP!"

"Look, nopony is going to hear you from the castle anyway." Reddling said, pulling away and using his normal indoor voice again. "Rainy, would you calm down and just listen, please? Would you like us to stand in the sun and prove we won't burst into flames?"

Rainy did not seem to be sure what he wanted. His chest was pounding as he hyperventilated, every part of his body jerking in terror. Tears were rolling down his eyes as he sobbed, coughing out a few words when he could.

"I- Don't want- to be a- vampire pony-!" Rainy sobbed, his tears staining his coat as he hiccuped mid sob.

"Rainy, you're not going to be a vampire pony." Reddling said. I'm the only real vampire here, anyway.

"Reddling." Nightshade said from the door. "Would you like some help calming him down?"

"If you've got any ideas, then yeah. Have at it." Reddling dropped Rainy onto the bed, gesturing for Nightshade to come over and work her magic as he backed up.

Let's see what secrets you learned from Cobalt Flare when you were off training. let's see the power of the Nightmare, Nightshade.

Nightshade walked forward into the room, closing her eyes as she got close to Rainy. Rainy flinched away instantly, still crying and twitching. Shadows billowed out from the nooks and crannies of the room, wrapping up everypony and everything. Like a comfortable blanket, the outside world went quiet, dark, and dim. The room slowly faded away, leaving only tops, Nightshade, Reddling, and Rainy standing in what seemed to be a void. Rainy still looked freaked out, but it was impossible to see if he was laying against anything. The colt's eyes widened as he stared around at what was formerly his room.

"Perfectly natural treatments for all that ails you." Reddling said quietly, watching the scene.

Nightshade slowly trotted forward to Rainy, her eyes still shut. "Go to sleep, child." Nightshade said, putting a hoof over both of Rainy's eyes and shushing him. The darkness slowly faded away, revealing a normal room again. It was as if nothing had happened, and the entire thing had been little more than a dream, a flight of fancy in the mind. Rainy lay asleep on the floor, breathing softly.

"That was your way of calming him down?" Reddling said incredulously. "You just knocked him out?"

"If you have a better idea, wake him up and try again." Nightshade said sourly.

"I was just going to give him a spot of Black Agnosia." Reddling said, gesturing to Rainy.

"So you were going to do the same thing, but give him horrifying nightmares tomorrow night." Nightshade asked. Reddling opened his mouth to retort, but Nightshade continued on without letting him answer, "Now you can wait for him to wake up, show him you didn't bite him or whatever in his sleep. You can be a little honest and actually explain what's going on without looking like some monster out of a storybook.

"To be fair, we do look like monsters out of a storybook." Reddling said as he moved forward to Rainy. gently picking up the colt, Reddling used a claw to move away the blankets and tuck in Rainy. Running a hoof over the colt's bushy mane a few times, Reddling turned to look at Nightshade again.

"If he slept well last night, he'll be up in an hour or two." Nightshade said. "Do you have spare bedrooms?"

"Yeah, it's a castle. The west wing should be dusty but well kept, so pick whatever rooms you like." Reddling said, moving back into the throne room and rummaging through some books. After digging around for a moment, Reddling pulled out three bottles and placed them near the throne. An unopened vodka and wine bottle were laying there alongside one that Rainy had obviously been working through.

"It was pretty damn naive for you to expect him to not notice that you were a batpony. I'm not sure what you thought would happen." Nightshade said heatedly, exiting the room.

"I expected... I didn't expect this. Rainy-" Reddling uncorked the new bottle of wine and took a long swig. There was a powerful burn of alcohol to the wine, although not enough to ruin the drinkability of it.

"Reddling..." tops said, moving closer by and sitting down on his haunches.

"Yeah, Tops?" Reddling asked, his tone cynical and jaded as he took another swig of wine. Already a few pleasurable waves of numbness were washing over Reddling's brain, but he knew the true effect would take a little while yet to hit him.

"Are you alright?" Tops asked, concern very evident in his voice.

"I will be." Reddling said bitterly.

"Did- did Rainy not know? About wings?" Tops asked.

"There hasn't been a pegasus or bat in Silverfield since before Nightmare Moon was banished. There are no pegasi in Silverfield, Tops." Reddling stared down at the wine and held the bottle out to Tops. "Want some?"

"I'll try some." Tops said, taking the bottle.

"Aged to perfectly crappy perfection." Reddling said sarcastically, watching Tops take a quick sip. The green pony sputtered at the drink, passing it back with widened eyes.

"That's strong!" Tops exclaimed, staring at the wine.

"Didn't I ever tell you Silverfield has much stronger drinks down here?" Reddling asked, taking another swig of the wine and offering it back to Tops, who took another, somewhat larger, sip.

"It's strong and sweet- Grapes? What kind of grapes do you grow down here?" Tops asked, passing the bottle back.

"Eh, maybe it's something in the soil. I don't know what kind of grapes we grow down here though. It'd probably be best you go and not ask though, the ponies around here will just kill you on sight." Reddling said, taking another drink of wine. "My only family thinks I'm a storybook monster... Isn't this just joyful?" Reddling's trip home was turning out far differently than he had expected, and he was convinced that it was not the wine leaving the bitter taste in his mouth right now.

"He had a sword at the end there, you at all worried he'll try and attack us?" Tops asked, nodding to Rainy's room.

"Yeah, you should maybe take that away from him." Reddling grinned at the wine as Tops stood up and nodded, quietly walking into Rainy's room and coming back carrying the sword's sheathe in his mouth, the hilt of the blade gleaming with a light all of it's own.

"If you wake up early tomorrow, maybe I can give you a tour of this dump." Reddling exclaimed loudly, staring angrily at his wine.

"Calm down Reddling, you'll wake him." Tops insisted. "We should be more tactful with him, so he doesn't get so suspicious and whatnot. Do you have some way to prove you're still you? What do your legends say about bat ponies?"

"Batponies are bloodsucking monsters, like me." Reddling said bitterly.

"You're not a bloodsucking monster, Reddling." Tops said, looking around the room.

"It's fun to get a kicker." Reddling giggled. "Feel it gush out and fill you up and feel high."

"What the hell happened to this castle? It's a mess..." Tops said uncomfortably, avoiding the topic Reddling was touching on.

"Equestria happened to it, a long, long time ago." Reddling said.

"How long ago? This place doesn't look like it's been used in centuries." Tops said, still staring around at the castle and peeking out some of the windows. A false dawn was rising over the world right now, giving a bit of light to the windows.

"Oh yeah. Equestrians killed all of Silverfield's warriors- the pegasi. that was back before Nightmare Moon, though." Reddling said, swigging the wine again. He was starting to feel his mind slipping as Tops continued to ask him questions.

"They- ah. That's terrible." Tops said. "Why do you- they- you know. Wings. I just can't understand that..."

"Chop them off with sickles?" Reddling said coldly.

"Yeah." Tops said with a flinch.

"The answer is in Silverfield, they don't. There are no pegasi in Silverfield. If you want the truth, well buck Tops, go ask the cloaks that do it."

Tops wrapped his wings around himself, shuddering. "No, I'd rather not."

"I do wonder what my red fathers would feel like." Reddling said, setting down the bottle and wrapping his won wings around himself.

"Reddling, maybe you should cut off the drinking for now. We've got to get moving tonight, and we still need sleep... Also, we need to make sure your nephew doesn't murder us."

"Yeah, yeah you're right I just..." Reddling stared down at the unopened vodka bottle. "We've got some bottles in the cellar. Go take a bottle and enjoy it with Nightshade or something, okay? I'm going to sit and wait for the only pony important in my entire life before being a bat to wake up and scream that I'm a monster. A monster, Tops."

"You're not a monster, Reddling, despite what he thinks. You just need to show him that." Tops said reassuringly.

"Tell that to the pony I sucked on." Reddling said coldly, not meeting Tops' eyes. "Kicking with her muffled screams in my hoof while her blood all gushed up, you think I was kidding? It was Web's treat, so smooth and sweet-"

"Reddling!" Tops said alarmingly.

"That's my name, as far as I know." Reddling mused.

"You drank a pony's blood!?" Tops exclaimed.

"Oh yeah. They probably think it was a bad dream though. Web made it special, and she was right about the blood being exotic. There is a special feeling as a pony kicks under you, struggling to get away as their blood changes flavor from the hormones in their blood."

"That's horrible!" Tops cried, standing up.

"The flavor change from sweet to edged. It's filled with fear and hormones, panic! The pony fears for their life in your grasps, and it reminds you of what you are, and how you can't escape it. We're animals. Storybooks say we're monsters, and the stories had to come from somewhere, Tops." Reddling rambled.

"Reddling look at me." Tops said. After waiting a few moments, Tops put a hoof on Reddling's cheek, moving his face so they were staring at each other.

"You don't have to be a monster if you don't want to. It's all a choice. You chose to not let the Nightmare take over, so I know you've got a reason to be good." Tops assured him.

"Yeah, and that reason now hates me, Tops." Reddling gestured over to Rainy's room. "You don't understand."

"I'm really sorry about what happened, Reddling. Try to get some sleep, okay? We've got rest up for tonight." Tops offered up Rainy's sword, which Reddling took and laid at the side of the chair. Tops and Reddling exchanged looks for a few moments before they both nodded. Tops turned, leaving Reddling alone to wait for Rainy to wake up.

Each minute ticked by as Reddling counted his heartbeats. Some of the time, Reddling imagined that he was in a fitful sleep, imagining himself as a villain and monster everywhere he went. The sun peeked out at the silver grass, not yet bright enough to cause agony, but enough to cause irritation. Reddling pushed up his sunglasses as he heard Rainy's door creak, moving his head over to look at the colt that was curiously peering out into the room. Reddling had removed his coat and wrapped it over his shoulders, keeping his wings hidden for the time.

"Rainy..." Reddling knew his voice was weak as it left him, the sound failing to carry very far. Rainy did not immediately run, although he still seemed very scared.

"Okay, what the hell is going on?" Rainy asked, staring out at Reddling with gleaming little eyes.

"To get close to the Princesses, I had to join their guard. The Night Guard is composed of bat ponies. They took me, and changed me." Reddling said, not unhappily. The real truth was he loved being a bat, and he wouldn't trade it for the world, but Rainy could never know that.

"That's screwed up." Rainy said blankly, opening the door wider.

"Yeah." Reddling nodded. "But I was prepared for anything."

"Where- where's my sword?" Rainy asked carefully. Reddling keeled down and picked up Rainy's sword, offering the hilt to him. Rainy hesitated for a moment, then trotted forward carefully.

"Rainy, I swear, I'm not a monster. Look at me." Reddling pleaded with him. The colt simply jerked away his blade, almost nuzzling it once it was at his side. A few moments passed, and then Rainy looked up, meeting Reddling's eyes.

"Well, you didn't bite me when I was asleep... That's worth something." Rainy said.

"We don't drink blood, dammit." Reddling lied.

"Do- do you have them too?" Rainy asked carefully. "Wings?"

Reddling glanced down for a moment, then stood up, letting his coat fall off and onto the chair. Spreading his long, purple hued wings, Reddling showed off his full wingspan to Rainy, letting a small "boo" once every inch of the leathery wings were visible.

"Holy hell!" Rainy gave a start, backing up a bit in surprise. After quickly recovering, Rainy cautiously trotted forward, putting a hoof on Reddling's wing and tracing along it. The leathery wing was covered with soft fur and had veins that barely showed at parts. Rainy's hoof traveled over the bones and muscles, touching the claw at the joint before moving down to the actual wing part. He was exceedingly gentle with rubbing the soft and almost transparent parts of Reddling's wings.

...That actually feels kinda nice. Reddling thought, wincing just ever so slightly at what he deemed excessive touching.

"The church is going to flip the hell out." Rainy said warningly, retracting his hoof.

"They're not going to know." Reddling said bitterly, biting himself over his next words. He could tell if it was a lie or not, but in his heart, he no longer felt like he was making the right choice with his words. "There is a way to reverse this, which is why I need to take Luna back here with me. T-This isn't natural, and the church will just mark me as another pony marred by Equestria if I can't prove I can help fix this."

"Fuck Equestria." Rainy exclaimed angrily. stomping his forehooves. "God damn it."

"...By the way, those two," Reddling pointed in the direction of the west wing, "Don't know anything. Keep them in the dark."

"Why'd you bring them anyway? Are we gunna-" Rainy raised a hoof to his throat and drew it across, making a slitting noise. "Scccchchhllt!"

"NO!" Reddling cried instantly, lowering his wings and looking over his shoulder quickly in the direction of his friends. Rainy gave another start at the outburst. "No Rainy... Equestria is facing an issue that may affect us. They were attacked by changelings, and are offering a chance to eliminate them. Killing mon- killing monsters helps all of us, which makes them fine for now."

Rainy made no response, so Reddling quickly added, "It would only hurt us to kill them, okay?"

"Fine, whatever." Rainy said, waving a hoof. "Some other time then. Why'd you stop here?"

"Wanted to check on you, make sure you were okay. If the Changelings come, be ready to fight them. I don't know if they would or not, but be prepared." Reddling said, sitting back down and wrapping his wings around himself.

"Jeez, couldn't you have like, fixed yourself before you came here?" Rainy said, gesturing to Reddling's wings.

Reddling pulled down his glasses, looking at Rainy with his own eyes now. "I wish it were that easy."

"Well-" Rainy said, trotting forward. "...I'm glad you're okay, even if you are a bat thing."

"I'm glad you're okay too, even if you are still normal and not a bat thing." Reddling said with a smile and quick giggle.

"Oh, bug off." Rainy said, pushing Reddling's wings out of the way for a hug. Reddling wrapped a wing around Rainy slightly, hugging him back. Rainy gave a sniff after a few moments, then backed up. "Been drinking again, haven't you?"

"What gave it away? The smell or the bottles?" Reddling asked.

"Yeah, you're definitely still the real Reddling Rain." Rainy said happily.

"Of course I am." Reddling said, pulling out Ausfall and showing the blade to Rainy. "No Equestrian Princesses or monsters are changing me, or you! Hehe, well, not when I'm finished, anyway."

"Yeah, you show them!" Rainy said, nodding ferociously.

"How've the half-paychecks held up for you? Are you getting to live well?" Reddling asked, gesturing towards some of the shining bits still on the floor in Rainy's room.

"Yeah, and I have enough to throw at vampire ponies trying to break into my castle and eat me." Rainy said.

"They aren't going to try to eat you, geez." Reddling said exasperatedly. "Although they can drink blood, they'd get locked up forever in Equestria if they did."

"Locked up forever?" Rainy repeated. "That sounds like the sort of thing Equestrians would love."

"Well, to be fair, only for one thousand years. You know, that's how family treats each other." Reddling nodded. "One thousand year timeouts."

"Dirty barbaric bastards." Rainy sneered at the ground. Reddling just nodded as Rainy looked up again, blinking at the sunrise. "So what now?"

"We bats sleep during the day, so I need to rest." Reddling said, yawning. "It'd be best that Silverfield doesn't know we are here, I kinda need those two alive."

"...Okay, fine. As long as I don't have to talk to the again." Rainy said. "Hurry up and sleep so we can do stuff- I'm going to do all my... steward duties, and stuff, goodnight Reddling."

Rainy, you're going to go move around rocks. That's almost all we ever did, was move around rocks... guess that's easier to do as a unicorn though, less physically pushing and digging. "Yeah, Night night." Reddling said, covering his face with his coat and going to sleep in the chair. The throne was uncomfortable and hard as Reddling fell asleep, giving way to, as always, their less than pleasant dreams.

I know I can't even give up being a bat. I know it. I can't give up my wings, I'll never go back to being a dirtpony. I can't do it. I could never live life that way again now that I know this. But yet... that means that I'll forever remain a monster in the eyes of my countryponies. My own kin see me as a storybook monster. And in the same hoof, what else am I losing? I'll never feel a peaceful warm glow in the afternoon mixed with a breath of sweet spring air. No, I'll be hiding in a cave, waiting for a crisp night and the rising of the moon.

...What about blood? Web won't accept me unless I'm like her, drinking blood. ...I guess I should make a choice. Should I be a predator, or a simple fruit bat? If I drink blood, I can be high again, but if I don't, then I won't have to worry about it being held against me.

I love writing Rainy. He's /too/ much fun.