When Dream Thunder and the Guard Sergeant walked into the throne room, my heart shot into my throat. Where was Lyra? Where was Sweetie? Were they okay? What had happened? Both ponies looked weary, though Dream looked the worst.

I was standing on the platform beside Celestia's throne, and it took every ounce of my willpower to stay where I was and not charge down to beg the pair for information. When I spotted Dream's smile, however, I almost broke into tears of relief.

"Joyce, are you alright?" Princess Celestia asked with concern in her voice.

I didn't trust myself to respond, so I just nodded to her. It was the worst thing ever, and I wished I wasn't standing at her side that my presence tarnished her.

Princess Celestia cleared her throat and raised her voice. "First, please, how are my Guards?"

"Your Highness, it is my honor to report no casualties at all, among either contingent. Once civilian was harmed by the creature, but now it's been neutralized he's expected to recover. There was some minor structural damage to a private residence, and I've left two Guardsponies in Ponyville to organize repairs." The sergeant's words lifted my spirits even further, though I still didn't trust myself to speak. The weight she'd put on some of the words led me to believe I knew which two ponies she'd left there.

"Very good. Which two Guardponies were left in Ponyville?" If I weren't a spoken-for mare, I'd have kissed Princess Celestia for asking everything I wanted answers to.

"Privates Lyra Heartstrings and Sweetie Drops. Both were able to not only negotiate their way within the dream magic used by our allies, but they were the only two capable of standing upright in the morning."

"Ambassador Dream Thunder, may I have your report?" Princess Celestia's tone was more balanced for Dream, and for good reason—Dream Thunder wasn't a subject of Celestia's.

"Y-You'll forgive me, Your Highness. With your—" To my shock, Dream Thunder began to fall sideways. She got halfway to the floor before brilliant gold magic cradled her.

The sergeant was first to respond after that. She used her hoof to check Dream's vitals and breathed out a sigh. "Your Highness, our guest has passed out. I believe a full day spent sleeping would be best for her, her companions, and the rest of my squad."

"See to your squad, Sergeant, and do make sure the privates remaining in Ponyville are relieved at the Guard's earliest convenience." Princess Celestia turned to look at one of her Royal Guard. "Ensure our guests have quarters on the palace grounds, and have a physician and their choice of foods made available."

Two Royal Guard stallions snapped their heavily-shod hooves to the floor and moved toward Dream Thunder.

"Excuse me, Your Highness?" I asked. "I'm not a fully trained physician—yet—but I could assist our visitors with their needs, and I already know their dietary requirements."

"A good suggestion, thank you Joyce, but I'll have a trained physician made available to them as well. I wouldn't want it said that Equestria didn't provide every care we could." I knew Celestia's decision had no bearing on my abilities, but rather that she could say A fully trained physician was provided, but it still stung my pride a little.

This was about more than a little thing like my pride. I dipped my head to Celestia and began descending the stairs, but spread my wings and glided down beside Dream and the Royal Guard who was carefully lifting her with his magic. "Please, lead on."

Outside in the entry hall, the six bat ponies that had come with Dream looked almost as wiped out as she did. The Royal Guard present had brought drinks for them, but I was glad to see none of the energy drinks the Guard sometimes favored to perk themselves back up. Now was not the time for these ponies to be awake.

"Dream?!" one of the bat ponies asked, and as one they all jumped to their hooves as if ready to throw down for her.

Mentally shifting gear to speak Thestralian, I again worried for my fillies. "She passed out. We're taking you somewhere you can rest for the day so you can recover." All six heads snapped from Dream Thunder's floating form to me. "I'm Joyce Rob—"

"Joyce Robertson!" I hadn't expected to be known to the bat ponies, but it might help them trust me to get them rested. "Lead on."

As the Royal Guard led us to what seemed to be a barracks, I noticed several minor wounds on the bat ponies, and at least one more serious. "Put Dream on this bed here. She needs some real rest. Do you know if she had any of the Guard's pick-me-ups?"

"No clue, ma'am. Did you need any more assistance?"

I leaned in to sniff at Dream's breath. Sure enough, the overly-sweet sugar-smell of one of their drinks hit me. "You all drank one, didn't you?" I asked in Thestralian, and got a series of wobbly nods. Switching back to Equish, I thanked the Royal Guard, "No, that's all, thank you. Sorry, I didn't catch your name?"

"Long Shift, ma'am. Sergeant Long Shift. There'll be two of us at the door to ensure you have anything you need. The doctor should be here shortly." Long Shift walked for the door and left us in the dim barracks.

There was only one choice to make, and I quickly decided mum would be the best angle to take with six exhausted bats. "Pick a bed each. I'll be around to see each of you before the doctor gets here. You'd better be asleep by then."

Dream, when I checked over her, had no wounds and barely showed any sign of stress other than being exhausted. I headed to the first bat pony, who wasn't asleep yet. I glared at her with the most effective scowl I'd ever deployed at Lyra. "You're the one with the gash to your wing?"

"Phil, and yes." She spread out the wing on the wounded side and I took a quick look at it.

"This looks like it should heal well enough. When the doctor arrives, I'll have them use some wound cream on it—antiseptic and anesthetic in one—and that should make sure it heals quickly. No Dreaming today, that's an order." I used my own thumb to fold their wing back up.

Phil turned her head toward me. "It'll heal faster if—"

"It'll heal fastest if you sleep and I put some magic healing goop on your wing. Don't argue." For a moment I wondered if she'd try to argue, but she only smiled and set her head on its side to get comfortable.

"Magic healin' goop? Really?"

I rolled my eyes. "Do I really need to remind you you're in the magical pony land? Yes. Magic healing goop. If you don't get some rest, I'll use my non-magic two-by-four."

Evidence that Phil wasn't the only one awake came from several of the others in the form of chuckles.

"That goes for all of you. I know these aren't exactly perches, but there's only one of those in Equestria, and I'm not that friendly with you." I moved to the next bed and found the stallion on it asleep. Gently, I teased out his wings one by one to inspect them—neither had anything bigger than pinprick holes.

I was on the fourth bat—also asleep—when Dr. Bright Meadow walked into the room with a large bag floating beside her. "I've been doing minor triage. The one on your left has a gash in her right wing membrane, but other than that they're all suffering from fatigue. The mare on your right passed out after giving her report to Princess Celestia. From what they've said, they all had at least one dose of the Guard's concoction."

"When I heard there was seven exhausted bat ponies, I had worried you might be among their number, Joyce. I brought plenty of scar-me-not, don't fear." Bright Meadow wasted no time and moved to Phil to treat her wing.

"Close. My daughter is still out on the mission with her fiancee, but Dream Thunder over there is family, just not by birth." Moving to the second last of Dream's escort, I began with their wings then moved on to their fur. When I saw an angry red gash in the mare's shoulder—just under her wing—I called Bright Meadow over, "This one has a more serious wound. Six centimareter wound in her shoulder, it looks deep."

Dr. Bright Meadow rushed over and used her magic to inspect the mare's shoulder. Just as she started to press back the edges of the wound, the bat pony jerked awake and turned with her fangs bared.

"What are you doing?!" the bat pony asked in Thestralian.

I moved around to get the mare's attention off the doctor. "She's a doctor. You had a wound in—"

"Get off me!"

"Guards!" I put myself between Bright Meadow and the mare. "Guards! You need to restrain our patient!"

Long Shift was first in the door. His magic wrapped around the mare's wings and torso a moment after she lashed out at me.

A line of fire ignited across my chest, and I felt something burn hotter still. Magic. Whatever it was tried to work into my head, but an inky-black cage of armor reinforced itself around me. The strike, the wound, and her capture had happened in barely a heartbeat.

All the bats were jerking from the beds. Some looked at Long Shift angrily, while Dream and Phil looked at the injured mare and the cut on my front.

Dream Thunder looked spooked. "It's the Yara-ma-yha-who's venom! Restrain Joyce before she goes mad with anger. I'll try to raise the Dream—"

Shifting to Thestralian, I shouted, "Stop!" I stomped my hoof and glared around. "You will stay in your beds." Back to Equish, "Thank you, Long Shift, please hold her steady." Before Dream or any of the others could speak another word, I shoved some of that darkness around me at the crazed bat pony.

Her head snapped around and I was eye-to-eye with her. When her snarl died and she stared back in shock, I breathed a sigh of relief.

"Magical poison," Bright Meadow said. "Nasty stuff, too. I'm not sure what you did, Joyce, or what protection you have, but it's something to be thankful for. Long Shift was it? Please hold her on the bed so I can dress this wound."

I pulled back the darkness that Nightmare Moon had wrapped me in, and all the while the mare watched me. She was calm now, for which I was thankful. "Are you okay?" I asked in Thestralian.

"What did you do? I was so hot and angry—The Yara-ma-yha-who slashed at me, but I couldn't tell anypony…" Turning her head a little more, she watched Dr. Bright Meadow smear the magic goop into her wound and begin sewing it closed. "I—I'm sorry. I didn't—"

"She understands. She's a doctor. What's your name?" I asked in Thestralian.

"Megan—Sharp Fang." Sharp Fang opened her mouth to reveal her built-in cutlery again, but this time she held still and didn't try to bite me. "Or oreus easonsh."

I smiled, only showing off my modest—by comparison—fangs in return. "Quite impressive. I take it you were using that when it—the Yara thing—did this?"

"Yara-ma-yha-who. Yes. How did you stop its poison? It was like ice-water."

"I—" Stopping, I remembered Princess Celestia's warning about the curse. "From a very powerful pony. How would you normally deal with that?"

"D-Dreamtime. They'd take me into the Dreamtime and burn it out of me. I liked your way better. Just call me Megan if you don't mind." Megan winced as Bright Meadow tied off the suture. "You're really that Joyce, aren't you?"

"If you mean Robin Robertson's mother, yes—Lyra Heartstrings too." I looked over the top of Megan and to Long Shift. "You can let her go now," I said in Equish.

The magic field around Megan faded quickly. With the movement to lean around and inspect her wound, Megan did just that. "That's some neat stitching, doc."

"She's thanking you for the clean stitching," I said in Equish for Dr. Bright Meadow.

"I think I'll let you inspect the last one before I head over."

With the last bat pony inspected—and no extra bad wounds found—I made my way to Dream Thunder while the doctor did her work. "That poison's nasty stuff, huh?" I asked in Equish, to ensure none of the other bats tried to listen in rather than sleep.

Yawning, Dream sprawled on the bed and stretched her wings. "Yeah. If there's not enough Dreamers around, it can turn bad. It attracts the Yara-ma-yha-who like nothing else. What did you do to calm her down?"

"Equestrian dream magic." My words, despite being said right on the heels of Dream's, didn't seem to catch her before she was asleep. I carefully tucked her wings in and then pulled a cover up and over her.

Dr. Bright Meadow was waiting for me as soon as I turned away from Dream. "Your turn, Joyce. Let me have a look at that scratch."

I stood still while Bright Meadow ummed and ahhed over the wound. In the end she just smeared some scar-me-not over it and stepped back. "It would be pointless to dress that further. It's so shallow that there's barely a line there at all. That magic of yours seems to do more than clean out bad poison."

Curious, I tipped my head down and looked at the wound. The skin was barely broken. "She'd been lucky to even poison me, I think. Her name is Sharp Fang for a reason, and it doesn't have to do with her wing claws."

"I couldn't help but notice that only one of them speaks Equish." The tone Bright Meadow used was heavy with curiosity.

"She was born in Equestria. When the magic hit our world, she was in it and became affected by the same changes. Near as I can figure out, it had to do with her not having her cutie mark. The others have never been to Equestria before—there's no reason they'd know Equish." With nothing else to do, I headed to the door to accompany Bright Meadow back outside.

Celestia's sunlight was something I'd come to put up with. I squinted as my eyes adjusted back to the daylight. Long Shift stood on one side of the door while a dark gray pegasus stallion—equally stalliony—stood on the other. "They're all sleeping. I don't want to hear that any of them have woken up until nightfall."

Both Royal Guard just nodded at my assessment. Long Shift looked to Dr. Bright Meadow. "Will they all recover? Poison is nasty business."

"Thanks to Equestria's foremost expert on bat ponies, I'm sure they will." Bright Meadow winked at me and made her way toward the exit of the palace grounds.

"Joyce," Princess Celestia's voice startled all three of us—the Guards snapped to attention and I found myself spinning around to face her. "I'd like the ponies of Ponyville to encounter bat ponies in a more relaxed setting than fighting a monster. Would you mind accompanying my Guard there?"

It hadn't sunk in just how much I followed her lead until I realized she had to order me to go and find Lyra. Maybe all this staying awake during the day stuff was having an effect on me that I wasn't noticing normally? "Thank you, I don't need to be ordered twice."

Celestia caught my smile and answered it with a knowing one of her own.

After what seemed like a whirlwind of activity, the Royal Guard had two of their pegasi hooked to a chariot with two unicorns and an earth pony riding within it. Being as I didn't need to be carried—and delivered a disdainful look to one of the pegasi who made a comment about carrying four ponies—I had spread my wings for the easy glide down the mountain.

Like always, it was good to stretch my wings. I knew my presence with the Guardponies was mostly an excuse, but it was still nice to be out flying with somepony—thought I'd have rathered it be Tufts.

Warm feelings bubbled through me at the mere thought of his name. I knew I'd fallen for him harder than any man—male—in my life, but it didn't feel wrong. It was hard to think how Tufts could be even more right, in fact.

"We'll land first. You come down beside us, okay?"

I turned my head and nodded to the pegasus. Turning my wings just the slightest bit arrested my descent and brought me into a lazy circle in the air. I was losing altitude because I wasn't flapping my wings, but I had plenty to lose before I'd have a problem with the ground.

The two harnessed pegasi, I realized, had to beat their wings alternately to be able to fly as close as they were. There was a definite finesse to how they kept not only perfectly safe but also an even ride for those in the chariot.

As soon as the Guardponies landed, I aimed for the ground beside them and tucked the outer edges of my wings in. Fruit normally didn't put up much of a chase, but that didn't mean my wings weren't up to the odd bit of aerobatics. Just before hitting the ground in what would have been a painful manner, I snapped out my wings to their full width and stalled my fall and forward movement.

My hooves settled on the ground amidst what was a very quiet town center. There was plenty of ponies about, but they were all now staring at me. "Hi!"

For a moment I was a little concerned about all the attention, then an older mare waved her green hoof at me. "Well howdy there. New in town?" She wore a smile that hinted she knew full well how silly her question was. "M' name's Granny Smith."

"I'm Joyce. I dropped in to see if my daughter was doing okay. I don't suppose you've seen her: unicorn, light-green, Guard…"

"Oh! You mean the Guard Mayor Mare has been showin' around town all mornin'? Ah think they're over by Sugarcube Corner, Joyce." She had a thick country accent, and seemed nice enough. She was also pointing with one shaking hoof.

"Thank you!" I turned and looked back at the Guardponies. "I think I'll be okay."

"Ma'am, we're here to make contact with the two Guardponies and debrief them."

"Oh! Right. Uh, I guess we head to Sugarcube Corner, then." I was still unsure of myself, thanks probably to all the events of the past two days. Figuring that if they couldn't keep up they'd follow me, I started walking in the direction the nice mare had pointed.

The buildings of Ponyville were completely different from Canterlot. The capital of Equestria was made of shining golds and fancy marble with only very few wooden additions (and most of those were decorative). Ponyville was a lot more quaint with what looked like thatched roofs and timber structures standing one or two stories tall.

The particular establishment I advanced on looked exactly like its name implied. If the building had been in the story of Hansel and Gretel, as the witch's house, I wouldn't have been surprised. A sign above the door had a beautiful cupcake on it, and the entire structure looked like it was made of chocolate, candy, or ice cream. I didn't know whether to knock on the door or bite it.

Lifting my hoof, the door opened before I could knock. "Mum?"

"Lyra!" Excitement built far faster than I thought it would. I distinctly remember the feel of my back leg muscles tensing, then I sprang and grabbed Lyra in a hug with my wings and forelegs. "You're okay." I'd never wanted to have two words confirmed as much as I had then.

"Hi, Joyce," Sweetie Drops said. "Kinda didn't expect you—Well, we kinda didn't expect any of this."

My wing, I judged, was just long enough, so I reached out and grabbed Sweetie's armored shoulder and pulled her closer—though I suspect she didn't put up much fight. "I'm just glad you're both safe."

Something seemed odd about the pair—they seemed a little cagey. When Lyra whispered something to Sweetie, and then Sweetie nodded back, I knew I had to ask. "What's going on?"

"We want to move the wedding up," Lyra said.

"Next month," Sweetie said.

I carefully let go of both of them and backed up a step. "You said you were going to wait until the end of the year, remember?"

When they both looked at each other—Lyra into Sweetie's eyes, and vice versa—I realized why they'd pushed things up. Madly in love didn't even begin to describe how far down the rabbit hole they were. The cincher was that they both seemed to forget the conversation we were having.

I waited a full minute before clearing my throat. When they turned back to face me, I could see each blushing. "Once your duty is done here, I'm taking you home to talk to Candy and Cadance."

Behind me, one of the Royal Guard cleared his throat.

"Right," I said, "First you have to talk to these gentlecolts. Duty and all that."

"Who? Oh!" Sweetie Drops quickly walked past me. "Sorry, Joyce, we have to deal with this."

"See you in a bit, Mum!" Lyra too trotted off to see the Royal Guard, which left me with not a lot to do.

Right then, however, my choice was made for me—my tummy rumbled. "Guess it's about lunchtime." I walked into the shop and looked around.

Sugarcube Corner seemed to be a bakery. Cupcakes were everywhere, but to one side I saw a cabinet filled with all manner of dessert cakes. As a bat pony that had a sweet tooth metaphorically larger than I am, I gravitated toward it.

"Hello there, dearie. Is there anything I get for you?" The mare behind the counter looked about the same age I should be—if it weren't for the crazy magic that'd made me into a bat pony also making me look as old as my eldest daughter. She had the most intense blue coat and what looked like a swirl of frosting for a mane and tail in pink and darker pink.

I decided that, given my filly was alright, it was time to go all-in. "What's the sweetest pastry you have?"

"Oh my goodness! Is it a special occasion?"

"Well, you saw the two mares who just left?" I asked, and got a nod. "Well, one of those is my daughter, and she's getting married next month!"

I hadn't expected the mare to vault the cabinet with one jump, squealing in excitement, before pulling me into a hug, but it happened. "Congratulations!" I admit I may have gotten a little excited and started bouncing around, but it was a dam of emotion I think I needed to break.

When we both managed to settle down, and Cup Cake (we'd exchanged names during the lost minutes of shouting with excitement) served me what she promised was the sweetest thing I'd ever taste in my life, we both found ourselves still chatting.

"What's it like?" Cup asked. "Having foals, I mean. Carrot and I haven't had much chance to get to that sort of thing, what with trying to run the bakery together."

"The best and most scary thing in my life. Lyra, my eldest, is a reservist in the E.U.P. and this was her first mission as a translator for the Monster Hunters."

Cup lifted her namesake with a hoof and brought the steaming tea to her lips before answering. "You mean that hoo-hah last night? I thought everypony was just having a bad dream. Goodness, what were they dealing with?"

"That's the worst bit, I have no real idea what it was or what it could do other than it wasn't nice." Using my wing I took a sip from my own cup of tea. It wasn't as good as what Celestia served, but the fact I could tell good from bad tea was the best example that I'd been drinking tea with her far too much. "My other filly's working back home, or so they tell me."

"Oh? What's she do?"

"Robin works with the government. She's barely twelve, and she writes government policies that are, from what I've heard, masterpieces. When I think of her, all I see is my little filly with a cutie mark in cutting fruit." I hadn't realized how true that was. Robin as the little human girl I'd raised took effort to remember. "She's my little filly."

"Carrot?!" Cup Cake said. I was a little startled until a tall stallion that I could put two and two together and guess was named Carrot Cake, given his cutie mark, poked his head into the front room. "Darling, what do you think about a foal?"

Looking like he was pinned under the biggest spotlight ever, Carrot nonetheless smiled. "You know what I think, honey bun? We could maybe manage with one foal, but we really need somepony to work here—at least for the first few months."

Cup let out an audible sigh. It took every ounce of my self-control to not tell her right then and there that I'd help.

"Who's your friend, sweetums?" Carrot walked over and the couple kissed—just a little peck on the cheek each.

"Great cinnamon sticks, how could I forget? This is Joyce. Joyce, my husband, Carrot Cake." Cup got lost looking up at Carrot for a moment before she giggled like a filly. "Joyce was just telling me about her little girls. She's a bat pony."

"I guessed that last bit, sugarplum. What do you do, Joyce?"

"Well, I'm studying to become a doctor, and I sometimes give Princess Celestia advice on my former home." I twitched one of my wings significantly.

"A d-doctor?" Cup Cake stared at me for a moment before shaking her head. "And you advise Princess Celestia?!"

Note to self, leave the last bit out of casual conversation next time. "Well, only here and there. It's only until she has things more under control." But the truth was she already knew most of what I would be advising her on, and everything else was so new even I didn't know it.

Carrot smiled, looking like being overwhelmed was a constant experience for him. "Goodness me! Well, it sounds exciting. I don't suppose you know somepony who's good at baking who might want to work in Ponyville?"

"Funny you should ask, but Sweetie Drops, my daughter's fiancee, was a cook in a boarding house, but I think she's happy in her job at the Guard." I tried to run through a list of everypony I knew, and couldn't come up with a single other name of a pony who was an amazing cook. "Have you tried advertising?"

"Oh dear no. I don't think we could do that. We want somepony we know." Thankfully, she seemed to have lost the shock that revealing my side job caused. Ponies, it seemed, could ignore anything if they put their minds to it. "Well, unless you know somepony. If you can't trust one of Princess Celestia's advisors, who can you trust?"

The door opened again. Lyra and Sweetie walked in, and I was struck anew by just how right they looked together—wearing matching armor probably helped, of course, but even though there was two layers of heavy plate between them, their shoulders and hips were brushing together.

"Speaking of. You've met my daughter and soon-to-be-daughter, Lyra and Sweetie?" I asked.

"Oh yes. They were here buying some treats earlier, and asked if we'd be able to do some short-order catering for a wedding." Cup cake looked between the girls and myself. "If you don't mind me saying, Joyce, but did she take after her father?"

I looked Lyra in the eyes and saw the mischief dancing there. "It's a long story, one that ends happily." Walking up to Lyra and Sweetie, I pulled them both into a hug with my wings.

Both the girls used their forelegs to hug me back, which made me even more aware of the fact they were wearing armor. Lyra asked, "You're going to be doing this a lot, aren't you Mum?"

"Every chance I can. Did you get everything squared away with the Royal Guards?" I asked.

"We're to report back to Princess Celestia and then Sergeant Broad Strokes. Were you done here?" Sweetie, I could see, was fighting an urge to kiss Lyra again.

I let go of them mostly to see if I was right—I was. "I guess that means I have to head back as well. I'll ask around Canterlot for you, if you like?" I asked Cup and Carrot.

"Well now," Carrot Cake said, "You don't have to go out of your way, ma'am, but it'd be appreciated."

Saying our goodbyes to the Cakes, they managed to foist upon us a bag of treats for the ride home. The rest of the day passed in a blur, with Lyra and Sweetie reporting to Celestia, and myself taking leave to go home a little early.

With my darling laying beside me—in his smaller form—I welcomed the night and closed my eyes. Nightmare Moon's presence wasn't the surprising thing, rather, Megan the bat pony standing before me was.

"Oh dear," I said.

"What did you do?" Nightmare Moon's voice was like liquid ice. She sounded as angry as ever.

"I saved her life with the magic you gave me. It saved my life to, which is why, Your Highness…" I dipped a knee as I'd learned was appropriate with Celestia (but that Celestia really disliked). "Thank you."

"Is this like the Dreamtime? Wait, you gave her the power that saved my butt? Hey, thanks." In the Dreaming, Megan's teeth were a little more pronounced than in the real world. She had a presence about her that was oddly solid, too. "So what's the go 'ere?"

Nightmare Moon seemed more curious than furious, for which I was thankful.

"This," I said while gesturing, "Is Nightmare Moon. A royal in exile, and my friend." I turned to gesture at Megan. "This is Megan, also known as Sharp Fang. She and her fellow hunters tracked down a monster that likes to invade dreams."

"Really? You stalked it in a dream?" Nightmare Moon's anger seemed completely overridden by curiosity. She seemed positively normal.

"Dream Thunder raised the Dreamtime around a whole town. That damn Yara-ma-yha-who had gone to ground to devour somepony, and we wouldn't have found it in time in the real world. So into the Dreamtime, take on our battle forms, and lure it out."

"Could you show me what this creature looked like?" Her tone intensely curious, Nightmare Moon seemed to be examining Megan. For a moment I wondered if this was a bad idea and should try getting her uninvolved quickly.

Megan shrugged her wings and rolled her shoulders. "Dreaming things into a dream isn't really my thing, ya know. You could say I'm more in it for the fight than the think." She gave a hint of a smile, and then turned into a monster herself.

Teeth growing, her mouth salivating, the reason for Megan's nickname became more and more apparent by the second. I couldn't remember where I'd seen a jaw so long before, but I vaguely remembered some black and white footage of something akin to it. When she opened her mouth, however, I remembered—no mammal but a thylacine could open its jaw that wide, but unlike the thylacine, her teeth were more akin to a shark's.

"Quite impressive. Like Joyce, you're not from this world, are you?"

"What gave it away?" Megan smiled and spread her wings—they looked to be about twice the wingspan I have.

Throwing back her head, Nightmare Moon howled with laughter. "Joyce, I am pleased you used my gift this way. Your kind are not just more interesting than the ponies that worshiped my sister's sun, but you have a delightful sense of humor. You have my permission to induct further bat ponies into my service."

"Service? Now hold on. I'm a hunter. Chasin' down nasties for Dream Thunder is kinda what I do."

"You already have a master? This Dream Thunder?" Nightmare Moon looked at me. "Who is this Dream Thunder?"

Biting my lip, I wondered how much to say. The truth. I was trying to be her friend, and had to trust her as one. "Practically my daughter. Her mother and I were quite close, and raised our daughters together for a time. Please, don't try to—"

"Your kind are beholden to others, who are beholden to others, who are—I understand, but when I call, you will both come to me, do you understand? I will ask for nothing but your loyalty in my most dire of circumstances."

The words seemed to burn like fire in my head. I tried to deny their power, but knew that they were absolute truth to me. Megan, whether because she was touched by less of Nightmare Moon's magic than I was, or something else, broke from the attempted control.

Nightmare Moon had barely a moment to react before Megan's fangs clamped down on empty air where Nightmare Moon's neck had been. "Yes!" She lowered her head and a lance of cobalt magic lanced out and speared into Megan. "You just needed more of my power. A matter I can remedy."

When Nightmare Moon stopped blasting Megan with magic, Megan jerked backward and shook her head. "Why are you doing this?"

"Because soon I will have use of you. Use my magic as you see fit—as weapon or shield—but in return you will serve me for one night, and one night only." Nightmare Moon walked toward Megan with confidence in her stride. "Begone, now, Joyce and I have words to speak."

"You idiot." My mouth was working ahead of my brain. "You could have asked her for help, offered to give her more magic first. Your power possibly saved her life, but you had to pull that little stunt." My temper was rising as I spoke, and soon enough my brain decided that I needed this.

"Stu—"

"Shut up!" My shout astonished both of us. "You are going too far. All you have to do is ask. I'm trying to be your friend so hard, but you're not making this easy!"

"Friend?" For a moment Nightmare Moon's voice held none of the bristling confidence that normally underpinned it.

"Yes! Friend! Call it insane, but I like you. You might have done something bad in the past, but I think you deserve another chance."

With a flash of lightning, Nightmare Moon was gone, but the wind of a rising storm brought me her voice once more. "Tell Megan she is released from my duty."

Jerking awake, I felt a strong wing wrap around me and hug me tight. "A rough night, my flappy little darling?" Tufts' voice lacked the high pitch his smaller form would have possessed, and was instead deep and rumbly.

"Yes and no. It was rough, but I think I got through to her." With a nuzzle to Tufts' cheek, I gently started sliding across the bed. "But I need to go talk to somepony about it."

"To be without your company will mean I'll be pining for you. You know that, right?" Tufts let me slip out of the grip of his wing, but when I looked back at him, I wished he hadn't.

It would have been too easy to ignore Megan and curl back up with Tufts. "I have to fix my friend's mistake for her." I had to look away lest I fall for Tufts' temptations. Then I paused. "But hold that thought. I'll be back soon."

Tufts' deep laughter followed me through the house until I closed the front door and spread my wings. The rush of air as I launched skyward felt—as always—amazing. It was like diving into a cool lake on a hot day.

The flight to the castle wasn't a long one unless I dallied, and I didn't. Swooping in to land at the front gate, the Royal Guardpony there simply smiled and nodded to me. Inside the grounds of the castle, only one building had its lights on—the barracks where the bats were.

Trotting to the barracks, I got another nod from the Royal Guardponies on duty there, and knocked on the door.

Dream Thunder, having opened the door, quickly closed it in my face—then opened it again. "Now's probably not a good time for you—"

"Let me in, I need to explain what happened to Megan."

"Oh. Okay." Dream stepped back from the door and let me enter. The room was brightly lit, and populated by six angry batponies screeching in Thestralian. As I stepped in, all six of them turned to face me.

"Let me explain first," I said.

"Fuckin' better be fuckin' good."

"Screw you. I don't give a shit if you're Robin's mum. What was that shit you pulled?"

The demands and swearing got worse as they all started talking at once. I tried to let it wash over me, but in the end I knew I had to get this done. "Shut. The fuck. UP!" All six stopped talking and looked at me. "Right. Firstly, I didn't mean to do that to you, Megan, I'm sorry you got dragged into it. Second, she said you're free of the obligation." As I spoke the words, a shiver of magic left me. Megan's eyes widened, and I saw a smile spread over her lips. "Thirdly, you can't tell anypony here about her."

"Why the fuck not?" Phil asked.

"Because there's a magic curse that will attack any native pony that hears about her, is why. We're immune because we weren't born here, but those guards outside, if they could understand you, they'd be the ones fucked." I started turning. "So do whatever you want. Nightmare Moon won't do anything, and now neither will I."

"Wait. Joyce." Megan's voice was one of only two that would have stopped me leaving. "She's really pissed, isn't she?"

"Nightmare Moon? Yeah. I'm still trying to get to the bottom of it, but imagine a pony with as much magic as Celestia getting a little unhinged and you've got her. I'm just trying to be a friend for her. She put her magic in me to keep me from getting hurt." I shivered when I felt a wing drape over my back.

Megan was right beside me. "A little more communication next time, okay? And tell her thanks for the magic."

I turned to look at Megan, and realized there was something different about her—something a little more wild. "You're okay with it?"

"Well, I'd rather she have said sorry herself, but she's not the only pony who has a problem with anger, ya know? Whatever she did to me, I'll figure it out and I'll be fucked if I won't use it to help others." Megan's words made me think a little, and I realized why the Yara-ma-yha-who had tried to poison her, she was fertile ground for an anger-inducing poison.

She actually meant it. I shook my head. "It's so different dealing with Aussies again. I'll try to keep her out of your way."

So I do this "Ask X" thing. X can be any pony within the story. You can ask them anything and they will definitely, hopefully reply. Keep the questions appropriate to the age-rating of the stories, and they will answer the best question in the author notes of the next chapter. The more votes a comment has the more likely I will get it to the right pony to answer. Try to keep it to one question per post! They will pick one question per chapter.

Support me on Patreon or fuel my writing on Ko-Fi!

Join me on Discord. Please use your FimFic name as an alias. Warning, said chat may contain NSFW material and should be considered adult in nature.

Awesome ponies who are already helping to keep me in keyboards and rum:
A.P.O.N.I.
Canary in the Coal Mine
Daremo
Dio-Drogynous
KFS Crimson
Sirion123
Wind of the Skies

And special thanks to the following, for careful eyes and friendly words:
Lab