(Bat) A Feeling Of Joy - 2

>Day Longest Day In Equestria in Equestria.
>It's finally almost time.
>You, Speck, and every p0ny in P0nyville worked hard yesterday to set everything up.
>There is an adorable bat p0ny laying on top of you.
>Sleep did not come to you.
>Speck absorbed any of the sleep that was meant for you and took it all for herself.
>This was a predicament.
>Judging by the clock, Celestia was due to raise the sun in about two hours.
"Speck. It's time to get up."
>She hardly stirs.
>You pick her up off of you and hold her in the air.
"Speck, wake up."
>She starts to snore.
>On the inhale, it sounds like a typical snore.
>On the exhale, though...
>"Keekeekeekeeee."
>You set her back down on your chest and hug her tight.
>Not even the most stone-cold killer could resist that.
>You pray that the day she stops being adorable truly is the day the world ends.
>There will be nothing worth living for after this.
>Not even Mr. and Mrs. Cake's family Marzipan Mascarpone Meringue Madness recipe.
>If Speck were a cake, she would be that one.
>She still needs to wake her little bat p0ny butt up.
>You tap her on the shoulder.
>No reaction.
>You trace a finger lightly over her nose.
>Nothing.
>It looks like you're going to have to resort to extreme measures.
>You stick your finger in your mouth and get it nice and wet.
>She yawns, smacks her lips and snuggles back into you.
>It's now or never.
>You hold the side of her face with one hand and plunge your finger into her ear.
>She wakes up with a start and begins screeching.
>Hold formation, the beast must be slain!
>Her hooves flail and her wings flap as she tries to get away.
>Her efforts bear no fruit.
>"Why Anon! Why do you do this to me!"
>You cackle and remove your finger, pushing her off of your chest.
"Because, it's time to get ready to go see Celestia raise the sun."
>Speck jumps up off the floor with a gasp.
>She must have forgotten all about the festival.
>It was probably the excitement from meeting her favorite princess.
>Sitting at the same banquet as Celestia and getting to meet Twilight probably didn't help.

>"Anon? Are we going to go?
>She stares up at you with wide, pouting eyes.
>Focus is definitely something you need to work on.
"Yeah. Yeah, let's go.  I want to get as close to the stage as possible."
>You follow Speck out of the house.
>The two of you start for the town's main plaza, where most of the festivities were set up.
>And more importantly, the center stage of the event.
>It was a fairly simple stage.
>Flat surface.
>Few decorations.
>The only thing that you could say was interesting about it was the pedestal in the middle.
>Celestia would jump up as she raised the sun and align the sun, pedestal, and herself to cast her silhouette over the crowd.
>It was flashy and unnecessary.
>But it was their tradition.
>And, you guess, yours now.
>Speck has climbed onto your back and wrapped her limbs around your torso and neck while you were pondering the stage.
>"This is going to be my first time seeing Princess Celestia raise the sun."
>You reach behind her head to scratch her ears and pet her mane.
>She must have never been active during the day before you came along.
>Today was going to be a good day for her.
>Her first Summer Sun Celebration.
>She might get to hang out with Luna again.
>She'll get to play games and have fun.

>Speck nuzzles into your neck.
>You spaced off again.
>You really need to stop doing that.
>It's getting really bad.
>You're just really tired.
>It's been almost 48 hours since you had a full night's sleep.
>"I'm hungry, Anon. Can we go get something to eat?"
>Rumbles sound from your stomach, which causes Speck to giggle.
"Mmm. I guess we can."
>You tone of voice is one of feigned indifference and slight displeasure at her suggestion.
>She ignores it and points you in the direction of an exotic fruit vendor.
>Oh, here we go.
>Speck's about to have another one of her episodes.
>You walk over there with your bat-p0ny backpack.
>The vendor waves at the two of your.
>He must be new to p0nyville.
>You've never seen him before.
>He reacts to Speck in a manner similar to a treasure hunter finding untouched ruins.
>"Ahhh, a bat p0ny. I have many rare and succulent delicacies for sale. Might you be interested?"
>Speck is nodding.
>And drooling on your shirt.
>Why do bad things happen to good people?
>You look over the fruits.
>Bright yellow star shaped fruits, mangoes, durians, coconuts, some weird writhing tentacle fruit.
>Nothing that could be grown in the immediate area, that's for sure.
"See anything you want, Speck?"
>She nods and points at a mango, shying away and hiding her face in the back of your head.
>She still has trouble around new faces.
>But she's getting there.
"How much are the mangoes?"
>The vendor touches a hoof to his chin.
>"Hmm. I suppose I could part with one for free."
>Free is nice.
>But what's the catch.
>You squint your eyes at the vendor.
"What's the catch?"
>He chuckles and picks a particularly ripe mango up.
>"There is no catch."
>He tosses it up at you.
>You go to catch it, but a certain gray blob is much faster than you.
>She now sits on your shoulders, her hind legs wrapped around your neck.
>She's going to take a bite out of that mango.
>Its juices are going to leak down into your hair.
>There is nothing you can do about it.

>Her fangs pierce the mango's skin.
>They sink deep into its flesh.
>Her eyes close and she elicits a light moan.
>Mango juice drips down her chin and into your hair.
>It drips down onto your neck too.
>God, you hope that's mango juice on your neck.
>"Everything is worthwhile when your fruits can make a bat p0ny happy."
>If he knew Speck, he wouldn't say that.
>Any kind of food makes her happy.
"How much are the mangoes normally?"
>"Five bits for two."
>That's... not actually that bad.
>And they all look perfect.
"Where do you get these?"
>"Hollow Shades, to the north east. It's the primary home of bat p0nies."
>You shrug.
>You read about it in that bat p0ny compendium.
>It said something about them founding it and living there in hiding after Nightmare Moon was banished.
>It sounded plausible, but you don't really know.
>Luna refused to answer that question, and Celestia would not even allow the name Nightmare Moon to be spoken in her presence.
"I'll buy twenty."
>He looks surprised.
>Speck also looks surprised.
>You hand him fifty bits, and take the bag of mangoes he offers you.
>You and Speck thank him and walk around some more.

>That mango was so juicy.
>When you bit into it, the juices leaked into Anon's hair and all over your front.
>You got some on Anon's neck too.
>Your Angel just bought you twenty more mangoes.
>Oh, you were going to feast for days.
>You still preferred bananas over any other fruit, but mangoes were the general favorite of your species.
>They were easily your second favorite fruit.
>Anon is carrying you around the festival areas.
>"Do you see anything you want to play, Speck?"
"Not really. We played almost everything last night."
>He sighs and starts heading towards the town hall.
>"I'm gonna see if I can find the princesses. Maybe we can kill time with them."
>You perk up and start screeching.
>Seeing Luna two days in a row?
>Life is too good to you.
>Speaking of...
"Hey Anon, how exactly do you know the princesses anyway? You seem pretty close with them."
>"I'm not that close to them. Celestia and Luna took me in for a while when I first came to Equestria."
>He scratches his chin.
>"They asked me questions for a few days before telling me to move here."
>You rest your chin on the top of his head as he continues.
>"As for Twilight, I met her in the library in town one day, by random happenstance. I thought I already told you all of this?"
>He did, several times.
>But you like to hear him talk.
>It isn't something he does a whole lot.
>You absolutely love his stories too.
>Especially the ones about before he came to Equestria.
>He still won't let you read his journal though.
>There are probably some amazing stories in there.
>Maybe more about those vidoo games he's told you so much about.
>You wonder if that has any relation to voodoo magic.
>He might curse you if you ask though.
>You dismount him as the two of you arrive at the town hall.
>It's big.
>And old.

>You enter after Anon.
>And sure enough, he was right.
>Princess Twilight and Princess Luna are here.
>They regard the two of you with warm smiles.
>You trot up to Luna and bow briefly.
"Good morning, Princess."
>"Good morning, little bat."
>Luna sits beside you.
>You look up at her and smile.
>"And how are you doing this fine morning, little one?"
"I've been alright, Princess. Anon and I have been hanging around all day."
>"I bet you've been driving him absolutely batty."
>The two of you giggle.
"Oh, I have. It's definitely helped to stirrup his emotions."
>"Oooh, you should be careful. He might try to harness his anger and-"
>A hand wrapping around her muzzle cuts her off.
"Hey, Anon what's the matter? Are you saddle so-"
>He binds your muzzle with his free hand.
>Luna giggles and you see her tongue slip between her lips.
>You see what she's doing.
>The two of you quickly lick Anon's hands.
>He retracts his hands and wipes them on his shirt.
>"That's disgusting! I can't get the feeling off!"
>He glares at both of you.
>"Why would you do that?!"
>You and Luna cast a quick glance at each other.
>She smirks at you.
>And the both of you say, in unison:
"Because your smile is turned upside down!"

>Nothing can stop you now, as you run from your demise.
>And you don't ever want to feel the way you've felt today.
>Speck will never take you to a place you love.
>She will never take you all the way.
>So you ran.
>You ran so far away.
>At least you got away.
>Princess Celestia smiles at you as you sit beside her on the bridge leading towards Canterlot.
>"What brings you to this fine bridge, Anonymous?"
>She would never just call you Anon.
>It didn't bother you much.
"Your sister and my bat p0ny decided to start throwing puns around."
>Celestia chuckles.
>"Yes. Luna and her bat p0nies have always been quite fond of puns."
>Celestia knows how you feel then.
"How do you deal with it?"
>She leans into your ear, whispering.
>"If you can't bat them, leaf them behind in a-"
>You grab her muzzle.
>Royalty or not, she was your last safe haven in the small group of p0nies you called friends.
>Twilight couldn't even be trusted.
>There was a look in her eyes as you were leaving the town hall.
>Celestia started to giggle during your inner dialogue.
>You remove your hand from her muzzle before she can even get the idea to lick you.
>That was absolutely disgusting.
>"My apologies, Anonymous. I assumed that since you were so close with a bat p0ny, you would appreciate their punmancy."
>Punmancy?
"Punmancy?"
>"Yes. On top of their heightened senses and reactions, they have a knack for puns."
>That is the worst racial bonus you have ever heard of.
>That's just... useless.
>Celestia sighs and starts to walk away.
>You walk beside her.
"Almost time for the big moment, huh?"
>She nods.
>"I have done this one-thousand-three-hundred times since I banished Luna."
"That's a lot."
>She laughs.
>"Oh, dear Anonymous. If only you knew."

>You follow the Princess of the Sun back to P0nyville's plaza.
>Twilight and Luna were waiting on the stage.
>Speck sat in front of the stage.
>She grins at you in a very devilish fashion.
>Speck, stop.
>You're going to die of sugar overdose if she keeps this up.
>She climbs in your lap and wraps her front hooves around your chest.
>"I'm sorry I upset you, Anon."
>D'awww.
>You can't handle her.
>You hug her tightly and stroke her mane.
>She moves her left hoof to your right shoulder and twists to get a good view of the Princesses.
>Celestia takes her pose and starts casting her magic.
>She steps forward, raises her head, and leaps into the air.
>The sun aligns perfectly with the pedestal and her body.
>And as the sun rises, you feel two fuzzy lips pressed against your own.
>Your mind speeds up and slows down simultaneously.
>Your bat p0ny was kissing you.
>You don't know how to react.
>You wouldn't know how to react even if you had the time.
>Speck pulls back from the kiss, smiling as wide as she can.
>[spoiler]"I love you, Anon."[/spoiler]