(Bat) A Feeling of Rebirth - 2

>Day Workin' Them Angels in Equestria
>Rays of sunlight dance through your window and onto your bed.
>You groan and roll over, reaching for Speck's pillow to cover your eyes.
>"Anon, get up."
"I don't want to."
>You grab at the p0ny that accosts you with her voice.
>Her coat feels nice.
>It's really soft.
"I don't wanna go to work."
>She sighs.
>"You do not have to. I've already spoken with Mrs. Cake, and you have the day off."
>Perfect.
>More sleep!
>"However, we have urgent business to take care of."
>Wait a minute.
>Speck doesn't sound like that.
>The realization hits as the p0ny pushes you out of your bed.
>"Come, Anonymous. We have things to do."
>Luna leaps over the side of your bed and starts out the door.
>The clock on your wall reads nine in the morning.
>But the sun rises around six.
>You feel violated.
>How long has she been here?
>You wouldn't doubt it if she was feasting on your dreams.
>Might as well start the day.
>You get up and head downstairs, where one spooky Princess of the Night stands, waiting for you.
>"Are you ready?"
>No.
"Yes."
>"Good, let's go."
>You follow Luna out of your house.
>Today was going to be stupid.
>You already regret writing to her.
>But, if your plan worked out right, Luna would take the child to Hollow Shades.
>You and Speck could carry on with your lives.
>Everyone would be happy.
>Except Speck.
>Today was going to suck so bad.
>"Something troubles you, does it not?"
>You feel your body tense up as you cringe.
>Stupid mind-reading horses and their magic.
"Speck wants to adopt."
>Luna smiles.
>"Then adopt this foal."
"I don't want a child. I've only know for Speck for three months. Sure, I love her and I'm not going anywhere anytime soon. But it's still a little early, don't you think?"
>She giggles.
>"Not at all, dear Anon."

>A gentle breeze passes through the town as you walk.
"It just feels kind of rushed, you know?"
>The pretty p0ny princess nods.
>"Well, Anonymous. I did a little bit of prying through the night. The foal's parents are alive and well in Hollow Shades."
>Oh, excellent.
>Your plan might work out.
>"However, she has been away from them for an amount of years."
"How much is said amount."
>Luna mumbles.
"Didn't catch that."
>Her mumble is slightly louder this time.
"I still can't hear you."
>An exasperated sigh escapes her lips.
>"Eight years."
>You stop walking.
"Now, hang on a minute. You know where each one of your bat p0nies is at any given time. You know when they're born and when they die."
>She turns to you.
"But you didn't know that there was one abandoned by her parents for eight years?"
>"I didn't say she was abandoned."
>You throw your arms up.
"There's no way she wasn't abandoned. Two parents lose their foal and go eight entire years without finding her? Especially when she's been in a town orphanage?"
>Tears well up in Luna's eyes.
>"Anon, please stop."
"No! How can you just let a little filly suffer what she's gone through? Eight years with no family to call her own, possible harassment in the only place she can call home, and even more harassment at school?"
>You walk past Luna.
"I'm not going to let that poor little filly suffer any more than she already has."
>Luna follows you as you walk to the hospital, but she keeps her distance from you.
>You slow your pace after a while.
>She catches up to you without realizing.
>You place a hand on her shoulder and start to stroke her fur.
"I'm sorry about what I said, Luna."
>"No, Anon. You were right. I've been neglecting all of my little bats. I need to pay them a visit."
>She smiles up at you.

>You continue your trek to the hospital, until the Matron catches you.
>Her frazzled pink mane alerts you to something being wrong.
>"I can't find the filly, or that bat!"
>Good job, Speck.
>Foal-napping was probably highly illegal in Equestria.
>You and Luna run with the Matron in tow.
>"She's always causing trouble, isn't she, Anon?"
"You know it."
>The three of you come to a halt not far from Sugarcube Corner.
>Two bats sit at a table outside of it.
>The smaller one giggles as the larger one balances a slice of cake on the tip of her nose.
>Luna and the Matron smile.
>Luna nudges you to approach the two.
>"Go on, Anon."
>The Matron nods.
>Here goes nothing.
>You start to approach your bat and the filly.

>A pain in your neck and back awakens you.
>Or it could be the doctor poking at you.
>"Miss? The patient is ready to be released."
>Patient?
>You groggily look over at the little filly sitting up in bed, her eye almost completely healed.
>Oh, right.
>Sirocca.
>You stretch and strain to loosen your bones as you stand up out of the chair.
>"Good morning, miss Speck."
"Good morning, kiddo."
>She smiles at you and crawls off of the bed.
>The doctor leads the two of you out of the room and out of the hospital.
>Sirocca's stomach growls.
>You giggle and turn to her.
"Sounds like somep0ny's hungry."
>She blushes and looks away.
>"N-not really."
"No, no. Come on. I know just the place to eat."
>She follows you as you start walking to Sugarcube Corner.
"They have all kinds of delicious cakes and cupcakes and pies."
>The filly starts to drool a little bit.
>You snicker to yourself.
"Do you like pineapples and mangoes?"
>She nods slowly.
>"I prefer blood oranges though."
>She smiles up at you, her little fangs poking out from between her lips.
>You hadn't noticed before, but they were incredibly pointy.
"Do you drink blood often?"
>She blushes and tries to cover her mouth with her good wing.
>"N-no. Only what Matron Cherry can get me."
>You hum softly.
>Anon probably wouldn't mind feeding the little one when she needed it.
>Now if only you could convince him to let you adopt her.
>That was going to be the hardest part of all of this.

>A gentle breeze passes through the town as you and Sirocca enter Sugarcube Corner.
>Mr. Cake stands at the front counter browsing over a baking magazine.
>He looks up at and and furrows his brow.
>"Where's yer humen?"
>You tilt your head.
"He isn't here?"
>He shakes his head and looks down at Sirocca.
>"Luna said t'giv'im the day off. Somethin' about urgent business."
>He raises a brow.
>"Who's this little thing?"
>Sirocca hides her face behind her good wing.
"Her name is Sirocca. She's an orphan."
>You think you see a smile start to form on Mr. Cake's lips.
>Strange, he almost never smiles from what Anon and Mrs. Cake have told you.
>"Hold on, just a minit."
>He trots into the kitchen.
>You hear him and Mrs. Cake muttering about something.
>Both p0nies come out from the kitchen several moments later carrying two plates.
>On one lies a piece of peach cobbler, a chocolate raspberry cupcake, and a mango.
>The other holds a piece of pineapple upside down cake, and two banana bread muffins.
>They know you so well.
>You take the first plate from Mr. Cake.
>Sirocca still hides behind her wing.
>He frowns, sighs, and walks back into the kitchen.
>Mrs. Cake giggles softly.
>"He was always so fond of children."
>She leads you out of the store, presumably to sit at the tables outside.
>"Unfortunately, we've never been able to have any of our own."
>You take a seat at one of the tables and set your plate down.
"Why not?"
>Sirocca finally lowers her wing and comes running out of the store.
>She clambers up into the chair across from you.
>Mrs. Cake giggles and shakes her head.
>"I guess... some of our parts just don't work."
>You tilt your head.
"What?"
>She waves a hoof and steps back inside.
>"Nothing, dearie."
>Sirocca shrugs and starts sniffing at her plate.
"It's good, Sirocca."
>She nibbles at the peach cobbler and tilts her head.
>"It's really... sweet. And warm."
>You smile as she takes a larger bite of it.
"Wanna see a trick?"
>She nods as she chews.

>You tip your slice of cake over on your plate and catch it on your nose before it falls over.
>You push upward and start to balance it on your nose.
>Sirocca starts to giggle as you stick your tongue out.
>Just as you get ready to place the cake back on your plate, a hand reaches out and grabs it.
>The bat filly shies away behind her wing.
"Put it down Anon."
>He takes a seat beside you and places the cake on your plate.
>Good to know he's learning to be compliant.
"Sirocca, you don't have to hide from him. He was with us yesterday, remember?"
>She shakes her head as she peaks from behind her wing.
>"But he's so tall."
>Anon smiles at her, but she hides back behind her wing.
>"Speck, we need to talk."
>You nod and hop out of your seat.
"I'll be right back Sirocca. You go ahead and eat without me."
>"Okay, miss Speck."
>Anon leads you around the corner of Sugarcube Corner and sits against the wall.
>You sit beside him and look up at him.
"So?"
>"So, I've been really thinking about the whole adoption thing."
>You sigh.
"Okay, first. I just want to say that I've really been enjoying my time with her, and she's grown on me."
>He nods.
>"Okay. Luna found her parents. They're alive and well in Hollow Shades."
>He had to bring that kind of thing up.
>Luna was probably going to take the foal to her parents now.
"Unrelated, but did you know that Mr. and Mrs. Cake can't have kids?"
>"Mrs. Cake mentioned it briefly a long time ago. Why?"
"Well, Mr. Cake, as it turns out, enjoys kids. I thought I saw him smiling when he saw Sirocca."
>Anon laughs.
>"I very highly doubt that. Eccles doesn't like anything."
>You scoff.
>"Anyways, what does this have to do with them?"
>You sigh and scratch at the ground with your hoof.
"I was thinking, maybe we could convince them to take Sirocca in? I mean, that would make them happy, and you'd be happy cause it's still really early in our relationship, and I'd still get to see her."

>A confused look spreads over Anon's face.
>"Are you sure about that?"
"Absolutely."
>"One hundred percent sure?"
>You nod slowly.
>"Okay. I was going to say I wouldn't mind adopting her, but if you've made up your mind."
"I have."
>You blink twice and look up at him.
"Wait, what?"
>"I said I wouldn't mind adopting her."
>You scratch at the ground again.
"Well, there's something you need to know about her..."
>"What's that?"
"She drinks blood."

>You feel your skin crawl and your blood drain from your face.
>You want to rewind the entire conversation and just tell Speck she can't adopt the filly.
>Speck places her hooves on your face and rubs your cheeks.
>"Sweetheart? If you change your mind about adopting her, I'll understand."
>What does raising a blood-drinker even entail?
"What kind of blood?"
>"Animal blood, sometimes p0ny blood during intimate moments."
>No, stop right there.
>You will not discuss blood-bat intimacy in the same conversation that you discuss fillies.
>Absolutely not.
"Alright. That's not a problem. Where would we get said blood?"
>Speck blushes and looks up at you.
>Again, absolutely not.
"She'd be better off with the Cakes. I know that they have connections to be able to order blood."
>"We could order it through them?"
"Speck, please."
>A minute ago you were totally ready to adopt that filly.
>But as soon as Speck mentioned blood, you completely changed your mind.
>And since you told her that you wouldn't mind adopting her, Speck refuses to go back to her original plan.
>Good going, Anon.
>"You just said you wouldn't mind adopting her."
"Before you mentioned the blood, Speck."
>She sighs and stomps around.
>"Then, what? We let Luna take her back to her parents? What if she doesn't even want to see them?"
"That plan's actually completely out of the question. That filly's been lost to them for eight years, and if they didn't alert every orphanage in Canterlot, I doubt they want her back."
>"So, we just leave her in the orphanage?"
>A faint voice speaks up as its owner taps a hoof into Speck's side.
>"Um, excuse me miss Speck? Matron Cherry says I have to go back to the orphanage."
>Speck shoots you a dirty look.
>"Alright, sweetie. I'll walk you back, just give me a second."
>The filly bounces off towards the Matron and Luna.
>"Anon. I love you to death, and you know how much I look up to you."

>Oh, here we go.
>She was going to mention something about the Angels and her mom and you were going to regret everything there was to regret.
>"I think that filly deserves someone like you in her life. Not just as a guardian or an angel, but as her friend and her parent."
>She trots after the filly.
>Yeah, she pretty much had you pinned on that.
>You sigh as you get up and start walking after them.
>What's the absolute worst that could happen?
>Sirocca gets hungry and drinks all of your blood?
>There's no way that'll happen.
>Maybe things wouldn't be so bad.
>You had the money saved up, you could take care of her.
>The Cakes could probably get you a steady supply of blood, and if not, Luna would probably know where to get some.
>You should probably catch up with the p0nies though.

>Matron Cherry and Sirocca smile at you as the three of you stand outside the orphanage.
>"Thank you so much for watching over her."
"Oh, it wasn't a problem. She's a little bundle of joy."
>The filly grins and bounces around the Matron.
>"It's a shame she hasn't been adopted yet."
>You sadly shake your head.
"I tried my best."
>The Matron smiles and looks up at you.
>Anon approaches, obviously having taken his time to catch up to you.
"Oh, how nice of you to join us, Anon."
>You look away from him.
>"Yeah, okay. Be mad at me Speck, I deserve it."
>You feel a small hoof poke at your side.
>"Miss Speck?"
>The little filly sits beside you and tilts her head.
"Yes, little one?"
>"Can I come home with you?"
"Oh, I wish you could. But the really tall jerk just absolutely hates everything good in the world."
>"Oh."
>The filly trots over to Anon and starts tugging at his pants leg.
>"Excuse me, Mr. Jerk?"
>Anon looks down at her.
>"Yeah?"
>Sirocca taps her front hooves together as she sits on her haunches.
>"I-I was wondering if m-maybe... I could c-come home with you and miss S-Speck?"
>Anon bends down and places a hand on the filly's head.
>"Tell you what, kiddo. If you can get miss Speck to stop being mad at me, then you can come home with us. Alright?"
>Sirocca lights up and bounces from Anon to you.
>"Miss Speck! Mr. Jerk said I can come home with you if you stop being mad at him!"
>She stops bouncing and looks up at you with a pleading frown.
>Her eyes start to water.
>"Please?"
>"Well, Speck?"
>You roll your eyes and trot up to Anon.
"I suppose I can stop being mad at you."
>You wrap your forelegs around his waist.
>He ruffles your mane lightly.
>"Well, I guess that settles that. Let's go inside and get you adopted."
>The filly gasps and starts bouncing around, her mouth spitting out words faster than you can think.
>The only words you catch are "adopted," "home," and "family."
>She hugs the Matron tight around the neck and runs inside the orphanage, presumably to gather her things.

>The Matron leads you and Anon into the orphanage and off into her office.
>She sits behind a small desk, smiling as you take your seats.
>"So you're really, really interested in adopting Sirocca?
>Anon nods.
>"Absolutely."
>She claps her hooves together.
>"Oh, excellent! Let me get the paperwork together."
>She reaches into a drawer in the desk and pulls out a small folder.
>Inside the folder is a single sheet of paper with a bunch of garbage written on it and lines to sign.
>Anon raises an eyebrow.
>"Uh. Don't we have to show you our house and that we're capable of raising a filly?"
>She shakes her head and furrows her brow.
>"If a family is willing to adopt, we usually let them. It's not like the standard of living is low in any part of Equestria."
>"Oh."
>Anon really doesn't know much about Equestria.
>"So, if you'll just sign on that dotted line, Sirocca will be ready to go."
>You and Anon sign without issue.
>Sirocca comes rushing into the office with several other foals behind her.
>All of the foals are chattering and screaming and yelling.
>They congratulate Sirocca on being adopted, they ask you and Anon if they can go home with you, and they climb all over Anon.
>Anon picks one foal off of him and holds her up.
>"Well, we can't take all of you home. But I'll tell you what, I know a nice couple that might be looking to adopt. I'll have them come by tomorrow."
>All of the foals collectively gasp and start running through the orphanage, arguing over who was going to be adopted next.
>Anon stands from the chair and picks Sirocca up.
>"Ready to go?"
>She screeches and nods.
>The Matron waves as the three of you leave.
>Anon ruffles your mane a little bit.
>"Are you okay, Speck? You've been quiet since we went inside."
"I'm just.. really happy."
>He chuckles softly as Sirocca leaps onto your back.
>She hugs you around the neck.
>"I'm really happy too, miss Sp- I mean... mom."

>You, Speck, and the new addition to your "family" approach your house.
>"Anon?"
>You look down at Speck.
>"Where did Princess Luna run off to?"
"Probably back to Canterlot. Everything got resolved, so I don't see why she'd have any reason to hang around here."
>You open the door and get ready to give the little filly a grand tour of the house.
>But, apparently that would have to wait.
>Because three pretty p0ny princesses were currently accosting you with streamers and confetti.
>You rub your temples as one little filly decides to start screeching and bouncing between each of the princesses.
>"Today'sthebestdayeverIgotadoptedandnowIgettomeetalloftheprincessesandhaveaparty!"
>Speck places a hoof on your leg.
>"Did you plan this?"
"No."
>She grins and trots into the living room, where the princesses and your adopted filly sit.
>You shake your head and decide to avoid the festivities, opting to head upstairs.
>Might as well work on setting up a comfortable place for Sirocca to sleep.
>You open the linen closet just down the hall from the bathroom and pull out some pillows and blankets.
>Although, this was her first night sleeping somewhere that wasn't the orphanage in a very long time.
>She might be better off sleeping with you and Speck.
>You put everything back in the closet and close the door with a sigh.
>One short purple pony princess stands beside you.
"I don't think I'm ready for this, Twilight."
>She tilts her head and smiles.
>"I think you'll do just fine."
"I don't even know where she's gonna sleep."
>She jabs a hoof into your hip.
>"In her bedroom, of course."
>You roll your eyes.
"She doesn't have a bedroom yet."
>The princess starts to giggle.
>"You're horrible at planning, aren't you?"
"I really am."
>"Well, maybe you should just follow me."
>She starts walking towards the third bedroom.
"There's nothing in there Twilight."
>"Oh?"
>She pushes the door open.

>Your jaw drops as you step inside.
>The walls were freshly painted, and already dried, with murals of the starry night skies.
>The floor was recarpetted in a soft gray.
>A p0ny sized bed was pushed into one of the corners.
>A large bookshelf with numerous children's books sat against the far wall.
>In the middle of the room sat a miniature replica of Canterlot Castle, and surrounding it, four pretty princesses, five heroes of lore, a little filly, a bat pony, and a human all in doll form.
>A lump starts to form in your throat as tears form in your eyes.
>"It was Luna's idea. She said something about neglecting one of her stars, and that this wouldn't even start to make up for it."
>You place a hand on your cheek and shake your head slowly.
"She didn't have to do this."
>You hear hoofsteps coming up the stairs.
>"No, Anon. She just wanted to help out."
>Twilight sits beside you and puts a hoof on your shoulder.
>The hoofsteps come to a stop at the door and you hear a gasp and a screech.
>Your little filly zips past you and starts jumping on the bed.
>Speck steps into the room and sits beside you.
>Even she threatens to start crying.
>Sirocca jumps off of the bed and rushes to Speck.
>"Mama are you okay?"
>Speck nods and hugs the filly close.
>"Yes, dear. I'm fine. Everything's fine... Everything's just..."
>You hug both of them close and bury your nose into Speck's mane.
>"Perfect."