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Organised by
RogerDodger
Word limit
400–750
Dance Of Illusions
Moonlight shone through the breaks in the fog, casting an eerie light across the orchard. Branches swayed in the gentle breeze of the early autumn night. All whispering silently of what was to come. Never once betraying the presence of a monster.
She hung from the tree as she fed. What could have been easily mistaken for a mare was in fact a rather large bat, only vaguely resembling anything besides. Her fangs, long and sharp, plunged deep into the flesh of yet another apple trapped in her grip, draining it of its precious, tangy delight in mere moments. The husk she soon discarded, shriveled and worthless. Only to reach for another, mere moments later.
This was her life, night in and night out.
And she, in her own way, felt content. She was well-fed and nourished by the abundance of fruit. Her cloud offered ample company. She knew that she had everything she could ever want. Nature provided everything.
She drained yet another apple of its juice, letting it fall to the ground after she finished. With a hiss, her tail released the branch she hung from and her wings flared open. The bat took flight in an instant, soaring under the light of the moon towards another tree. Her mouth open and fangs bared, she snatched another of the luscious red fruits straight from the branch. She kept on flying and soon perched on another tree, trilling in content as she sucked the apple in her maw dry.
“Do you like apples?”
The voice had caught her off-guard. Hissing, she turned to face the source, wings flared in preparation for a quick getaway.
It was a mare. One that, curiously, was perched up on the branch with her. Her mane was a soft, flowing pink, and her yellow coat seemed clean and uniform, unlike the bat’s own. How she had gotten up there without her notice was not very clear.
“I asked if you liked apples. You don’t need to answer.”
The voice was soft, and strangely placating. Who even was this mare? Of course she liked apples. That was all she ever ate. She lived off of apples. She hissed again in response, not appreciating such a flagrant violation of space by this intruder.
The mare simply smiled. “It’s not like you have a choice in the matter,” she said. “You need apples to survive, right?”
A growl escaped the bat’s throat. Though she realized and understood the mare's words, her instinct did not care.
“So you must like apples,” the mare continued. “If you didn’t like apples, that wouldn’t be very nice. You might even starve, if you didn’t force yourself to eat them.”
Curious as the pony was, the bat could not bring herself to care. She plucked another apple from a nearby branch, munching on it without a care.
“Are you happy?”
The question gave the bat pause. Only enough pause to stop eating, turn toward her and muster another hiss, however.
Once again, the mare only smiled. “It was only a question. But I think we both know the answer to it already.”
The smile on the pony’s face faltered for a moment. She slowly reached out to rest her hoof on the bat’s chest, prompting another hiss out of her. It felt warm, somehow. Welcoming. But at the same time, it left an emptiness in her soul. A pit in her juice-filled belly.
“Your friends are waiting for you.”
Her ears perked up, hearing the distant screeches of her fellow cloud. She turned away and toward the moon, seeing them fly off into the distance without her. Presumably moving on to another section of the fields.
She flared her wings again and turned back toward the mare, almost expecting another string of strange questions and statements -- but to her shock, the mare had disappeared. Gone, as if she were but a trick of the light, or the mind. Had she really been hissing at and listening to nothing? Had the mare somehow slipped away in such a short span of time? And she seemed so familiar, somehow.
The call of her cloud reasserted itself over her confusion. Turning once again to the sky, she flapped her wings and took flight. In no time at all, she rejoined her fellow bats—her friends?—in the air of the foggy, moonlit night. In the back of her mind, she wondered if she would see the mare again, someday.
The emptiness left by her touch remained.
She hung from the tree as she fed. What could have been easily mistaken for a mare was in fact a rather large bat, only vaguely resembling anything besides. Her fangs, long and sharp, plunged deep into the flesh of yet another apple trapped in her grip, draining it of its precious, tangy delight in mere moments. The husk she soon discarded, shriveled and worthless. Only to reach for another, mere moments later.
This was her life, night in and night out.
And she, in her own way, felt content. She was well-fed and nourished by the abundance of fruit. Her cloud offered ample company. She knew that she had everything she could ever want. Nature provided everything.
She drained yet another apple of its juice, letting it fall to the ground after she finished. With a hiss, her tail released the branch she hung from and her wings flared open. The bat took flight in an instant, soaring under the light of the moon towards another tree. Her mouth open and fangs bared, she snatched another of the luscious red fruits straight from the branch. She kept on flying and soon perched on another tree, trilling in content as she sucked the apple in her maw dry.
“Do you like apples?”
The voice had caught her off-guard. Hissing, she turned to face the source, wings flared in preparation for a quick getaway.
It was a mare. One that, curiously, was perched up on the branch with her. Her mane was a soft, flowing pink, and her yellow coat seemed clean and uniform, unlike the bat’s own. How she had gotten up there without her notice was not very clear.
“I asked if you liked apples. You don’t need to answer.”
The voice was soft, and strangely placating. Who even was this mare? Of course she liked apples. That was all she ever ate. She lived off of apples. She hissed again in response, not appreciating such a flagrant violation of space by this intruder.
The mare simply smiled. “It’s not like you have a choice in the matter,” she said. “You need apples to survive, right?”
A growl escaped the bat’s throat. Though she realized and understood the mare's words, her instinct did not care.
“So you must like apples,” the mare continued. “If you didn’t like apples, that wouldn’t be very nice. You might even starve, if you didn’t force yourself to eat them.”
Curious as the pony was, the bat could not bring herself to care. She plucked another apple from a nearby branch, munching on it without a care.
“Are you happy?”
The question gave the bat pause. Only enough pause to stop eating, turn toward her and muster another hiss, however.
Once again, the mare only smiled. “It was only a question. But I think we both know the answer to it already.”
The smile on the pony’s face faltered for a moment. She slowly reached out to rest her hoof on the bat’s chest, prompting another hiss out of her. It felt warm, somehow. Welcoming. But at the same time, it left an emptiness in her soul. A pit in her juice-filled belly.
“Your friends are waiting for you.”
Her ears perked up, hearing the distant screeches of her fellow cloud. She turned away and toward the moon, seeing them fly off into the distance without her. Presumably moving on to another section of the fields.
She flared her wings again and turned back toward the mare, almost expecting another string of strange questions and statements -- but to her shock, the mare had disappeared. Gone, as if she were but a trick of the light, or the mind. Had she really been hissing at and listening to nothing? Had the mare somehow slipped away in such a short span of time? And she seemed so familiar, somehow.
The call of her cloud reasserted itself over her confusion. Turning once again to the sky, she flapped her wings and took flight. In no time at all, she rejoined her fellow bats—her friends?—in the air of the foggy, moonlit night. In the back of her mind, she wondered if she would see the mare again, someday.
The emptiness left by her touch remained.