Decades after Luna's banishment, the ponies who worshipped her were dwindling. Those who still looked up to the moon for guidance were reprimanded by those of the sun. One such family lived in a cottage just off the edge of the Everfree Forest, two unicorns and their filly. Peace still had not yet been fully established in Equestria after the civil wars that broke out because of Luna's banishment. Rumours had spread in a nearby village about the moon worshipping family, so in the still of night, the town ponies gathered and marched towards the cottage. The family's only warning was the smell of smoke filling the tiny cottage. The filly was awoken by the smell and the sounds of shouting. Not knowing what to do, she ran out of her room to get to her parents but the buildings structure wasn't very solid and parts of the roof had already started collapsing. She heard shouting in her parent's room so she sprinted to their door, only to be stopped by a large flaming pillar which was lying across the doorway.
"Mommy, daddy?" she called desperately over the roaring fire.
"Honey , listen to me," the mothers voice responded back, "climb out the window in your room then run into the forest as fast as you can, don't let any pony see you."
"But mommy, come with me" she yelled back with tears starting to form in the corners of her eyes.
"I'm sorry darling, me and daddy can't be with you anymore," her voice rang back, "Just remember that we will always love you, now go"
A loud bang behind her sent adrenaline pulsing through her veins, her legs started moving on their own. She bolted back to her room and jumped up onto the window sill. She unlocked it and jumped out, slightly jarring her forelegs from the fall. She looked around quickly to make sure no pony could see her then she ran directly towards the forest. In the distance she could hear chanting but were suddenly drowned out by the bloodcurdling screams from inside the house. Tears streamed down her face after realising the reality of what just happened. She managed to make it into the Everfree without any pony seeing her. She slowed down but kept a steady pace through the rough terrain. Her parents had never allowed her into the forest because of myths and rumours that float around this place. She wondered what was so bad that they told her to come here. She had been walking for several minutes before she found a tree with a hollowed out trunk. She curled up inside of it, the moist soil sticking to her dark purple fur but she barely noticed. All she could think about was her parents and she wept for hours before finally falling asleep.
Three days later, the little filly starving and exhausted, was trying to find something…anything to eat. Her mane and fur were matted with clumps of mud and leaves. She continued on slowly, gathering up all of her energy just to keep going. Then out the corner of her eye see saw a spot of red. An apple. She picked it up and was about to take a bite when she heard a loud screech from above. A bat swooped down to grab the apple out of her hoof but in her surprise she dropped the apple and the bat, unable to stop, sank its long fangs deep into her neck. She let out a high pitched scream, scaring off the bat. Blood started trickling down her neck and down her forelegs. She had never been able to handle the sight of blood and she almost immediately fainted.
Her dreams were filled with thoughts of flying and the smell of apples but started to turn into intense pain that she couldn't move or wake up from. The pain lasted what seemed like days but all she could do was suffer in silence. Eventually the pain started to numb and light started to shine between her eyelids. She opened her eyes slowly, the blinding sun burning her eyes. She looked down and blinked a few times to adjust them to the light. She remembered the apple but realised she was no longer hungry. She looked around her and spotted the apple several feet away but it was completely sucked dry. Feeling disappointed, she bit her lip but to her surprise, a rush of pain came from it as her fangs dug into her lip. She licked her wound to make sure she didn't draw blood but noticed the fur around her mouth was kind of sticky. Curious she licked at the rest of her mouth and realised it tasted like apple. Then it clicked in her mind that she had fangs. Puzzled, she ran her tongue up and down the long protruding teeth. She was the one who must have sucked the insides out of the apple. Her body was still stiff from just waking up so she stretched out her limps, only to be surprised again by a weird new sensation on her back and a sudden gust of wind it caused. She turned her head to see two bat wings protruding out of her back. Her mind raced, how did this happen? How is it even possible? Then she remembered the tales her father use to tell her about the scary vampire Batponies who devoured ponies. Oh sweet Luna she thought to herself, would she try and hurt other ponies? She tried to push the thoughts out of her mind. A soft breeze blew past her, her ears pricked up as the wind held the scent of apples on it. Her wings extended again and they started flapping, lifting her off the ground she then took off towards the smell, flying through the air as if it was second nature. She devoured an entire tree's worth of apples, it wasn't ponies she craved, it was apples. That night she gazed at the moon as its light captivated her, she vowed only to serve the moon and the one true princess. As she did a cutie mark of a moon with bats flying in front of it appeared on her flank.
Years passed, she realised just how horrifying her form was to normal ponies. The first time she found her way back to civilisation, she barely escaped with her life. It left her with a chunk missing out of her left ear. So she simply dwelled alone in the Everfree Forest, just eating the apples when they were in season. Almost a century passed as she continued her lonely existence, still looking to the moon for guidance just like her parents always did. She realised that after she reached marehood, she no longer aged at all and as far as she could tell she was the only one of her kind. Until one apple season when one of her apple trees was strangely bare, with sucked out apples all over the forest floor. There were many strange scents around the tree so she followed it. The smell led her to an old cave, where two little fillies with batwings were huddled in a corner. She couldn't just leave the poor fillies all alone, not after her experiences. She woke them up and took them back to her den and gathered some apples for them to eat. They asked her what her name was but she couldn't even remember since it had been so long since she had last talked to another pony. The youngest one suggested Moon Fang, she let out a small chuckle and went along with it. She raised them till they were mares, the grateful Batponies decided instead of leaving and living alone they pledged their loyalty with her and named her queen of the Batponies. Over the next few centuries more and more of her kind joined her, some just as old her. She taught them about Princess Luna like her parents did for her.
Eventually her den was not big enough to hold her and her followers and would have to find somewhere with more space. Moon Fang flew over the Everfree and found the thickest and foggiest section of the forest and bought her followers to the location. They started constructing a castle by cutting up rocks and using them as bricks. The group used surrounding caves as shelter until it was build. It took decades for the Batponies to finish construction but to immortals it didn't feel like much to them, at least they had a proper home. Over the years, Moon Fang had been practicing her unicorn magic as a way to ease to passage of time, to the point of where she had mastered all aspects of it. Although her magical abilities still paled in comparison to that of an Alicorn, simply because her body couldn't handle the power that comes with Alicorn magic. This still allowed her to keep a split in the fog every night so the whole coven of Batponies could look up at the moon and feel as if Luna was watching over them.
The Batponies lived peaceful lives for centuries. One night, like many others, Moon Fang was sitting in the castles observatory, watching the moon. Although tonight was weird night, the stars had moved to the moon and it had changed slightly. An old memory of her parents flashed into her mind, "the stars will aid in her escape." Her eyes widened, the one true princess had returned.