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It was late at night in Breslen Farms and all was quiet except the song of the crickets and the nightingale. Despite the late hour a soft light still glowed in the barn where horses, cows and sheeps milled around in their pens, some snoozing while others walking around, occasionally eating some hay from their through.

But there was another creature in the barn feeding itself, a tiny long-eared bat named Chiros flew around the rafters and gobbled up any insect his echoes caught. The stench of the barn kept a lot of his nocturnal companions away so this was an ideal hunting ground and occasionally he could rest and watch the horses below.

The enormous creatures never seemed to pay much attention to him and how could they, they lived on the ground and he in the air, yet he knew he helped them out as every blood sucker that disappeared in his stomach would not annoy a horse anymore.

But this night was fated to be different. Having caught a particularly big mosquito he landed on a beam to properly gobble it up but was suddenly disturbed by a squawk and then a rough shove from behind. It turns out the barn populace had changed during the day and a robust swallow was now roosting in the very spot he had decided to land.

Chiros quickly spread his wings in an attempt to catch himself in the air, but he could not flap fast enough and came down hard on a small pile of hay in the middle of the horse's pen. The tiny bat lay still in a daze for a moment and shook his head. He lifted himself up and tried his limbs, nothing was sprained or broken, the hay and his own wings had broken his fall. “Psh birds…" He grumbled as he looked up.

He half expected the swallow to be peering over the edge but it seems the bird had lost interest as soon as it had pushed him, probably was brooding some eggs. Well no matter, he just had to remember not to land in that particular spot again.

It was only then that Chiros realized he had another problem, just as he was about to start crawling to the nearest wall he felt the ground shake softly beneath him as something large approached from behind him. The bat started to crawl forward but then an enormous weight settled onto his back, a hard ridge dug into neck and he felt soft downy fur all over his back.

“What have we here!" A loud booming whinny sounded from above. “Some scurrying mouse!" It continued and Chiros felt a bit more pressure in his back. He craned his head around as much as he could to look at the enormous looming form of a brown stallion above him. It was a sight as majestic as it was terrifying as he could see his enormous nostrils flare in anger.

“No please don-“ He began to squeak but his words were cut short as the pressure increased again, getting dangerously close to breaking him this time. “Silence mouse!" The stallion's expression shifted into what must have been a smile, with ears perked. “You are right to beg, weak small thing! But it wi-“

“Oh stop it Clint." Another whinny sounded, just as booming and gigantic to the tiny bat but also a bit softer. A dappled mare came into view then and bumped her head hard into the stallion's shoulder. “Idiotic bully! This is the tiny flying creature that eats pests for us! Get your dirty hoof off of him."

Fear gripped Chiros heart as the mare's interjection annoyed the stallion, it would take the stallion no effort at all to crush him but it seems the mare's words had effect as his enormous hoof lifted off and then stomped down hard beside him.

A stream of hot air washed over the small bat as the stallion snorted and then he felt it lumber away. The mare above him came around so she was across of him and then lowered her enormous head down to the bat only stopping when her huge soft snout pressed into his face.

“Did you fall little thing?" She coo'd softly. “Don't be afraid, I won't hurt you." She opened her mouth further and then licked across the bats back a few times, probably cleaning the dirty hoof mark off of him.

“Th.. thank you so much." Chiros stammered at the gentle giant as she washed him with her long dexterous tongue. Her head pulled back again and she saw her ears were raised in a happy manner as well.

“Don't you worry little thing. I am Pona, can you still fly?" She asked, sounding a bit confused. The horse was gentle but probably didn't know much more about him than the stallion. Chiros reckoned she wondered why he had not just flown away yet.

Chiros swallowed hard and stretched his wings a few times. “I.. I can. But I can't easily take off from here, I am not a bird. I must drop from a height."

Pona's head moved over him and he guessed she was probably looking at his feet then moved her head down to him again. “Oh no how unfortunate." She made a laughing whinny like a giggle. “But I think I might have the height you are looking for. Crawl onto my head and I'll lift you up."

The bat was so taken aback by the offer he seemed paralyzed for a moment. But he knew that this mare had almost no reason to save him and could've already killed him as easily as the stallion was about to. A bit hesitant at first but then quicker as he felt the large horse head already start to move up the tiny bat crawled over the length of her face and towards the space between her enormous ears, climbing with some difficulty on top of her coarse mane.

Chiros turned around when the mare's head had completely lifted and looked out from his new vantage point. He could see the stallion pouting in the back of the stable. He could see now that the stallion was probably not a fully grown horse as he was much smaller than the other horses near him, who kept their distance and were also looking warmly at the bat. The bat could not help but chuckle at that, from down below they had all seemed equally gigantic.

As he was looking around he spotted a small tick at the base of the Pona's ear. “Oh uhm, miss Pona you have a little something here. I'll take care of it." And before listening for a response he closed his mouth around the tick and crushed it between his teeth, he loosed it from the horse then and swallowed the bug down.

“You're such a little sweetie." The horse said to him as she began to trot around the stable. “Tell me when you fly off, but don't feel rushed, you can stay up there as long as you like little guy, especially if you eat some more parasites!"

Chiros took the invitation, also because he was still a bit rattled by his near death experience. When the horse came close to the others they sniffed him, the inhale of air tugging at his fur and after a while even the colt named Clint came towards him. This frightened the bat and he took off almost immediately, but the calm voice of the mare whispering “Wait…" kept him rooted. The colt also sniffed at him and then shook his head and held it low.

“I was just… I was just... Sorry little m- bat. Thanks for eating all the bugs." The colt stammered as an apology, when Chiros did not respond the horse slunk off again, head low. The bat had a hard time accepting the apology… he was sure that this was all part of growing up for the younger horse but it had nearly cost him his life.

But the mare did not seem to hold it against him. “Sorry for my son. That weird age where he can almost call himself a stallion and they always try to prove themselves against everything, he must've seen you as an easy target." She said softly as her head moved in such a way Chiros could tell she was looking at him.

The bat did not know what to say. If this young the colt was already bullying small creatures what would he do when he was big and strong even for a horse… he guessed only time would tell. “I… thanks for helping me." Chiros said at least, repeating himself but finding nothing else to say.

The mare made a nodding motion. “If you need a place to rest my back is here for you. You won't be harmed in this stable anymore." She lifted her head to the rafters, the wrong ones Chiros knew but he did not feel like correcting her. “At least not by anything I can reach."

Chiros then jumped off the horse and flew up, hovering in the air before the horse. “I'll keep that in mind… and I'll keep eating bugs here." He said, a bit more comfortable now that he was in the air again.

Pona exhaled a happy snort and then cantered to the other horses. The bat flew up and out the barn then. Chiros would indeed return, being a bit more careful around the rafters and perhaps taking the horse up on her offer sometime. If anything the horse's back would be a safer place to sit and snack than the rafters.