Bat ponies:
Bat ponies are an uncommon group of ponies and often stay away from regular ponies due to the misconception surrounding them. Bat ponies are family oriented and tend to live in colonies to support and protect one another. They often form colonies in caverns or deep caves that are often not traveled by normal pony folk. Bat ponies do not suck the blood of ponies! In fact they do not regularly drink the blood of any creature. Instead, their diet consists mainly of bugs, herbs, roots, fungi, and fruit! Bat ponies that drink blood of innocent creatures are usually not accepted in colonies as it is thought to be a sign of evil. Though they do not drink blood, bat ponies gain a craving for it under the blood red moon. It is an occurrence that happens twice a year and colonies will often shut the entrance to their home to ensure they do not feed. Bat ponies are born with a magic of their own. The magic is held within their wings and they can cast some spells through gusts of wind they create. Their thumbs can also concentrate small bits of magic for a more direct cast.
Physical traits:
Bat ponies have medium length fur on their coats, most of it located on their necks and chest. They have a bat-like snout and a full mouth of pointed teeth. This is to help them chew tough roots and latch onto their prey. Most notable of the bat pony is their fangs. Fangs are used to suck vital nutrients out of their food. Bat ponies also have a retractable claw near their hooves. This is so they can latch on to ceilings, prey, and other surfaces. They have strong bat wings that have a thumb and four fingers. The thumb is to aid in climbing while the fingers allow them to bend their wings and wrap around things. Bat ponies are typically stunning in appearance. Some even would describe them more endearing than a unicorn. Surprisingly, this was a evolutionary adaptation as it was used to lure pony folk in so that bat ponies could feed.
Transformation:
Bat ponies can transform pony folk into hybrids of their species. The most common form of transformation, is through injecting venom into a victims vein`s through the neck. It is considered an incredibly painful sensation and the victim experiences the transformation slowly. It can take nearly a month for the venom to completely coat the DNA of any pony. The second form of transformation was actually created by Princess Luna. Luna once had a small following of ponies that worshiped her beautiful night. They wished to be able to better navigate the dark and serve their beloved princess. So, Luna learned a spell that could turn ponies into bat ponies. The most difficult part of the spell is that it could only be cast on either a full moon or a new moon. Depending on what phase a pony was turned on determined what physical attributes they obtained. Ponies changed under the full moon would maintain their original appearance and be able to transform at night only. Ponies turned under the new moon would keep their bat pony attributes even in the day. When Luna became Nightmare Moon, she turned a legion of ponies into bat ponies, whether they were loyal or not. These ponies were considered Nightmare Born and appear to be natural born bat ponies but were far stronger.
Earth Pony Hybrid:
Earth ponies transformed are given bat pony wings and extra long fangs. Their wings have a strong arm and three fingers. Though they have well constructed wings, most earth ponies are actually unable to fly with their wings. They are mostly used for climbing or fighting.
Unicorn Hybrid:
Unicorns are strong bat ponies in the realm of magic. Unicorns transformed into bat ponies experience an increase in their magic capabilities and are given wings. Though, unicorns are considered to have the weakest given bat wings. They have no thumb nor fingers, limiting the range of motion the wings can commit and cannot be use for climbing or clinging. They are generally used to store extra magic for the unicorn to use in a pinch.
Pegasi Hybrid:
Pegasi are the strongest fliers of the bat ponies. They have the help of their strong pegasus wings and the added flexibility of bat wings. Their long thumb is excellent for climbing and clinging to surfaces. The weakness of the pegasus hybrid is that they have small fangs that cant provide much protection.