@Background Pony #CCC0  
Heh, I agree. Hell a lot of bronies used that recessive dragon idea to further enhance the popular idea that she is Dovakiin, Dragonborn, after Dragonshy and Skyrim were released. Not seriously of course, but a cool crossover-esque idea.
 
Jugo is..complicated, but there are gigantic parallels between him and Fluttershy. He is a gentle giant animal lover as they come when he’s calm, but when his nature powers go berserk, they REALLY go berserk.
 
““In other words, Fluttershy was a were-vamp.” i can agree to this.”
 
Cool, I’m glad we see similarly :) I did, like I promised, try to think of some counter theory’s for my own theory at least for the transformation itself…even though it does not explain the other stuff the ‘recessive gene turned her into a were-vamp’ theory explains.
 
(1st theory) Pegasi already have bird blood in them otherwise they wouldn’t have wings, and that much bat brain waves was enough to rewrite the bird dna into a bat dna because (2nd theory) due to having bird dna and horse dna mixed, pegasi are more susceptible to transformation, and that’s why Luna chooses pegasi to be her royal guard.
 
or (3rd theory) All ponies are susceptible to transformation via nightmarification, but it takes a whole lot of emotion and magical power to fuel such a transformation, so Luna is one of the few ponies to become a Nightmare in history. Fluttershy became a nightmare, but not on her own power or emotions, but Twilight’s magic and the vampire bat’s urges.
 
Honestly both 1 and 3 have huge amounts of errors that could be pointed out easily, although theory 2 that held up theory 1 might also, to some extent, be connected to my main theory. Maybe pegasi ARE more succeptible to transformation, and that’s why Luna has them for the Lunar guard to be more unique.
 
Now as for your final comment, I’m afraid I cannot give you an answer. Night Guards being pegasi transformed by Luna’s magic is the main theory the fandom has latched onto cause there seems to be no other explanation. The re-introduction of them by one of them BECOMING a bat pony solidifies their existance in the MLP universe.
 
It has been established there are only three base tribes of ponies: earth, pegasi and unicorn, and crystal ponies vary from all 3 races, its just WHERE they were born. The night guard, bat ponies, appeared in Luna’s significantly important re-introduction episode. It established that while she was not evil, her unique powers were inherintly fitting for the Queen of the Night, turning her cape into bats, transforming doll spiders into seemingly living spiders…pretty much a goddess of Transylvanian magic.
 
So bat ponies were introduced, then RE-introduced under different circumstances. What’s more, it was done to the one main pony we haven’t the SLIGHTEST clue on her parentage or family even by S4. Lots of questions are going to be thrown around.
 
Bat ponies are canon. That’s a fact. Until they address it further, I’ve seen no better theory then the one most fans have guessed.

@Background Pony #8DB3  
“In other words, its part of who she is…just recessive.” sounds very ‘friendship is witchcraft’-esque, what with the ‘dragonness is recessive’ bit when they made the dragon from ‘dragonshy’ her father.
 
“In other words, Fluttershy was a were-vamp.” i can agree to this.
 
i do have another issue, but not with the vampire flutterwere discussion.
 
“This is due to the fact normal Bat Pony’s were created by the power of the Moon, Luna.” where in any canon - show, books, comic - does it say this? the only thing i can remember from any canon is that two bat ponies appeared in ‘luna eclipsed’ and one that was a guard for luna in the ‘zen and the art of gazebo repair’ comic (the big macintosh episode) but nothing came about as to the origins and they were mainly there for one-shot gags. the entire rest of this to me is an entire series of fanon arguments as to the background of their character. unless it was revealed in the ‘nightmare rarity’ arc that discussed how the nightmares took over luna, then to me there’s hardly even evidence for this in canon.

@Background Pony #CCC0  
First off, a big line I wrote earlier you seem to have overlooked, which breaks apart most of your arguments from the getgo, but I’ll still adress them one at a time
 
“especially in Equestria since bat ponies ARE emissaries of the moon’s power, Luna.”
 
In other words, Fluttershy was a were-vamp. She has the powers and abilities of a feral vamp, but only at night. This is due to the fact normal Bat Pony’s were created by the power of the Moon, Luna. Fluttershy has mixed traits of Vampires and Werewolves due to the origin of Bat Ponies.
 
Now I’ll begin my counterpoint:
 
“fluttershy lost hers upon transformation, a trait more commonly exhibited among weres”
 
That is incorrect. People who have JUST been turned into a vampire also excibit feral traits. In fact, Fluttershy more closely resembled a feral vampire’s psychology. There was an early scene where she was trying to shrug off the madness with her pony mind…that doesn’t happen while werewolves are fully transformed, the only way to reach out to a werewolf is communicate you are their friend by deep, deep instinct. And neither new vampires or new werewolves can fully control their mind during their full transformations.
 
“that’s pretty much all she was in the episode. and essentially you could compare the stare in this instance to that of the vulcan mind meld (wow i’m such a nerd to bring that up) in the sense that she felt the same urges the bats did.”
 
Heh, don’t worry, most of us bronies are nerds and proud. But for one thing, her stare never had the effect of empath or mind merge with the person she was using the stare on…it was complete domination. One sided. And what’s more, it doesn’t explain her tranformation…but there is even a bigger part of the transformation that only a few people noticed, but I’ll get to that at the end.
 
“ fluttershy was only active at night and did appear during the daytime cycles. moreover, she didn’t show the traits of the bats during the day, and that was only a hunger for apples. this would apply to weres, too; only transformed during the day and showing increased hunger for their prey as the only trait during the day.”
 
I already answered this paragraph with my beginning statement. Equestria doesn’t have true vampires or true werewolves. But Fluttershy became a were-vamp due to its origins….bat ponies were created by Luna.
 
“the same thing here can be said of a were, such as a certain eye color or hair color  
or sharper teeth.”
 
Actually most werewolves don’t excibit any physical traits while human unless they try to embrace the instinct while untransformed…like Van Hellsing when trying to use his werewolf blood to bend the bars, his teeth got sharper, but then regressed.
 
In fact the base lore of werewolves revolves around guessing who the werewolf is since they don’t have physical tell-tail traits while their human, only a few hints depending on the lore. Vampires can’t hide that easily at day, they have different lore. But in vampire lore, half vampires and vampires turned back into human often have partial fangs after the fact, day and night.
 
“to me, it seems people are concentrating more on the fact that it said ’vampire fruit bat’ and her general appearance rather than the details of how she acted and what happened during the episode”
 
Thing is, bat and pony dna has been merged before by Luna, making them in control vampires.
 
And here’s the part I waited for the end…magic is established cannot change or create a cutie mark, the only exception being tied to a greater power, the Elements of Harmony. The spell had nothing to do with her being an element bearer.
 
However, not only did Fluttershy transform into a bat pony ONLY with vampire bat brain waves being put into her head, but her cutie mark turned from 3 butterflies to 3 bats. In other words, its part of who she is…just recessive.

@Background Pony #8DB3  
i don’t think i ever got that far. i might have finished the original arc but i don’t know anything from shippuden, and most details of the original are hazy at best.

@Background Pony #CCC0  
cont. Heh, reminds me of Jugo from Naruto. He was extremely kind and he had nature magic in his blood that allowed him to communicate with animals on a different level exactly like Fluttershy, but his nature blood was cursed, which caused him to transform with madness into a feral beast at the drop of a hat.

@Background Pony #8DB3  
to expand, i do actually have an argument against the appearance: it only happened at night and wasn’t a permanent thing. that’s all i’ve got, though.

@Background Pony #8DB3  
the appearance is a fair counterargument, but honestly i’ll admit it’s a very thin line between either of them, vampire or were, with arguments to both sides. personally, i’ll stick to the were explanation but i’m a little more understanding of how someone could see vampire fluttershy.

@Background Pony #CCC0  
“i will admit here i can’t argue against the bat-like appearance, but…”
 
Pause before my rebuttal; Why not? I addressed everything you said last time because I wanted to respectfully answer all your arguments, and I have a rebuttal for everything you just said right now, but its meaningless to share it until your rubuttal doesn’t have a hole in your counter theory that points to my theory being the only explanation on the table.
 
Hmm, scratch that actually…if you prefer, you can just say ‘pass’ and I’ll continue. Cause maybe the two of us will find an alternative possibility later in the discussion. Afterall, this isn’t a discussion to gain victory, its to discuss to topic and learn from each other to figure out a good answer via counterpoint :)

@Background Pony #CCC0  
only transformed at night*
 
additionally, the vampire would seek shelter during the day which it could not stand, which fluttershy was out with the others surveying the grounds.

@Background Pony #8DB3  
alright. another rebuttal:
 
“You have to have a mind to dominate a mind correct?” yes, that’s true. which fluttershy lost hers upon transformation, a trait more commonly exhibited among weres. she didn’t decide to take advantage of them, she lost control and lost her memories, not remembering who twilight and the others were and becoming aggressive to them. she didn’t try and dominate them, but attacked them like they were approaching on her territory.
 
“If Fluttershy had no recessive genes, at worst she’d just be a pegasi with strong bat-like hunger for apples.” that’s pretty much all she was in the episode. and essentially you could compare the stare in this instance to that of the vulcan mind meld (wow i’m such a nerd to bring that up) in the sense that she felt the same urges the bats did. i will admit here i can’t argue against the bat-like appearance, but…
 
“I think your forgetting that the line between just-transformed vampires and weres are a blurry one instinct-wise and cycle-wise”. so are you in this instance. fluttershy was only active at night and did appear during the daytime cycles. moreover, she didn’t show the traits of the bats during the day, and that was only a hunger for apples. this would apply to weres, too; only transformed during the day and showing increased hunger for their prey as the only trait during the day.
 
“And when the transformation spell ’worked’, smaller versions of her fang remained, like a disease just in forced remission.” we’re back to that thin line you brought up. the same thing here can be said of a were, such as a certain eye color or hair color  
or sharper teeth.
 
to me, it seems people are concentrating more on the fact that it said ‘vampire fruit bat’ and her general appearance rather than the details of how she acted and what happened during the episode, but the bottom line is unless they decide to bring this up again in another episode the line is momentarily blurred.

@Background Pony #CCC0  
I see. Here’s my counterargument.
 
First off, Rarity implied that she could use it on ponies, but would never do it because of her morals. Not to mention the mesmerizing and domination stare is not a power feral/new/bloodcrazed vampires are capable of using. You have to have a mind to dominate a mind correct?
 
Your last two points don’t make sense either. If it was Luna performing a careful transformation spell, she would be a fully sane bat pony. But Twilight’s spell was not a transformation spell at all was it? She got dozens of vampire bats impulses shoved into her brain by Twilight’s imperfect spell. If Fluttershy had no recessive genes, at worst she’d just be a pegasi with strong bat-like hunger for apples. Instead, under Luna’s light, the same power Luna uses to make pegasi bat ponies(until we know otherwise), she physically transformed into a batpony along with those urges. Why? Twilight didn’t have a clue! She only figured out her spell was the trigger, and tried an actual transformation spell to undo it.
 
(How many vampires are sane during their first nights as vampires? Not many, especially unwilling vampires. I think your forgetting that the line between just-transformed vampires and weres are a blurry one instinct-wise and cycle-wise, especially in Equestria since bat ponies ARE emissaries of the moon’s power, Luna.)
 
And when the transformation spell ‘worked’, smaller versions of her fang remained, like a disease just in forced remission. If it was completely foreign to her body, the spell should of worked completely…but then again, if it was completely foreign to her body, a brain wave spell would NOT have been enough to turn her physically into a vampire.

@Background Pony #8DB3  
but she didn’t use the stare as a bat. if she did, i’d be more inclined to give you some leeway here. furthermore, the stare is never shown as being used on other ponies. secondly, fluttershy became way mentally unstable when the transformation occurred, regressing to a feral state. finally, the transformation was unwanted and more like that of a were-creature than a vampire.

A penny for our thoughts…
 
The nightguard obviously existed prior to Luna’s banishment. They are, basically, mentally stable vamp ponies Luna creates from Pegasi, as far as we can tell.
 
Fluttershy’s stare, the ability to command the obedience of others with their gaze, is a classic vampire power.
 
While Twilight’s spell should not have bounced the urges onto Fluttershy, should that have been enough to transform her? Or did it activate recessive genes she already had that gave her the stare in the first place?

I wouldn’t be against seeing more of Lunar Guard!Flutterbat either.

…
 
Still more useful than the rest of the guard! :v

@Background Pony #CCC0  
I always figured Luna’s night guard were regular Pegasus ponies she turned into bat-ponies through transformation magic. They wouldn’t necessarily have vampire cravings like Flutterbat.
 
Then again, maybe they might; Luna’s struck me as having a weird sense of humor like that.

All of my yes.

@when she felt her wings unfold  
i suppose i’m one of those people that needs a little bit of canon for fanon to work and it makes me stubborn in this regard; perhaps the remnant is good like you said, but with how fluttershy acted during the episode, i don’t think she could be a batpony or a night guard in either version of fanon because she was rather quickly overwhelmed by hunger.

@when she felt her wings unfold  
This!
 
This was what I meant when I said I’d be okay with the idea of Lunar Guard Fluttershy.

@PonyPon  
i’ve not considered fluttershy to be the cutest of the mane 6. that usually goes to applejack or rainbow dash.

@Background Pony #CCC0  
It was explained as a transference of desires namely the vampire- fruit bats desire to be vampire- fruit bats, which was then transferred back with the undoing of the spell. Evidently your desires make you who you are in Pony.
 
I could quite see the feralness and teh hunger as her being temporarily overwhelmed by way too much of that desire, and perhaps the remnant is quite manageable - I like to think without the redeye or bat-cutie-marks, and with more luna/guard/shy shipping.
 
Still doesn’t explain the night guard themselves though.

@Background Pony #CCC0  
She’s still cute, so who cares?
 
amirite?

@Method Mane  
even if fluttershy as shown in the episode was a hell of a lot more feral and practically forgot about her friends? i mean, the usual interpretation of the night guard is gruff but equally as - how do i put it - nice as the solar guard, and fanon batponies are still generally tame and civilized, but fluttershy lost all of that upon her transformation.

You know what?