Slipping in through the door, I crossed the bedroom and silently moved across the floor. The balcony door was open, allowing the summer day inside.
Moving through the bubble of darkness over the bed, I smiled at the sight of Luna deep asleep on her stomach, wings relaxed against the bed next to her.
Carefully and slowly, I climbed onto the bed and scooted closer. Ducking down, I very slowly and carefully moved in beneath her right wing.
Luna mumbled sleepily and rolled onto her side, flexing her wing to pull me tight as she slipped her forelegs around me without waking up.
Cuddling against her, I closed my eyes and slipped off into the dream realm.
The dream realm sparkled around me and I turned my ears. Luna was… that way.
Not far either. Turning, I trotted in the direction of a dark and silvery dream portal. As I got closer, I could tell it’s inhabitant.
One of my ponies, a thestral filly named Solstice. I remember meeting her when she and her parents arrived in Nocturnis. She was forteen or so and last I saw her, her mane was colored in a neon pink. Literally neon pink, it glowed slightly.
I think it was some sort of potion involved. Glowing manes were a bit of a thing among the older foals in Nocturnis right now. At least it was last time I was there. Who knew if that was still a thing, those things changed so quickly. Last it was wing paintings among the thestrals.
Am I old? No, it’s the foals that’s wrong.
The dream smoothed out to shimmering silver and a couple of moments later Luna exited through it. She smiled as she spotted me, crossing over, “My Page.”
“My Moon,” I said with a smile as I stood back up, raising my head to touch her nose with mine, “How’s Solstice?”
“Sleeping calmly now,” Luna said and then sighed softly, “...Do you know her past?”
“Some,” I admitted and thought back, “I talked with her parents a couple of times. Bully problems where they lived last?”
Luna nodded, “She dreamed all her friends abandoned her and that she was sent back there and without an illusion this time.”
That would be a nightmare for sure.
Nodding, I sighed and moved up next to her, my side touching hers, “She’s feeling better now?”
Luna nodded and then smiled a bit, “She’s dreaming of Nocturnis now, leading the guard in a heroic defense against giant plants.”
I laughed,”I’m guessing she has her career all planned out then.”
“Seems so,” Luna admitted with a smile of her own, “I talked to her about it. She plans to sign up when she’s old enough. But she’s young still.”
I nodded, “Things change,” I said before I looked up at her, “Speaking of the guard, do you have anything to tell me?”
Luna looked at me in surprise, “How did you even hear about that already?”
“I have my way. Well?”
Luna sighed, “While you and my sister were away, I talked to some ponies in the guard about the possibility of a training outpost by Nocturnis. To allow the Night and Solar guard to learn from the Nocturnis guard and the other way around. It’s just in a feasibility study stage right now.”
I nodded, “Even so, I would appreciate being asked first, My Sky,” I told her, “Nocturnis may not be an Equestrian protectorate like the Crystal Empire, but Nocturnis is still my ponies.”
Luna looked at me with a raised eyebrow, “You are rather vehemently against this?” she asked in slight surprise, “I would have expected you to have welcomed the bits it would bring to the village.”
I flicked my ears, “...Sorry, didn’t mean to come on so strong,” I admitted and glanced down, “And my ponies would greatly need those bits. But I’m worried about the… implications and impression..”
“Impression?”
Nodding, I sighed and sat down, glancing up at her, “Not a majority,” I said, “but many ponies in Nocturnis do not like Equestria.”
Luna sat down, looking at me, “I am aware some ponies in Nocturnis don’t like their old lives where they lived before, but dislike Equestria?” she asked with a small frown, “And many?”
“Yes,” I told her seriously, “It’s not just how their lives were before, it was how their families lived, how their ancestors’ lives were. Needing to constantly hide their entire lives. Such things can make ponies bitter. They do not like being reminded that they are still parts of Equestria.”
“I… I didn’t experience any of that while I was in Nocturnis while you and Midnight were in the other world,” she admitted.
“Did you spend a lot of time with regular ponies or did you mostly interact with community leaders?” I asked her gently, “Besides, they very much know you are not only my wife, but also were on the moon for a thousand years and had nothing to do with how they were treated.”
“Neither did my sister!” Luna exclaimed, wings raising in annoyance.
“I know,” I said quietly, “And it’s not about her. It’s about Equestria as a whole. See it from their point of view. They have lived in Nocturnis for years now and suddenly a bunch of Solar and Lunar guards show up and cause trouble.”
Luna frowned, “They wouldn’t cau-
“They're young, dumb, enlisted soldiers, in a place they don’t want to be, doing things that suck, with a bunch of bits in their pockets,” I said with a small tired smile, “There will be trouble.”
She looked hesitant, “...You truly believe it is such a bad idea? I discussed it with Sunset and Midnight.”
I shook my head, “Not a bad idea as such, but hazardous and would need to be handled carefully. I have some ideas, but I need to think about it. And the outpost can not be in Nocturnis. It would have to be out by the train station if not further away along the rails.”
Luna frowned at me and shook her head, “Page, allowing ponies as such to isolate themselves will only cause problems. We have encountered troublemakers before, allowing them to set the parameters and tone is never a good idea.”
“And neither is just setting fire to an oil soaked house,” I said and shook my head, “And they’re not a majority, but it would cause instability in a place that just started to get together to heal from what they experienced in the past. I fear that throwing a bunch of guard ponies into it right now is a bad idea. But I will think about how it could be done,” I told her before I sighed softly, “...Because quite frankly, you’re right. Those bits and that experience would likely help a lot of ponies.”
Nodding, Luna shifted to touch her horn to mine, “I’m sorry, Page. I should have discussed it with you before I talked to anypony else.”
“It’s alright,” I said and met her eyes, “Maybe I worry about nothing. Maybe I should just trust in my ponies. But I worry.”
Yeah, Page is right. Young, dumb guards assigned to an outpost in a hot and rainy jungle is already not so great an idea, not to mention what a lot of the bats in Nocturnis think. Even if he and Luna agreed to a special vetting system to ensure that whatever guards went were as unprejudiced to bat ponies as possible, there is another factor to consider: There's gonna be guards, both stallion and mare, that are gonna be horny and want to "sample the local flavors", which invites its own sort of trouble.
Thanks for the chapter!
Have a great day!
I mean, to do something like that without discussing it with the person in charge of the land is a major no no in of itself, since it makes them look like a weak puppet. That's not even getting into the optics of all this, or ways it can go wrong, whether that's issues between the local population and the guards, or the logistics of dealing with that many more mouths at this stage.
Sorry, this feels like characters holding the Idiot Ball because it's time for more drama. You would expect any heads of state with experience to not make such stupid decisions.
Nocturnis will be the elite training for all Equestrian royal guards and Batpone Legion recruits.
Only the elite of the elite can survive it, even if some might hold scars after their training. Be it predators that tried to eat them or over eager Thestral mares in heat season. I actually don't know who is more dangerous.
Even Spike & Talon scales hold scratches from their filly friend, indeed only the toughest of guards are stationed or trained there. Only they are qualified enough to become Alicorn personal guards!
Chrysalis Snuggelbugs are ideal infiltrators and information gathering agents, but it needs the toughness of a Earthpony elite, the swiftness of a Pegasus elite or the most versatile of unicorns to go through the training and come out of it in one piece. Or at least enough pieces to continue service!
Sign today and you get a
BugwaifuChangling training partner for optimalharvestingtraining results!Stallions and Mare stress release via services off-duty are free. Note it is after-duty.
Mid duty services not only are dangerous, agains law and regulations, but will be charged besides the punishments for neglected duty.
Signed:
Tempest Shadow
Can't say he's wrong, though what is the view on bat ponies in Equestria? That could also cause issues, especially if you get a young drunk guard without a filter showing up
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Don't give Hiver fuel for dramatic moment like that
Better talk about Butterflies and... No wait this just ends in Fluttershy inviting predators for dinner without explaining that they are to eat the fish and not the pony guards
Why is it that I hear Discord laughing echo throughout the Rain-Jungle
Guards ponies from the Unicorns, Pegasus and Earthpony Tribe arrived, Thestrals have pitchforks at their hooves.
Blank Page tells everypony they are all stallions, the mob exchanged pitchforks for riding flails and sattles.
Blank Page also mentioned some Griffon Eagles, the mares auditable lead a diskussion about how to ride bird stallions.
With his diplomatic work done the Alicorn stud moves on to his mares, who unexpectedly ride him all night long...
As is your duty
Luna: Question..In the dream, Solstice had her and all the guards paint spider webs all over their bodies along with skin tight face masks. Do you know what was that all about?
Page: Anyone can wear the mask, Luna. With great power come great responsibility.
Luna: I'll take that as a yes.
Principal Blank Page: "No, it’s the foals that’s wrong."
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If they consider doing I suggest getting volunteers considering that will help with the peace factor. Maybe ponies who want to learn more about how bat ponies fight compared to the rest of the pony types. Maybe a few who are hoping to get stronger in order to move up the ladder. Those would be decent choices. before nightmare moon was a thing this tribe was forced to live in hiding or be outcasts and it wasn't that long that began to change. Generations taught to hide who you are and try to not let anyone know and since ponies don't take well to anything outside the 3 tribes even though it is stupid and wrong they never tried to change anything . Now page comes along and makes things better but the scars are going take a long time healing and it might be a little soon for anything more than trade.
Darn! I've run outta chapters after binge reading the whole series once more. but yeah, gotta assess bits vs. risk.
Page: I wish I didn't have to do politics.
The harem: does politics without Page
Page: You fucking did WHAT
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Yep, just goes to show why he does the politics despite hating it.
Nice
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🎶Spider-Bat! Spider-Bat! Does what a Spider-Bat does! Spins a web, any size! Catches Monsters just like Flies! Look Out! For here comes the Spider-Bat!!!!!🎶
Great chapter
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Amusing. Good point, too.
They'd have an even more solid argument if there was paperwork involved that they took care of for him.
Page is totally justified in his thoughts. No way a bunch of guards who think they're the hot shit wouldn't start trouble, especailly for a new small develpoing settlement like Noctunris. There isalso the side not that the guards of Nocturnis are a mjority of females where the Equestrain guard are all male and already look down of females beign guards as an utter atrocity to the line of duty.
Honestly, given how thestrals had to live in Equestria and why Nocturnis was founded in the first place, I wouldn’t be at all surprised if Equestrian guards setting up an independent outpost turned out to be about as popular with at least a sizable fraction of the locals as historical Redcoats were with certain colonists. Was there even a single bat among the ponies who conceived that glorious plan in the first place?
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he's really gotta get with assembling a ponyment so he can sit back and occasionally disband it when they get a bit too crazy
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Ugh never introduce spiderman to the ponies. All the stories that the writers make use of him in make him just the BIGGEST punching bag in the world. Yes with great power comes great responsibility but does that mean you have to be a doormat to everyone. Does that mean you have to use your powers at all or just use the brain that has solved more issues and invented more interesting things that could help people more than slinging webs could do.
Peter parker has developed a fluid that changes states to a biodegradable glue that has the toughness of steel and can help in building things since it only lasts for a few hours. That alone is one heck of a money maker if he wanted to help and fund himself.
When Dr Otto Octavious runs your life better than you, you know you're a big old pushover in your civilian identity. That and one more day (comic variant) is such a horrible reset because it gets rid of any confidence that he acquired in a hugely ham-handed retcon filled mess.
Yeppers...
Protip, Page: build a good working relationship between the Nocturnis Constabulary and the Guard MPs before Liberty Call...
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Cadance is coming...
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Do not mess with the Spider
The idea that Luna and Celestia have is a good one, and Page has a legitimate point in his resistance.
The solution is a blend of the two:
A smaller pilot program, consisting of mostly Night Guard troops--and if Day Guards must be there, then they should be no more than 10% and none in senior ranking positions.
The smaller force would be less intimidating.
Having the Night Guard be the overwhelming majority would be seen as being more sympathetic to those thestrals who were so greatly traumatized.
Time (several years, if need be) will allow the thestrals to get used to the idea by the time that Day Guard begin making up more of the rotations.
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When the Changeling Hive got ignored by Blank Page after being in Canterlot again with years of absence...