"Prince Page?"
I looked away from the moon, turning around on the balcony to look at the approaching Shining Armor, a pair of glasses held in his magic, "Just Page is fine, Shining Armor."
"Shining then," he said and offered me a glass.
I took it and had a taste. Apple cider, "Thank you."
He nodded and sipped his own, "Twilight said your village is in the southern jungles," he said after a moment, looking out over the village below.
"It is," I agreed, "Perfect climate for bat ponies. Warm, just the right amount of humidity and as long as you stay beneath the canopy, not even too bright during the day."
"Twilight said it was a bit dangerous, but I feel like she's hiding the real dangers," Shining said and then looked at me, "How dangerous is it really?"
I took a deep breath before letting it out again, "Somewhat," I admitted, "But it was mitigated by moving the village into the trees."
"You knew it wasn't safe and you dragged her out there anyway?"
I raised an eyebrow at him, "I doubt anypony can 'drag' Midnight anywhere she doesn't want to go. Besides, she knew the dangers as well as anypony else could, she had been there before."
Shining glared at me, "Her name is Twilight!"
"And when she ask me to call her that instead of the name she asked me to call her, I will do so," I told him, refusing to escalate, "I'm not sure why you are out here picking a fight with me when your newly returned sister is in there, but if you want to have a go, we shouldn't do it where they can hear. Because Midnight would be mad at us and she gets scary when she's mad."
Shining Armor stared at me for a second before he snorted and nodded, looking away, "...You're right. I'm sorry, I just..."
"You’ve been worried about her for years," I told him seriously, "And you have nopony else to be mad at."
He closed his eyes tight for a second before he nodded again, "How do you know that?"
"Because I know you," I told him with a small smile, "Or rather, the Shining Armor on my world. I'm dating his sister, we're friends."
Shining snorted and then took another sip of cider, "This has to be strange for you," he admitted after several long moments.
"Very," I agreed, "And to be honest, if I didn't trust Midnight and her abilities completely in finding a way to get me home, I would be running around in little circles panicking right now."
He looked at me for several long moments before he nodded and looked away, "I'm not sure what I would do," he admitted before rubbing his eyes with a pastern, "...Oh Celestia, it's exactly what Twily went through. Alone in a new world."
I knew some about what that was like.
"Not all alone," I told him quietly, "She had Talon. She had our Twilight. Our Spike. Celestia and Luna. Our Cadence and Shining Armor. She met ponies, made friends. Fell in love with a scary unicorn."
Shining sighed and leaned against the railing, "And now she left everypony she knew there behind."
I moved to stand next to him, putting my hoof on the railing as I looked out over ponyville, "She's going through it all over again. She's hiding it, but I can read her almost as easily as I can my Twilight. Go in and be there for her, she needs you."
He looked at me, "So why are you out here?"
"I'm not family. That's what she needs right now. I would be intruding."
"Not to her," Shining sighed, "She talks about your Twilight as a sister. And even if that didn't count, to her you are family. She needs ponies that love her right now and even if I don't like it, that includes you."
I hesitated before I nodded, "Okay," I finally agreed before I frowned, "...so why did you come out here picking a fight with me?"
"Because I can't yell at her right now for moving to your crazy cult town," he said with a snort and turned around, walking back inside.
I glared after him.
Nocturnis is not a cult. Just because we live a bit isolated in the middle of the jungle and ponies followed me personally there and reject part of the rest of Equestrian cultu-
I paused and frowned. That... did kind of sound a bit cultish, if taken in a vacuum.
But no, that's not what Nocturnis was. It was a sanctuary for bat ponies and anypony... anycreature actually... that wanted to settle down there and start a new life.
...Nope, still sounded a bit like a cult compound.
I better check with Starlight when I get back home, she was the expert in these things. I better not have accidentally started a cult.
Taking my cider, I followed Shining inside.
That's not foreshadowing at all.
O no, did I accidentally a cult?
Nice. Also it's a cult
can't be a cult, they don't drag random teenagers that go hiking through the woods to murder cannibal shacks
Good grief! Shining Armour is a contortionist! For reference, the fetlocks are on the rear legs, you probably mean pastern here.
Shining's reaction feels spot on. Tough but controlled and not unreasoning. Splendid job!
Obligatory jackboots:
And when she asks me to call her that
I had best check with Starlight when I get back home, she was the expert in these things. I'd better not have accidentally started a cult.
Worse, she was forced to
A good question, with a no doubt foolish answer
Like I said... "not family" how foolish
Some point in the future as Page finally returns to Nocturnis
Page: "Are... are we a cult?"
Flower Rain: sighs "No, Prince Page. We are not a cult."
Amber: "Agreed sir. We are not a cult."
Page: "Oh. Good."
Outside, ten of the nightguards and twenty changelings: whispers "Not a cult. Not a cult. Not a cult."
they probably didn't get the full picture of why exactly he had to move all the batponies out that far but if they did, he needs to get booped with the newspaper for being a bad pony. They're a dying tribe that when he went forth seeking help, got none, so nocturnis was the only way to do it and get some support from the wider population.
also page be all
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returns back to find a giant ziggurat and a silver statue of him with ponies prothletising in front of it every hour until his return
"Damnit We're totally a cult."
Yup. If I had to guess, Starlight of this world is gonna get Page back to his home universe, but probably the wrong time in said universe. And suddenly he's the Thestral god who laid the curse on thestrals in the forst place out of necessity.
Thanks for chapter!
Have a good day!
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Yeah it not their fault their ancestors were curse and then someone trying to fix the curse ended up cursing them in a different way. They have been forced to hide what they are or be hated and exclude from daily life. And Celestia does her best but even she never thought to try to help them in any way and without disapproval coming from the Head down the others will be believe it is okay for them to be jerks. When their Celestia realize how bad she had let it become she was ashamed of herself and wished to make it right.
Sorry Page, But you did start a cult. At first they held you in regard to helping them remove their curse with help from others. Many thestrals are more than a bit awed by you that you took the time and effort alongside them to make their village and to be welcomed and wanted there.
And if that is not enough, You Page have a cult of most Alicorns that want some of the Big, Batty D for dem foals dey be wanting!
It's not a cult. It's a recognized religion, with a known temple in Griffonstone.
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What's the difference between a cult and a religion?
TAXES!
MEANWHILE...IN THE JUNGLE PYRAMID IN THE PAGEVERSE...
Statue: Yes...I remember when I realized what I have truly created...good times...gooood times...SOON I WILL--
Discord: I told you before! Hiver forgot about you!
Statue: I refuse to believe that! Besides why you here?
Discord: I am hiding after escaping the Sock Puppet dimension...want a roommate? Please?
Statue:
I'd say it's more of a religion. Like the other guy said, you pay taxes.
Only a little cult-ish
The cult of the fruit bats? No...hmm...
Without context the best can sound negativ.
Guess Cadance gives Midnight/Twilight a counseling season, while Shining has this conversation with Page.
Love is a major game changing Element, so i wonder what she loves more in the end...
I wonder if Page has the wisdom of age and plans for the future. In that case 'breed the Alicorns and take them all with you
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I mean, they don't really get support from the wider nation. The crown, sure, but the wider population is probably glad that Page took all batponies and essentially shipped them all of in voluntary self-exile to the farthest corner of Equestria. Neighsay must have been baffled as to why Page would do him this huge favour.
Page's plan to give batponies their own identity worked like a charm, but in the longer term all this self imposed exile will do is estrange them from Equestria. We already had some mutterings about how Nocturnis "doesn't need Equestria" a couple stories back, and sentiment like that is only likely to get worse over time. They need to get those portals working fast, because every year that Nocturnis spends essentially disconnected from Equestria is one more year where it drifts away from them.
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there's not really anything he could do, their population numbers were so extremely low that they had to exhile themselves but in time, there will be those bats of the 2nd or 3rd generation that want to move back to the larger equestria as well as ponies moving into the cleared areas of nocturnis for opportunity
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Will they move back, though? Right now Nocturnis is steering towards the route of becoming its own nation, and waiting several generations down the line isn't going to change that. Those generations won't know any life but Nocturnis life. Equestria would be completely foreign to them, so any desire to go there would be purely out of curiosity, not a feeling of any actual attachment. And if only a handful of curious bats are the ones that try to move back to Equestria, that just puts the problem back where it started: known batponies in Equestria being a minority you can count on your hooves.
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Cult member: "Only because the sacrifices all keep getting eaten by rexosaurai before we can snag them. But.... we're working on that. Got dozens of shacks already built in the jungle just waiting to be put to use."
this is just too funny
More like that time when people left Europe to settle and live new, better lives of freedom in America, I don't really know the word for that, but that sounds like the closest comparison that I can come up with.
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My guess is they will connected like the crystal empire is connected. It is its own place but part of equestria at the same time. My guess the reason nightmare night isn't popular is because they blame Celestia for getting rid of the only pony who support them.
I think that's called emigration, migration, or exodus, towards a refuge, sanctuary, sanctum, or if you want to be a little funny, an asylum.
Nope, not a cult. Now, drink your mango Kool-aid. We have a spaceship to catch.