I brought my shield up, the spell fizzling against the meter wide disk held before me.
Shining nodded, "Better," he said and raised his horn, "You're getting faster."
I nodded and rubbed my head right next to my horn, "Thanks. That takes so much more focus than shielding normally."
"And not something recommended in normal circumstances," Shining Armor agreed, "But it's very good shield practice," before glancing at the moon well above the horizon, "We should break for the night though."
"Some rest would be nice," I said and cracked my neck. It wasn't physically tiring using magic like this, but it was draining. Especially mentally when working on new stuff.
"Come on, let's find something to drink," Shining said and led the way towards the castle.
I could just nod in agreement as I joined in next to him, "Do you still train ponies? You're good at it."
"Not a lot, usually don’t have time but I do try when I get the opportunity," he sighed softly before he smiled, "It's fun though."
"Maybe you should," I pointed out, "Prince or not, you have to take time for yourself or you'll burn out."
"Do you?" he asked with a raised eyebrow, "I have talked to Midnight, you know."
"I try," I protested, "And I try to make sure Sunny and Sparks do as well. Things should calm down a little now when the barrier is up over Nocturnis. Also, that's not the same thing, we're a newly formed colony in a hostile land. The Crystal Empire isn't."
Shining smiled, "We're in just as hostile land and with more than ten times your population. Trust me, plenty of things to do to go around for everypony. But I get your drift, Cady and I try to keep the evenings just for us if possible."
"Fair."
We walked in silence until we reached a sitting room where Shining dug around in a drawer for a second before holding up a bottle of amber liquid, "There."
"You found some?"
"Bought it earlier," he said with a grin as he floated up a pair of glasses as well before filling them and offering one to me.
I took it and had a taste. It burned like liquid ice.
Faint taste of apples.
"So what's up with today?" I asked and jumped onto one of the armchairs to settle down, taking another sip.
Shining settled down in the other chair and shrugged, "I don't know," he admitted.
"Trying to figure me out?"
"...A bit, you are dating my sister."
"No I'm not."
He waved one hoof, "Okay, fine. A different version of my sister. Still close enough that I want to check you out. And Twilight will be living in your town again when you leave."
I smiled and sipped my drink.
Couldn't blame him there, if our positions had been reversed I may have been tempted to check if things were safe too.
"And?" I finally asked.
He shrugged again, "Seems like a decent pony, she could do a lot worse," he admitted after taking a sip, "Fangs or not."
I flashed them at him and he rolled his eyes,
"It was interesting how well you handled the changelings though," he then added, "I didn't see a way for that to work out without ponies getting hurt."
"Changelings are easy to handle," I said and sipped my drink, "You just need to understand their priorities. Hive, Queen, Other Changelings, Themselves, anypony else."
"And that lets you work with them?"
I smiled, "No, but it helps. Really, they're not bad beings and may be the most loyal people in the world as long as you work within their frame of reference. Don't threaten the hive, help them find food and be friendly and they'll literally throw themselves in front of a spell for you."
Shining Armor frowned at his glass but didn't comment, just finishing it before refilling our glasses.
"So, any plans for tomorrow?" I asked.
He nodded, "Twilight is taking me and Cadance out for dinner with mom and dad," he said, "Pinkie Pie volunteered to foalsit."
"Nice."
#########
“Are you certain of this, Spicy Pepper?” Celestia asked, looking at the thestral.
Spicy Pepper was terrified, I could see it. She stood before the four Princesses without her illusion, but she didn’t look away.
Instead she set her jaw and nodded once.
Spicy Pepper didn’t like Princess Celestia. Not in this world nor in this one. In fact, I was fairly sure she hated her on some level.
Be it from having to have been out in the bright light all her life or because she was the leader of Equestria or because of the Solar Guard or… because Celestia was a symbol of Equestria as a whole.
Could be a million reasons.
Some valid. Maybe… all of them. I love Celestia. But I understood why some thestrals disliked her. It would be difficult not to when she was a symbol of all that had been wrong in your life.
Midnight nodded and looked between Luna, Celestia and Cadance, “Everypony ready? I’ll overview and assist in the casting, but you three are the primary casters. Everypony as we have practiced.”
One by one they lit their horns and I backed away further next to where Futtershy was watching. She was wearing her illusion, but when I glanced at her…
Her eyes were slightly wide and she was stuff as a board. I reached out to touch my wing to her side but she didn’t react at all, but I could feel her trembling slightly.
“Easy,” I murmured quietly to her, “Deep, slow breaths, Fluttershy.”
She squeezed her eyes closed and sucked in a slow and slightly hitching breath.
There was a flash of light and I shielded my eyes with a wing as Spicy Pepper disappeared in a sphere of brilliant light, beams of energy flowing into it from each of the alicorns surrounding her.
This was a refinement from the spells Twilight and Midnight started with. For one, it broke both the curse and blood magic at the same time, skipping the hours as a blood drinker in the middle.
Drawback is that it made it harder in the energy department to cast, not so much in the difficulty itself.
Not that it mattered, it took multiple alicorns worth of power to cast the first ones. Two alicorns could cast the first one, three the second if they weren’t Twilight and Midnight. Or I suppose a ton of unicorns.
Couldn’t reduce the power either. It took that much to cut through the spells.
“Breath. Slow breaths,” I told Fluttershy quietly, focusing on her rather than the spell, her own eyes squeezed closed, “Easy. Calm.”
The light stopped and I looked over, spotting Pepper laying on the floor, sprawled out. She looked… like I remembered her.
Midnight caught my eye and I nodded, slowly moving away from Fluttershy and approaching the thestral on the floor, scooting down next to her, “Pepper? Pepper, you awake?” I asked her gently.
Spicy Pepper slowly stirred, her eyes blinking open before squeezing closed against the light. I dropped a bubble of darkness across us and waited.
She very slowly pushed herself into a laying position, blinking her eyes as she struggled to raise her head, “P-prin-”
“Relax,” I told her quietly but firmly, “It takes a lot out of a pony. Just close your eyes and take a nap. You’ll feel better after, I promise.”
Pepper slowly relaxed down, her eyes closing and she fell asleep almost instantly, resting her cheek against the crystal floor.
I moved out of the darkness bubble and smiled at Midnight, “Worked perfectly,” I told her.
Midnight smiled and nodded to the rest, “You cast it perfectly. The thestral getting decursed is going to be exhausted and their magic system is going to be extremely stressed. For the next couple of days they will be unable to fly or cloudwalk.”
“It’s from the new curse breaking spell,” I said, “the old ones were a bit gentler.”
Midnight nodded in agreement, “Yes. But this one is safer for everypony involved. Some didn’t handle the blood magic very well, despite the extra strain it’s better to do it this way.”
“S-she’s really alright?” Fluttershy asked quietly.
I glanced back to see that she had dropped her illusion, walking up next to me.
I nodded, “Just tired,” I confirmed, “She’ll be asleep for the next day or so.”
Fluttershy looked at her through the darkness bubble for several long moments, biting her lower lip before her ears slowly pressed against her head, she looked terrified.
Then she turned to Midnight and swallowed, “D-do me now.”
Midnight looked at her in surprise, “Fluttershy, I… are you sure?” she asked gently and walked up to her, “You know that… if we do, you won’t be able to hide your wings. Or eyes or ears or anything.”
Fluttershy nodded, “I-I know. E-everypony will… know…” she said, her voice breaking before she took a deep breath, squeezing her eyes closed for a second before opening them to look at Midnight again, “But I can’t let her do it alone… a-and… and I want foals at some point. Foals like me,” she said gently but determinedly.
Midnight regarded her for several long seconds before she nodded and hugged her, “Give us a couple of hours to recover and we’ll be ready.”
Fluttershy.
You really are the bravest pony I know.
I love this story and the somewhat daily updates but why do I feel like you cut chapters in half? Like mid conversation or the like. It feels off. Anyways see you in the next one
I like the new spell, it makes sense they'd refine the process over 2 years.
Go Flutters! Stepping up when it counts.
I like these longer chapters better.
great chapter
Thanks for chapter!
Have a good day!
Fluttershy fight her fear, now must Blank Page.
He needs to Stud service Pepper and Fluttershy for the good of Batponys of this timelines future!
11347987
look its noble, but the logistics of interdimensional child support just aren't worth it
Well being the element of kindness ought to make it slightly easier but not much Celestia going have to make anti discrimination laws if this is to work.
Fluttershy really is the bravest pony ever
11348040
Laws that were a millennium overdue.
11348050
True. The whole school episode definitely made me think that they should have put those laws out there. Neighsay should have never been able to pull that stunt. Though twilight should have asked advice from an actual teacher.
11348040
11348050
Assuming it's the same between the 2 universes, those laws are already in place. Celestia mentioned that when Page brought it up way back when he first started working on this problem.
The legal framework's already there, they just need to work on popular opinion.
11348057
Yeah because Celestia never thought. She needs a princess of friendship just to get equestria out of its isolation considering outside of trade I don't think they have any contacts with non ponies. Page is the one getting them out of a lot of the ruts they got themselves into.
Story, update. Best way to celebrate once B-Day online
11348013
But the saving of a race is
Also someone needs to make a Blank Page statue. The Batpony savior trough word and seed
IDK if I'm reading this incorrectly or what, but that wording is really difficult to read and twice as tough to understand. (Still not sure i understand it properly.)
Midnight: Fluttershy, I'm not sure what to say, but I am in a committed relationship even if she is in another world right now.
11348058
Celestia is hardly perfect, but "Celestia never thought" is a bit far? She forged the single most peaceful, prosperous, post-scarcity nation on the planet. That takes a lot of time and effort, and deserves to be recognized rather than swept under the carpet just because she didn't to everything else on top of it too.
The Thestrals were a blind spot to everyone, even Page himself until he got his muzzled shoved straight into it by Discord. Celestia made anti-discrimination laws and expected her own law enforcement to uphold them. That's usually how it works, were it not for the rot doing otherwise. But if nobody reports that rot, how was she to know about it? We don't know exactly what Celestia did when Page told her that her own Guard were part of the problem (the story unfortunately skipped that), but I fully expect Celestia to have done some very deep re-education and house cleaning in the Guard.
11348191
Yes but they aren't the only species in the world. Think about it twilight real job as the princess of friendship is to bring other species into equestria and make them a common site but twilight puts Celestia on a pedestal and would never think anything bad about her. Everything she done as princess of friendship could have been done anyone especially the princesses. The only difference twilight made was the dragon factor because she hatched spike. Page is a nice guy but he doesn't play games with anyone when comes to their lives.
11348133
Yeah, I am quite certan that there is a mistake in it since it refers to the same workd two times. I belive he actuakly wabted to say: "Not in this one nor in the other".
That, at least in my eyes, would make a lot more sense.
Pinkie Pie: OK this is Gummy! He's my pet alligator and best party assistant!
Flurryheart: Cool!
Pinkie Pie: And THIS is my party cannon! Perfect for making party prep easy and fun. Any questions?
Flurryheart: Gummy cannon!
Pinkie Pie: Gummy wha--
*Flurry combines Gummy and party cannon together...and made it the size of an elephant*
Pinkie Pie: ...YOU ARE A GENIUS!
Flurryheart: Now party time!
*Confetti, Godzilla noises, and chaos ensues*
11348201
Celestia doesn't only think only about ponies though. Equestria houses more than just ponies. There's cows, donkeys, griffons, breezies (even if they have their own sub-realm, the portal to that sub-realm is in Equestria, and ponies keep the way to it safe), diamond dogs, minotaurs and at least one zebra, sea serpent and sphinx. Most of these live in Equestria in perfect harmony with the rest of its inhabitants. And even in Zecora's case, where racism was a barrier, it was only the tiniest of barriers that crumbled the moment they had a conversation with her.
Equestria is not a mono-pony nation, and Equestrians are not hostile to everything non-pony. All of which was achieved under the rule of Celestia. The Thestrals and the hatred towards them are an exception in every way. No other race in Equestria has such an inexplicable level of vitriol and abuse aimed at them.
11348169
My thoughts exactly
11348191
True on all counts... Changing the world even as imortal is almost impossible... Almost...
*coughing* Starlight Glimmer apocalypse *coughing*
11348232
*Discord approved* 👍
11348232
...And with the Gummy Cannon Equestria was never the same again!
11348280
Just because there is no war doesn't make it peace. Zecora was accused of murder and curses someone because ponies were clueless outside twilight about zebras. Does that sound like they live in equestria peacefully the only book on griffin culture is years out of date the hippogriffs were totally cut off from the world and ponies had no clue. How many non ponies do you see even in the big cities. The crystal empire is the yaks neighbor and no yaks there just ponies. You need to get the knowledge out there and get ponies to want to meet them. She could do an exchange program in the schools allowing the students to learn about more places.
11348419
You also, of course, need all those other species to want to cooperate as well or you’re stuck from the word “go”. I don’t believe for a moment that isolationism is an Equestria-only problem in the setting; you don’t exactly see, say, dragons, diamond dogs, and griffons happily living together elsewhere with only the ponies having some muddled ideas about “no outsiders, thanks, make you late for dinner!” stuck in their collective heads. Rather, that sort of attitude seems to be by and large a fairly global one -- and that is then hard to address as the ruler of just one nation among others who for diplomatic reasons alone (respecting each other’s sovereignty and all that stuff) is going to find her hooves largely tied even if she did have the time to invest on top of everything else.
Twilight’s ascension must’ve come as something of a godsend from that perspective because suddenly here you had this spanking brand new alicorn with a basically purely ceremonial title who conveniently had to be about the most unthreatening-looking example of the type ever and could do exactly all the sorts of unofficial networking that Celestia would never have been able to anymore after all the centuries of being The Sun Princess (tm).
11348419
Of the non-ponies we've seen, a griffin is one of the highest ranking chefs in Equestria, a team of griffins participated in the Equestria games, minotaurs, cows and donkeys are treated just as equally as any pony in every appearance we've seen and Zecora, again, was accepted the moment they had a single talk with her (seriously, I wish racism could be as easily solved as it was there). Heck, even the diamond dogs were forgiven and left to their own devices after kidnapping Rarity. And that's a case of them starting things.
There is no sign that the other races aren't living peacefully in Equestria. Equestria doesn't look beyond its borders much, true, but not looking beyond their borders doesn't mean rampant racism, it just means a general lack of interest in what goes on beyond its borders. There are many nations even in our own digitally connected worlds that can be accused of this. But in Equestria, what is inside its borders is generally assured to be treated fairly, regardless of what you are. Even Zecora wasn't "zebras are bad!" It was "we don't know this! Unknown is scary!" and the moment the unknown stopped being unknown they went "oh, okay, hey can I borrow some of that bath salt? That stuff smells good!"
11348556
But the fact was only twilight of the group knew what a zebra was so that says the isolation has gotten so bad that ponies barely know about anything outside their little world. Humans have books and the net if they wish to learn. And the Buffalo could been solved a lot easier if Applejack hadn't been so greedy. The one trait that they needed major work on in the show was empathy considering empathy isn't just caring its also seeing things from someone else's point of view and trying understand how they may feel. Twilight hasn't really made an impact because anyone with enough courage could have done it. Spike was the only thing she did that she had a hand in. She never really made a non pony friend. She just clung to everyone else friendship with non ponies. Page when he became aware of a problem he worked to stop it so that nobody would hurt from safety to the bat ponies needing help.
Good chapter
I hope that they get a portal mirror.
11348597
Zebras live on an entirely different continent, and don't travel a lot themselves. A small village in a pre-internet civilization with little to no colonial intent not knowing what zebras are is entirely natural. But yes, Equestria doesn't do a lot of foreign relationships before Twilight, that still leaves Equestria itself to be very accepting to more than just ponies, even on new things once the initial "new thing scary!" fright is over. Even the Buffalo ordeal, which is arguably the worst case in the entire show, got solved in a day once they actually started talking.
11348977
Aye, that would be nice. It would be sad to not see these characters again, after all they have accomplished together.
But, sometimes in life, you meet a person for the last time, and watch as your lives split off down different paths. Everything has an end, so the lesson we learn from this is to appreciate the time and moments we had.
11349350
But outside the tourist industry America doesn't but we are still more aware of the world outside. Celestia should have made social studies part of the mandatory learning experience like ABC and 123. Sure we still get some idiots who unfortunately cause problems because like ponies they are afraid of anything that doesn't fit into their tiny world. And they could have solved it sooner if ponies were willing to talk with anything that doesn't fit in their little world. The fact it took so long just for them to talk about their issues was ridiculous.
11349377
I'd argue that the fact that Equestrians can actually get differences settled so quickly speaks well of their social study department, not ill.
11349471
If they weren't so ignorant about other cultures zecora would have never happened. And considering everything that was a problem was immediately forgiven even when they hurt folks like when Applejack gave most of the town food poisoning. The fact that she hurt lots of ponies was brushed aside as if didn't happen just because she learns a lesson.
For a moment there, I thought Shining had broken out the scumble!
One grammar jackboot that hasn't been reported already:
Things should calm down a little now the barrier is up over Nocturnis.
11351776
Things should calm down a little, now *that* the barrier is up over Nocturnis.
Or just the "," after the now also works.