“Luna,” I said as soon as we was alone in our sitting room, “Are batponies real?”
She blinked at me in surprise, “Batponies? What make you ask that?”
“I… I saw something,” I admitted and scraped my hoof against the floor, “When I got close to Fluttershy, I saw two versions of her.”
Luna sat down with a small frown, “What did you see?”
Looking up at her, I described the other version. With bat wings, red eyes, fangs and slightly fluffy ears.
Luna blinked down at me before she smiled, “…Wow. I didn’t think any of them still existed. They were horribly rare even back before I was exiled.”
“So, it was real?” I asked with a frown.
Luna nodded with a smile, “It’s very real and what she really looks like.”
“But I thought the bat pony thing for your guards was just illusions?” I asked and glanced towards the door.
“It is,” Luna confirmed, “Nowadays.”
“Oh.”
She moved over to jump onto the couch and I followed to jump up next to her, “Once, long before Unification, a tribe of Pegasi got in conflict with a tribe of Unicorns. The Unicorns were losing, but they got the last laugh in the end.”
I nodded and listened to her, moving up to her side, “What did they do?”
“Their leader, her name lost even to me, she cast a curse on the Pegasi tribe. Mind, this was long before I was born, it was mostly myth and legend even back then,” Luna explained, “But she cursed the bloodline of everypony in the Pegasus tribe. They turned into batponies.”
“What happened?”
Luna sighed, “At first, the curse was strong. The tribe splintered and the batponies hungered for the blood of ponies.”
“...Oh.”
“Batponies was rare and was hunted by all tribes. In time, things changed. A bit before I was born, they were levied with another curse,” Luna said, “Or rather, somepony. Nopony knows why or who, managed to change the curse. Maybe they tried to break it, but the end result was that they now hungered for fruit instead of blood of ponies.”
I nodded, “That’s better, right?”
“It was,” Luna agreed, “But that didn’t change how they was seen.”
“…Yeah. I suppose that makes sense,” I sighed, “But… why do your pegasi guards all use a batpony illusion?”
She smiled a bit, “To hide the real ones that once was among them. After unification, they were still feared and outcast. Very rare, but there were groups back then, but even then the curse had been weakening.”
“And they all looked like batponies to hide them?”
“That and it fit the Princess of the Night,” Luna admitted with a smile, bumping her nose against mine, “By the time I went into exile, only two in my guard were actual batponies. Since my return, I haven't seen a single one.”
“…Was she always a batpony?”
Luna shrugged her wings, “Perhaps. They do have the ability to hide what they look like, pretend to be normal ponies. Not permanently, but for days at a stretch if necessary. But even back before my exile, the curse was so weak that batponies had Pegasus foals most of the time. The curse was still there, mind, but it usually took a powerful magic surge to trigger it.”
“Like… becoming the embodiment of an Element of Harmony?” I asked with a frown.
“Like that,” Luna agreed, “Or any other magical surge from being around the Element of Magic casting spells. She was there when Twilight Ascended after all. It could have been anything really.”
I nodded and relaxed a bit, “So… no impostor?”
Luna shook her head, “Unlikely. Especially with Discord that close. For all his flaws and unreliability, he does love Fluttershy and there is no way he wouldn’t notice.”
“Yeah, makes sense,” I agreed, “But how did I notice?”
“That, My Page,” Luna said and nuzzled softly, “I believe you may be getting more comfortable with your Realm.”
“Oh?”
“Your realm includes things such as stories, illusions, dreams,” she explained and smiled at me, “You recognized the false image when you got close enough.”
“But… changelings…”
Luna turned her head, “Amber?”
Amber ducked out from behind the armchair, “Princess?”
“Would you mind taking a different form for Page?” Luna asked the changeling. Amber smiled and nodded, green fire crawling across her to turn into a copy of Luna.
Looking between them, I then jumped off the couch and approached Amber. As soon as I got within two meters, it was the exact same thing again.
A kind of double vision. I could see Amber behind the changeling shift, but I could also see her look like Luna.
“…I can see you,” I finally said, slowly walking around Amber, “Through the shapeshift.”
Amber looked at me in surprise, “You can, sir?”
“I can.”
Wow.
Okay, that’s new.
Interesting...
Yeah, that's putting an odd twist to an already odd twist.
This could be Luna misinterpreting what happened based on the evidence she has but it's still a neat twist.
Level Up! Ability Unlocked: Truesight
Cool! But that cold kill the mood if Luna uses illusions with... you know.
And masquerades/nightmare night just got boring. And conventions...Unless he can turn it off? Oh, and Daring/Yearling's screwed if he doesnt know her secret already.
So, what're we gonna call this? True Sight? Anyways, love the bit about Bat Pony history. Always interesting to learn anothers take on it
Ehhh, dislike this if you wish, but I have been getting some Mary Sue vibes recently with this story.
9236967
Magic based only.
Physical mask and costumes are not effected.
Lord Blank Page, Prince of Prose and Pretense, Slayer of Tirek.
Neato
So Fluttershy was a Bat Pony all along?
That’s metal!!!
So that was were that last bit from last chapter was going for. I believe something like that is called truesight.
Lord Page has leveled up! Has acquired a new ability: True Sight! Passive Ability: Allows user to see through magical illusions within a certain distance but costumes and makeup are still very much real and must be removed to see if it real or not.
were rare
were seen
I wonder if Fluttershy knows. If she doesn't then I see a freakout in the future.
That’s gotta be a really cool power to have in his line of work. Able to see beyond the illusion in front of him. To see one’s true form without a spell, and without breaking said illusion.
Woah! Wasn't expecting that. Nice!
Oh, I can't wait for this to be brought up to Fluttershy.
Just blew through this whole series in 24 hours. Now I'm sad. Other than needing an editor, this is pretty good.
9236980
Perhaps, but this ability seems kinda passive.
Raistlin Majere? Anyone?
9236965
Heh, yeah.
Even has a short range like Truesight.
ok this is vary interesting.
and this is going to be fun to watch play out.
i wonder just how many thestrals are in hiding?
9238040
Perhaps but he pulled her out for what was essentially a laugh. That’s a dick move.
them having a romantic evening with amber just hiding right behind the chair is too funny.
9238560
to be fair she had a not insignificant chance of being killed in any of the jumps, landing in Page's timeline is pretty optimal as far as things go.
9237635
english isn't Hiver's first language.
9238700
True.
Fallout Equestria
Cupcakes
R63.
Trotting Dead.
9237048
I wonder if Fluttershy will ever be able to manifest her repressed batpony genes at will? It sounds like she already uses part of those stereotypical vampire/vampony powers, specifically the "Stare" that borderlines on hypnotism.
So when is somepony gonna call her Glade, the Daytrotter, the bane of evil vamponies in the secret war over the fate of mortals.
(If that turns into a fic, I want credit, heh)
9239142
Hee hee.
9236980
It's been several volume already, if he don't have some sort of upgrade, then that would be stupid.
9240353
I know, but it doesn't feel earned. To me at least, it felt given, and that makes it feel less special.
9240357
That is a horrible excuse and you know it.
9240359
How is it horrible? Giving powers out of nowhere doesn't add to a character. Nothing was hinted that Page would get this power. Just "hey, I can see through disguises now". That's unlike his alicorn form and his skills as a mage. He risked his life against Tirek, and got an alicorn form out of that. He trained for great amounts of time with Luna to be a mage as well. He earned these powers. Truesight wasn't earned, it was given. That does not make a character.
9240396
It's like saying those who are born in well-off families are mary-sue because they haven't earned that wealth...
Also, that was part of his realm...He can't be Prince something something of something if he doesn't have power within those realm.
9240398
Of course the well off are not mary sues. Having something isn't Mary Sue. I'm not complaining about Truesight itself, I'm complaining about how it was gained. It just appeared in the story without warning, which rubbed me the wrong way. It's like giving a normal person a billion dollars for existing; they just have it, nothing makes it special to them. They can use that for great and wonderful things, and that's ok, but the delivery to that money and power wasn't earned, it was given.
9240415
The thing is, it is an extension of his realm...
And not everything is planned so it could be hinted or something...
And what is earned or not is incredibly subjective.
Going back to my previous metaphor, One could say doing well in school due to having a wealthy family funding all that is needed to be successful in school means that the kid hadn't earned his successes in school...Mary Sue?
9240711
You're absolutely right, what classifies as earned is completely subjective. I just felt that there was no hinting at this power. I think the power is great, and a great addition to Page and his realm. I just felt that it came out of nowhere.
I don't think the story is bad nor Page as a character, I was just expressing that a small part of the story felt off to me plot-wise.
9240774
The only kind of plot that is not off is the kind of plot that is following a strict Railway laid down from start to finish since the beginning...
This story isn't following a railway.
9240779
I was using "felt off" as an idiom.
https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Feel+off&=true
I get the sinking feeling like we are coming to the end. Which means, Twi2 may be a permanent addition.
BP: *wide eyes* "Have I died and gone to pony heaven? This must be how Sunset felt."
9237048
Not necessarily. In the episode, Twilight either accidentally recreated one of the curses Luna spoke about or she created a brand new curse when she zapped the fruit bat and Fluttershy.
I just had a thought, couldn't discord ping the other discords advertising one missing book-horse?
So pretty much Page has Illusion-detection vision, I guess that means it'll be impossible to trick Page through transformations, illusions and so on.
I was
You were
she was
he was
it was
we were
you were
they were
I absolutly love your stories, but after 6-7 books and hundreds of chapter with this ONE type of error popping up constantly...
I will continue to read but you really need an editor to go through your series and rectify it.
10733286
It helps if you imagine Luna with a west country accent.
Yeah... Any non Chrysalis Ling/ Hive will hunt Page... Hes a treat to them all...
Batpony worldbuilding