I took a thirty minute look around the archives and then gave it up as a bad idea and left. Everything in there was written in old languages I couldn’t read!
Considering some were five thousand years old, I’m not entirely sure what I expected. Fucking, damn it.
Sure, I could likely ask Luna or Celestia for help in translating or asking one of them to teach me, but with what time?
If I thought I was busy… didn’t even get close to those two. Right now I am worried about a small subset of one tribe. They worried about everypony else.
So that was a complete no-go.
Then there was Twilight and Midnight. I was fairly sure they could read it too, if less… natively than Luna or Celestia.
But see above.
Busy.
And… I didn’t want to impose on either of them right now. Things were tough enough for both of them as is at the moment. I didn’t want to be the one to heap more onto their backs.
But I did know another pony that might be able to help.
Hence why I was out in the cold again.
Amber was nowhere in sight, but Iron Shine trotted along next to me, the earth pony looking completely unbothered by the cold which was completely not fair.
At least she was larger than me and also worked like a windbreak.
I’m starting to think thestrals were naturally a tropical species or something. Shaking that thought out of my head, I headed up the path to the small house and knocked on the door.
Waiting for a long moment I then knocked again.
There was another little while before the door unlocked and opened a small crack, “Yes?”
“Good afternoon, Moon Dancer,” I said with a smile, “Do you have a minute?”
“Oh! Lord Page!” she said and opened the door before she blinked and frowned slightly, “...Do you look different?”
I grinned, “It’s… yeah. Thestral, not pegasus.”
Moon Dancer looked at me with interest, “...Fascinating.”
“Mhmm,” I agreed and flicked my ears, “Do you mind if we come inside? This is Iron Shine by the way, she’s my guard.”
“Oh! Of course!” Moon Dancer said and scooted back.
Moving inside, I slipped my cloak off and folded it up. Her home was… pretty much what I expected. Comfortable, lived in and completely stock full with books, stacks of paper and scrolls and half finished projects all over the place.
Moon Dancer looked thoughtful for a moment as she closed the door, “Could I get you some tea?” she asked after a moment.
“That would be wonderful, thank you.”
She nodded and left for the kitchen and I stretched my wings before sitting down by the gently crackling fireplace.
Iron Shine moved to stand close to me, but at a distance where she wasn’t crowding me, just kind of scanning the room.
Five minutes later Moon Dancer returned, carrying a tray of cups and a teakettle. A moment later we all had a cup of steaming hot tea each and she looked at me.
I smiled at her, “I’m sure you’re curious why I’m here,” I asked.
Moon Dancer nodded, “Yes.”
“I have a research project if you are interested,” I said and blew softly on my cup of tea, “I know you’ve done some projects for Luna.”
She slowly nodded, “What’s the project?” she asked as she looked at my ears.
Not overly surprised, they were bigger than most ponies and a bit fluffy. I flicked one of them and her eyes moved with it.
Now that’s funny!
“Batponies,” I said with a smile and spread my left wing, “As you noticed, I have some personal incentive in figuring out exactly how it works.”
Moon Dancer slowly nodded again, looking lost in thought, “What is it that you want to know?”
“In short,” I explained, “I want to know where they come from, everything about the spell that originally created them from Pegasi, absolutely everything you can find.”
“I haven’t run into very much at all,” Moon Dancer said, “The books barely men-”
“For this project you’d have full access to the royal libraries in addition to the ancient archives,” I reassured her, “How’s your ancient languages? Old Ponish, ancient equestrian… whatever the languages of the old tribes where…”
“Earth ponies is the source of old ponish,” Moon Dancer explained, smoothly going into a classroom lecture tone, “It takes some effort, but if you know one you can read the other. Ancient pegasi had their own language but didn’t have that much for writing things down permanently as it was too much weight. They used materials that tended to get destroyed with time. The most reliable records from that time are from unicorn records because they tended to record everything. Did you know that unicorns were the first ones to invent writing?”
“I can honestly say I didn’t,” I said with a smile, “Well? Want the job? The pay would b-”
“Yes!”
“...You need to work a bit on the entire work interview thing,” I said with a grin, “I didn’t even get to the pay. But very well, I’ll get the details to you and the access you need to. If there is anything else you find that you need, assistants or anything, just let me know and I’ll make sure you get it.”
Moon Dancer nodded, “Do we have a timeframe?”
“No. But while accurate is better than faster, as fast as possible would be good,” I said, “As the result of this might affect the life of thestrals all across Equestria.”
She slowly nodded, eyes already far away.
Thanks for the new chapter! Looking forward to the update!
Good to see Page's royal guard.
Page needs to look into warming spells or warmed clothing.
Hi Moon Dancer, enjoying access to unlimited knowledge?
I wonder how big is personal Guard of Page and what criterias mares need to fulfill to get enrolled. At this point it's stated, that Page have very powerful unicorn (Tempest) and very powerful earth pony (Iron Shine)in it, so we need pegasi examples. Probably some Wonderbolt's offshots, that weren't willing to accept unmilitaristic aspects of them.
Good choice of researcher. Maybe she also knows a better warming spell!
The 3rd ranked pony that loves research!
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Maybe Lightning Dust?
That would fix another problem in the future
Yay, Moon Dancer is back.
Glad you’ve found a way to bring her back for a bit.
I think Pate should buy himself a chain of tropical islands, an archipelago
Then invite some bat ponies, if they would like to come to visit as vacation and for the tropical climate or even move there
Of course, the ones where everything doesn't try to kill you like in Australia
Blank Page found the antic collection of:
Ever changing Changeling dance.
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Not everything in Australia is out to kill you...
The native bees come in blue banded varieties that are stingless.
That said, they do have trees and Drop Bears that remind you to look up.
Let's just say you shouldn't take a nap under a Bunyip Pine while the cones are ripe.
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We all do
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O no... I hope he get her a supervising partner... Midnight would be perfect. Who knows... Perhaps she find a CONVINIENT way how to
seduce Thystral studssolve one of her problems.10398935
He could make Thystrals his standard Guard with increased pay and... breeding privilege bonus benefits
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Good call. Or at least a way of 'heating up studs'. Chrysalis probably pays top services for that kind of intell...
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He is not that rich... yet
Also a island is hard to find on Equis. Unless he makes his own... Could help increase trading relation buying sand to build his own island. Unless Seaponys happen to own his property... Future plotline?
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Yes, Lightning Dust, if disciplined a little, would be a good, talented candidate. And imagine face of Rainbow Dash, when she would learn about this.
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you know repeating the same thing over and over each chapter just sounds fake. like you are not interested at all and all you want to do is copy and past the same thing in every chapter.
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Why Rainbow Dash will be jealous :
- because she will make more money than her
-she works for the alicorn
-Then imagine that she is also a fan of Daring Do and has much more money to spend on books, etc
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I actually think it's a bot.
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........what did I just watch?
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Didnt you read what around the video? The Secret collection of the ever changing Changelings. Chrysalis destiny is to dance and Cadance is to watch. Flurry is a good student
Wona is cute and Celestia is... Odd
Good chapter, it will be interesting to see how you do Moon dancer.
“I’ll take the job.”
“Great-“
“-can floof your ears?”
“-What?”
“-What?”
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"Well I uh.... I demand to floof your ears! as a uh...job condition."
"....I told you you need to get better at this interviewing thing."
"Can I floof at least one?"
[Thousand yard sigh] ".......fine."
Discord: Hmmmm...hey Cadan--
Cadance: No Moondancer shipping...at least not right now. Unless we strap a book to Page's forehand, Moondancer will be too oblivious of her surrounding to notice anything.
Discord: But we coul--
Cadance: Also I have TRIED sending a love spell to her once to get her to notice one of the guards! (A yellow pegasus if I recall correctly...) Anyway Moondancer not only deflected the spell but captured it, analyzed it, and threw it in the trash when she deemed the spell "not interesting" enough!
Discord: Wait...you ship ponies OTHER than Page?!
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“This better not become a thing!”
Fast forward to a peace treaty negotiations...
“We the, saddle Arabians hereby agree to recede the territory to the Hypogriff kingdom, in exchange for mining rights and fishing in the bordering waters and lands...and floof Prince Page’s ears.”
“GOD-DAMMIT!”
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I didn't put the dislik. English is not my first language and it is difficult for me to give detailed reviews for each chapter. Nevertheless, I look forward to each update, visiting the page several times a day, which already speaks of my love for this work. Everyone is different, someone talks a lot about each chapter, but I'm just happy to update, and I'm looking forward to another chapter.
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I am not a bot, but if you are so upset by my repeated message under each chapter, I will not write anything else. But I will continue to read, I like your work.
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No problem, it just seemed like the kind of message a bot would leave, it didn't upset me I didn't mean anything bad by it.
I'm glad you like the story!
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PRICELESS ♡
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I did
Aw crap, she's already twilighting.
Moon Dancer starts drooling
And thus, one of the most powerful minds was unleashed; tremble mortals!
Sounds like my dream home
That why you hire ponies and pay them for their time!
Now... Fluffy ears need fluffing up!