Chapter 68
There was a ripping, cracking and the massive hundred meter trunk came crashing down with a roar. It hit the ground hard enough that I felt the impact through my hooves.
The sun shone bright above and I was wearing my goggles against it and I wasn’t the only pony, every thestral with me had something similar.
But as most of our skilled woodcutters were earth ponies, it made sense this sort of work was done during the day.
The trees along the river were as massive as the ones we had built in and they took some work to bring down, this was just the third one. I didn’t even want to think about getting the roots out of the ground and was so glad I wasn’t in charge of that.
“What’s our timeframe looking like, Flower?” I asked, glancing at my assistant.
She didn’t bother looking it up in her notepad, just answering from memory, “They think they will be able to have the fields cleared before the rains come. We will be able to start sowing just after the rain period ends.”
I nodded and looked as ponies below started to move back in to take the tree apart and get the trunk ready to roll into the river for transport to the train station.
Clear cutting part of the forest like this felt wrong. But…
We weren’t humans and this wasn't earth. One problem we didn’t have was climate change or running out of forests.
And we really needed the farmland if we were ever going to not be pouring bits into a massive hole importing so much food and ever have any chance of becoming cash positive.
Well, these fields wouldn’t solve that problem. But they would be a proof of concept and combined with fishing in the river, it would help a lot.
Safe access to the forest floor alone would help us so much.
…Safeish anyway. The barrier only kept beings larger than ponies out. Plenty of predators of that size around in the forest, but that’s what guards and the walls around any ground settlements would be for.
I settled down on the branch with a small sign, resting my head against it as I watched the work in the distance.
“...What are you thinking of, your majesty?” Flower asked from the next branch over.
“My wife,” I said and pushed myself up again, giving her a small smile.
“She’s leaving in the morning,” Flower said with a small understanding smile in return.
I nodded and stretched my wings, “Which sucks.”
“Look on the bright side,” Flower said, “We’re only six months from Hearths Warming.”
“There is that,” I agreed and stretched my wings, “And on that note, I should find Skitter before heading to bed. She’s going back with Luna and Midnight.”
We rarely managed to meet up at actual Hearts Warming, but we usually spent a week or so in Canterlot around that time.
I took to the skies on silent wings, heading back towards the village, rising higher into the air, the sun uncomfortably warm against my wings.
Not like Celestia, more like…
Too hot. Good thing we are mostly out at night or I may have to start using sunscreen on my wings.
But there was a different solution.
Shifting course, I sank lower and then smirked and glanced back at my guards.
Flower caught my eye, giving her head a small shake, “Prince Page…”
“Why don’t you take the rest of the day off,” I said, “in fact, it’s really late. Take tonight off too if you like.”
I didn’t hear her answer as I folded my wings and dropped like a rock.
“Oh buck.”
I did, however, hear Moon Glow curse and I couldn’t suppress a grin as I dove straight through the upper canopy into the shade below, branches and trunks flying past me at great speed.
Carefully I eased my wings open, adjusting my course and I slowly, slowly started to spread them.
I couldn’t just spread my wings, alicorn or not that might snap my wings like twigs at this speed. I wasn’t Rainbow Dash.
Pull up.
Pull up!
Holding my legs tight to my body to avoid hitting the ground, I pulled up and banked through the forest. Left. Right. Left. Left. Right. Up. BRANCH! Down!
That last one brushed past my mane even as I pressed my ears tight to my head.
I pulled up, trading speed for altitude as I circled around the thick trunk of a tree holding up the village school.
Smiling, I continued along beneath the bridges and buildings. I banked around, ducking beneath the shade of the main market square before pulling up and looping around, ending it with a roll to put my hooves onto the railing of the balcony of the throneroom. Not a sound.
I’m awesome. My wings ached though, I need to get flying more often.
Skitter looked up from where she had been reading a small stack of papers before she smiled, “Good morning, sir.”
I jumped down, “Good morning, Skitter,” I said and stretched my slightly aching wings. Been a long while since I did anything like that. Folding my wings, I stretched my legs before trotting over to her, “Just wanted to check on you before tonight. Train leaves tomorrow morning.”
“We’re good, sir,” Skitter said and got up before lightning her horn and picking a leaf from my mane, “But shouldn’t you be sleeping?”
“I really should,” I agreed, “And I am going to attach to a rafter as soon as I leave. But I wanted to check that you’re okay, we haven’t had much time to talk.”
Skitter shook her head, “We’re fine,” she said, “and you have been busy, sir. I have decided to leave half the changelings with me at the village if that is okay? The population can easily handle them and they will be useful for you.”
“They sure are,” I agreed, “The ones already here are among our best scouts. Your hive is always welcome in Nocturnis.”
There was a buzzing sound as Amber landed on the balcony, breathing hard and glaring in my direction.
I smiled and trotted over to give her a hug with my wing, “Sorry, but I have to keep my guards on their hooves,” I told her quietly.
Her wings buzzed beneath mine before she grumbled something in ancient changelings beneath her breath and nodded.
“Take some time to relax,” I told her with a smile, “I’m going to go sleep now.”
“See you tomorrow, Skitter,” I then added as I pulled my wing back and looked at her.
“Sweet dreams, sir.”
“Sweet dreams,” I said and gave her a small bow before heading towards the door.
I’m going to get a respectful earful about that little stunt from Moon Glow tonight, but it was worth it. Flying is still awesome, but it’s rare I get to do something like that.
Silently pushing the door to the bedroom open, I glanced inside. The bed was covered with a bubble of darkness like expected and I approached on silent hooves to carefully climb onto the bed.
Luna was to the left, Twilight was curled up next to her with Luna's wing across her. Sunset in turn was cuddled against Twilight, Twilight's legs around her, their horns crossed almost at the base.
There were times I wished I had a camera.
I moved around carefully not to wake any of them before I scooted up to put my side against Lunas free side. Luna shifted slightly in her sleep, her wing shifting to drape across me and pulling me closer as she turned her head slightly in my direction but she didn’t wake up.
Relaxing, I watched her sleepily.
So beautiful. My beautiful night sky, shining like the moon itself.
Finally I let my eyes drift close.
I just wished I could stay with her.
I hate my job.
And with that, we leave Page with his duties. We will continue in the future however, so stay tuned!
Thank you all for reading and I hope you enjoyed!
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Wonderful, thank you for the fantastic story, already looking forward to the sequel
Another great arc comes to a close. Great job as always Hiver and I hope to see what great work you make next
great ending
Aw man, it's over for now! Ah well. More for next time!
Thanks for chapter!
Have a good day!
great story
Didn't think it'd end so soon, but regardless, it was still enjoyable to read, and leaves me patiently looking forwards to what happens in the next story.
He so needs a way to get more Luna time. After all she is his wife and shouldn't be away from him 90% of the time without the whole guilt from the 1000 of time out on the moon coloring it. Plus it will hard to have a family if they can't spend any time together.
What?
No!
You can’t do that, I’m not ready for another Page Pause.
There is too much unresolved, not enough cuddle bugs cuddled, too few suns heated up.
Thank you for the book.
Hope we’ll see them all again soon.
Well... That ending was abrupt.
Thank you for the story, I did indeed enjoy it
So all we need now is the Celestia/Page focused story followed by a time skip of us meeting the royal foals and we should be good!
Could see that this story was wrapping up. Always hate to see these end. Congrats on another Complete, Hiver. We can't wait till the next one.
Was not expecting the end there, darn. Well can't wait for the next one.
Nooo! We missed the 69 Chapter! I just know it had Lunas foal in it
Love the slice of life. Guess we never see the legendary Chapter 69
Discord:
What?! We can't be done already?! WINDY! DO SOMETHING!
Windy:
For the last time, I have zero control of Hiver. All I do is react to the source material and write out silly nonsense. I get no special treatment.
Discord:
So that's it?! Me...Cadance...Sunburst and Shining...the Statue?! We're all gonna be stuck in your imagination again until Hiver comes back?!
Windy:
...yep. I'm sure the comment section will miss us as much as we will miss them. We need to say goodbye. I'm sorry.
Discord: But...I don't want to go.
*Windy and Discord disappears into the abyss...awaiting for when Hiver will call us back once more with more adventure*
(Seriously tho! I'll miss you guys! Please everyone stay safe! Until next time!
)
I have many questions about this. Whats the size of the pony here: alicorn or regular? I suppose it lets Page and the alicorn sisters in and presumably Chrysalis, so it's probably nothing larger than an alicorn. But there are sentient species that may fit that, like griffons especially if it's based on the average pony, and adult dragons.
I feel like having it prevent anything that isn't a sentient race and bigger than a pony may be better. That could cause some diplomatic incidents if larger non-pony species are blocked from entry.
No portal in the end, sadge
Awesome chapter, and a good end to the story.. for now.
I still say your stories are to short.. I want to see a million chapter story from you. Yes it's because they are that good. ;)
This ending was... unsatisfactorable. No closure. It would be proper to watch departure for ending of this chapter of their lives. And Page better sooner than later bring sunshine into his Sunshine's life. She deserves happiness more than anypony.
Page by all that is good and holy you better knock up one of your mares in your herd by the time Hiver starts up the next series in this awesome saga!
YOUR FANS DEMAND IT!!!!
Also kinda disappointed that the series didn't end on Chapter 69.
And finally. Nice
Feels like a very abrupt ending. Not going to lie, but I think this is one of the weaker stories, especially when you consider half the story is taken up by "Page makes peace and solves the same issue he originally did in an alternate universe".
And like 90% of the story is "Page goes to the canon universe for a bit and then comes back.", which is basically meaningless because it's an alternate dimension, in the same way that alternate timelines can be a great weakness of storytelling because anything that happens within those timelines is essentially pointless and of no permanent consequence.
In fact, the story would probably have been much stronger if the main plot point was trying to build a portal back to Midnight's main universe, but the risk of it was too high and so she selflessly decided to remain and accept her fate. It shows selflessness (compare to selfishness that Looking Glass actually demonstrates), and hits the suitable drama notes while being consequential to the story. It also wouldn't waste a load of time on stuff that basically doesn't matter in the slightest.
Hiver, you do slice of life stuff very well and I think are one of the best out there at that sort of writing, but if you're going to have more complicated storylines then I really think you need to take a great deal of consideration into what gets chosen.
Going back to Welcome to the Jungle, you have an idiot plot that goes numerous chapters where some random fucking griffon can challenge a head of state on a diplomatic visit, which is mind bogglingly stupid, and it's made out to be a major threat to the character. But then you get stuff such as Skitter contacting other changelings which is a story point that goes somewhere (good!).
Overarching stories need to have a consistent narrative, take up story time in proportion to their relevance and impact, and not lurch all over the place. This is probably the biggest weakness with the series.
Arrrrrr I have to wait for another one feel like this book was to introduce possible story lines for future books.
stopping before chapter 69? that's a crime
11392609
Agreed, the last three stories have felt hollow.
To me the highlights are Pages interactions with Celestia and Skitter, while everything else can be disregarded with minimal to no impact on the overarching plot.
The alternate universe was so pointless and introduced nothing new and even ruined Pages character progression by having Celestia say that she knew everythong and that Page had minimal influence.
The slice of life is nice, but the dramatic parts make little sense or have 0 weight to them. Page needs to start making mistakes since at the moment he is a Gary Stu. The mirror Crysalis would have been a good point to mess up and advance his and midnights character since we got a Chekovs gun in the form of Mirror Luna killing Tempest, Midnight was a bit too Ok with that.
Love the series and characters, but they have been static for too long and the development they do get is a bit forced or out of left field, Midnight for a recent example.
Thanks for the story!!
I always hate to come to the end. The bright side is looking forward to the next book. Until then I will miss Page’s antics. Sigh.
Well all, it's been fun but this is where I get off. This story was my last connection to the Fandom and ...... it's kinda let me down. Just a shaggy dog story that established midnight can be selfish. There is so potential here to turn things around, but my motivation and interested are to far gone to held any more.
Hiver best of luck to you. The stories page have been a great ride over the years and I hope your best is yet to come.
Farewell.
It's strange, the title in Hiver's stories generally states a particular topic that will be brought up, usually both literally and metaphorically, but while there was a metaphorical comparison, there wasn't really a literal Looking Glass here, like a mirror or magnifying glass, hmmm. Still a good read, though, you should be proud of that, Hiver. I wonder, will the next book or a future book in the series be titled "Fun With Portals" or something? Because it doesn't seem like this will be the end of conversing with the Canon.002 World.
It's over? Awwww : (
Thank you for the story and looking forward to what's to come!
Thanks Hiver! This maybe wasn't my all time favorite Page-verse story, but it was still a fun romp regardless
Another story closes. Not the greatest, but far from the low point of the series. It's certainly set up plenty of threads I'm curious to see play out in the next instalment, thanks a bunch Hiver!
11391870
Unfortunately, that's just royal life in a time before telecommunications, particularly when both sides have their own duties to attend to, for example Queen Mary I of England's marriage to King Philip II of Spain.
11392609
11393092
I assume by last three, you count the Christmas special? If not, I'm surprised since Repercussions imho was very solid as a story. I do agree the Griffon thing in WttJ was a bit silly though, considering there really ought to be some form of diplomatic immunity in place. Hardly the worst thing in the series though; to me that's Page throwing away the whole Guard exercise through being passed the idiot ball (he had another three days to utterly sleep deprive the opposition before he had to assault, which would effectively have rendered it a matter of his entire surviving forces against just an utterly exhausted Celestia).
In terms of this story, the drama isn't much about Page, really this was Midnight's adventure, to which Page was a supporting character. Personally I love that sort of Watsonian perspective, though I recognise not everyone would agree and certainly it could have been dealt with better (perhaps faster, with more emphasis on the post-return issues for Midnight).
11394037
I think the title is a reference to the sequel of Alice in Wonderland, 'Through the Looking-Glass'. Which does work because it involves interdimensional travel.
Final jackboots for this story:
side against Luna's free side.
in my direction, but she didn’t wake up.
11394691
Yes but since the bat ponies have started their village he is lucky if he gets a week with his wife. Even in the old days they often got more than that. Of course sometimes the people for one reason or another didn't spend much time together because of stupid things that weren't as important as home and family. Page knows eventually the bat ponies won't need as much and he will have more free time but that will years from now and he should be able to see his wife outside the dream realm more often.
11395457
Nopony cut her off, just showed that they are pissed off at her action.
this was a great story, not for everyone because of the short nature of the chapters but it does seem like page might have himself in a bit of a pickle with Midnight.
11392125
We will wait for your little side stories
11395457
Nobody cut her off. They are mad her for endangering lives when she didn't have to. She is old enough to know better and I get waiting for sometimes for really big things is hard especially when you are trying to be safe but this wasn't life and death and she could have handled it safely.
11394818
Well he did what he could to be a friend to her when she arrived but he still a beginner in magic and with royal duties he doesn't get to see his wife much and certainly doesn't have time for magic lessons on top of everything else. He doesn't get much free time for himself so helping beyond being supportive wasn't something he could do. He set in motion a chance for their bat ponies to be free.
I’m in too deep now, what the hell is the conclusion to this problem going to be? New rulers? The release of death? I still don’t know that this is building up to but I’m in too deep now to stop. I CANT STOP! HELP ITS DRAGGING ME DOWN
AAAAAAAAAAA
THIS IS NOT A BIT THIS A GENUINE CRY FOR HELP AAAAAAAAAAA
I really hope the next story pays off the stuff in this Nocturnis arc. It’s been pretty slowly paced honestly, and I’m itching to see where this is all headed.
See you in 2023, Hiver (unless there’s another holiday special)!
Per tradition, my wish list for next time:
1.)Babies!
2.) The Pillars
3.) Applejack x Rockhoof
4.) Page gets an apprentice/new unexpected alicorn?
5.) Page versus Sombra.
Great work Hiver ol’ boy!
Good story... the image is a small let down tho... kept waiting for a portal to canterlot so Page can travel back and forth for his sexy wifes.
Looking forward to reading the next chapter in pages story :)
11405476
Yeah page won't take lip from starswirl just because the guy has a huge ego. And hopefully the author can Create a way for Luna to spend more time with the guy because no babies otherwise. Yeah everyone did too much on twilight shoulders but she didn't express herself enough for anyone to help. She tries to bear the world as much as possible. Page is similar but he does express himself to those he is close with.
11433690
Both Twilights will make a portal gate each and connect them with their combined spell from both places. This way they all could be together.
11435083
It's a good idea maybe the author will use it.
One of my favorite series ever! I can't wait to read more about Page's adventures!!!
Hi I'm new here just reach the latest chapter which is this and i would like to say that this is the best fic i ever read on anywhere. Thank you for writing this and i will wait for the future awesome chapters.