58
3,547
The Night Guard are as efficient as they are enigmatic, but it takes the curiosity of a recruit to discover that some things are simply best left unsaid.
Fic is rated Teen for dark content and brief mentions of violence, hate crimes, and death.
Featured on Equestria Daily! Thanks to everyone who has read, reviewed, and commented!
For anyone curious, the term 'opliptera' is based upon the word 'chiroptera', which is the order that bats fall under. 'Chiroptera' is derived from the Greek words 'cheir' and 'pteron', which mean 'hand' and 'wing' respectively. This obviously doesn't apply to the bat ponies (since ponies don't have hands anyways), so I had to make some modifications. 'Opli' is a very rough translation of the Greek word for 'hoof', and so that replaced 'chiro', thus creating 'opliptera' - 'hoofwing', essentially. I know it sounds rather silly, but it was the closest I could get to a proper name for the bat ponies. You know, besides calling them 'bat ponies'.
Interesting take on the Lunar guard, though there's some vocabulary in there that not everypony will know. A "Neophyte" can have serveral meanings, though yes it does mean a new recruit to a religious order most of the time. I got a very Rahz Al Ghoul vibe from Noctis at the end when she said "what must be done". It sounded a lot like "doing what is necessary" from Batman Begins, haha.
I myself am working on a Lunar Stallion fic right now, maybe you can swing by if you get a minute. 
Nice take on the 'bat ponies'. I especially liked the way you left that ending wide open for interpretation. Definitely see where the tragedy tag comes from with this little piece. It can be hard to picture Equestria being a place where ponies wouldn't try and be kind and charitable to one another, but we've seen examples of less-than-kind behavior in the show, so I can see how a story like this is plausible.
Thanks for the great read, Vargras!
Very nice story. I have always had a soft spot for stories of the guards, and this is no exception. I actually thought the species name was rather clever (as I myself could never find a term that I felt that would stick.) The last line was very much open to what it could mean. They could be the "Dark Knights" hated when they needed to be, but there when needed. Or quite simply they are great fighters, and excellent at what they do.
I am sure I am over analyzing this. Having replayed Dark Souls recently, where the orders in-game are old, but not really all spelled out either, has left me hungry for more lore. So, forgive me for that.
Great story as always!
Here, let me give you an "I've enjoyed this" face...
Ok, MY "I've enjoyed this" face
You know, I've always considered the night guards to be thestrals. In Harry Potter, the character Luna Lovegood is able to see thestrals, which are winged horse like creatures associated with death. They have leathery bat like wings, and faces with reptilian features (in MLP, the guards have dragon like eyes, also a reptilian feature). They can be domesticated, and remain very loyal to their masters. In Harry Potter, they can only be seen by those who have witnessed death. They have an overall, grim appearance.
So, yeah... That's how I always interpreted it. Princess Luna vs Luna Lovegood. Thestrals from Harry Potter, vs the thestral Lunar Guards. It just always fit right to me. Given how much the show's creators enjoy their pop culture references, I can't even say it surprises me. 
I've always been fascinated by the Lunar or Night Guard, as they are called. Perhaps that is is born from the notion that I am writing a story circling around one myself, but... let's get to it, shall we?
I expected such a story to be a tragic one, and it wasn't just because of the story tag. I never imagined the Night Guard to be glorified but vilified, and you didn't disappoint. Their story is one of estrangement and prejudice, and of fallen glory. To see how beautifully you spun the Royal Sisters into lore and intertwined the opliptera with it... it was amazing. Forsaken for their appearance alone, taken and trained to be the best by the Lady of the Night, and torn asunder in the Endless Night...
They endure because they can endure, keeping faith that they would find salvation.
I'm glad I read this, Vargras. Perhaps I stray in my own headcanon on the Lunar/Night Guard, but your interpretation, your story is still something I found... powerful in more ways than one.
Thank you kindly,
Adder1
I really like this. It gives depth not only to the bat-ponies, but also to Equestria as a whole. I am very fond of such "slice of life" stories that have a hint of "mythology" added to them.
Story-wise, I came across no errors or awkward phrasings that halted the flow. In fact, the story works perfectly well, especially the open ending. I sincerely don't understand the urges of the people for a sequel, as this story -- although with an open ending -- wraps up itself nicely.
You were able to build a strong plot (their past) on top of a shitty premise (have a talk) and you conducted it with mastery. This is truly one great fanfic that, if I may, should be considered fanon as to Equestrian past.
It's good, but I continue to be surprised that people assume anything other than that the bat-wings were a costume. Not that I have any issue in that regard, just genuinely surprised. I went completely the other way and built my story as just ordinary guards called on to work for Luna. I find it makes them for characterful.
Sill, while it's a little cliche, it's for a good reason. The concept is a solid one that has worked for many of the best genres and worlds. I'm a big fan of the Scorpion clan, for example, and yes, Raz Al Goul (or however it's spelt).
Most importantly, out of everything, you didn't try and overplay the story as anything other than it actually was. That happens so much it irritates me, and you avoided the most common pitfall of FiMFiction, in my opinion.
The other story is logged for later consumption.
-Scott
>>1440395 Well, how or why isn't particularly relevant. One way or another I just assumed it was an illusion. After all, in the same episode, Luna switches to Nightmare Moon and back on a whim. There's no reason to assume that she couldn't so the same to someone else. Twilight gave Rarity wings from scratch, so temporarily altering the appearance of a pegasi would seem a cakewalk for a princess.
It's good, but I continue to be surprised that people assume anything other than that the bat-wings were a costume. Not that I have any issue in that regard, just genuinely surprised. I went completely the other way and built my story as just ordinary guards called on to work for Luna. I find it makes them for characterful.
The three theories I've seen have been:
1) It was a costume (your theory).
2) It was a magical enchantment (Lemonschooner's theory)
3) They actually are batponies.
Of the three, the third has always sounded the most interesting to me. Not only that, but when writing 'What Must Be Done', I greatly enjoyed the idea of the Night Guard having some tragic origins - them being actual batponies went with this perfectly.
Very good little one-shot. Like many others, it seems, I'm happy to see a little background for the Night Guard.
Just one thing I'm a little iffy about, though, and that's the name: opliptera. Now, I see the logic behind it, and I like that it 'pony-fies' the original term quite nicely, but it doesn't make a lot of sense to me, besides the usual 'substitute hand with hoof', since the wings don't really look much like or replace a normal pony's hooves. Personally, I'd have gone with something like 'chelioptera', which translates roughly as 'claw-wing'.
But that's just me looking too deeply into it 
Keep being awesome!
SPOILER ALERT!!!
If you think of them as your misbegotten kind, then we shall be their mothers.
-The first phrase here seems a bit off. Perhaps "misbegotten from your own kind" or something similar?
It was often during the nights, her nights, that my kind could be themselves.
-With many who loved her nights, I am thinking that they will die out... or be hunted as "witches" again, and that would be the cause of Luna's fall.
and slowly but surely, the citizens of Equestria began to accept us. Some even embraced us.
-Well, so far they are moving in the opposite direction...
And then came Lady Luna's fall from grace.
-I suppose they were not numerous enough, or she wished fairness in how she was viewed by ALL?
It soon became obvious that this was certainly not a change for the better, and many of my fore-fathers would often speak to Lady Celestia in private, expressing how concerned they were about Luna's slow and steady decline.
-Ah, and so they turned from her probably, and rightly so. Or maybe because Celestia would not listen they sided with Luna? I wonder if Celestia turned the Guard to stone (probably willingly) so they could await her return?
and she spent many a day and night searching for a way to make amends, some way to bring her sister back.
-Well, not refusing to listen then.
and it soon became evident that this was our beloved Lady Luna no longer.
-So they stayed true to Equestria to the end. Thinking willingly petrified. Or they hid away in isolation (saw them in another story, maybe Celestia destroyed the route into their home since there there was no way but flight to get there).
or the longest time, the Daughter of Sol refused to attack her own sister - or what was left of her, at least. She held out hope that there was some way to reason with her or redeem her, but every attempt ended in failure. So long as Nightmare Moon wandered the earth, Celestia was unable to lower the moon and end the Endless Night, and so she continued to bide her time.
-Was this weeks or days? According to the Real Life section of THIS (CAUTION! USE TVTropes responsibly!) Turning off all sunlight results in the continents freezing within a week. That could be air temperature or soil temperature, I don't know. And besides, I suspect Earthpony magic could at least allow the plants to survive a sudden winter, and maybe even do more.
-In any case, I suspect they were banished with her, perhaps to keep her company. Or turned to stone, as I said before. Mundane self-imposed exile seems unlikely, but I guess they could wander the world beyond Equestria as knight-errants. That would explain a loss of population if necessary... dangerous lives, and the difficulties of raising a family on the road, plus delayed age of marriage due to difficulties of finding dates since you would need to swap out between the bands to avoid inbreeding.
The very act of Luna's betrayal managed to cause a rift within the Night Guard, and it split the opliptera firmly into two groups.
-Oh... ouch... civil war even within the sub-species? Also, I wonder what the child of a opliptera and a "day pony" would be?
Some of them were misguided individuals, convinced that they knew of a way to redeem the Daughter of Selene.
-Ah, using the indirect methods she used before, or simple Friendship.
They didn't know it would only take a few short months.
-Lots of magic then... or just ignoring fairly obscure questions.
Within a cloth bundle upon his back was the emaciated corpse of his only child - his wife had evidently died during the first month.
-Indeed...
my ancestors soon saw just how quickly things could change.
-So, how did they buy her sanity with their sacrifice? By offering to be company for her mad sister?
found themselves stripped of their position and exiled from Canterlot.
-Better than I expected, but then again Ponies fell less far from Grace than did Humans.
In retrospect, it seems like a cruel, yet fitting punishment.
-Indeed... and I wonder if the exile was ONLY from Canterlot in the final analysis?
For betraying our oaths and duties to the Royal Sisters and Equestria, we would share a fate with our surrogate mother, and so the opliptera began their long and lonely exile.
-I wonder how much of Equestria there was that WASN'T Canterlot? Given the mention of wars, I could see Equestria having expanded noticably... or not if the Diarchs didn't feel it fair to take territory.
All they needed was an excuse to be rid of us, and... well..."
"They got one."
-Bleh... of course, that still leaves the question of Equestria VS Canterlot, but maybe they were treated a bit like gypsies in our world? Or went back to their ancestral home? The cutting of the road could still have happened... although how much that would help would depend on how militaristic the pegasi were at the time...
They roamed from town to town, searching for anypony willing to help them, but they never found it.
-Gypsies then... maybe they asked to join Luna on the Moon as the better fate from a purely selfish perspective, in addition from Loyalty and such.
As sad as it may be, it wasn't uncommon for one of us to disappear during the night, only to wind up in a nearby town square, a noose around the neck and all the life gone from them.
-Ah... so no renewal of the initial genocide attempt... but still like the usual fate of gypsies etc.
The public no longer sought to simply exile us - they wanted to forget us entirely.
-Or maybe I spoke too soon...
We gradually became little more than folktales, and like our beloved Lady Luna, we soon faded from the realm of truth and became nothing more than fiction.
-So they went into hiding... that is better than Celestia having to stop a genocide attempt again.
In time, the opliptera became a battered and broken people, and my people began to turn away from the guidance of the Royal Sisters. Some began to use their gifts for darker purposes, becoming little more than thieves and common criminals, and we began to deserve the very same reputation we had already been given.
-I can see that...
We knew that one day, we would be vindicated, if only we could hold on.
-Simple perseverance, or did they get Celestia's help?
--If the first, did they leave Equestria?
--If the second, was it the Moon or stone? I doubt even Celestia could do time-travel on that scale.
Such a thing wasn't selfish of us - we had no intentions of ever retaliating against the other ponies of Equestria, and we were simply preserving our history.
-Did they become outlaw-law-enforcement, like Batman?
And then, on the longest day of the thousandth year, she returned to us.
-Simple patience and hiding then.
After a thousand years, our beloved Lady Luna had finally been redeemed, but we still stayed within the darkness.
-Why? Waiting to be sure she wanted them? Afraid that the sisters might be burdened by protecting them if history repeated itself?
We didn't know if she would even remember us or want us back, but... she did.
-Ok.
"Mother's intuition."
-
We're related by blood to the pegasi, so we've been in... talks.
-Ah, so they DO all have wings... I was uncertain in the middle there for some reason.
just the idea of being able to return to our true home within my lifetime...
-On a mountain I assume? There was mention of a muddy path...
"What must be done."
-Just enduring their own suffering? Or the problems of being a knife in the dark, rather than a lance in the light?
Reset Password
Resend Verification Email
9
277
26
Joined November 2011
3,547 ( 3,547 )
More
Less
Post Comment
Refresh
Image: http://fc02.deviantart.net/fs71/i/2011/285/2/7/not_bad_pinkie_pie_edition_by_spiderbro-d4co0ah.png
Image: http://img.ponibooru.org/_images/e8ff42a0a5fbe1df168c7cf33e6a04f6/111414%20-%20animated%20rarity.gif
Image: http://images.wikia.com/harrypotter/images/8/87/Thestral_on_land.gif
Cancel
Send