Karamverse Civilizations: Bat Ponies

Note: All of the Karamverse Civilizations posts are headcanons by me and Imperator Aetheris for our Alternate MLP Universe, Karamverse.

Although the three main tribes of ponies are the Unicorns, Earth and Pegasi, there is
another tribe, a more mysterious tribe which arguably lives in its own world: the Bat
Pony, which is also known as the Nocturnus, plural of which is Nocturnii.

History

The History of the Batponies or Nocturnii begins, according to their own folklore in the great
plains, where it is said that the Earth Ponies, Pegasi, Unicorns, and according to the legends, the
Nocturnii and Alicorns, lived together.
According to Legend, their numbers became too great, and the five tribes parted ways. While
Unicorns, Earth Ponies and Pegasi remained in the ancient plains, the Nocturnii and the Alicorns
headed west. For many years they traveled, until they reached a great mountain range, and then,
the leaders of the Nocturnii and the Alicorns agreed to part ways, the Alicorns going North, and
the Nocturnii, going South.
Some reality exists behind this Myth: Bat Ponies have been present from earlier times in the
modern location of the Nocturnal Council, the earliest Nocturnii settlment dates from the Early
Alicon Palatial Period, and they are mentioned in ancient Zarfaim and Proto­Equestrian
documents dating from shortly after the collapse of the Alicorn Empire. However the first known
Nocturnii Nation dates from Hearth’s Warming. The Old Nocturnal Kingdom maintained trade
with the Alicorn Remnant of the nearby mountains and was a buffer state between the Early
Ippeian Empire and Equestria. However the region was annexed for a period by the nearby
lószerű (Pony!Hungary) Kingdom, which took on the role of Buffer State between the two
powers and bore the brunt of the Discordian War between the Ippeians (along with Iovasz and
Nocturnii) and Discord­Ruled Equestria.
The Nocturnii would regain their independence in 541 SE, the new nation would however retain
close military and economic ties with lószerű (Working name). Eventually both nations would
fall into the Equestrian Orbit. Also common were skirmishes with the Hippogriff Tsardom, in
which Hippogriff raiders would, untill the 840s, constantly plunder until being chased away on
the border regions. However the situation by 930 was more calmed, Allowing for a temporary
alliance against the Ippeians; which would fall apart thanks to the approachment of
Coltsantinople to Equestria in recent years.
Worthy of note is the fact that Nocturnii Mercenaries attempted to launch a coup to aid
Nightmare Moon, however it was easily contained even before Nightmare herself was
defeated… recent discoveries indicate that the coup attempt consisted in nine mercenaries who
decided to try and take on the Royal Guard… however, the ferocity they had shown, and some
propaganda from the Guard to avoid being seen as useless during the Nightmare Moon ordeal,
led to this incident being exaggerated, which resulted in one of the negative stereotypes in
Equestria about Nocturnii.

Culture

Overall, Nocturnii are as varied as other ponies­­some are social, others not, and each has his
own family traditions, however, there are some generalizations we can apply to them. For one
thing, they are generally very social and love music and dancing.

Life Cycle:

Nocturnii are known for caring and large families, overall. The mothers often gather together and
prepare to have their babies as a group. They also tend to gather in groups when raising their
young and homeschool their children in groups. In fact, Nocturnii are known for living close to
their families, and keep track of their family clans. If one Nocturnii is invited to something, most
likely the entire family will join anyway. Also, when a Nocturnii foal is born, its wings are
paper­thin and very wet, making them not good for flying at all. In fact, it is several months
before they are able to use their wings properly. Overall, Nocturnii take longer to learn how to
fly than Pegasi, but when they do learn how to fly, their webbed bat­like wings enable them to
perform various movements in air that give them better flying control and abilities than Pegasi,
due to the amount of joints and bones in the wings. Although it takes Nocturnii quite a while to
learn flight, they learn echolocation fairly young, and if young are spoken to while still in the
womb, they will know echolocation soon after they are born, and will recognize their parents’s
voices. (Note: other ponies can recognize their parents’s voices before birth if they are spoken to
as well. Usually the foals can recognize the mother’s voice at the very least.) Indeed, Nocturnii
care for their young and stick together as families.
Furthermore, they have their favorite pastimes and traditions. Like other ponies, Nocturnii gain
cutie marks around maturity, or when they discover their personal destiny. Of course, these cutie
marks often involve something related to nighttime or echolocation. However, there are still the
nocturnal florists, doctors, authors, et cetera. Of course, they have their massive parties to
celebrate gaining cutie marks, like any other group of ponies would. As mentioned before, they
love music and dancing, and often have dances and parties, at which they love singing in various
voices. In fact, it is a common tradition to attend a dance with that one special somepony, or to
meet that one special somepony at a firelit or moonlit party. These parties can range from being
specially made to find a future spouse or just for fun, as well as containing the entire family clan
or a specific age group meeting. Speaking of romance, if a stallion is interested in a mare, he
often asks her to the next dance, and will show off for her during certain folk dances where
improvisation is allowed. Furthermore, Nocturnii stallions are known for gently nipping the
mares they have affection for. They are also known for rubbing their heads against the mares
they love, like many other ponies. Also like other ponies, they have their engagement parties and
beautiful moonlit weddings which are a time of extreme happiness, and at the end of one’s life, a
funeral is held where there is great mourning. Although their nocturnal nature makes them seem
very mysterious and exotic, at the core they are just another pony subspecies with favorite
pastimes and traditions.

Abilities​:

Nocturnii, like all tribes, are gifted with fascinating abilities. Due to their unique vocal chords,
ears and magic, Nocturnii can speak and hear at pitches above other ponies, and use these
high­pitched sounds to echolocate. Although other ponies can learn to echolocate, none can do it
as well as Nocturnii. Through echolocation, Nocturnii can navigate the tightest and darkest of
spaces, but it is hard for them to navigate in rain due to the noise interfering with their hearing.
Besides hearing, they are known for excellent eyesight at nighttime. However, their eyes are
often sensitive to daylight, hence if they are in broad daylight they will either squint or wear
tinted glasses. Furthermore, their eyes are so adjusted to the night that many of them cannot see
in color. Hence, their names usually do not involve color, except for grey, silver, black or white.
Another interesting side­effect of this is the fact that silver is more appreciated than gold among
the Nocturnii. Furthermore, due to the way their blood vessels are positioned, they are able to
hang upside down for long periods of time without getting headaches, and often do this to relax
or think better. Fascinatingly, they have excellent reflexes. Other than that, they generally walk
on all four hooves like normal ponies, and lead fairly normal, yet nocturnal lives.
The Batponies however can adapt to a Diurnal lifestyle, this being more common among
merchants due to their constant interaction with others, and the military, which had to deal with
mostly diurnal enemies, and as such could not really afford to sleep in during the day to fight at
night. Sadly, due to negative stereotypes, many Nocturnii prefer to avoid the diurnal species as
much as possible, although in modern times the myths of cannibal bat ponies are dwindling as
the diurnal species realize that Nocturnii are simply another breed of pony, and not nighttime
monsters.

Food:

Nocturnii, being a subspecies of pony, generally eat fruits or vegetables, but with their fangs and
robust digestive systems are known to be omnivores. Their delicacies include sauteed scorpion,
mosquito quiche, and various dishes of fish, as well as fruit salad and ice cream made from
frozen fruit and vegetable juices. Unfortunately, many other ponies see this and assume that a
Nocturnii is some type of vampire secretly. Be assured that they do not feast on blood EVER​.

Music

Nocturnii music is known for its high emotional state. If it is happy, it is utterly jubilant. If it is
sad, it is heartbreaking. If it is relaxing, it is completely mellow. Their lullabies are the sweetest
and their mournful cries at funerals are the most gut­wrenching. They often sing acapella, and in
modern times their music can take on various forms, but their traditional instruments include:
Violins
Viola
Cello
Drums
Tamborine
Flute
Recorder
Yes, their youth are known for partying very “hard,” in a non­alcoholic or drugged state. They
don’t need that to get excited, trust me. Also, probably everything will turn into a party sooner or
later. Oh, you just got a job? PARTY! You have a new best friend? PARTY! It’s a family
reunion! PARTY! Discovered cutie mark? PARTY! New promotion? PARTY! Basically, any
gathering of Nocturnii is bound to end in a dance party.

Homes:

Nocturnii do often live in caves or canyons, but they are not wild animals, and often live in their
own houses like other breeds of pony, although their homes are typically round­shaped and have
many places from which to hang, and are known for very high ceilings and large windows with
which to bring in more moonlight. Even in the deepest of caves they have furniture, improvised
plumbing, and rear up their foals in a civilized manner. Furthermore, many Nocturnii living in
forests have created networks of tree dwellings, and it seems that wherever they live, they create
their own civilizted niche. In fact, it is known that in many deep caverns Nocturnii have created
their own underground towns.

Clothing and coloring:

Like most equines, Nocturnii typically do not wear clothes unless something special is
happening, but when they do wear clothes be assured they will be as fancy as possible, trying to
look their best. Since most cannot see in color, their clothes are typically neutral tones or shades
of grey or white, but they do have a soft spot for shiny objects, so expect to see Nocturnii dresses
decorated in sequins or rhinestones. However, there are plenty of colorful Nocturnii outfits for
those who do appreciate color. As for the Nocturnus’s natural coloration, most are dark colored
to blend in with the night, but they can be any color at all. However, their wings always match
their manes and tails, unlike Pegasi whose wings usually are the same color as their pelts.

Quirks:

As with any culture, the Nocturnii have their little quirks. Instead of emphasizing things with
their hooves, they emphasize things with their wings, unless they are flying. Furthermore,
instead of shaking hooves, they shake wings. Basically, any gesture typically done with a pony’s
foreleg is instead done with a Nocturnus’s wing. Similar to a Pegasus, a Nocturnus’s wing is so
mobile that it can be used as a hand, but their wings are so well jointed that they can pick up and
hold objects much better than Pegasi, despite the webbing between their bones. In fact, many
Nocturnii are able to pick up narrow coffee mug handles with their wings by folding their wings
carefully. Indeed, they can use their wings much more efficiently and more expertly than Pegasi
due to the extra joints.
Furthermore, their colloquialisms are different from diurnal species. Instead of “good morning,”
it is “good night,” and when getting ready for bed they say, “good greying,” to show that dawn is
approaching. Because the middle of their “day” is at midnight, they say “moonhigh,” instead of
“high noon.” Even diurnal Nocturnii have this habit. Since they typically are alive at night, they
all have a fair knowledge of the stars, and are shocked when anypony doesn’t know half the
constellations in the sky. What? You don’t know Canis Major? What kind of pony are you? WHO
RAISED YOU? WHAT PLANET DO YOU COME FROM? Oh, you are diurnal? No wonder you
know nothing! Lemme teach you everything! Yeah, basically like that. Furthermore, any creature
living in daylight is a “diurnal,” and anypony that is not a Nocturnii is a “diurnal;” even if it is a
pony who is awake at night more than day, it is a “diurnal” pony. Oh, your new friend is a
unicorn? I didn’t know you met diurnals! How did you meet?
Like that. Interestingly enough,
they don’t appreciate others referring to them as “batty” but in their own circles they don’t mind
calling each other “batty” or a “dumb bat” or anything like that. In fact, oftentimes instead of
saying “anypony” they will say “anybat,” because they are indeed bat­like. Other than that, their
manner of speech is typically the same as other Ponies.
Moreover, if one family member knows something, he will probably tell the entire family within
the next 24 hours, unless he was explicitly told to keep it secret. However, it is common
knowledge among Nocturnii that sooner or later the entire family will know anyway, so why
should there be secrets? What? Secret party? Okay fine. Secret surprise? Fine. If it’s something
deeply serious, it probably won’t be kept secret for long though. By the way, if you are going to
bring someone over for lunch, which is at moonhigh, be assured the whole family will probably
find a way to get there to meet your new friend. Also, the whole family is going to hug your new
friend with their wings, and everypony is going to kiss your friend on the cheek in greeting.
Everypony greets a friend or family member like that among the Nocturnii, so better prepare
your new friend if he or she is not familiar with Nocturnii greetings. By the way, the family talks
about everything, so if you don’t want your friend pestered with questions on whether or not he
has a love interest or how many foals he would like to have, don’t bring him over to your house.
Nocturnii are so social with each other that for them, it is perfectly normal to talk about anything
and everything with each other at a family gathering, as long as the youngsters are out of the
room, of course. Even then, the youngsters probably already know everything. However, they do
have a few things they do not​speak about in public or at gatherings:

Nightmare Moon and the Nocturnii mercenaries who tried to help her
Any insult that is related to vampires
Anything negative about a dead family member
Nightmare Night ​(It’s related to Nightmare Moon and bad stereotypes against Nocturnii)
A “Vampire Side” of a pony​(they don’t talk about the “Nightmare Side” either).
Ex­coltfriend/marefriends that did something terrible.​(Nope, everything is all right, we are
not gonna insult them. We probably won’t speak of them either.)

Whatever you do, DO NOT mention any of the above to anyone in public, EVER.
You will be shunned for a week if you do.
As one would expect, Nocturnii are very talkative and their gatherings are always noisy. Of
course, even the most friendly of Nocturnii can get into arguments, and when that happens, it
often escalates into nothing but high­pitched squeaks. Yes, it becomes a
“whoever­shrieks­higher­wins­the­argument” argument. Hence, if your friend is sensitive to
noise, don’t bring him over to your Nocturnii family’s home, or have them bring earplugs..thick
earplugs. Overall, Nocturnii have deep bonds with their family, and even the hermits visit their
relatives at least three times a year.
Moreover, they are known for racing each other by using only echolocation to navigate, and
whoever has the best echolocation is admired and has bragging rights.

Art:

Nocturnii art is known for being chiaroscuro, and often colorless, although plenty of it does have
color. Furthermore, they enjoy using mixed media, such as painting a background and then
making a paper cut out for the foreground. Also, they enjoy making ceramics and painting them
with many intricate designs. Other than that, their art reflects whatever nation they dwell in at the
time.

Government:
The Nocturnii Government is certainly as exotic as themselves: upon independence in 541 SE,
they found themselves without an actual royal family or dynasty. At the same time, several
minor noble houses had survived the fall of the Nocturnii Kingdom and were left in a rather
unstable situation. Hoping to avoid a Civil War, the leaders of these house gathered and chose
their government, which stands to this day.
The Nocturnii High Council, a group chosen by the entire population of the Nocturnii Realm, is
the body that rolls into one the functions of a Monarch and a Parliament. The High Council is
composed of 82 batponies from different families of this minor nobility, and are chosen in open
elections by the entire Nocturnii Population. Upon this general election, the Council chooses a
“King,” but The Royal Title is mostly ceremonial, and only gives the batpony in question a
status of “First Among Equals” plus making him or her, the visible head of the Nocturnii
Government.
This title is for life, and upon the death of the King, a new General Election is called, likewise
when a Councilor dies, another election to take his place is held.
As for the Nocturnii in Equestria, they respect Princess Celestia and Princess Luna’s authority
very well. Originally, Princess Luna ruled at night, and held a nightly court during part of the
night, so that anypony with a terrible problem could bring it to her, hence the Nocturnii bonded
with Luna, but still respected Celestia. After Nightmare Moon was banished, many retreated
from Equestria back to their homeland in fear of the Princess of the Day accusing them of siding
with the corrupted Nightmare Moon like the mercenaries had. Over the centuries, Nocturnii
slowly moved back to Equestria, and Celestia ruled the nightly court, causing the Nocturnii to
feel safe around her once again. Now that Luna has returned, the Nocturnii are going back to her
for their nightly court, and feel that balance has been restored between night and day after all
these centuries.

Nightmare Form

Of important note is the unique “Nightmare” form of the Nocturnii, which is improperly termed
the “Vampire” Bat Pony form. Similar to when Fluttershy became Flutterbat, the Nocturnus’s
wings become much larger and take on the same color as its body, its eyes turn into a shade of
red, its ears get bigger and the fangs are extended. However, a Nocturnus in this form is not
obsessed with eating apples. Like other ponies’s Nightmare form, a Nocturnus’s “Vampire” form
is triggered through extreme negative emotion, but can be controlled and used for good, given
deep concentration and help from loving friends and family.

Stereotypes Against Them

Sadly, due to the small group of mercenaries siding with Nightmare Moon, the Nocturnii are
often viewed as traitors, or insane monsters. Many ponies view them as cannibals due to their
omnivore nature, and fear being eaten by a Nocturnus. Oftentimes in legends the Nocturnii are
used as symbols of evil, impending doom, or betrayal. Furthermore, some diurnal ponies view
Nocturnii as savages, thinking that they all act more like bats than civilized ponies. However,
none of these myths are true.
Overall, Nocturnii are simply another group of pony leading their own lives in whichever way
they see best. They follow the law and respect authority and are courteous to each other, and
simply wish to have peaceful lives. They have their families, their quirks, their likes, their
dislikes, and are nothing more than another tribe of pony.