The news went out soon afterwards, and all the papers were printing Luna's open letter to Equestria, calling for all innovators, dreamers, farmers, the oppressed, and those who just didn't fit in. She also put out an invitation for bat ponies and changelings in Equestria, to offer a safe place where they could live without scorn.
"Do you think anypony will be put off by living alongside changelings?" Rarity asked Shining Armor one day, as she increased production on her new project: designing foal-sized necklaces that worked as emergency commlinks and breather spells for the foals that would soon be joining them.
"I'm sure they will." Shining answered. "If it's really a problem, they'll just leave. But if it's merely fear, or misinformation, we've prepared for that. There are several required seminars that new citizens have to take before we accept them into the group. Changeling and Thestral biology is one of them."
"Ah, I see! So those who are too bigoted to even try are weeded out, and those who are merely misinformed will get the facts straight." Rarity smirked. "This sounds like a wise vetting process."
"How are things going with Sweetie Belle?" Shining asked, recalling Rarity's recent obsession with foal-proofing everything on the colony.
"As well as can be expected." Rarity sighed. "My parents are so air headed, I sometimes think I do a better job raising Sweetie than her actual parents do. You know what they told me?"
"What?" Shining asked, always ready to help his marefriend vent.
"I literally walked up and told them that I was moving to the moon and taking Sweetie Bell with me. They said 'Fine honey, great! Have fun!'" Rarity scoffed, after a scathing impression of her father.
"Ouch." Shining shook his head wistfully. "I guess I'm lucky my whole family's here. We won't get too many trips down to the surface after we've left."
"I won't miss them much." Rarity admitted. "And Sweetie's just overjoyed that her best friends are coming along too."
Last year, Rainbow Dash had discovered that Scootaloo was an orphan, living alone in Ponyville. She'd taken her in as an apprentice, and the orange foal was now living comfortably in the colony. Applejack and Big Macintosh had also moved their family into the colony. Granny Smith was not adjusting well to life on the moon, but she was with her family, at least. Applebloom was having the time of her life.
The colony had been shifted up to the moon via a magical teleport circle. The enchantments had been adjusted with the moon's ambient magic, and now the colony was airtight and breathable, not to mention magically warmed, to counteract the cold winds of space. Next, a teleport circle had been linked to a twin in the Crescent, Twilight and Twinkleshine's magically powered spaceship, and it was used to teleport ponies from Hollow Shades to the colony.
Hollow Shades, of course, was the abandoned bat pony town that Luna had decided to use as a base of operations on Equus. A fleet of private trains were going to the town from all over Equestria, and Cadance had paid the fare for anypony wanting to go, as a sign of goodwill. Once there, ponies had the chance to take the citizenship classes that would vet out any undesirables like tribalists or violent criminals, foal fiddlers, etc. They simply didn't have the room or the infrastructure to deal with criminals yet, so the safest option would be to keep them out.
Once the week was up, the Lunar citizens would pack up their things and disappear from Hollow Shades, as if they had never been.
* * *
"Look, mama! We're going so fast!" Dinky Doo exclaimed, pointing at the window. She'd never been on a train before.
"You're right, muffin. We're going really fast!" Ditzy replied with a smile.
"Do you think there'll be other foals, mama?" Dinky asked, titling her head in question.
"Absolutely!" Derpy replied. "At the very least, there'll be foals from Ponyville there. I saw Berry Punch and Colgate with their fillies on another train car."
"That's good. I'm already friends with Piña Colada and Ruby Pinch, so at least I know they'll be there too." The foal exclaimed happily.
The train was just pulling into town, a deserted-looking place where no one seemed to live. In fact, the only thing that seemed to be usable out here, was a giant, shiny object, shaped like a crescent moon.
"What's that, mama?" Dinky asked, and her mother didn't have an answer.
"I don't know, muffin..."
Once at the train station, the ponies stepped out into the creepy town, and were greeted by two cheerful ponies carrying baggage trolleys.
"First off, let me just say that anyone here who has a prejudice against unicorns, earth ponies, or pegasi is not welcome." The powder-blue unicorn exclaimed. A tan earth pony stallion stepped out of the queue with a bitter scowl.
"Next, we want anypony with a grudge against bat ponies or changelings with no hope of changing their minds, to please remain here at the station. We don't want anyone with hatred or bigotry to live in our colony." The earth pony stallion explained. Ditzy recognized him as Caramel Apple, the part-time worker at Sweet Apple Acres. When did he get here?
A few of the other ponies stepped away with firm grimaces, but the remaining visitors were invited to put their luggage on the trolleys, and follow their tour guides.
"Trixie would like to be the first to welcome you to the Crescent. This is a fully functioning spacecraft, which will be your home for the day, while you complete our vetting process." Trixie explained.
"If you'd just take a seat at one of these desks here, and fill out some paperwork." Caramel added, pointing out a set of desks that held a small sheaf of forms and paperwork. "The foals can come play over here, while you work."
Ditzy watched as her filly went to play with the other foals on a brightly colored mat, easily visible by the adults, if anything should happen. Piña Colada bounced around cheerfully (the only earth pony among the two unicorns of Dinky and Pinch), and passed Derpy's filly a set of blocks, before building a castle together. Content that her filly was alright, Ditzy turned her attention to the papers. After filling out her name and relevant information, the questions got interesting.
"What is your special talent?" The page asked, and Ditzy wrote 'mail mare/courier'.
"Have you ever been found guilty of a crime? If so, explain."
Ditzy checked no, and moved on.
"What do you know about bat ponies and changelings?" The next question read.
"Not much." Ditzy wrote, answering honestly. "I know that bat ponies are also called thestrals, and are sort of like nocturnal pegasi? I didn't know changelings really existed before recently!"
"What is your reason for applying for citizenship in the Lunar Republic?" The next question asked, and Ditzy Doo found it harder to answer, more painful, certainly.
"I don't have many options left." She finally wrote. "I'm a little clumsy and airheaded sometimes, but I'm a very good mother to my foal! Many people look down on me because of my eyes, which are a little crooked and weird looking. Because of that, I'm always being laughed at, and my daughter gets bullied by other foals for who her mother is. I want a fresh start, and the ad I read in the papers made it seem like this place was nice and accepting."
Finally, the papers were finished, and Ditzy dropped them off on the desk at the front of the room. Once all the forms were handed in, the blue unicorn introduced as 'Trixie' stood up and cleared her throat.
"Would the ponies known as Sugarcane and Swift Winds please stand?" She asked, as a mare and a stallion rose to their feet. "Sugarcane, I won't divulge your crime, but we cannot accept you as a citizen. Trixie apologizes profusely!"
The stallion left, with a disgruntled expression, and the unicorn turned to the pegasus mare.
"Swift Winds, how long have you been out of prison?" Trixie asked.
"Two years, ma'am. I haven't had any citations since then." The mare explained.
"You may stay." Trixie nodded, and Swift Winds sat back down. She noted the name to be background checked later, by Luna. The forms said Swift Winds had committed an armed robbery, motivated by drugs, as she'd been an addict. No one was killed in her robbery, but one stallion ended up in the hospital for a bit.
"Now, for the next portion, Trixie would like to introduce her friend, Noteworthy!" Trixie announced gallantly, as the blue stallion took a bow.
"Noteworthy is a changeling," Trixie explained. "That means that he's a special tribe of pony, a type that can change their form at will."
The blue pony shimmered green for a moment, before reappearing in his changeling state. He'd worked hard to find a less-threatening form that still held true to the changeling ideals. He had slightly smaller fangs, and no holes in his legs. His wings shimmered like that of a dragonfly, and his eyes were more pony-like, while still maintaining the slitted pupils.
"This is more or less what a changeling looks like in their basic form. Some may look different, and some may look more intimidating." The unicorn explained. "Trixie can assure you though, any changeling living in the Republic is a friend, and you're safe around them."
"Colgate," Noteworthy called on the blue unicorn mare whom Ditzy recognized from Ponyville. "Would you mind ssshowing thessse ponies what you look like?" He asked, with a slight hiss in his voice, that sounded like it was simply part of his speech.
Derpy gasped as her dentist friend shimmered away, revealing a changeling with a similar appearance to the one at the front of the room. She had a translucent green mane, and her wings shimmered as she worked them into a similar form of dragonfly wings, making her horn less jagged, and more smooth, like a unicorn's.
"Changelings are actually very useful in pony society." Trixie explained. "They do necessary work, but require no extra food."
A collective gasp went through the room, and Noteworthy explained.
"Changelings eat love, and since poniesss never run out of love, the process doesn't hurt in the least." The stallion explained. "There isss a way to sssteal love, draining it from ponies, but the few changelingsss who resort to such tactics are in the minority."
"You've known me for years, Ponyville neighbors!" Colgate exclaimed. "I'm a good dentist, and I live from the love of my best friend, Berry."
"It's true." Berryshine attested. "I've known Cole since the day she moved to Ponyville, and she never once hurt me, or Pinch."
"She's the best aunty Colgate any pony could want!" Ruby exclaimed, and Colada fluttered happily with her little wings.
Wait, fluttered!? Derpy thought. A minute ago, she could gave sworn Piña Colada was an earth pony...
"And Colada is the best changeling sister!" Ruby added, wrapping the other filly in a tight hug.
For the first time, Derpy noticed Colada's bright green eyes, rather uncommon in ponies, but not among changelings. All the Ponyville applicants were muttering amongst themselves, shocked that not one, but two changelings had been under their noses the whole time. Derpy felt suddenly brave, as she was compelled to stand up for her neighbor.
"I- I don't know about you ponies, but Colgate is a great dentist, and Piña Colada is my daughter's friend. I don't care if they're changelings." Ditzy exclaimed, and Dinky stood up too.
"Yeah! I think it's cool! With those wings and shiny bodies, they look like pretty bugs!" The little foal noted. "Like... Bug ponies!"
Bug ponies, like bat ponies. Different, but at the end of he day, just another type of pony. Derpy was afraid the changelings might have been offended, but Noteworthy and Colgate burst into laughter.
"Right, little one. Ponies, just like you." Colgate smiled warmly, before shifting back into her pony form.
"Noteworthy here, is a teacher. His shape changing abilities can easily demonstrate many different things, and he has magic that is different than what unicorns can do. Because he specializes in changeling communications, he can easily project things onto a screen, or contact help should an emergency arise."
"How does he eat?" An applicant asked, and Trixie left it to the stallion to answer for himself.
"I already have some ssstudents, and they give me love as ssstudents give their friends and mentors. I get lots of friendship-love from my pony friendsss in the colony, but I'm hoping to find a special sssomepony one day." Noteworthy explained. "For a more technical answer, all I can sssay is that I draw in love, the same way unicornsss draw in ambient magic. I digest that love, and it's turned into energy. I don't have wassste, since changelings have evolved to absorb all love, leaving nothing behind that'sss undigesssted."
"Changelings won't replace us and fool our families, right? I think that's just a myth, right?" One applicant asked.
"Right." Noteworthy confirmed. "In the past, changelingsss sssometimes did that in time of need, but the poniesss were always cared for at the hive. Here in the colony, we want to move into the future, and leave our passst behind."
"Any more questions?" Trixie asked. When no one answered, she moved on, and summoned a male bat pony from another room. "This is Trixie's thestral or 'bat pony' friend. His name is Bright Idea."
"Greetings." The stallion nodded.
"Bright Idea is a nocturnal pegasus. His eyes are slitted, because they help him see in the dark. He has larger ears than the average pony, because he can use echolocation, and those help him to have more sensitive hearing."
"What are the fangs for?" One daring applicant asked.
"We thestrals eat fruit, and the fangs help us get under the skin of tough fruits and absorb all the juice we can get from it. It's an adaptation from the fruit bats we're most similar to." Idea explained calmly.
"Any questions?" Trixie asked.
"You seem pretty normal, Mr. Idea, less strange than the changelings at least, no offense to Mr. Noteworthy." One pony offered.
"None taken." Note grinned.
"So my question is this: where do all the awful stories about bat ponies come from? Given what Mr. Noteworthy has told us about the handful of bad changelings, I can see where the bad reputation comes from. But from what you've said, there's not a single thestral who drinks blood or kidnaps foals. Where did the rumors come from?"
"Frankly, in the last Equestrian Civil War, we fought on the losing side." Bright Idea explained. "You are all aware that the Lunar Republic is headed by Celestia's sister, Luna, correct?"
Everyone nodded and made little sounds of affirmation. They'd all read about that in the papers.
"Well, the last time our Princess tried to leave Equestria, we followed her. She is nocturnal, like us, and understands what it's like to be persecuted and misunderstood."
Many of the applicants nodded and agreed with Bright Idea's statement. Many of them were here for just such a reason.
"Well, our Princess lost, and was banished to the moon. Before the war, everyone feared bat ponies, because we were different. After the war, after the civilian casualties and collateral damage, we were downright demonized, and hailed as Nightmare Moon's nightmare army. With Luna gone, ponies wanted somepony to blame." Bright explained sadly. "We had to go into hiding, and bat ponies were forever immortalized in common mythology as instruments of evil."
"The real evil is that we let it happen!" Somepony called out, and was answered by a loud cheer.
"This happened a thousand years ago, there's nothing you could have done." Bright Idea explained, still touched by the outpouring of support.
"But thestrals still don't have equal rights. I'd never even seen one before today!" One mare added. "We could have helped, had we only known."
"All we ask, is to be treated equally." Bright Idea explained with a smile. The vetting classes were shaping up nicely.