//------------------------------// // Chapter 46 // Story: Duties // by Hiver //------------------------------// “Luna,” I said as soon as we was alone in our sitting room, “Are batponies real?” She blinked at me in surprise, “Batponies? What make you ask that?” “I… I saw something,” I admitted and scraped my hoof against the floor, “When I got close to Fluttershy, I saw two versions of her.” Luna sat down with a small frown, “What did you see?” Looking up at her, I described the other version. With bat wings, red eyes, fangs and slightly fluffy ears. Luna blinked down at me before she smiled, “…Wow. I didn’t think any of them still existed. They were horribly rare even back before I was exiled.” “So, it was real?” I asked with a frown. Luna nodded with a smile, “It’s very real and what she really looks like.” “But I thought the bat pony thing for your guards was just illusions?” I asked and glanced towards the door. “It is,” Luna confirmed, “Nowadays.” “Oh.” She moved over to jump onto the couch and I followed to jump up next to her, “Once, long before Unification, a tribe of Pegasi got in conflict with a tribe of Unicorns. The Unicorns were losing, but they got the last laugh in the end.” I nodded and listened to her, moving up to her side, “What did they do?” “Their leader, her name lost even to me, she cast a curse on the Pegasi tribe. Mind, this was long before I was born, it was mostly myth and legend even back then,” Luna explained, “But she cursed the bloodline of everypony in the Pegasus tribe. They turned into batponies.” “What happened?” Luna sighed, “At first, the curse was strong. The tribe splintered and the batponies hungered for the blood of ponies.” “...Oh.” “Batponies was rare and was hunted by all tribes. In time, things changed. A bit before I was born, they were levied with another curse,” Luna said, “Or rather, somepony. Nopony knows why or who, managed to change the curse. Maybe they tried to break it, but the end result was that they now hungered for fruit instead of blood of ponies.” I nodded, “That’s better, right?” “It was,” Luna agreed, “But that didn’t change how they was seen.” “…Yeah. I suppose that makes sense,” I sighed, “But… why do your pegasi guards all use a batpony illusion?” She smiled a bit, “To hide the real ones that once was among them. After unification, they were still feared and outcast. Very rare, but there were groups back then, but even then the curse had been weakening.” “And they all looked like batponies to hide them?” “That and it fit the Princess of the Night,” Luna admitted with a smile, bumping her nose against mine, “By the time I went into exile, only two in my guard were actual batponies. Since my return, I haven't seen a single one.” “…Was she always a batpony?” Luna shrugged her wings, “Perhaps. They do have the ability to hide what they look like, pretend to be normal ponies. Not permanently, but for days at a stretch if necessary. But even back before my exile, the curse was so weak that batponies had Pegasus foals most of the time. The curse was still there, mind, but it usually took a powerful magic surge to trigger it.” “Like… becoming the embodiment of an Element of Harmony?” I asked with a frown. “Like that,” Luna agreed, “Or any other magical surge from being around the Element of Magic casting spells. She was there when Twilight Ascended after all. It could have been anything really.” I nodded and relaxed a bit, “So… no impostor?” Luna shook her head, “Unlikely. Especially with Discord that close. For all his flaws and unreliability, he does love Fluttershy and there is no way he wouldn’t notice.” “Yeah, makes sense,” I agreed, “But how did I notice?” “That, My Page,” Luna said and nuzzled softly, “I believe you may be getting more comfortable with your Realm.” “Oh?” “Your realm includes things such as stories, illusions, dreams,” she explained and smiled at me, “You recognized the false image when you got close enough.” “But… changelings…” Luna turned her head, “Amber?” Amber ducked out from behind the armchair, “Princess?” “Would you mind taking a different form for Page?” Luna asked the changeling. Amber smiled and nodded, green fire crawling across her to turn into a copy of Luna. Looking between them, I then jumped off the couch and approached Amber. As soon as I got within two meters, it was the exact same thing again. A kind of double vision. I could see Amber behind the changeling shift, but I could also see her look like Luna. “…I can see you,” I finally said, slowly walking around Amber, “Through the shapeshift.” Amber looked at me in surprise, “You can, sir?” “I can.” Wow. Okay, that’s new.