//------------------------------// // Chapter 32 // Story: Repercussions // by Hiver //------------------------------// I took a thirty minute look around the archives and then gave it up as a bad idea and left. Everything in there was written in old languages I couldn’t read! Considering some were five thousand years old, I’m not entirely sure what I expected. Fucking, damn it. Sure, I could likely ask Luna or Celestia for help in translating or asking one of them to teach me, but with what time? If I thought I was busy… didn’t even get close to those two. Right now I am worried about a small subset of one tribe. They worried about everypony else. So that was a complete no-go. Then there was Twilight and Midnight. I was fairly sure they could read it too, if less… natively than Luna or Celestia. But see above. Busy. And… I didn’t want to impose on either of them right now. Things were tough enough for both of them as is at the moment. I didn’t want to be the one to heap more onto their backs. But I did know another pony that might be able to help. Hence why I was out in the cold again. Amber was nowhere in sight, but Iron Shine trotted along next to me, the earth pony looking completely unbothered by the cold which was completely not fair. At least she was larger than me and also worked like a windbreak. I’m starting to think thestrals were naturally a tropical species or something. Shaking that thought out of my head, I headed up the path to the small house and knocked on the door. Waiting for a long moment I then knocked again. There was another little while before the door unlocked and opened a small crack, “Yes?” “Good afternoon, Moon Dancer,” I said with a smile, “Do you have a minute?” “Oh! Lord Page!” she said and opened the door before she blinked and frowned slightly, “...Do you look different?” I grinned, “It’s… yeah. Thestral, not pegasus.” Moon Dancer looked at me with interest, “...Fascinating.” “Mhmm,” I agreed and flicked my ears, “Do you mind if we come inside? This is Iron Shine by the way, she’s my guard.” “Oh! Of course!” Moon Dancer said and scooted back. Moving inside, I slipped my cloak off and folded it up. Her home was… pretty much what I expected. Comfortable, lived in and completely stock full with books, stacks of paper and scrolls and half finished projects all over the place. Moon Dancer looked thoughtful for a moment as she closed the door, “Could I get you some tea?” she asked after a moment. “That would be wonderful, thank you.” She nodded and left for the kitchen and I stretched my wings before sitting down by the gently crackling fireplace. Iron Shine moved to stand close to me, but at a distance where she wasn’t crowding me, just kind of scanning the room. Five minutes later Moon Dancer returned, carrying a tray of cups and a teakettle. A moment later we all had a cup of steaming hot tea each and she looked at me. I smiled at her, “I’m sure you’re curious why I’m here,” I asked. Moon Dancer nodded, “Yes.” “I have a research project if you are interested,” I said and blew softly on my cup of tea, “I know you’ve done some projects for Luna.” She slowly nodded, “What’s the project?” she asked as she looked at my ears. Not overly surprised, they were bigger than most ponies and a bit fluffy. I flicked one of them and her eyes moved with it. Now that’s funny! “Batponies,” I said with a smile and spread my left wing, “As you noticed, I have some personal incentive in figuring out exactly how it works.” Moon Dancer slowly nodded again, looking lost in thought, “What is it that you want to know?” “In short,” I explained, “I want to know where they come from, everything about the spell that originally created them from Pegasi, absolutely everything you can find.” “I haven’t run into very much at all,” Moon Dancer said, “The books barely men-” “For this project you’d have full access to the royal libraries in addition to the ancient archives,” I reassured her, “How’s your ancient languages? Old Ponish, ancient equestrian… whatever the languages of the old tribes where…” “Earth ponies is the source of old ponish,” Moon Dancer explained, smoothly going into a classroom lecture tone, “It takes some effort, but if you know one you can read the other. Ancient pegasi had their own language but didn’t have that much for writing things down permanently as it was too much weight. They used materials that tended to get destroyed with time. The most reliable records from that time are from unicorn records because they tended to record everything. Did you know that unicorns were the first ones to invent writing?” “I can honestly say I didn’t,” I said with a smile, “Well? Want the job? The pay would b-” “Yes!” “...You need to work a bit on the entire work interview thing,” I said with a grin, “I didn’t even get to the pay. But very well, I’ll get the details to you and the access you need to. If there is anything else you find that you need, assistants or anything, just let me know and I’ll make sure you get it.” Moon Dancer nodded, “Do we have a timeframe?” “No. But while accurate is better than faster, as fast as possible would be good,” I said, “As the result of this might affect the life of thestrals all across Equestria.” She slowly nodded, eyes already far away.