Chapter Twenty
Blazen Sun
The morning after the announcement of the Hatchery's dissolution...
In an instant, Blazen Sun's eyes opened wide, and he rolled over in time to see the first rays of sunlight coming over the horizon.
As far back as he could remember, the oldest of the Guard Captains had always risen with the sun, and it was this habit which had led to his applying for the Celestia Guard once he was old enough. He had taken an official and previously unplanned multi-day leave of absence only twice in his career, the first for his wedding and honeymoon to his seapony wife Coral, and the second years later so he could be by her side in her last few days. He had adored her, and when she had passed he had devoted himself to his Guard duties and to the rest of his family; even before his marriage, he'd had a reputation for treating mares and children well and expecting the same of his Guards. Still, he mused as he rolled out of bed and began his morning preparations, all of them know better than to disturb me at this hour. It was one of the reasons he still maintained his own home, so he could do what he did in private.
Breathing deeply as he began his daily meditations, the most spiritual of the six Captains let himself be at peace and calm. Finally, he reached within himself to the core of his magic, not just at the base of his horn where the physical carbuncle lay but all throughout his body. He felt the energy flowing, the inner fire and drive to protect that still kept him going after all these years, and remembered how it had felt the first time he had gained this level of contact with his magic.
He had remained in this position for some time, as per his usual routine, when he felt it.
Something on the outer edges of his consciousness. Something he'd felt in the past, just the barest of touches then and now as he meditated. Yet he knew, in his heart of hearts, it was not a physical presence in his quarters, but something so much... more.
Breathing deeply, he tried to reach out to the something in return, yet as always it withdrew, though not without leaving a sensation of warmth and peace where it had been.
Withdrawing, Blazen Sun smiled behind closed eyes. Whatever this force was, it was not something he feared. He rejoiced at these brief moments of contact, and looked forward to the day when they finally met in person.
An hour later, his meditations complete and his breakfast consumed, Blazen Sun walked into his Guard office, and Steady Lance immediately rose from his desk and saluted him.
"Morning, sir," he said. "Things are calming outside, but still wild enough that Captains Lulamoon, Wall and Surprise are all out keeping an eye on matters directly. I was just waiting for you before I went to join them."
"Good to know, lieutenant." Blazen Sun looked directly at him. "And Captain Gaze?"
"Reported in that he had something to take care of personally this morning, but all is well with his Guard."
"Good." Blazen Sun gave him a nod. "Dismissed."
Steady Lance saluted and left the office, leaving Blazen Sun to head for the Captain's Room and another day of coordinating things.
Night Blade
In the Griffish Isles, the day after their arrival...
Night Blade groaned as he felt the sun on his face, and turned over in the bed he'd gotten last night. Then he felt a finger against the tip of his ear, and grimaced.
"Up and at 'em, Nighty," Vix-Lei's voice came from behind. "Big day today."
Night Blade just groaned again.
"I have a foghorn and I'm not afraid to use it."
Night immediately sat bolt upright. "You wouldn't," he hissed.
"No, but it got you moving, didn't it?" He turned back to see Vix-Lei grinning. "Don't want to get kicked out of this place for disturbing the peace. Besides, I was just kidding - Rex still has that foghorn of his, not me."
Night Blade made some grumbling noises before reluctantly throwing the covers aside, and Vix-Lei smirked as she stepped back. "See you outside," she said.
Once she was gone, Night Blade sighed. "There are times when I appreciate her," he said to himself. "And then there are times when she still drives me up the wall."
Still, he could understand why she'd woken him up like she did, and he set to work cleaning and dressing himself. About ten minutes later, he stepped out of the hotel room to find Wind and Vix-Lei in the hall, Wind looking rather fidgety.
The trio were quiet as they headed back the way they'd come the day before, finally arriving at the hospital for Wind to have his tests done. After a few minutes of talking with the receptionist, Wind was led into the office where his doctor was waiting, while Night and Vix-Lei sat down in the waiting room.
"So," Vix-Lei finally said. "I checked up on how long these things take, and we've got about five minutes or so to kill while he gets his samples taken... anything you want to talk about?"
"I really don't know," Night replied. "How did you manage to get to the orphanage, by the way?" He blinked and tilted his head to the side. "I mean, I was able to use the thermal spots to push myself around but there were a few larger gaps."
"Night, my friend," Vix-Lei said. "There is very little that can stand in the way of a minotaur on a charge. No matter how rough the road, I can keep up when I really want to." She grinned. "I still prefer flying, but I manage when that isn't an option."
"Of course," Night said before frowning and looking at his wing with a sigh in his throat. "I just hope I can get this fixed properly when we get back home," he muttered. "For all that we've progressed, the stigma against a winged pony who can't fly is still an issue at times."
"You're a nox pony, you're more durable," Vix-Lei replied. "One of the pegasi who worked at the shipyards part-time busted his wing once, and it was all the way healed after he spent a few days in the hospital and then a week off it."
"There's a difference between busting it up and what I have," Night told her. "Yes, the fractures should heal faster, but there's also damage to the membrane for my wing. That will grow back naturally, albeit a lot slower than it would take a pegasus to regrow their feathers, but I also use my wings to duel. Without them working, it limits my ability to defend myself and others. Which is a large part of why I'm even part of this group." He looked down and growled softly.
"You're more than just a fighter, you know," Vix-Lei said. "I know how much your special talent means to you, but it's not everything. I mean, I talked to Pinkie for a while, and she told me about how her special talent may be parties, but she does a lot more than that - she bakes, she raised a pet alligator, she plays at least a dozen musical instruments, she does practical jokes - heck, she and Rainbow Dash were kind of infamous for pranking ponies back in the day. So don't let your one talent be the only thing about you, m'kay?"
Night Blade looked at her, surprised. "She had a pet alligator?"
"Yeah," Vix-Lei said. "In fact, I think she said she still keeps an eye on his descendents. They're out in the Everfree somewhere, and she's surprised we didn't run into them, since they do tend to keep an eye on things there themselves." She smiled for a moment before looking back at him. "So besides swordplay and Page, what else do you like to do?"
Night couldn't help himself, spluttering and blushing with his friend smirking at him. "Not that way, I know," she said teasingly. "But seriously, what do you do that doesn't involve swords or spending time with your marefriend?"
NIght gave an awkward shrug of his wings before wincing. "There isn't much I did that wasn't either of those things, besides attending all those boring noble parties."
"Oh yeah, Pinkie had some words to say about those," Vix-Lei said. "But aside from that... what about those games you played?" she asked.
Night sighed. "As much fun as they were, I haven't had anyone to really do them with in a long time," he said, looking away. "Nobody wanted to play with someone who was so much better at strategizing and won all the time because of it. That's part of why we stopped using the Crystal World War set, because the player who ran it was too good."
"But that's still something more that you did," Vix-Lei pointed out as she gently cupped his head and tilted it back towards her. "You enjoyed that, I know. And the history stuff."
"I did," Night said. "I wonder if any of the younger changelings at the Library would be interested in using that sort of thing in their lessons..."
Vix-Lei grinned and made like she was about to slap him on the back, but thought better of it. "That's the spirit!"
Night Blade gave her a faint smile. "Thank you, Vix-Lei," he said. Then he considered. "That reminds me, have you ever done that sort of game night?"
"Nah, we mostly stuck to poker and things like that at the 'yards," Vix-Lei said. "Dice games were straight out - Dad was death on those, for some reason. Didn't like 'em even if the players weren't betting anything. But no matter the game, I only ever played the tables where they wagered snack food, for obvious reasons. Good thing too - one of the guys there was so good at it, he ended one game with the losing player owing him enough munchies to equal the annual production line at one of the big companies." She grinned. "One of my favorite tables was the one where they played checkers with cookies instead of the regular pieces. In that game, it didn't matter who the last player standing was - in the long run, everytaur won."
Night Blade chuckled. "Quite."
"Be interesting to give your variety a shot though," Vix-Lei said. "Nice way to practice strategy and resource management."
Whatever Night Blade was about to say next was cut off when Wind Breaker entered the room. "Hey."
"Hey," Vix-Lei said. "How'd it go?"
"They should have the results in three to five days, a week at most," Wind said. "So. Shall we go?"
Night Blade nodded. "Let's; I can always have them send the information to us, depending on where we are when it's ready."
Vix-Lei smiled. "Well. Let's get this show on the road then."
And with that, she stood up and sauntered out the door, the two males following after her.
"Hope you boys can eat on the move," she said as they headed down the street. "I picked up some supplies for breakfast on the road earlier, and a few other things. But if you want to stop someplace in town and sit down to eat instead, we can do that too."
Wind Breaker shook his head. "I'm good to keep moving, thanks. Night?"
"We can keep going," Night said. "We've got a long walk ahead of us."
Vix-Lei nodded, and the trio headed down the road, Vix-Lei handing out some of the protein bars and breakfast pastries she'd picked up.
"Got a couple different flavors of gum for you and me too, Windy," she said. "Just in case. You want any, Night?"
Night shook his head. "No, but thank you," he said. "Gum, caramel and a few other sticky foods tend to get stuck in my kind's fangs, and we have a Tartarus of a time getting them cleaned out afterward, so we usually just avoid them." He grimaced. "Though I still remember that meeting with a group of Neighponese dignitaries where we couldn't just decline the Nattō, no matter how sticky it was. After they had left, when I said I hoped never to have to try that particular food item again and why, it was one of the few times in my life where my parents ever agreed with me on anything."
Vix-Lei nodded understandingly. "Gotcha."
They all chatted amicably as they walked down the road, their eyes flitting back and forth at the sights around them, much as they had during their trip through the Everfree.
It was noon when they finally stopped for lunch at a restaurant in another griffon town, and then continued on their way. Aside from Night wincing periodically from twinges in his wing and his thoughts drifting back to home and what might be happening back there, he found himself really quite enjoying the travels.
He just hoped all would be well when they got back.
Page Turner
At the same time that Night and his group were setting out from their lunch in the Griffish Isles, it was early morning back in Equestria, the second day after the announcement of the Hatchery's dissolution. And as usual, Page Turner had just gotten out of bed for the day, and was reflecting.
Rex and Xvital were both still asleep, and she had no intention of disturbing them. Instead, she sat by the window, looking out over the city and the riots that were still going on. They weren't as chaotic as they'd been before; still, with only five of the Guard Divisions actively working to try and keep things calm, the Royal Guards having largely all gone over to Mount Legion instead (and goddesses had she been surprised when she found out why), she figured things would last another day, two at most, before they finally all subsided.
Xvital still had lessons at the Academy today, and she wasn't sure if Rex was planning to go in with her or to accompany Page herself to the library. While she wouldn't begrudge him going to the Academy, she had to admit to herself that she missed having the company of at least one of her new circle of friends when she was there on her own. Well-meaning or not, and regardless of their intended roles in her hive's life, Memorizing Gaze and his brothers didn't exactly count yet. Oh, she had nothing against them as individuals at this point (aside from her long-standing bitterness over what their ancestors had done), but she had yet to really connect to them like she had her fellow Bearers.
Sighing, Page leaned her head against the wall and wondered if she could find an excuse to go to some place in Canterlot other than the library for the day, like accompanying her friends to the Academy. Or if, by some miracle, Gentle Step was willing to have visitors, since Memorizing had informed her that the Captain-General had some things she wanted to talk with Page and her friends about when she had the time. She knew Tizoc would be busy with work all day, and Vix-Lei's family likely too, while she was still hesitant to approach Night's family by herself.
Now, if any of them wanted to drop in on her, be it here or the library, she wouldn't refuse them. But she'd be surprised if they did - the only one whom she'd spoken to on a personal level was Deep, and he had classes that morning, while Crooked and Striking Blade were most likely either helping at the last few Hatcheries that still needed to give out information, or over with the rest of their fellows at Mount Legion. As far as she knew, Hidden Dagger and Serrated Dagger weren't aware of her closer relationship with Night and so had no reason to want to come and speak to her personally (at least, that was what Deep had said the day before when she'd asked if they knew of her relationship with Night, before he'd gone home for the evening), and Lethal Blade and Sweet Dagger were both waiting to meet her face-to-face until Night got back.
Lost in her thoughts, she barely noticed when Rex padded up beside her, until she caught his reflection in the window.
"Are you still worried about Night, and our other friends?" he asked softly.
"And other things," Page admitted, before smiling at him. "How are you?"
"About as well as can be expected," Rex replied. "Page?"
"Yes?"
"If you want some company at the library this afternoon, I'd be glad to drop in again after I finish my business at the Academy," he said. "I do have a few things I want to ask the Matron about, but otherwise, I am available whenever you wish my aid."
Page smiled. "Thank you, Rex."
"It is not a problem, my friend."
About an hour later, Xvital had gotten up and all three of them had had a small breakfast, before setting off in their separate directions. Rex and Xvital had headed towards the Academy, for lessons and to teach lessons respectively, while Page was on her own except for a small guard escort.
While she was walking towards the Library, Page saw her escort shift and move in front of her as another set of guards appeared. The two groups began to talk to each other with Page frowning in confusion.
"Is everything okay?" she asked as she reached out for her magic.
"We are checking it out, ma'am," one of her guards said cautiously before the leader of her escort walked back with the other group's leader. "These ladies wish to accompany you ma'am; considering their relationship with one of our charges, we are allowing this," he said.
Page looked up at the mares following him, and blinked in surprise as she recognized them, both from a few nights before and the portraits Night had once shown her, back before their adventures had started when he was preparing to introduce her to his family. "Hidden Dagger and Serrated Dagger?" she asked.
The older of the two mares nodded. "Page Turner," she returned, before approaching with her hoof outstretched. "It's good to finally meet you directly."
The younger mare nodded. "Same here," she said.
Accepting Hidden's hoof and shaking it, Page nodded, then did the same with Serrated. "It's good to meet the two of you as well," she said. "How are..."
Serrated shrugged. "Well, seeing as how Deep got to spend part of the day with you yesterday, my sister and I figured it was our turn to do the same, with you and your other friends," she admitted. "We've neglected our little brother for long enough, and since he seems to have at least accepted Mom and Dad's apologies, we wanted to try and learn more about he and his friends."
Page nodded with a blush on her face. "I see."
As the trio and their guards began moving forward again, she looked at the two. "Just how much did Deep tell you about us?"
Serrated shrugged. "Just the basics, and he said something about getting what Crooked was hinting about before the last time we met you," she said. "We tried to get him to explain, but he and Crooked both said it was for Night and his friends to tell us, and Mom and Dad agreed."
"My twin says he wanted us to be as surprised as he was," Hidden added with a smile, while Serrated looked bemused.
"Crooked has always been like that," she said. "He can act professionally when he's on duty or otherwise out in public, but behind closed doors, he is still our brother and he still has a very strange sense of humor." Hidden snorted while nodding her head in agreement.
"You don't say," Page said tilting her head. "I wonder how well he and Vix-Lei would get along."
"That's your minotaur friend, right?" Hidden asked. "The one who led Captain Surprise's guards on a merry chase?"
"The same," Page confirmed with a nod of her head.
"Just how did you meet her, anyway?" Serrated asked. "I've been wondering about it since I found out about all this."
Page hesitated. "You... know what I am, right?" she asked.
"That you're a changeling? Yeah," Serrated said with a nod of her head. "Doesn't bother us. I've always had a few who liked hanging around when I was doing one of my shows, and probably more in the audiences; legally, I couldn't pay them to help out, but I always made sure my actual paid employees gave them all the aid they needed." She grimaced. "Never thought it was fair the way they were treated, to be honest."
"Well thank you for helping them regardless," Page said to her. "Now that we have the Pardon, you can undoubtedly have more apply to be official employees."
"You would think so but there are still some issues," Hidden said with a growl. "From what I have heard, there are cases ongoing to see if employers that had knowingly hired changelings can be charged for past crimes as well as to make sure that other races can compete fairly with changelings. I know that a number of fashion designers are dealing with lawsuits from their former models about that very issue and Deep's lawyer is doing her best to get those dealt with as he plans to work with changelings for some of his future art projects. Something about 'the rebirth of the Fourth tribe', I think he called it?"
Page nodded. "So he said to me yesterday," she said. "And I know my people are already facing challenges since our Pardon, there are certainly enough protestors outside the Library every time I go there now... but at least now we have the chance to have a better life." She sighed. "As it happens, prejudice against my kind is how Night and I met Vix-Lei, by the way. The night of the Honor Festival, I stepped away from Night for a few minutes and ran into a group of ponies who were threatening one of my people. When I tried to defend her, Vix-Lei and our other future friends saw what was going on and joined me. Things snowballed from there."
"You knew Night before that?" Serrated asked.
Page nodded. "The rest of your family already knows by now, so I should tell you too," she said. "Night and I have been dating since shortly after his first talentmitzvah."
Both mares looked startled, and Hidden shook her head. "First talentmitzvah?"
Page nodded. "Vix-Lei heard about how your parents handled what should have been his big day and decided to throw him a proper one with all of us to make up for it," she said. "That's what you and your siblings walked in on the last time I saw you."
"Well, good for her," Serrated said. "Mom and Dad finally confessed how badly they handled things that day, it's good that somepony gave him the kind of party he deserved."
Hidden nodded in agreement. "I just wish we'd known sooner," she said. "Age difference or no, he is still our little brother and we should have done something. But you said you've been with him that long?"
"Yes," Page replied with a nod of her head, smiling at the older mare.
"Well. Thank you for being there for him, when we weren't," Hidden said. "At least somepony was able to do right by him." There was something of a bitter tone in her voice, before she looked at Page again. "So, I guess it's only fair to ask you the same thing I've asked all of my siblings."
"What's that?" Page asked.
"When can I expect you and Night to settle down and give me some nieces and nephews?" she asked with a pointed smile that was not too dissimilar from Night’s own brand of smiles.
Page began to sputter and stammer, while Serrated facehoofed. "Oh, sis..." she groaned.
"If it wasn't me, it would be Mom," Hidden said with a more realistic grin as she placed a wing over Page's side and pulled her close to her side with Page squeaking in surprise. "Besides, since you've been dating my brother for this long, I think it's fair to tease you like I would Serrated or Deep if they had boyfriends or girlfriends."
The younger mare sighed deeper, her tufted ears twitching though Page could taste that Serrated wasn’t actually mad at Hidden. "At least you have the benefit of having a steady partner for her to tease you about," she told Page with a roll of her eyes. "I haven't had a steady partner in my life, something Mom and Dad tend to get on my case about, along with the rest of my siblings - even Deep, and he's a couple of years younger than me." There was an internal twinge of emotion from her that Page immediately noticed, and she made a mental note to ask about it in private later. For now though, she had her own thoughts to voice.
"You don't say," she said faintly. "To be honest, I don't know if Night's ever thought about it; I know I..." Her face fell. "Well, I was rather reluctant to ever bring up the subject." She sighed. "What with his not knowing I was a changeling until recently, and my not wanting to put another foal through what the rest of my people were suffering, I wasn’t sure if he wanted a family with me without foals in our lives."
Hidden nodded sympathetically. "I see." She pulled Page closer into a hug with love emanating from the embrace.
"No matter what happens and what you decide, we'll be there for you," Serrated told her with the same love her sister had towards her. "You're family now."
Page smiled and nuzzled them. "Thank you both."
"And that means we are obligated to treat you as such," Hidden said with a grin on her face. "Have you ever had a tailor-made dress from Sassy Saddles?"
"No, I don't think so," Page replied with wide eyes. "Those are incredibly expensive, and I've never had that kind of funds for personal spending."
"Well, we can certainly afford to splurge on a couple for you," Serrated said. "That is, if you'd let us."
"I don't know," Page brushed her hooves together nervously. "I was never one for fancy stuff myself and I know I would feel guilty if I had all that money spent on myself when it could be used to help others."
"Please, it would be our treat," Hidden said earnestly. "And our family does generally follow the ways of the Lady, I think she'd be understanding if we decided to give to our newest family member."
"And I know that Saddles does donate a portion of their proceedings to charity," Serrated added.
Page blinked, thinking back to what she knew of both the unicorn Rarity and her human self. "Well... I guess," she said.
Hidden smiled. "Well, since that's settled," she started to say, then looked up as she realized they'd reached the Library. "You know, while the Lady is our family's main patron, I have to admit that I never get tired of seeing her," she mused as she looked at the statue outside. "They must have a statue of the Magi of Stars outside every library in this country."
Page nodded. "She lived for books, as I understand it," she said. "And her friends."
The trio quickly headed up the stairs, their guards keeping themselves between the three mares and the small herd of protestors still outside, and soon they had entered the Library.
"Wish we knew more about what the Virtues were like when they were alive," Serrated said softly as they went through the halls. "I mean, it's been a thousand years; there has to have been some distortion in the stories in all that time."
"Oh, you have no idea," Page said with a shake of her head. "During the time we were traveling, my friends and I found ourselves in a rather... unique position, where we were able to find out some very interesting things about their lives in the process."
"Oh?" Hidden asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Well, for one, despite what we've been led to believe, all six of them were mares," Page told her.
"Even the Stallion of Dedication?" Serrated asked a little skeptically.
Page nodded. "We spoke to her spirit," she said. "According to what we learned, King Blueblood somehow mixed her up with her older brother."
Hidden looked at her in surprise. "Well that's something I didn't expect. Unless they were like Crooked and I?"
"If you mean twins, then no," Page told her. "I can... show you what she really looked like, if you want."
Hidden nodded, and Page, calling on the memories of the pictures she'd seen on the walls of the Sweet Apple Acres farmhouse, transformed. "This was her brother, Big McIntosh," she said, using his voice from his human form. "The one they based all the statues on."
Hidden whistled. "Whew, that's a good-looking stallion," she said admiringly.
"And this," Page said as she transformed again, "Is Applejack. The actual pony they called the Stallion of Dedication," she said in Applejack’s voice.
Serrated's eyebrows rose as she eyed Applejack's form. "And they mixed up these two?" she asked. "How..."
"King Blueblood was mostly working from second-hoof information," Page admitted as she reverted to her unicorn shape and using her own voice again. "He got the rest of them mostly right, looks-wise at least, along with the Lady's generosity and the Magi of Stars' love of books, but other than that..." She shook her head. "Then there's the story of the Stern Warden and what she did with a demon."
Serrated smirked. "You mean the story of a demon she trapped in a bunny? I always thought that one was kind of silly. So what, was it actually a metaphor or something?"
"Close," Page replied. "From what I found out, the Stern Warden - or Fluttershy, as she was properly named - really did have a pet rabbit named Angel. But he wasn't possessed by any sort of demon - he was just bad-tempered, and apparently he mellowed out a lot after she died."
"That would make a lot more sense," Hidden said. "From what Crooked has said when he was stationed outside of the Tartarus Gate for one tour of duty, even the weakest of demons would probably be too strong for a normal rabbit's body to contain one."
"Aren't you not supposed to talk about demons in public?" Serrated asked her sister. "I thought the guard was supposed to keep that kind of thing under wraps."
Hidden shook her head. "First off, this is a library; I expect most of the ponies here already know about all this from the newspaper archives. Second, aside from Page, nopony else is actually in my hearing range and she clearly already knows about their existence, so I think we're safe on that end." She had an apologetic look on her face as she turned to Page. "Sorry for talking around you there," she said.
"It's all right," Page told her, smiling understandingly. Hidden nodded in relief, then turned back to Serrated.
"Second, officially, the Guards are supposed to keep the information about them under wraps," she said. "Unofficially, according to Crooked, they tried to do damage control after the last big attempted incursion, the one where the Captain-General earned her rank, but it didn't work - this was the first time in publicly recorded history that the demons had actually gotten past Cerberus before the Guards could get to them and push them back. So there were a lot of actual civilian witnesses to that event, and they spread the word about what had happened before anyone official could stop it." She shook her head. "After that, the Captains agreed that there was no way of getting things back under wraps, and that trying to cover it up would just make things worse."
"And what happened then?" Serrated asked. "Because I hadn't heard about any of this."
"Crooked says that the Captains just told their troops that if anyone were to ask them, they were to decline to answer, and that no public statements would be made on the matter," Hidden said. "End result, the public knows that there's a wide variety of demons trapped in Tartarus, and that the guards' duties include stopping any attempted escapees, but they don't have any confirmed details about the different breeds and such. Even I don't know any more about them; Crooked's my twin, but that's the one thing he refuses to talk about with me or Soft Breeze."
"Right." Serrated nodded. "Considering the legends about them, I'd think it would have been common knowledge a lot sooner," she remarked as they entered the room that had become Page's office. She could already sense Sound Record and High Finish in the office with the two giving the mares around her a look, though she told them to stand down in the hivemind, explaining the matter quicker than she could with her voice. Nodding, the pair stepped out to give them some space.
"Before that incident, all we had were legends, but there hadn't been any physical proof that got out," Hidden said. "This last incursion though... to use a metaphor from old Byzantion, they removed the cork from the bottle and allowed the genie to escape."
"Ah." Serrated nodded again.
"You're familiar with old Byzantion?" Page asked, looking surprised.
Hidden nodded. "I've been to modern Byzantion on business trips, and I've visited some of the local museums and other cultural sites there," she said. "Is there something... wrong about that?"
Page shook her head. "No, it's just... Night used to play historical strategy games based on the old world, and Byzantion was his preferred set," she said. "He knew so much about that time and was so good at winning with it that the other players finally asked him to stop coming."
Hidden blinked in surprise. "I had no idea," she said. "I mean, if he had the same history lessons I did, he'd have had to hear about it, but I never knew he had something else to apply that sort of knowledge to."
"I didn't know he was into games period," Serrated commented. "I guess you and he have another thing to bond over, sis."
Hidden made a face. "Please don't remind me," she muttered.
Page looked at them curiously, and Serrated giggled. "Our sister," she said, "Has never lost a game of Monopony, or any other finance-based game, in her life. She was just too good at it for people to ever want to play against her more than a few times. I am now curious to see which of them would win."
"I see," Page said with a smile at her how Serrated was grinning; it was the same type that Night had on his face during one of his duels. "Were you good at any in particular?"
"Not really," Serrated replied. "I did family game nights with everypony when we were all still living at home, but that was it most of the time. Music has always been more my kind of thing."
Page nodded. "Night said you were a famous singer."
"And she writes all her own songs too," Hidden added, prompting Serrated to duck her head and blush.
"That's actually what I'm supposed to be doing soon," she said. "Between tours, I take a while off and work on new songs in private. But then the very first day I was back in Canterlot from my last one, Crooked called a Fruit Juice - our private name for a family meeting - and we all had to come to the manor." She sighed. "And that's how we found out about Night's reaction to Mom and Dad when they came to meet with him, and why we dropped by your place that night." She blinked. "Crooked was actually surprised I got to the manor as fast as I did, he'd called my manager to pass on the message. I guess Crush, my manager, didn't get the chance to tell him I was already back in my Canterlot apartment before he hung up."
Page nodded. "I see."
"I actually was out of town when he called, right after he got out of his meeting with your friend Xvital," Hidden said. "Luckily, I was the first one he called, so I had time to hop in one of our faster skimmers and zip back in a few hours."
"Just like old times, huh?" Serrated asked teasingly.
"Except this time, I didn't crash," Hidden said as she reached over and ruffled her sister's mane, prompting Serrated to swat her hoof with one wing.
Page nodded and smiled. "Deep said something about that to Xvital the other day, and he repeated it to me later," she said. "Something about you having a family tradition of stealing one of your own skimmers and going for a joyride, and hoping Night did the same?"
Serrated facehoofed. "Of course he would," she muttered. "I just hope he waits to do it until he's home and not overseas. A lot easier on the insurance and the family if he does where we can do damage control opposed to somewhere we needed to go and bail him out."
"I have it on... good authority that he won't have the chance for a day or so," Page said carefully. "We got a message saying that the town they're going to next doesn't have a dock for them to fly to, so they're having to walk."
"Not even a place for a passenger chariot or something?" Hidden asked, frowning.
Page shook her head. "Apparently not," she said. "And the roads between the town they started in and the one they're going to aren't that well-maintained, so they can't take land transport either. The message didn't say why though."
"I wonder if they'd accept a donation to have it fixed, and to have at least a small landing area put in for passenger chariots," Serrated said thoughtfully. "I mean, even if they don't use it that often, you'd think they'd keep it up for emergencies."
"You'd think," Hidden said with a sigh. "The Griffons in the Griffish Isles aren't as stingy as their mainland cousins, but there are some places where they still cut corners. And since they can fly on their own and they don't get a lot of non-flying visitors, public transportation between towns isn't a high priority for them."
"Right." Serrated looked at Page. "Speaking of flying, do you do that often?"
"I..." Page looked uncomfortable. "Not really," she admitted. "I've spent most of my life disguised as a unicorn, and I actually do have unicorn ancestors, so it's the form I'm most comfortable in. I can fly in my changeling form, and I can make myself into any other flying species if I need to... but I don't usually, because I always had to hide that I was a changeling."
Serrated nodded sympathetically. "Well, you don't have to hide that anymore," she said. "And if you want a few pointers in flying like a nox pony so you and my brother can have some special night flights, I'd be glad to show you."
Page blushed as she thought of the nights that Night flew her up to a cloud and how much it could change now, then smiled gratefully. "I might just take you up on that." Then she frowned. "Of course, right now your parents have asked us to be chaperoned when we're together from now on, for a while at least, so the other noble houses don't start openly prying into our relationship."
Hidden groaned. "They're still doing that?" she asked. "Good grief."
"And they wonder why I haven't found a partner, when I know we'd never get a moment's peace to ourselves," Serrated muttered. "The paparazzi doing that kind of thing is annoying enough... don't get me wrong, I love my work and my fans, but when it comes to being famous, there are some serious drawbacks from time to time."
"The same for me, and for Crooked," Hidden said with a sigh. "And I wouldn't be surprised if it's why Deep ended up being a playstallion like he did, flitting around from mare to mare instead of having a steady relationship."
"Or..." Page said slowly. "Because he just doesn't realize he's already found the right pony."
"That's... another possibility; Emerald Forte has been working with him for a long time," Hidden said thoughtfully with a twinkle in her eye that Serrated shared, and she looked at Page curiously. "You could feel that sort of thing from somepony, couldn't you?"
Page nodded. "We all can," she said. "Like I told my friends a long time ago, when others are broadcasting strong emotions, I actually have a harder time not feeling them than trying to feel them. And..." She blushed. "It actually makes it easier to feed without being detected that way, when we can just absorb the ambient emotions in an area full of strong ones."
"No wonder other changelings come to my concerts so much then," Serrated said, shaking her head. "All the love and happiness everypony's always giving off there, it must be a veritable smorgasbord for them."
Page smiled. "I'm sure it is," she said.
Serrated smiled back. "Then they're very welcome to it," she said, before leaning in and pulling Page into a hug of her own, which Page gladly returned, smiling as she felt the honest love the other mare was giving off, just as she had from Hidden earlier.
She could also feel a touch of love from just outside her door, and looked up past Serrated and Hidden to see said door open a crack and Matron Hush Tone smiling in at them too, before the older griffon nudged the door shut again and moved on to give them their space.
Now this is a good way to start the day, she thought happily to herself.