I found Pepper at one of the upper balconies. Her illusion up like always as she looked up at the stars.
"You talked to Princess Luna," I said as I walked up next to her.
Pepper startled slightly and then nodded, "I-I did," she agreed, "...Fluttershy accompanied me."
"That's good," I said and floated an apple from my satchel before splitting it in half with my magic, offering her one half.
She took it in one hoof as she looked at me, "...Why me?" she asked after a long moment, "I know you said but... it still doesn't make sense. I'm a nopony. I spend the evenings selling noodles. I’m not a hero, I’m not a princess."
I chewed slowly on a piece of apple before I sat down, "Very good noodles they are too. But that's who you are now," I said, "But that doesn't mean it's who you will always be. Things change, ponies change."
"But what you're asking of me-"
"Is a lot," I agreed when she trailed off, "More than I have any right to. Especially when I know that one pony can't change the world. No single pony, be they thestral, unicorn or alicorn can change the world."
Spicy Pepper looked at me in surprise, "But... isn't that what you want me to do?"
I smiled sadly and shook my head, "No, Pepper. Changing the world is impossible. The most any pony can do is change themselves and that's all I really ask. But that's harder than anything else."
She frowned in thought for several long minutes, looking out over the dark countryside before she shook her head, "Not sure I get it."
I smiled, "Don't try to change the world, Pepper. That's too much pressure, too much for anypony. All you can do is be the change you want."
"You want me to go unillusioned."
"Yes. And go through the decursing process."
Pepper took a deep breath, "If I... If I do... I talked to Princess Twilight. If I do, I won't be able to hide again."
I nodded, "That's right. To be an example to the other bats to do the same. You can't change the world, Pepper. But you can show others how to."
She took a deep breath, rubbing her eyes with a pastern, "I... I don't know if I can."
"You wouldn't be alone. Fluttershy is with you. You will have the official and full support of all the Princesses."
Pepper took another deep breath, "...I'm a nopony."
I sighed softly and took a step closer, "Pepper, I'll let you in on a secret. Nopony is a nopony. Everypony is somepony, with dreams, thoughts, fears and hopes. Everypony is important. Do you know what I did before I became an Alicorn?"
She shook her head.
I smiled and sat down, "I worked in a bookstore for a bit, but then I started to write books. Just a regular unicorn."
Pepper looked at me in surprise, "You weren't a thestral?"
I shook my head, "Not originally," and I raised my wings, looking back at them, "...Do you have any idea how hard it is to learn to sleep comfortably when you're not used to wings?"
That drew a small giggle from her, shaking her head, "Not really," she admitted with a small smile.
"Well, let me tell you, it took a bit," I said and stretched my wings to the side before folding them again, "But look at me now."
She shook her head, "That's different."
"Why?"
"...You may have been a unicorn before, but you're an alicorn now. I'm not, I never will be."
I sighed softly, "Pepper, alicorn or not does not matter. I have a horn, big deal. My wings may have helped me discover what was wrong easier, but I would still be doing what I could to help."
She frowned at me, "But..."
"Me being a bat helps more than me being an alicorn," I told her quietly but seriously, "Would you have listened to a random unicorn?"
Pepper was silent for several long moments before she shook her head.
"The only thing that matters, Pepper," I said and put my hoof on her shoulder, "is you. Yes, you being a bat will help get others to listen, but it's not why I chose to ask you. I chose to ask you because I think this is something you can handle. You are a very capable pony, Pepper."
She looked up at me and shook her head, "I don't know if anypony can do what you want of me."
"Maybe," I admitted, "Maybe you’re right. Maybe nopony can ever make things right, here or in my world. But... don't you want to try? If we don't, in a few hundred years there may be no more bats left. An entire tribe of ponies gone forever. Isn't it worth trying?"
Pepper was silent for several long moments before she set her jaw and looked up, meeting my eyes and nodding once.
####################
I found a bath!
As it turned out, the crystal castle had a similar bath as the castle in Canterlot, a large chamber beneath the castle itself, seemingly cut out of the crystal itself filled with warm water.
Dunking myself beneath the hot water, I then stood back up, shaking my mane and wings. This was something we didn’t have in Nocturnis.
But it is something we should build as soon as possible. I think a public bathhouse would be good for ponies.
It worked for the Romans after all.
Right now keeping clean was mostly rain based. Which was fine, but this was nicer.
“Oh!”
I looked over to spot Starlight paused at the entrance, “Evening, Starlight,” I said with a smile.
“Evening, Prince Page. Sorry to interrupt, I can-”
“Not at all,” I told her, “This bath is for everypony in the castle, don’t let me bother you.”
Starlight hesitated for a second before she nodded and put her towel down before moving to the stairs into the water, hooves making a clip clop against the crystal of the bath.
“It’s strange,” I said as I looked at her, “You’d think wet crystal would be slippery for hooves.”
She paused and looked down, rubbing a hoof at the crystal with a small frown, “...It should,” she admitted and poked it for a second before she shrugged and continued into the hot water before she groaned softly and sank down to her nose.
I grinned, “Long week?”
“Mhmm,” Starlight agreed.
I wanted to ask but I moved onto one of the other underwater benches before laying down instead, sinking down to my neck with a small sigh.
Yes. Public hot baths.
Definitely.
Especially as hard as the ponies of Nocturnis works, they deserve one.
…Admittedly, they would be the ones building the baths too…
How would we afford it anyway? Maybe it could be built from local rock, then it would be mostly labor. We had enough unicorns to manage heating crystals.
I ducked beneath the water again before shaking my mane again, relaxing against the wall of the bath.
Yep, worth it. Wouldn’t be difficult to convince ponies about it either.
“We’re almost done.”
I blinked my eyes open and looked over towards Starlight, “Huh?”
“We’re almost done,” she said and stood back up, her horn lit as she worked her mane with her magic field, twisting water out of it, “The spell calculations, I mean.”
“Almost ready?” I asked.
“...Almost,” she agreed, “The calculations are almost finished, then we need to turn it into a spell. But that’s the easy part.”
I smiled, “We’re going home soon.”
Starlight nodded, “A week at most if all goes well,” she said with a smile before she looked at me seriously, “But we might still end up having trouble with it. So it’s not a strict time table.”
I nodded, “I get it,” I told her, “What you’re doing isn’t easy.”
“Took me three years to get the original spell working,” Starlight confirmed and then shrugged a bit, “And that one went to a spot in our own timestream.”
“Difficult to say the least,” I agreed.
Starlight sank back down to her neck, looking at me, “...I have a question about the other Starlight.”
“Yes?”
“Does she know a unicorn named Trixie? Trixie Lulamoon? Blue unicorn?”
“Trixie…” I said with a small frown, racking my memory, “...I don’t know,” I finally admitted, “Not that I know. Don’t recognize the name, sorry.”
“Oh.”
I shrugged my wings, “Sorry. But Starlight has lived in Nocturnis since the start. If it’s somepony you met during the last couple of years and she’s not in Nocturnis, it’s unlikely you met.”
Starlight nodded, looking thoughtful.
“Somepony special to you?” I asked her.
“...I think so,” she admitted quietly, “My best… my only friend actually. Only pony willing to talk to me with this thing on my horn,” she said and motioned to the ring firmly around the base of her horn.
“I see,” I said, “I’m sorry.”
“It’s not so bad anymore,” Starlight admitted, “Princess Twilight changed it so that I can lift things now. Thank you.”
“Not up to me,” I told her, “I just suggested it, you’re the one that earned it by showing you could be trusted with it.”