House of Sun

by Riossumari

Garden of Shadows

Twilight and her friends followed Lullaby as she they walked into the town, they were awestruck at how beautiful the town was. It was almost like it a moonlit sky from the glow of the mushrooms above that were providing all the light.

“Ever pony look!!” Lullaby shouted, Twilight and the others all stopped to see Lullaby getting as many bat ponies attention as she could.

“We actually have visitors!!! Real visitors!” Lullaby continued. All the bat ponies in town stood staring back surprised, an awkward hush falling over area. Twilight smiled and nervously waved hello to them all, some of the bat ponies began to talk and whisper among themselves most of them curious or surprised by the sight of Twilight and the others. A few even approached them, then a slightly larger pony flew down to Lullaby adorned in dark blue armor his expression being an angry one.

“Lullaby Moonlight! What’re you doing bringing strangers into the garden?!” he demanded.

Lullaby rolled her eyes at him and answered quick, “Because...they were looking for us! And there’s no rules that say we have to keep other ponies out! That’s not what the Mare of the Moon taught us, she told us to be nice to every pony!” As the two talked Twilight looked at the stallions armor and noticed what was clearly Luna's cutie mark adorned on the front of the chest piece, but she didn't say anything just yet. The stallion’s scowl got more annoyed by Lullaby’s answer.

“Don’t go spouting that foals story about the Mare of the Moon out loud, she’s not real...there’s only ever been one Alicorn in existence and she controlled the sun, not the moon!” he said. Twilight eyes widened in surprise by his words, she didn’t expect to hear a bat pony think Luna wasn’t even real. The stallion looked at Twilight though and looked up and down her,

“Well, there was at least…” and then he looked at the others his expression being a little less angry, “They can stay if they want, but they better behave! Anything they do I’m holding YOU responsible Lullaby.” he said before turning and flying away. Lullaby put her hooves to her face and made a silly face once his back was turned, then went back to Twilight.

“Sorry about that, that was Night Shade. He’s in charge of the town guard, he seems mean but he really just wants every pony to be safe.” Lullaby explained.

“What’d he mean by the Mare of Moon is a foals tale?” Applejack asked as she walked up.

“Oh, well...not every pony here believes the stories...I mean, I can kind of understand why. I mean, if some pony like the Mare of the Moon really did exist why did she just stop coming all the time? No pony just up and vanishes like that, right? But...I still like to believe the story is true, there has to be some ponies that were our friends right?” Lullaby said.

“But he’s wrong, the Mare…” Twilight quickly put her hoof over Applejack’s mouth before she could finish saying anymore.

“That’s absolutely right Lullaby! I mean, we’re already friends right?” Twilight replied nervously.

Lullaby happily smiled and nodded saying, “Come on! I’ll show you the rest of the garden! You’re gonna love it!” Lullaby happily trot off, Trixie, Pinkie, Sweetie, and Fluttershy following her. Applejack and Gabby then turned to Twilight,

“Hey now, why’d y’all go and do that for?!” Applejack snapped back. Twilight shushed Applejack getting her to lower her voice.

“I’m really sorry Applejack, I am. But...I’m not so sure now’s the right time to tell them. I know we need to get their help, but I don’t want to tell them something that could split the whole town. Think about what could happen.” Twilight said. Applejack was naturally against, she felt being honest was the better solution but she also knew Twilight was right. Simply telling the bat ponies with no physical proof could cause more harm than good.

“I’m not saying we should lie to them, that’s the last thing we should do right now. But, maybe just hold off on telling them about it for now. Okay?” Twilight said. Applejack bit her lip in annoyance, she wanted to object but she trusted Twilight’s judgment too.

“Alright, we’ll do it your way for now sugar cube. But I want you to tell them everything when this is over, deal?” Applejack said offering a hoofshake, Twilight eagerly agreed and shook Applejack’s hoof.

“Hey! Stop falling behind! We’ve got a whole town to explore!” Pinkie shouted to the others, Twilight, Gabby, and Applejack quickly turned and ran to catch up with the others.

Lullaby happily hopped along the path ahead of every pony,

“Come on, this is my favorite part of the town! Over here!” she shouted enthusiastically. They moved past all the buildings and came to a large underground orchard, full of fruit trees that had a massive assortment of fruits and berries.

“Wow...you can grow all this underground, without any sunlight?” Trixie asked seeing how lush and healthy the trees all were. Lullaby nodded with glee,

“Sure can, the mushrooms provide the light they need and the grounds nice and fertile too! This is where we get most of our food from!” Lullaby answered.

Then a stallion about the same age as Lullaby shouted to her, “Lullaby, where have you been? You were supposed to help with…” he slowly came to a stop when he noticed Twilight and the others.

“Oh...wow, I heard someone mention we had other ponies in town but...you’re real. And I’m guessing my sister showed you in.” he added. Lullaby walked over and hugged the stallion,

“I did! This is my brother, Harvest Moon! He’s the one who runs the orchard!” she said. Harvest’s coat was the same shade of gray as Lullaby’s but his mane was shorter and a dark shade of blue with a pale gray highlight.

“Um, hi. Its nice to meet all of you I suppose. I’ve never met a unicorn before...or a Pegasus, or an Earth Pony…or um…” Harvest said as his gaze went from pony to pony but came to a stop when he looked at Twilight and Gabby.

“I’m a griffon, my name's Gabby, its awesome to meet you! You look just like Lullaby too!” she said. Harvest’s gaze shifted to Lullaby a little annoyed now,

“Oh please don’t remind me...she’s a hoof full some days…” he groaned. Applejack walked past them looking at all the trees and the fresh fruit hanging from them, but noticed the bat ponies were all flying and picking the fruit one at a time and putting them into satchels they all wore.

“This is a mighty fine orchard you’ve going, but that’s no way to get everything down. Y’all will be at it all day like this.” Applejack said to Harvest and Lullaby. The two siblings looked at her puzzled, Lullaby letting her brother go.

“Come on Pinkie, give me hoof for a second.” Applejack said. The two earth ponies got a few empty baskets from nearby and set them up around the bottom of one of the trees. Then Applejack stood with her back to the tree and gave a good firm buck knocking a good number of apples down from the tree. Harvest and the other bat ponies looked fairly surprised by Applejack’s display, Harvest walking up to her and looking at the apples in the basket.

“Huh, I would’ve never thought of that. Is that how earth pony’s tend their orchards?” he asked. Applejack smiled feeling like the center of attention now,

“Sure is, why don’t Pinkie and I show y’all a few tricks to maybe help out?” she asked. Harvest and the other bat ponies eagerly got close to listen to Applejack’s advice.

Once Lullaby saw Harvest was distracted she snuck over to Twilight and whispered, “Come on, I’ll show you the rest of the town while he’s busy.” Twilight giggled and they all followed Lullaby as she led them away.

Lullaby led them the town, the bat ponies around them stopping to look occasionally. Twilight was glad to see none of them were really afraid of them. Cautious maybe, but not scared. As they followed Lullaby Twilight noticed a rather large stone building that had a carving of Luna above the entrance, she paused and looked at it puzzled. She still had trouble wondering why some of the bat ponies thought she wasn’t real, she seemed to be depicted almost everywhere in town Twilight thought. Lullaby nudged Twilight as she stood looking,

“Are you okay? Whatcha looking at Twilight?” she asked. Twilight cleared her throat and pointed to the building,

“Oh, I was just um...wondering what that building was.” she said. Lullaby looked over to where she was pointing and answered.

“That? That’s just the library, we don’t have many ponies maintaining it though. We rarely get any new books.” Lullaby said. Twilight’s eyes lit up with excitement when Lullaby told her it was the library,

“Do you mind if I go look? I can’t imagine what kind of books you might have that I haven’t seen before.” Twilight asked as she trot in place. Lullaby couldn’t help but giggle at seeing Twilight excited and nodded in agreement. The purple mare scurrying off to get inside, she pushed the double doors of the entrance open and rushed inside. The library was fairly big inside, close to the same size as the Canterlot public library she thought.

“Did you want some company Twilight?” a soft voice asked from behind, Twilight turned to see Fluttershy standing behind her.

“Oh sure, I’d love that Fluttershy.” she replied. The two walked deeper into the library and Twilight began to look at the books lined up on the shelf, the books were all old but in remarkably good condition she thought.

“I can’t believe how old some of these books are, who knows what kind of knowledge or stories they might have that the Canterlot ponies thought may have been lost!” Twilight said. Fluttershy looked at the bookshelves opposite of Twilight, picking a book up off the shelf and looking at the title.

“I’ve never heard of this one before. The Legend of Epona: Tale of two seasons.” Fluttershy said, she looked back at the shelf and saw there were several others in the series.

“Oh my...I heard ponies talking but, I didn’t realize…” an elderly voice spoke up. Twilght and Fluttershy turned to see a pair of bat ponies standing and looking at them in awe. The older pony was a faded shade of gray with white hair, bushy mustache and beard. The second was a cream colored mare, with a red mane, and large round glasses on.

“Oh, hello. Sorry we didn’t knock or tell you we were here. I got a little excited. My name’s Twilight, Twilight Sparkle. This is Fluttershy.” Twilight said. Fluttershy shyly waved hello to the two, the mare leaned over to the older stallion and whispered to him.

“She’s just like her...right?” The stallion cleared his throat and walked over to Twilight shaking her hoof and greeting her properly.

“Hello there, my name is Pennyworth. I run the Garden’s library, this is my assistant.” he said. The mare readjusted her glasses and waved to Twilight and Fluttershy,

“Hello, I’m Felt Quill. Are you by chance...an alicorn by chance?” she asked. Twilight nodded with a smile,

“That’s right, I wasn’t born one though. Its a little complicated how it all happened."

Pennyworth scratched his chin hearing Twilight’s words, “Interesting, so managed to ascend by means of magic or some other method?” he asked. Twilight was surprised by Pennyworth’s question,

“Yeah, actually. That’s pretty accurate.” she replied. Pennyworth sat down in front of Twilight more curious about her,

“Tell me, are you by chance familiar with Celestia? She was one of the first alicorns in recorded history you know.” he asked.

Twilight smiled and answered, “Yes I do, as a matter of fact I live with her back in Canterlot! She’s my mother, well adoptive mother. I lost my parents when I was young and she took me and my brothers in.” Pennyworth’s eyes went wide in surprise, Felt Quill having a similar reaction to Twilight’s answer.

“Really? So she’s still alive? Alicorns age exactly like I theorized then, I need to write this down!” he said as he took an old beat up journal from pocket and began to take notes.

“I’ll go get some tea, Pennyworth will be asking her questions for a while now.” Felt said before setting the books she had down,

“Oh, I’ll help. I’ll bet Twilight has just as many questions about bat ponies for him.” Fluttershy said before following her.

Twilight spent almost a good two hours talking and going through various books with Pennyworth, while Fluttershy talked to Felt Quill. The front doors to the library opened as the rest of her friends and Lullaby came trotting inside.

“Hi Twilight! Have you been having as much fun as the rest of the us?! The bat ponies are so friendly! A little shy here and there, but they’re super friendly!” Pinkie said as she hopped over to Twilight. Pennyworth moved away so Twilight could talk to her friends for a bit, Applejack, Trixie, and Pinkie all sitting near her.

“So, did y’all tell any of them about...you know?” Applejack asked. Twilight’s ears went down as she looked away not sure what to say to her friend.

“No...not yet. I just…” she replied. Trixie put her hoof on Twilight’s shoulder and looked her in the eye and smiled,

“Hey, if you think this is a bad idea then we can try something else. Go find help someplace else, maybe Gabby can help us convince the griffons to help or something. Its up to you though Twilight.” she said. Twilight smiled and looked at Pinkie and Applejack all the mares smiling back at her. Twilight then took a deep a breath and stood and walked over to the bat ponies nearby.

“Pennyworth, Felt, Lullaby, I have to tell you something. The reason we all came here, it wasn’t just because we were solely looking for all of you. We came here because we needed to find help, some creature has taken every pony in Canterlot prisoner and we had nowhere to turn. So… I was sent here by…” before Twilight could finish though a massive boom echoed throughout the cavern shaking the library.

Then voices of panic shortly sounded, “We’re under attack! Every pony run!!!”

Author's Note:

Phew, got this one done sooner than I thought I would. But inspiration struck and I took full advantage of it. Big thanks to all the friends who helped give me some good bat pony names to use. That was probably one of the harder parts of this chapter, I'm terrible at pony names usually. Well hopefully I can get the next update up just as quickly, in the meantime be sure to leave a comment or two and drop a like as usual. Take care everyone!

Comments

[midnight arrow]

good chapter

[Comickook]

VERY good job on the exchanges, characterizations and future chapter set-up once again. Definitely understood the Bat Ponies' reactions to Lullaby bringing guests as well as Twilight's crew's reaction to the fact that at least a few of the Bat Ponies don't believe in Luna. Also understood Applejack and Twilight's points of views concerning how honesty was the best policy, but they shouldn't reveal too much too soon (not lie, per say, but also keep quiet about certain things until they can provide solid proof). Proud of Twilight for doing a much better job behaving herself than she did with the Hippogriffs in the actual movie. And the bits of information concerning the Bat Ponies (such as the group reading the local books) were also good. Unfortunately, Tempest has just shown up (she and her goons might not have been able to get anything out of Mac, but it makes sense that they were able to find somebody who was a lot easier to crack).

VERY definitely looking forward to more of this.

[Melody Song]

Oh no!! The bat ponies!

[SpikeSmolder fan]

Good trek though the bat ponies home & glad Twilight has more restrain than her canon movie counterpart in regards of dumb decisions!

Course things may have taken a turn for the worst if that cliffhanger's any indication, looking forward to see what happens next time around!

[Twilight Is Cool]

*claps* Another great chapter! I'm glad Applejack understands why Twilight's waiting to say something about Luna to the bat ponies. I mean, I also believe honesty is the best policy most of the time, but sometimes you have to wait for the right moment to let that out. It's like Twilight pointed out, the town could be torn apart with no actual proof of Luna actually being back.

I hope Twilight will have an easier time with helping everyone then during that movie. I know I already said this, but I just feel like the pressure's always put on my fav pony(in the other version)... and I know all too well that too much pressure can make even the most calmest of people(or in this case ponies) snap.

Keep up the good work!

[SuperSonicHeroes]

I guess it makes sense that some of the Bat Ponies would now see "The Mare in the Moon" as just a foals tale, despite her being the reason they exist. She has been gone for a thousand years, so even her most loyal followers would probably begin to question if she was real. When Twilight and the others reveal the truth to them, I hope they have a happy meeting with Luna.

[DavisSentoV5]

Such a good time being ruined by a freaking army

[redandready45]

Here comes ol'Fizzy to cause little shenanigans!

[ANerdWithASwitch]

Hmm... if there's a bat pony named Harvest Moon, I have to wonder if one of them's named Stardew Valley. Perhaps an Animal Crossing or a Rune Factory in there as well, lol.

[furryman]

Pennyworth

I see what you did there.