Chapter 36
"What are you up to?"
I blinked, trying to force the sleep from my eyes as I slowly swung from my tail, rotating towards the voice, "Huh?" I asked smartly.
Midnight stood a couple of hooves width from my muzzle, "What are you up to?"
I was going to answer, but instead I yawned and rubbed my eyes with a pastern,"...What time is it?" I grumbled, squeezing my eyes closed against the bright lights.
"It's noon. And answer the question, bat. Why do I have a pegasus here to see you and why did Princess Celestia come back this morning to tell me that I had her blessing if I wanted to leave?"
"Noon?" I didn't quite whine and squeezed my eyes closed, wrapping myself tighter in my wings.
"Gah!" was the next sound from me as a violet and somewhat violent aura surrounded me and pulled me down from the perch, shaking me in place, "Iiiii caaaaaannnnnt aaaaannnnswwweeerr wwwwhhiiiilllleeee yyyyooouuu sssssshhhhhaaaaakeeeee mmeeeee!"
Midnight turned me around and plopped me down on my hooves, "Well?"
Yep, that's her 'I'm not kidding' face. Sparks had one too, and when she did that you best be good.
I took a breath and tried to get my head to stop spinning, "I simply talked with Celestia. And the pegas-"
"I'm not blind, I recognize Spicy Pepper even in her disguise," Midnight said firmly, "Why and how is she here?"
Robbing my eyes again, I suppressed a yawn, "She's here to talk to me," I told her.
"You're up to something."
"What?"
"You're being evasive," Midnight said and poked my chest with her hoof, "And I don't believe for a moment Twilight would put up with it and you’re sleeping with her so, so why do you think I will? Spill."
I glowered sleepily at her, "Any reason we couldn't do this at a reasonable hour?"
Midnight glowered at me, "Be glad I didn't teleport us outside. Now stop evading, I'm not playing."
"...I went to her dream and told her she should seek out your castle," I said with only a slight grumbling, "I needed to talk to her because when we leave and when the great bat decursing start, the thestrals will need a strong central figure they trust that can help lead them."
Midnight paused slightly with a small frown, "...And you think that pony is Spicy Pepper?"
"You met her," I said and shrugged my wings, "She has a strong will and a strong personality with charisma. She cares about ponies and is a natural leader. If she can be convinced to assist Princess Luna in this, it will greatly increase the chance that things go smoothly."
"Why didn't you just say that?"
"Because somepony woke me in the middle of the day to yell at me."
Midnight rubbed her forehead next to her horn, "No, I mean why not send a letter like a normal pony?"
I blinked at her.
She stared at me, "...Letters didn't occur to you?"
"I have a lot on my mind, alright," I protested and shifted my ears in annoyance.
Midnight shook her head before she looked to me again, "And Celestia?"
I shrugged, "Nothing," I said before I smiled slightly, "I just told her of Tempest."
“Oh.”
“See, nothing nefarious.”
Midnight shook her head again and then frowned, “So why are you being so sneaky about it?”
“Because if I wasn’t,” I said and suppressed another yawn, “Celestia could have suspected that I was trying to convince her to let you leave instead of it being her idea. So I just told her what she wanted to know, when she wanted to know it.”
Midnight raised an eyebrow, “And you think she didn’t catch on?”
I smiled, “Oh, I’m sure she did, she’s too smart and experienced not to be at least suspicious. But she’s the one that asked the question and I told her nothing but the truth so she can’t be certain enough about it to not take me at my word. Besides, guess who taught me how to do that?”
“Celestia,” Midnight said and groaned softly as she looked at me, “I guess you took to those lessons more than I did,” she admitted and rubbed her forehead again before she crossed over and hugged me, “...Thank you…”
I hugged back, “I still think it’s a mistake,” I said quietly, “But I said I would support you and I will.”
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Well the Yetis did call Page the Alicorn of Lies, Yet Page also has learned a little verbal sparring with Sunshine & his Sky. He can be quite sneaky when he needs to be.
great chapter
I love this fic, the whole "Blank Page" saga I love it but dear god!!! terribly short chapters!!! please omnipotent author, make them longer!!! apart from how short they are, I love the whole saga!!!
midnight has just firmly put page in the friendzone but picking him up and shaking him upside down is funny
11335465
Reminds me of an animation I have somewhere of Twi shaking RD by her tail in her magic
11335439
And yet, like so many of us, he is quite vulnerable to not having anything prepared when startled awake by an irritated family member.
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He's got plenty of time. I'm sure it'll happen eventually.
Twilight: "Damn it... It didn't work..."
Page: :What didn't work? I am awake now.
Twilight: "You didn't drop money, rare loot or changed Species when i shaked you upside down mid air!"
Page: "How in the blood Moon did you get that idea?"
Twilight: "Lyra give me a old book with legends and theory of things like 'the legend of vamppony shakedown' , that supposed to let you drop something when i shake you upside down mid air!"
Page: "I almost dropped my last meal if that counts..."
Lyra: "You didn't shake him hard enough, he will turn back to a human if you shake him harder!"
Twilight: "I even added unregulated angles and vibrations to the shaking, it didn't work."
Lyra: "O come on! He even admitted to you being a human!"
Lyra grumbelsstill auditable: "My book i wrote down as a student should be fairly accurate even if it was written out of my dreams and imagination..."
Bon Bon screams out: "Lyra where are you!? My 'Lyra sence' is tingeling! What did you do this time?!
Lyra: "Got-to-go-see-you-later-Twilight-keep-the-book-ok-bye!"
Derpy comes up behind Page from upstairs since the Front door that is opened by pushing it in didn't open when derpy pulled: "Packages for Princess Twilight and Prince Page."
Derpy Hooves over the delivery to them both and exits the main double door entry by pulling it open.
Twilight and Page open their Packages and receive eatch a boot to the head.
Discord: "Derpy delivered the punch line with a swift throw out of the delivery. 9/10 kick to the head.
Excuse me if I head to the bed. Ta-taaa."
*Discord rolls himself up like a piece of paper and disappeared*
...FEW HOURS EARLIER...
*Page crawls out of the sixth banana cream pie pit fall trap*
Page:
Alright! ALRIGHT DISCORD! You win...Fluttershy is safe. I'll pick a different pony!
*A very smug Discord appears and snaps his fingers to undo the remaining traps*
Discord:
I knew you'll see things my way eventually.
Page:
Yeah yeah. Were the mini timberwolves made out of carrots necessary?
Discord:
Yes. It was the one of Angel Bunny's better suggestions. Now move along silly predator.
Page:
Can you at least let me wash first?
*Discord teleports Page into the nearby pond*
Discord:
There! You're clean enough. NOW GO.
Page: Grrrr
Thanks for chapter!
Have a good day!
11334626
it could be that the jungle expedition took place while she would have been on whatever adventure she went on to write that book, short of page accidentally making her miss a train by virtue of the butterfly effect that's the only interaction he's ever had with her
Nice
11335562 still RD will BE extremely miffed to know there are Daring Doo books that exist in other dimensions that don't exist in hers and that it might be Page's fault,,, I'm of mixed opinion on RD ever knowing
11335562
Or not missing a train, because that seems like the sort of luck Dr. Henry Jones Jr. has.
11335562
Well, since butterflies in China may influence hurricanes in Florida, then it must stand to reason that such hurricanes might have a similar affect on butterflies, too. At least one theory postulates that using hurricanes on the other side of the planet is how butterflies in China talk to each other in the first place--perhaps as an amplifier needed to boost their signals, but at the same time, they need such a distance from the hurricane as a safety factor....
That said, let's not forget that Daring IS a pegasus. There could be a considerable influence on her at her house just by Page's breathing in Ponyville--he's much closer, after all.
11335627
RD is gonna move to Nocturnis just to bug the crap out of Twilight to open portals to other dimensions just to get more DD books
You know, with how nefariously Page is doing good, I'm not sure if he learned more from Celestia or Chrysalis. With his sneaky emotional manipulation and underhoofed supportiveness, one might mistake him for a changeling queen.
11335453
I'll try in the future,but this one is already written.
Yeah I"m with Page that it's a bad idea.
Hmm, just thought of something, remember those petrification crystals they used in the MLP movie? Maybe Canon.002-Luna used one on Tempest, and because they didn't detect any signs of life from her statue, they thought her to be "dead", but in reality she's just in suspended animation? I mean, during the credits, the Storm King still seemed to be alive even though he was in pieces, while being a statue, so maybe even if she was broken in statue form, it's still possible to revive her, just fix her statue form, then turn her back to normal.
11336110
but she's still without a horn. Page going bat to fix her horn was a huge turning point for her, nobody had ever sacrificed anything for her
11333978
It's Midnight who considers this a No-Win if she doesn't go back with Page because there's no Tempest alive in her home dimension. And Page considers it a No-Win if she does go back with him, because the risks to her home without Midnight to be there to help her friends. His point is that Pageverse Tempest doesn't have strong ties to anyone but Midnight & vice versa.
The Win-Win scenario is for Page to take back the formula to open the portal on demand and send Tempest to join Midnight in her home dimension. Of course, Page knows the high risk is it might not be possible for Pageverse Twilight and Starlight to create the Portal-On-Demand spell for years or ever--a risk Midnight isn't willing to chance.
(Technically, we cannot even call it "Canonverse" anymore, since their Twilight has been missing since she got ported into Pageverse, but that's another debate)
Talon's issues are a different animal, and it's hard to see what that is, other than perhaps he's developed his own love-interest in Pageverse that isn't looking to be reciprocated in his home dimension. So far, we haven't many clues as to who that is.
11334580
No but she doesn't exactly care about what happens to her ponies should her plan not work. Considering she sent twilight and friends against alicorn who was nuts and would hurt anyone who tried to stop her and a dragon who could easily flatten them all with one claw. She put the burden of the crystal empire on twilight shoulders with very little information to work with and a time limit to boot. Twilight and friends were somehow supposed to make it past a army of changelings and get the alicorn only vault open and get the elements inside. She doesn't tend to look at the whole picture and yes twilight and friends have been lucky enough that they have not been hurt but it is only been luck that has saved them. She chooses a course and then whatever happens happens. She ignored the fact that her niece was being a bit of a snob.
11334580
Considering since the summer sun celebration it twilight and friends who have to be the heroes and never get payment for the time they have take away from their work. She may take care of the day to day paperwork and put up with the nobles of course if she stop being so nice to them they shape up fast enough. When page scared them they learned fast enough not to push his buttons and unfortunately they aren't bright enough to realize that trying to demote the guy who is married to a princess and is a literal prince even if he hasn't taken the title is impossible.
Hmmmmmm, I don't think we have seen the last of Self-righteous Armor just yet. He is not hung to be happy at all to learn that his little sister is going back to the cult compound and this time won't be coming back. He already has gone to pick a fight rather than back off, and if he is still that hot headed in this world, he may well try to stop twi from leaving with force if needed.
11337296
Damn good points. I guess no happy ending in sight...
In the immortal words of Kerr Avon:
"Well, all you had to do was ask."
11336110
Clever, but honestly the odds are infinitesimal, especially considering that presumably the effects of petrification are known. Luna would have made the distinction.
11336665
It is a no-win for Midnight since whatever she does, she's going to lose a lot of people she cares about, but ultimately what you're saying probably is the best simply because at least it's the smaller loss for her and, crucially, everyone else.
As for Talon, he has a girlfriend... But he's still pretty young to be serious about that stuff. It'd upset both of them, but they'd get over it far better than splitting up Midnight and Tempest. Indeed given Dragon lifespans, it'd probably be good for him to learn how to deal with loss fairly early. Better now than when a tantrum could get a lot of people seriously hurt.
11337134
Caring about what happens to someone if a plan goes wrong isn't the same as not sending them out. That's classic chains of commanding right there.
The Changeling situation was rather desperate all around but I'd blame the Guard for that having to happen at all, not Celestia. Passing 'Cadance' off as just being stressed is reasonable all things considered, but Shining acting oddly should have been picked up, and regardless a high ranking officer like him ought to be subject to frequent scans for mind control and so on as standard security procedure in a world where that threat exists.
As for the Crystal Empire debacle? Certainly that was a dangerous gamble, but presumably Celestia was confident in Twilight's chances and/or had a plan B to deal with Sombra, even if it wouldn't necessarily have been much use to Twilight at that point.
11337140
Pay for the Elements is an interesting topic. I don't think Hiver's ever touched upon it, but I think Estee handles it pretty well in her 'verse. There, they get compensated for lost revenue while they are on missions for the crown, and at least Fluttershy has a standing arrangement with Bulk Biceps (the local odd-job bloke in that timeline) to cover for her due to the nature of her work.
One minor jackboot today:
when the great bat decursing starts,
11336623 (sorry, for some reason, it didn't show up on the chapter 36 page, the first time I posted.)
Maybe Twilight of Canon.002, could be willing to do the same? Or maybe they could have looked into ways of repairing or replacing broken unicorn horns with prosthetics, or they could try getting Tempest to ascend, while in Pageverse? Or heck, they may not even have to, so Tempest has a broken horn, it's not that different from ponies or people who've lost a leg, or eye or such. Sometimes, they have to learn to improvise, adapt, overcome, survive, live, and then thrive. Besides, that'd be tomorrow's problem, as first they'd be focused on bringing her back to life in one piece....
Actually, hmm....
I wonder....
If they could FIND her lost horn, maybe through using an advanced tracking spell, or CARVE a new horn out of MAGICAL rock which is identical or similar enough in nature to her petrified form, maybe from asking Maud for help (adding in more screentime for her as well) ..... Then put her pieces back together, with the new horn added in....then revive her, from using her DNA as a template, POOF, all problems solved at once.....
11338326 (sorry, for some reason, it didn't post to Chapter 36, yet, only to the general comment section, had to copypaste)
Hmm, presumably, you say? However, this IS a difference between getting petrified by a cockatrice and getting petrified by a magic stone, and both ways ARE reversible. Plus, when Chrysalis was Petrified, the changelings couldn't feel her life signs, either, and they had to hurry before Skitter started to metamorphose.
Also, Luna has been isolated from society for over a thousand years, so MAGIC could have come a long way since then, and she simply wouldn't have known that such things that were IMPOSSIBLE then, are POSSIBLE now, so when she petrified Tempest, she thought that Tempest was dead, and would have simply stated as such without much further elaboration, and everypony just took it at face value, without asking HOW, EXACTLY, did she kill Tempest, because, you know, Princess. Just accept the superior authority and move on, kind of thing.