Chapter 1
Sounds rang through the forest, with birds, monkeys, and other creatures audible in the distance. Occasionally, the chirp of echolocation from a thestral flying through the forest rang out, both above and below.
Night vision or not, flying by sight in the middle of the night was a good way to lose an eye or run into something.
…Which is the entire point of why we had echolocation in the first place, I suppose.
I yawned, stretching and spreading my wings, arching my back before settling down on the thick branch again, resting my head on my hooves, eyes half-closed as I listened.
The sounds above were from Nocturnis proper.
The sounds below came from the lower town, mostly populated by earth ponies and unicorns who preferred to keep their hooves on the ground. Considering they didn't have wings, I couldn't blame them, especially now that the ground wasn't quite as lethal. It wasn't all of them; barely half had moved down so far.
What dangers remained could mostly be kept out with high walls and strong buildings. The shields kept the big ones out.
Stone and wooden walls kept the small ones out of the living areas, but that didn't mean it was safe. The guard patrolled both the upper and lower village day and night.
Since putting up the shield, we had yet to lose a pony to predators. Accidents were a different matter, but at least nopony had been eaten yet.
Fewer sounds came from below, as many of the day ponies were asleep. I couldn't blame them; it was just more natural for them to follow the cycle of the sun.
The majority were still thestrals, by far. Almost eighty percent were thestrals, and most of those still lived in the upper town, almost all following a nocturnal schedule.
So far, it worked.
I wasn't a huge fan of the separation; I had been worried it carried the risk of increasing the feelings some thestrals had about the rest of Equestria.
But everypony seemed happy so far. And it's not like everypony just kept to themselves. At dawn and dusk, there was a lot of traffic between the two halves. There wasn't a strict split either, with plenty of flow back and forth.
Everypony seemed comfortable with it, so I just let it go.
Right now, I was…
…hiding.
If I'm to be completely honest, I was hiding from my responsibilities. I was supposed to be doing paperwork right now, but I couldn't bring myself to do it.
That's why I had snuck out while Flower Rain was away from the room.
In my defense, we were in the fifth hour, and I just couldn't take it anymore. I can continue later. Call me lazy if you will, but I'm just so tired of it.
That's why I was here, relaxing on a wide branch beneath the schoolhouse. I could hear laughter from inside, and it made me smile.
A reminder of why I did what I did. And why I should continue putting up with that paperwork… and everything else involved in my duties.
…Okay, I was being lazy. Everypony else was working, doing their best to keep this town, this idea of mine going and alive. From the foresters to the schoolteacher to the guards and the ponies working on the railroad.
And here I was, the pony responsible, hiding from paperwork.
“Hey.”
I startled, almost falling off the branch. Buck, I hadn't even heard her, too busy feeling sorry for myself to pay attention, “Hi Sparks,” I said and scooted to the side to give Twilight space to settle down next to me on the wide branch.
Twilight smiled and laid down next to me, her wing brushing across mine. She was wearing a pair of night-seeing goggles, “Hiding?” she asked quietly.
“...Yeah,” I admitted with a small sigh, glancing down.
Twilight leaned in and kissed my cheek, “Me too,” she said softly.
I blinked at her in surprise, "You? Hiding?"
She smiled a bit sheepishly, "Starlight is doing an audit on the budget for the lab. You know I normally don't mind lists and-"
I looked at her in shock, "What!? You do!?"
While I may not be able to see her eyes behind the goggles, I could tell what she was doing. The smack of her wing across my back helped get the point across.
"Yes, yes, laugh away," she grumbled, "But she's excessive. I think I liked her better as a villain."
Smiling, I scooted closer, nosing at her cheek as I brushed my wing along her back, "Did you meet your list match?"
Sparks muttered something that sounded a lot like "jump in the river" but she shifted to lean against me, resting her head against the side of my neck.
"…I didn't even know your lab had a budget," I admitted after a second, holding her softly.
Pulling back for a second, she looked at me before she sighed and returned to leaning against me, "You signed off on it."
"I signed off on a lot of stuff," I said before I frowned, "…Actually, thinking about it, having Starlight do audits is likely a good thing. Wonder who put her up to it."
Sparks frowned and pushed her goggles up to look at me in the darkness, "…You also did. Or rather, Tight Bit put it into the system and you signed it. Are you reading anything you sign?"
"Ah… Tight, that explains it," I admitted and bumped my nose against hers, "I have yet to see something from him less than twenty-five pages long, and it's always super dry. And in my defense, he writes like an accountant."
Twilight laughed softly and bumped her nose against my cheek, "Page, he is an accountant."
"Well, still."
She sighed and touched her horn against mine, "His papers can be a bit dry," she admitted after a second, "…We're going to have to come out of here sooner or later, you know."
"I know, I know," I said and nosed softly, "You can't see me at all, can you?"
She grinned, "Actually, I can just about see slight shapes. But it's pretty much just black without the goggles on. Mostly I can see your eyes; they glow… I like it," she said softly, and her horn brushed against mine as she cuddled against me, "I trust you won't let me fall."
I held her closer with my wing, smiling as I took in the scent of her mane. Now this was worth any amount of paperwork.
"We can stay a little longer, right?" I asked quietly.
Instead of answering, Twilight shifted slightly, getting a bit more comfortable with her head against my shoulder.
We stayed like that for several moments, listening to the laughter above before I nosed at her ear, "How did you find me anyway?" I asked quietly.
"Amber," Twilight answered just as quietly.
I love that bug.
There was a roar as it started to rain again. I guess we have to stay a bit longer, too bad. Getting myself comfortable, I pressed my nose against Twilight's mane.
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first
Back into the rabbit hole we go
And We are Off to a start of a Lazy Bat and his mate hidden away from audits & paperwork! Murphy is still watching...
So Beware! Fun & Chaotic times awaits in this new series!
The coverage is rather horror themed in my book...
But it's awesome to see the story continued ♡
It's not to read this all continued, snuggeling for the win.
Will Chrysalis not ask soon for Page to keep up his part of the Bargain? Chrysalis is pretty patient yo have waited as long as she did... unless she come over him with a vengeance to guilt trip him into a bonus?
YAAAHOOOO MORE PAGE!!!
It's HERE!
Well too be fair, paperwork is a terrifying foe as it never ends
WHAT, I could never have guessed that about younTwilight "Checklists" Sparkle
Point still stands
Amber: "Daaaw, they are so cute together. Let hope Starlight isn't making to mutch of a fuss about Page delays in paper work... ohhh who am I kidding, she will be more aggressive than Fluttershy’s pet Bunny.
I just hope the Bunny stops to try tame Predators.
Fern seem about to date them sooner or later if this continues... Timber-Raptors, a horrifying idea to deal with."
Discord: "Sound more like fun waiting to happen, boredom needs to be kept at bay after all!"
*Angel Bunny appears out of nowhere and says something before dissapereing*
Amber: "I don't understand a word he say, but the malicious anticipation was clearly not speaking of good things to happen."
*Discord start grinning like a chessart cat*
Discord: "Didn't Page had a certain agreement with Queen Buggy? I am surprised she has not collected yet.
Amber: "Changelings like to collected debths with interest, so we gain more than originally was bargained with."
Discord: "Clever girl... Clever indeed."
Glad to see you continue this awesome series and thanks for a great start into the sunday.
That's the first part I'm reading while it's ongoing. The hard part is to wait for the next chapters, I was used to reading around fifty chapters per day, but it's worth it, I believe.
great chapter
I love your work and have read it all since the first book thank you for all the hard work.
you can't hide from the eldritch abomination made out of triplicate forms, it will worm its way into your existence one way or another
And it's here. Now I get to watch it grow until it's complete, then binge it all.
And we once again return to the amazing saga of 'Page continues to never get a break, ever'.
I'll get the popcorn.
Featured ♡ congratulations
♡
Always a event when Hiver releases something on Fimfiction
Once more unto the breach, dear friends! I wonder what lies behind it this time?
Grammar jackboots make their return, of course:
In my defence, we were in the fifth hour, and I just couldn't take it any more.
Twilight smiled and lay down next to me,
Wooot!!! Welcome back.
Nice
Seeing this released makes me think of the line Jaune used in RWBY when he saw Blake and Yang finally get together.
"Feels like I've been waiting forever for that."
"Keep yer hooves on the ground!"
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One has to wonder if he’s secretly the alicorn of bad luck xD
"I hate this stuff. 'Duty is heavier than a mountain; death is lighter than a feather.'"
"And now that you're an alicorn...."
"...F
"
I’m so excited to see what happens to Page this time.
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To be fair, there's usually months in-universe between books where nothing of note happens. It's like how Jack Bauer can be presumed to take a leak during the commercials just like the viewer does.
Poor guy all he wanted was to save the one he loved and do the right thing and he gets a huge curveball thrown at him.
Aawww yeah! Thus begins the next delicious drip feed of Page’s adventures.
MEANWHILE...
Starlight:
So...you're missing an alicorn too?
Flower Rain:
YEP. Left for one minute for mango tea and POOF! Gone! Punishments are in order.
Starlight:
I have just the thing...
MUCH LATER...
Page:
UGH! My hooves and wings are all sticky with caramel from the bucket over the door. And then the carrots! Carrot ARROWS launched in my face! I barely survived!
Starlight:
Oh you're fine. Tho I'm impressed how much Angel Bunny could accomplish with only 15 minutes alone in your office.
Flower Rain:
Could be worse. You could be Twilight right now.
Page:
Wait wut?
...IN TWILIGHT'S LAB...
Twilight:
How the BUCK are they moving so fast?! Their bodies are just only a stump of flesh! DISCORD! Get these Mexican Sock Puppets out of my laboratory!
Mexican Sock Puppets:
Ohhhh...what does this button do? *BOOM*
Twilight:
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It was only the second time that got him the wings, though. Maybe Harmony just wanted to know whether he was going to make a habit of it?
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The second time? I don't remember that. I remember him meeting Luna getting a bit of ptsd from discord and helping sunset find a better path but saving anyone not at all.
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I meant the second time preempting Twilight on saving the day. The first was what I've consistently referred to as throwing a glorified fruit knife at Chrysalis' face.
HUZZAH! EMERGIS EXMORTIS!
...I forgot I was inside. ...There goes all my money.
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Oh yeah of course twilight didn't save the then though if I had been her I would been upset with everyone hanging on to applejack excuse version of an apology. Rule one of an apology is no excuses you admit that you messed up. Two even if was part of a group you made your choice on your own and that means everyone involved has to say sorry.
Applejack says sorry we didn't know the imposter was an imposter. That is the whole point of an imposter! How about sorry we didn't really listen to you when you tried to talk with us. How about sorry that we put a princess wedding in front of our friendship. Those are the kind of things that should have been said instead lame excuse of an apology. Plus what exactly did she do wrong? She honestly believed that her brother was being put under an evil spell and cadence was doing it. Do you want her not speak up when she believes someone is doing something bas? As for the proof so many fans ask for where would she get it? She probably never heard about changelings before that day and the fake wasn't running around without her disguise and it not like she had camera to show what shining looked like under the spell not that her description of what he looked like made a difference.
I would have been so mad at them because they practically promised to listen and didn't
Like the cover art
This was a pretty cute story
I am one of the people who never read your last work, so I have no fricking clue who Page is
Do I have to read your old series to understand this new stuff?
1 day over 200 likes. There are stories out there for years that waits for that number
👍
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I missed that random humor.
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A very complicated situation indeed.
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When you do not know the
MAIN CHARACTER
than you should start at the beginning.
Especially if the character has development over multible stories already. Otherwise nothing makes sense.
Another day, another Hiver story. Reminder to everyone that Hiver does write outside of FIMFic with a heavy recommendation from myself to check out those stories. Here is the convenient link to a list of said stories, said link can also be found on Hiver's user page.
Read the fill of his stories between updates! :D
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If you should do that, don't forget to check out the comment section. Especially those if Windy
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Do yourself a favor and start from the beginning. I suppose it's not necessary, but you will not regret it if you do. The good thing is you won't have to wait for updates. The bad thing is when you catch up... you will and it's agony.
Very glad author is continuing his saga!!
I look forward to all of the new things to unfold and the old loose ends to come together!
Omg the good is here!
Page is signing off on things without reading them? That's ... not good. Page needs to have a heart to heart with his underlings about wasting his time unnecessarily as there's no way that a small town should be producing that amount of paperwork. And if that doesn't work, he needs to delegate a lot more.
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Me, too! Welcome back, Windy! It's about time you woke up and got busy again!
BTW, there are a few more stories you should be contributing inputs to.... Black-Soul and I can lead you to them.
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👍
We come for the story and its content, but return for the comment section fun
I currently re-read the chapters, than the comment section, absolutely priceless entertainment
Great humor, fantastic character and world building and random shenanigans ♡