I slowly blinked awake, but didn't move.
Light still filtered in through the small high window from the setting sun so I just pulled my wings tighter around myself, slowly blinking against the light before closing my eyes again.
It was my night off anyway, I could stay on the perch a bit longer. Tonight I'll check out the market and look in at Midnight and then visit one of the other bars. Maybe that guard one.
We'll see.
That was all I had planned for tonight, but right now I needed to think.
Luna was right. Of course she was. They may be my ponies, I can't control their every thought or action. I could only do my best to provide the kind of environment that was needed. At best, I could advise and guide.
So everything wasn't my fault directly.
If my ponies did something dumb, it wasn't my responsibility... not entirely my responsibility. All I could do is to try to guide them.
Reminded me of that old saying of horses and water. In a way, that made things a lot harder. I could only set things up so they did things I wanted them too by their own free will.
The ponies here would never trust the ones in Equestria, that much was certain. The majority of bats lived their lives in fear of being discovered.
That sort of thing leaves a mental mark. Buck, I have canceled more nightmares about that very subject than I can count.
That Nocturnis had just been a dream and they wake up, finding themselves back where they used to live.
So, experience causes this. What could counter it would be more experience, good experience with ponies from Equestria. Which means... tourists.
We need to attract tourists, set up nice hotels. Maybe even safaris where they can view the local wildlife.
Everypony loved Jurassic Park after all. Well, until they all got eaten anyway.
It would even help the local economy. Come see the wilds of Nocturnis, now give us all your bits.
...Slogan may need some work.
I didn't like the idea of ponies coming to gawk at my bats, but maybe this could actually work. It'll be expensive, and we'll need a more comfortable way to get ponies from the train station and to town than our current cargo barge.
We'd need hotels. Real ones, not just a converted bunkhouse.
If we weren't going to dig ourselves even deeper into debt for this, we would need investors. Rich ones. Which meant Canterlot most likely.
...But that wasn't a bad thing really in this case. Yes, I didn't trust most of the nobility any further than I could buck them, but there were other rich ponies there. And rich ponies liked the return on their investments.
Anypony that invested in this would be incentivised to talk well of Nocturnis and bats in general.
Getting somepony to invest would be a pretty hard sell... normally. Maybe using my status as an alicorn for something useful for once would be a good idea.
I need to run this past Tight Bit as soon as I'm back to myself. He'd have the numbers to tell me why exactly this was an awful idea.
Whatever, I'll think about it more later.
Unfurling my wings, I stretched with a wide yawn before letting go with my tail. A flap with my wings and I landed neatly on the floor.
Man, I really have to sleep by my tail more often.
Beds were nice and all, the cuddlefactor with Sparks was much higher. Sunny didn't really cuddle during the day, it got too warm for her. But Sparks latched on to whatever was close enough in her sleep and that was usually me.
Even so, I really should try to hang from my tail from time to time.
Yawning, I pushed the door open after slipping my bags on and headed out of the loft.
Ponies were everywhere. Going to work, to the market or wherever they were off too in the early night. I waited for several moments for a chance to launch myself into the air, but it seemed like the entire population of Nocturnis had decided to walk past this door at this time. I shouldn't be surprised, the loft was actually fairly central. It was one of the oldest buildings in Nocturnis after all.
Giving up waiting for a window, I just joined the crowd instead and started to make my way in the general direction of the market.
Basic food may be free at the feeding hall, but I wanted to check what the market had.
Every time I visited from the palace, it looked good. Plenty of ponies buying goods, even food. Or maybe I should say, especially food. Food seemed to be the majority of things sold at the market.
Not a lot of clothes.
No real demand in Nocturnis, even light clothing quickly got way too hot even for a bat to wear. And when it wasn't hot, it was raining and coats dried way faster than clothes.
It didn't take long for me to get to the market and things quickly calmed down as ponies exited into the larger space.
Sniffing the air, I picked up a scent of something roasting and headed to find breakfast.
It didn't take long for me to find a source of it.
Lizard on a stick, ten bits.
Never tried one, and slightly pricey but not too bad for meat, but I had seen them before and seen other bats eat them. So I bought one and moved to the side to figure out how to eat the thing.
Turns out, is what they say. Tastes a bit like chicken.
Okay, other than breakfast, I wasn't really here for shopping even if seeing what was for sale was a good idea. What I really wanted to visit the market for was listening in to conversations.
Fine, fine, not the most ethical way to find out what people are thinking, but it does give you an honest opinion.
So finishing my lizard on a stick, I discarded my stick in a trash box before starting to browse through the stalls, keeping my ears on a swivel.
"...kidding me, way too expensive. I wouldn't give more than..."
"...orry about her. Her grade..."
"...saybe after the next rainy period. They're a..."
"...ucking useless. The Prince would never allo..."
My ears perked up slightly and I drifted in that direction, trying to pick it up again. A couple of mare bats were talking next to an apple cart.
"I don't know what you want from me, Light," the left one said, "I'm just saying that it would be nice with some more options here. I haven't seen cinnamon in over a month."
The other one shook her head, "We're not canterlot. I used to live in a small town, it's not much better there. Most we had were seasonal stuff then too, spices we had to buy when they were for sale. Pouring bits into a hole to import more spices... Prince Page wouldn't allow that sort of waste."
"Oh, but a massive bath house was fine? I don't even want to think of how much that costs."
The second mare rolled her eyes, "So I don't see you and your daughter there every couple of nights? Not like those bits were thrown into the river, a lot went to the builders. Citizens of the town."
"Okay fine, but still, I thin..."
I continued on, tuning out the conversation. That did remind me though, I have to remember to visit the bath house at some point.
Question; What’s the exchange rate of Aluminium in Equestria?
On earth it used to be worth more than gold, and if Page knows the Hall–Héroult process it could do a lot to solve the town money woes. At least in the short term.
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He wouldn't know details of how aluminum processing works, he used to be a computer technician on earth. At least, not in enough detail to be actually useful for someone creating it
I don't know if the time has passed, but we never did get a date where, luna and page went to the alt earth, and had fun. Also during that time page could have bought a computer and downloaded the wiki of it. Along with some other sites to give to the two twighlights to look over.
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Fair point. Perhaps its something he could look into if and when he ever makes good on that promise to take Luna through the mirror portal.
Food and tastes of different variations are a huge moral point.
When I had a lesser paying jokes I got tired of the same cheap meals, changing it up with fresh produce or mixing them so I got new taste experience out of them made my day when I hit something I liked.
Somewhere in Nocturnis...
Blank Page:
"Damn I need more money for Nocturnis where am I supposed to-"
Prince Blueblood jumps out dramatically out of a bush:
cdn-img.fimfiction.net/user/g0z1-1674835116-528025-192
In Nocturnis in the
ChangelingGriffon market stall.Changeling Griffon merchant:
"Welcome customer, what can I sell to you today?
We have several meats today like 'Dwarf Raptor', 'Dino Turtle' and 'Mango worms'. The Mango worms need to be boiled for 10 minutes to be save for consumption. All the ones you see here are freshly harvested."
Queen Chrysalis Thorax:
"I like to hear the special menü please."
Changeling Griffon merchant:
"O... makes sense if you come undisguised to this stand. We have:
- Thestral stallion passion
- Thestral mare lust
- Thestral after sex euphoria
- Unicorn unfulfilled lust
- Pegasus jealousy
- Earthpony satisfaction
And in bulk...
- Thestral Alicorn pent up lust
So what can I give you in a jar?"
Queen Chrysalis Thorax:
"With exception of the Alicorn Thestral, half a jar from everything please."
Changeling Griffon merchant:
"Will you be paying in snuggling later or a passion filled action now?"
Queen Chrysalis Thorax:
"Both... later~♤"
Changeling Griffon merchant:
"Pleasure doing business with you."
Very smug Queen Chrysalis Thorax:
"I know~♡"
????: STOP!
...NIGHT WIND LOOKS AROUND BEFORE GLANCING DOWN...
Lizard On A Stick: Stop young stallion! I'm the ghost of an ancient batpony noble trapped in a lizard's body! I can grant you my priceless hidden treasure if you complete this side quest to defeat th--
Night Wind: Very funny Discord. *chomp*
Lizard On A Stick: Noooo
Night Wind: That was weird.
...NIGHT WIND NOTICES DISCORD CASUALLY CHATTING WITH THE SKY MELON VENDOR...
Night Wind: Wait if the Discord is there, thats mean the lizard wa--STOP. Don't think about it Page. Pretend this never happened.
Nice
Discord *pops up out of nowhere*: "I'll talk with you later, Courage... Now, where were we? Whoa! That's a LOT of 'w's and 'e's! Oh, yeah! FYI, Pa--er--Night Wind, there IS a sure fire and proven way of making a horse drink."
Night Wind: "*sigh* Okay, Discord! Seeing as I'll have no other way of getting you to leave me be, I'll bite. So, 'how can I make a horse drink after I lead him to water?'"
Discord: "Hold his head under the water! "
Night Wind: "... He'll drown, Discord!"
Discord: "Ma-a-a-aybe. He may just swallow the water, or he may drown, or he may do both. But either way, he will drink. It's only how he drinks that will still be his choice."
Night Wind: "That's NOT helping, Discord! "
Discord: "You're forgetting, my job is to remind you of ALL the options that Celestia and Luna failed to speak to you about. "
Night Wind: "Oh, alright! You've convinced me! Come along." *leads Discord to river, then grabs Discord and holds his head under water*
Discord's Tail: "Now THAT's the spirit! Way to go, Night Wind!" *gulps water* "Okay, I've drank my fill. You can let me up now."
Night Wind: "No can do, Discord! I'm aiming that you 'do both': drink AND drown!."
Discord's Tail: ""
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"Lizard onna stick! Get your lizard onna stick here! Only 10 bits! I'm selling them so cheap its like I'm cutting my own throat!"
"Errr....are the green bits local seasoning or imported?"
"Mmmm...maybe? Almost certainly probably. But it is cheap."
Shenanigans garanted
Serious question: Where is my boy Fern in all of this?
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Probably frolic through the rain junge, making his own pack, teaching it to defend ponies, because they give the best belly rubs and treats. Fern is best tree spirit doggo♡
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They are not paranoid if others are out to get them.
Nocturnis is only safe from criminals and novels because they are so isolated.
Thy are already a endangered species, having to breed per Thestral 2-3 foals per Thesteal pairing for at least 2-3 generations. U til than they might run extinct.
On about 200-300 years they can start relax and do more than survive and breed.
Right now they are fighting for the survivel of Thestral kind.
Surviving predators of the region, Surviving nobels and criminals from sabotage of their city.
Something like a Thestral is currently a endangered species worth a lot on black markets!
Just like the crystal ponies!
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Compare this to kirins.
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Indeed. Thestral, Crystal Ponies, Kirin.
3 pony subraces that are endangered and need breeding programs to keep their population growing.
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if you're inviting nobility you might find that advertised as a benefit. all expense paid vacation for the polyticks
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The randomness will be at 100%
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their the Beta Unicorns, EarthPonies, and Pegasi
they could make their own nation together, their own 3 tribes scenario
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These are amazing pictures! Shit... I made Celestia in one of my stories part Kirin. But damn... even with my imagination that didn't look so cool and cute!
Why the public bath was needed:
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Fluffing!
Meanwhile Twilight and Sunset see things that mend their minds:
And they wonder...
how do seals taste like?
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Having a affair with the village main tree or three.
Timber-wolf
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Yeah, but up until then, everybody was having fun!
That's really not a bad idea, if you have changelings as the "dinosaurs."