My Bat Pony Headcanon

[--Thunder Bolt-- 534]

Here is some headcanon on bat poniesI created for my new OC, Nephthys Nightshade.  I'd like to hear your thoughts:

 

Disclaimer: "Bat ponies" are pegasi with bat wings.  Canonically, they are featured briefly pulling Princess Luna's chariot in Luna Eclipsed.  The bat pony culture I present in Nightshade's bio, the Caverns of Amun-Ta and the City of Evernight are all my own headcanon, and are not intended to be imposed on anyone else's bat pony characters.

 

The History of Evernight:

 

In ancient times, bat ponies were enemies of the pegasi, and the two sides battled for control of the skies.  Though bat ponies were more eusocial, living very close together in almost hive-like Swarms, the pegasi eventually developed superior weapons, armor, and military organization.  Allied with unicorns and earth ponies, they had superior resources at their disposal, and relentlessly drove the bat ponies from the skies.  A few ragged remnant Swarms found a vast, deep cavern with lakes and bio-luminescent fungi, molluscs, and fish.  They carefully concealed the entrance so that pegasus search squadrons could not find it.  The Endless Winter that came that year also helped conceal the bat ponies from their enemies.

 

Sheltered in their caverns, the bat ponies built the city of Evernight, lighting it with bio-luminescent fungi and crystals that generate an eerie purple light via piezoelectric effects when caused to vibrate.  Thus, the city of Evernight is wrapped in soft, ambient auras of alien, almost mournful music.  Bat ponies use the echoes of music to help find their way through the shadowy galleries of their subterranean world.  Only rarely did Evernight send scouts out into the world beyond Amun-Ta's gates during the daytime.  In nature, bat ponies are supposed to go out and graze at night, bringing nutrients back to the subterranean ecosystem via their manure.  But their need for secrecy meant that only small numbers of ponies could be sent out at night, to gather food for others as well as forage.  This was decided by a system of turn-taking among ponies who were old enough, so that everybatpony could at least have some opportunity to partake in the Flight, the nightly pilgrimage to the outside world. 

 

The Endless Winter itself moved on, and the bat ponies discovered to their surprise, that the lands of their enemies had been abandoned to the snowdrifts.  Cautiously, they sent their scouts further afield, only to discover the newly-founded Equestria.  With great sadness, the scouts returned with the news that their enemies were not gone, but looked stronger than ever.  And so, the Swarms of Evernight resigned themselves to remaining hidden.  They would not be able to venture forth en masse into the night to fly free under the stars as their ancestors once had.  This decision was reinforced by a sudden chaos that descended upon the land, which only the bat ponies in their hidden city managed to escape.

 

Then this dark time also passed.  Perhaps now the power of the day ponies would be broken or departed, and bat ponies could possess the night once again.  It was not to be.  The day ponies were now ruled by two Alicorn princesses, one to preside over the day, and one to preside over the night.  Though devotion to the Night Princess started to spread among the bat ponies, they could not venture out into her night.  During the day, the Realm of Equestria was blessed with peace and stability, and went from strength to strength.  Evernight had grown into a great city, but the bat ponies knew they would not be able to hold their own against the pegasi and their allies.

 

One day, there was battle between the Alicorn sisters.  Their royal city fell, Luna was banished to the Moon, and Celestia took control of both day and night.  To the bat ponies this was a great horror, and for those devoted to Luna, a blasphemy.  It was as if the day ponies would leave no shadow un-scorched by their harsh light.  On the first "false Night" of the new order, a powerful bat pony shaman named Selene Starshroud landed among the day ponies migrating with Celestia to the new capital city she would build, and proclaimed a curse, a prophecy: in a thousand years, the stars would aid Nightmare Moon's escape, and she would bring eternal Night.

 

Using her powers to escape pursuit, Starshroud returned to Evernight.  There, the bat ponies awaited Luna's return, and the time when Night would finally be theirs.  During the time of their hiding, the day ponies all but forgot the ancient wars.  Bat ponies became creatures of legend and tall tales, Equestria's equivalent of Bigfoot or the Loch Ness Monster. 

 

At last, the appointed time came, and the Sun did not rise.  Filled with messianic hope, the ponies of Evernight surged out into the sunless dawn.  It was not to last.  Far away, in the ruined Palace of the Pony Princesses, the Elements of Harmony were restored, Nightmare Moon was defeated, and the Sun rose.  In terror, the bat ponies fled back to their caverns, but it was too late.  They had been seen.  Day and night, squadrons of Royal Guard pegasi searched the skies, while platoons of unicorns patrolled the land.  It was not long before the entrance of Amun-Ta was found.

 

Grimly, the bat ponies of Evernight marshaled their defenses.  As night fell, a squadron of Royal Guards approached, and the bat ponies prepared for the opening skirmish of the battle to come.  Then the Guards parted to reveal the one they were protecting: Princess Luna.

 

"We...have been looking everywhere for you," she said nervously, "since we first heard that you still existed."  Somehow, her powerful, resonant Royal Voice sounded nervous, even shy.  "We would like to ask...that you come out...and enjoy our Night."

 

And so it came to pass that there was peace between Evernight and Equestria.  Luna formed her own Night Guard, drawn from the eager ranks of Evernight's Night Watch warriors and even some day ponies.  At sunset, the bat ponies of Evernight can be seen surging from the gates of Amun-Ta in a great, joyous revelry, the Flight, where they can at last soar freely under the stars, bathed in Luna's silvery light.

 

Funerary Practices, Reverence for Ancestors, and Shamanism:

 

In the bat pony city of Evernight, when a pony dies, their corpse is placed in a crypt in the Necropolis, where scavenger insects and other small creatures from the deep-cave ecosystem are allowed to feed on it while it decomposes. Six months later, the skull is brought to a Skull-Carver, who has spent the intervening time talking with the family and friends of the deceased, helping them through their grieving process and hearing their stories about the deceased. The carver then spends the next six months carving the skull with magical sigils and images or symbols pointing to key moments of the deceased's life. On their first Deathday, the skull is publicly presented in a funeral procession that is at once sad and joyful, a celebration of their life and death. The skull is then placed in a shrine carved from the living rock of the Pillars of Memory, a "forest" of joined stalagtite-stalagmite pillars that is sacred to the bat ponies. Family members are expected to regularly bring offerings of perfume, chocolate, and other sensory treats, as well as stories of how the family is getting along. The Skull-Carver or a specialist medium might also be asked to allow the revered ancestors to speak through them. Skull-Carvers also have a prominent role in dealing with curses, hauntings, and other "issues" between the living and the dead. It is a highly-regarded profession in Evernight.

 

This is based on similar practices that exist here on Earth, and may or may not be as "true" as they are.

[That One Techpriest You Used To Know 2,286]

@, Backstory obtained for new character. Do you mind if I use this in my character? Perhaps our OCs can know each other?

 

I love it. That's all that needs to be said, really.  

[Shift 4,271]

I sort of just assumed they were pegasi, whose wings and ears got enchanted so they can be distinguished from the Celestial Guard.

[--Thunder Bolt-- 534]

@,

 

Thank you.  Do you have a link to your OC?  I'll try to work him/her into Nightshade's backstory.  I will be adding more material to the Evernight fanon as I get the time.  I have just applied to join the Shadowbolts Academy RP with her, so if that game appeals to you (assuming your OC is a flier), you might want to consider applying also.  The GM there hasn't been active for a few days, so if there is no response, this space-exploration RP will probably be my next effort with her.  I'll keep you posted if you want.

 

A quick note on naming conventions in Evernight: When a pony is born, they are given a birth-name (usually one word).  When they get their cutie mark, they are given (or, depending on the circumstances, may choose for themselves) a Life-Name that is related in some way to their cutie mark, the profession it indicates, or a "mission statement" of sorts, indicating their primary focus in life.  When writing a name, the Life-Name is written first, followed by the birth-name.  The Life-Name is considered to be more personal, more core to a pony's self than one's birth-name.  Usually it is not given to strangers, especially outsiders like "day ponies" (non-bat ponies) or members of other species.  The closest human equivalent in usage I know of is a nickname, though a Life-Name carries a connotation of personal sacredness rather than the frivolity often associated with nicknames.  Unless it's Bat-Pinkie.   So in Nightshade's case, she will introduce herself to others as Nightshade, and when they have become her friends, she will tell them they can call her Nephthys.

 

If you don't want to adopt this practice for your OC, s/he can be eccentric in the way s/he uses his/her own name, but Nightshade might tease her/him about it.