//------------------------------// // New Moon Rising // Story: Quoth the Raven // by midworld1999 //------------------------------// Well I've seen that you've grown now. With the horses you ride. Gonna have your say now. See the new moon rising! The Scourge of Glaciostel: A Short Tale of the Griffo-Equine War Darkness upon the cruel skies fell The battle-torn fields of Glaciostel. Ponies, griffons, clashing steel; Forever din, endless peal. Victory on the precipice For griffons of greatest avarice. When suddenly the tide was turned; His memory to this day is spurned. Like some beast from deepest hell Emerged the Scourge of Glaciostel. Bastard of the warring races, Bringing fear to griffon faces. Wings like sharpest obsidian blade Coated with blood of those he slayed. His eyes black as a coal in fire, Spreading death his prime desire. Without warning he took the moors. Enemies he slew in scores. Flying like a wicked ghost, Or daemon spawn with mortal host. Danced through blades without a scratch, Never once to meet his match. With feathers keen like tempered steel, Griffon innards did reveal. As quickly as appeared was gone, As night relinquished to the dawn. Ponies cheered in victorious splendor; Griffons knelt in loathe surrender. Equines celebrated all around, Their savior no where to be found. As if departed through unseen door, The Griffons' Bane was Nevermore. The Everfree was swallowed in black, foreboding silence. Creatures scurried through the mystifying maze of trees, vines, and bushes with only the noise of their fragile breathing as company. Night suited the Everfree, and its many predators made good use of this unusually long one. Disturbing terrors waited, muscles strung tight like a guitar string about to snap, ready to end whichever insignificant critter crossed its sight. The Everfree housed many beasts, ancient and dangerous. The raven stood perched on the end of a sturdy oak branch, gazing with strange intensity at the moon, which had lurked there even after what should have been the solstice sunrise. His gaze seemed to question the moon's purpose for breaking its usual cycle, which the bird hadn't observed since... He had experienced a long night before! He was sure of it. He hunted through his vast collection of memories, but as soon as he found the fringe of the sought-after prize, it was pushed away by a singing fog. Music enveloped his entire waking consciousness until rational thought was all but impossible among the glorious sound. The raven blinked several times and shook its head as if to clear it. This was a somewhat normal occurrence for him; many memories seemed to be buried in this subconscious cloud, and no matter how many times he tried, he was blocked out. This probably would have concerned him if he had access to his former cognitive abilities. But these too were buried in the cloud, out of his reach. With the voices cleared, he returned his stare to the moon. Other than being tardy for the moon-set, something else seemed to be off as well. With another few minutes of examining and pondering the raven found its answer. The mistress in the moon had departed. For some reason this struck him as something that might be vitally important, although he couldn't imagine why. He was sure that it meant something, something important, someth-- "Na, na na, na na na na! Na na na na, Hey-ey Ju-ude!" The music echoed in his mind, too beautiful to not elicit his full attention. He patiently waited for the glorious sound to fade into infinitesimal whispers that forever lingered, a never-ending song reverberating in the deepest canyons of his mind. He tried again to focus on whatever he'd been thinking about, and after a brief struggle gave up. The raven gave a quick flap of his wings, stretching them out of boredom. He wished he could remember what he'd been thinking about. He wasn't sure what it was, but he was almost positive it had been something interesting. But he knew better than to try again; if it didn't come to him the first time it wouldn't come at all. At least he could recall that much. The music began to rise in his head once more, and he was mentally preparing himself for its memorized lyrics when he realized it wasn't his song playing. His head swiveled, frantically searching for the source of the sound. Once located, he flapped off the branch without hesitation, heading for the direction of the curious song. He twisted and dived through the dense, knotted branches of passing trees with an agility that comes only from extensive experience and familiarity of terrain. The sound of the new song crept closer and closer, and within moments he found himself in the clearing of it's origin. Now he could finally make out the words. "--ack up at the creepy. Whoop it up at the weepy. Chortle at the kooky. Snortle at the spooky. And tell the--" Several mares seemed to be spontaneously singing at a grove of dead trees. That was at least somewhat interesting, a break from the monotonous repetition that had haunted him for so long. As the musical antics of the ponies below devolved into laughter the raven became aware of a familiar presence in the grove. Before he could place it, the ponies continued on through the dense foliage. Not wanting to lose them, the bird followed. These mares were by far the most interesting thing to cross his path for a long time. The Everfree had been his home for as long as he could remember, and ponies had never been ones to enter lightly. The raven inferred that these ponies were here for a reason, and he intended to find out why they had come. Something this intriguing might not happen again for awhile. As the mares walked he gave them each a closer inspection. The leading pony was of lavender hue, a unicorn. Her eyes seemed to scour everything thoroughly. She carried herself with a sort of involuntary dignity that he rather liked. Despite her cataloging gaze, her observant eye glanced right over the shadowy bird. The raven was adept at remaining hidden, a talent he had long owned but never fully understood. He was thankful for it now; he didn't want to distract them from whatever goal they were pursuing. The other mares consisted of a timid looking yellow pegasus, a bouncing pink pony, an orange pony in a stetson hat, a white unicorn, and finally a blue pegasus with a chromatic mane. The raven wondered what all of these ponies (of all different races) could possibly be doing in a group together. While he had never had a problem with it, he was vaguely aware that most ponies frowned upon the inter-mingling of the differing pony subspecies. Very curious. The raven watched with growing curiosity as the mares made their way through the Everfree. They came across several trivial obstacles, breezing through the silhouetted forest and the frothing current of an initially dangerous looking river dragon. The raven was thankful that he'd chanced upon this strange group. He only wished he'd been able to see their tale from the beginning. The ending to the mares' journey came much faster than the bird anticipated. The final obstacle was a gaping rift, the bottom no where in sight. The raven watched as the lead pony discovered, almost fatally, that the rope bridge wasn't tied to on the other side. Luckily, the blue mare grabbed her by her tail and pulled her to safety in time. Beyond, a castle loomed ominously. The rope bridge lay limp several yards down the ravine. The mares hastily came to the decision to send the colorful pegasus to retrieve it and tie it on the other side. All the while, a sense of nostalgia built up within the raven. This castle... he had definitely seen it before. His mind desperately yearned to place the memory, but he fought down the urge. He didn't want to miss a moment of the action. Forcing his thoughts back under control, he returned his focus to the situation unfolding. Across the chasm, the mare had begun to fix the bridge, tying one of the ropes to a post. Before she could finish the other, a group of dark-clad pegasi, who seemed to have appeared out of nowhere, struck her up in conversation. Upon seeing them, the sense of nostalgia and of that familiar presence grew exponentially stronger. He could feel the music on the cusp of his mind, trying desperately to ambush his mental domain. Somehow he managed to maintain focus, but it took continuous and conscious effort to do so. While the raven regained control of his fluctuating mind, the pegasus was hidden in a veil of mist. The music in his head quickly died off, and he brought his thoughts back to the ponies, who were now nervously discussing the blue one's return. Their fears proved to be fruitless, as within moments the pegasus popped out of the mist with the rope secured. Continuing to ignore the escalating sense of familiarity, he took wing to the portentous structure of the ponies' destination. He perched on a crumbling fortification and observed as the mares tread with care over the dizzying drop. The spacious hall the ponies entered had long ago entered a state of ruin. Holes punctuated the ceiling, piles and chunks of debris scattered the floor, cobwebs were strung in the corners, the tiles were unpolished and cracked, and the forest had begun to reclaim much of its former territory. The only aspect of the room that held any semblance of the castle's former dignity was a statue standing at the room's center, although it too was covered in vegetation. The odd masterpiece consisted of a large nucleus at the center, mounted on a pillar, surrounded by five smaller orbs on similarly smaller pedestals. These smaller orbs seemed to be what the ponies had come for. The two pegasi retrieved the heavy talismans and the ponies began to examine them. The raven noticed carvings resembling jewels etched into each of the spheres. He also felt an ambient energy emanating from the orbs. The lead unicorn must have sensed it too, as she began to envelope them in her magic, trying access their power for some unknown purpose. The rest of her group left her to her work, but the raven remained, staring intensely at the totems. Their unusual purifying energy seemed to be effecting him, for he was experiencing a long unfamiliar but much welcomed clarity of mind. It was then that the raven noticed a flowing midnight blue aura descend upon the unwary unicorn, enveloping the orbs in a sudden vortex of godlike magic. The unicorn gave a cry of surprise and jumped without hesitation into the maelstrom. As quickly as it had appeared, it vanished into nothing. Hearing the commotion, the violet pony's followers raced into the room to come to her aid only seconds too late. But the bird lost all attention of the event after the aura appeared. The beautifully melody raged without mercy in his mind, like pleasant shards of infectious glass being pound into his head by a gavel. His thoughts became an incoherent mess of unfinished recollections and hazy, ancient nightmares. If he had been capable in such a state he would have screeched until collapse. He continued to writhe even after the aura's departure, and it took him several minutes for him to get himself under any sort of semblance of control. With no small amount of effort he lifted his head to gaze at the ponies. Without even consciously acknowledging it, he had come to the insane conclusion that if he could see these strange mares complete their task everything would somehow work itself out. The mares were gone. It took a moment for this to sink in. When it did he flung himself off his shallow shelf, forcing his wings to unlock and take him into frenzied flight. He searched frantically for any sign of where they could have gone and saw a white light emerging from a far wing of the palace. Without a pause he swooped off for it. When he arrived, time slowed and reality bent. A bright helix of color was wrapping itself around the mares, who were now floating about a five hooves above the ground. The raven gazed in wonder at the increasing familiar sight, and when the stream dived across the room, his gaze followed it. He had time to observe everything, as if it were happening in slow motion. He gazed across the hall to the dark alicorn luna her name is luna luna luna mistress luna who saved me but I couldnt save her I couldnt save before she was engulfed in a swirling clamor of color. Then all was white. The raven collided with a wall as the purifying wave of energy caressed his tired mind, which had by this point shattered. The benevolent force he'd witnessed earlier picked up each piece of memory previously shrouded and blended into chaotic agony, and replaced each of them in their proper place. Rational images slowly began to surface. Wicked blades and sharpened claws danced past his face, narrowly avoiding lethal contact with his unarmored body. A dear friend lay on a bloody cot, dying before his eyes. A dripping red voice tittered, a terrifying being from the space between spaces. He held a knife to his own throat, only to have it thrust away by an unknown force. A voice cried out, a mare's voice, "What is it? Please, take it, take it away, I don't want it! Let me behold it nevermore!" Individual memories began to organize themselves into chronological order. The puzzle began to reveal an unpleasant picture, but a picture that made merciful sense nonetheless. After hours in this limbo, Nevermore opened his eyes, brimming with new intelligence. He beheld a solstice morning, glimmering with happy sunlight. Before taking any visible action, he took stock of what he had just witnessed. The Elements of Harmony had new bearers. They had used them on his mistress. He would need the Elements to achieve his goals, previously halted by Celestia. He continued to ponder his course of action for some time, and decided that more information would be necessary before further activity. In particular he would need to learn more about the Element bearers. Having decided on a course of action at least for the short term, Nevermore cleared his mind and took to the sky. With a burst of practiced magic he slid into his true form like a worn in shoe without missing a wing-beat.