//------------------------------// // A morning in Canterlot Castle // Story: A Titan in Equestria, or, Shadows of Friendship... // by BreakDown //------------------------------// Raven was an early riser most days, often getting up alongside the rising sun. She did so because when she lived on Azarath she would often be woken up early to begin her lessons with Azar. The ancient sorceress was nothing if not overly punctual and when she wanted you up by the crack of dawn, you were up by the crack of dawn or she dragged you out of bed. Raven couldn't count how often she'd been dragged out of bed by the older woman, but she knew that it was a steep number. Still, the habit was ingrained and she kept to it zealously. She blinked her amethyst eyes open as the first rays of morning light touched her flesh. It glinted off of the gold and jewels scattered about the room. She idly yawned and sat up with a frown. She had had a bit of trouble sleeping. The new bed was the problem, back on Azarath she'd lived with monks. The monks hadn't been the kind who had soft comfortable beds as a priority. That in mind she'd never slept on a bed as soft as the one she'd been in. While it might've been nice for others, she found it uncomfortable. She was in a new place on an unfamiliar bed though, so of course it was expected that she would be mildly uncomfortable at first. She mentally reasoned that if she stayed long enough she wouldn't even know the difference. But she didn't plan on staying in 'Equestria' long enough, at least not if she had anything to do with it. With a shake of her head Raven rolled out of bed, literally, and fell to the ground with a yelp. She sat up abruptly and glared down at her changed body in irritation. While she'd mastered walking about, to some extent with the aid of a bit of levitation when needed, it seemed other movements weren't so easily mastered. She blew a breath up her forehead and then got back to her hooves. She shook the covers off of her hind leg and idly picked up her belt and leg 'sleeves' from her bedside table with her magic. She slipped the sleeves on and the belt around her lower barrel, then tied the tassels at her flank loose enough to be comfortable, while still tight enough that it wouldn't fall off. That finished Raven walked... err... trotted to the center of the room. She sat down and then frowned. 'I can't cross my legs,' she noted to herself. Her eyebrow twitched and she exhaled a breath through her nose. 'Living like this is going to be annoying,' she grumbled to herself irritably. With a wave of her hoof her mirror was brought to her and placed onto the ground. Her reflection greeted her in its depths and she sighed. She got into as comfortable a position as she could and closed her eyes. She blanked her mind completely, ignored all outward distractions and focused inwards. She inhaled through her nose, then exhaled the breath from her mouth. She repeated this process several times as she set about to control her breathing. The reflection within the mirror changed to a creature with crimson skin, black hair, and four glowing yellow eyes. She didn't see it but she knew it was there all the same. She concentrated on banishing it from the mirror, and hopefully from her mind... for the moment at least. The sad fact was that the creature was a part of her, a part she despised with every fiber of her being, but still part of her. It was for this fact that the creature would, inevitably, reform in the depths of her mind and she'd have to banish it once again. When she'd been little she'd hoped, desperately hoped, that she could be rid of it someday. However Azar had dashed that hope when she told her that it would be a constant struggle to contain the creature within her mind, likely for as long as she lived. Needless to say, she wasn't particularly happy to know that she'd be in a constant power struggle with another part of herself... "Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos," she whispered then lightly exhaled. Her body was surrounded by an ebony aura which twitched and writhed around her. "Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos," she whispered then exhaled through her nose. The shadows around the room grew darker and almost seemed to reach out for the 'filly' alicorn. "Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos," she continued in a mantra with another soft exhale of breath. Her body started to float upwards without the use of her wings, rising roughly a foot off of the ground. "Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos," she continued to whisper and exhaled soon after. She idly bobbed in the air as she continued to chant her mantra, eyes closed and mind cleared. "Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos," he mantra continued followed by an exhale of breath. The eerie ebony aura faded slowly, soon it vanished and the shadows waned around her. "Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos," once more the words were spoken and the alicorn exhaled. As she did the 'bobbing' she did ceased and she hovered in the air gently. As she did, the creature in the mirror shifted, now mirroring her exactly as if it had always been her within its depths and not something else instead. She went silent as she finished, a sense of calm and quiet wrapped around the 'filly' alicorn. Her breathes were soft and measured, her eyes closed. The ever warring factions that made up her emotions were stilled and her mind was left silent and tranquil. She felt completely at peace, there was nothing to... "Morning Sis," Spike yawned in greeting. Raven briefly twitched and opened an amethyst eye to glance at the baby dragon as he stretched his arms into the air. The eye was then closed and Raven's only acknowledgement was a brief hum. Spike however yawned and then took notice of the 'filly' as she hovered in the air. Spike briefly blinked and then padded to the end of his bed to stare at the 'filly' as she hovered and took note of several things. One, Raven's horn was completely dormant, so she wasn't using magic. Two, even if she had been her body also lacked the tell-tale luminescence of some-pony using magic. Three, she was hovering steadily and was a foot off of the ground on top of that. Four, her wings were still folded against her sides. And most importantly of all, he had no idea how she was doing that without magic! So being the dignified and cleaver dragon he was he decided he'd ask her in the most subtle way possible. "What are you doing?" Or just be completely blunt... well, his dragon ancestors would be proud anyways. Raven gave a soft hum as her only answer and continued to hover. "Is it some ancient pony technique passed down by the most ancient masters of the mystic arts?" the tiny dragon questioned. Raven blinked and looked at him strangely. "I saw it in a comic-book," he admitted with a shrug. Raven looked at him with a flat expression, then turned away and closed her eyes once more. "Are you ignoring me?" he questioned. Raven didn't dignify that with an answer, but yes, yes she was. "C'mon what are you doing?" Spike pleaded as he hopped from his bed and pulled on her hind hoof. Or she was really trying to ignore him anyways. "Is it like an Alicorn thing or something? You can tell me, if it's a secret I'll totally keep it!" the purple menace declared. Raven snorted and continued to try to ignore him. However, let it never be said that a baby dragon likes to be ignored... "C'mon!" he cried as he climbed onto her back and leaned over her head to stare at her. She opened her eyes to glare at the baby dragon who grinned and waved at her while upside down. "Hi," he offered. She felt her brow twitch and inhaled a deep breath to calm her emotions before something bad happened. She wasn't sure how durable a dragon was, or how magically resistant for that matter, but her particular brand of power was likely a lot more than he could handle. "Get off," she growled. Spike merely crossed his arms. "Not until you tell me what you're doing, and how you're floating without using magic," he replied. 'Are all the creatures of this world this annoying? Or is he just a special case?' Raven wondered to herself. She then narrowed her eyes and Spike yelped as an ebony aura yanked him from the 'Filly' alicorn's head. Unfortunately he grabbed her ears and she yelped as she was pulled down to the floor by his weight as she dropped him. She glared at the dragon when she landed and he smiled sheepishly. "Uh, oops." Raven narrowed her eyes and then vanished in a flash of black only to reappear over her bed, where she silently pulled her cloak from its place and wrapped it around her body. "Someone's coming," she intoned just as the door opened. In trotted Celestia, who paused at the sight of Spike on the ground and raised a brow in question. "Did something," she began only for Raven to cut her off. "He decided to pester me with questions while I was meditating," she grumbled. Celestia frowned and looked at Raven sternly. "That's no reason to throw him," she remarked bluntly. Raven rolled her eyes. "I didn't, I was sitting there and I pulled him off my head, then dropped him," she stated. Celestia raised a brow and then looked to Spike. "What?" he asked with a shrug, "She wouldn't tell me why she could float without magic," he stated with a nod. Celestia stared at Spike for a moment and then brought a hoof to her face. "Why did you think pestering her would make her tell you?" she questioned. She had a theory on why he thought that might work, but she really hoped she was... "It works on Blue Blood," he replied. Celestia groaned and then brought a hoof to her face. 'Of course it does, there's a reason I don't tell him state secrets,' she thought to herself. Blue was a good pony, but he was a bit... well, she couldn't think of a good word for it. He was insanely loyal and loving to his family, but he had a certain level of disdain to other ponies, especially if he thought they meant him or his family ill-will of some kind. 'There's also a reason he's still a bachelor at his age,' she thought with a shake of her head. Someday she really needed to sit Blue down and try to find out what he thought he accomplished with his antics. if it was driving off gold-diggers, well she could understand that, if he just hated 'peasants' then she needed to correct his attitude, if it was something else, well, she'd decide what to do when the time came but until then she had a dragon to correct. "Spike, no pony likes it when you annoy them," she told him flatly. "Oh I know that," he replied dismissively, "I just really wanted to know what she was doing," he stated with a nod. Celestia felt the makings of a migraine start to form. 'Ugh, he's taking too much after Blue,' she internally decided. That meant he was spending less time with the stallion. Even if she had to send Blue on a diplomatic mission all the way to Neighpon again! 'Although he seems to like going to Neighpon for some reason. Not to mention he gives Spike those comic books from over there,' Celestia noted to herself. "Spike, annoying ponies won't get you what you want," Celestia stated. Spike just rolled his eyes. "Well what else should I have done? She wouldn't tell me even when I asked her," he grumbled. Celestia glanced at Raven for an explanation and the 'filly' snorted. "I was meditating, which requires absolute concentration," she stated flatly, "he was being annoying," she remarked. Celestia frowned. "So then you tried to ignore him," she guessed. "Eeyep," Raven bluntly responded. Celestia resisted the urge to face-hoof. 'I have the feeling these two will actually manage to give me gray hairs,' she thought to herself. She then shook off such thoughts and looked at Raven sternly. "Raven you don't just ignore some-pony when they ask you a question," she scolded. Raven arched a brow while Spike snickered. The solar princess rounded on the dragon with a frown. "As for you Spike, you don't pester someone when they don't give you what you want," she told him sternly. Spike frowned and crossed his arms with a murmur of annoyance. Celestia just picked him up with her magic and placed him onto her back. "Now then, lets all go have some breakfast," she offered with a brilliant smile. Raven just frowned in annoyance... Canterlot Castle was a vast and beautiful structure. Though if you asked Raven she'd say it was a bit too extravagant. Then again, she'd been raised by monks, so it was to be expected she didn't see the point in such things. Not to say Aazarath wasn't a beautiful place, it was a literal golden city after all, but that the way the palace was built seemed... well, too big really. The halls were monstrously wide open and their seemed to be doorways or windows everywhere you looked. It was a bit strange in Raven's opinion. Well, at least till she got a bead on Celestia's emotions that is. The older alicorn had incredible control over her emotions for the most part. She kept a calm and cool facade on at most times, though Raven could cheat with her empathic abilities and pick up on things that others likely wouldn't. On their trip through the palace the alicorn 'filly' had noted how Celestia was more uncomfortable in enclosed spaces. Mostly it was when she was in Spike's room, but she'd noticed it when they passed through a few small corridors as well. Raven had concentrated her empathy on the older Alicorns emotions when she noticed it and then realized that she was likely mildly claustrophobic. With that in mind all the wide open halls and large rooms actually made more than a little sense. Basically, the palace wasn't built to be extravagant for the sake of extravagance, but because the solar monarch wasn't comfortable in small places. Not to mention at her size any 'wide and open' spaces would have to be very wide and open compared to the much smaller ponies around her. The ability to sense and feel emotions, typically called Empathy, was a natural ability of hers inherited from her father. Needless to say, that Empathy was her greatest gift, and at times also a curse. She could instantly understand what a pony was feeling. Yet at the same time she drew those emotions within herself, which in turn, made her own emotions wild and unpredictable. It was part of the reason the monks had isolated her, and she had a feeling Celestia wasn't aware of this. She also had a feeling Celestia didn't really agree with the way that the monks had raised her. Of course that was because she didn't understand how dangerous her powers truly were, and how dangerous losing control was for her. Further, it was very clear to her that 'Ponies' were an extremely extroverted species. Maybe some were more introverted, but the norm appeared to be extroverts. Part of it was likely due to their evolution, if their ancestors were anything like earth-born wild horses anyways, although clearly it had simply become a part of their normal society by this point. Raven shook such thoughts from her mind as they entered a large room. She instantly knew it was a dining hall, because no mere 'room' was so big, with a long table in the center. She noticed a pair of ponies already seated at the table. One a white unicorn with a blond mane and blue eyes. He had a symbol on his flank that looked like a compass rose and wore a fancy jacket with an odd regal flair to it. 'Why do I feel like I've met him before?' she wondered to herself. She then shook that off as she glanced at the other pony. The other was also a unicorn, also white, but this time it was a mare with a dark brown mane pulled into a neat bun. She wore a white collar with a red tie hanging from it, a clipboard and quill grasped in her magic as she scratched words onto a piece of paper, with an odd symbol on her flank that resembled an ink-pen and inkwell. 'Something about her,' Raven thought to herself with a frown as she gazed at the odd white pony. "Ah Blue Blood, Raven, I'm glad to see you both," Celestia stated. "Good morning auntie," the blond pony, probably Blue Blood, stated tiredly. The other mare mutely nodded her head. Meanwhile Raven glanced at the mare who paused. Celestia looked from Raven to the white mare and then giggled behind her hoof. "Oh dear, that might get confusing," she admitted then cleared her throat, "Raven," she said with a look to the cloaked 'filly' with a smile, "Meet my most trusted royal aide, also Raven," she stated with a smile as she waved a hoof to the white mare. The white mare and 'filly' alicorn turned from Celestia and stared at one another. A beat passed before 'Raven' cleared her throat. "If it helps ma'am," she began, and Raven noticed she had a slight accent, "My parents always called me 'Pen' when I was little," she admitted. "Because your sister was Inkwell," Celestia guessed. Raven, err, 'Pen' nodded her head with a smirk. "So how often do two ponies have the same name?" Raven questioned. Celestia tilted her head and hummed in thought. "Not very often," she admitted, "typically ponies have a difference or two, like if two mares were named 'Starlight', one of them would likely have a second name added to it," she replied. Raven blinked and then frowned. "Did you mention 'Starlight' because of the pony I met yesterday?" she questioned. Celestia neither confirmed nor denied and was instead saved by Blue Blood. "Ah, my dear cousin," the stallion declared as he hopped from his seat and approached her. "I am Prince Blue Blood," he stated with a bow, "it is a pleasure to finally meet you," he declared with a smile. The 'filly' in question arched a brow and glanced at Celestia. The solar alicorn smiled patiently. "Blue Blood is another member of the family, though in his case through adoption," she explained. Raven made an 'oh' with her mouth and then turned back to the stallion. "Hi," she stated crisply. She then hovered passed the stallion to sit at the table. Blue Blood blinked and then scratched at his head. "Is she short with every pony?" he asked his aunt. Spike popped up from her back instead. "Pretty much, yeah," he stated with a nod of his head. Celestia sighed in response. "It certainly appears so," she replied with a shake of her head. "Although granted she is an empath so being around others isn't," she paused to consider her words, "Well, it isn't fun for her," she finished. Blueblood looked to the filly and then hummed. "Empathy, so she can feel emotions then?" he questioned. Celestia nodded her head. "Ah, that will be most useful in keeping her safe. Even if people can hide their thoughts, their emotions are much harder to hide," the stallion noted with a nod of his head. "That will be especially helpful when she has to meet with the other nobles or even the press," he remarked candidly. He then made his way back to his seat while Celestia arched a brow and blinked owlishly. 'Is blue always this perceptive? Or is it just when it will surprise me most?' she wondered to herself. She then shook such thoughts from her mind and walked to her place at the table beside of 'Pen'. She place Spike in the other seat beside her while Pen showed her her pad and began to detail her day for her. At the same Time Raven glanced at Blueblood and tilted her head with a curious frown. "So what exactly do you do?" she asked the blond pony. Blueblood smiled and puffed out his chest. "I am a diplomatic envoy to the nations outside of Equestria," he replied. Raven arched a brow. "Forgive me for being blunt," she began, "but you don't look it," she stated. Blueblood inclined his head. "You're not the first to say that," he admitted, "more than a few ponies seem to think I like to stay at home or work in politics," he remarked with a frown. He then glanced around and stage whispered to Raven, "To be honest I find politics to be far too cutthroat," he remarked. Raven smirked in response. "I personally hate politicians, so that's a point in your favor," she quipped. However Blueblood looked at her strangely. "Why do you hate politicians?" he questioned. Raven's eye twitched in response. Back when she was just baby, a politician in Azarath had felt she needed to die to prevent Trigon from rising to power. The head monk at the time, aside from Azar herself, had been Master Metrion who had been against it saying it was not the ways of peace. Eventually Azar had mediated and taken her mother as a student, yet still, the politician didn't let up, believing his way to be the only way to truly protect Azarath from the eventual rise of Trigon. In the end he had stolen her from her mother and then whisked her away so he could 'dispose of' her so that 'Azarath could be safe'. Her mother had pursued him, but had been unable to protect her. The only reason he'd failed to kill her was because her 'father' had plans for her and had had enough of a link to the world through her to disintegrate the man. Even so, Raven had been further feared for it, many in Azarath afraid that Trigon would use her to harm them if they so much as talked to her. Well, there was that and how the politicians had made it there mission to make her life as miserable as possible... The blue cloaked 'filly' felt her brow twitch and her teeth start to grind. As they did they slowly started to sharpen and she sucked in a breath through her nose. 'Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos, Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos,' she thought in a calming mantra, eyes closed as she calmed herself down. While she had managed to calm herself down, that didn't mean she wasn't still very annoyed. Finally, she looked back to Blueblood with a deep frown. "No comment," she grumbled irritably. The unicorn stallion raised a brow and looked to Celestia for an explanation. However the solar mare was engrossed in whatever it was that 'Pen' was telling her. With a sigh, Blueblood turned back to the table and shifted uncomfortably for a moment. "So what's for breakfast?" Raven suddenly questioned to break the awkward silence. Bluedblood offered the 'filly' a grateful smile and then hummed thoughtfully. "To be honest, auntie likes it when the chef's surprise us so it could be anything," he admitted. Raven arched a brow in response. As if waiting for their cue, the chefs approached with a set of covered trays. Raven frowned slightly in distaste at the sight of the silverware, literal silverware in this case. Being raised by monks had its advantages in her opinion. One of the many, she didn't have much of a desire for wealth or riches, and instead saw things like gold or silver as shiny rocks and metal. Pretty, but pointless... Clearly Celestia didn't share the same view. She watched as the chefs, or servers or whatever they were, placed the trays in front of the assembled ponies. Blueblood had a strange dish that looked, oddly, like soup of all things. 'Why soup?' she briefly wondered then watched as a salad was placed down in front of 'Pen' who turned from her clipboard to eat. Celestia smiled as her own breakfast was placed before her, some kind of flat pastry she believed, while another salad was placed in front of Spike. "Hey!" the baby dragon complained. However a sharp look from Celestia silenced him. "Your getting pudgy Spike, no gems or sweets till you lose the extra weight," she stated flatly. Raven arched a brow as she glanced at the baby dragon out of the corner of her eye. 'Is he really pudgy or is she just seeing things?' the purple haired maiden wondered to herself then blinked as a tray was set down in front of her. She then arched a brow as the lid was removed to show a plate of flat pastry like Celestia had, only in a perfect circle and with a square pattern in them. "Y'all like waffles right?" the chef, server?, behind her questioned. Raven glanced at him with a lidded expression. "More than life itself," she deadpanned. The pony clearly didn't notice her sarcasm as he bowed to Celestia then trotted off. The solar alicorn herself giggled behind her hoof. It seemed she'd been right, her little ponies weren't ready to deal with a pony like Raven quite yet. All that sarcasm just went over their heads with her monotone drawl. 'I really should tell Raven she shouldn't use so much sarcasm,' the alicorn admitted to herself. However she then paused as Raven took a bite of the waffles. "Huh... seems like I really do like waffles," she remarked blankly. Celestia resisted the urge to face fault and stared at the 'filly' as she shrugged and continued to eat her waffles. Blueblood glanced at the 'filly' curiously as he continued to eat his soup. He had to wonder how a filly, especially Celestia's daughter, had never had waffles before. Celestia herself loved to have pastries for breakfast, whenever she could get away with it that is. Her chefs were thankfully wise enough not to let that be a daily thing. "You've never had waffles before?" Blueblood questioned as he took slow bites of his soup. Raven shrugged. "I lived with monks," she responded. Blueblood made an oh with his mouth and then shrugged. That explained a lot in his opinion, why he'd never seen or heard of her for example. "Where?" Spike questioned curiously. Raven glanced at him and smirked. "Not in Equestria," she remarked dryly. Spike pouted and crossed his stubby arms. "So where then?" he questioned. However Celestia fixed him with a look. "Spike, need I remind you of our earlier conversation?" the solar mare questioned. Blueblood raised a brow and looked to the dragon curiously. 'What happened earlier?' he wondered to himself. However Spike just winced and started to mutter under his breath. He picked at his salad while Raven returned to her now half eaten waffles. "You know those are really good with some syrup," Celestia casually offered. Raven glanced at the pale-pink pony out of the corner of her eye. "What syrup?" she questioned. She then blinked as a bottle of some brown substance was placed before her. "Ah," she remarked and then poured a little on her next bite of waffle to try it. She then paused and hummed. 'Way too sweet,' she thought and pushed the syrup away. "Too sweet," she stated as she continued to eat her waffles, sans syrup. Spike snickered to himself. "We sure she's your daughter, mom?" he quipped with a grin. Celestia shot a deadpan stare at the dragon. He chuckled and then turned away to stare at his salad with a frown. Celestia lightly shook her head and regarded Raven with a smile. "Enjoying your breakfast?" she asked. Raven mutely nodded and then sighed. "So when are my 'lessons' going to start?" the pale pony questioned. "What lessons?" Blueblood asked curiously. If it was how to deal with nobles then he could help with that! The best way to deal with them, and gold diggers, was to ignore everything they said! He should know, he'd had to deal with both for decades now. "Raven has... tenuous control of her magic," Celestia admitted. Raven snorted in response. "My magic is powered by emotion, the more I feel, the more power I unleash, and being an empath I feel all the emotions of those around me making my own emotions even harder to control," she explained in a deadpan. Blueblood's brows arched in surprise, then he tapped at his chin. After a moment he clopped his hoof on the table and turned to his aunt. "Isn't dear cousin Cadenza similar?" he remarked, to Raven's surprise, as Celestia nodded with a smile. "Yes, but her magic only gets stronger with the more love she feels," she reminded, "Raven's magic can be set off by any emotion," the solar mare explained. Raven's eyes narrowed dangerously as she decided to correct Celestia. "While that is true, in particular are anger, jealousy, greed, and pride," she remarked. "That seems kind of specific," Spike noted with his head tilted. And was it just him or were those all supposed to be sins? Wrath, Envy, Greed, and Pride to be specific... what? He'd read it in one of the 'Manga' style comic books Blue Blood liked to give him! "I felt jealous of a few kids I saw with friends once," Raven admitted with a grimace. That had not been a good day, the kids in question had recovered, but it hadn't been pretty... she'd also been barred from going outside when children were present from then on. "On one of my birthdays one of the monks gave me my belt, but another tried to take it away, I didn't react well," Raven admitted. The monk in question had also lost his hand. Raven had vehemently clung to her gift with the zeal of a girl possessed. 'Not one of my better moments,' she admitted to herself. She wasn't sure if it was anger or greed, but she leaned more toward greed. "My anger is so obvious you'd have to be stupid not to notice when it starts showing up," she stated bluntly. The number of times she had ever been angry she could count on her... hooves, but it still counted. When Azar had died the 'respected council' of Azarath had thought it would be a good idea to have Master Zinthos return to his duty as head of the temple. Normally that'd be great, but it also meant Raven wouldn't see him much... if ever. She had reacted very poorly to that idea. Thankfully Azar had already made her mother the head of the temple, and the monks wouldn't allow the politicians to have their way. "What about Pride?" Celestia questioned. That one seemed... strange. She'd never heard of a pony who couldn't be proud of themselves before. Certainly not for fear of their magic going out of control anyways. 'Though that might explain a few things about her,' she admitted to herself. However Celestia noticed a strange expression cross Raven's face at the question. It was somewhere between disgust and self-loathing... "There's a reason my father named me 'Pride'," she responded softly. "So wait," Spike mumbled, "then wouldn't your name be 'Proud Raven?" he questioned. Raven's brow twitched and her eyes narrowed. "No, my name is Raven, just Raven," she all but growled. Blueblood looked at her curiously. "Personally I wasn't aware you knew your father," he admitted, "what was he like?" he asked. Spike leaned forward, curious of his 'sister's' other parent, he knew their shared 'mother' but he wondered about the girl's sire. However he yelped as Raven's eyes narrowed and flashed a bloody crimson. Then black tendrils of magic seemed to form around her and lash out violently before she took a sudden breath. She then closed her eyes and exhaled through her nose, then looked to Blueblood with a frown. "He's the devil," she stated bluntly. Blueblood recovered from the sudden, not to mention terrifying fit, and then raised a brow with a low gulp. "C-come now, s-surely there's no n-need to exaggerate," he said carefully. However Raven just pushed her seat back and walked off. "I'm done, I'll be in the library if you need me," she stated and vanished into a black disk shaped portal. As she left those present turned to Celestia who shrugged. "I had very little contact with her sire for a while, he might have left something of an..." she paused to consider her words, "an impression," she finished. Although she'd have to ask about the girl's father herself at a later date. Hopefully after a few lessons on keeping her powers under control. A random surge like that was impressive, but also terrifying. 'To think she's been like this all her life,' the alicorn noted to herself with a frown. She honestly couldn't imagine being so powerful and having no way to control it. "Raven, cancel my appointments, I think I need to speak with my daughter," she ordered her aide. The white mare didn't question her, instead she nodded and swiftly went off to do as bade. As she did Celestia returned to her pancakes with a frown. 'Now I just need to figure out how I can help Raven... Cadence has the most similar power, but her power is hardly as violent as Raven's clearly is,' she noted to herself. 'When Cadence gets back, I really should have her help with Raven's training,' she decided with a mental nod... There was a reason Raven liked libraries. They were quiet, they were still, and most often they had no one around. Even on Azarath few willing ventured to the library in the temple. They were all too busy basking in the golden warmth of peace that seemingly poured out of every facet of their world. Azarath was a world of peace and harmony, eerily similar to this equestria if the history book was to be believed. Then again, unlike Azarath, Equestria still had some form of military. 'But ponies are technically a prey species, so with things like Chimeras, Manticores, Dragons, Hydras, and all these other monster's around, I don't blame them for at least keeping some form of military for their protection,' she admitted to herself. Azarath had been a world that preached pacifism to the point of impotency. They would not fight anyone, it was against what they believed in to ever fight or harm another living being, even if someone wanted to take over Azarath or kill their people... 'I agree with Equestria's views a bit more,' Raven admitted to herself. She didn't like the idea of people being hurt, especially if they had the power to protect them. She supposed it was partially due to the stories she used to read when she was little, but a much larger aspect came from the visions she'd seen of her mother's home. A world of true heroes and villains the likes of which she could scarcely believe was really real... she actually wanted to go there someday, maybe after this detour in Equestria she would. "Something troubles you," came Celestia's voice yet Raven didn't turn around. Instead she focused on the book grasped in her magic. She loved books, they weren't filled with emotions that bounced around in her head. They didn't talk and try to annoy her. They didn't judge her for powers she'd never asked for. Instead, they just let her forget her worries and travel to other worlds, seeing things she wished she could actually see or do. Equestria had books, and she was thankful for that, she just wished she had hands so she could hold them like she used too... "Raven it's better that you don't ignore me and bottle everything up," the solar alicorn reported. The younger of the two snorted in response and shot a glance back at her. "You clearly don't know me then," she remarked and turned back to her book. Celestia mentally groaned and then breathed out a sigh and trotted over to the girl. She sat down next to her and saw that she was flipping through a book of the creatures that inhabited Equestria and its neighboring lands. She spotted the one Raven seemed particularly interested in and smiled softly. "Tirek the Terrible, he was imprisoned in Tartarus ages ago," the pale pink princess remarked. Raven mutely acknowledged that but stared at the picture all the same. It was a red skinned creature, big and burly with studded bracelets, with a long black beard, black fur and centaur style legs, with massive horns, and bright yellow eyes. What interested the filly was how similar he appeared compared to her 'fathers' true form, albeit much smaller and much less imposing... not to mention judging by how he did things, her father would likely eat this moron if they ever met... "He's still alive then?" Raven questioned without looking away from the picture. Celestia shrugged in response. "I've never ventured down to Tartarus to check, we leave Cerberus to guard it and he's quite good at what he does," she responded. Raven felt her brow twitch and then turned to stare at the older mare. "So you're telling me you have a functional gate to the underworld, and you never make sure nothing comes out of it?" she all but demanded. Yet as she did her mind whirled with possible explanations for her presence in Equestria. If she'd somehow been in her fathers realm it was possible it linked to this 'Tartarus' and had been how she wound up in Equestria in the first place. Although... that still wouldn't explain why she'd been a rabbit when she did... "Technically, we mostly just use Tartarus as something of a prison for beings we cannot contain or reason with," Celestia admitted after a moment of thought. "And as for anything getting out, it's as I said, Cerberus is very good at what he does," she noted with a nod of her head. She also saw Raven flip through the book and stop on an image / description of the three headed beast itself. She gave a hum of acknowledgement and then returned to flipping through the pages of the book curiously. There was silence between them for a short time, Raven flipped through pages, and Celestia rested beside her until finally Raven sighed and then looked up at the pale pink pony. "What do you want?" she questioned. Celestia smiled softly in response. "Among a few other things, to help you of course," she responded. The amethyst eyed pony hummed in response and turned away. "Why?" she questioned. "Do I need a reason to want to help some pony?" the solar monarch responded. Raven snorted and narrowed her eyes. "No one does anything for nothing," she responded bluntly. Celestia's ears folded back and she looked at the smaller alicorn sadly. "That's a very grim belief," she remarked. Raven rolled her eyes in response. "You don't deny it though," she reminded. Celestia acknowledged that much and sighed. "I am somewhat troubled your 'monks' taught you to be so cynical," she murmured and Raven scoffed. "The monks only taught me a bit of magic and how to keep my emotions in check," she responded bluntly. "So then this pessimistic worldview wasn't shared by them?" Celestia asked curiously. Raven mutely muttered to herself and then pulled another book her way and started to read through it. It was a book of legends with a golden horse head on the front cover that had grasped her attention the day before. "I am somewhat troubled that you think ignoring everypony will make them go away," the solar alicorn noted and Raven grunted. "Weren't you the one who told Spike not to pester other ponies?" she grumbled irritably. Celestia sighed at that and then looked at the littler mare with a stern expression. "Yes, and I also distinctly remember telling you that you can't just ignore ponies," she reminded her. Raven grumbled quietly, her ears folded back and she narrowed her eyes. Celestia sighed at this and unfolded a wing to gently lay it across the smaller alicorn's body. "Raven, given your powers I can understand how wary you are of others, but I can assure you that I only want to help you be a better po... person," the alicorn stated softly. Raven sighed in response and then looked at her with a bored expression. "Fine, so what's our first lesson?" she questioned. Celestia smiled and then tapped her lower lip with a curious hum. "I believe we should start with the basics, that way I can properly gauge where you are compared to a normal filly your age," she responded. Raven frowned but nodded her head nonetheless. It was a sound plan, unlike Azar or the monks of Azarath, Celestia hadn't lived with her for years. Being told what abilities she had was different from actually seeing them. So Raven could understand why it was that the older pony would choose that as their first 'listen' together. "Right," she responded and then hummed. "And where are we going to be doing these lessons of yours?" she questioned. Celestia smiled in response. "A little known room in the palace," she responded, "it was designed for me to practice spells of my own, but given your power I think it could easily serve as a training room," she explained. Raven slowly nodded her head and then closed the book before her and set it off to the side. She could look through the book later, when she had the time, hopefully it didn't have any nasty legends or prophecies set to occur while she was still in Equestria. Either way she stood and looked to Celestia blandly, while the older alicorn stood and lead her out of the library and into the depths of the castle... "Oh," she paused as they walked and then the older mare smiled down at her, "and I've suggested that Blue takes you out through Canterlot later," she remarked, "to show you around and get you used to your new surroundings of course," she stated with a nod. Raven blinked at that and then shot a dark look at the older alicorn. 'Of course you did,' she thought sourly, 'cause heaven forbid you not meddle in my life,' she internally grumbled as they continued on through the palace. Somehow Raven had the distinct feeling this would be something of a theme to her 'relationship' with the much older alicorn from now on. She also had the funny feeling that this was what having a normal mother was like... which was somewhat ironic, and she wasn't sure if she entirely hated it quite yet. TBC...