> Broken Bird > by Liondancer17 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Prologue-Moonrise > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- No, we would never hurt her. Not at all, so do not pity her. Not at all. We love her, we truly do. We adore her with all of our hearts. We love her. We comfort her, we always do. She is our Queen. It is almost too easy. Almost. Why would you accuse us of hurting our Queen? No. We never lie. Ditzy Doo was never sad. She did not understand what it was like to be sad. She did not know what it was to be cruel, or to be different. She was a different girl, of course. She was slow. She was clumsy. She wasn’t the brightest pony, nor the most beautiful. She simply floated her way through life. And that was okay. She couldn’t see the world properly, anyway. She was too pure to be treated the way she was. We saw her beauty-and the light in her heart. That is what we truly need. Purity and goodness-we know nothing of that. We love her, we worship her. We can show her how she lives. We can give her better. We loved her. Ditzy Doo didn’t notice when things began to change. She didn’t see the eyes always watching her, or the way the shadows reached and stretched for her. All she was the light, the simple joy in life. And the shadows crawled into her heart, and took refuge in her soul. With every nightmare Harmony destroys, the light grows stronger. When light burns brightest, the shadows lengthen and swallow the light. The Lonely Goddess, the Rarest Star, the God of Chaos, the King of Darkness, the Queen of Lies. In the shadow of their souls, we thrive. With every end, we grow and strengthen. We multiply, we take form. And we gather around our new Queen. And we worship her. It started when Discord touched her. That was when Ditzy saw the world clearly for the first time. She heard the whispers that they said when her flank was turned. She saw the stares, the glances, and the laughter. Her own daughter was ashamed of her. The stallion she loved for so many years was in love with the librarian, not her. In fact, he hated her. He considered her a freak. She was nothing. Alone. Unloved. Unwanted. And darkness settled behind her eyes. Don’t you see? We make her happy. We see her for what she truly is. Perfect. Without us, she is so, so alone. And who wants that for such a lovable little mare? We want nothing more than to make our Broken Bird fly. We love her. Ditzy hid her face behind her wings, ashamed. Shadows caressed her feathers, gentle and kind. Ditzy opened her eyes. And slowly, they turned dark. Let it begin. It began with a slow hum, almost a whisper. A concept, a thought. Nothing serious, not to the loving ponies, anyway. What cause would there be for concern? Their glorious princesses always took care of them, holding their precious loved ones in their wings. The Elements of Harmony would always take care of them; the light of Equestria would forever shine. Always. The whispers came in soft lulls, hushes that tugged at the edges of the mind, barely there, always silent, always still. They came in gentle pulls, crawling over the edge of twilight, never overstepping their touch. Within the center, the most precious one awaited. She was glorious, as her subjects had always known. Cloaked in the silk darkness was she, cradled in the shadows of the darkest corners of the hearts of millions. She was glorious, stars glittering in her eyes, and tangled in her mane. She was the rare beauty of the night, the one queen, the one hiding in the corners of fear. And she had yet to truly take form. Spider webs of shadows reached from her, thin strings of black and silver, as sharp as glass. They hungrily preyed upon the light, piercing it, pulling it closer. The air cracked, tens of thousands of tiny screams piercing the light of the day. And it was then that the sky was painted black. Stars were swallowed up in tongues of shadow, hungrily swallowing the light they so desperately desired. The sun itself was nothing but prey to it. The moon fell to the grasp of the darkness, nothing but just a little treat. And the Queen was laughing, her head tossed back, eyes alight with the glorious darkness she had finally embraced. They will not hate me anymore. They will love me. They will love me. They cannot ignore us. They will love us forever. Until the end of time itself! Her wings were blades of obsidian, they were cloaked in darkness and spread for miles on end, reaching from heaven to Equestria, never ceasing in their brilliant glory. Her subjects-foolish little fillies and colts compared to her-were staring with wide-eyes at her, their entire bodies shaking, and she was laughing because finally, finally they were looking at her with something besides hatred. They were looking at her with love, with respect, and they weren’t laughing or pointing at her, they weren’t ignoring her, they were looking at her, and they would love her and love her and- “Stop this at once.” The Queen’s head snapped around, and she tilted her head like a curious child, smiling. “My dear Princesses, such an honor to see you both.” Her voice was the echo of thousands. At once, she vanished, and then reappeared behind the Princess of Light and the Princess of the Moon. “And such an honor to be the one to kill you both, my beloved Princesses.” It was over in just an instance. The beautiful country of Equestria was no more in just one, inconsequential little second. Because, in that one second, everything was gone. Screams and cries rang across the land, as at once, every citizen somehow knew. Perhaps it was their love. Perhaps it was some kind of magic. Perhaps it was because the Queen wanted them to know. No matter the case, they knew. As the bodies of the two Celestial rulers fell like feathers, the Queen laughed. And the world ended, and began anew, under the rule of shadows. > Prologue 2-Dawn > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------- From the moment Berry Bright was born, there was something empty inside her. Dead. Lifeless. Sad. Her large, blue eyes were grey, empty, the colour of lifeless stone. Her coat, though it shone with the dazzling, pink radiance of bubblegum and flowers, was also dulled with a sort of vacancy that could not be truly described until one saw it. When spoken to, she would look upon her new companion with eyes that simply saw right through. Like they were made of glass. Glass that could shatter with the slightest touch… Once, her parents tried to make her happy. Once. They played music, they picked her up on their shoulders and sang, sang praises to their glorious Queen, but also singing praises to their daughter, the beautiful shine in their eyes, the laughter in their heart… And all the pink pony did was stare with those impossible, glass eyes. She could not speak, no matter how hard she tried. And she was silent. Always silent. Always falling. And no one was there to catch her. -------------------------------------------- When Raider was born, she couldn’t see the colours in the sky. In fact, she couldn’t see anything. Well, that wasn’t necessarily true. She could sense everything around her, and was aware of it all. She was aware of the clouds and the rain, and could fly nimbly between droplets of water, faster than any pegasus she knew. Faster, faster, fasterfasterfaster-I have to get away, I have to get away from them all, I need to be alone, I don’t need anybody, and I don’t need anything anymore- She was a hero in her town, the Miracle Mare, the blind pegasus with the power to see anyway. Sheer will, they said. It was because she was so stubborn, so determined, and oh so brave…she drove away the bad ponies, the Shadow Soldiers that stormed their neighborhood for extra bloodshed and a few bits more. She drove them away with her speed and skill and she was adulated for it. She was a coward. A traitor to her people. A liar. Worthless. Because she let them believe she was good, when all she did was steal from them to feed her younger sister while their backs were turned. And the worst part was that she simply couldn’t bring herself to care. She couldn’t bring herself to feel guilty for it, no matter how hard she tried. She didn’t feel anything. Not anymore. Raider didn’t know who she was anymore. Her sister, Glider, a little pegasus filly who would never be able to fly, looked up to her. She idolized her older sister, and at night, she would curl up next to Glider, and listen to her younger sister dreaming of a day where Raider would see, and Glider would soar with her in the skies. “Everything will be okay.” Raider said. And she hated herself more when she said it. Because, once again, she was betraying people who looked up to her. And she couldn’t bring herself to care. ------------------------------------------------------------ Cobber lived her entire life as a lie. She was afraid of always being found out. She couldn’t trust anybody, and certainly couldn’t let anybody really get to know her. She never really had any friends. And, if she was honest, she didn’t want any. (That’s a lie and you know it.) She was born into the Shadow Soldiers, or at least, that was what she fooled herself into believing. (Nobody wanted you, because you were a freak. Just a little jackaroo, a farmmare who was abandoned because she had no magic and nothing she touches will ever grow. You were useless, so you were fed to the Diamond Dogs.) Every night she served her Queen, and every night she was rewarded with the gift of privilege. She was an Ace, the highest of the Soldiers because of her skill and her intelligence, her gift of lying and getting away with it. (And it killed her every single day) She was the Captain, one rank below Major, one rank above Lieutenant. She was the leader of her district, the Queen had always seen something in her, and had trusted her with the commanding rank. She oversaw the night, and protected it, like a good soldier would for her country, her home. (She saw the cries of the innocent. But she held her tongue, lied, and said that she saw nothing. It was all for her Queen.) Cobber was a good soldier, and a better liar. Because she could convince herself the nightmares she saw were just her own creations. And that the dreams of a past life were nothing to her at all. ------------------------------------------------ Melody could feel the music in life. It was everywhere, in the thrum of heartbeats, in every breath. With every beat of her wings, she could feel the whistling of the breeze through her feathers, and the song of flight in heart ears. Of course, she couldn’t hear it, but she could feel it, and that was all that mattered. It was all she truly felt anymore. She couldn’t feel joy or sorrow, anger or fear. But she could feel the song. The song of living, and that was all that mattered. It mattered that she was alone, with nothing but the song. No matter how long she lay, she felt nothing. At that was okay. She couldn’t hear (anything) but the song. And then her kind, green eyes opened. --------------------------------------------- Aurora was a selfish pony, and she knew it. Ever since she was a young filly, she turned water to ice crystals and pretended it was fabulous jewels for her little sister. Her precious, beautiful, little sister. Chimer, her entire world, was the only thing that Aurora had. And Aurora was a selfish unicorn, a very, very selfish unicorn. She would charm her way into the social lives of the high-class ponies around her, and fool them into doing all of her work for the unicorn. She would steal their bits, and use them for her sister. Her precious, golden little sister. She would smile, her big, blue eyes, rimmed with false lashes, as she stole the lives of others away. She was a selfish pony. All for her sister… And because it was for her sister, Aurora would do anything, and never regret it. Even as she shivered, and her heart grew colder… --------------------------------------- Dawn Star was afraid of ice. It was strange, of course, since her parents were lost in a fire. But she was afraid of ice. She would sit by the fireplace, watching the flames dance before her wide, violet eyes. It was the only light in her world, to be honest. It reminded her of the sun. Of the moon. Of the stars. She could make the fire dance. Magic was something that was lost to the world a long time ago. But not to Dawn. In the flames, five figures danced. And Dawn got to her hooves, and was drawn by the flames to her new life, her destiny. ----------------------- > Chapter 1-Solstice > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Berry Bright should have cried, she supposed, when the Shadow Soldiers killed her parents. It was only right, after all. She should have cried. But she didn’t. Honestly, she couldn’t, even if she tried. All she did was stare with wide, glass-eyes at the soldiers who stormed her home and dragged her parents away, not truly seeing anything at all. And then she was suddenly being thrown to the floor when a blast of dark magic-magic only the shadow unicorns could use-was being blasted at her. There was another earth pony standing over her, green eyes wide, shielding the pink pony with her flank. “Yer alright, right?” The mare asked, and the pink pony stared back. The green-eyed mare drew herself up to full height, glaring back at the other shadow soldiers with fire in her gaze. “We’re done here, ya hear that? This one’s not involved in the uprising’, we’re goin’ home!” For a moment, the tension was so thick that a unicorn’s horn could pierce it. Then the soldiers turned, trotting out slowly, ghostly-green eyes still trained on them as they retreated into blackness. The shadow soldier looked down at the pink pony out of the corner of her eye, until they were completely alone. Then she offered a hoof, and when Berry Bright didn’t take it, the pony nudged Berry to her feet with a firm muzzle in her side. “Yer gonna have ta get yerself up an’ get a move-on, I’m not takin’ a bludger in, get that? Hell, not even sure why I’m takin’ ya in, but I am, so get yerself up before I drag ya by yer mane back home.” For the first time, Berry Bright looked at her savior, and gave a slow nod. The earth pony smiled, giving a slow tip of her hat. “Name’s Cobber. Captain Cobber, Captain of the Fourth Rider’s Cavalry of Shadow Soldiers, also known as the Night Wailers. What’s yers?” For the first time that Berry Bright could ever remember, she was suddenly aware of things. And for the first time in her life, she wanted to speak. She wanted to answer; she wanted to…she wanted to… She wanted to be happy. But- Tears rolled down her muzzle, and Cobber’s eyes widened. “Hey, hey, don’tcha go doin’ that now, watcha cryin’ for? It’s okay, it’s okay hun, don’t cry, don’t cry…” and when Cobber put a hoof on the pink mare’s muzzle, and Berry jumped like she had been burned, before leaning into the earth pony and crying out everything. She was trapped. Trapped. Falling. She was falling and falling and there was no one there to catch her and- -she was caught. And she was- -jumping back, shaking hard because there was something in her that was screaming to be let out, something in her very core that was banging against the walls of her heart and demanding to be free, and that was impossible because she was going to fall and then she would never get back up- “It’s gonna be alright, okay? Don’tcha worry, everything’s gonna be fine, okay?” The pink pony slowly shook her head, wrapping her hooves around herself, her straight, limp tail like a blanket against her chest. Cobber walked forward, giving a small, delicate smile. “Hey, ya know, yer tail could look like fairy floss, if it was curly. Mind if I call ya that, until ya tell me yer name? Fairy Floss?” The pink pony shook her head, blue eyes suddenly lit aflame. Taking a stick from the firewood box, she slowly drew her name in the dirt. “Ya can read?” Cobber asked in amazement. Berry Bright froze and dropped the stick, eyes wide with fear. “Hey, hey, don’t worry, I ain’t gonna turn ya in. Yer okay. Now…come on, Berry Bright. I’m takin’ ya to ma home.” Slowly, Berry Bright turned to look at her, a question in her eyes. “Because…because…I never leave an innocent to suffer.” The lie was slowly killing her inside. The two earth ponies, one silent because of her fear, the other silent to keep the rot away, started to make their way to the home of the soldier. Berry Bright kept her head down and her mouth shut, eyes focused on the black pavement. She remembered when she was little, that there was always someone in the sky, riding on the clouds, calling down lightning with her voice alone. A streak of colour would weave through the black clouds, breaking sunlight through, or summoning storms and screaming into the raging wind until her voice was sore, rain beating her until she could no longer fly, the bolts of lightning challenging her importance-her existence. That mare, she would not give up on herself, she set her expectations high and beat herself up if she couldn’t get to it, hiding it with a smile and arrogance. She had to be seen, she needed people looking at her to feel like she was worth anything at all. Berry Bright would dream sometimes. She would dream that she had people who would catch her when she fell. She would dream that she was important, that she wasn’t made of glass. She would dream that there were four Goddesses who watched out for them, and that, unbelievably, someone like her was friends with one of the Goddesses. That she was valuable, that she was needed- Yeah. It was always just a dream. Cobber bucked open the back door with her hind legs, sending it slamming in. At Berry’s flinch, Cobber just laughed. “The damn thing never opens right, ya always have to giver ‘er yer all to get ‘er to move.” Cobber explained. While Berry tilted her head and just stared, Cobber walked inside, hanging up her white scarf, and taking off her hat. Finally, she noticed that Berry wasn’t moving. “Come in, yer gonna stay here. It’s okay.” Berry blinked slowly. “Yeah, it’s really okay. Yer not gonna get in any trouble, Berry. It’s okay, don’t worry.” Slowly, the pink mare walked inside, muzzle close to the ground, tail dragging in the dirt. She didn’t know how to feel anymore. --------------------- Dawn Star was a mare with no home, and never really had one to begin with in the first place. Even when she tried her hardest to remember, the only thing she could recall was the biting, stinging cold, and the flames that comforted her afterword. The fire that danced in front of her eyes like the rays of the sun, like the way the sky lit up just before dawn. She had never actually seen the sun before, but she had heard of it, and often dreamed of it. When she thought of the sun, she would think of magenta eyes that were filled with so much love and kindness, it was like they were filled with the power of the sun themselves… Sometimes, she thought of the moon, of the stars. It wasn’t like the ponies of Equestria lived without light entirely. There was a false star, one that burned a ghostly green over the Castle of the Queen, created by the Shadow Queen. The wealthiest of the ponies-the generals in the Queen’s Guard-lived closest to the light, drawn to it. The iron gates that surrounded the City of Stars were guarded by the Queen’s magic, which would kill anyone that was not Marked by the Queen. They lived guarded by the false light of the Queen, unfeeling soldiers that were nothing but puppets. Outside of the iron gates, the City of Roses was the second-wealthiest of the three, and was the most common for raids by the Shadow Soldiers. Ambassadors, politicians, merchants, and guards took residence there, and in the past several Star Cycles, several underground rebellions had been taken down by the Shadow Soldiers. With each passing raid, the penalty for betraying the Queen was becoming higher and higher, until even breathing a word against her would result in banishment to the Mirror Realm. And no one had ever returned from there. There were rumors, of course, about what happens to ponies that are sent into that realm, but they were mere whispers at best. Some say that your soul is trapped in the mirror, and that all you are is your mind, trapped with the manifestations of your emotions becoming reality. Some say that you are frozen in time, never moving forward, for eternity. And still, others say that you are now just a spirit, moving freely between realms, free at last… Some took the punishment of the Mirror Realm, just for the mere rumor that they would finally be able to see the sun. For others, it was their very personal hell. The City of Roses was a city of fear, certainly, split into several towns that spanned the entire countryside. Life flourished-barely-but they could survive, and that was okay. The City of Dreams was the last of the three courts. Well, it wasn’t so much a city; it was more of a name for anything outside of the Capitols. The City of Dreams was a place inhabited by bandits and rogues, by robbers and farmers and hunters, but it was also the only place that a pony could truly find hope. Because here, they could plot rebellions, and dream about the sun. Here, they could find freedom in despair, and dream of the day the four goddesses would return to them. The City of Dreams was the birthplace of Dawn Star. It was where she was saved by the roaring flames. And it was where she realized that, in order to live up to her home’s name; she would have to return to the City of Stars. Sometimes, she thought of herself as a little moth with no wings. Drawn to flames, and burning up in her dreams. But it was okay, because, in the end, she knew that she would be happy. Raising her head to the sky, the unicorn mare watched as a storm began to brew over an outer district of the City of Roses, brought on by a strange, vibrant, stream of colours. And, she was brought to it. ----------------- Raider screamed into the sky, and the sky screamed back into her. She didn’t care anymore. She didn’t care about the black clouds that rolled in her mind and stole her heart. She didn’t care about the blackness that crawled under her fur and the betrayal that seeped through her mind. She didn’t care anymore. And she hardly noticed when everything stopped, and flames that did not burn danced in front of her sightless eyes. ---------------- When Melody sang, it was beautiful. She could not hear it herself, nor could she ever truly appreciate her own talents, but the others could. Birds were called down from the trees by her, and rats followed her, as if drawn by her song. She loved them all. But only because they were useful to her. She was a hypnotist, a paradox in herself. She never hurt those she used, but she never truly cared about her friends either. She felt nothing, only the words she sang, only the feeling of the wind in her wings. She very nearly missed it when she passed by a unicorn, trapped under a fallen tree, her breaths coming in shallow and weak. Immediately, a buck used his powerful antlers to help the unicorn get away, and Melody sat back on her haunches, watching carefully, waiting to see if the unicorn was okay. Slowly, azure eyes opened, and pale lips moved. Melody twitched her ears, and shook her head, showing that she simply could not understand. The unicorn, drawing herself to her hooves, tried to use her magic to spell out the words for the pegasus, but she collapsed the moment she tried to move. Melody sang again, and her animals moved the unicorn to her home, where she lay for three days, recovering from some kind of terrible injury. She recovered slowly, as there was no way for the pegasus to truly help her-medicine was something lost with the sun, so all she could really do was let the mare rest. As soon as the unicorn could gain consciousness, she tried to run out the door immediately, only for Melody to block her, and make sure that she stayed until she was fully recovered. The unicorn opened her mouth, and Melody could feel the vibrations in her hooves, but she didn’t know what outraged the mare so. Realizing this after a few moments, the unicorn used her magic to write in the air. ‘I’m Aurora, my sister was taken from me by the Shadow Soldiers, I need to reach her as soon as I can, and you can’t stop me!’ Melody frowned, and shook her head. She pointed to herself with her hoof, saying that she was going with the unicorn. The other mare didn’t object, and Melody smiled. A life debt was worth a lot, after all. The next day, the two mares set out, Aurora leading the way, never looking back. --------- In the Realm of Mirrors, a shadow stirred, and a light flickered to life.