//------------------------------//
// All By Myself 
// Story: The Night Bird 
// by MisterEdd 
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The chirping of crickets permeated the night air, the first in a nocturnal symphony that performed each and every night to an imaginary audience. They were soon joined by bats, Timberwolves, owls and many other strange and dark denizens of the Everfree Forest, each one of them awakening from their slumber to revel in celebration of the night. Everypony knew not to venture into the Everfree, especially not at night, where the untold terrors of the ancient woods held dominion. Out of all of the legends that circulated about the forest, there was one that rang one hundred-percent true and the twilight hour was her time.  

Large yellow eyes shot open as the owl-pony found herself roused by the cacophony of nighttime music, her acute vision peering through the darkness of her arboreal lair to confirm the lack of daylight. Swiveling her neck around, she planted her forelegs on the wooden floor of the tree and took several tentative steps towards the entrance, her ears flicking at every sound that they picked up on. Just because she was a predator, that didn't mean that she was safe. In the Everfree, there is no such thing as "safe," only "temporarily sound." The owl-pony, who was named Strix, took this lesson to heart. After all, why else was she the last of her kind?      

Unfurling her wings, Strix soundlessly took off into the air, her head pivoting as her keen eyes searched for sustenance, ideally something tiny and hairy. While she could live off of insects, she preferred small mammals, such as chipmunks or rabbits, which had more meat to them and generally tasted better. There was a time when she would've aided her mother in hunting but that time was long past, so long in fact, that she could no longer remember when that last was. Decades? A century? Long enough to where Strix could only recall herself.  

That'll do. Strix thought to herself, spotting a plump squirrel hopping about between tree branches. Carefully landing on an adjacent tree, she watched the squirrel scurrying down the trunk of a nearby oak, its little nose flaring and its body skittishly alert. Leaping from the trunk, the squirrel continued its path nimbly across the tree branches and the owl-pony took this opportunity to strike. A wave of barely perceivable of blue violet energy echoed off of Strix's body and passed over the next branch that the squirrel landed on, causing the wood to snap and sending the rodent plummeting to the ground below. Wasting no time, Strix dive-bombed downward and came to stop upon a tree stump, surveying her recent kill.         

As to be expected, the squirrel had perished on impact, its neck and spine broken from the fall. Reaching a hindleg out, Strix snatched the body up in her talons and flapped away, eager to return to her lair with breakfast. She had been fortunate enough to have not been accosted during her journey and she dug vigorously into the squirrel as if she hadn't eaten in days. The owl-ponies had a rather curious talent: their bodies could radiate a unique form of probability energy that allowed them to, in lay pony's terms, cause bad luck to occur by manipulating the world around them. If, for example, a deer was running through the forest, Strix could make the deer trip by "forcing" a nearby stone to slid beneath its hooves or clock it in the head with a falling rotten tree branch. Owl-ponies couldn't just make things happen out of thin air; they merely increased the odds of unfortunate events to happen. 

Unsurprisingly, this made them extremely unpopular with the sentient races, particularly ponies, who blamed them for every disaster or tragedy, whether the equine/avian creatures were around or not. They eventually fled deep into the forests to escape persecution and it wasn't long until they faded into legend, becoming relegated to mythological omens of ill fortune or hideous creatures of the night that snatched foals from their beds to drink their blood. Strix sighed and pushed her meat to the side, having found her appetite ruined by the lingering thoughts of isolation. She gazed around her nest, her heart heavy with sorrow at the distinct lack of a mate or chicks. With a talon, she wistfully scratched a tally mark into the wall, adding another figure to the seemingly endless sea of marks that had accumulated over the years.    

Why don't you go see HIM? 

Strix idly swatted at a dust bunny, hoping to distract herself from the question. She sat across from a large mirror shard that she'd collected a while back and stuck it haphazardly to the wall with honey. After a while, the female owl-pony that stared back at Strix began to take on a life of her own and the two engaged in what at times appeared to be rather one-sided conversations. 

You know you want to.

"Because I don't see the point!" Strix snapped before miserably staring at the floor. "All it does is remind me of what I want but can never have. Who I can never have." 

So you're going to just sit there and sulk? The other owl-pony asked testily. When Strix didn't reply, she grumbled and rubbed her muzzle. At least you can go see if he's okay. Wouldn't that cheer you up at least a little bit?   

Strix's cheeks heated up at the suggestion. "Well, I-I suppose one little peek wouldn't hurt." 

There you go! The night's still young and you could use a good flight. 

"You're right!" Strix stood up and dusted off her wings.  

Of course I am! When haven't I been right?

Strix curled an eyebrow. "That time you thought it was a good idea to drop that bee's nest on that manticore's head?" 

The other owl-pony crossed her forelegs. Okay, I'll admit, it wasn't one of my brightest ideas. Never mind that. Now get out there and go see your stallion! 

"Right!" Without any further provocation, Strix took a running start and dove out of her tree, allowing her wings to unfurl and catch the breeze. "Next stop: Ponyville!"