“Victims are all that have come before us. Violence on all those who stood beside us. Villains to all those in the future. How curious yet not strange that we would be picked as the Beast’s bringer of death.”
Raven stands on a tall plateau, overlooking a massive crowd of people, ponies, changelings, and every other creature imaginable. Roman soldiers stand side by side with Grover the Sixth, Goths in both armor and regular clothing next to a dozen changelings, Frankish Paladins in gleaming armor stood next to a Prelate of Eyr in gold and grey robes, all of which look up at his small form. Beside him stands another, a tall skeletal figure in a black cloak, a bare skull out for all the world to see, the only color but ivory bones being the glowing green eyes within it’s empty, dead sockets.
“Even beyond Earth, we’ve caused such death, how fascinating. A few weeks ago you wouldn’t have cared, perhaps you’d be happy, we’d be happy, yet here you are, your eyes are wide, a frown, how odd. Did you expect anything different? It would be strange if you did. We are Death, why would we bring anything else in our wake?”
Raven sits upon black, smooth stone, overlooking the crowd of dead creatures, his hooves pressing into the ground, his breath hitching a bit as he sees three fillies amongst the crowd, the Crusaders.
“Really, did you expect much else? Even those who tried to change you will eventually end up dead, presumably because of you. It’s quite ironic. No matter what body you’re in, no matter the same, and no matter where you go, you’ll always be the same, Death, we will always be the same. And there’s nothing to be ashamed of, there’s still much left to be learned, and knowledge sometimes comes at a heavy price.”
He then blinks, his eyes narrowing, “You aren’t me.” He then looks back and points at the skeletal figure, standing on his small legs to do so, “You aren’t anything except a ghost, put into my mind in order to sway me back to the Beast. But you’ve fallen into a trap, haven’t you? I recognize it now, it’s true, everything has been leading me here, from the first step I took upon this world, I have been guided to end up here. Guided by someone who knew you would be here, to complete the mystery. She’s been following me the whole time.”
The skeleton looks down at him with cold impassion, all while books summon into reality all around the figure. Words float up, which the skeleton reads out with a coldness to his voice, “Century, Long, Official, Vampires, Earth, Romau, Three, Here, Evolution, Centuries, Light, Eternity.” It then looks at Raven curiously.
Raven looks right back at it, “And the words you said, Victims, Even, Really, there’s a pattern, the Zebra said it herself. Clover The Clever, she foresaw this a millennia ago, she set all of this up to happen, she somehow made me choose specific books, made you say certain words, spelling out her name. But why? Why would someone go through all this effort just to spell their name? It can’t be coincidence, there’s a very low chance of that, so for what reason? It’s because she wants me to know she did it. She wants me to know her name, because she’s been guiding me away from being like you.”
The skeleton just tilts its head to the side, “Does any of that truly matter? It is truly a fascinating observation, but does it affect you? It should.” It kneels down, looking deep into his eyes, “You’ve been manipulated here, manipulated so much that I seem unrecognizable to you. But I am you. Isn’t it strange how fast you’ve changed? How much has happened so quick? How many died to make you like this? What does this Clover want from you? Will you give it to her, or will you return to your proper path?”
Raven shakes his head, and then turns around, looking over the expanse of figures, “Is this the proper path you offer me? A path of bloodshed, of entropy and destruction? It was all for a cause, first revenge, then discovery, but never was it about living, never was it about life.” He turns back around, facing the skeleton, “Look at yourself, Death, for you are me no longer. Is this what our mother would have wanted for you? Our father? Our brother?” He steps closer, “You became like this because they died, but you’ve been too distracted to realize you’ve died as well. Not just physically, you’ve died in the truest meaning of the word. To live is to grow, and you’ve not grown in a millennia.”
The skeleton slowly leans closer, speaking in its cold tone, “To live is to discover, and we have lived plenty. We have done more in our life than a hundred learned scholars could do in their own, and you would seek to throw all this discovery and progress away. The Beast offered us the power to live forever, would you so callously reject that? It promised us that when the time came for all to be destroyed, we would be given a world, built from the ashes of reality. An entire world dedicated to study, to discovery, and documenting. You reject that in favor of mortals who shall pass in a blink of an eye?”
Raven nods, “Discovery is useless with nobody to share it with, and science is useless if the world was made for you alone. You are right, we have discovered much over our lives, it is impressive, but where did it lead us? Frankish Paladins slew us, and if it were not for the miracle of us reviving on this world, all of that knowledge would have been lost. Nobody knew us, nobody cared about us, beyond the whispered stories of the grim reaper and undead monsters. Perhaps my new family will pass in the blink of an eye, but I will have done more in that blink than we have done for a millennia of study and discover. I will live my life, and I refuse to return to you, to what I once was.”
The skeleton stares at Raven more, before it, and the whole plateau and crowd of people, fade away. Raven opens his eyes back in the courtroom, only a moment having passed. Xérna still looks at him with a smirk, which fades as he looks into her eyes. With a single stomp of his hoof, she fades away, leaving the room silent, except for the quiet crying of Chrysalis.
Raven would slowly trot down from the podium, looking at Celestia as he approaches Chrysalis, before then looking at her. He approaches the quietly crying queen, and gives her a small hug, around one of her legs, unable to reach any other part of her. Chrysalis sits and wraps her legs around him, drawing him in for a hug, keeping him there for a few minutes.
Once a few minutes have passed, Raven slowly pulls himself away from Chrysalis, looking up at her and nodding, “Chrysalis. If we do not grow, we’re as good as dead. I won’t tell you what to do, or how to feel, I respect you too much for that. But I trust that you’ll find the right answer.”
Chrysalis nods and looks away, while Celestia stands, “Chrysalis, I am sorry for everything… as I am sure you’re sorry for what you’ve done. I will give you time to process, but I will be ready to speak when you are.” Chrysalis just nods, looking off into the distance.
Raven looks at her one last time, before trotting up to Celestia, looking into her eyes, “I have fixed the issue I almost caused, Celestia. I have no more business here, but I wish to thank you for your hospitality.” He gives her a nod, and then begins to trot away.
Celestia raises her eyebrow, looking after him, “Where will you go?”
He looks back at her, “To live my life, Celestia. Goodbye.” He then looks behind her, back at the judge’s stand, seeing a tall skeleton staring at him from there. He turns away, taking a deep breath, leaving the room.