//------------------------------// // Prologue // Story: The Chronicles of Ravensong // by Ravensong //------------------------------// Midnight blue, that deep color of the sky in the depth of night is rather like a raven’s wing, it is black and it is blue. The colors intertwined like lovers to where you can no longer tell where one starts and the other begins. That was the shade of the small filly’s coat. That color which got her ridiculed and mocked by the others in school was her shame and now her savior. For with it Ashe blended so well into the night that the dark one just passed by her in her hiding place. But how would a filly, so young that she still had no cutie mark, find herself deep within the Everfree forest hiding from “it”? It all started a month ago when her father, Cinder, was murdered. He made his living by harvesting the exotic flowers outside of Equestria and bringing them back to the delight of all who saw the rare beauties he found. It was good bits, but it was still hard going. Her mother, Hearth, had died giving birth to the filly and her twin, Ember. Her twin died as well. She loved her father but she and he had their problems. His love gone made it hard for him to show her joy. Half her soul gone made it hard for her to show anything. The only bright color in their lives was those flowers he brought back. That and her eyes but she didn’t know that, not yet. The teasing started almost immediately on her first day in school. They called her soot, they called her gloom, and they even called her freak. In silence she took it, never a word in her defense or to the teachers did she utter. And even the teachers had trouble not calling her those names either. She was a Pegasus that could not fly; her wings had no feathers, just the same velvet, midnight blue as the rest of her coat and black mane and tail. When her father went to work, Ashe could skip school. She loved it when he was gone and she could be in the silence of their house. It was one of those days that she found the letter. She couldn’t read it all, some words just eluded her. But she did understand just enough. Her father had borrowed bits from someone called “Skull” and was past due. They said they didn’t want the bits anymore, but that they would take it from his hide. It sounded bad, so Ashe hid the letter and went to find her father. She found him, but too late. Skull found him first and she hid as she watched claws tear and heard screams echo in her ears. She hid as Skull laughed, a black cloak hiding its form, bone white mask covering its face. She hid as they used magic to wield claw-like weapons to murder her father. And she hid as they left him with promises to find his freak of a daughter. Morning came and still she hid. Same the next day and the next, hiding became second nature and thus her salvation. She became thin and tired. She started to get desperate but each time she tried to leave the forest, she saw it. Skull still hunted her and so she hid. Then she was found… * * * * * * * * Ashe woke up to a darkening sky and pain. Pain?! The little filly started, her featherless wings fluttering uselessly as she tried to identify the cause of her pain. Again, something sharp hit her and Ashe let out a small shriek. “CAW” Peck. And she saw it. A large dark bird was near her and its head darted in again for another stabbing peck. Ashe’s eyes widened in alarm and she pranced away. In response the bird flew up then back down to land at her feet. “W-what are you?” Ashe whispered, backing up a few paces. Then on instinct her head turned as she scanned the area for Skull, her muscles tensed and ready to bolt. The bird seemed to clear its throat before it actually spoke in a hoarse voice. “Friend” it chuckled, “I’m your friend, if you’d have me.” Ashe went zipper-lipped, her pale blue eyes almost glowing luminous in the moonlight. The bird again chuckled. “Aren’t you tired of running yet?” It asked her. “You work for Skull don’t you?!” Ashe whispered, than she ran. She ran as hard and fast as her little legs would carry her which wasn’t far since she hadn’t eaten well in a month. She collapsed in a dark glade, tears running down her muzzle. The sound of soft wings and a shadow landing before her brought only a soft sob from Ashe as the bird hopped into the moonlight. It quietly wiped away her tears with the soft feathers on its head. “No, my kind has a bad enough rep. Nothing in Equestria or beyond would make me work for that goblin.” “What… are you?” “I’m a raven. Not to be confused with a crow, nasty dirty birds.” The raven laughed again, such an odd sound coming from a bird and yet so comforting to Ashe that she started to smile. “Come on, it’s too bright here and you aren’t safe yet.” Ashe nodded her head and got up, her legs shaking. “I’m Ashe, what’s your name?” “Grazioso” The raven said, hopping a few feet away, toward the wood. “Gra…zee…oh…so?” What’s that?” Ashe asked as she dutifully followed. He sighed, “Grazioso, it’s a music term used to indicate that the passage or entire composition is to be played gracefully.” “Oh,” Ashe said, walking after him into the forest. “But, why would you be named after music… you aren’t musical are you? That sound you made to wake me was pretty harsh.” Grazioso laughed again. “We ravens don’t sing for anyone but we are all named after that magical sound known as music. If it’s easier, just call me Graz.” Ashe nodded her head and the pair moved on in silence for a short time. The night was bright with the full moon, pearl and silver where the light was and solid black in the shadows. Ashe shuddered as nightmare memory flooded her thoughts. The black and white night marred by the ruby tones of freshly shed blood etched into her mind and she again heard the screams of pain and terror. Just as her body gave an involuntary shudder at her last memory of Cinder her memory became real and fear overtook sadness in her thoughts. A shadow detached itself from the deeper shadow of the night just as clouds passed over the moon, dropping the silvery night into the darkness of a grave. Pain blossomed in Ashe’s flank as the shadow passed by her and a harsh cackle echoed around her and Graz. She turned toward the pain in time to see the ruby of her own blood on the ground. A shriek and the shadow passed again, and again pain exploded along her body. Graz took flight with a harsh “CAW” circled her once then cried “RUN!” Ashe bolted, the goblin’s laughter following her. “Run run little pony. Makes the meat just as sweet.” She ran blindly, small sobs erupting from her from the pain in her sides and she knew she left a trail of ruby red for Skull to follow and there wasn’t a thing she could do about it, except keep running. Vaguely she heard Graz’s cry of “Not that way!” but too late, the ground disappeared from under her hooves and down she tumbled, over and over down the steep hill to Celestia only knew where. Each tumble brought more pain as her body cut a swathe through the briars and undergrowth on the hill. Her legs, chest, and face were their own melody of pain from the cuts that some small part of her mind just knew were going to scar. The rest of her mind just screamed that she didn’t want to die, yet still she fell and rolled. In the blink of an eye it was over. To Ashe she had fallen for ages and her body agreed in a cacophony of pain. She looked up to see what had stopped her fall and the sight that met her eyes caused her to shudder, her eyes to roll back, and she went limp in a dead faint. Graz landed with a soft sigh onto the skull of the creature whose body had stopped Ashe’s momentum. There he stayed watching over his friend until she woke. And the dragon skull just grinned into the moonlight. ***** Ashe woke up to the warmth of the newly risen sun, the surrounding area a riot of blurry colors until she blinked a few times to clear the dust of the night away. As the colors swam into focus she gave a small yelp and scurried backward away from the giant skeleton before her and right into the waiting thorns of a rose bush grown wild. She yelped again and a small black ball on top of the dragon skeleton’s skull started and Graz fell to the ground with a harsh squawk. “Graz?” Ashe tottered over to him. “You okay?” “Oh, fine.” He ruffled his feathers. “Never better. Why couldn’t you have run the other way… Zecora’s cottage was just a short way away.” Graz sounded mournful as he looked about himself. His eyes narrowed, the full implications of their location taking hold. “Zecora? Oh no, no. No no no no no. Don’t you dare fly off to her either. I already lost… lost my…” Ashe’s voice dropped into a barely audible whisper “Daddy” She sniffled. “Don’t you dare involve any other pony in this.” Ashe looked around her and felt her heart drop even lower. Skull hadn’t followed her down the hill for very good reason. She was at the bottom of a very large crater, filled up with the skeleton of an extremely large dragon and a massive amount of wild growth and what seemed to be ancient ruins. At quick glance, the only way out was to fly. Skull couldn’t fly. And neither could she. Graz noticed her gaze and the sudden droop to her ears. He flew to her and started to inspect her many wounds. “Could be worse… you’ll live.” He looked closer. “Huh, fate has a sense of humor, you’re gonna have some pretty scars.” “Don’t remind me. Please.” She trotted over to the edge of the crater and up the hill until it turned vertical. Try as she might, she kept sliding back down. On the third try she stomped her hoof in frustration. Graz cocked his head to the side. “Isn’t there anyone you want me to fly to for help?” “No.” Ashe replied. “Skull already took everyone and I don’t want anyone else hurt ‘cause of a… freak… like me.” “Freak? Oh no child, you are far from a freak.” A female voice sounded out, or sounded in. Both Graz and Ashe looked around trying to find the source of the voice but it came from all around them or inside their heads, or even both. Ashe sat down in shock and Graz took flight, scanning the area for the source of the voice. Ashe looked to Graz as he came back in a flurry of wings. He landed on the dragon’s skull again and cried out, “Who said that?” He twisted his beak this way and that. “You friend or foe?” “And if I was a foe, what would you do?” The voice came again. “I… would… peck out your eyes!” Graz tried to sound braver then he felt. The laughter that followed shook them to their very bones and felt like it came from their bones. Ashe noticed the roses moving. No, they were growing. The voice was affecting them as well and they grew wilder with each laugh. Wilder and more beautiful than any flower Ashe had ever seen before. “Graz, it can’t be a bad voice… look at the flowers.” “Well, I’ll be.” Graz fell silent in shock. Then he looked down at the skull that he perched on. “Heliotrope? Is that you?” “Yes, mystery solved. Here I lie yet here I am awake now. What an interesting filly.” The voice seemed to fade with the last syllable and Ashe looked at Graz in confusion. Graz sighed and settled in for a very long story. ***** Ashe, so tiny compared to the skeleton she was near, laid down on the ground surrounded by a riot of roses. She stood out like in stark relief against the pale bone and colorful flowers, her coat a deep blue so dark it might as well be black and her mane and tail even darker, her pale blue eyes growing luminous in the bright light of day as Graz talked. He was just a fledgling when he had met Heliotrope, a dragon already ancient then, and he had been awestruck by her. She had been a friend and mentor to the raven, who struck an odd picture next to her pearlescent scales. In the bright light of day she had gleamed white with shades of blue and pink and palest lilac but at night she had glowed blue and purple. She was wise and kind. But she was also shy, more interested in the magic of the land and life then in the greed and corruption of her kind. It had shocked Graz to learn that Heliotrope could not only hear the music of his kind, but she could make it as well. He told all this to Ashe, about the secret songs of the ravens and of Heliotrope’s song, ancient and beautiful in a cadence that kept time with the land itself and even the stars. It was all beyond Ashe but she tried to understand. The music Graz spoke of was beyond her but part of her positively ached to hear it. To him, the air itself was a constant melody and each flap of his wings was in a way part of that sound. In the end she cried, her useless featherless wings tucked hard to her sides as if to hug herself, and Graz hopped close to her, his beak pressed against her cheek to give what comfort he could. She woke just after the sun had set, the moon casting her soothing light over Heliotrope’s skeleton. Ashe wondered where Graz had gone to and had just started thinking about trying to make some sort of shelter out of the ruins nearby when a hard and wicked laughter floated down from the top of the crater. Skull was back and he knew she was down there. She hid behind one of the massive bones and shook. It was only a matter of time before Skull found a way to climb down. She just knew it. And then he would hunt her and his laughter told her plainly that he would not kill her quickly. How long she hid, she didn’t know. Graz still hadn’t returned, but Heliotrope’s kind voice came back to Ashe. No words, just a soothing hum that lulled Ashe into a dreamless sleep. Near midnight Graz came back, laboring with a basket of apples and with his tail feathers completely ruffled, two missing. He woke Ashe and as she ate tried vainly to fix his mangled tail. “’at ‘appen’d” She crunched at him, unable to stop eating long enough to even ask her question. He wondered how long it had been since she had eaten well. “Nothing that won’t grow back.” He mumbled trying to keep her from worrying. “You got caught stealing, and from the rope marks, a certain Apple family pony almost caught you.” Heliotrope giggled. Graz didn’t answer, only grumbled to himself. Ashe swallowed the last of the apples and licked the juice from her lips. Then she looked at Heliotrope’s body. “How do I get out of here? That… that… goblin… he knows I’m here.” Graz stopped his muttering and looked at Ashe with sorrowful eyes. Before he could say a word, Heliotrope broke in. “You fly.” Ashe extended her featherless wings. “I can’t” “You are a Pegasus. And you can.” Graz coughed, worried and not sure how to proceed when Ashe beat him to it. “I… was born without useable wings.” Heliotrope laughed, but her next words filled Ashe with an emotion she had never felt before yet lifted her up and nearly made her laugh in excitement. “It is in your blood and I will show you how.” Those simple words, they brought Ashe hope. The continued taunting by Skull over the next few days gave her determination. ***** Graz tried to help her but he knew all he could do was be there and cheer her on. Only she could find it within herself to do the things that Heliotrope tried to teach her. She listened with more attention than she had ever given anything before in her short life. She listened as Heliotrope explained to her things that had taken Heliotrope herself centuries to understand. How the world was connected. How magic and life and death were all tied together. How life and death were two sides of the same coin, held together by magic, and how the world itself and the sun and moon and stars were tied together by that same force, magic. She explained that dragon magic, unicorn magic, all types of magic come from this one singular source. And she explained how anyone could tap into it, in their own way. Even ravens, for they tapped into it with their music. Finally, she explained to Ashe that for her to be able to fly, she would have to learn to tap into a magic older then blood and bone. And for all the explanations, Ashe was still willing to try. So Heliotrope began to teach Ashe. The lessons were hard and Ashe cried herself to sleep most nights, Graz holding his beak to her cheek in comfort. No matter how hard she tried, she just could not seem to hear the magic. She could not feel it. And so, nothing changed. Until she woke one night and looked to her left and saw herself, but not herself. It was Ember. The shadow of her twin was exactly like Ashe in every way but one. Her eyes were orange while Ashe’s were sky blue. Ember smiled and in that smile, everything that Heliotrope had been telling her clicked. Ashe understood. The ruins and roses in the crater where she laid suddenly burst out in song. She could see the music, hear it, and feel it. She leapt up, sending a startled but not yet fully awake Graz sprawling, and turned toward her twin. But Ember was gone. Ashe stopped, wondering if it was a dream than shook her head. No, she knew it had not been a dream. It was that same magic that Heliotrope had told her about. Ashe skipped over to a now grumbling Graz and kissed his head. She trotted over to Heliotrope’s skeleton and smiled. Just as Graz was about to ask what was going on, she opened her mouth and sang. Graz’s beak dropped. Not a sound left the raven as he listened to his friend sing. But not a pony song, she sang a raven’s song. Two things then happened at the same time. A flash of light played across her flank as her cutie mark appeared, a raven in flight with two sparkling notes on either side of it. The other though, eclipsed the cutie mark’s appearance. One star, than another and another, started to fall. They showered down and around Ashe, and the light seemed to entangle in her mane and tail until the black sparkled and danced in the moonlight. She reared, still singing, and the light surrounded her featherless wings. They shifted and moved, then elongated, splitting and stretching until they were completely different. Instead of featherless stubs, dragon’s wings graced Ashe’s back, a blue so dark they were black and studded with the light of the stars. Her scars did not fade but the coat over them lightened to a cream color, so that her legs, chest, and cheeks had swirls that shone like beams of moonlight. Graz was speechless as he heard Heliotrope shout “Now fly, Ravensong, now FLY!” And Ashe, now Ravensong took flight. In that moment, adding her music to the song of the wind in the sky.