//------------------------------// // Chapter 1: The Birds // Story: Heart of Raven Black // by Vin Diesels Go-Kart //------------------------------// "....Zealots ain't right in the head, least not like regular folk. Their souls get tainted by that vigor of their's, and then they start losin themselves in their own mad delusions. That business with Lady Comstock was just a prelude. They're like leaches, the lot of em. Once they declare loyalty to someone, it don't matter what ya tell em. That there's a contract written in blood, and no one leaves Death outta pocket in this town...." The sky was a dark grey as large patches of clouds hovered over parts of Equestria like a veil, blocking Celestia's sunlight and darkening the area. Trixie didn't mind the shade at all though. Sure the sun was nice, but when she traveled from town to town, it was a relief to walk outside and not have to worry about its harmful rays, plus the gentle breeze that accompanied the passing cloud cover also provided a cooling comfort, which created quite the relaxing journey. The unicorn always thought it nice to walk outside instead of staying cooped up in her cart. "Let's see here." the magician said to herself, levitating a list and quill off her cart as it rolled alongside her, magically keeping pace. "Hmmm, well I suppose I could go back to Trottingham after I finish up in Fillydelphia, but I also wanted to make a stop in Hollow Shades to get more supplies." she said, going down the list of settlements and checking off those she most recently visited. She would occasionally talk to herself when traveling alone, making journeys a bit less lonely, and it's not like anypony was around to judge her. Plus, her new found fame had her on the road much more often than before. Trixie's first time in Ponyville may have thrown the show mare off her game temporarily, but her most recent visit to the town actually gained her some fame, much to her surprise. She supposed taking over an entire town had something to do with ponies taking an interest in her name again, even if her occupation of Ponyville didn't last very long. The blue unicorn seemed to gain a bit of prestige once word of her use of the Alicorn Amulet made its rounds, something that was always welcome. Even so, business was notably slow and she barely made enough bits at each town to keep her off that accursed rock farm. Trixie knew she'd have to step up her game if she wanted to break the unfortunate cycle she found herself in. "Hopefully the revenue from Fillydelphia will be enough to make a trip to Hollow Shades feasible. I need something fresh for my act if I'm going to really bring in the bits." Trixie said, letting her mind wander. "Just thinking of it makes me excited, maybe I'll even make enough to take my act all the way to the Crystal Empire! That would be an amazing venue to match my amazing talent." she looked up to the sky with stars in her eyes. Just then, her hopeful thoughts were interrupted by a loud caw. "What was that?" Trixie asked herself, looking around. Her searching eyes landed on a crow that was perched on top of her travelling cart. It regarded her with black eyes, shifting its head quickly and sporadically. The blue unicorn growled. "Get off Trixie's cart you filthy creature! Shew!" She tossed a rock at it with her magic, causing the crow to flap its wings and hover briefly before returning to its previous position. Soon another bird landed on the cart, which was promptly followed by three more. "What do you want, you winged rats!?" she asked harshly, quickly becoming annoyed with the avian nuisances. More crows continued to land on the cart until it was almost completely covered. Others found places in surrounding trees. Every single bird kept an eye fixated on the show mare, which caused a great deal of unease to fester in the confused pony. She felt there were hundreds flocking to her cart. "Wh-wha-what do you want? Food? Trixie doesn't have any food! Go away!" she screamed, trying her best to maintain her composure. The cart had come to a complete stop. Every tree in the immediate area was occupied by a crow, all of the branches lined with feathers, making the trees look like they had black leaves, gently swaying in the wind. The amount of cawing from the flock was almost deafening. Trixie attempted to cover her ears, desperately trying to lessen the pain that the noise was inflicting on her senses. Suddenly, the crows began landing on the ground mere inches from the unicorn. "No! Please, leave Trixie alone." she pleaded, abandoning her prideful demeanor. She swatted at the closest ones, trying to get them to flee, but to no avail. One of the birds pecked at her hoof with its sharp beak, causing pain to shoot up her leg. Fear swelled inside the mare as she kept her hooves away from the advancing crows. Trixie tried forming a protective bubble around herself, but couldn't concentrate between the ear blistering caws and the birds that were getting dangerously close to her on the ground. "Oh Celestia, what do I do?" she whispered to herself, backing into the side of her cart and closing her eyes, wishing she was anywhere else at that moment. All at once the crows stopped cawing. Silence came over the area so quickly that for a moment, Trixie thought she might have gone deaf. The crows at her feat stopped their advance and simply stood next to her. Some continued to stare at the bewildered magician while others needlessly pecked at the ground, as if waiting for a command. "Okay, what's going on here?" Trixie demanded, as if the birds would actually respond. "I'm merely introducing myself." a disembodied voice whispered. Trixie jumped a little when she heard it, looking around to find its source. As she did, some of the crows in front of her flew up in the air, circling each other before fusing together into a creature that Trixie wasn't familiar with. It was tall and thin looking, bipedal judging by the way it stood, and wore black robes covering every inch of it. Its mask had a symbol of what looked like a sword going down the middle, as well as a red stripe that looked to be crudely painted down the center. The most notable feature, however, was the object chained to its back. It appeared to be a coffin of some kind, and the unicorn shuddered to think what might be inside. The dark figure studied Trixie for a moment. She couldn't see its eyes through the small slits in its mask, but she could feel its gaze shooting daggers at her. "A world of talking horses" it sighed dismissively. "Leave it to Thomas to get sent to some fairy tale land of unicorns, rainbows, and flowers." "Excuse me?" Trixie replied, clearly offended. "Did you just refer to the Great and Powerful Trixie as a talking horse?" The figure's eyes narrowed. "I just referred to a talking horse as a talking horse." its tone became serious. "Now I'm not going to sit here and go through pointless formalities. I have questions, and you are going to answer every one of them to the best of your ability. Are we clear?" "We are most certainly NOT clear!" the blue unicorn shot back. "I don't know who you think you are, but Trixie is not a mare to be ordered around like some insignificant thrall." A few more crows landed near the show mare, staring her down threateningly as they hopped closer. "If Trixie doesn't answer my questions, then Trixie is going to find herself being torn apart by a murder of hungry crows." the figure threatened. "Does Trixie understand what her superior is telling her?" The pony's fear rose as more birds landed around her. "Y-y-yes, Trixie......understands." she said with reluctant submissiveness. "Good, then lets begin." it said, walking past its feathered minions and getting closer to the magician. "Where am I?" Trixie hesitated, unwilling to be such an easily intimidated pony, but another caw from a nearby crow quickly resulted in a hasty response. "Equestria, you're in the land of Equestria." she replied. "And can I assume that this land is inhabited by other ponies?" it asked. "Ponies, griffons, buffalo, dogs, dragons. There are hundreds of different creatures here." the unicorn scoffed. The figure became impatient. "Do not take me for a fool. I'm well aware of the presence of other creatures. What I'm asking you is whether or not ponies are the dominant species. Do they rule political and military sectors?" "Yes, more or less." "Okay, see this isn't so hard. What form of government do you live under?" Trixie thought for a moment. "Well, most ponies recognize Princess Celestia as their formal ruler." "A matriarchal monarchy?" it chuckled. "Good God." The dark figure's tone became serious again. "Well now that we've covered a few useless facts, lets get down to the issue at hand, shall we?" it knelt down and came face to face with the blue unicorn. "Are you aware of the appearance of another human being? One that looks like......" "A human!?" she interrupted, quickly sitting up. "You're a human?" The man retracted a bit, caught off guard by the pony's sudden change in mood. "This is amazing. I can't believe it! Another human in Equestria, and Trixie is the one that makes contact with it!" "What are you talking about?" the man demanded. Trixie continued to talk to herself, ignoring the figure's inquires. "I'm so lucky, I mean after everything that happened with that other human in Ponyville; scholars, wizards, necromancers, magicians, and every other unicorn with any kind of magical talent has been trying to conjure one into our world for months." she giggled to herself. "And now one has appeared right before the Great and Powerful Trixie!" The man grabbed her shoulders so that the two were staring directly at each other. "What other human?" "The.....other one. The only one that's ever been seen in Equestria." she smirked. "That is, before you of course." He gave her a hard glare. "And where is this other human?" "Oh he's dead." Trixie said in matter-of-fact tone. The figure released his grip from her and stood up, staring off into space. Trixie brushed herself off and continued. "Apparently he sacrificed himself to save the town from bandits or something. Word is, he was the most powerful being anypony had ever seen. Even the princesses were in awe of his power." she said, her eyes shimmering at the thought. She didn't notice several of the crows becoming agitated. They began cawing and flying into the air, sensing their master's rising anger. "To think a human is here now. It's too good to be true! I'll make so many bits with you in my shows. Ponies will come from all over the world to see the amazing acts we'll perform together." she continued to fantasize, oblivious to the birds now circling the two. "Finally, something important happens to Trixie! Trixie swears, she always hears about Twilight and her friends being the center of attention. Twilight gets to be an Element of Harmony, Twilight gets to be a Princess, and Twilight gets to go on an adventure with a human." she smiled and rubbed her hooves together. "But now Trixie will finally make a name for herself. I can see it now!" The magician finally looked over to the black robed man still standing next to her. He was regarding the pony with an anger and malice that caused her to cringe and back away. The crows continued to circle the cart, ready to attack anything on their master's command. "He's dead?" the man finally asked. "Y-y-yes." Trixie shakily responded. The flying birds got closer to the mare, their sharp talons threatening to make contact. "MY BROTHER IS DEAD!?" he screamed. Trixie could have sworn she felt the ground shake. The show mare covered her face with a hoof, trying to protect herself from the cyclone of wind. "Your b-b-brother?" she stuttered. Suddenly, the crows dispersed in every direction, sensing their master's explosion of anger. Like a swarm of locusts, they flew out of sight. There were only a few birds that lingered nearby in the trees. The man calmed himself, breathing heavily. "Take me." Trixie looked at him quizzically. "What?" "Take me to this town. Take me to Ponyville." he clarified, climbing aboard the magician's cart. He sat on one side of the bench in the front of the vehicle. "Why? What are you going to do when you get there?" she asked, clearly suspicious of his intentions. The man stared at her, his patience almost gone. "Nothing, compared to what I'm going to do to you if this cart doesn't start moving." Trixie hesitated, still startled by his outburst. He clearly had a temper and enough magic, or whatever it was, to make that temper dangerous. However, she couldn't see herself turning him down. The human was already sitting on her cart, and she couldn't really ask him to remove himself without fear of getting devoured by those beastly crows. Plus, curiosity was getting the better of her, and she wanted to know what was going on. "Okay." she finally said, sitting beside the hooded human. "Just remember who's cart this is. I expect you to treat Trixie with the respect and dignity that Trixie deserves." The man stared her down coldly and she gulped. "Um, never mind." Trixie's horn lit up and the cart began moving again. They both sat in silence, the blue unicorn occasionally risking a peak at her new companion. As the cart gained speed, a few crows lazily circled overhead, keeping a watchful eye on the horizon.