Heart of Raven Black

by Vin Diesels Go-Kart

Chapter 2: Dreams and Prophecies

Twilight awoke with a start. She was breathing heavily and drenched in sweat. The alicorn quickly got out of her bed and looked out the bedroom window. To her relief, the capital city of Canterlot was still peacefully perched on the mountainside. A few dim lights made it visible amongst the dark backdrop.

"Still there........it's still there." she whispered to herself between heavy breaths. This was the sixth night in a row she had the same nightmare. She only got a few broken hours of sleep if she was lucky, and the resulting exhaustion had started taking its toll on her.

"Twilight, are you okay? I heard screaming again."

The princess turned to see Spike groggily standing at the entrance to her room. He rubbed sleep from his eyes and Twilight could see that he was worried.

"It's fine Spike, I just had another nightmare, that's all." she reassured, but Spike didn't seem convinced.

"I think it's getting worse Twilight. You hardly ever sleep anymore and when you do, you end up having one of those dreams."

The alicorn sighed. "I know. I'm going to figure things out in the morning, I promise. Just go back to bed, okay?"

The dragon looked like he was about to protest, but the thought of his bed's sweet, warming allure quickly convinced the sleepy assistant that rest was a good idea. Spike nodded and then headed back to bed, leaving Twilight alone with her thoughts.

What could these dreams mean? She thought to herself. The alicorn went over the nightmare again in her mind. It would always start with a clear view of Canterlot. The city looked as dazzling and regal as ever. She was never close enough to make out individual ponies, but the streets were busy as citizens happily went about their day.

Twilight would always look on at this part with joy and pride, watching her subjects live their lives in peace and harmony, but it would never last long. Suddenly, the princess would hear a strange siren. It was loud and seemed to come from everywhere at once. Twilight could tell the citizens of Canterlot could hear it too, for they would look up to the sky and point with what Twilight could only guess was horror on their faces.

She would then look in the direction they were pointing and her heart would sink. There, hovering just above the capital, was a massive city of steel and brick. Casting a large shadow, it floated malevolently toward Canterlot, steam and smoke rising from large stacks and towers. She would hear other sirens and loud voices coming from the floating nightmare, but the worst was yet to come. All at once, the city would attack, sending fireballs down onto the helpless capital. Screams could be heard as ponies took cover and guards ran out to face this new threat. High nobles or lower class citizens, it didn't matter. Everypony was in the same dire situation at that moment, and the barriers between ponies quickly fell as they became one in the same.

When the initial barrage of fire ceased its symphony of destruction, Twilight would see large blimps heading toward the capital. Humans sat atop these war machines, dressed in various outfits and armors. They would land in the now broken city, plunging Canterlot into complete chaos. Smoke would rise from the burning buildings as ponies ran and flew for their very lives. All of this horror didn't scare Twilight nearly as much as the last image she would see, however. For in her nightmare, standing on the floating city, was a man in black. Face concealed and standing tall, he would look on as his city wreaked havoc from above. His eyes would go red and he'd turn his gaze from the burning capital and right into Twilight's very soul. She was mortified by his emotionless stare, and slowly the image would blur as hundreds of crows clouded her vision and caused her to wake up, a panicked mess.

"What could it mean?" she asked herself, staring into her mirror. The alicorn could still see the fear in her own eyes. She hardly looked like a princess right then, instead looking more like a scared filly. However, the meaning of these nightmares, if there was even a meaning at all, still eluded her. Obviously the floating city was Columbia, where Thomas had said he was from, but the man in black confused her greatly. Why did he strike such fear in her?

She thought about what Thomas had told her. He had said that his brother controlled birds. Then her mind went back to the crows in her dream. Was that man her mind's rendition of Thomas' sibling?

Clearly I'm constructing these things based off of what Thomas told me. she concluded. It made sense, since all the brain needed was a little bit of information for her imagination to run rampant through her psyche. The alicorn had a good feeling these nightmares were the result of guilt. Her subconscious was clearly under the impression that Thomas' death was her fault, and his brother would come seeking revenge. This was a paranoid delusion at best, but she couldn't very well tell her conscience that, could she?

"I know who I have to talk to about this." she said to herself, sighing. "I just hope she can help."

Twilight slowly got back into bed, determined to get at least a little more sleep before the sun rose, bringing a new day with it.

* * *

"And then I wake up screaming." Twilight explained as she finished telling Zecora about her nightmare. "I don't know what to make of it, but it's driving me crazy."

The zebra opened her eyes and looked at the troubled alicorn. "Your fears of this dream are noted indeed, but in regards to your sleep, they should not impede. You mustn't let guilt take control of your life, for this can only lead to inner conflict and strife."

"So you think it's guilt too, then?" Twilight asked, disheartened. "I was afraid of that."

Zecora elegantly dismounted from the bamboo pole she had been expertly balancing on. "I do believe guilt is truly what is to blame, for the death of Thomas has brought misplaced sadness and shame." she said, walking over to the princess. Her face softened and she put a sympathetic hoof on Twilight's shoulder.

"From what I have heard of this fallen hero, the blame he would put on you is precisely zero. You need to let go of the past and move on, or this insomnia will continue from dusk until dawn." she warned.

Twilight sighed. "I wish letting go was that simple. For a while, I thought I had moved on. Things seemed to be going back to normal, back to the way they were before everything with the bandits, with Thomas." she turned away. "But now these nightmares have brought back memories. Every time I go to sleep, I can't keep myself from dwelling on it. These nightmares have brought back the guilt, and now you say the guilt is feeding more nightmares." Tears formed in her eyes. "I don't know what to do, Zecora."

The zebra shook her head. "These inner demons must be slain, of that I am sure. Otherwise you are in for much more torture." She walked over to her potion table. "But until you can face these demons yourself, let me fetch something off of my top shelf."

Twilight looked on in curiosity as Zecora reached up and grabbed a vial of blue potion. Taking a moment to examine the bottle, the zebra walked back over to the alicorn. "This elixir will put you to sleep, so you will no longer need to count sheep." She held the vial up to Twilight, who gratefully took it using her magic. The potion hovered next to her while Zecora continued. "I will assist you in this nightmare endeavor, though it must be you alone who conquers this foe, however."

The princess nodded, determined to beat this guilt. Even the Cutie Mark Crusaders had moved on from what happened, at least Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo had. Twilight had a kingdom to help rule and protect, and she couldn't let some silly nightmare hinder her ability to perform the responsibilities that came with such a position.

"A single sip each night is all you require to sleep alright, but soon we must get to the root of the dream for even with that potion you will run out of steam." the zebra informed.

"Okay, I'll keep working on it back home as well. There's plenty of psychology books in the library."

"These books may offer insight into your plight, but make sure to come back to me again, alright?" Zecora reminded her.

Twilight giggled. "Of course Zecora, you know you're my go to therapist. I seem to always come to you with my problems."

Zecora smiled. "Whenever you seek guidance, have no fear. Your visits to my hut are always welcome, my dear."

Twilight exited the zebra's abode, waving goodbye and then heading back toward Ponyville. The princess didn't think anything of it, but several caws could be heard among the usual forest noise.

* * *

Apple Bloom sat in the old tree house with her two best friends, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo. The unicorn and pegasus were busy plotting the day's activities, listing off various ways to achieve the long sought after goal of obtaining their cutie marks.

"Have we tried real estate?" Sweetie Belle asked hopefully.

Scootaloo shook her head, much less enthused. "I don't wanna start doing that boring stuff. I mean I know we're scraping the bottom of the barrel here, but come on, selling houses? I say we try winter sports." she suggested.

"Winter sports? But it's not winter." the unicorn pointed out. "There isn't any snow on the ground."

"So? We're just a train ride away from the Frozen North. We could just take a day to......"

"No way Scootaloo." Sweetie Belle interrupted. "Rarity would never let me go there, unless it was some big vacation, and we don't get a break from school for like a month."

Scootaloo buzzed her wings in annoyance. "Darn it, that's right. Well I'm out of ideas. Do you have anything Apple Bloom?"

The two crusaders looked to their friend, who hadn't been contributing much to the conversation. She seemed to be staring off into space, deep in thought.

"Um, Apple Bloom?" Sweetie Belle's expression displayed her growing concern.

Scootaloo gently tapped her on the shoulder. "What?" she finally said, coming back to reality.

"You kind of left us again." Scootaloo replied. "Were you thinking about him?"

"What? No no, I was just day dreamin is all." Apple Bloom quickly lied.

Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle exchanged skeptical looks. "You know, maybe if you talked about it, got it off your chest I mean, then you wouldn't be so lost all the time." Sweetie Belle suggested.

"Their ain't nothin to talk about!" Apple Bloom said defensively, raising her voice.

"Come on Apple Bloom, do you really think Thomas would want you to keep thinking about it?" Scootaloo asked.

"As opposed to what? You think it'd be better if we just forgot about him?" Apple Bloom asked.

"I didn't say that!" Scootaloo defended. "I only mean that it isn't good for you to keep your head in the past. You're always so distant these days, you don't pay attention in class, you never wanna go out and do things, it's not healthy."

Apple Bloom sighed. "Listen, I know you girls are just tryin to help, but I'm dealin with this in my own way. It might take some time, but it ain't a permanent thing. I'm just figerin some things out right now, Okay?"

The two gave the earth pony a cautious nod, which was followed by a few moments of awkward silence.

"Look, I gotta get goin. Applejack wanted me to help her with some chores around the farm. I'll catch you two later alright?"

"Yeah." Scootaloo replied.

"See you, Apple Bloom." Sweetie Belle said.

The yellow filly stood up and headed for the exit while the unicorn and pegasus resumed their cutie mark plotting. Apple Bloom climbed down from the tree house and started toward Sweet Apple Acres. She didn't like thinking back on the events with Thomas and the bandits, mostly because she blamed herself for how it turned out. It didn't take her long to realize that it was the crusaders who constantly got in the way when Thomas was in a fight, but it was her in particular who insisted they go and look for that bandit leader. It was she who had gotten them caught and used as bait to get Thomas to fight alone, and it was she who was ultimately to blame for his untimely death. The filly shook the thoughts from her head, desperate to find relief from her inner torment.

The sun began peeking through the clouds as the filly continued toward the farm, allowing the occasional shadow of a passing bird to be seen on the path in front of her. Apple Bloom didn't look up to see what kind of birds they were though. These days she couldn't hold her head very high, for shame and regret carried with it a heaviness that not even the strongest stallion could lift with ease. Instead, she continued to stare at the ground, oblivious to the black eyes regarding her from afar.

Comments

[qazse]

I hope Thomas survived so he can stop his brother from doing anything, "regrettable".

[subjectdeltapunch]

Comstock has sent the finest of his men.

[Fugly Duckling]

2567360
it could happen since i read in the news paper today that a woman had survived 16 days beneath a toppled house (i'm not sure how long it has been since Thomas death), but it sounds like the easy way out, and twilight's dream seems like some kind of foreshadowing.
but it also seems like the dream was a little too detailed, like a spoiler.

i'm not sure about anything anymore

[Fugly Duckling]

oh, and congrats on the feature!

[Vin Diesels Go-Kart]

2567633 Thanks! And the sequel takes place a few months after the original.

[Xray]

This story deserves ALL the mustaches!

[Jman796]

Murder of Crows is my favorite vigor in Bioshock

[MrBark45]

OMG! THS IS AWESOME!

[Bubbabob]

The first time I encountered the Zealot, they freaked me the buck out. Daniel Miller, however takes it to a whole new level.

[GhostlyReader]

Here's to hoping Daniel doesn't do anything stupid...

Still, good chapter. Really sets the tone for how those involved with Thomas feel.

[Stereoshock]

If only Thomas had survived, they could have done the flaming crows vigor combo and wrecked everybody's shit

[OrdinaryAnomaly]

2568789 Fuck all dese' crows.
INSECT SWARM FOR THE WIN!