Heart of Raven Black

by Vin Diesels Go-Kart

Chapter 27: Raven on My Shoulder

Daniel and Jacob rejoined Trixie and Jenkins soon after the Zealot managed to convince the Boy of Silence to leave his cage. All four met at the center of the large foyer. The sound of an airship speeding away could be heard outside.

"So we have Jacob, what next?" Trixie asked, becoming a little anxious. Understandable considering the situation.

"Jacob was the one who initially brought the city into this world. Taking it out shouldn't be a problem." Daniel's brow furrowed. "The real issue is the fleet of airships spreading throughout the land at this very moment. Jacob won't be able to target them all, so we need them clustered together. The trick will be to create some kind of disturbance in Columbia, one that will force Jeremiah to call back his forces. A coward will always hide behind his army if he feels his life is in danger."

Jenkins nodded in agreement.

"That sounds simple when you say it like that." Trixie said. "But Equestria doesn't have a standing military. Certainly not a force that could put up enough of a fight to get them all back there."

The Handyman shrugged his shoulders, closing his eyes as if processing the conversation. Trixie made a good point. There was no way to create the havoc in Columbia on the scale that they needed.

"That's fine. I've already thought of where our invasion force is going to come from."

Both the unicorn and Handyman looked at him with curiosity.

"Jacob is going to create one." he said, finally.

"Err..." The unicorn trailed off. Under his mask, Daniel rolled his eyes.

"I'm not going to begin to try and explain Jacob's abilities. I don't really know the whole story myself." Trixie raised an eyebrow, and Daniel sighed. "But I will give you the short version."

As Daniel got the Boy into position in the center of the main Foyer, he explained to Trixie how the pair of humans she'd met were actually two versions of the same person. The Crow didn't want to confuse the poor mare with too much techno-babble, and the concept of millions upon millions of universes existing at once was something that could easily make even the most competent creature go a bit insane. He explained how a machine was used to open these tears and that it's effects were given to a select few humans through methods the Zealot himself didn't truly understand.

Suffice to say, Jacob was one such recipient of this power, and was able to control it far more effectively than his fellow Boys. Daniel would wager that he could have given young Elizabeth a run for her money.

After explaining Jacob's abilities enough to where the unicorn was satisfied, and once finished positioning Jacob in an optimal place in the foyer, Daniel leaned in close to the Boy's ear, whispering something that neither pony nor Handyman could make out.

Stepping back, Daniel watched as the Boy nodded and looked down at the ground, preparing to once again bend reality.

* * *

Fitzroy hadn't noticed the turret as it pointed the barrel of its weapon at her and Apple Bloom. For the briefest of moments, Apple Bloom considered getting her attention, warning her of their impending fate, but then what good would that do? They were all going to die there anyway. Regardless of what it was, be it a machine, a man, or perhaps even a combination of the two, she would never see her family again.

She wouldn't get to buck anymore apple trees with her brother and sister, nor would she get to make the Apple Family world famous cider. Those little moments, to which she never gave much thought, were now the only things she could focus on. Everything was going slowly now. Fitzroy and her men were engaging in battle. She sneered as her machine gun spat out rounds toward the closest soldier. Each time the weapon fired, it would illuminate her dark face, revealing the hatred and desperation that was expressed in her features. The ships had completely surrounded them, and there was no way out.

And still she thought of Sweetie Bell and Scootaloo. Her two best friends in the whole wide world. The little filly never really thought about death or what came after. Such inquiries had no place in her innocent mind.

After the death of Thomas, however, her thoughts often did wander down that endless road of questions. She would wonder if she would ever get a chance to see Thomas again, to apologize for getting him killed. She'd been such a stupidly curious filly. If she hadn't insisted that the three crusaders search for the bandit leader, then he wouldn't have been able to use them as bait to get Thomas to put himself in danger.

If she hadn't let her curiosity get the better of her a second time, she wouldn't have found herself surrounded by humans who had nothing better to do than slaughter each other.

The Turret finally opened fire, sending fifteen rounds of cold, metallic death Apple Bloom's way. Before the bullets could reach their target, however, Daisy jumped in front of her at the last moment, taking every hit.

Apple Bloom gasped, at first believing Fitzroy had just died for her, but to her even greater astonishment, she realized the bullets weren't tearing through the flesh of the woman's body. Instead, she seemed to be absorbing the ammunition, and getting stronger from it!

"H-how?" was all she could say.

Daisy smirked. "A little somethin' called Ironsides. Pretty handy Vigor when you're in the middle of a bullet storm."

With that, Fitzroy pointed her gun at the turret and fired a single shot, taking its head off.

We can't keep this up, Daisy!" one of the Vox shouted over Apple Bloom's head. "There's too many of em. It's gonna take some kind of a miracle!"

Suddenly, it seemed as though the air itself started vibrating. One by one, soldiers on both sides stopped firing. They kept their guns pointed at the opposite side, but their attention was focused on the tears opening up over their heads. First there were ten, maybe twenty, but it wasn't long before there were hundreds of the portals dotting the skies, as if some sort of ceiling were being constructed over Columbia. Most of the holes were completely white, revealing nothing of what was on the other side. Even ones that were less bright still hid what lay beyond. Daisy looked up at the lights, almost mesmerized at the sight.

"Ask and ye shall receive." she muttered. Then her eyes widened as darkness began blocking the light, and some unknown things began falling from the tears. Fitzroy couldn't identify them at first. Some seemed humanoid, while others took on less recognizable shapes. The closer they got, though, the more soldiers turned their weapons away from each other, and started pointing up at the sky.

The first soldier to fire only got a few shots off before his head was crushed underneath a metal boot.

* * *

The raven didn't understand the nature of the other. It wasn't natural, that was certain. Wherever it had come from, it moved like a bird, and looked like a bird, but it just wasn't. Something about the other made the raven feel bad. It felt wrong when it saw the other, not because it was afraid of it, but because its master seemed to be.

It's master was not a creature that was easily frightened. It had seen its master do horrible things to maintain dominance. Nothing seemed to get under its master's skin, but this giant bird was something even its master would not trade blows with. The other was the only bird in Columbia that the raven recognized. Other birds came and left the city, but the other always remained, always patrolled, always defended.

The other did all these things, but it also found. It always found what it was looking for. It would search, it would hunt, and it would find. If it found, it would usually kill. If it didn't kill, it would capture. The raven knew the other was after its master. The raven knew it would find its master, and the raven knew it would kill him.

The raven watched as the other scanned the trees, quickly flying toward its master's location. The raven would get there first, of course. It would reach its master before the other, it would tell its master that the other was coming, and its master would kill the other. Its master was a hunter as well, and a better one at that. The raven and its master couldn't be killed. They were eternal in this world, and the other worlds they had seen. Nothing was better, and nothing would ever prove to be. The other would find this out for itself, soon enough.

With a light caw, the raven flew off its perch, heading toward the ruined castle, heading back to the only creature in its life it had ever felt any connection to.

Author's Note:

Sorry for the incredibly long gap between updates. I know I was getting kind of bad with that, but this one was a LOT longer than usual.

I wanted to play the Burial at Sea DLCs before continuing with this story so I could remain as close to canon as possible with the fic (as close to canon as an MLP crossover can get, anyway)

Now that Infinite's story has been completely... err... completed, updates will be more frequent with much less waiting time.

Thanks for reading!

Comments

[Zecoro]

Yay! I was beginning to get worried! Good to see youre still in the game with this. (:

[Vin Diesels Go-Kart]

4154636 Oh yeah! I'd never just abandon a story, but I will admit that I do sometimes get sidetracked.

[Emperor of Jurai]

Metal boot...bringing in an army to cause havoc...let me guess, Rapture going to join in on this party. Big Daddy is coming to town~

[Dreadman75]

I just recently played the Burial at Sea DLCs as well. Episode 2 was almost as much of a mindfuck as the main Infinite storyline itself.

Anywho, Great to see this story updated again. Can't wait for the next chapter!

[Vin Diesels Go-Kart]

4155182 Yeah, I liked the way the DLC brought everything around full circle. It answered questions that it didn't need to, but I'm glad it did.

4154949 Hit that nail right on the head!

[Vin Diesels Go-Kart]

4205887 hmmm... I think I was going for a southern drawl there. Haha I honestly can't remember! The good thing about my inability to properly convey an accent is that it leaves such things up to the reader's imagination.

But honestly, I probably need to work on that.

[Bro]

Metal boot...
Big Daddies?
Firemen?
Subject Delta?
cant wait.

[Gazpacho]

OH SNAP! THE GUARDIANS OF RAPTURE ARE HERE!!! Tell me, will Splicers come and find the Vigors much better???