Traveling
The smell of the ocean was almost overbearing in the afternoon sun. I stood on the stern of the clipper I had just purchased, the crew consisting mainly of batponies that had decided it was no longer safe for them to stay in Equestria. As I was no longer captain of the Guard, I couldn’t simply take a ship for awhile. Celestia had offered to pay for a ship, but I couldn’t accept that. I had plenty of funds saved up over the years, so buying a ship was no problem. So the batponies and I left for a western port town and prepared to leave Equestria.
I flew down and stood on the shore beside Celestia, both of us looking out over the waves. “So....” Celestia’s voice wavered. “You're leaving as well.” I just leaned into her more instead of answering. “I can’t do this alone Night. I’ll be all alone.”
‘No you won’t.’ I layed my head across the back of her neck. ‘You will always have me and Luna. Even if we aren’t right beside you, we love you. And you can always look for me with the feathers I’ve left with you. Just as I can look for you.’
“It won’t be the same!” Celestia broke down into my shoulder. “You won’t be here with me anymore! You may not be related to me by blood Night, but I love you like a brother. You have always taken care of me and Luna, always comforted us and helped us through hard times. And now I’m going to lose you. Just like Luna.”
‘You are not going to lose me Celestia. You will never lose me. I will always find you if you are in trouble, no matter what. You are one of the only things that I have left.’ I let a few tears of my own slide down into her fur, before I straightened up and dried my face with a wing. ‘Now!’ I forced a smile onto my face. ‘I will see you again sister, no matter what.’
A voice called across the docks, signaling that the ship was ready to leave. “I suppose it’s time for you to go.” Celestia let a small smile onto her face. “Till we see each other again Captain Night Wing!” She gave me a tight hug, then pushed me toward the boat. I took to the air and landed on the deck of the ship. I stood there and waved at the white mare as the ship began to drift away from the shore. I didn’t stop waving until the shore was no longer visible.
“How are you?” Silver asked quietly beside me. Instead of answering I walked down to the main deck and entered the lower decks. My room was right beside the stairs, and while it was small compared to the castle I couldn’t care less. The few things I had didn’t take much room, and I managed to fit everything on the small wooden shelves stuck to the hull. A purple egg was the centrepiece, surrounded by other odd items I had collected. A bed took up the majority of the floor space across from the door, with a small desk to the right of the headboard. A mirror hung above the desk, the very same I helped make years ago. My wing blades were hung on the wall at the foot of my bed, crossed like swords, and my armor was piled in the corner with my ankle blades. The gentle rocking of the ship was lulling me to sleep as we headed west. The bed creaked as I lay down, letting my eyes close and hoping for a dreamless rest.
Four Days Later
I awoke to a loud CRRRRAAAAAAAACK!!! My bedroom door flew open as I raced up the stairs to the deck. Wind almost pushed me over as the deck door opened, rain coming down in waves. My claws dug into the slick deck as I made my way up to the helm. ‘What is the situation?’ I asked the helmspony.
“This storm came out of nowhere sir! Clear skies for miles, then suddenly this!” His voice barely reached my ears over the rain. A loud BOOM rattled the deck as thunder rolled across the ocean. “I can’t navigate through this weather! I can barely see where we are going, we’ll just have to wait it out!” Lightning struck the ocean near the ship, causing steam to rise from the boiling water.
‘Do whatever you can to keep us afloat. I am going to make sure the cargo is secure.’ I turned to go down to the main deck, but a sudden jerk made me tumble down the stairs. The sound of wood cracking filled my ears, and I groaned internally. Will I ever get a break? “CAAAW!” ‘What did we hit!?’
“I think it was a reef sir. We need to find land quickly.” The helmspony called out to me.
“Captain, we’re taking on water!” A Batpony came up from below deck. I sighed once again and struggled to reach the bow of the ship through the wind and rain. We had hit a reef, so hopefully that meant land was somewhat close. I narrowed my eyes, trying to see through the rain. A rock pierced the fog to our left, too close to avoid, so I opened a portal over it and lowered it below the water. Once the ship went over it, I lifted the portal back up and the rock once again stood above the water.
“SHREEEEEEIIIIIIIIII!!” My left wing snapped open as I let out a high pitched shriek. The helmspony turned the ship, narrowly missing a rock on our right. Then the sound of grinding sand met our ears and the ship shuddered to a stop. Then the rain petered away and the clouds receded from the evening sun. “KEEEEEEE!!” I called out, and Silver thudded onto the deck beside me. I glared slightly as she saluted me, but let it slide. ‘Get your weapons ready, I don’t like this.’ The sound of multiple weapons being drawn made me spin around. ‘Really?’ I drug my claw down my beak as the majority of the crew looked around sheepishly. All of the Batponies had their guard weapons drawn, and a few of the normal unicorns from the port had swords floating beside them.
‘And why do you still have your guard weapons?’ None of them looked me in the eyes.
“So we could serve you better Sir!” One of the Batponies in the back called out. I didn’t bother answering and pushed through them to the door. Im not a Sir anymore. Just a normal magic bird. My grumbling filled the empty hall as I put on my armor and weapons. The armor had some dents in it from the recent events. I hadn’t bothered to get them fixed before we left. I regretted that now as I put the chest piece on, the dents lining up perfectly to several sore spots. Oh how the mighty have fallen. A wince contorted my beak as I walked up the stairs, but I refused to heal myself or use any pain numbing spells.
“We are ready to scout the area Sir!” A dark red Batpony waited for me by the door.
‘What’s your name?’ I fixed him with a small glare as my eyes looked over his purple mane.
“Fie-Former Field Officer Strawberry Twist.” He winced at my glare, but held a salute as I stared at him strangely. “My parents liked berries.” He explained.
‘Don’t salute me anymore. I’m not the Captain of the Guard.’ I snorted and walked to where the ramp was being lowered.
“But you are the captain of this ship Sir.” I ignored his comment and motioned for several ponies to follow me, an even mix of Batponies and normal Ponies. Silver walked beside me as the four others followed us onto the beach. It was a rather small beach with a forest just feet away from the bow of the ship.
‘Check the hull damage and see if it’s fixable.’ I instructed a Unicorn and a Batpony. I turned to face the forest as they went around the ship looking for breaches. A thick mist was coiling between the trees, and dark shapes flitted around in the dark. ‘Silver, you and the others come with me. It’s time to meet our host.’ With that Silver, Strawberry, and the other pegasus followed me towards the woods.
“Shouldn’t we bring more ponies with us?” Strawberry nervously asked as we drew closer to the trees.
“They need to defend the ship, plus we don’t know what is in this forest. We are scouting the area.” The trees started groaning after Silver finished her explanation, and we stopped a few feet away from the tree line. The trees in front of us groaned and bent away while the underbrush slid to the side, creating a path into the mist.
“Uh, ma-maybe they need help with the rigging. I better go help them.” The pegasus with us tried to take off, but I grabbed him with my telekinesis and pushed him back to the ground.
‘They need no help with the rigging. Come on, let’s get this over with.’ I squashed any nervousness I had and stepped into the trees. The others followed behind me and we were covered by the mist just a few steps in. The canopy let little sunlight in so the mist was dark and cold. I could barely see a foot in front of my face, and we almost ran into trees several times. My wing snapped out as a twig snapped beside me, only to hit air. Leaves rustled just out of our vision and shadows jumped around the fog. Suddenly a glow to my right made me throw up my wing. I covered it in a magic shield, but that did nothing to stop the golden bolt of energy that flew from the fog. “CAAAAW!!” Searing pain filled my wing as the ball of magic embedded itself in my flesh. Another flash behind me and Strawberry cried out.
I slung several ice blades into the forest with my good wing as I ran over to the injured Batpony. ‘Silver! To me!’ “Keee!” Silver and the pegasus ran over as I shot magic into the mist, aiming at whatever glow I saw. “CAAAAAAAAW!” Another spot of pain erupted on my back. I threw up a shield around us, trying to ignore the pain of moving. A glow appeared in front of us again and I watched in slow motion as the ball of magic shot out of the mist, hit my shield, and then went through it. The shot hit Silver on the shoulder, knocking her to the ground.
“AAAAAH!” Silver cried out and curled up on herself. Enough! I let out a pulse of freezing cold air, and the mist dropped like a rock as the water turned into snow and ice. What I saw made me pause just long enough to get hit again.
“KEEEEEAAARR!” Deer were bouncing through the woods around us, yelling in some language I couldn’t understand. Suddenly they all stopped and faced us. As one, their horns started to glow. Oh crap. I snapped my wings over the ponies, trying to shield them, and threw up another pointless shield. Beams of light erupted from each tip of their horns, filling the forest with thin golden lines. They hit my shield and stopped for just a moment, then continued through. “CAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!” I tried opening a portal, but I couldn’t focus through the pain. All I could do was sit there as the light burned through me.
“JAKO!!” Someone called out, and the pain stopped. The golden light disappeared and I was left with the soreness of having holes all in your body. I opened my eyes and looked between my wings, hoping the ponies were okay. Nothing had changed with them, no more wounds than the ones they already had. I shuddered in pain as I noticed I could see light shining through several thins spots in my wings, where the beams had almost burned through. I collapsed on one knee as leaves crunched beside me.
A deer was there, looking at me curiously. I glared up at him as blood loss finally started getting to me. “Ka lo pen!” The deer motioned over several others and I tried to stand once more to protect us.
‘You will not harm them.’ The words appeared very slowly, but startled the deer nonetheless.
“Ta! Io yapeth!” I saw the deer rush over now, and I tried to shoot anything at them. But I couldn’t get the energy as my vision faded away and I collapsed on the ground. I simply glared up at the deer as I lost consciousness.
“GAAAAAAAAAAH!” I woke with a gasp, sitting up only to fall back down in pain. What the...
“AAAHH!!” The deer beside me jumped away and hit the wall. I tried to get up again, but a golden glow pushed me back down. I flinched away from the light, but it didn’t really help considering it was surrounding me. “Don’t scare me like that!” The deer gave me a slightly nervous glare. Then the glow disappeared and he walked back over to me. “I was about to undo your wrappings.” My eyes drifted down my bandaged body, noticing a lack of searing pain. The deer’s antlers lit up and the bandages came to life, moving like a snake as they unwrapped me and then crawled into a fireplace to be incinerated.
‘Where am I?’ I looked around the room, quickly noticing the others scattered around the room. Silver had bandages around her shoulder as she lay unconscious in a bed. Strawberry had bandages around his stomach and back. He, along with everyone else, was unconscious.
"You're in the local healing centre." The deer approached me cautiously. "I'm sorry for how you were wounded, but the warriors thought you were an evil beast in our forest." I yanked my wing back as he tried to pull it out. "I'm just checking for any wounds.” I relaxed slightly and let him stretch the sore skin out. “My name is Greenhorn. May I ask yours?”
‘Night Wing.’
“I must admit Night Wing, I have never seen or heard of your species before.” His horns lit up and I flinched as several feathers moved to expose my black skin.
‘What have you done to the crew on my ship?’
“Straight to the point.” He sighed heavily. “They are fine. Our warriors are guarding them in a few houses near the edge of town.”
‘So we are prisoners then?’
“Yes, you are. We don’t know what your purpose is here, and until we find out you will be under constant surveillance.” Greenhorn snorted.
‘Your bedside manner could use a little improvement there doc.’ I glared at him. I didn’t really expect anything else.
“Please, you should be thanking us. If we hadn’t pulled you from your ship when we did, you would all be dead within weeks.” Hoof steps echoed around the room as he shook his head.
‘What do you mean?’ I couldn’t think of anything in the ship that would do that.
“Ha! Your poor crew members must not have known what they brought on the ship when they found that changeling egg.” My eyes widened in horror. “Don’t worry.” Greenhorn tried to reassure me when he saw my expression. “It’s been take care of. The warriors took it to the burn pit along with the other trash. It’s probably been lit already.” He turned around to pull some bottles off a shelf. He didn’t get the chance to turn around. I forced magic to heal any wounds left inside me, and lunged forward. My claw wrapped tightly around his neck, the fur instantly freezing around it.
‘Where!!’ My eyes glowed a cool blue and Greenhorn gasped for breath as he uselessly tried to pry my claw off with his hooves. As he slowly lost consciousness he pointed shakily out the door in a random direction. I looked and could just barely see smoke rising in the fading sun. I won’t lose another one. I disappeared in a flash of light and left the breathless deer to collapse on the floor.
Third Person
A giant bonfire crackled in a clearing near the deer village, and many deer danced and sang around the fire. No one payed any attention to the small purple egg at the edge of the fire, where the flames where just starting to grow. Laughter and joy filled the air and children ran between the feet of several deer. Everything was perfect. Until a large flash of light and giant crack of displaced air filled the clearing.
“SHREEEEEEEEEEEE!!!” A giant bird colored like the night sky appeared. The torches surrounding the clearing where extinguished and ice spread across the forest floor. The flames of the bonfire slowed and turned solid as powerful magic turned them into ice. The few warriors in the clearing brandished spears, but they where cast aside with a wave of the avian’s wings. Then it landed and slowly approached the now frozen flames. It slowly bent down and gently caressed the purple egg embedded in the ice. A small scorch mark covered a third of the egg, and as the bird noticed this the air grew colder.
‘Do you know what you have done?’ The crowd gasped and screamed as the words appeared all over the birds body, where everyone could see them. He snapped his wings open and the ice shattered around the egg. It was lifted in a black aura to his eye level. Then he began floating up into the air as a black aura leaked from the edges of his eyes. ‘Do you know what you have done!?’ The air weighed heavily on everyone and they began shivering. Ice slowly began creeping up the legs of the closest deer. ‘If this egg does not survive then I promise you I will make whoever is responsible for this suffer!!! Then the bird was wrapped in a roiling mass of dark blue and black energy, before it collapsed in on itself and disappeared, The deer where all breathless as warriors rushed into the clearing, responding to the noise and terrified shrieks.
Night Wing
I slowly approached the area where my crew were obviously being held. The guards pointed their spears at me, but I froze the tips so fast that they shattered and sprayed shards of sharp metal all over their bearers. Then they tried to shoot their golden beams of energy at me as I drew closer. They were met with a thick wall of ice between me and them. All I had eyes for was the black side of one of the few things I still cherished in life.
‘Where is your leader?’ The word appeared as the wall of ice dropped.
“You’ll never get aw-!!” One the deer tried to be a hero, only to get pulled into my claw. I merely gazed emotionlessly at him as my claw slowly tightened around his neck. His gasping didn’t even register as blood slowly dripped from around the end of my toes.
‘If your leader isn’t before me in thirty seconds, I start ending lives.’ I looked at them coolly as the deer in my grip was lowered to the ground with my claw still on his throat. I was now standing on his neck, severely restricting his air. About ten seconds of choking went by before a Deer with a huge rack of antlers stepped forward. ‘I assume you are the one who ordered this burned?’ I held up the egg.
“Yes, I am. I was ridding you and your crew of a beast that would have surely ended you all.” He snorted in anger. “If I had known you really were a monster I would have let it stay on your ship and kill you all.” I closed my eyes and resisted the urge to snap the neck under me. I released the Deer I was standing on, hearing him gasp below me.
‘And how is this egg a monster?’ My eyes snapped open. ‘What gives you the right to end a life that belongs to me!?’
“Please.” He snorted. “Those things are hardly alive. All they do is feast off the lives of others, taking what they don’t have to try and make themselves feel whole. They have killed hundreds of our people. And you defend it? Clearly you are either insane or working with these dark creatures.”
‘I would choose your next words wisely.’ My wings flared out, stretching to their full length. ‘This egg was entrusted to me by my friend as she drew her last breath. And you had the gall to try and burn it.’
“Ha! Some friend! Giving you something that would grow up to kill you.” The Deer came closer to me, almost pushing his muzzle against my beak.
‘I’ll have you know, that friend was a changeling herself. And I helped defend her hive against changelings like the ones you have described. Unlike your changelings, these helped the kingdom I guarded. And I will not have their memory tarnished by your ignorance!’ I was fighting hard against the urge to kill him. I was beyond angry. I had already lost so much, and now I may have lost another.
‘You will release my crew to me, and we will leave. And if this egg survives, then I just might spare your life.’ I grabbed him in my magic and pulled him close, my forehead pressed against his. ‘But if this egg dies, then woe to you and the ones you love.’
He fell to the ground when my aura disappeared, seemingly in shock at how I had treated him. I looked at the other Deer, practically daring them to challenge me. They all nervously shuffled their hooves and looked away. My claws dug into the cold earth as I snorted and walked past them to the small huts containing my crew.
Stats
Page generated in 0.037 seconds
Total duration
704 users online
833,698 hits today, 2,151,698 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
Smashing as always, thanks for the chapter. Here is your food btw.
9992728
Aaaaaa, sustenance at last.
If I could like this story again I would, it is amazing!
It's back and with an awesome chapter! I look forward to more.
moar!!
it's alive!
A lovely chapter
Well, it's on an isolated island...no one will hear the screams of the massacre, just like in space
Also, I recently started playing Shadow of War and I see that Night Wings has some powers of a ring wraith, like frost and respawn
How big are chances that he can dominate?
cdn.gamer-network.net/2017/usgamer/Shadow-of-War-Captain-Domination.png
For The Dark Lord!
I do wonder if that changeling egg would become someling important later?
accept
bedside
I love this story!!!
I really hope the egg survives.
9992926
Fixed
Alright, I don't understand this. Why is he immediately abandoning Celestia right after the worst night of her life? Pretty speeches aside, she's now stuck on a cold throne alone, with no emotional support. Canon!Celestia was at least somewhat used to the concept already, but this Celestia has benefited from a close relationship with Night, and by extension everyone else he brought into her orbit, since she was a young child. She is now quite alone for the first time in her very long life, and I cannot understand why Night has done this to her.
9992967
Because Night is also hurt by this emotionally, and he simply can't stay there because of the memories it brings back. Greif can make people do things they wouldnt normally do.
Damn. He aint kidding around.
Also, if you're hungry, go eat!
Tears.
Changeling x deer much later on?
Love how the egg is used in the story to start a conflict, but how would just take some ones stuff and just start burning it like anyone would be pissed about that.
It would make sense if the leader Greenhorn was acting like a know-it-all, but still burning stuff without knowing it purpose.
Still a great story, glade it back.
9993553
Beat me to it.
I’m thinking there going to have to move far away from Equestria to raise the hive right.
Birb is back, all is good.
9993559
Greenhorn isn’t the leader, he’s the medic.
Birb is BACK! Sweet!
Nightwing's got some serious anger issues with the deer, not that it's necessarily unjustified.
However, I noticed Nightwing is seriously pissed with just about everyone, not just the deer.
He's angry with his crew still giving him respect, even though they're all out of the official service to Equestria.
He's pissed that they kept their Guard-issue fighting gear, even though he kept his own.
I beginning to wonder....
Is Luna not the ONLY one to have gone down the Path of the Dark Side by the time the 1000 years of her exile are completed?
9993855
okay that my bad
9993976
Nah, he’s just mad cuz his sister got stolen. I mean, I would be to. He’s under a lot of stress.
Uuuuuuh night have had enough of all the shit. XD
9994353
So was Anakin--look what happened to him.
Bird is back!
And now with deer!
Deer with unique magic which seems to perfectly counter dark magic!
A new plot starts while old wounds still linger. Literally and figuratively!
Not what I expected at midnight. A surprise to be sure, but a welcome one.
keep the ball rolling, don't drop it, keep up the good work, all the rest.
I hope we can see more with these new changelings, not even chrysalis was brutal enough to outright kill thousands of her food-victims, so they must have a good reason for it. Mystery abound!
I honestly prefer that Night left, it makes the best logical and story telling sense. Night will be hated by ponies for his strong association with Luna, any role he once played in governing is now redundant, as there is only a day guard, and we now get to see more parts of this strange wonderful world.
And, as always, GIVE ME MORE BIRB FIC!
9995318
A strange and wondeful world it is indeed. And dont worry, I still have a good bit more story planned.
9995279
Weeeeeeell......Anakin STAYED evil. And night isnt going to turn evil really, just........angry?
9995364
[voice=Yoda]Agreed, but down the Dark Path, that's how it always starts.[/voice]
But didn't Night get partially mindwiped by Harmony on the specifics of Luna's banishment? Does he still know it's only for 1000 yrs, or does he think she's gone for good? If he knows she's coming back, his anger and rage would eventually cool and can eventually returne to help Celestia prepare for it--but if he thinks she's permanently banished, his rage should only keep growing.
9995378
Well, it sad he got his memories back, and Harmony specifically told him it was ‘Only for a thousand years’......so he is no longer memory wiped.
9995394
Thanks. Sometimes some of the details get forgotten with months between chapters and infrequent rereads.
9995378
He knows its only going to be 1000 years because that is what he told Harmony when he froze her.
9995427
Psssssh, what, youv'e never heard of a Latge farm?
They might be caribou, kill them now just to be safe.
9996665
here here
tbh the brief burst of heat might just be enough to jump start the incubation process...
or not, just something I thought of
9999721
nah, we'll have time for babies later
9999822
i wonder how twilight will react when a boat full of bat ponies and a talking bird that just happens to be celestia's long forgotten adopted brother comes back from 'exile'
9999837
Nah, that boat will be long gone by the time a thousand years passes
is anyone else getting serious tobias animorphs vibes here?
"And I shall divide what remains..." the words are almost lost in the growling shriek of rock and steel as the Mech's core burns brighter with blue atomic fire, blades flick into place with a symphony of whirrs and clicks.
10000087
Ooooooh!!! haven’t read that in YEARS!!
10000301
In personal chambers in a medieval castle? When letters and shit were usually run by messengers directly to someone's door? Keep in mind, we are talking indoors
9804798
10000297
It was supposed to be a joke! Like she was spying on him spy on Luna.
10000638
Oh
To be honest I forgot about the egg this is a fucking awesome way but frightening way to remind us that it still exists
All deer shall fear the bird ....the angry bird
9993563
It just seems that it may be the route taken with this. Changeling falls in love or is friends with the race that almost killed her and... bird dad? Bird uncle? Bird guardian doesn't like them.
Twilight? Or Cadence? Hmmm.
10004618
What about twilight or cadence?
10004650
The changeling egg has importance. I'm just trying to figure out who it will be or an OC.