Raven the Last
Distant waves crash against faraway rocks.
Raven Inkwell carefully sips her drink.
"Celestia. Luna."
The former Princess nearly chokes on her own drink. "Y...you said my name."
Luna only peeks from beneath her raised sunglasses for her own response.
"Thank you. For this life. For these lives."
"I don't understand. Why are you thanking us?"
"Starswirl served as your mentor and father figure, yes?"
Celestia pauses for a moment to search her memories. "Yes, that's correct."
"He is the one I owe my continued existence to. This extended life I live is one part of a bargain I made as a filly."
"A bargain." Luna snorts. "You've never come across as the bargaining type."
"It remains the sole bargain I have made across my many incarnations. Nigh-eternal life, in exchange for the assistance I have offered for eons. Every life I have lived beyond the First is to serve."
"But why bring it up now?" Celestia cocks her head. "If your purpose and reason to live is to serve us, then why do you only reveal it now?"
"The bonding spell that my very being has become infused with draws the energy to continue the cycle of reincarnation from the Alicorns I am bound to. Though it was intended that I live as long as the Celestial Sisters, the gradual diminishing of your collective powers as time passes will see to my eventual end. I hesitate to even imagine the sort of energy that was sapped from the spell to aid in the formation of my Alicorn incarnation that went rogue those few months ago. A sealing vault designed to terminate the bonding spell by severing the innate flow of mana was constructed alongside a false rumor of this vault holding great powers within to lure this incarnation to their end. Continued existence of the Alicorn Raven, dubbed the Raven of Shadows by my former sisters, would have likely led to an even hastier deterioration of your powers, and by extension my very being. Due to their need to continuously draw additional mana to exist as an Alicorn, the vault's effect was likely a swift and painless demise, as opposed to simply breaking from the chains of reincarnation."
Celestia leans back in her seat, clearly puzzled by the amount of information presented to her. "Speaking of which, what happened to those many sisters of yours, Raven?"
"Their cyclical chain of reincarnation has been severed. Their memories will no longer be retained by me, and they will each live out the remainder of their lives as individuals, each distinct from the identity of Raven Inkwell. As such, I am now the sole remaining Inkwell to walk the land."
"Raven, I--"
"Raven Inkwell has lived a great many long and fulfilling lives. True immortality was beyond that filly's comprehension, and even now, deep down, she cannot fully fathom the many lifetimes that have come and gone. An Alicorn is innately able to comprehend such timescales, as it is simply a part of their natural lifespan. But Raven Inkwell was no Alicorn. It takes a great many additional spells and enchantments to retain the young filly's sanity, and as these spells begin to break one-by-one, so too will the very being of the mare who has lived a thousand lives."
Raven's hooves begin to shake as she lifts her glass again to her lips. She changes her mind and sets it back down. "This filly feels it coming. That starving foal found half-frozen on a mage's doorstep is ready to meet her long-awaited demise with open embrace. Farewell, younger sisters Celestia and Luna. Farewell!"
The mare's hooves cease their shaking, and she shuts her eyes for one final time.
And yet... they open again. Curious eyes peer at Celestia, then Luna. They fixate on the glass beside her. She reaches with a hoof to rub her eyes, only to be surprised by the glasses balancing on her muzzle.
"The... Celestial Sisters?" Raven mumbles after pushing her glasses up. "When did you become so... big? Where are we?"
Raven's stomach grumbles.
"Raven," Celestia begins, "You have defended me and my sister for many years. I believe the bonding spell that the late Starswirl has casted on you has finally been broken on its own accord. Though I do not remember anything of our upbringing, I believe I remember that you stated minutes ago that you protected us as if we were your younger sisters. Now it is time we return the favor, and cherish the remaining years of the filly that lived a thousand lives. Though we are still Alicorns, we are no longer Princesses. May we refer to each other on a name-basis at last?"
"Will I continue to receive proper sustenance? I dislike the notion of returning to the wilds if I do not have a purpose."
Luna laughs. "Of course we'll feed you, Raven. You did so much across your many lives to watch over us. We will treat you well. However, I do have a question regarding food."
"Yes?"
"Do you like bananas?"
Celestia chuckles. Raven glances at the elder Alicorn. "Prin--Celestia, I do not understand. Does our sister jest?"
"Inside joke, no worries." Celestia responds, snorting. "Er..." She blinks. "'Tis indeed a jest, kept largely between myself and Luna."
"Sure."
"Was that... sarcasm?"
A cheeky grin begins to spread across Raven's face. "Maybe."
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Not my favourite 'Raven serves the sisters through the ages' story, but still good.
10819533
There is another?
"CUZ YOU ABOUT TA GO BANANAS, ON THE MOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOON!!!! *giant spring in the floor launches Raven half way across Equestria* BEEEE-YATCH!!!"
Luna stares, "Is this a bad time to ask when I can control the Moon again?"
It's still a little funny.
Ayyyy I remember you. congrats on the feature!
10819603
https://www.fimfiction.net/story/314663/raven
10820132
Interesting. I was unaware of there being another story with a similar premise to this one.
Out of one, many. Out of many, one.
"So... What do you plan on doing in this last life Raven?" asked Princess Celestia while taking a sip from her glass.
"Oh... I don't know..." pondered Raven "Maybe I will give dating a try. I am still a virgin you see~♡" answered Raven, blushing in embarrassment.
Princess Celestia shocked on her banana daiquiri at that revelation.
*cough* *cough* *cough*
------
"We are Raven!"
"We exist to protect Equestria!"
"That's not creepy..." said Spike, as he hides behind Twilight.
-------
Raven: My cousins are all royal aides, all of us look identical, plus we're all called Raven.
>And that concludes the joking part of the comment<
I loved it! I felt like there could have been one more chapter for Alicorn Raven... but regardless, I loved your story!
10820201
Thank you. It is my attempt to adapt the style of writing utilized within my previous works to a third-person perspective.
I will consider an additional chapter seeing to the fate of the Alicorn Raven.
10820206
I am more curious of what Alicorn Raven was doing before she got disappeared...
I liked this writing style
The only bits that felt a bit "off" were Starswirl explaining to Raven the First what her role would be and Raven the Last explaining everything to Princess Celestia in the end. But writing exposition is really really hard, so it doesn't bother me.
10819603
SCP Pinkamena correctly identified the story I was thinking of.
10820132
Thank You
10820357
Thanks
Good premise, but very cursory execution. This concept could've gone on for ten times as long and been a satisfying thriller, uncovering the mystery on multiple levels throughout. Here, we get a neat idea, but barely any time to appreciate it. When you have to explain the climax after the fact, something's gone wrong. And Raven's speech patterns being that refined in antiquity makes little to no sense. Characters just commenting on an oddity doesn't explain it; it only draws more attention to it.
Still, again, the concept is sound and I enjoyed what's there. Thank you for it.
This... was VERY fun, to me. It would also explain a lot...
That said, I'm with several other commenters, this warrants expanded work. There's too much here to NOT do more with the concept.
10820796
10820466
If I am to expand on the lore of this story, would there be any specific aspect that you would like to see a focus on? Additionally, should I post those hypothetical chapters in this story, or would you rather they be separated into a different, sequel work?
10821015
Just a reaction
10820806
This was some excellent stuff, and I'm looking forard to reading more about the Raven of Shadows!
If I were to suggest how to expand the concept and story, then I would simply greatly expand what's already here. Like another commenter mentioned, this could be ten times the length, which sounds about perfect for what this one covers. It could probably serve pretty well as a separate story, since I feel the way this one is laid out is done really well; it feels like it's meant to be super concise as it presents us with the concept, it doesn't feel like it's meant to be more detailed than it is, but there's definitely lots of potential to do so as a seperate story.
10821214
Thank you.
As of now, I currently plan to continue posting under this story so that people are aware of the updates. The chapters will be sectioned off into "groups" using a table of contents in the description.
Ba nan ba
Man I love Raven
Short... and horrific. Still in character of who Starswirl is. Which is not a good thing. I think I would simply wish to die if I had been enslaved for so long. I would never want to hear of the sisters again let alone see them; god help Starswirl if I could get my hooves on him.
Well, there was a promise, a gift, and a sacrifice, and finally a reward. All given willingly.