Raven’s Last Flight

by Chemtest

Larva

“Long, long ago, there lived four bothers, with two brothers living on a distant peninsula that would become the center of the wood, the other two brothers living on a coastline, in a position so important that it controlled all trade. Their names, Romulus and Remus, Romau Ascendant and Ramble Downfall, all four beings of great power, said to be strong enough to fend off the apocalypse, giving the many around them hope in their hearts that the dark ages of disunity would end. The Beyond had heard of this hope, and it terrified it, the unknowable beast interfering to stop it all once and for all. To another realm, he gifted She-Wolves, beings of great importance, that their gods might cut all contact from the other realm. To us, he gifted Abraham, that the many mages of our world would split away from the other realm. Both realms, overtaken with greed and want, agreed with the Beyond, and thus the realms, and the four brothers, were split.”

Nothing defines the inside of a changeling hive better than darkness, none more than the Green Hive, the hive of thieves and spies. Nary a light but bioluminescent mushrooms would fill the maze-like hallways of black chitin, changelings passing by one another only able to notice each other due to the brightness of their own eyes. Many of the changelings which trot around today are injured, wings in splints, broken legs kept in casts, a sense of dull emotions amongst them all, along with the bitter smell of defeat and humiliation.

“But the Beyond was not done yet, for it saw fit that the bothers suffer yet more. Adopted by She-Wolves, both sets of brothers would live wild, brutal lives, watched over by She-Wolf Capitoline and She-Wolf Dominance. Tragedy would strike again, as both grew into adults, their adoptive parents would issue them one last challenge, on the day they would turn eighteen, to kill their own brother. Romulus and Remus fought with all their strength against each other, until Remus was struck down by a sword through the heart. Romau and Ramble would scar the lands of Boreas with their fight, but Romau would come out in the end. Both were granted indomitable power by their parents, and thusly both would found mirrored realms, Rome, and Romau. With the brothers held down governing their new empires, dying in pointless politics, nothing is left to stop the Beast, except the grace of-“

Within a prison cell, Sweetie Belle would slowly open her eyes, sitting up groggily, blinking to clear her eyes of blur. Similarly, Scootaloo would sit up, along with Apple Bloom, their movements distracting a guard outside of their cell, a dark changeling wearing bright silver armor, holding a book, who looks at them and grins, stopping his reading as he looks them over. Scootaloo would find her voice first, “Ugh… where are we?”

“Thirty west, forty-two south.” The sound of another voice would shock the fillies, who scramble to look at the corner of the room, where two bright eyes look at them. The grey colt almost blends into the wall behind him, if not for his green eyes, and unlike them he did not sit and stretch, instead staying in an unnatural limp position, “You’re a Pegasus.”

The strangeness of the colt would distract the fillies from their dire circumstances, with the three of them looking at each other, before Scootaloo looks back, “Umm… yeah. And you’re an earth pony.”

The colt would slowly blink, “Earth pony? How strange. That implies a knowledge of earth. Fascinating.” He then gets up from his bed, sliding out from it, sliding right onto his stomach on the floor, before he gets up in a strange manner, slipping into a single hoof under his form at a time, lifting only a segment of himself at once. Once all of his legs are beneath him, he would unsteadily trot towards Scootaloo, his eyes never leaving her own, even as he gets uncomfortably close, “You speak a form of Anglo-Saxon mixed with Norman and French influence, maybe a bit of Hanover is in there as well, yet it is also strangely simplified, you do not use stressed ‘thee’ nor ‘thou’, but then again, neither am I. Your wings are too small to support yourself, yet you seem to be in late puberty, perhaps a defect, but you do have thicker hooves than average.”

Scootaloo frowns slightly, and then shoves the colt back, “Don’t talk about my wings.”

The colt wouldn’t stumble back, but would instead immediately fall backwards, cracking his head against the hard floor with a loud noise. Even still, he continues on in a voice that seems continuously curious, “There are the thicker hooves, strong enough to push me over despite being a female of a species, theory, perhaps a matriarchy species where the female is stronger than the males. Second theory, I am weakened in this small body. Observation.” He sits his head up, rubbing the back of it with a hoof, “I can feel pain. How fascinating.”

The changeling looks back at them, speaking in a two toned voice, “Keep yourselves in control back there, don’t make me come in there. I don’t want any of you harmed.”

Apple Bloom frowns, turning to face the changeling, only to charge up against the cell door, giving him a larger frown, “Let us go! I don’t know who you’re looking for, but it ain’t us, we didn’t do anything wrong! Well… not to you!”

He gives her a small snort, “You aren’t getting out, filly. Now if you calm the heck down, you’ll be given some food and drink, and if you act all friendly-like with us, we won’t have any issues, got it?”

Apple Bloom frowns, and is about to unleash a tirade of words at the changeling, only to be interrupted by the soft, curious voice, “You are fascinating.” She looks beside herself, seeing the colt running his eyes up and down the changeling’s form, “You have both an exoskeleton, like an insect, and an internal skeleton much like a mammal. You do not look like a tortoise nor a crocodile, you are not mammal, insect, reptile, amphibian, you are an enigma.” He slowly blinks, “How fascinating.”

Scootaloo and Apple Bloom both give him incredulous looks, while Sweetie Belle, quiet until now, smiles and nods along, “Actually, yeah, I never thought about that. Why do changelings have both internal and external skeletons when most others only have one or the other? Miss Twilight would probably study that sometime.”

He looks around, meeting the eyes of the filly, the barest hints of a smile appearing on his face, “That sounds like the name of a scholar. I quite like scholars, they aren’t afraid to… delve.”

Apple Bloom looks at Scootaloo, the two of them shrugging, before she looks back at the colt, giving him a small smile, “Hey, umm, you alright there? With the gas, and Scootaloo pushing you over, and… I don’t know, you’re just acting a bit… umm… unique?”

He looks at her and slowly blinks, “Every being is unique. You are trying to call me strange, weird, perhaps mad, a fascinating observation. I can feel throbbing in the back of my head, it is distracting, I love it. A small fog hangs over my senses, and everything is brighter than I remember it being. The city was almost blinding, but my vision is so detailed, I can make our every lock of fur you have, and I can see that concerned look on your face. It is strange, how you are concerned. Am I fine? I have no idea. That’s fascinating, I cannot tell if I am fine or if I am not. Isn’t that a bit strange as well? I cannot say, perhaps it isn’t, for you. But it would seem like I have been taken hostage by someone, presumably a greedy Queen of some sort, who wishes to abuse my powers for her own gain, and you are here for emotional hostages, because you look so similar to me. How fascinating, I’m usually the one kidnapping. I cannot wait to see what’s next, I hope it’s a Faustian Bargain that I can exploit, or perhaps I’ll be dissected again, that’s always fun.”

The fillies all look at him like he’s absolutely insane, any pony would do the same in their place, really. Scootaloo slowly speaks, “Okay… I seriously messed you up with that push, didn’t I?”

Sweetie Belle then looks at her, and reaches up a hoof, clipping her ear with it, “Scootaloo, you’re acting like a bully.” She then speaks a bit quieter to her two friends, “Look, maybe he’s a bit strange, but aren’t we too? Plus, he doesn’t have a Curie Mark.”

Apple Bloom gasps, looking over at the colt, who has now turned to stare in wonder at a chitinous wall, seeing that is flank is, indeed, blank, “Sweetie Belle, you’re right! Come on, girls.” She trots over, with him looking over at her, as she extends her hoof, “Sorry we got off on the wrong hoof there. My name’s Apple Bloom, I’m from Sweet Apple Acres in Ponyville, it’s nice to meet ya.”

Scootaloo nods and steps up to him with a small grins also extending her own hoof, “Yeah, and I’m Scootaloo! Sorry about pushing you over before, I guess I just don’t know my own strength… I do know it’s a lot of strength, though.”

Sweetie Belle smiles and extends her own hood, smiling even wider, “And I’m Sweetie Belle! You see, we’re just like you, because just like you, we don’t have our Cutie Marks!”

He slowly blinks, and then extends a hoof, tapping it against each of their own, “Apple Bloom, daughter of Pear Butter and Bright Mac. Scootaloo, daughter of Scooter Trick and Wheelie. Sweetie Belle, daughter of Cookie Crumbles and Hondo Flanks. Names seem Anglo-Saxon in origin, being named after occupations, skills, appearances, with family titles being included though not often on obvious ways. Apple Bloom is the Apple family, Scootaloo sounds like scooter, Sweetie Belle comes from the saying ‘Belle of the Ball’, it therefore applies that my name should be something that is either a noun or a verb. I always quite liked the darker birds.” He pauses, and then nods, “For the purposes of conversation, you may call me Raven. Ravens Breath, if plurals are allowed at the beginning of names.”

Scootaloo grins, “Raven? That’s a pretty cool sounding name, though it sounds a lot more like a Pegasus than an earth pony.”

Apple Bloom looks over and smiles, “Well, now hold on now, my great grand uncle was a pony yet he was called Apple Crow because he would construct scarecrows for us, ain’t like bird names are just for pegasi.”

Sweetie Belle smiles yet more, “I think it sounds noble and refined, and a bit mysterious.” She puts on a theatrical voice, “Like the name of a secondary antagonist turned protagonist in a story, the type Goth and Emo ponies would crush on.” She then giggles softly to herself, her friends laughing along, while Raven watches with an impassive look. She then looks at him and smiles, “Heh, umm, anyway, we’re also the founding members and… only full members other than family members of an organization called the Cutie Mark Crusaders. We’d give our full intro, but the guard there probably wouldn’t like it, so… yeah. We’re dedicated to finding our Cutie Marks, and, do you think you’d like to join? At least while we’re trapped?”

He looks at her, tilting his head, “You have Goths here as well? They always did seem oddly drawn to my forest ever since Alaric burned the eternal city at my command. Just one question. What is a Cutie Mark?”

The three fillies would go silent at his question, the three looking at each other, then passing out, each collapsing on top of each other on the ground.

Comments

[OP Omni God-Emperor Doom]

An ancient Necromancer is kidnapped by Chrysalis,

Is she stupid!?

along with three other fillies

That is another huge mistake as well.

[Born-From-Black-Lightnin]

Hmm yes interesting indeed. And also very confusing as well. I’m assuming these mysteries will be revealed as the story goes on? Or is there some lore we should know from some other source?

[DingoAte]

I am loving this! thank you for righting this:D

[Chemtest]

11696038
Most of it will serve a purpose (maybe), but some information included in opening readings will just be extra information that exists just to support other information. But most figures mentioned by name will have some importance, either to the story, or the characters within it. Most. Like the mention of Alaric is just to show to further tie this lore to real history.

[Born-From-Black-Lightnin]

11696049
Thank you.

[Frazzle2Dazzle]

The three fillies would go silent at his question, the three looking at each other, then passing out, each collapsing on top of each other on the ground.

So… They know he’s death now?

[Eversong]

11696213
Naw I think they passed out because Raven breathe did not know what is a cutie mark