The Human, The Hybrid, The Raven

                                                                                Part One: The Human

         Raven groaned as she sat up.  Her head was pounding and her body was aching all over.  She couldn't remember what happened, all she knew was that she was in some hallway she never seen before.

          The hallways structure looked like it belonged in some castle, and probably was.  Banners displaying a symbol of the sun, moon, and stars hung in the hallway.  The soft light coming from the windows illuminated the tapestries, brining out the color.

         Raven stood and looked around her, trying to figure out where she was but got nowhere.  She sighed and started to wander the halls, hoping to find an exit or some kind of sign of where she was.  She huffed silently at her lack of memory.  It irked her to no end.

          She soon came to a dead end with the only doors being two large double doors with the sun on them.  Raven bit her lip and cursed herself before opening the doors, hoping to find a way out.

          What she found was a bedroom.  Raven sighed as she found it empty and walked forward into it, looking for anything to help her figure out where she was.

            "Well, I wasn't expecting company."  Raven froze midway through opening one of the many drawers on the desk pushed in the corner.  She slowly turned and turned a bright crimson.

            A large white mare was standing in the doorway of what she thought led into the bathroom.  What interested her was not only the fact that she talked, had a pink mane, and had a picture if the sun on her flank, but the fact that she had wings and a horn.

             "Please tell me I'm high as fuck and just imagining talking horses with wings and horns." said Raven, closing her eyes and rubbing her temples.  The white mare giggled at that and shook her head, her wet mane, swinging side to side.

            "No.  I'm real.  So is all the other ponies, gryphons, dragons, etc." said the mare.  Raven sat down and banged he read against the desk.

              "What. The. Fuck?" She muttered.  She placed her head in her hands and sighed.  "How did I get here?"

The rain was pouring down around her as she stood next to the highway.  A marker shaped like a cross stood in front of her.  The name Dane was etched across it, marking the spot where said person was killed.

                  "Life has been shit without you, bro." said Raven, placing her hand on the cross.  "I can't even take this anymore.  Nothing is the same.  I hardly talk to anyone anymore, I pretty much failed High School since I passed legal attending age.  Nothing is right anymore."  She reached into her pocket and pulled out a small handgun.  "I just can't take it."  She placed it against her skull and fired.

                  The mare looked at Raven with concern.  There were tears in her eyes and she kept tracing a circle on a spot on the side of her head.  She lowered her hand and let her head hang.

                "Why am I still alive?  I should be dead." muttered Raven.  Celestia walked up to her and put a hoof on her shoulder.

                 "What do you mean?" asked Celestia.  Her voice warmed her up a bit but the pain was still there.

                  "I killed myself at my brother's memorial marker.  I shouldn't be here.  I shouldn't be alive."  She hugged her knees and sobbed.  "Why?"  Tears slowly fell from the mares eyes.  She watched this woman since she found potential in her when she first started watching the human race.  She felt a ache at what has happened to the woman since she last seen her.  She pulled Raven into an embrace and placed her chin on her head.

                   "Shh.  Everything will be alright, Raven." she whispered.

                   "How do you knew my name?" she asked, not looking up but opting to return the embrace.

                    "I will tell you later, along with a few other major things that you are probably wondering."

                     "That's a long list." muttered Raven.   Celestia gave a small chuckle.  She stood up and motioned to the overly large bed.

                     "You need rest.  I have to go attend to a few things then we will talk.  I will have the maids stay out." with that, she placed on golden shoes, regila and crown that she didn't see sitting there.  Upon placing the regila around her neck, her mane became a rainbow color and waved in an invisible wind.

                 "You never gave me your name." said Raven as she got under the covers.

                  "My name is Princess Celestia.  You can call me Celestia or Tia if you prefer." With a warm smile, Celestis turned around and walked out of the bed chamber.  Raven sighed and laid her head on the pillow.

                 "So, I committed suicide, am still alive, and I'm in a world filled with walking, talking magical ponies and other creatures.  I've gone fucking insane."

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                  Something prodded Ravens side, trying to bring her out of her sleeping state.  Raven batted at the offending object and went back to sleeping.  The covers were forced off but she ignored it and nuzzled deeper into the bed, not wanting to return to her utterly insane world.  This was not granted as she was lifted into the air  y an unknown force.

             "Now come on, you can't expect me to eat dinner all to myself." said Celestis with a smirk.  Raven pouted and crossed her arms, not noticing the grey fur starting to poke out.  Celestia, however, did.  Her eyes widened.

             "What?" asked Raven.  She looked down and noticed the grey hair growing on her arms.  A piece of her hair fell over her eyes and revealed itself to be a lock of blood red hair.  She screamed and flailed in Celestia's grasp.

              "The magic is acting faster than I thought." said Celestia, a hoof on her chin.

              "Magic?!  What magic?!  What the hell did you do to me?!" shouted Raven, now swinging at Celestia.  Celestia shook her head and pushed Raven back a bit.

   "Trust me, I had nothing to do with this.  This is natural magic probably activated on your arrival in this realm." Celestia sat down and rubbed her temple.

         "So, what's going to happen to me then?" asked Raven, crossing her arms and sitting cross-legged in mid-air.  Celestia chuckled to herself at her postion and looked up at her.

         "Simple, you turn into a pony.  It's pretty much the same thing if I were to walk into your world.  As for what kind of pony, I have no clue.  Same with your cutie mark which is the mark ponies get when they get older." she sighed and shook her head.  "And I can't exactly send you back home.  People will wonder what a dead person is doing walking around, that and I doubt you will be alive upon arrival."

         "Well this is just fucking fantastic." said Raven, rubbing her temples.  She stopped mid-stroke, her eyes widening.

          "Wait, I died at the same place as my brother.  What if he came here three years ago?  What if he came here when he died."  A smile started to stretch across her face.  Celestia put her hoof to her chin.

           "It's possible.  He will still be going by the same name as he did in your world.  What was his name?"

           "Dane." she said as she was lowered back to the ground.  She gave the visible parts of her body a look over, checking the grey fur starting to grow on her.  "I'm not going to breakfast tomorrow as a human, am I?" asked Raven.  Celestia giggled and shook her head.

           "Well, you won't be stared at all the time.  That's a plus." said Celestia.  She motioned for Raven to follow her and walked out of the room.  "We will be joined by the other two rulers of Equestria.  My sister and my former student.  Just watch out for Twilight, she may want to do expirememts."  Raven visibly paled.  Celestia let out a laugh that made Raven's heart flutter softly.

            "I'm only joking, I hope.  She is sweet, but very curious.  Just answer the questions she wants to know and you should be fine."  Raven nodded.  Earlier events came back and she started to ponder the mare's earlier statement.

             "How exactly did you know my name, Celestia?  I didn't say it nor do I have a name tag that says 'Hi!  My name is Raven!"  Celestia sighed and looked away from her.

              "I have been keeping an eye on you for sometime, same with your brother.   I will get back to him in a minute but I have watched you two grow.  I saw potential and I wanted to track it and see how you grew.  It was sad when Dane died in that car accident but it broke my heart when I heard you killed yourself.

             "As for your brother, yes, he is here.  However, you cannot see him." said Celestia, keeping her eyes anywhere but the woman next to her.

              "Why not?!  He's my brother who I thought dead for three years!  Why can't I see him?" she said, fuming.  Celestia sighed and looked at her.

               "Because changelings got him first."