The Return Of Raven Queen

The Return Of Raven Queen- Chapter two: The secret in her eyes .

With a loud crack and a flash of midnight blue light, Nighttime Glow appeared a few steps away from the canterlot train station, where Shining Noon was waiting for her. She approached her newfound companion, her hooves making a soft thud upon the wooden floor.
The alicorn in disguise smiled at her, and spoke in a soft voice.“Do you have out tickets?”

“The train leaves in five minutes,” Noon declared with a smile. “Can I know what you were up to?” She added, a fake look of innocence plastered on her young face.

“Nothing important, really. I just went looking for a friend of mine, to say hi. She works at night.” Nighttime said lightly.

Noon nodded. She felt a strange sensation, like she was overlooking something, but she quickly dismissed it, unlike she usually did. Generally, she would try her best at being watchful and never letting something slip from her whenever she talked with somepony .This time, though, she decided to focus on the weird feeling she had in her gut, like a faint realization that everything was somehow all right.

They waited for everything to be ready, and when they could, they boarded the train in silence. They walked around looking for an empty compartment, which wasn't actually hard to find given that a scarce number of ponies traveled at that point of the night, well past twelve. The room they entered was dimly lit and had two rows of seats, facing each other. They sat, each of them silently minding their own business. Nighttime looked out of the window, into the night. After a thousand years, she still found the indescribable colors of the sky mysteriously appealing. She pressed her hoof against the cold glass and drawed a small circle, thinking of the success of that night.

After planning and preparing for hours, she was confident it would turn out the way she wanted. Still, she felt grateful for her own small victory in her path towards revolution, despite the fact that it had just began.

In front of her, Noon still kept feeling this sensation in her body, like something was out of its place, but still, everything was alright. Too right for her. Noon didn't understand why, but she didn't have to, right? After all, everything was indeed alright, or so her gut was telling her somehow. She tried to think about her parents, about her friends which she suddenly got convinced she had, but couldn't remember. That was weird. She tried harder to imagine their faces or their names, but she couldn't. Almost as if something prevented her from thinking about them.It’s probably nothing, she reassured herself. Nighttime glow, her best friend from her whole life would probably know how to fix this.

And that is when it hit her. Her red eyes opened wide as the sun as she realized that everything wasn’t alright, quite the opposite. She barely knew Nighttime Glow. She didn't have an idea why she was going to ponyville. Ponyville! Where was she going to go dancing in ponyville? But most importantly, she knew she had been lied to, at least once. That’s what that feeling came from...She must have slipped something in my drink to get me all stupid and friendly, that why I overlooked her lie!

She looked at the purple mare in front of her, gaze lost in the void. Noon remembered her story, but wasn't sure if she believed it. It could have been the drink...or maybe she was actually honest. She her breath started to quicken, and her hooves began to tremble. No, don't freak out, keep it cool. She breathed heavily and looked at her companion, who was fixated on the moon, ignoring Noon.

The white mare cleared her throat and, with her best attempt at a calm voice, excused herself to the bathroom. Nighttime answered with a nod, her eyes still on the sun of night.

Noon opened the door and walked away, and at the moment she was out of sight, ran towards the restroom. Once she was inside, she refreshed her face and looked at the mirror, directly into her own eyes. The deep red orbs stared back at her, and she knew they were her best weapon, apart from her horn. She shifted her gaze towards the reflection of her mane. Noon sighed happily. She usually didn't mention it, but she found herself to be a very beautiful pony. Her short and stylish mane, of orange and yellow, always had been her favourite feature.

She shook her head. ‘’Focus, you idiot! We are in a rather bad situation here’’. She scolded herself.

‘’Well, it is not my fault that I’m gorgeous!’’. She shot back.

‘’You can't seriously just start to think about your looks when you are being kidnapped!’’ she responded to herself ‘’ You are incredible.’’ Noon let out a deep sigh ‘’You know, it is not normal to talk to yourself. You should see a psychologist.’’

‘’ I am a psychologist’’

‘’We will talk about this later! Now think...what should we do?’’

She considered her options. She could either stay with Nighttime, or leave. The second included teleporting out of a speeding train, so she opted for the former. Stay. And what would she do after that? Noon was lost. And she laughed about it. Not a heavy laugh but a soundless laugh. She was lost. It was something, wasn't it? At last something interesting was going on. She was lost in a train with a possible traitor. That was certainly something.

Sighing heavily, she decided that her best opportunity was to stay with Nighttime, maybe talk to her about the fact that she had kidnapped her and escape when she got the chance.

Noon opened the door to the compartment, and met purple eyes staring directly at her.

‘’The effect of the drink has probably ended, hasn't it?’’ Nighttime asked.

‘’It has’’ Noon answered, her tone turning aggressive as she spoke ‘’ Why give it to me in the first place?’’ She tried to appear angry, but deep inside she found the whole situation rather interesting.

‘’ You know, Noon, time is a funny thing. When you don't need it, you have it in excess, but when you need it, it is nowhere to be found’’ She smiled ‘’ I required an environment in which we could talk and you would stay to hear me. I couldn't risk you leaving. It was necessary for me to tell you what I told you . I believe that now you will have enough time to decide whether you want to stay with me or not. I will allow both.’’

‘’Okay’’ Noon was reassured by the fact that she wasn't lying, so she decided to ask further ‘’ Was you story true?’’

‘’Yes’’

Truth again ‘’But you lied about something, didn't you? Before we took the train, there was something you said...’’ She tried to recall, but she could only think about the feeling of all-rightness she had had.

‘’I didn't’’ Nighttime quickly said, shifting her look towards the window again.

At last, Noon felt it. Lies. ‘’Raven...you lied’’

‘’How could you know?’’ Nighttime asked intrigued. She considered herself a good liar, after all, you don't survive a thousand years without the need to slightly modify the truth.

Noon sat in front of her and began to talk ‘’ I have a special ability that makes me different from anypony else. I can passively channel my magic into my eyes, making me able to detect even the slightest movement. With this, I can read any pony's body language, thus knowing when they are lying or not.’’ She paused a second to look directly at Nighttime, and gave her a smile. ‘Interested, aren't you? This ability, this power, is by far one of the best tools there is. I hate being lied to, and because of this power, I know who to trust. It has costed me many friends, it has driven me away from my parents, but I don't mind. They were all a bunch of liars.What I’m trying to say is that you can't lie to me, Nighttime. Now, can you swear that all you said about Celestia, you, the past, and specially about my future, is true?’’

‘’ It is, princess of the Noon. You are destined to rule equestria.’’

Noon was silent, because what Nighttime said was true. And now she had the opportunity to fully realize what was coming. A revolution, a war most probably, but afterwards, a crown and wings. An it didn't annoy her that she was almost kidnapped, that she had been drugged. At first she considered it an adventure, but now she had the certainty that it was more than that. It was her dream. It was power and greatness and respect and meaning. A lot of meaning. She thought about her life. Her empty and meaningless life, going from club to club, studying to be a boring psychologist, living alone, away from her stupid family and apart from her nonexistent friends. The only pony she had had in the last few years was that golden unicorn, who worked as a clerk at a clothes shop. She blushed at the memories of her going there with the pretext to buy clothes just to steal a glimpse at the beautiful mare. But even that had left her. No friends, no family, no crush. Her life wasn't painful, she always had abundant food, fancy clothes and a nice house, but it was dull, worthless and lonely. And now she had a promise of everything she hadn't realized she desired, but knew she wanted more than anything.

While Noon thought, Nighttime again looked towards the stars.She couldn't help it. The alicorn had been away, far away, for so many years. She hadn't seen this sky for far too long. She remembered the mirror, and Sunset. Oh, Sunset. Her eyes and her mane and her everything.She was exquisite, apart from talented and smart. It sent shivers down Nighttime’s spine. She absolutely adored that feeling.The human world was polluted, the night sky barely visible. Here, at a train at 2 in the morning, speeding towards a small town in the world of ponies and magic, she could watch in awe the moon that had served as the prison to somepony she had once loved.

They hadn't realized it, but their absorption into their own minds had created a serene silence. Only the faint sound of the train hurrying on the tracks, advancing into the night.

Even though she was tired and inside her bed, Princess Twilight Sparkle couldn't sleep. This was due to the fact that not only had her friend who lived in another world just arrived without warning but also a mare who had just months before plotted to take her out of the power and then saved her life, who was nearly dead, just appeared in her library. One could say this wasn't a relaxing situation. Add the fact that they both were linked to an art thief from hundreds of years ago, and you get a really nice situation. A few moments before, with the help of Sunset, she had tucked Dawn in. They had agreed that it was far too late to contact the princesses, believing that there wasn't any imminent threat.

Twilight was already getting used to her new home, but still felt the difference between sleeping inside a wooden tree and sleeping inside a crystal tree. For instance, it was way colder, and had a clean smell, nothing like the strong scent from her library. She had a charming view of the hills, the grasslands, the mountains and on top of it the moon. She looked straight at it, and felt a shiver down her spine. She quickly put it down to the low temperature.

She recalled the events regarding Dawn. How the golden unicorn had purged her of the dark magic inside of her, or how Dawn had jumped in front of her and thus taking a deadly wound intended for Twilight. But she also remembered with bitterness how she had framed her brother, how she had put Twilight against her own friends, and most importantly what Dawn had done to princess Cadence. The sleepless alicorn struggled to decide what would be of Dawn, now that she was somehow healed, but she decided that Celestia, in all of her wisdom, would come up with solution

The young mare decided that in the morning, everything would be better. It’s probably just a huge misunderstanding. I’m sure somepony pulled a prank or something. It probably isn't even Dawn. Somehow, she found that very hard to believe, but after a few minutes she succumbed to tiredness and dazed off into the realm of dreams.

‘’ Are you there yet?’’ The second voice murmured inside her head.
‘’ We are close. Prepare the house for two.’’ Nighttime replied to the voice only she could hear.
‘’Done. Also, the princess received your less-than-friendly message and hasn't contacted Celestia yet.’’ The voice was musical and slow, every word lingering on Nighttime’s mind.
‘’Thanks, Sin.’’

Noon stared at her partner, and couldn't believe that she was a thousand years old. Her glowing pink eyes where the only source of light apart from the moon and the stars. She didn't find Nighttime beautiful, but Noon had to agree that she had a certain classiness that easily covered the little flaws here and there. The way she moved with practiced ease and the way she kept herself straight gave her a look worthy of the princess she was destined to be.

A deafening shriek broke the silence as the train pull into the station. In unison, both mares stood up a walked towards the station. The winter night was cold in Noons skin, but didn't bother her companion. The lights of the station were the only ones in ponyville, a town that seemed dead in the night. Together they strolled through the streets, illuminated only by the moonlight. Noon wasn't a fan of completely depending on Nighttime to get to their destination, but it was inevitable. She had never before being in ponyville, or any similar town. Frankly, to her it all seemed either too rustic or too old, nothing to her taste. The gigantic tree-castle that stood in the outskirts of the place did catch her eye, but only slightly. Noon really enjoyed the silence, thou. It was pure and calm, unlike the ‘’silence’’ in canterlot.

Together they walked across the whole town. The passed sugarcube corner, the turned near Carousel Boutique, and past the place where the Golden Oaks library once stood. They kept on going until they reached the borders of the everfree forest, where a moist path lead towards the blackness.

‘’Light up your horn, we are going in’’ Nighttime declared, stepping into the road.

Noon nodded , unable to speak, and followed oblivious to the creatures that slumbered in the depths of the woods. Her steps were misplaced, driving her towards the borders of the road and back to the middle. She almost fell a couple time, but was intercepted by Nighttime. Their faces distorted by the shadows of the faint glow of their magic gave them an almost unnatural look. The combination of midnight blue and pale yellow created a greenish hue.They kept on walking, getting their hooves splattered with mud until they were standing in front of a run down castle.

The white unicorn looked at her companion, then incredulously at the castle. The gates where rusty, there were parts of the towers lying around and shattered glass of different colours.

‘’The castle of the two sisters. Impressive, isn't it?’’ Nighttime had missed it. The stone walls, the ancient decorations, it was all exactly as she liked it.
‘’Would you be a good assistant and open the gates, Sin?’’

‘’But of course’’ Sin answered with a laugh ‘’There is nothing I love more than helping you, mistress’’ her melodic voice tinted with sarcasm.

After a few minutes, the great doors opened with a creak, and a crow the size of a baby dragon flew towards them. It bowed, and then looked directly at Noon, who in her state of being half asleep and half stupid thinking of crowns and castles had a vacant expression, her eyes wandering around her. Her hair had gotten disheveled and her hooved where all muddy, making her look out of place next to her fancy-looking friend.

‘’I was expecting something more.... elegant.’’ The bird declared with her distinctive musical voice.

Noon looked at the alicorn, then at the crow, and then at the alicorn again. She had heard the bird speak. Usually birds did not speak. But given what she had heard that night, it didn't seem so far-fetched.She ignored the comment, not really caring what a talking bird thought about her.

‘’And I was expecting a good assistant, but that is how life works’’ Nighttime answered with a grin. ‘’ Its been years’’ She approached Sin and embraced her in tight hug.‘’Noon, this is Sin, my assistant.’’ Nighttime introduced. ‘’Sin, this is princess Shining Noon. Be respectful for once, would you?’’

‘’I will try my best’’ Sin declared, smiling to herself.

Once inside the castle, Noon enjoyed a small dinner consisting of fruits and bread while Nighttime ranted about the disorder in her castle.

‘’...I don't care that they did it, all I care about is that this is in chaos and you should have at least tried to order it! You know I can't stand this mess!’’

Nighttime began to curse under her breath as the books, painting and pieces of armour were engulfed in a deep blue aura and began to dance around, looking for their original place and, once they found it, resting again. Sin let out a laugh, only to receive angry looks from her mistress and a few books ‘’accidentally’’ falling on her head.

A few moments later, Nighttime showed Noon to the guest room. The room in question was probably the only one in the whole castle that wasn't half destroyed, and that was because it served both as guest room and as cellar. It’ furniture consisted in an ancient and enormous bed, an ebony nightstand and a few barrels and crates. Noon didn't think twice before launching herself towards the bed, not even uttering a ‘’good night’’.

The evening sun shone upon a silent Canterlot as Breaking Dawn opened her eyes. She was standing in the main street, alone. A sharp and pained shriek echoed from behind her. When the golden unicorn turned around, her knees lost their power and she almost collapsed as she screamed. Before her, princess Celestia was lying in the floor, blood pouring from her opened chest. Dawn noticed the warmth on her hands, and when she looked at them she saw they they were soaked in a red substance. Dawn’s head started to spin and she fell to the ground, closing her eyes. She tried to get up, she wanted to. She couldn't leave celestia there.

‘’Why,Dawn. Why did you kill me?’’ Celestia’s voice was agonized.

‘’P-Princess! I didn't kill you! You aren't going to die!’’ Dawn panicked as she forced her eyes open and crawled towards her beloved princess. This wasn't her fault. She was sure of it. But still…the blood in her hooves pointed otherwise.

‘’Dawn, you stabbed me. You betrayed me. I gave you a second chance and you ruined it. Twilight was a better princess than you, a better pony.’’

Dawn realized she had wings, but she didn't care. All she cared about was the princess dying in front of her. She couldn't recall doing what she was accused to have done, but it didn't matter. Nothing mattered. Dawn looked around, but there was nopony there, just a purple silhouette.

‘’Hey! You!’’ Dawn yelled at the shape, anger in her voice. ‘’You did this, didn't you? I'm going to make you regret it!’’ With the power of her rage, the golden mare managed to stand up.

‘’I did nothing. You brought this on yourself.’’ The shape whispered.Then it disappeared.

Dawn looked at the dying alicorn, but it was too late. When Celestia’s eyes dazed of, her expression turning vacant, Breaking Dawn began to cry.

She cried for hours, for days, but the sun stood still, nopony to lower it. Her weeping was interrupted by the sound of hoofsteps approaching her. When Dawn turned around, tears rolling over her cheeks, her green eyes met a very familiar set of eyes.

‘’You betrayed us, Dawny.’’

‘’No...Razor, you have to believe me! This isn't my fault! Please...’’ Dawn’s voice was cut out by a big group of hoofsteps. All around her, the mares she called friends gathered, anger and emptiness in their eyes.
‘’You aren't a good friend’’
‘’You took advantage of us’’
‘’You are a liar’’
Hardy, Cherry, Laurel and Candy. They were all there, all mad at Dawn, and she didn't know why. They kept telling her awful things, and she was petrified, because she would have expected them from anypony rather than from them. She loved them, but they did not love her.

Dawn covered her ears, but the voices kept talking inside of her head. Some were whispering, some were screaming. She couldn't take it anymore. She closed her eyes, unable to see the hatred in her friends eyes. She couldn't think, her head overflowing with the voices. Her head was aching, her body burning, but the worst pain came from hearing her friends telling her what she feared was true.

And then, at the peak of it all, there was silence. Dawn opened her eyes, and found out she was inside a bed. She looked around, filling in with every detail of the room she was in. She tried to recall where she was, but all she remembered was being turned to stone by the princess, then some purple blur and something about some raven . And she remembered Twilight Sparkle. She remembered talking to her.

The gifted unicron didn't know where she was, or why she was alive. She was certain of something, though: the mare she had been in her dream, the mare that had cried
and failed to act, wasn't her. She was strong, she was confident, and she would never hurt Celestia and even less her friends.

The sun began to rise and light filled her room, which was rather spacious given that is was barely furnished. Breaking Dawn stepped out of her bed, ready to get some answers.

Noon was awakened by a feeling of energy running through her whole body. She sprung up and blinked rapidly, her eyes adjusting to the darkness around her. She was perfectly conscious of her situation, completely aware of where she was. Still…

Still, it took her some time to fully remember what had happened hours before. The idea of the promise made her shiver in anticipation. She twisted and turned inside her beds, making a mess with the blankets and covers. Unable to close her eyes for more than a couple seconds, Noon decided she would explore the castle.

The door squeaked as Noon opened it, its hinges decayed and brown with oxide. She wandered around the vast rooms, most of them missing a portion of the roof or a wall. She was impressed by the tapestries and decorations, antique paintings and ample tomes of knowledge long forgotten. By far her favourite room had been the ballroom, decorated with golden banner representing the sun. The broad, wooden floor invited her to dance a little. While she spun in circles, nothing really in her mind, her eyes caught a glimpse of light coming from the moon in a hole in the ceiling. She stopped her mindless waltz and decided to search for her friend.

As she roamed around the castle, she felt a strange smell. The smell of something burning, but she couldn't quite put her hoof on what it was. Letting her nostrils guide her, she followed the smell, which led her to a balcony that overlooked all Everfree forest, Ponyville and a spot that was Canterlot. And in the railing, leaning in a way that couldn't be considered safe, Nighttime Glow smoked a cigarette, her eyes fixed at the castle at the other end of ponyville.

Noon approached her new friend, surprise in her big, red eyes. ‘Aren't those ilegal? Apart from, you know, really unhealthy.’’ She asked, pointing her hoof towards the cigarette.

‘’ So is stealing and plotting against the government.’’ Nighttime let out a sincere laugh ‘’I don't mind to break the law if it is written with the only purpose of making society the way Celestia wants it’’

‘’But aren't you afraid to get ill?’’ Noon insisted, looking apprehensively at the smoking cigarette.

‘’Noon, do you believe in destiny? I do. And I am destined to rule equestria. I have faith in that because I'm certain that's the way it is going to be. I spent a thousand years doing things that might have killed me. I won't die, not until my destiny is fulfilled.’’

Noon knew that Nighttime truly believed in every word she had just said.Still, she wasn't satisfied.And curiosity aroused inside of her head as she looked at the alicorn’s glowing eyes, deciding to ask a few questions. They spent the whole night talking, looking at the stars and the moon. Nighttime told her how in a thousand years, she had had hundreds of identities, lived hundreds of lives. She had been a doctor, a soldier, a thief, a teacher and countless more. The alicorn had invented the shot Noon had drunk hours earlier. Noon listened carefully at every anecdote the purple mare told her, and Nighttime smoked at her hearts desire. Eventually, the conversation shifted towards Celestia.

‘’What will be of her, once we win? Don't tell me you are going to kill her’’ The white unicorn asked, not knowing what to expect.

‘’Kill her? Please...I don't hate her, if that seemed to be implied. I hate many things and many ponies, but not her.At leats not for what she had done to me. Somethings she has done to other...those deserve hatred.’’ Nighttime made a pause to look at the tiny spot of light in the mountains she knew was Canterlot ‘’ I guess she would go to prison, but it will be decided in the future.’’

‘’How come you don't hate her? She lied to you, tried to kill you...I would hate her, if that stuff had happened to me.’’

‘’The only pony to blame for what happened back then in me and only me. You see, Noon, in all my years of life, I realized something: Power corrupts. It always does, it is inevitable. And probably, hundreds of years ago, Celestia was an alicorn just like me, a good pony, with her soul in the right place. It is not her fault what happened, to her and to me. I told you it was my fault because if I could, I would stop my past self from opening that book. I would prevent myself from knowing what Celestia had turned into a secret. Because since that day, I have been tied to a destiny I did not ask for. I never had a say in what would become of me. Maybe I would have chosen to be a villain, but now I’m destined to become a hero.’’ Nighttime took a deep breath and let silence linger on as she took a few puffs from her abandoned cigarette. ‘’I guess what I’m trying to say is that I never desire to become a princess myself, but life is like this, we don't have a saying on how it goes.’’

Noon was awestruck, because in that tale of regret, there was not a single lie. Her gaze moved towards the breaking dawn and, smiling, she asked ‘’ What’s the plan for today?’’

Twilight Sparkle was woken up by a violent shake. Her eyes fluttered open and met a green stare.

‘’You’ve got some explaining to do, princess’’