Red Feathers

Listen, if I'm going to tell you about the War of Extinction, you need to listen up. I'm not going to repeat myself, understood?

Good. Now where to begin. I guess... I guess I should start at the beginning, like all stories do.

It all started in Manehattan, when I was eight years old. Just a kid by Human and Pony comparison, but quite mature for a Gryphon. Anyways, you came for a story, not me babbling about my personal life.

The prelude to the War started on the day the UNSC fell from the sky in the Pillar of Autumn. They of course were being followed, though not by the Covenant. That happened later. They were being followed by the Requiem. It was another ship from the Galactic Republic and filled with Clones of some Human named Fett. Yeah, weird name. All Humans have weird names -- Taylor, Johnson, O’Neill -- well, weird compared to most of the names I’m used to.

Two months of peace passed by as Humans mingled with Ponykind. Palpatine and Celestia signed papers on TV while everyone watched and cheered. I didn’t really understand what the point of it was. It was just a piece of paper.

Agh! Sidetracked again. I’m just so excited to be telling this story and I can’t keep my brain on track. Where was I? Oh, yeah. After two months of peace, the Covenant arrived and started blowing things up. The Clones and the UNSC soldiers in Manehattan did the best they could to protect us, but there was just so much happening at once.

My stepfather was there one second then dead the next, Mom dragging me by the talons to somewhere. It was all hazy those first few hours. Just a raging river of destruction and lots and lots of hurt.

Then… then mom was killed. I’m not going to talk about that. All you need to know is that afterwards, I was rescued by the two bestest Ponies ever - Midnight Stargazer and Summer Wind.

Summer’s old, older than Midnight by a bajillion and a few years. But even though she’s old, she has more scars than wrinkles, and a mean face that could kill you if looks could kill. It’s just because she’s an old marine. She stinks like cigarette smoke and talks with a rasp, but she’s tougher than anypony else. And she’s tall, her head almost reaches to any human’s shoulders.

Now, Midnight, where do I begin with her? She’s the most amazingest of all Ponies ever. She saved my life, protected me like a mother, and cared for me. Even though we were near total strangers I took to calling her Mom real quick, and more often than not she called me daughter. Sadly, we just didn’t have enough time to get to know each other in all the chaos around us. I was nearly destroyed when I got the news she died, which started the chain of events leading me here today.

Anyways, it’s nice to meet you all. I’m Raven Volkov, and this is my story.