Hundreds of meters below her, the landscape of the penumbra passed by in a gentle cascade of abstract fields of grass, trees, various spirits… and pattern web. Lots and lots of pattern web. Had she not been so intent on her task, Dawn Wings might have actually slowed down to enjoy the scenery. But, she was currently focused like a laser on reaching the City on the Mountain. After all, there was time for sight seeing later. Right now, she was on a mission.

Raven was always pretty hands off with management, and only sent one of his corax a vision when it was vitally important. And she’d gotten one. One that she was sure meant for her to meet with… some sort of unicorn/pegasus in the City on the Mountain. Recalling the vision, she thought it was uncanny how much the two peagacorns superficially resembled the murals she had seen in the abandoned castle. If the ones in the old castle were the former rules, perhaps the ones she was to meet with were their heirs.

She honestly didn’t know what she was supposed to do when she met them. But, if the boss wanted her to check it out, she would. It certainly gave her something to think about other than the ever so tempting notion of swallowing a gold coin and letting it burn her guts up.

She shook her head and pushed the idea aside. She had to stop thinking like that. No matter how tempting it was.

So she flew.

Slowly, the umbrascape began to change. Fields and trees began to be crisscrossed with roads and train-tracks, each one perfectly linear, well maintained and even in width. At first, they appeared independent, and running parallel to one another. Yet as Dawn Wings continued to scan the land below, she noticed they were subtly converging towards a single point: the City on the Mountain.

‘I guess I’m heading in the right direction.’ Dawn Wings chuckled to herself.

*****

Headache.

It wasn’t a sensation that princess Celestia was accustomed to outside of having to deal with the nobility or the council. And those were cute and pleasant stress migraines. This? This was a completely different beast: a full-blown solahol induced hangover.

“Ugh…” She moaned as she desperately wrapped her pillow around her head, ignoring the unpleasant pressure it put on her currently over-sensitive horn. “Can somepony please turn off the rock tumbler? I want out…”

When nobody answered, Celestia simply moaned again and rolled over onto her side, hoping that it would make the dragon and ursa-major wrestling in her skull give it a rest. After a few minutes of non-stop skull pounding, she decided that clearly the grudge-match in her brain wasn’t going to stop. Reluctantly, she released the pillow and cracked her eyes open. Looking at her wall clock, she saw that she still had two hours before she needed to raise the sun.

Swearing creatively under her breath, the solar princess cast a sidelong glance at her bed stand, noticing a large teapot with a sack of dried leaves next to it, along with a small envelope. Her horn sparking somewhat painfully, she reached out with her magic, grasping the envelope before opening it. Drawing out the note, she slowly read it.

‘Greetings sister,

We presume that you will be… somewhat worse for wear after your episode yesterday. As such, we have prepared some of your favorite herbal tea to help you recover. We also have some information regarding the entity that has so troubled you for the last several days. Once you have made yourself presentable, meet us in the royal dining hall and we shall tell you what we have learned.

Warmest wishes,

Lulu

P.S. – Maybe next time, you will pace yourself a bit more? It is but a suggestion.’

Celestia looked at the teapot, the herbs and the note. Smiling, she lifted the herbs and placed them in the water, before summoning her magic and heating the container.

“Thanks Lulu.”

*****

“Wow…” Dawn Wings muttered as she flew over the penumbral City on the Mountain.

Most of the cities she’d visited back on Gaia were filth-ridden cesspools in the umbra, reflecting the unfortunate affinity such places had with the Wyrm and its corrupting influence. This city, on the other hand, lacked any serious Wyrm-taint, though some of the sections near the perimeter did show elements of the Defiler’s touch. Yet, compared to Los Angeles or Bakersfield, they were few and far between.

Like the Castle in the Forest, the City on the Mountain was built with perfect geometric precision in their gently rounded and sweeping arches and buttresses. All of the buildings, roads and parks were flawlessly precise in their alignment, yet perfectly harmonious in their architecture and aesthetics. Each tree, each building, each cobblestone in the road all fit exactly where it needed to be. The perfect symmetric asymmetry of everything made it both hauntingly beautiful and disturbing at the same time, even for someone as experienced in the umbra as Dawn Wings.

Beyond the unusual geometry of the buildings, Dawn Wings saw that like the Castle in the Forest, the City on the Mountain had a pair of the same geometric objects in the sky, orbiting the perimeter of the city in the same lazy, gentle counter-clockwise spin. What differed between the two was that unlike the objects above the ruined castle, these two appeared to be tethered to a central fulcrum by strands of light and darkness just above the highest towers of the castle at the center of the city. Beyond the presence of the tethers, unlike the ones in the ruins, the objects above the city practically shone with power.

Alighting on the roof of one of the taller buildings, Dawn Wings looked down at the nearby road. As with any place in the umbra, there were dozens of spirits all over the city, each industriously scurrying about, intent on their own esoteric tasks. Looking to the castle, Dawn Wings could feel an enormous amount of spiritual energy coming from it. If her vision was anything to go by, the pegacorns she was supposed to find would be there. Still, ever cautious, Dawn Wings wasn’t quite ready to present herself, especially to whoever lived there.

‘I should really ask about that castle,’ She thought as she watched a pair of romance and love spirits flitting around the outskirts of a garishly pink café, basking in the ambient emotional energy it was giving off. Dawn Wings chuckled at their antics, ‘though I doubt those two are going to be much help.’

‘Lets see…’ She thought as she took back to the sky.

*****

Dawn Wings banked gently as she flew through the towering shelves of books, scrolls and tablets, looking for any sign of the resident spirit. I’d been pure luck that she’d spotted this building as she was flying over the City, but it presented her best chance to get a bit of information about whomever it was she was meant to meet. After all, the best place to find a knowledge spirit was a university library.

Rounding another towering bookshelf, Dawn Wings spotted the entity she was seeking. It was seated at a large, immaculately carved marble desk. It was generally equine in outline, but was obviously not truly one of the ponies. To start, its three heads were far too large, had eight eyes each, and were mounted on long, heron like necks. It’s back bore dozens of long, articulated limbs, each ending in a three fingered hand. The limbs were in constant movement, setting down, picking up and flipping through dozens of pieces of literature.

‘Perfect.’ The corax thought as she descended towards the spirit.

“Excuse me.” Dawn Wings croaked as she landed on top of the desk.

One eye turned and regarded her for a moment. Without setting down the twelve books it was reading, the spirit spoke. “What do you want? I’m busy.”

“Then I won’t take any more of your time than I have to.” Dawn Wings said as she bowed her head respectfully. “I just wanted to ask you about some stuff.”

“Oh?” The spirit cooed as it turned one of its heads to face the corax, though it didn’t focus more than two of its eyes on her, keeping the others on the books it was reading. “What sort of things do you want to know?”

The spirit regarded her for a moment, as thought seeing her for the first time. As it did, it raised one of its eyebrows.

“But more importantly,” it said as it continued to stare at her, now focusing all eight of the speaking head’s eyes on her “I’ve never seen anything like you before. You feel like a spirit… but also something else. What exactly are you?”

“What is that knowledge worth to you?” Dawn Wings said. Spirits never did anything for free, and since this spirit wanted something from her, it gave her a bargaining chip. It was one of the advantages of negotiating with knowledge spirits. They always wanted to know new things.

“It depends. What sort of thing do you want to know?” The spirit replied, a slight smile on the head addressing the corax.

“Nothing terribly obscure, I hope. I’m new around here, so I wana brush up on my history, especially about a certain pair of beings who reside in the mortal realm.”

“What sort of beings?” The spirit inquired.

“They resemble the ponies, but look like a mix both pegasi and unicorns. One appears to be tied to Helios, the other to Luna.” Dawn Wings said before turning her head and beginning to casually groom one of her feathers.

“Helios and Luna?” The spirit asked.

“The sun and the moon.” Dawn Wings said.

“I’ve never heard them called that before.” The spirit said.

“Really? What do you call them?” Dawn Wings asked.

“The sun is Brigid and the moon as Cerridwen.” The spirit replied, “I find it hard to believe you don’t know the names of the twin sister celestines of the day and night. Where exactly are you from?”

“Pretty damn far away.” Dawn Wings said, “Unfortunately, I’m on a schedule, and I need info. So, what can you tell me about the two ponies tied to Brigid and Cerridwen.”

“And what do you need to know?” The spirit murmured.

“Like I said, history mostly. Just enough to get a sense of who they are and what to expect of them.” Dawn Wings replied.

“A minute ago, I’d have been shocked you know nothing of the princesses. I didn’t think it was possible.”

“Like I said, I’m new around here.” Dawn Wings said nonchalantly with a slight shrug. “So, what do you say? You tell me about the princesses and this city, and I give you the scoop on what I am. We got a deal?”

The spirit nodded its attentive head. “Yes, I do believe that we can make an exchange. The city you are currently in is known as Canterlot…”

*****

“…finally, since I’m more or less half spirit, I can come over to your side of the gauntlet from the fleshy side of things. Handy skill to have when you want to move ‘round without being seen or need to get into someplace that’s locked down tight. Or just mess with someone. Personally, I really like that last one.” Dawn Wings concluded. “I trust that you’re happy with this little infodump?”

“Quite.” The spirit said as one of its heads looked over the transcript it had recorded during Dawn Wing’s monolog. “Really, you are such a fascinating creature. Do tell, are there more like you?”

“Now, now, if I told you that, what would I have to offer the next time I needed to ask you something?” Dawn Wings said with a grin. “And, hey, thanks. You’ve been very helpful. I’d be sure to swing by again when I need some more info.”

“Please do.” The spirit said, a smile gracing the head still paying attention to Dawn Wings. “Its been millenia since I got to trade with somepony from the other side of the veil.”

“I’ll keep that in mind. See ya around.” Dawn Wings said as she bowed to the spirit. As she rose from the bow, she spread her wings and with a sharp downward stroke, lifted off into the air, before gliding off towards the exit.

*****

‘Okay, ready to do this Wings?’ Dawn Wings thought as she flew towards the umbral version of the palace. The info that spirit gave her had been easily more than enough for her to get an idea about who, and what, she’d be dealing with. At the same time, it made her a bit nervous. She’d never been comfortable meeting with authority figures, and now, she was going to be meeting with the rulers of a whole nation. Who were so mystically powerful that they were ageless immortals that could move the sun and moon.

It was that last part that really bothered her. She doubted that the knowledge spirit had lied to her. It wasn’t in their nature. But, the implications were astronomical. Why did the sun and moon need to be moved by an outside agent? Her thoughts immediately went to the Weaver. Had the Psycho-Bitch-Spider gotten her webs so thoroughly wrapped around this planet that it no longer orbited its star properly? Was this planet even heliocentric to start with? The entire prospect made her head hurt. Pushing the whole thing aside, she resolved to not think about it. She didn’t have enough information to go on, so there wasn’t any point worrying about it.

‘Well, no point in putting it off.’ She chastised herself as she flew over the outer wall of the castle.

Looking around, the corax began to search for a place to step sideways. She had a feeling that even in a world as magickally rich as this one, her suddenly appearing out of thin air would probably turn a few heads. And since she was still trying to keep a low profile, it wasn’t in her best interest to spook any of the locals. Or start any rumors.

After a few minutes of searching, she spotted a location directly adjacent to the castle that would serve her purposes nicely. Banking, Dawn Wings began to fly towards the hedge maze she’d seen in the distance.

As she drew closer to the living labyrinth, she began to notice something out of the ordinary. She was already accustomed to the near perfect harmony and symmetry of the umbral landscape, but as she flew, she began to spot a bit of disorder beginning to sneak in. It was subtle, but the geometric precision of the garden began to deteriorate the closer she drew to the maze. Dawn Wings hummed curriously as she looked on, seeing asymmetry in the beds of flowers and the trees. Somehow, something was introducing chaos into this perfectly ordered system.

Her curiosity piqued, Dawn Wings flapped to gain some altitude and see if she could spot an epicenter to the chaotic effect. It took a few minutes of scanning the grounds, but she began to see a pattern in the chaos: it was becoming more concentrated towards one edge of the maze. Trees were more asymmetric, or were distorted into odd shapes. Grass became uneven in height and placement, or even the wrong color. Flower spirits flitted around pollinating blooming bees as worm spirits dug in the ground to find bird spirits to eat. Now thoroughly intrigued, Dawn Wings began to fly towards the chaos’s epicenter.

*****

“Interesting.” Dawn Wings muttered as she landed on a slightly disheveled hedge of squids. Before her, there was a massive dome of shimmering, translucent, pink crystal the size of a baseball stadium, its surface engraved with six glowing symbols: an apple, balloon, butterfly, diamond, lightning bolt and six-pointed star. She recognized the latter two she from the butt tattoos she’d seen on the purple unicorn and blue pegasus. Whatever was causing the chaos to leak into the local umbrascape, she figured the dome was meant to contain it.

Pecking a tentacle that had started to wrap around her leg, Dawn Wings took to the air and began to circle the dome. Upon closer examination, she saw that the structure wasn’t solid. Instead, at the very center, she could see an odd chimeric creature with a long and serpentine body, and a mismatched set of limbs. The being was trapped within the depths of the dome, and its features contorted into an expression of pure horror. Even without being able to get close to the creature, Dawn Wings could sense its power.

It was a Wyld spirit. And not just any Wyld spirit, but an Incarna. Landing on the surface of the dome, Dawn Wings looked at the bound spirit. It took powerful magic to trap such creatures, and judging by the nature of the bindings, it was likely that several other Incarna or even a Celestine had been responsible. Even more frightening was that the power generated by the spirit wasn’t fully contained by the bindings, given the state of the umbra around the dome.

‘Poor thing.’ Dawn Wings thought as she looked at the spirit. ‘No Wyldling should be put through that.’

Thank you. Dawn Wings heard in her mind. Not many would have such a care for me you know.

Looking down at the spirit, Dawn Wings became keenly aware that, despite being unable to move, the spirit was now looking directly at her. Instinctively, Dawn Wings activated her threat detection gift. If it were possible for the gift to overload, it would have at that moment. This Wyldling was as dangerous, if not more dangerous, than a nexus crawler or one of the Majelin.

Most curious. The spirit said in her mind. I’ve never seen anything like you before.

‘I’ve been getting that a lot lately. Of course, I can’t say the same. Haven’t personally run into anyone of your scale, I know your kind. Tell me, who’d you piss off enough to have them do all of this to you Wyld-boy?’ Dawn Wings thought as she gestured with a wing to the massive binding dome.

Hah! Haven’t heard dear old granddad’s name from anyone around this place before. The spirit said. As for who I “pissed off” as you so eloquently put it, I was just trying to have some fun when a bunch of uptight, self-righteous and boring ponies decided that they didn’t like my games and stuck me in this prison.

‘Lemme guess, your idea of fun was adding a little primal chaos to the nice and orderly world outside, am I right?’

Got it in one, birdy. The spirit cheered. This place is just so…banal, you know? Harmony, unity, friendship, all that rubbish. Place needs a little chaos to spice it up.

Pausing, the spirit seemed to regard her for a moment.

Say, there’s not any chance that you could open this thing up for me, is there? He said.

‘Nope.’ Dawn Wings thought as she looked around at the dome. ‘This is so far beyond me that its not even funny. Besides, even if I could let you out, doesn’t mean I would.’

Oh? The spirit replied.

‘Like I said, I’ve meet your kind before. Don’t get me wrong. I like your grandpappy and all, and think that his sibs need a good kick in the metaphysical balls for all the shit they’re putting the universe through. And, while I think adding a bit of Wyld spice to the mix is a wonderful idea… I’m not dumb enough to let something like you out without a reeeeeaaaaally good reason. I can tell you’re dangerous. Like, really dangerous. And, probably not the kind of guy to be all that grateful if I did let you loose, am I wrong?’

Clever bird. The spirit replied. I like you. Well, you can’t blame a guy for trying, can you?

‘Not at all.’ Dawn Wings thought. ‘I’d have been offended if you hadn’t asked me to open up this snowglobe. Seriously, one of the Wyld’s boys not wanting freedom? What next, that OCD bitch Weaver taking up gambling? Pfft, yea, that’d be the day.’

Very true.

‘Well, as fun as its been chatting with you, I’ve got to get going. But, hey, if I’m ever back this way again, maybe I’ll swing by and say hello. Who knows, I might have some stories to tell you if you’re interested. I doubt this thing’s got good wifi.’ Dawn wings thought as she tapped one of her talons on the crystal’s surface.

You got that right. Hopefully I’ll be seeing you around, miss…?

‘Niki will do, Mr…?’ Dawn Wings thought as she extended her right wing and made a few small circles in the air with her wrist.

Discord. The spirit replied. Well, it’s been a pleasure to meet you. I hope to see you around again.

‘Likewise.’ Dawn Wings said before spreading her wings and lifting off. After putting some distance between herself and the dome, Dawn Wings dove down into the hedge maze, and stepped sideways.

*****

“…and then, he was gone. After that, We returned Twilight Sparkle to her dreamscape, then awoke to inform you of our findings.” Luna said as she concluded her tale, stirring her coffee with her magic. Looking up, she saw her sister vigorously massaging her temples.

“Tia…?”

“Is all of that true?” Her sister said, not bothering to lower her hooves.

“You doubt us?” Luna said.

“No. But, I needed to ask.” Celestia said as she finally lowered her hooves and sighed. “This is just a lot to take in. Do you think that this… Dawn Wings… will really show up?”

“We believe so. Though he did not state exactly how or when she would arrive, this Raven entity said she’d be here at some point today.” Luna said before taking a sip of her coffee and sighing. “Honestly, we feel for this Dawn Wings. If what little Raven told of her tale is true, she must be in immense emotional turmoil.”

Celestia simply took a slow sip of her tea. “Still, I think it would be wise if we tread carefully.”

“Indeed.” Luna replied.

A moment of silence passed between the two princesses as they continued with their breakfast. Just as she was finishing her plate of rosecakes, Celestia’s head snapped up and looked out towards the gardens, her eyes wide. Luna barely contained a startled yelp as she was caught off guard by the sudden burst of motion from her sister. Coughing to clear her throat, the lunar princess regarded her sister.

“Tia?”

“She’s here…” Celesita muttered.

“She is? How can you tell?”

“The sun fragment just appeared. It has to be her.”

“How close?”

“Very. I think she’s in the gardens.”

Rising, Celestia began to make her way towards the dining room’s exit.

“Sister, where are you going?” Luna asked as she rose as well.

“I’m going to go find her. One way or another, I’m getting some answers.” Celestia said as she pulled the doors open with her magic and swept out of the room, Luna following quickly behind.

*****

With a subtle ripple in the fabric of reality, Dawn Wings emerged from the umbra and into the physical world. Abstractions shifted back to their “normal” forms and everything became more mundane. Without missing a beat, the corax gained altitude and flew over the top of the hedge maze.

Looking at the City on the Mountain, or Canterlot as the spirit had told her, the corax was struck by how similar it was to its spiritual counterpart. Though far from a perfect copy, the geometry and precision of the structures were remarkable for mortal builders. Thinking about it, she supposed that it wasn’t that strange. Magick tends to make such things easier after all.

Flying back towards the castle, Dawn Wings happened to glance at the perimeter of the hedge maze. As she did, she spotted a familiar looking form near the edge. No longer encapsulated in a massive dome, but instead a simple statue, sat the form of Discord. Turning slightly, she landed in a tree nearby the petrified spirit, and regarded him for a moment.

‘So, you manifested a part of yourself in the material world Wyld-boy, and got yourself stuck in stone. Yea, you really must have pissed in someone’s oatmeal to deserve something like that.’ Dawn Wings thought as she regarded the statue. ‘Still, petrifying a Wyldling? Whoever did that’s got to be one sick, sadistic bastard.’

‘Well, enough sight seeing. Time to find this Princess Celestia character.’ She thought as she turned away and took flight back towards the castle.

As she approached the massive edifice, she began to see more of the ponies in the park-sized garden. There were a few of the normal ponies tending to the garden itself by pruning shrubs through strategic nipping at the branches, raking up leaves, or performing other basic maintenance of the grounds.

‘Probably the gardeners.’ Dawn Wings thought.

Aside from the gardeners, there were pairs of ponies in lethal looking gold armor either patrolling or standing at attention throughout the garden, each one bearing a serious expression as though it were chiseled onto their faces. Unlike the other ponies working the grounds, these armored ponies were a mixture of all three types, and, for some reason, were completely identical in coloration. She’d gotten so used to just how polychromatic the ponies were, so seeing so many that were identical was somewhat jarring.

Finally, there were also a small number of ponies simply milling about the garden, though these were mostly unicorns. Unlike the gardeners or the guards, these ponies were clearly at leisure, and carried an air of arrogance around them, like some of the upper-class humans that Dawn Wings had the displeasure of dealing with in the past. ‘I guess administrators or other government types.’ Dawn Wings thought as she watched one of the unicorns drinking a glass of wine by the edge of a small pond.

As she took it all in, she shifted her flight and landed in a pomegranate tree next to a small white pergola with white cushions and a small table inside. Once settled, Dawn Wings began to wonder just how she was going to find the princess. Even with all of these other ponies around, she doubted that she could just go into equus form and start walking around looking for her. Even on the off chance that she didn’t get arrested for trespassing on royal property, she had no way of knowing where to begin to look. The castle was enormous, and without being able to ask any of the ponies for directions, she was stuck.

Turning to one of the fruits, and plucking out a few ripe seeds from the open shell, she began mulling the whole situation over. As it stood, the best chance she’d have was to simply wait around the castle and see if she could spot one of the royals. But, even then, she was still presented with one glaring, extreme problem.

She still couldn’t communicate with the princess.

While she’d been able to converse with the knowledge spirit because she could use her gifts, and Discord was apparently powerful enough to simply communicate directly with her telepathically, neither of these were an option when dealing with the princess. Even if she was as powerful as the knowledge spirit had told her, there was one simple yet overwhelming problem.

Princess Celestia wasn’t a spirit. And unless by some strange miracle she somehow spoke English or by some improbable coincidence had a spell that could translate languages, Dawn Wings was stuck.

‘Gaia, this sucks.’ Dawn Wings thought to herself as she huffed through her nostrils, then grabbed a few more seeds form the pomegranate. As she downed them, she turned her attention to one of the gardeners working the grounds nearby, a moss green pony with a brown mane and light green leaf as a butt tattoo, who was currently watering the flower beds from a mouth held watering can. It wasn’t the most entertaining video on YouTube, but it at least was something to watch while she tried to work out exactly what her next move was.

“Good morning Mr. Green Leaf. How’re you today?” A gentle, feminine voice said.

Dawn Wings froze.

Whoever had just spoken, she’d understood what they were saying.

She didn’t know the words, but she understood what they meant.

Slowly. Ever so slowly, she turned her head towards the direction of the voice, a half chewed pomegranate seed still in her beak.

As she did, the gardener she’d been passively watching turned towards another pony that was slowly approaching, and greeted the newcomer warmly. The new pony was quite tall compared to the gardener, with a pink coat, tri-colored mane, and crystaline-heart butt tattoo. The most striking thing about her, beyond her stature, was the presence of both a horn and wings on her body, much like the two princesses Dawn Wings was supposed to find. This one was clearly not one of the sun or moon princesses, yet, somehow, she was clearly like them. She was also familiar somehow. Dawn Wings was sure she’d seen her somewhere before. But she just couldn’t place exactly where.

“Oh, nothing much.”The pink pony said in response to the gardener. “I decided to have breakfast in the gardens this morning. Its far too nice of a day to be inside.”

The gardener replied again, but like before, Dawn Wings couldn’t understand him.

“I’m doing much better, thank you. I’m just glad nobody got seriously hurt.”

This was really beginning to get to her. Why could she understand this pony?

“Of course. I’m really looking forward to seeing your cherry trees blossom this spring. Your section of the garden always puts on such a lovely show.”

The gardener spoke one last time before bowing and trotting off.

“You as well. Please, tell your husband I said hello.” The pegacorn said before trotting cheerfully over to the pergola. Dawn Wings watched as she turned round a couple of times before settling down onto one of the large pillows inside the structure, and turned her head towards the grounds.

‘I know I’ve seen you somewhere before. But where?’ Dawn Wings thought as she continued to stare at the pegacorn. It was really staring to bother her how familiar the pink pony was, but how she couldn’t place her.

After a few minutes, a unicorn mare in a server’s coat came trotting up, and delivered a platter of fruits, flowers and what looked like blueberry-topped crepes along with a porcelain teapot and cup to the reclining pony.

“Thank you.” She said. The unicorn gave a short verbal response before bowing, turning and trotting off. Once the unicorn was gone, the pegacorn poured herself a cup of amber liquid from the teapot using her magick and took a dainty sip before setting the cup down and sighing contentedly.

‘Okay. That’s it. I’m getting a closer look.’ Dawn Wings thought to herself as she quietly took to the air and circled around the pony before landing on the railing behind her. The pony started at the sudden sound of Dawn Wings landing, and turned to look at her.

“Oh, hello there.” The pony said to the corax. “Did you come to join me?”

From her tone of voice, Dawn Wings could tell that the pink pony was addressing her like some random wild bird, which suited her just fine. Playing along, she cocked her head from one side to the other before croaking once, doing her best to impersonate a simple raven as she regarded the pony. Now that she was closer, she could sense the raw mystical energy coming off the reclining pony. There was something on the edge of her perception that felt out of place about her. Focusing power into her eyes, Dawn Wings examined the pony closely. No sooner had she turned her full attention on her, Dawn Wings understood what she was looking at, and more importantly, why she could understand her.

She was an Incarna.

A manifest Incarna.

“Do you want some?” The pony said, drawing Dawn Wings out of her contemplation as she levitated a piece of her blueberry crepe and set it on the table next to the silver tray the food had been brought on. Apparently, she had interpreted the corax’s staring as hunger.

Collecting her thoughts, Dawn Wings had to admit, it did look good. Feigning caution and taking a few “tentative” steps forward before hopping off the railing, she slowly approached the offered food, before “startling” at a “sudden movement” from the pony and flapping back a few inches and turning towards the pony, cocking her head to the side again, and croaking softly.

“Its okay. I won’t hurt you.” The pony crooned softly as she watched the corax slowly begin to approach the offered food again. Fluttering up to the table, Dawn Wings “cautiously” walked up to the crepe fragment before reaching down with her beak and picking up a piece of it, keeping an eye of the pegacorn the entire time. Working it in her mouth, she swallowed the delectable confection, then looked directly at the pegacorn.

“Here you go. Have another piece.” She said as she levitated another fragment of her breakfast over to Dawn Wings before resuming her own meal.

Dawn Wings casually picked at the crepe, her mind racing in two directions at once. On one wing, running into a manifest Incarna went beyond unexpected. Such powerful spirits rarely if ever chose to appear in the material world, and those that did preferred to keep away from mortals. But this one was willingly living among the ponies, and apparently had a place of high authority. Could the other two she was meant to meet with also be Incarna? If they were, that opened up her options immensely. After all, she could actually communicate with spirits. On the other wing, she knew this pony from somewhere, and it was driving her to distraction.

Having finished the crepe she’d been offered, Dawn Wings turned away from the pony and flew to the railing before turning back around and looking at the pegacorn.

“Aww, leaving already?” She said as she looked back at the corax. Dawn Wings croaked in reply, and settled down onto the railing. Seeing that Dawn Wings wasn’t about to go, the pegacorn smiled and resumed her meal as the corax watched on.

*****

“Sister, a little decorum please!” Luna shouted as emerged from the castle just behind her sister. Celestia gave no indication that she heard her, or that she cared if she did, as she continued to move at a brisk canter down the garden path. Upon seeing the princesses, the guards stationed near the gates stood a little taller and firmer.

Her senses tugging at her perception, the solar princess made quick time through the outermost perimeter of the garden, closely followed by her sister.

She was getting closer. The fragment of the sun, the shard contained in this impossible, unknown, outside entity, was so close now.

Several nobles spotted the princesses, calling out to her and waving, but she ignored them as she continued to move deeper into the garden. They weren’t important right now.

As she rounded one last hedge, she emerged into a small open area with numerous fruit trees and a large pergola. Moments later, Luna arrived as well, shooting her sister an annoyed glare. Celestia trotted onto the manicured lawn, heading towards the structure where she could sense the solar energy. As she approached the pergola, she spotted an eagle sized raven perched on one of the railings, but she also saw somepony she wasn’t expecting. Cadance, hearing the approaching hoofsteps, turned her head and smiled brightly.

“Ah, hello auntie Celestia! Auntie Luna!” Cadance called out as she stood before gesturing with a wing to the pillows adjacent to the table. “Would you like to join me?”

Though surprised to see her niece, Celestia kept it hidden as she approached the pergola.

“Thank you Cadance, but I’m afraid I can’t.” Celestia apologized as she turned to look at the large raven that was perched on the railing opposite her niece. A raven that was staring directly at her with intense, appraising eyes. “Strange as it might sound, I’m actually here to find her.”

Turning to look at the raven she’d been eating with, Cadance was struck by how strange a statement her aunt had just made. As her eyes rested on the bird, she noticed that the bird’s posture had changed subtly, and now had a weird look in its eyes.

“What? Why?” Cadance asked as she looked back to her aunt.

“Funny coincidence that. I could say the same thing, sunshine.”

All three alicorns’ eyes widened to the size of diner plates as they looked to the source of the voice. Both Celestia and Luna knew that the being before them was sentient, but didn’t expect her to be able to speak. Cadance, on the other hoof, was completely out of the loop, and had thought the bird nothing more than a normal animal.

What was more, the words she used were not only alien, but somewhat terrifying, like the vicious snarl of some aggressive, violent predator. More disturbing, while all three hadn’t recognized the words she used, somehow they understood their meaning. Translation magic didn’t work like that, instead turning the words heard into a language the listener knew. This conveyed meaning without changing the sounds, and was more like having fluency imparted without learning the language itself.

It was magic, no question about it. But it was a sort of magic that they’d ever encountered.

Cadance was the first to break out of her shock.

“Wait! What was that!? You can talk?” Cadance shouted as the bird took off and landed on the railing near her aunt.

“Oh, I can do far more than just talk. And, hey, thanks for sharing. It was delicious.” The bird said as she looked back her shoulder, somehow managing to grin. Then she turned back to Celestia, whom, along with Luna, had more or less recovered and were now looking directly at the black avian.

“Princess Celestia, I presume?” The bird said, her voice casual yet respectful. “Pleased to meet ya. Though, frankly, I thought I was supposed to be looking for you. Didn’t know I rated high enough to have royalty out lookin’ for little old me. Guess I should feel honored.”

“Well, this is unexpected.” Celestia said, as she addressed the raven. Now that she was closer, Celestia could get a really sense the solar essence coming off the bird. “Yes, I am indeed princess Celestia. And, I you are… Dawn Wings, am I right?”

The raven cocked an eye as she looked at Celestia

“Okay… I’m impressed. Yea, that’s my name.” Dawn Wings said before bowing slightly to Celestia. “Volucris Dawn Wings, at your service your highness. Glad to make your acquaintance.”

Author's Note

*Record scratch* What? Dawn Wings is actually going to get to talk to somepony? No…