Dawn Wings rose from her bow and regarded Celestia. While the princess’s face was a carefully maintained and polished porcelain mask, Dawn Wings could tell that the gears of the incarna’s mind were furiously working to make sense of what she was seeing and hearing.

“Aunty, what’s going on here?” Dawn Wings heard from behind her. Turning her head, she considered the pink incarna. “Who, and what, is this bird? How is she talking? More importantly, why can we understand her?”

Celestia regarded Dawn Wings for a moment. It was obvious that the bird was, somehow, using magic. But, whatever sort of magic it was, she couldn’t sense it. One more mystery to add to her ever-growing list.

“I’m not sure Cadance, though I’m hoping she’ll be forthcoming about it.”Celestia said as she turned back to her niece, “Truthfully, the only thing we’re really sure of is her arrival was the source of the event about a week ago.”

“Event?” Cadance asked, before her eyes went wide as she connected the dots, “Wait, you mean that feedback. She caused it?”

“Feedback?” Dawn Wings asked as she looked back to Celestia.

“Your arrival was not a gentle one.” The blue incarna, Luna, said. “Had it not been so violent, we might not have become as aware of your presence as we were.”

“Well, maybe you might not have Lulu.” Dawn Wings caught Celestia add under her breath.

“What makes you think it was me? Could have been a coincidence.” Dawn Wings said as she regarded the lunar incarna.

“We spoke with your master regarding the matter…” Luna began.

“Master?” Dawn Wings interrupted, “How could you possibly talk to her?”

“Her? Do you not serve the one called Raven?” Luna asked, her tone confused.

“Uh, no. I work for him, yea, but he’s not my master. That’s Gaia. At least she was…” Dawn Wings said as her head lowed pitifully, before her eyes went wide when she realized what the incarna was saying. “Wait, you talked to the boss? When? How?”

Coughing to draw everyone’s attention, Celestia turned to Dawn Wings and the other alicorns.

“Perhaps we should move to a… less public setting.” She said as she gestured towards the castle with a wing, “As much as I would enjoy seeing the look on their faces, I’m not sure any of the gardeners would react well to a talking raven. Especially one speaking such an… odd language.”

“Indeed sister.” Luna replied. “Cadance, Dawn Wings, would you please follow us?”

Dawn Wings regarded the royals as they turned and spread their wings and prepared to take off.

‘The palace.’ Dawn Wings thought. ‘Can’t imagine brining a raven inside would be all that inconspicuous.’

“Hold on. I need a moment to slip into something a lot less comfortable.” Dawn Wings called out, causing the alicorns to stop and turn back to her.

What they saw caused them to freeze in their tracks.

Dawn Wings’ body convulsed and pitched forward as she caught herself on the edges of her wings. Before their eyes, muscles and bones began to warp and rapidly expand. In moments, Dawn Wings had grown nearly ten times in size, her wings shifting down on her torso while growing a pair of taloned, tridactyl hands on the wrist. Her body took on a more equine shape as a massive second pair of wings grew from her back, while her hind legs transformed from the four digited appendages of a bird to a single, hooked hoof. Moments later, she began to drop mass, as her feathers began to disappear and be replaced by brick-red fur, and a short, messy mane of black hair appearing on her tail, head and neck. Her head rapidly lost all avian characters as it morphed into that of a wiry, almost malnourished looking pony, while her fore and hind legs morphed from taloned digits to simple hooves. Finally, as her body was finishing the transformation, a cutie mark appeared on her flank, depicting a spread raven’s wing across the surface of a hand mirror.

“There we go. Okay, ready when…what?” Dawn Wings said as she looked at Celestia, then Luna, then Cadance. All three had expressions that ranged from un-phased to mildly astonished to outright horrified.

“What in Harmony’s name was that?!” Cadance shrieked as she took a few steps back.

Dawn Wings regarded her for a moment, then facehooved.

“Gah! That’s right.” She groaned as she remembered that there were no other fera in this world. “Sorry about that. I should’ve given you some warning. My bad.”

“Seriously, what are you? Some kind of changeling?” Cadance hissed as she lowered her horn defensively, her recent unpleasant encounters with shape-shifters suddenly coming back full force.

“Hey, I ain’t no faerie.” Dawn Wings retorted as she turned to face Cadance. “I’m a corax. Big difference. Sides, what’ve you got against changelings? Sure, the unseelie ones can be dicks, yea, but the seelie ones are pleasant enough.”

“There is no such thing as a good changeling.” Cadance growled. “They’re vile parasites of the worst kind, preying on innocent ponies. If you think there’s anything redeeming about those black hearted vermin, you’re no better than they are.”

“Cadance, please compose yourself.” Luna said softly as she placed a hoof gently on her niece’s shoulder. “We know your recent experiences have colored your views, but do not let them interfere with your judgment.”

“Quite.” Celestia said as she approached Dawn Wings, keeping her eyes on the corax. “I have a feeling that the changelings she’s familiar with and the ones we know aren’t the same sort of creature. Please, let’s behave like civilized ponies and hear her out.”

Cadance looked at her aunts, then at Dawn Wings, who was still glaring at her through narrowed eyes.

“Fine, but I want Shining with us when we do. I don’t trust her.” Cadance said with a huff as she glared daggers at Dawn Wings.

“Please do. I want him in on this.” Celestia said. “Also, have Raven join us as well. I think meeting room seven should be open, so lets gather there in, say, 10 minutes.”

“Alright auntie. I’ll see you in a bit then.” Cadance said tersely before nuzzling Celestia and flying off towards the castle.

Dawn Wings watched the pink incarna retreating from the scene, before turning to Celestia and Luna. “Hmph. What crawled up her ass and died?”

Both royals regarded the corax for a moment, their faces clearly unsure how to interpret what they just heard her say.

“We’ll tell you about it when we get inside.” Celestia said as she turned, spread her wings and took to the air, with Luna lifting off and hovering at her side. “In any case, please follow us. I think we’ve got a lot to discuss.”

“Sure, lead the way. Not like I know my way around this place.” Dawn Wings said as she spread her wings and also took to the air, falling in just behind the two royals.

Celestia and Luna shared a look.

“We are going to be stopping by the kitchen before we go to the meeting room, are we not?” Luna said, noticing the raised vein on her sister’s forehead.

“It's that, or you could hand over that bottle of Sunfire you ‘confiscated’ yesterday.” Celestia replied coolly as she glanced back at the raven-turned-pegasus following just behind them.

“We… do not think that is a good idea.”

“Then, yes, we’re stopping by the kitchen.” Celestia replied.

*****

The halls of Canterlot castle rang out with the sound of twelve hoofbeats as the princesses and one equus form corax made their way towards the large royal meeting room, their trip only briefly interrupted by a stop at the castle kitchen. Dawn Wings and Luna waited patiently as Celestia had placed a massive order before leaving. While she normally would have found it humorous how much food the incarna had ordered, Dawn Wings’ current circumstances didn’t lend itself to such levity.

Despite the casually brisk pace, the corax was making sure to take in everything around her. Locations of offices, possible escape routes, valuable art objects, where every guard was stationed, even the placement of the rugs and paintings; no matter how insignificant the details seemed, she focused on memorizing everything she could.

She didn’t like this. While the two alicorns she was currently with hadn’t triggered either her mundane or mystical threat senses, the way that pink one had reacted to her put the corax on edge. She’d seen that sort of hate before, both in her allies and her enemies. And it never led to anything good.

“Your majesties.” Dawn Wings said, prompting the royals to stop and look back at her. “Could you tell me about these changelings?”

The alicorns shared a look before resuming their canter towards the meeting room.

“Changelings… are parasites. Vermin.” Luna said, her voice even but firm, “Wretched creatures, one and all, they exist by stealing the energies born of love within a pony and leave them naught but empty shells.”

“As a race, they’re lead by Queen Crysalis. She’s a cunning foe, and as cruel as she is persistent. I’ve faced her in the past, but every time I think she’s been defeated, she finds a way to return.” Celestia continued. Even with her regal mask intact, Dawn Wings could see the subtle hints on the incarna’s face: she loathed the changelings just as much as her niece. Perhaps even more. She was just far better at hiding it.

“Hmph. They sound more like leeches than any faerie I know. Heh, at least they don’t suck blood.” Dawn Wings mused. “Doesn’t exactly explain why little Ms. Strawberry Smoothie got all bent out of shape.”

“Dawn Wings, I know you’re new around here, but please, show my niece proper respect. As for why she’s “bent out of shape” as you put it, she was… abducted and replaced by Crysalis on the week of her wedding, and left to rot in the crystal caverns below the city.” Celestia said with a scowl. “Had it not been for my student Twilight Sparkle, she would have claimed Canterlot for her swarm.”

“Replaced?” Dawn Wings asked, her curiosity rising, “How?”

“As their name implies, changelings are masters of deception.” Luna replied, “They can appear in the guise of others, to the point that even our powers cannot discern the ruse.”

“Well, that’s a son-of-a-bitch.” Dawn Wings chuckled, “Guess I can understand why she’s leery of me. Well, I’m no love eating leech. I can promise you that.”

‘Wait, did they say they can look like others?’ Dawn Wings thought as she recalled what she saw in the dead mare’s eye the day before. And the creature that had stolen her form just as she died.

“Hold up. You said these changelings are shapeshifters. What do they look like when they aren’t wearing someone’s face?”

“They appear like ponies in general shape.” Luna said, “Albeit ones that bear closer resemblance to insects than mammals.”

‘Bingo.’ Dawn Wings thought. ‘Probably not a good idea to just drop it on ‘em that there’s one of these things in that little town I’ve been visiting just yet.’

“Luna. Dawn Wings.” Celestia said, drawing the attention of the two, “We’ve arrived.”

Dawn Wings looked up, noticing that they were standing before a massive set of gilded double doors. On both sides of the portal, there were half a dozen of the armored ponies, each armed with deadly looking steel spears. In addition, there was a single, unarmored unicorn with white fur, brown hair and a giant pair of owl-like glasses sitting patiently before the door.

As she approached, a mild chill ran up the back of her neck, prompting Dawn Wings to invoke her threat detection magic. As the sensory gift swept the area, she noted that each of the guards pinged back as a minor threat. Additionally, she could sense at least eight other minor threats on the other side of the door, seven registering as ponies, and one registering as a powerful spirit. Much to her surprise, the unicorn didn’t register as a threat.

Trotting forward, the unicorn bowed to the princesses before briefly speaking to them.

“Thank you Raven. Yes, this is her.” Celestia said before turning to the corax, “Dawn Wings, this is my senechal, Raven. She’ll be joining us for this little… interview.”

Dawn Wings took a moment to appreciate the irony of the pony’s name and her association with the solar incarna. True, the boss didn’t work for Helios, but, it was still a funny coincidence.

The corax refocused her attention as Raven approached and bowed her head slightly, before looking the corax in the eye and speaking what Dawn Wings assumed was a greeting.

‘This is awkward.’ Dawn Wings thought as she smiled sheepishly.

“Is something wrong?” Celestia said, having noticed the uncomfortable look Dawn Wings was wearing.

“Kinda.” Dawn Wings replied, causing the guards and Raven to widen their eyes slightly at the sounds she was making. “Unless you’ve got something up your sleeve, she won’t understand a word I’m saying, and visa-versa.”

“Can’t you use whatever magic you’re using to talk to her too?” Celestia asked.

“Yea, about that.” Dawn Wings said. “This little trick only works on spirits, not mortals. It sucks, but, hey, that’s the way it is.”

Celestia and Luna regarded her for a moment.

“I think something didn’t translate right. What do you mean by ‘spirits’?” Celestia asked.

“Y’know… spirits… aspects of reality and embodiment of its principles, objects, beings and forms.”

“And why do you believe that definition applies to my sister and I?” Luna asked.

“Well, look at it like this: if it didn’t, you wouldn’t understand me. It's just that simple.”

Both alicorns gave her an incredulous look.

“Can we discuss it in there?” Dawn Wings asked as she gestured to the room with her snout. “I have the feeling this is going to take a while.”

“I think that’s probably for the best.” Celestia said as she telekinetically pushed the door open and walked inside, followed by Luna and Raven, “Cadance and Captain Shining Armor are waiting.”

“Right, right. Lets not keep the angry strawberry parfait waiting.” Dawn Wings said flippantly as she dismissively waved her hoof back and forth before she walked into the meeting room, which earned her an annoyed look from both of the alicorns.

“This one’s nearly as bad as her master.” Luna said under her breath, causing her sister to give her a sidelong glance.

The meeting room was easily as large as one of the bigger conference halls Dawn Wings had been in while on assignment, though it was not nearly as opulent as the rest of the castle, switching out grandeur for function. Dawn Wings noted that there were no windows, which made her feel slightly claustraphobic. It was clever of them to choose this room: no windows meant she couldn’t make a break for it if things went south. Of course, they had no way of knowing that she could step sideways at any time.

Dawn Wings turned her attention to the center of the room, which was dominated by a large mahogany table where princess Angry Icecream, and another pony, this one a burly white unicorn with a dark and light blue streaked mane, were seated.

Upon hearing the hoofbeats of the new arrivals, the two of them stopped talking and looked up. Their eyes first fell onto Dawn Wings, their expressions controlled yet slightly hostile. This quickly changed to a warm, slight smile when they noticed the two incarna with her.

‘Looks like Strawberries hasn’t been speaking highly of me to this Shining Armor fellow.’ Dawn Wings thought as she looked at the pair, her magic marking them as two of the minor threats she’d sensed. That left six unknowns hidden in the room. ‘Hmmm, he seems kinda familiar too…’

Seeing the two of them together caused something to click in her brain. First facehoofing then throwing out her right foreleg with a snap, she threw her head back and groaned. “Argh! Now I remember!”

“Remember what?” Celestia said as she regarded the corax with a raised eyebrow.

“Nothing important.” Dawn Wings said, keeping her face fairly neutral, before casually trying to change the subject. “Don’t think rope-boy over there likes me all that much. What’s he got to do with this?”

“Rope… boy?” Celestia said before clearing her throat. “Ahem. Well, as you’ve probably guessed, that’s Shining Armor. He’s Cadance’s husband, Captain of the Royal Guard and one of our military’s most decorated officers. He’s here because, truthfully, I want him to be around for this little interview. As… civil as you’ve been, I don’t really trust you yet. And I’d rather not take chances. Do understand.”

“Don’t worry about it.” Dawn Wings said as the approached the table, “Hell, I’d be leery of me if I were you.”

As Celestia and Luna took their seats at the head of the table, Dawn Wings “casually” looked around the room, paying special attention to the spots where her gift could detect the threats. With such a quick look and without using her other gifts, she couldn’t see anything, but knowing that the ponies could use magick, she suspected that they were obfuscating their presence somehow.

As she approached the table, Dawn Wings stole a glance at Shining Armor in her peripheral vision, and noticed his posture had changed slightly. It was subtle, but he was ever so slightly more alert, and a fraction more tense and his glare just a bit more calculating, like the threat she represented had gone up ever so slightly.

‘Okay, this one’s good. I bet he saw me look right at the spots where he’s got guards hidden. I can’t underestimate him.’ Dawn Wings thought as she followed Raven to the table. Taking a seat a next to the white unicorn at a respectful distance away from the princesses, yet close enough to make Shining and Cadance bristle slightly, Dawn Wings propped her right foreleg on the table and rested her head on her hoof before looking at Celestia.

“So, what now?” She said, taking some small measure of comfort in knowing that Captain Ropes and the other ponies hiding in the room wouldn’t be able to understand her. “We have a chat over tea or something?”

“Something like that, yes.” Celestia said, before her horn lit up with a shimmering golden aura. As she did, a large circle of runes appeared in the air above the table, before slowly settling on the ground around the six ponies. “There, now we can all talk a bit more freely.”

Now it was Dawn Wings’ turn to be surprised. She was used to her gift providing fluency without changing the way the words reached her ears. This was clearly a different type of linguistic magick than her’s.

“Well, this’s different.” Dawn Wings said, looking at Celestia, then the other ponies at the table. “So, does that trick just work on us, or is this thing translating me for everyone.”

Captain Armor’s eyes narrowed subtly. Dawn Wings smugly chuckled internally. ‘Yup. I know they’re there Knotty McRoperson.’

“No.” Luna said, “Only those within the circle.”

“That’s good.” Dawn Wings said casually. “Never know who’s skulking around listening in.”

“Yes, well, I suppose that’s something you’d know about, wouldn’t it changeling.” Cadance said.

“Not changeling. Corax. Wereraven if you want to be crude about it. Get it right Strawberry Tallcake.” Dawn Wings said. Cadance’s seething glare simply bounced off of Dawn Wings as she met the incarna’s eyes. “And when you’ve been at this game as long as I have, it never hurts to be cautious, especially when there’s a good chance there’re eavesdroppers around.”

“Sounds like you’ve got something to hide.” Shining said cooly.

“Who doesn’t?” Dawn Wings replied casually. “We all have our secrets. Revealing some can make the world a better place; others can cause lotsa problems if they reach the wrong ears. And judging by how your wife reacted to me, I’m pretty keen on not having mine get spread around outside this room.”

“What sort of ‘game’ are you referring to then?” Princess Luna said.

“I've got no Gaia-damned clue, princess. I’m new here, so I don’t know the rules. So, I’m playing by my rules till I know yours. And the game I’m used to playing is one where if I mess up, I’m dead.” Dawn Wings replied. “Well… dead if I’m lucky.”

“That doesn’t answer our question.” Luna responded. “Your… employer, as you call him, didn’t bother to tell us much about you, or the world you hale from. That would, perhaps, be a good place for ye to start.”

“Eh, why not?” Dawn Wings said as she waved her hoof dismissively. “What’cha wana know?”

“How about how you ended up on Equus in the first place?” Celestia said.

“Sure, lets go with that.”

And with that, Dawn Wings launched into her story, sparing the ponies none of the gory details. How it started off with the disappearances; how she figured out the pattern behind them; what happened when she discovered the kidnappers and trailed them to their hideout; the horror of the sacrificial pit the victims were dragged to, and how she had foolishly overlooked the ward that tipped them off to her presence; the chase through the Los Angeles night; and the final moments before the mage blasted her with his magick and she woke up in the depths of the old castle. She had to stop a few times and fill in some of the background details, such as a basic explanation of humans, the changing breeds, Gaia, and the Triat war, though she made sure to omit many of the details about her own abilities. Throughout it all, Princess Celestia and Luna both simply listened, letting Cadance, Shining Armor and Raven field the questions.

Nearly an hour later, Dawn Wings finished her tale. All present at the table were silent for a few minutes.

“Sweet Harmony.” Raven gasped at Dawn Wings. “What sort of beasts would do that sort of thing?”

“If you think that’s bad, you don’t want to know about some of the other things that the Wyrm’s agents are involved in. Compared to some of the things Wyrm-spawn do to their victims, having your soul sucked out and your skin peeled off to pollute a leyline in Malfean’s magickal ritual is merciful.” Dawn Wings replied, her tone grim. “Trust me, I’ve seen it.”

“I don’t think I want to know.” Raven said. “I’m just glad there aren’t any of them here.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure about that.” Dawn Wings said wearily. “Those changelings that’ve got you so riled up? I’d be willing to bet that they’re Wyrmspawn. You’re lucky. I don’t think the Wyrm is actively paying attention to your world. But that bastard’s a fundamental force of the universe. There’s no way that its touch hasn’t at least brushed against this place in some way.”

“Your employer said something to that effect as well.” Luna said. “That there were things that might be drawn to our world if he lingered too long. Do you believe he was speaking of this Wyrm-demon?”

“Heh, he may be an eccentric old bastard, but he knows what’s what.” Dawn Wings chuckled. “If he says he’s steering clear of this place to keep the Wyrm’s eyes off it, then you’d better bet your horn that he’s telling the truth.”

“And what about your presence?” Cadance asked, “Are you putting us in danger?”

“How often do you notice when an ant is fighting with another ant in the middle of a grassy field? Well, if you’re not an entomologist.” Dawn Wings replied. “Just one little ol’ corax is too small to notice. My boss, on the other hand, is big enough to draw that sort of attention if he hung around. I may not exactly be happy about getting plunked down into your sugary-sweet madhouse of a world, but trust me when I say nobody deserves to have that cosmic psychopath shitting all over their planet.”

“Excuse me? What issue do you take with Equestria? If what you say about your home is true, we find it difficult to imagine why you would miss it.” Luna said defensively.

Dawn Wings huffed through her nostrils and looked directly into Princess Luna’s eyes.

“‘Why’ she asks? Here’s why. One, its not my home. That’s more than enough reason. Two, this place makes no sense. Sure, its peaceful and all, but you ponies are, frankly, really fucking’ weird. Your culture, your whimsy, your penchant for bursting into spontaneous song. The fact you people actively control the weather. Or that you and your sister apparently move the sun and moon through the sky is even more horrifying. Its all just wrong. Especially that last one. Back home, not even the mages would dare to do something like that. Blood and feathers, the only place around here that feels natural is the Everfree forest. Not to mention now I’m stuck turning into one of you. I mean, hell, I didn’t like using my non-raven form back home, but at least it felt right when I did. This… pony form… that I ended up with just feels wrong. Its like going through my first change all over again.

“Three, I had a life back home. I have friends, co-workers, and most importantly, my mate back on Gaia. By now, they all probably think I’m dead. Sure, my garou friends ’ll mourn me, but my husband? My poor Cloud Chaser? He’s probably going to starve himself to death because he’s too depressed to go out and hunt. And I get to live knowing that. Besides, I don’t have anyone here. There aren’t even any other ravens around. And, I’m still trying to figure out your whack-job of a language. So, yea, I’m really lonely, which is something I’m sure you can relate to, Miss ‘I will plunge the world into eternal night because nobody’s paying attention to me.’”

Luna and all of the ponies present balked at what Dawn Wings said, but the corax didn’t relent.

“And finally, I don’t have a purpose here. Do you know what its like, to know exactly what you are meant to do, all of your life, and then suddenly be denied that? It’s maddening. With no Wyrm and no Weaver to work against and no Gaia or Raven to report to, I feel directionless and worthless.

“So, yea, your world is peaceful, diabetically sweet and sickeningly cheerful. Its also alien, frustrating, and, most importantly, lonely. Is that enough reason for you?”

All of the ponies in the room were momentarily speechless as Dawn Wings huffed for breath from her outburst. Luna was the first to recover, her brow furrowing into a scowl. Just as she was opening her mouth to give the pegasus a verbal lashing, she felt a hoof on her shoulder. Turning her head, her eye’s met her sister’s, and she held her tongue.

“Dawn Wings, I believe I’ve heard all that I need.” Celestia said as she turned her attention to the corax. “I need to discuss a few things with my sister, niece and Captain Armor. Would you kindly wait outside for a few minutes?”

Dawn Wings shrugged.

“Mind if I wait in the garden?” She asked. “I’d rather be outside.”

“Of course, I don’t see a problem with that.” Celestia said, “Raven, would you please guide her out.”

“Of course princess.” Raven said.

Dawn Wings nodded to the unicorn as they rose from the table and started towards the door. Truthfully, she didn’t need the unicorn to find her way out, but she decided to play along. She suspected Celestia had sent her seneschal to keep an eye on her, but she paid it no mind. Its not like she could stop the corax if she wanted to leave.

Raven reached the door first, and pushed it open with her magic. Just as Dawn Wings reached the door and moved beyond the range of the translation circle, she turned back to the princesses. “Oh yea, before I forget, I found at least one of those changelings hiding out in that little town to the south. Well, I’ll see you in a bit.”

And with that, she trotted out the door after Raven.

Author's Note

And here we see a corax and its natural inclination to shoot off its mouth, even when she really shouldn't.