Twilight and Spike both entered the tree-hut as their eyes came to rest on the brick-red pegasus sitting on the opposite side of the main room. As they entered, the mare set down her drinking gourd and turned her head to look at them, her expression mostly neutral, but with an icy edge to it that made Twilight shiver, as though a cold wind had just blown across her back. Twilight did her best to keep her own jaw from dropping, since her solar detection spell was telling her that the pegasus was the source of the energy.

Then Twilight met her eyes, and her heart skipped a beat. Her eyes. She’d never seen anypony with eyes that color before. But it was more than just their unusual color. There was an intensity to them that made Twilight feel small, as though everything about her was being scrutinized and cataloged. It was a glare that she felt down to her bones.

After a few seconds of simply looking at one another, the pegasus huffed through her nostrils and turned back to her tea, as though she didn’t want to acknowledge Twilight’s presence any more than she already had.

“That was weird.” Spike said to Twilight, as he watched the pegasus pointedly ignoring the two of them.

“Yea.” Twilight replied before turning to her zebra friend, “Zecora, you know what that was all about?”

Zecora shook her head “I honestly cannot say why she is acting this way. Towards me she was nothing but civil and polite. I can’t imagine why she would snub you outright.”

“Maybe she just didn’t like Spike and I interrupting you two.” Twilight said, her voice hopeful. “Do you think that, perhaps, you could introduce us?”

“We can try, though it would be best for us to not pressure my guest. She was troubled earlier when we met, so I’d prefer not to make her any more upset.” Zecora replied, leaving it unspoken that the way that Dawn Wings’ roho had reacted earlier put the shaman on edge. Zecora pondered how to properly introduce Twilight and Spike to the pegasus, who for whatever reason, didn’t seem to be terribly friendly towards the unicorn.

“If you are to join us, I need to make more tea. Stay back till I signal, then you can join me.” Zecora said as she began to trot over to the table. Dawn Wings’ eyes flicked over towards her as she approached. Noticing it was Zecora, she smiled slightly between sips and let out a light breath. Tapping the kettle, then subtly flicking her head back towards Twilight and Spike, Zecora did her best to indicate that there would be two more joining them. Dawn Wings simply shrugged. Nodding, Zecora picked up the kettle and headed back towards the pantry, where she began to brew a second pot of tea. As the infusion began to boil, she pulled out a few more fruits from her larder and, and once the drink was done, made her way back to the table. As she did, she picked up two more drinking gourds and set two more places.

As soon as she had set the spots for Twilight and Spike, Zecora looked at the newcomers, noting that the unicorn was fidgeting slightly as she waited, as though she were either agitated or eager to meet the pegasus. Mentally rolling her eyes, she nodded, and they began to approach the table. Taking her seat between the pegasus and zebra, Twilight attempted to break the ice, “Um…hi. My name is Twilight Sparkle. What’s yours?”

The pegasus didn’t respond other than by looking at her briefly and casually beginning to eat a piece of fruit.

“Uh…” Twilight said, slightly taken aback.

“Excuse me. She asked you a question. You could at least answer her.” He said with a hint of irritation in his voice.

The pegasus looked at the young dragon, sighed, and continued to eat, not bothering to respond.

“Hey, speak up!” Spike said, his voice growing in irritation.

“Mwiba, unaweza kupitamatunda?” Zecora said to Spike.

“What?” He asked.

“I asked you simply to pass the fruit to me.” The shaman said.

“Uh, okay.” The drake replied as he reched over and passed the bowl to Zecora. “But, why did you say it like that? I couldn’t understand you.”

“To make a point young drake. She did not understand Twilight’s words any more than you did those I spoke in Zebrican.” Zecora said before she took a bite of the peach she had plucked from the fruit bowl.

“What? She doesn’t speak Equestrian?” Twilight asked, her head cocking to the side as she looked at the pegasus out of the corner of her eye.

Dawn Wings, despite keeping a polite and calm outer appearance, was starting to feel extremely anxious. It had little to do with the proximity of the mage. As annoying as she was becoming, she’d yet to cross the threshold into being a threat, and the corax had been on enough infiltration missions to know how to manage her annoyance when she needed to keep a low profile.

No, she was anxious because they were holding a conversation, and she couldn’t get involved. Corax, despite their predisposition to working alone, were social creatures, with an irritating (according to the other fera) habit of really liking to talk. A lot. Dawn Wings wanted to participate so badly. She hadn’t been able to talk to anyone in over a week, and it was starting to get to her. But, the language barrier made it impossible for her to get involved.

She sighed internally as she took another sip of her tea.

‘Why’d this blasted royal purple pain in my tail feathers have to butt in. I was having such a nice time with Zecora, but then she had to show up and help remind me that I can’t even hold a Wyrm-blighted conversation. And why in Gaia’s name is she even here to begin with? Once is happenstance, twice is coincidence, three times is stalking.’ She grumbled internally as she lifted her tea again.

As the three others at the table exchanged words with each other and she stewed, an idea popped into her head. ‘Even if I can’t talk to them, I might as well get something out of this.’

As a corax, Dawn Wings had many mystical gifts taught to her by the spirits. Unlike the garou, whose gifts were mostly meant for combat, her’s were meant to aid in gathering information. And there was one in particular that she really loved, both because it got her dirt on people, and because it gave her a way to determine the character of whoever it was she used it on.

‘Lets see what sort of secrets you’re hiding little miss mage.’ Dawn Wings thought as she sipped her tea and activated the gift, focusing its power onto the purple unicorn across the table.

Zecora’s eyes flicked towards the pegasus as she felt Dawn Wings’ roho flare again, though this time it wasn’t the hostile flaring that she had felt before. Instead, it was similar to flaring she had felt when she first met the pegasus, except this time, no wave of roho sweapt past her. Instead, she could sense a thin strand of roho energy reach out and touch Twilight’s own roho.

‘Strange, its true. What did she just do.’ The shaman thought as she sensed the spiritual bridge between Dawn Wings and Twilight pull back into the pegasus’s body.

Suddenly, the pegasus quietly chuckled to herself and took another sip of her tea. Both Twilight and Spike looked at her.

“Uh…what?” Spike said, looking at Twilight, who had her head cocked to the side as she tried out figure out what just happened.

*A second earlier, in Dawn Wings’ mind’s eye*

Dawn Wings was flying through a mist-shrouded woodland, her wings creating small eddies in the vapor as she glided just above the ground. She was looking for something. She knew it was around here somewhere; she just had to push on and find it. Flying onward, she continued to search, her eyes darting around constantly.

Then, she saw it.

It was a tree. But not just any tree. Unlike the others, it’s bark was pitch black, and from its branches were four or five small, ice-blue, teardrop shaped fruits. The tree itself was surrounded by a tangle of thick, thorny vines that covered the ground, creating a nearly impenetrable barrier to anyone without the power of flight. She flew over this briar hedge and landed in the upper most branches.

“Few secrets on this one.” Dawn Wings thought, “Well, lets see what we’ve got.”

Reaching out with her beak, the corax grabbed the fruit nearest the top of the tree and plucked it free. As she tilted her head back, she swallowed it whole and closed her eyes. An instant later, her eyes shot open as blue light flooded out of them. The woodland evaporated, and she found herself seeing the world from the mage’s perspective.

She was moving down a stone corridor, lined with dozens of antiques and carpeted with some very expensive looking rugs. There was a spring in her step as she made her way along her chosen route.

“I hope Shining and Cadance are doing okay.” She said to herself as she made her way along the corridor, her eyes darting to the scroll levitating next to her. “I bet Shiny’s going to love this old shield spell I found in the Great Library. It’ll help improve his own shield’s efficiency by at least 15%.”

Dawn Wings raised a metaphorical eyebrow. This…was strangely dull. How could this be a deep, dark secret? Metaphysically shrugging, she continued to watch through the unicorn’s eyes.

Rounding the corner, the unicorn saw the door to the room she was seeking. Pushing it open just a crack to check if her brother was in, she froze.

Across the room, there was a large, male unicorn with blue hair and white fur bound up, and hanging from the ceiling in some sort of series of ropes (which Dawn Wings recognized as a kinbaku-style bindings), with a large red ball attached to a gag in his mouth. Across from him, the unicorn could see another pony, this one apparently a hybrid of both unicorn and pegasus, wearing a form-fitting black silk outfit that covered the majority of her pink fur, but didn’t hide her multi-colored pastel hair and tail. She also wore a black domino mask over her eyes, and had a riding crop levitating in a blue aura off to her side.

The unicorn’s hoof shot up to her mouth. ‘Big brother? Cadance? What are they…oh dear Celestia, are they really?’

“Alright little colt!” The masked pink pony snarled, swinging the riding crop downward with a crack, “You’ve been a very naughty boy! Are you ready for your punishment!”

The male unicorn, raising his head and looking at the pink pegasus/unicorn, nodded before lowering his head, gazing at her with anticipation. As the pink pony advanced on him, the purple unicorn turned and silently bolted down the corridor, dropping the scroll she was carrying for her brother as the blood rose in her cheeks.

‘Oh Celestia! I didn’t see that! I didn’t see that! I didn’t see that!’ She shrieked internally as she ran further and further through the castle corridors, her mind both horrified and subtly turned on by what she’d just seen. And how good Cadance looked in that outfit.

*Zecora’s tree, the present*

Dawn Wings body was taking a sip of her tea as her mind completed the instantaneous replay of the secret her power had revealed. She expected something profound, like experimenting on and vivisecting other living beings, murder, kidnapping or the like. What she got was something she didn’t expect.

‘That? That’s one of her “deep, dark secrets”? She saw her brother and his wife doing sub/dom play, and got flustered because she got little hot? Oh Raven! Just how innocent is she?’ Dawn Wings howled in her mind as she did her best to contain herself, managing to keep her reaction to a subdued snicker. ‘If that’s the kind of secrets she’d hiding, I doubt she’s a bad sort. Still… she’s a mage. No need to risk drawing her attention any more than I already have.’

Finishing her tea, Dawn Wings stood. Turning her head towards her hostess, she put her right hoof across her chest, and bowed her head as she closed her eyes. After lifting her head, Dawn Wings looked Zecora in the eyes and with a smile said “Thank you.”

Zecora regarded Dawn Wings for a moment. She had a feeling that whatever she had said was an expression of gratitude, given the bow and smile she was wearing. Closing her eyes and returning the bow and smile, she said “You’re welcome.”

As the pegasus began to walk towards the door, Twilight’s brain was desperately trying to reboot. Zecora had mentioned that the pegasus didn’t speak the same language as they did, but this went beyond just that. Though she wasn’t a polyglot, Twilight was reasonably well versed in at least the basics of many of the languages from the Equestrian continent, as well as places like Neighpon, Zebraca, Saddle Arabia and even a little from distant Cerverica. But with just those two words spoken by the stranger, Twilight knew that it couldn’t possibly be related to any of them. For one, the sounds were not normal for a pony, zebra, griffon, bison, minotaur, deer or any of the other sentient species she knew of to make. Even Draconic, which was one of the most divergent languages she had ever researched, was nothing like this.

Could she be from a lost tribe? One that had diverged so long ago from other ponies that they had formed a whole new language? Was she from a whole different, undiscovered continent? There was also her solar essence. And her possible relationship to the solar raven she’d been desperately trying to understand. Could she be the solution to that puzzle as well?

Snapping out of her trance, Twilight saw the pegasus beginning to leave. ‘No. Not yet. I need to find out more about her.’ Twilight thought as she flared her horn.

“WAIT! Please, wait!” Twilight shouted as she teleported in front of the departing pegasus, blocking her passage by standing on her hind legs and throwing out her hooves to the side. The red pegasus recoiled in surprise at the sudden appearance of the purple unicorn, but quickly composed herself and scowled, her mouth a tight frown and eyes narrowed.

“I’m sorry, but please don’t leave yet. I have to know, where are you from? Not only that, but what language were you speaking? Does it have a written form? What’s your numerical system’s base number? Do you have a country? How far away is it? Are there any other ponies with you?” Twilight began as she trotted up to the other pony, her eyes wide and a giant grin on her face as she began going into full on scholar mode. Discovering a whole new language family, let alone the possibility that there was a whole lost culture attached to it that had solar magic was invigorating. As she advanced, the pegasus began to back up slowly, only for Twilight to match her movement.

Both Zecora and Spike shared an alarmed look as Twilight continued to advance on the scowling pegasus, peppering her with rapid fire questions that she couldn’t answer even if she wanted to. It didn’t take a genius to see that she didn’t like Twilight getting into her face like that. Zecora was particularly concerned, because she could feel the jua roho in Dawn Wings starting to flare up again, and this time, it felt violent and hot. Coupled with the angry look on her face, the shaman could tell that she was on the verge of lashing out at Twilight if the unicorn didn’t back off.

An unspoken understanding reached in a fraction of a second, both Zecora and Spike moved to intervene before things got out of hoof. Zecora quickly interposed herself between Twilight and Dawn Wings, while Spike hopped up onto Twilight’s back and put his hands over her mouth. Dawn Wings looked at Zecora with mild surprise, while Twilight began to mutter through her brother’s hands, trying to get the little dragon to release her.

“Twilight Sparkle, some decorum please. You need to relax, for you have made her ill at ease. Furthermore, remember that our language is not one she understands, and you were invading her personal space while making demands.” Zecora said sternly as she looked Twilight in the eyes, who backed up sheepishly, her ears folding back against her head. Seeing his sister relent, Spike released his hands and hopped off her back.

Dawn Wings looked at Zecora with gratitude as the unicorn traced a small circle on the ground with her hoof, looking embarrassed.

“Sorry.” Twilight said, her head dipped. “I guess I got a little over-excited.”

Lifting her head back up, “But…this is really important! That language of her’s is just too different from anything Equestrian I’ve ever heard. She could be from a lost tribe, or a whole new culture, or something. I need to know more about it!” Twilight nearly shouted, her excitement starting to get the better of her again.

“And how is she going to answer your questions if she doesn’t speak Equestrian?” Spike asked.

As the two siblings continued to argue, Zecora turned to Dawn Wings, and her heart sank. The pegasus’s eyes were locked on Twilight and Spike. There was a profound longing in those onyx eyes as she watched them bicker. Slamming her eyes shut, the pegasus grimaced as she lowered her head and grunted miserably. The shaman wished she could ask the pegasus what had caused her mood to shift so suddenly, but she knew it would be a futile.

Instead, she trotted over to Dawn Wings and placed a hoof on her shoulder, smiling warmly. Dawn Wings raised her head and looked at her, and sighed, almost half-heartedly returning the smile, though Zecora could tell that it was more for show than anything else. Her eyes didn’t lie, and they were still pained.

Closing her eyes and slowly shaking her head, Dawn Wings stepped away from Zecora and past the unicorn and lizard-boy.

‘I need to go.’ She thought to herself as she made her way to the door.

As she reached the entrance and pushed it open, she felt a sudden pressure on her shoulder. Looking down, she saw a patch of amorphous magenta light, which somehow was holding her in place. Looking back, she could see the mage’s horn glowing with a corresponding aura, while her face wore an expression that was almost pleading as she raised one of her hooves towards the corax. The unicorn clearly didn’t want her to go.

Zecora approached the unicorn and said something in that strange melodious language of theirs. After a moment, the unicorn lowered her head and nodded, and released her magical grip on the pegasus’s shoulder. Turning away, Dawn Wings launched into a gallop before spreading her wings and taking off into the sky. Once she was sure she was far enough away that there were no witnesses, she willed herself to shift back to her raven form.

‘Not your best day ever, eh’ bird brain?’ She thought to herself as she flew over the trees.

*Zecora’s hut*

“Why did you tell me to let her leave?” Twilight said as she turned back to Zecora.

“It was her decision to chose to go. It was not your place to tell her no.” Zecora said as she began to clear off the table. “Setting that aside, you came with a request. Please, ask me and I will answer to my best.”

Twilight’s mind suddenly turned back to why she was in the Everfree in the first place: the solar raven.

“Ahh! That’s right! Zecora, do you know of any legends that have solar magic empowered animals? Specifically ravens?”

Zecora tapped her chin with her hoof as she thought. “Truthfully, no such legends come to me. I must ask though, why is this something you want to know?”

“Well, just over a week ago, Princess Celestia felt the presence of something containing solar energy, and she asked me to find out what it was. Then, when I found the source, it turned out to be a raven. I couldn’t find anything on such a creature in any of my books, and I thought that you might know something, since I don’t have many books on Zebracan legends.” Twilight said, before rubbing the back of her head with a hoof and continuing, looking slightly sheepish, “Its also why I was so interested in that pegasus. The spell I used to track the solar energy in the first place detected a similar energy coming from her. I think she might have something to do with the raven I’ve been trying to figure out.”

Zecora’s eyes widened a bit as a thought began to creep into her mind; Dawn Wings didn’t just contain pegasus and jua roho, she contained kunguru roho. One’s roho was intimately tied into the very core of what defined a pony. She knew that changelings mimicked the roho of their targets when they transformed, causing their bodies to metamorphose into a new shape. And that certain Zebracan shamans could brew potions to imbue a small portion of the roho of an animal or plant to the imbiber, granting them temporary traits of the roho consumed.

There was also the matter of how intimately tied to her body her roho was. Unlike most ponies, whose roho was simply tethered to their bodies, Dawn Wings’ roho was practically suffused into her flesh. Could she have the ability to turn into a raven by changing the equilibrium of pegasus and kungururoho in her body?

Twilight noticed the sudden change in the shaman’s demeanor, as well as the look of deep thought on her face.

“Zecora, is something wrong?”

“Perhaps not, perhaps yes. She is not a normal pegasus. I could tell she contained a fragment of the sun’s majesty, but what you may not be aware of is she also has two other roho in her body.” Zecora said.

“Roho?” Twilight asked, her head cocked to the side, “What’s that?”

“In Equestrian, there is no exact word for it, but the closest would be soul or spirit.” Zecora said as she touched her hoof to her sternum and closed her eyes. “All things have a roho, be they stones, trees, ponies, or our own day’s star. It defines all things, for it is the core of who and what we are. For most things in the world, they are defined by just one, but there are those who carry more, such as Celestia who has the roho of pegasus, unicorn, earth pony and sun.

“This pegasus, Dawn Wings is her name, is the bearer of three. Pegasus, sun and raven roho all reside in her body. If she carries the roho of a raven and pegasus inside her, it might be possible that she can somehow change to either pony or raven as she would prefer.”

Twilight’s jaw dropped at the absurdity of what Zecora was suggesting.

“But that can’t be possible.” Twilight said as her mind began to race, “To do that, she’d need to use a spell of some sort. And those kinds of spells are very high-level magic. Plus, she’s a pegasus. Pegasi can’t cast spells.”

“Then perhaps this raven you seek and Dawn Wings are not one but two separate beings. The raven could be a familiar which through a exchange of roho is bound to her. You said the princess could sense the jua roho’s presence. Perhaps she can tell you, if she can sense one or two.” Zecora said, nodding towards Spike.

“Zecora! You’re a genius!” Twilight exclaimed. “Spike…”

“…take a letter to the princess. I have been listening y’know. Already got a scroll.” The drake said as he prepared to write.

“Okay.

Dear Princess Celestia,

I have just ventured into the Everfree forest to consult with Zecora on the matter of the solar raven. While at her home, I encountered what might be a second source of solar essence: a pegasus mare.

Upon consulting with Zecora, she has put forth two theories regarding the relationship between the two. One is that the pegasus and raven are bonded to one another through some sort of soul link. The other is that they are the same being, and she is able to change her form between raven and pegasus at will.

As the solar detection spell cannot track the solar essence across a large area, I need to know if you have senses any new sources of solar essence recently. If you have, it could explain how both the raven and the pegasus can bear solar energy yet be separate beings. If not, it could lend credence to Zecora’s theory that the two of them are in fact one.”

Pausing, Twilight considered something else.

“Also, this pegasus mare does not speak any language that I am familiar with. Rather she speaks a tongue that is completely unrelated to any that I have ever encountered before. I don’t know what this might mean, but she might be a member of a lost tribe of some sort.

Ever your faithful student,

Twilight Sparkle.”

Rolling the parchment up, Spike exhaled a burst of dragonfire, incinerating the scroll and sending it off to the princess.

“Hopefully she replies soon. This whole thing is just getting weirder and weirder.” Spike muttered.

Author's Note

Sad and lonely corax is sad and lonely.