As the Raven Flies
Chapter 4: Reply
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It had been one week since Princess Celestia had departed for the Dragon Lands and Raven could still see the signs in herself.
It didn’t stop her from doing her job, just as it didn’t stop Princess Celestia. Raven had learned from the best, after all. Thankfully, her current duties would be a welcome distraction from her frustration with current events, as the novel she’d ‘borrowed’ from Sunset Shimmer mocked her on her desk every morning.
For now, she focused on the task at hoof.
Raven squinted as she stepped out upon the eastern landing platform of Canterlot Castle just as the royal chariot came into view. She smiled—a real smile—as the regal form of her Princess waved at her. Her pegasi escort came in first to secure the landing site, finally giving the flight crew clearance to land. Both of the Sun House Guards beside the door stood to attention as Princess Celestia stepped onto the platform.
The Princess nodded to the officer leading the Pegasi Fourth and he dismissed his team. Only then did Raven approach the Princess, clipboard already floating beside her.
“Welcome back, Your Highness,” Raven said with a smile.
“Thank you, Raven,” Celestia took a deep breath and let it out. “It’s wonderful to be able to breathe again without the volcanic ash. Simply terrible for the lungs.”
“How fares Dragon Lord Torch?” Raven asked as they fell into step with one another. One of the guards opened the door for them.
“Has his claws full with a precocious young daughter named Ember. His consort, Sapphire, finds Ember’s constant refusal to obey her father’s wishes most amusing. I suspect she encourages it.”
“Young dragons hardly need a cause to be precocious,” Raven opined. “In fact, one could say that of the young of any race.”
Celestia laughed. It was almost completely genuine. Almost.
They entered into the hallway beyond the landing platform. The two Sun House Guards moved to follow, but Celestia waved them back with a nod and a smile. They knew enough not to press the matter and remained at their post as the door closed.
“Anything exciting happen while I was away?”
“I’m afraid that the Regent documentation is still lost somewhere in the Castle,” Raven said idly as she adjusted her glasses, though she didn’t dare meet Celestia’s gaze. “At this rate, I suspect it might take years to be found.”
“I’m sure we can draft another in short order. It shouldn’t be too much trouble,” Celestia replied, her voice just as light and casual as Raven’s.
They turned into the passage where they’d spoken one week ago. Just as Raven had expected, Celestia came to a slow halt at the slightly-damaged torch bracket.
“It looks like it’s even more crooked,” Celestia whispered to herself.
Raven didn’t speak a word.
Celestia turned and pierced Raven with her eternal gaze and swallowed. “What of Sunset?”
“I spoke to her on the day you left,” Raven replied. She knew she couldn’t hide the truth, but she could delay it, for just a little while. “Her magical combat skills have grown quite a bit since Hearth’s Warming.”
“A response to what she saw. I hope you did not…”
Raven shook her head. “She has no knowledge of what things dwell in leyspace, Your Highness. None that she doesn’t already know, though it would not surprise me if she starts looking into them soon.”
“To be expected,” Celestia mused. “But I did not ask after her combat skills, Raven, as you well know. I asked after her.”
Raven closed her eyes and hung her head. “She is… not doing well, Your Highness. She is isolating herself further and further. What began with Twilight has now spread to all of her friends. And… I worry for her sanity. Not from without, but within.”
“I… I see.” Celestia swallowed. She blinked a few times and took three stumbling steps that pained Raven to see. “That’s… deeply concerning.”
Raven opened her eyes to see the same subtle shift in mane color she witnessed one week ago. Only now, Celestia somehow looked smaller. Likely because of her slumped head and shoulders.
“I’ve reached out to her as a new confidante and friend,” Raven said in a desperate attempt to lift her Princess’s spirits. “She has yet to respond, but I remain hopeful.”
“Yes,” Celestia nodded distractedly. “Yes, of course. Please do tell me if she does.”
“Of course, Your Highness.”
“If you’ll excuse me Raven… I think I wish to rest for the remainder of the day. It was such a long trip.”
“I’ll clear your schedule then,” Raven said. It would take little effort. She’d already cleared most of it this morning for this exact reason. “Please, take some time to rest, Your Highness. I’ll take care of anything that comes up.”
Celestia smiled. It was genuine, if brittle. She gently nuzzled Raven on the cheek. “Where would I be without you?”
Raven gave Celestia her own smile, though she suspected it was just as brittle. “You would be doing whatever’s necessary, Your Highness. Of that, I have no doubt.”
Celestia nodded almost imperceptibly. “Perhaps. Perhaps not. I will see you in the morning, Raven. Please don’t work too late.”
“Of course, Your Highness.”
With that, Princess Celestia departed down a side passage that would lead to one of the many hidden paths throughout the Castle. This particular one would leave her near her quarters, where, Raven hoped, she could get some rest.
Two hours later, after the rest of Princess Celestia’s schedule had been dealt with, Raven managed to escape to her office to finish up the final version of the new trade agreements from last week. As always, As the Raven Flies tormented her on her desk. She should just move it to a bookcase. But she preferred to keep it in sight. She preferred to remember.
The Department of Inter-City Affairs had done an excellent job with the agreement, but despite her best efforts, Raven found her attention wavering as she worked through the legalese. Normally, she would enjoy such easy and simple work as the forty-five-page document, but her heart wasn’t in it.
Not after seeing Celestia’s face in that hallway. Not after seeing her stumble. Not after seeing the flame of hope in her eyes die by just a fraction.
They needed Sunset. Needed her more than she could be allowed to know. And not just for their sakes. The world needed Sunset Shimmer. Not as her alone, but as what she would become. They needed her to become the leader Celestia and Raven knew she could be.
And every day that slipped by was a toll on those who knew the truth.
Raven pulled off her glasses and set them on her desk. Only then did she allow herself the luxury of burying her face in her hooves. She didn’t cry or sob or weep. She simply sat there, allowing herself to feel. It was something she didn’t afford to herself often enough.
A knock at the door immediately brought her back to herself. She teleported the glasses onto her face, took a single deep breath to compose herself and called, “Come.”
A castle page slipped into the room, blushing profusely. The mare—little more than a filly, really—wore the standard golden jacket of a messenger. It took a moment for Raven to pull up the page’s name. Ironic considering it was an apt description of the silvery mare.
“Minnow,” Raven said. “What can I do for you?”
“A message, your… uh… Raven.”
Raven forced herself not to roll her eyes. Many ponies seemed to feel she should have some sort of honorific. Likely due to the stunt the Princess had pulled in giving her the rank of Seneschal. Thankfully, that had fallen out of favor, mainly because most ponies had trouble pronouncing it.
“For the Princess?” Raven asked patiently.
“No, ma’am. For you. Arrived just an hour ago, hoof delivered by a city courier.”
The mare used her magic to unscrew a tube on her jacket and pulled out a bound scroll with a red seal on it.
“Interesting,” Raven replied evenly as she took the scroll in her magic. “Thank you, Minnow. You may return to your normal duties.”
“Thank you, ma’am.”
Minnow shot out of her office. The young ones always became so nervous around her. She would never understand why.
Raven idly turned the scroll over in her magic. Wouldn’t it be nice if it was a letter from—.
“Oh.”
Her magic winked out and the scroll rolled on her desk, ending with the seal facing upward. Imprinted into the wax was the unmistakable mark of the Royal Apprentice: a star above two crossed unicorn horns.
It wasn’t Sunset’s seal, but it was from Sunset.
Raven tore open the letter and read it in an instant. It was short, succinct and to the point. It promised nothing. But it offered something.
It offered willingness, though with the demand that Raven return As the Raven Flies to her immediately.
Raven cracked a smile, jumped to her hooves and tossed on her saddlebags. She teleported the book inside the bag and scrambled out the door, only to nearly collide with a young Sun House Guard.
“I’m terribly sorry…” Raven blinked when she realized who she was looking at.
“Raven, ma’am?” Lieutenant Sunny Day looked alarmed at Raven’s sudden appearance. “Is everything okay?”
Raven smiled and patted the younger mare on the cheek. “You’re going up for your shift?”
“Yes, ma’am, but…”
“Please inform Princess Celestia I’ll be gone for the rest of the evening,” Raven said as she started running toward the main gates.
“But… where should I tell her you’ve gone?” Day called after her.
“To see a friend!” Raven shouted over her shoulder. “To see a dear friend!”