Two older looking ponies and a youngster walked towards the city of Ponyville after walking through Everfree Forest. The elder of the three, Cynders Reign, a silver unicorn with red dragon eyes and red and black hair, was watching Ragnrok, a slate gray and black appy earth pony with gray eyes and white and black hair, play with her son Surrenders Rain, a baby blue and dark silver paint pegasus with red eyes and red and black hair. Reign spotted a small field and made up her mind. They must be getting tired. The concert is tomorrow night, so we can rest a little bit here, she thought to herself.
"Hey boys! We can stop here for a short while before we get to Ponyville," she called out to them.
Relieved, Surrender sat down on a soft patch of grass and relaxed. Ragnrok chuckled and trotted over to Reign before lying down with her. He glanced over to her and smiled. She returned the smile and kissed his cheek before looking over at her foal.
"He looks so happy," she said calmly. Ragnrok nodded.
"Maybe it's because he has a wonderful mother," he hinted lightly, nudging her shoulder with his muzzle.
Reign blushed slightly at the comment while bending her neck down to eat some flowers. "I'm not the only one to blame. You're a great father," she replied quietly.
He chuckled again. "'Rend is a great kid, even before we met each other. He had you as his mentor, his best friend, his mother," he reassured her. At the mention of his nickname, Surrender's ear's ears pricked up and trotted over to his parents. He dropped down in front of them.
"Mumma, when are we gonna get to Ponyville?" he asked sweetly, his eyes beaming.
Reign smiled at Surrender. "We'll be there before Princesses Luna and Celestia raise the moon and set the sun," she replied sweetly, looking down at him and nuzzling his cheek with her maw.
"He grinned a huge grin. "Oooooh, I can't wait to see Music Theory! My very first concert ever and it's for him!" he squealed and jumped up and flew into the air, twirling and flipping around. Surrender laughed as he played with the currents of wind that blew by, easily overtaking the simple air currents. "What is he going to be singing?" He hovered in the air in front of her.
"It's the DanceParty tour. I believe it's supposed to debut his new album with 'Stained', 'Staff Infection', and 'Fire Hive' at least. I'm not exactly sure which songs he's going to sing, but it's along that line," she explained. He grinned again and did another back flip. Surrender laughed as he began singing 'Discord' off key.
Reign smiled the young colt having fun flying. 'Oh, how I miss flying,' she thought solemnly. Ragnrok saw the look in her eye and nuzzled her cheek and neck.
"I know, Rei. It's fine,' he reassured her. She smiled lightly. "It's alright."
"I realize that…" she said quietly, "but I can't help missing it, you know? Sometimes, I wish I never gained this stupid black dragon mark…I would still have my wings…" she trailed off, thinking to herself again. She shook her head looked around for Surrender. "Surrender!" she called, "come back for a quick nap! We still have a lot of ground to cover before reaching Ponyville." She glanced at the sky; the sun was still towards the east. 'We have plenty of time to get there. He must be exhausted at that last burst.'
Surrender flew next to Ragnrok and flung himself to the ground. He was tired from his earlier episode and fell into a deep sleep quickly. Reign giggled to herself. 'He reminds me of myself when I was that age' she thought before lying down next to Ragnrok. She rested her head over his back and fell asleep as well.
About an hour passed while the three slept before she was shaken awake. Automatically, her horn and eyes glowed a menacing black and spoke, "Svaust beviri ekes disturb udoka? (Who dares to disturb us?)," in Draconic speech.
Startling back, an earth pony with a mossy green coat with brown hair and blue eyes shrunk back and away from her. "Oh, sorry there. I didn't mean to wake you, but I needed you to know that you're sleeping on my small amount of land," he replied with a slight stutter, "but, uh, what'd you say?"
Reign shook her head. "Uh, sorry. Being close to Everfree Forest, I thought you were something that would harm us," she said quietly. Her horn and eyes stopped glowing when she finished speaking.
The green pony shook his head. "No, that's quite alright. It's understandable." He held out his hoof. "My name's Trifle Clop. Yours?"
Reign smiled lightly and extends hers. "Cynders Reign. Just Reign if you'd like." She points towards the slate earth pony sleeping soundly, "this is my husband, Ragnrok, and," she then points to the small paint pegasus, "and my son, Surrender."
Trifle smiles and asks, "Well, Reign, welcome to my little strip of land. Where are you three heading?"
She stood up slowly, not wanting to wake either of the two sleeping ponies. "We're heading to Ponyville to go see the Music Theory concert in a couple days. Surrender can't wait to see him. Music is his idol," she said, quietly chuckling.
"Really? I'm going to," he said. He looked up into the sky, seeing that the sun moved. "Oh, my, look at the time. I need to get back to collect herbs in the forest. Stay as long as you need to, Reign. It was nice meeting you. Hopefully your boys will be awake next time we meet," he said.
"It was nice meeting you too, Trifle. See you at the concert," and she waved him off. He turned around and trotted away into the shadowed forest out of view. Reign turned back to her family and sighed. She didn't want to wake them yet, but they were losing time if they wanted to get there before nightfall.
Quietly, she walked over to Ragnrok and nudged him slightly with her nose. He groaned and shifted a little without disturbing Surrender, who was sleeping nearly on top of him. She giggled to herself. They're so cute. I wish I could let them sleep here all day. They look so peaceful. For once, Rag's not twitching in his sleep, she thought to herself. Again, she nudged him, hoping to wake him up this time.
Groaning, Ragnrok opened his eyes and lifted his head groggily. "What is it, honey?" he yawned.
"It's time to go. Could you wake 'Rend up or should one of us carry him?" she asked with a slight giggle.
He smirked. "He's a big boy now. He can carry himself,' he answered, and proceeded to wake him up by shaking him.
Surrender startled awake and flew up into the sky too fast to register unless you looked up ahead of time. Reign erected a magical barrier before he got too far. Slamming into it, he stopped so suddenly that that sound of it cracking was delayed by a good 10 seconds. He fell about 150 yards before catching himself and gliding to the ground. He was breathing heavily, though the flight itself didn't tire him.
Reign sighed and walked over to him slowly. She lowered her head and nuzzled him comfortingly. "Surrender, it's alright, baby. Ragnrok woke you up. You're not in any danger," she cooed, wrapping her one of her front legs around his shoulders. He's such a flinchy colt. I wish I could've protected him better, she thought.
Then why dwell on it? Make them pay for the way they treated him….for what they did to him… her inner self taunted to her.
You will not come back to my surface, you pathetic excuse of an inner demon Reign snapped back mentally.
You will, Reign. Your Mistress will arise once again. Just you wait~, the inner demon replied calmly, her voice sounding raspy from her prison inside Reign's mind.
Reign shook her head quickly and lightly to keep the two boys from worrying. She didn't need the Mistress putting more stress on her.
Ragnrok saw the quick movement and looked worriedly at her. "Are you ok, Hun?" he asked and walked slowly towards her.
She shot him a quick look, one that said 'We will discuss this at the different time' and he got the message. "I'm time, dear. Honest," she replied with a forced smile. She looked down at Surrender. "Shall we head out again?"
Surrender grinned and flew up in joy. "Ready, Mumma!" he cheered.
-A couple hours later-
"Are we there yet?" Surrender complained.
"Surrender, that is the 4th time you've asked me that. No, we aren't," Reign said sternly, getting slightly irritated at his annoying behavior.
"But I'm bored~~~," he dragged out.
Ragnrok glared at him. "We're almost there, Rend. Just a little longer," he grinded out, his teeth clenched in annoyance.
The road in front of them was beginning to widen, like if a main road were starting. Reign lifted her head slowly to see, in the distance, a small cottage with a fenced in back yard. Several small animals were running around and scurrying up the tree close to the house itself. A normal sized pegasus pony flew out of her house leisurely, not in much a race to be anywhere. A small white bunny was perched on her soft yellow coat, trying to see over her peach colored mane. Surrender widened his eyes at the sight of an eagle high above him and smiled. He looked over to his mom and asked, "Mumma, can I go race that eagle waaayyyyy up there?" he stretched his leg high above his head, pointing at it.
Reign looked up and squinted, her dragon eyes easily picking up the slight movement that the regal bird was making. She looked back down at her son and smiled. "Quickly. Be back here in a few minutes, mind you, I'll be timing you," she replied with a wink.
Surrender smirked and took off in the blink on an eye, a steak of red, black, and light blue trailing behind him as her races up to the eagle. He caught up easily and looked at it, watching it glide lazily through the air, catching air currents to "ease" the strain of flapping its wings. The bird of prey startled at the sudden appearance of Surrender and flapped its wings to hover back a few beats. Surrender smiled and pointed to the south, back towards the forest. It looked back as well and nodded, understanding his unspoken challenge and started off without warning. Surrender smirked and followed, quickly gaining speed. He caught up and slowed down, matching the eagle's pace. It looked over and "winked" at him before taking off again. He blinked in amazement before gritting his teeth and flying faster.
Meanwhile, Reign watched from the safety of the ground as her son raced the eagle, knowing fully well that he would win easily with a wing tied behind his back. The dragon mark on his flank proved that point very well, just like he had during his "Flight with the Dragons", as the newly issued Canterlot history books state. In the next few years, the children in school would wonder how he managed to be in the history book, or even if he survived because of a stupid printing error. She smiled, happy that in spite of the pain of his past, he could still have fun.
She sighed and glanced over at Ragnrok, who was watching her. She blushed lightly, though not really embarrassed. She knew he was studying her because she wasn't acting like herself: her movements were overall jerky; her facial expression was tight and forced; the pupils of her eyes were ever so slightly smaller than normal. She gave him a slightly sullen look, hoping not to worry him very much, though that dragon had flown away a long time ago.
Ragnrok sighed as well and walked over to the nearby tree, lying down in the shade for a quick nap while waiting for Surrender to come back from his race. Reign watched him in sadness, knowing she had driven him away. Unbeknownst to them, the soft yellow pegasus was "spying" on them from behind a bush nearby. Her white bunny crossed his arms, obviously annoyed that his owner wasn't taking him where she said she would, and tapped this foot loudly in impatience.
The pony quickly turned her head towards him and hushed him quietly. "Angel Bunny, I know you want to go to the marketplace so we can pick up your treats but these ponies look odd….especially that tall gray one with the strange red eyes…." Her sentence trailed off when she saw said "tall gray one with the strange red eyes".
Reign was now glaring at the pegasus, loving the fear that was in her soft navy eyes. Her eyes and horn had begun glowing black again, and she threatened in a whisper: "Svabol tir wux siofme wux re tirir, vorqir sva udoka zara skjalli? Re wux ir batobot ui batobot ousch di vi jivi? (What do you think you are doing, looking at us behind trees? Are you one that is that low of a pony?)" Her voice was warped and raspy, her coat had darkening slightly. The pegasus before her was frozen in fear. The bunny called 'Angel' was pulling at her pink mane and tail in attempt to rouse her from her state, but was failing.
Ragnrok awoke from his doze and saw Reign with her head in a shrub, glowing slightly black and her coat darkened. He cantered to her quickly, grabbed her shoulders, and shook them hard. "Rei, look at me," he spoke loudly, "look at me, come one. Snap out of it."
Her right eye twitched slightly and she swung her head to hit him. He let go in time to dodge the blow and back up a couple paces. She's not herself….what can I do? What can I do?! He backed up a few more steps when he saw Reign walk towards him, her body being engulfed in black like and her eyes turning red. "Nomeno ui ehis di dout nouhai, wux plythu drot. Itrewic ekik di sia idol" (This is nothing of your concern, you weak boy. Get out of my way) she growled, her horn still controlling the glowing around her body. Black tendrils emerged from her back and grabbed the pegasus who was crawling away by each of her limbs, including her wings. "Wux hawrk'ghukech jivi, svaklar tir wux siofme wux re gethrisjir?" (You pathetic pony, where do you think you are going?" Reign grinded out as he started applying pressure to her appendages.
The pegasus had started crying while trying to get away from the scary 'Reign', her voice breaking when she tried squeaking out, "P-p-p-please, d-d-don't h-hurt-t m-m-m-me…..I-I-I-I-I d-d-didn't m-m-mean t-to s-spy on y-y-you…."
Reign simply laughed at the pegasus and turned to face her again. Intricate, glowing red designs started covering the fur on her face from the tip of her horn and was already at the base of her neck. Ragnrok stared in horror at the markings that were next to being burned onto his wife's face. I...I need to stop this…that innocent pony's going to be killed if something is done….but what of Rei? What will happen to her when she sees what she's done to her…..? He made up his mind then and there as he flung himself at Reign, not caring if he gets hurt.
The pegasus' eyes grew wide when she saw the contrasted appy grabbing onto her captor. She started struggling, but to no avail. Her navy eyes shrunk back in fear again and looked for something to distract Reign from her and the appy. A light bulb came on in her head. If she wants, it's me she'll get, and she bit on of the tendrils that came from Reign's back.
Reign screeched when the pony bit the black arm her magic conjured up and withdrew all 6 of them from her. The pegasus started to fly away then Ragnrok then pounced on Reign's back. "Rei, please, It's me…snap out of it, I beg of you…" he started tearing up, unable to hold back the few that slipped down his cheek. She saw the salty drops on his face, and instead of laughing and carrying on with what she was doing, she frowned; her body stopped glowing; the tendrils withdrew into her back again; her eyes and horn stopped glowing once more. Ragnrok slowly got off of her and rounded her until he was eye to eye with her.
Reign sat down abruptly….and collapsed onto the dirt sideways. She started sobbing, unable to control her emotions at any rate again. She felt disgusted with herself. She gave in; she didn't nor ever wanted to. She covered her face with her hooves and hid herself away from the pony she almost killed and Ragnrok, who saved the both of them. She continued sobbing while the two stared at her, unable to register what just happened.
He walked slowly up to the crying unicorn. "Rei? Are you alright, sweetie?" he called out softly; he rubbed her shoulder gently with his hoof before nuzzling her cheek with his maw. She kept sobbing, leaving his question unanswered.
The little pegasus quietly flew over, still jumpy and skeptical of what just happened between the two of them. "H-h-hello? M-m-miss?" she whispered timidly, not wanting to upset the mare.
Reign lifted her head slowly, her eyes were red and puffy and still leaking tears when she looked at the smaller pony. "I…I-I'm sorry…I-I don't know what came over me…..That wasn't me….I'm so sorry I put you through that…" she answered sullenly, barely audibly.