Lilac stood up in the tree, moving herself into the correct position, angling her bow downward at the rabbit. It was difficult, thanks to a branch that was rubbing up against her plot, making it very uncomfortable, and a bit disturbing as well. Regardless of the personal discomfort, they had to have something to eat that night, and it depended on her, and her hunting patrol. It was they who made the difference between an empty stomach, and a full one. Things had been this way since she was 7 years of age. Her whole life, she had prepared herself.
My name is Lilac Amethyst. I am 15 years old, and am the daughter of Princess Luna, and Prince Chaotic. Everything was a disaster when I was born. Mother always told me that the world was at the dawn of a Dark Age. The Changelings had returned to Equestria, in an apocalyptic bid for domination, but instead of being satisfied with that singular nation, they desired, instead, to conquer the entire world.
It was three weeks from the day of my birth, that war had come to Equestria. Our nation fought valiantly, but our chances were dismal, and day by day, we rapidly came closer to losing not only our lives, but our land, as well. The Elements of Harmony could not defeat them, but in their course, they found a way to transport us to the far, and forbidden, lands that we came to learn was called Aricastle.
Many of our loved ones stayed behind. I know my father did, as well as Applejack's brother, Big Macintosh. It was Celestia who made our presumed salvation possible, and it was Celestia who stayed behind. Mother tried to convince her to come, that without her they would have no direction. Celestia refused, saying, "The land to where you are traveling needs a Princess. I will stay here to fight for Equestria, even if that means dying for her." Luna knew, then, that the yoke of leadership had fallen upon her. It was then that my mother, the Princess of the Night, took all that were willing to live in Aricastle, and left that which we once called home.
So many lives were lost that day, and yet, even now, we continue to fight for our lives. We now have a new home, new codes, and new rules. I lead the hunting patrol, and use my skills to keep us alive. My group consisted of Applejack, our Captain, along with Zecora, Bon-Bon, Lyra, Octavia, Ditzy, and our loyal deputy, Rainbow Dash. Fluttershy comes along, on occasion, to teach the young ones how to survive, but never to hunt. We have other patrols, like the Medical patrol, and the Armory patrol.
Each day is the same: The forest is our home. There are no modern conveniences; no real houses, only tents. We have nothing like stores, and no castles, nothing like what we remember from our previous home. Still, we treat those tents like the old castles from our homeland. We have to if we want to survive, and it's our survival skills that we keep well honed.
We also have weapons support, though it is more a job of the Armory patrol. We complain about it constantly, but for some reason, Rarity doesn't have "the time" to listen. It's a bunch of crap, if you ask me, but even so, our group holds the most responsibility. Without us, there would be no food, shelter, or weapons. Even now is the hunting hour. To be honest, I still don't know why they call it that. It doesn't take an hour to go on hunting detail, it takes three. It was at the tail end of that detail, where Lilac Amethyst broke from her reverie.
She was looking around her, into the cluster of trees, taking note of her clan mates. Rainbow Dash was to her left, a huge sword in her grasp. Lilac saw that she was staring at the rabbit with a look of intense hunger. To her right, Ditzy crouched, waiting for her signal, the mare's eyes, straightened after years of surgery, thanks to the efforts of both Doctor Whooves, and Zecora. Ditzy acknowledged her without a word.
Down below, on the forest floor, she saw Applejack hiding with the wild game bag they used to collect their prey. Mentally, Lilac tallied their catch as somewhere around six rabbits, eighteen squirrels, and three hogs. There were a number of vegetables as well, such as corn, green beans, and wild snap peas, as well as the berries they collected for Fluttershy, who was completely vegetarian. Lilac had to admit it would be a bit disturbing to see Fluttershy treating an animal one minute, only to turn around and eat an animal the next. The need for the hunt had truly aggravated the meek pegasus, and she would often have to sit with other ponies in order to avoid the more carnivorous nature of her patrol group.
Lilac slowly closed her eyes as she took a hoof, wrapped in green tape to protect her skin when firing the shot, and reached into the quiver, grabbing an arrow, and lining it up against the bow. It was an extension of her body. Opening her eyes, she inhaled, and slowly exhaled. A split second later, she let the arrow fly.
The shot was straight and true, with the arrowhead embedding itself in the rabbit's flank, as it had tried to escape. Without a moment's hesitation, both of the Pegasi went zooming toward their prey, with Rainbow Dash leading as Ditzy followed closely behind. Within seconds, the fate of the rabbit was sealed, Dash grabbing it by it's tail. She held it upside down, exclaiming, "We're sure gonna feast, tonight!" as the rabbit's blood flowed down her arm in rivulets. She flew back to the "attack spot," for that's what they called it, and handed the carcass over to Applejack. The orange mare stuffed it in her bag, and swung it over her shoulder.
"Do 'ya think we can call it a day, Lilac? Mah side's been hurtin' an awful lot, and I think that between this plus whatever the other part of our patrol has, we'll certainly have enough feed the whole clan tonight."
Rainbow gave her a look as if she were crazy. "No way! We need more than just enough to feed the clan, and it's our duty to make sure we have more than what we need for a night!"
"Enough." Lilac said as she jumped down from the tree, and trotted over to the group of mares. She faced them both, her expression stern. "This is good. We don't need anymore food, because with this, and the food Zecora's group has gathered, there will be more than enough to fill everypony's stomach."
She lifted the prey bag, and brought it to her side, as it floated in her light blue atmosphere of magic."I'll carry this home. Everypony, follow me."
With that said, they all started for camp.
***---***
Lilac, followed the trail, noting the red markings on the trees along the pathway which served as her guide. She arrived at the clearing moment later, where she and Zecora had agreed to meet before sundown. Much to her surprise, however, instead of finding Zecora waiting patiently, she found Lyra, Octavia and Bon-Bon, as well. Her concern deepened when the enigmatic Zebra asked to speak with her in private. Together, in silence, they walked to an alcove of trees away from the others.
"Lilac, my dear, listen to me, for I must tell you what I have seen. There is another of our kind, hidden in plain sight, and I do not wish for you to fright."
Lilac paused for a moment, considering Zecora's revelation. Another one of our own kind? But that's impossible! When we first arrived, we searched the land for anypony else who might call this place "home." Not a trace of civilization, nopony been found, and there was no way after all this time, somepony had been discovered.
"Zecora, you must have seen something else. We searched the whole of Aricastle before we claimed the land. Trust me, you must be mistaken."
Zecora felt anger rise inside her, but she had to treat the Princesses daughter with respect. "I know surely what I have seen, it is unwise to take chances underestimating me."
Lilac looked at her, rolling her eyes as she trotted past her, back into the clearing. "Oh, please. It will be fine. We'll send another patrol out to see if what you say is true, but if your wrong, don't say I didn't warn you."
Zecora shook her head and clucked her tongue at the young mare's receding backside, as she said to herself, "her attitude is within bloom, like her parents, I greatly assume." With that, she began walking back toward the clearing.
Lilac snapped the stick she had been working on to turn into a spear. There was no way this stick was going to participate in being sharpened.
"Ugh!" She yelled out in frustration as she threw down the stick.
"Hehe, sounds to me your a little frustrated." Said Rainbow Dash.
The violet mare turned herself to face the other way. she crossed her hooves in a stubborn way. "Something like that."
She had always been impatient. She had to guess she picked up her traits from her father, her mother was always patient. In fact, her mother had always complained of how impatient she really was.
Something poked her in the back, but she had gotten so mad, she didn't even bother to turn around.
"Stop it, Rainbow Dash. Your not being funny."
"That wasn't me." Said the cyan mare. Lilac turned around to see Twilight Sparkle poking her with a spear.
"Twilight!" She exclaimed in happiness. If Lilac were to adopt a sister of a sort, it would definitely be Twilight. It was her and Zecora that helped her mother give birth to her. So many ponies in Aricastle would comment when they were talking at the feasting hour, asking if they were really related. I guess they could pull it off if wanted, due to the fact that they both had a violet coat, and there voice almost sounded unique. But there was no actual promise of being related through blood.
And Twilight has a strait, dark navy blue mane with pink and purple streaks, while Lilac had a blue and yellow mane, always pulled back into a braid, and she had her tail braided as well.
She also wore these golden bands around her hoof, but she took them off to go hunting, those bands were a special gift that her father had gotten for her, but wasn't alive to give it to her himself.
Twilight wrapped her hooves around Lilac as she hugged her tightly. She locked her in her grasp, feeling her hug her back.
"Hello Lilac. It's so good to see you again." She said as she released the mare. She smiled at her with all of her affection, leaving her to smile back. She looked at the spear that was now lying on the ground.
"What is that for? And how did you make it?"
"Spells, obviously." Interrupted the cyan mare. "This gooey introduction you guys are making is making me tired. When exactly is Feasting Hour?"
"Since when does being tired makes you hungry?" Asked Lilac.
Twilight answered in the speaking space that was left empty as she replied with a grin.
"Who knows. My stomach is making noises, too. We should go check the food."
Rainbow Dash jumped up." That... is a really good idea. Let's go see if the food is ready!" She started to flap away as she whispered, "rather than hugging each other all night..."
"Why I otta..." she said, trying to catch up to her to give her a piece of her mind, when she was stopped by Twilight.
"Just let her go." She said as she walked calmly with Lilac.
***---***
Lilac dove down into her meal that was in front of her. She scarfed it down, sitting by the campfire with Rainbow Dash, Twilight, and Pinkie Pie. They were the closest surrounding her, as other ponies were there as well.
She saw at the corner of her eye Rainbow Dash look at her with shock." Dang, Lilac. You act like you've never eaten."
"Wef, I havuent effen aww day." She said as she continued to stuff her mouth. Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes as she started eating, but nothing like how the violet mare next to her was.
Twilight stared at Rainbow Dash, mouthing to her Pegasus friend," What's with her?"
Rainbow Dash shrugged, not actually knowing why she looked like her life depended on weather or not she could get that food in her stomach.
They continued to eat until they were full. They went straight back to the spots they had sat, but for a different reason. Every three moons, Lilac's mother, Princess Luna, would tell the tales of Equestria. Lilac knew exactly what story was for tonight.
She called it, " The Beginning of the beginning." Rather silly named if you ask me. It's not exactly "Picture perfect" if you haven't heard it before.
She trotted to her tent, not having any interest in hearing the story. She was about to enter when she was stopped by two Pegasi, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy specifically.
"Hey Lilac, where are you going?"
She rolled her eyes as she turned to face the blue mare." Yeah...I'm gonna skip story time, you see, I'm really tired, and I need some sleep."
Rainbow Dash gave Fluttershy an unconvinced look. She returned it before she said," Umm... then I guess you don't want to go Night Running either?"
Lilac dropped her face expression. They were going Night Running? That's very sudden. They haven't went Night Running since she was at least 7 years of age.
Night Running was like hide and seek, except that when you were found, there was a special dare that had to be preformed.
The dare was to be made and carried out by the contestant. And all the rules were was that you had to do the dare, and the contestant could change up the dare after the one found has been chosen.
Me and Dash had been wanting to play for forever, and it could last all night. But there had to at least be 14 other ponies to play.
"You guys got 14 ponies to go Night Running?"
"Uh, 13. If you come, than that will make 14."
"That is, if your not tired..."
Lilac sighed." Fine. I'll-"
"On one condition." Dash interrupted. A grin on her face.
"What Dash?"
"You gotta come to the Story Circle."
"No."
"Why not! You always go to Story Circle!" Exclaimed the cyan Pegasus.
"That's true. I do, and I've listened to every one of them. They've grown old."
Fluttershy looked at Lilac. "Do you mind to back that statement up? That is... if you don't mind."
She eyed the cream yellowed Pegasus." Okay, say a part of any of the stories. I know them all by heart."
"Me and my dear sister was waiting, worried out of our wits. We knew Twilight was going to make the right choice, but it took her so long in finding-"
"For the Crystal Heart. That was too easy."
"Okay, what about this one." Said Rainbow Dash."I had first came to Ponyville, everypony was afraid. I had no idea why, that is-"
"Until I came to find later that they found excitement by being scared. That one was beyond too easy."
Rainbow Dash blew up her cheeks in frustration. Lilac kept a rather sarcastic look on her face as she said, "Rainbow Dash, I don't even know why you enjoy Story Circle. It's lame."
"It's not lame!" Said the cyan mare, her face giving off a pinkish sort of glow. "Story Circle is awesome! And I don't see why you don't like it. I like to hear the stories over and over again, why don't you?"
"Just because."
"Please come Lilac? For me? And then I swear we will leave immediately to go Night Running."
The violet unicorn exhaled as she gave it some thought. She looked at them irritatingly as she finally gave in. "Fine. I'll go."
Lilac sharpened this rock she had found on the ground with her pocket knife. She swiped it with every ounce more of irritation as she sharpened it. Her mind was set on the rock while beside her was Rainbow Dash, and on the other side was Twilight Sparkle. Next to Twilight sat Pinkie Pie. She's not the same as she used to be, being able to make everypony smile and fill them with glee, but now she moped around frowning. We all used to claim that she had puffy pink curly hair at one point, but these days it seemed rather... flat.
She sat there looking depressed as always. It made Lilac feel sad for Pinkie Pie. But the feeling faded as she heard the sound of her mothers voice.
"Come now my little ponies, there is a story to be told."
"One that's been said before..." said Lilac under her breath as she struck the rock again. Princess Luna made her way to the center of the surrounding population of ponies. She had a seat on one of the logs that was around the campfire, the light revealing her face.
"Now this tale is one most famous, a tale known by, the Beginning of the beginning."
" That's a stupid name..." she mumbled to herself. She looked around to see if anypony heard her, but not a one seemed to. They all oohed and ahhed as her mother was telling the story.
"It was the morning when I found Celestia pacing back and forth in the main halls. I questioned her of what was the matter. Of course this was when I was about eight and a half months before due of the birth of Lilac."
Lilac felt everypony's eyes rest on her. It slightly annoyed her further as she stroke the rock a little faster. She was getting closer to the part she couldn't stand.
About her father.
"She told me that the Changelings have returned, not only to rule Equestria, but to conquer the world. We had to set all the forces, and we had to set out all the patrols. Everypony fought, from the wide lands of Canterlot, to the Crystal Empire."
Lilac squeezed the rock from the anger she felt coming on, it was no longer showing any hope of disappearing.
"The battle was becoming more and more gruesome. And we wasn't winning, either. All hope was vanishing rapidly before our eyes. So that was when we finally decided we had to find a way to escape. To a new place we now know as Aricastle. But at the time, we just needed to get somewhere far and safe. I watched as all of the elements of harmony, joined there forces and created a powerful portal to get us out of Equestria.
The spell wasn't powerful enough to get us transported to safety, so that's when Celestia stepped in to help. She gave in every ounce of her energy to do so. That is when she had mentioned that I had to go with, and to rule."
" Losing patients... Need to find a way out of the story circle. Only until this part passed."
She thought as she looked both ways to see if anypony was watching. When she saw nopony's attention was aimed on her, she quickly hopped down from the log, and started to trot toward her tent. That is until she heard the name of her father.
Chaotic Noteworthy.
She froze as the name ran through her body. Her cover was already well blown as a few ponies attention turned to her as it grew rapidly as she felt everypony's eyes on her. Thanks to Mom pointing Chaotic Noteworthy as her biological father.
Anger raged through her veins as she let the words, the sound, the look of her fathers name rolling off there tongue.
Chaotic Noteworthy.
Chaotic Noteworthy, father of Lilac Amethyst.
Father.
That is dead.
And nothing to be proven of his ways and personality.
Except for through these stupid stories.
"Enough!"
The words echoed as she screamed them out. She took the rock that was sharpened, and stabbed the ground with it. She looked around in anger at the quite well shocked and disturbed crowd. Everything was silent, and not a voice dared make a sound.
"These stories don't help with the questioning of my father, mother. Only drawing me closer and closer to aggravation. These stories could be a FAKE!"
"LILAC MERSARI NICOLE AMETHYST! You dare clam the tales are a fib! You are certainly incorrect! I would never be guilty of a lie!"
"Oh mother, what makes you say that!? I've seen many mothers lie to there children about there fathers, or even real parents! There could be a way that you are telling fairy tales!"
"They are NOT!!"
"PROVE IT!!"
Her mother froze as she realized that she couldn't prove herself worthy of the tales she told. She immediately backed down in guilt.
"I..., I can't."
Lilac looked at her mother. She shook her head as she turned the other way, trotting. She headed into the woods, leaving her mother and the others behind.
Author's Note
Sorry for this chapter taking so long. It is longer than the first chapter, so there you go. Before you leave because of how crappy the end to this chapter was, I must tell you that Luna is hiding something from Lilac and has something to do with these tales. So don't ditch this yet, it will make more sense later.
Also, my proofreader magically disappeared on me. (WHERE ARE YOU LOTUSTEADRAGON!?!?) And so the proofreading of this was done by myself, so that's why this wasn't anywhere close to being as good as the first.
~theviciouskiller
