The Slumbering Servant.

Zakari didn't know when he fell asleep, but he did know that he was having the most wonderful dream. It involved Princess Celestia, cheesecake, and... a very soft bed. In the dream, he was bringing in trays of cheesecake to her bedroom and when he was about to leave, the princess called him over to her bed and asked him to feed her. Oh joy! There are no words that can describe what an honor this is! He was about to serve her another piece when a blinding flash of light distorted the dream and woke him from his bliss.

The first thing he felt when he awoke was an enormous amount of pent up energy. It was like he took a thousand year nap and was ready for anything! Seriously, he never felt this energized before! But, after that, the next thing he felt was fear. He remembered what happened to him. He was fighting against that murderer, Captain markus, and was defeated in battle. Well...at least he thinks he got defeated. Getting partially decapitated counts as losing, right? Now he was worried. Was Markus killed? Did anyone else get hurt? Were the princesses safe? If he somehow, through a  miracle, survived his wound, then why wasn't he in the hospital? This was definitely not a hospital.

And he heard voices. They sounded female.

He sat up from whatever he was lying on and took in his surroundings. It was dark, the only light being emitted was from a few candles on the walls. And it appeared that he was at the end of a rather long hallway. He also found the origin of the voices. They were from ponies. That was actually very comforting to the black clad warrior. If anyone can help him, it would be them.

'Ah, Equines. The loyal and kind friend to the human race. They can certainly fill me in!' He thought to himself. He noticed that a mint green one( or is she teal? I don't know) pointed her hoof at him. This got the attention of a purple one, who turned around to see him. Now that he looked closer, he could tell she was a unicorn, and there was actually a pretty big group behind her. The ponies each had different looks on their faces. Some had looks of pure horror. Others, a look of interest. And the teal/mint green one had a look of...fascination?

'What's wrong with them? They act like they've never seen a human before?'

He decided to voice his confusion.

"Um...where the hell am I?"

They just stared at him, unmoving and barley blinking. Zakari raised an eyebrow.

"Um, are you guys alright? Why are you staring at me?" He asked them. For a moment, there was no answer, until Lyra ran past Twilight and stood in front of him. He looked down at her, wondering what her problem was. Then she lowered her head to the floor and bowed.

"The voice was right!" Shouted Lyra "I am not worthy!"

Zakari backed up a foot. 'What the hell is wrong with these ponies!' He looked away from Lyra and to the rest of the group, "Would anybody like to tell me what's going on!?"  They just kept staring  " Why won't anyone say anything?"

They acted like this was the first time they ever met a human!

Finally snapping out of it, Twilight looked up at Zakari and spoke.

"H-hi, My name is Twilight Sparkle, and these are my friends." She nodded her head to the rest of the group. "Who are you?"

Zakari placed an arm across his chest and did a small bow, then said. "My name is Zakari. A pleasure to meet you Miss Sparkle." He smiled at them. And apparently that's all that was needed to break the ice, just a show of good will. The others dropped their fear and approached, standing beside Twilight. They all looked up at him now, with more interest.

"Miss Sparkle, would you be so kind as to explain where we are and what we are doing here?" He asked, moving his finger in a circle to imply that he was talking about the room.

"Um...well... we are in the tomb of the Slumbering Servant." She responded.

" And where is that? I've never heard of that before."

Twilight sighed. "I was afraid of this. You don't know what happened to you?"

"Know what? I have no clue where I am or what's going on."

" Before you woke up here, do you remember fighting another human?"

"Yes, I do. It was Captain Markus. He murdered the King and Queen and then he...he..."

"He killed you too."

"Yeah! Or at least I thought I was dead." He touched his neck and felt a very large scar. Obviously the injury that should have killed him.

"You aren't dead. But the injury was too severe, so... they had to do something drastic. Something rarely ever done."

"What? What happened to me?"

"You...you might want to sit down for this."

"Why? Just tell me what happened!"

She took a deep breath. " 1,500 years ago, an assassin murdered the king and queen on Equestria. He later dueled with a guard and almost killed him as well. To save the guard's life, he was sealed in a statue and placed in a tomb. That guard...was you. This...is your tomb...YOU are the Slumbering Servant."

His brain finally processed the information. He has been pretty much dead for more than 1,500 years. It was too much. He slumped to his knees and took a deep breath, trying his best to calm himself.

"1,500 years. Your telling me I've been gone THAT long!"

"I'm sorry, I know this is hard for you. Do you...do you need a moment alone?"

"No..no I'm fine, it's just ALOT to take in. I'll... I'll think about that later." He got off his knees. " Which way is out? I need some fresh air."

"We'll show you the way. Come with us." Zakari nodded and fallowed the purple unicorn and her friends.

The group exited the castle sometime later and was once again greeted by the trees of the Everfree forest. They left for this expedition at around noon and the sun was now setting. Their little journey wasn't really that little. It took them all day. Zakari found a tree to brace himself on. He said he wasn't going to think about it, but that was proving to be difficult. He needed to rest on something, get his bearings straight.

Twilight watched from a distance as the ebony armored human leaned against a tree. She couldn't help but feel a little responsible for his pain. Maybe she shouldn't have awakened him. He left so much behind.

"It's not your fault." Said AppleJack, coming up beside her. Twilight turned to meet her friend.

"But if I didn't release him then maybe..."

"Maybe what? He stays in the thing for all eternity? That's almost as bad as death. I know he's hurting right now, trying to sort out all that's happened to him, but that's not your fault. You gave him another chance at life! It might hurt him now, knowing that he left so much behind, but he'll get over it. The pain is only temporary. He may not admit it right now, but I think he's glad to be alive." She gave Twilight a reassuring smile.

"Your right. And I'll be there to help him through this."

"I know you will, sugarcube. You're just that kind of pony."

The two stopped talking for a moment and just watched the human. Twilight thought about approaching Zakari and trying to talk to him to get him to feel better, but it seems a certain pink pony beat her to the punch. Before she could stop her, she saw Pinkie walking up behind him. This could only end badly.

Zakari was still leaning on the tree. The pain of leaving everything behind was becoming numb. It was still there, but the shock of the whole situation had slightly worn off. Right now, he wanted to be alone with his thoughts, and it appeared that those ponies understood. He looked back at them and noticed something missing. Wait...wasn't there a pink one too?

"HI!"

"AHHHHH!" Zakari jumped back, his heart beating a million miles a minute. Well...he found the pink one!

"My name's Pinkie!" She shouted.

"Ugh...don't you know it's rude to sneak up on others." He said, slightly panting.

"Well, I did think it would be kinda rude, but then I saw how sad you were about whatever you were thinking about and I thought a surprise would get you to stop thinking about whatever it is that you were thinking that made you sad in the first place!"

He blinked...then twice. "...What?"

"Oh, nothing. I was just trying to cheer you up! You seem really down about something!" She smiled at him.

"Well, that's because I am down." He rested his head back on the tree.

"Well, you know what cheers me up?"

"Ugh...no." He sighed.

"A party!"

"That's nice." He didn't even look up from the tree.

"Do you like to party?"

Now, some might question why Zakari doesn't just snap at her and tell her that she's being annoying and that he want's to be left alone? Well, Zakari understands that the pink pony is just trying to make him feel better. And to snap at someone who just trying to cheer you up is rude and inconsiderate. Well that and the fact he's got no balls whatsoever. And so he kept his irritation bottled up inside and put on his best smile.

"Yes Pinkie, I like to party."

She shouted with joy. "Oh fantastic! I'll start planning right away!"

"Yes...you go do that."

"Go? How would I plan your party if I just go? I need your input! duh!"

"Ugh...fine. What do you want to know?"

Twilight just watched as Pinkie and Zakari talked. She was certain that, given all that's happened to him, he would tell her to buzz off. But he didn't. Instead, he swallowed his anger and remained polite.

"First, what kind of snacks do you like?" Pinkie pulled out a note pad. From where, I have no idea.

"Well, I don't know, um..."

"Let me be a little more specific. Do you like cake?"

"Yeah, I like cake."

"What kind is you favorite? Chocolate? Vanilla? Marble?

He thought back to the dream he was having a little bit ago. "I...like cheesecake."

"Ooooh, cheesecake! Yummy!" She scribbled it down on the note pad. That was actually impressive considering she has no hands or fingers. "So, do you like large parties or smaller, private parties?"

"Um, well I guess smaller parties. I really just like to hang out with close friends..." And now he was thinking about it again. All the things left behind, his friends were among them. "Excuse me,Miss Pinkie." He walked past her and to Twilight.

When Twilight saw Zakari coming her way, she was glad. She had some good news for him.

"Hi, Zakari." She said, somewhat softly.

"Hello again, Miss Sparkle. I wish to say something."

"Sure, what is it?"

"I wish to thank you for releasing me from the statue. I...I may not like having left the world behind, but it beats being dead. Though, I'm not sure what to do with myself and I have so many questions, I'll cross that bridge when I come to it."

"Well, I'm glad. When I released you, it was never my intention to make you feel bad."

"I know. And...thank you again.

He smiled at her and she smiled back. There was a slowly forming connection between the two. She then remembered the good news.

"Oh, I have good news!"

He looked puzzled. "What?"

" Before we left, my friends found some things in that room you were in." She used her magic and lifted up two things."I think these belong to you."

He cracked a small smile. She was right, they were his. The two things she lifted up was his helmet...and a certain katana with a yellow handle.