Ancestral Cycle #1: Freedom

They’re coming. A voice echoed, and Zunar woke up with a start. He glanced around the master room, expecting somepony or something to be waiting for him. No, Zunar thought to himself. I mustn't think like that anymore. I’ve retired from the Service, and now I’m mayor...there shouldn’t be anything trying to kill me. Zunar shifted to an upright position, and swung his hooves over the side of the bed. Suddenly, a hoof brushed against his striped back. He looked over his shoulder and saw his wife, Midnight Dance, she began rubbing his zebra coat.

“What’s wrong, dear?” She asked. She shifted and scooted closer to him, knowing what happened. She always did this, for it was usual that Zunar would wake up in cold sweat, remembering his past conflicts.

“N-nothing, Midnight.” Even though they moved to Hoofshend, Zunar still felt out of place. “I’m going to walk around the house, make sure nothing is...out of place.” Zunar explained as he struggled to find the right words to make an excuse of to get away from his dreams.

Midnight nodded, and said smiling, “Go check on Song and see if he’s okay.” Zunar nodded, leaned over to kiss his wife, and felt his way out into the living room. He turned on a small desk-side light, putting the room in a small dim. He glanced at the fireplace, then looked up from the swallowing blackness where the fire goes. Up above the mantle hung a leather figure so ornate to look as if a tux for a Ball. The neck was joined at the back and an oval shape piece was stung above it, forming a hood. Zunar looked at it, as if it was a long lost friend he couldn’t wait to talk to.

Zunar sighed, and moved away from the suit, heading towards the second hallway. He felt his way to the door of his son’s room, only to be interrupted by a sharp knock at the door. Zunar stiffened, cautiously moved to the front door, and waited in front of it. The knock was heard again, and Zunar reached to his coat rack, and pulled out a silver greatsword. He kept it down, down to where he could open the door, but not be noticed with the sword. He slowly opened the door, expecting it to be bad news, but instead was a gold-armored soldier, standing in the wet rain.

When the soldier saw Zunar, he saluted-his left hoof over his chest- and said. “Mayor, sir!” Zunar returned the salute. The soldier continued. “Nightshade brings news! She says that she and the King are making advancements on The Evil army! She’d devised an attack strategy that might work! She says it is very dangerous for you to be here!”

“Why is that?” Zunar questioned the soldier. “This village is nowhere near the war. Why would it be dangerous?”

“I do not know, sir! She told me to relay the message!. Is that all?” Zunar nodded and saluted the soldier, who returned the salute, turned around, and flew away into the night rainy sky. Zunar shut the door, shaking his head.

He thought of his immortal friend. Nightshade’s just probably over-reacting, as usual. Zunar thought. There’s no way that the evil king could attack this village. We’re way out of war boundaries. He went to his son’s room, and found the baby stirring restlessly in the carriage.

"How's he doing?" His wife said, suddenly by the door, leaning against it. "Also, who was that?"

Zunar rubbed his stiff neck. “He's doing fine." He lied. "There was a soldier at the door. He wanted to give me some Intel on the war...” His voice trailed off as he heard what sounded like yelling. Zunar quickly went to the living room window and watched a villager run through the streets. He seemed to be yelling something. Zunar strained to listen, and heard;

“The death walkers are coming! The ones that walk with Death are-” Suddenly, an arrow ripped through the stallion’s neck, instantly killing him. Zunar stumbled back, and ran to the bedroom. “The village is under attack! I’ll hold them off while you go hide Song!.” Zunar rushed into the living room, and threw on his suit. The suit snuggly fit his built shape, and when he flexed his front hooves, two long knives shot out, ready for cutting.

“Remember;” Queen Nightshade Star had told him."The next time you put this suit on-" He then interrupted Nightshade.“I know, it will be my last..." He thought he would never put on the suit, but that time has come. He ran back to the bedroom, gave Midnight the silver greatsword, and said, “You know where to hide him, right? I’ll draw attention away from there as long as I can. He needs to keep the bloodline flowing!” With that, he turned around, ran and opened the front door, and ran outside into complete chaos.

Townspeople ran everywhere, screaming. Guards tried fighting off black-robed ponies. Houses were on fire. A robed pony came flying at Zunar, wielding a longsword, but Zunar deflected upwards, and thrusted the hidden blade into the pony’s rib. Zunar brought the blade back out, and left the pony shivering on the ground as he went to go find something else to kill. As he ran out into the center of the town’s square, he saw who the town was under siege with. They weren't the Fallen Star’s royal soldiers, they were his mercenaries.A pony saw Zunar, and instantly began chanting words for a rising spell. Zunar grunted, pulled out his Canterbow, and shot the pony three times in the throat, saying, “Words of the dead, shall stay with the dead.” What seemed like a millennium of endless fighting, a piercing shriek was heard, and Zunar instantly recognized it: It was Midnight. He looked in the direction of the screech just in time to see her on the grown stomach-down while a robed pony insert a greatsword through her spinal cord, and exiting between her ribcage.

“No!” Zunar yelled, and emptied his Canterbow into the pony. Cutting a wide path using a sword from a fallen pony, he sliced ponies to pieces as he made his way to Midnight. He knelt at her body, and she looked past him to the stars. While the ponies retreated and fled Zunar held her head in his hooves as the flow of blood trickled out of her mouth. “Midnight!” Zunar screamed in terror. “Oh dear sweet Faro! Midnight, stay with me!”

“The stars,” Midnight quietly whispered. “I’ve...always loved the Night. But now alas, I cannot see Mother.”

“No! Midnight! You are not going to die! Stay with me! Stay! With! ME!” Zunar said as he began crying. Song was nowhere to be found, and Zunar thought with horror that he might be already dead. Suddenly, a hoof pushed down from above his head and Zunar realized the hoof belonged to Midnight. She brought his head to hers, and she kissed him with deep, comforting affection. The taste of fresh blood flowed into Zunar’s mouth, but he didn’t care. He kissed back, and a fearful string of words exited her lips, sounding like a Curse;

“‘Kin of your kin

Light will send.

The one of note, and the one anew,

Will bring The World into one solid hue.’

These words...were given to my mother.” She quietly explained. She looked up to the bright moon, the Mare on the Moon standing out as if watching this horrid night. She smiled as her eyes clouded up, and said her final words: “Chaos, to thee I will take away, at my burial ground. But harmony,....will be here...in Elysium...” She exhaled, and a puddle of blood surrounded Zunar. He went to close her eyes, but a voice said, No, let her see the sky, for her name’s final wish... the voice was interrupted by the sound of marching hooves falling into formation to make a circle around him. Zunar slowly stood up on his hindquarters  and looked at the ground, not worrying about facing death.

A pony chuckled, obviously sounding like the leader. “Awww, how touching. The pony mocked. “Zunar, can’t be mistaken by the zebra coat, figuring that you’re the only zebra around here.” He laughed, and so did his stallions and mares. “Ahh. Somepony told me your head was a good price. Well, I wouldn’t doubt it, seeing as you triple as a direct bloodline from Requiem, a soldier in the highest ranking, and a mayor! This, is going to be fun!”

“Love,” Zunar muttered. They stopped laughing, and Zunar looked up to Silvermane. He saw a bright star, as if it was new, in the sky among others. He smiled, but it waned as he said, “Love,” again. The changelings looked utterly confused. “Love, that’s all you take on. Yet you do not stop to realize the beauty of it...” His voice trailed off as he turned around, causing the changelings(except the leader) to gasp. Zunar’s eyes were pure silver, adding a dark look to his hatred expression. but the most abnormal thing was his body: Seeping blackness flowed from right out of him, like a tattered cape. “What is your name, changeling?” Zunar asked. “I want to know the name of the stallion who killed my wife.”

The changeling laughed, “Hah! A final request, I see. Even though you won’t live for long, I’ll tell you my name: It is Cross Change, for of how well I can change identities!” He nodded to his soldiers, who instantly brought out weapons such as swords, axes, knives, and crossbows.

Zunar chuckled, and held one hoof to the side of his waist, and another near his right cheek, as if he was grabbing something. His shadow crawled up his body and flowed into his hooves to created a strange weapon: One side was a long blade, like an axe, but the other side had an even longer blade, like a scythe. He briefly smiled, then charged at the changelings, crying and screaming a deafening war cry. They instantly fired the crossbows, and the melee ponies charged at Zunar. Multiple bolts hit him, but he still charged. He slashed, cut, hack, and decapitated everything in his path.

When Zunar finally reached Cross Change, he swung his weapon high in the air, hoping to split the changeling’s skull open. But Cross grabbed Zunar in a hug-like manner, pushed the weapon away, and-using a hidden blade- stabbed the zebra in the pancreas and moved upwards into the stomach. Zunar, not phased by being stabbed in his vital point, looked at the shocked expression on Cross’s face, reared his head back, and the zebra threw his head against the changeling’s, causing it to splatter as blood went everywhere. As blood seeped down his face, Zunar turned to realize that the changelings were starting to retreat, due to the fact that their leader was dead.

Panting, Zunar looked around the town and realized that everypony was...dead. Not a single living soul was in sight. Tired and wounded, Zunar stumbled back to the lifeless body that was his wife, and collapsed next to her. He wrapped a hoof around her, closed his eyes, and said, “No changeling can conquer this love....” His voice trailed off as the wind echoed, Music, Zunar opened his eyes, not sure if he heard right. Music, the voice came again. ...is our Light. Zunar raised his head in the direction of the voice, and saw many ponies standing in a horizontal line.

Zunar instantly recognized them from left to right as all of his wife’s  ancestors, from the time of Requiem on down. Something brushed his shoulder, and Zunar saw Midnight Symphony holding her hoof out. “Get up, lazy.” She said, cracking a smile. “The Creation Festival isn’t going to wait all night long.” Zunar looked confused, until he realized that every one of them was wearing a suit or dress, ready for a ball. He looked down and realized that he too had on his best suit. She helped him get up on his hooves, and he quickly hugged her tight, kissing her with deep affection.

He stopped and looked deeply in her eyes. “I will never leave you again. Ever.” She blushed, and side-by-side, they walked to the welcoming spirits. Together, as a family, the Spirits walked away from the town, and the wind cried, causing them to fade away in the starry sky.

Hours later, a small colt climbed out of a well. He dropped to the ground, landing on his face. He didn’t cry, but instead gets up and calls out, “Mommy? Whewe awe you?” His gray and white mane blew in the dawn morning. His blue coat shivered, being cold from the early-morning frost. He remembered the word his mother told him earlier: Hide here! It’s like hide-and-seek, but you’re hiding from everypony! He could still feel the place where his mother kissed him on the forehead. It was barely dawn, but the destruction and chaos in the town could still be seen. With wide confused eyes, the colt walked over the bodies of what were his neighbors and friends. It started pouring again, but the colt didn’t seem to care. Suddenly, a sweet, familiar scent filled his nostrils:Lavender Fang, the herbs his mother always used.

He followed the scent, winding through the maze of the town. He came around the corner, and stopped in his tracks. He began slowly trotting forward to the lifeless bodies, the ones he’s known and seen every day: his parents. He stopped by the bodies and calmly prodded the zebra. “Daddy? Mommy? Pwease get up.” His hooves sloshed around in the blood, but he didn’t realize it. “I-Iw'm cowld...." No response. He nudged his mother, hoping she would wake up and comfort him. She did not. The young colt began crying, his tears even with the rain.

The colt sniffed and saw something in his father’s hoof. He reached down and pulled it out, and remembered it was the necklace his father always wore:a pure purple amethyst crystal representing the Birth of Enchantment. He slipped the necklace onto his neck, and held it tight, as if swearing to an oath.

The colt, being tired from waking up so early, stepped in between his parents, and settled down, trying to get warm. He closed his eyes, and fell into an endless nightmare.

***

A pony dressed in a robe from head to hoof stood on a hill, looking at the town. The pony covered it's snout with it's hoof, nearly hurling at the sight of the bodies. The pony winced, as if experiencing the chaos and destruction as the ponies who lived here did. “What in Faro’s name happened here? You said that the Deathwalkers wouldn’t come here because it was far away from the battle lines!” The pony's voice was muffled, but it sounded like a mare's  She stared at the town with terrified eyes.

Something brushed next to her, and she glanced to see a hooded unicorn look the town. Her black snout was the only thing visible, for she had a hood over her face. “The Sunset happened,” She explained. She turned her head to him and sighed when she saw her confused expression. “That’s what the villagers say Dark’s feared name is, The Keeper.” the unicorn said, referring to the Dark Lord.

The Keeper shook her head. “Queen Nightshade, what do you think we should do? This town-Hoofshend-is home to about two thousand ponies! That’s a lot of time we don’t have...” Her voice trailed off when he saw her expression, which looked determined.

“Keeper, we have three thousand members of The Hoof-and they’re all here. We should honor this town, for it is home of mostly retired soldiers who fought in The Millennium War.” She looked at the town, and she drew her hoof from the top-right corner of her heart, drew it in a diagonal format, like a scar-the symbol for the dead to rest  peacefully in Elysium.

Keeper did the same, and so did the three thousand soldiers behind the-all wearing robes, detailing their own rankings. “Ponies of The Hoof!” Nightshade called out. This town will be remembered! All of the innocent lives lost! It will not be remembered as weakness! Look at the dead changeling bodies around you! The proud retired warriors died protecting their homes! This will serve as a reminder! this town will no longer be known as Hoofshend, for it is now a grave! it will be known as, The Grave of Innocence! We will dig graves in honor of these fallen warriors! Now, let us carry their legacy!” And with that, the soldier dispersed, going to take care of the bodies. Both Cartographer and Nightshade drew their hooves across their chest in a scar-like manner. Nightshade turned to Keeper-who was busy with one of the captains-to converse with her, but a whisper, very ghost-like, whispered in her ear. The voice sang a familiar tune:

“Come Little Children, I’ll take thee away,

Into a land of Enchantment.

Come Little Children,

The Time’s come to play,

Here in my Garden of Shadows,”

    The tune struck her as a familiar one, one that reminded her of…...her Mother. But know her mother was gone, and Nightshade only had the necklace of her mother as a remembrance to not turn into what her mother became. She hugged the interlining two crescents tight to her chest, as she followed the familiar lullaby.

“Follow sweet Children, I’ll show thee the way,

Through all the Pain and the Sorrows.

Weep not, poor Children,

For Life is this Way

Murdering Beauty and Passions…..”

    The lullaby trailed away as Nightshade turned around the corner, and beheld a horrific sight. Ponies laid everywhere, blood oozing like some artist’s sick way of art. but the only thing that caught her attention was the black and white pony laying next to a statue of a brave warrior-the black and white pony was a zebra. She hurried forward, but she already knew who it was-it was possibly the last member of the ancient Tribe of Requiem, Midnight.

    Nightshade stood up and surveyed the landscape- not a single soul was alive, all of them were dead. She turned just in time to see a soldier run nearby her. She called out, “Hey! Go back and get The Keeper!” The soldier stopped, blinked at the sight he saw, then spun around in an opposite direction.

    Behind her, something small moved, making a small noise. Nightshade turned around and saw something moving between the bodies of the zebra and the unicorn. Suddenly, a colt stuck his head out, and shivered, looking around at the carnage. he looked at the Queen, then shrank back, scared.

    The Queen didn’t know what to do at first. “Shh. It’s okay, little one. I am not here to hurt you, I am not a bad pony.” She crept forward, but the colt instantly shot out and hid under her, panting and shaking in fear. She stepped over him and sat beside him. He began to cry, so Nightshade did the only thing she thought of: she sang.

“Hush now dear Child, for it must be this Way,

To weary of Life and Deceptions.

Rest now my Child,

For we’ll soon away,

Into the Calm and the Quiet.”

    The colt stopped crying, and looked at Nightshade. She nuzzled him, trying to slow his pounding, scared heart down.He rested his head against her side, exhausted. The colt looked at her. “Do not worry, young one," Nightshade comforted him. "For I am here. I knew your parents very well. We will take you to a safe place, little one."

    Nightshade smiled as the colt began to slightly doze of into a sleep, and the sound of running hooves made her turn around in the direction the sound was coming from. She saw The Keeper and the soldier sprinting in her direction. The Keeper slid to a stop, and smelled the carnage. She instantly knelt and crossed his hoof over his heart to respect the dead.

    “May these honorable members of the Tribe rest in Elysium,” Keeper said. She noticed the colt and asked, “Who’s the young one? I’ve never seen him before.” She got up, and looked at Nightshade, waiting for an answer. The quiet little colt was fast asleep between Queen Nightshade's hooves. She used her magic to clean off as much blood as she could, but a little bit would need to be washed off.

    Nightshade got up, as did the colt. “I believe his name was Song Tune,” She said. “He was sleeping in between these two bodies.” She gestured to the two bodies that The Keeper had noted.

“He is the one of Prophecy,” The Keeper breathed, realizing it. She looked at Nightshade and said, “He needs to be taken somewhere safe….somewhere away from this Evil and Chaos.”

Nightshade shook her head. “You cannot destroy the Path that has already been laid out, Keeper.”

“No,but we can alter it. Make detours,” She pointed out. Just then, another soldier ran up and saluted The Keeper, who returned it. “What’s the matter?”

The soldier was panting, he took a breath and said, ”Ma'am! The Dark Lord is here! On a hill not too far away!” The Keeper’s eyes widened, and she whirled to the other soldier who had led her here.

“Iron Fire!” She commanded. The soldier snapped to attention. “Take Queen Nightshade and this colt down to the southwestern shore! She'll know what to do!! That’s an order!” The soldier nodded, and turned to Queen Nightshade.

Nightshade instantly objected. “But if he returns one day, how will you know it’s him? He’ll be different!”

“I won’t,” The Cartographer said, knowing it. “Now go! The fat of this land rests in your hooves!”

“Come with me, please my Queen. We mustn't delay.” The Queen nodded. Song Tune had fallen asleep, so she picked him up and put him on her back, for safety. The soldier turned around, and began to lead her away from the town.

    After watching her leave, The Keeper calmly felt that that would be the last time she would see her. She shook the feeling off, and said, “Let’s go,” She and the soldier ran the the side of the town where the other members had gathered.

    As The Keeper moved through the throng of assassins, the other army-many had called it The Dark Army- waited as a large black alicorn moved to the front as well. the Keeper called out, “So, you’re the Dark Lord. I had expected something more...Dark.” The Dark Lord scoffed.

    “So, you're The Keeper?” The Dark Lord mocked. “I expected something…… less pitiful.” The Dark Lord laughed, as well as the others. He commanded a word in ancient language, and his soldiers drew their weapons.

    The Keeper yelled, “She'da!” and the assassins drew their own weapons. The Dark Lord raised his greatsword, as if challenging the Hoof. He barked two words, and they charged;

“Destroy Them.”

    The soldiers ran down the hill, and The Keeper yelled, “All of this madness! All of this unnecessary chaos! It ends! TODAY!” The Hoof shouted, and they charged straight at the Dark Army, with the power of the Ancestors at their sides.

The Keeper's last thought before the armies clashed was;

“In the land before Time,

The land of your Inheritance,

Lies a colt of Power.

To find him in a flood,

Lying in his Ancestor’s Blood.

He will save Thee from Night

With Equality as his Light."

    The armies clashed, and the thunder rang in fury.