Leap of Faith: Wolokai Vs. Life

Canterlot - The Citadel of the Solar Flare - 12:00 P.M.

It was quiet in The Citadel, home of the Solar Flare. Most of the building lay empty, as the inhabitants were expected to have already been a few hours into their daily duties by now. Those who weren't out and about were either quietly reading in the special archives they kept in their fortress, eating a healthy meal in the mess hall, or either sleeping off their fatigue from the night shift.

Captain Volokai, was one of these ponies. He let out a content sigh as he rolled over in his bunk, his wool blanket snuggling him into a state of pure warmth. His dreams were often filled to the brim with glory and honor, reliving the great battles he had fought in under his Father's command and while he was in command himself. From the Battle of the Everfree to the Battle for Manehatten, Volokai tossed and turned while mumbling and muttering orders to the ponies in his dream-scape. One battle however...always seemed to replay itself over in his mind at some point...a battle that contained words that haunted him to this day. The fields of fire...the screams of his soldiers...the swish of a dark cloak and the cackling of a mad pony...

Just as he felt the heat of the flames brush over his skin, he jolted awake, the voices of one of his guards calling out to him "Sir? Sir, wake up please." Volokai let out a weary groan and rolled over slowly, his eyes focusing on one of his Solar Flare and giving him a slight look of annoyance.

He sat up and spoke with a tinge of grief in his voice "I was not to be roused until at least two...what is it that is so important to have me up this early?"

His soldier nodded and gave a brief bow as he apologized "Forgive me sir, but your son insisted he see you imme-"

"Wolokai?" The Captain breathed in surprise, his eyes widening slightly as he whipped away the blankets on his bed and moved to stand up.

"Yes sir," nodded the soldier "He is awaiting your arrival in the main hall of the Royal Castle, he had an aura of the upmost urgency about him."

Volokai clasped on his leg rings and donned his casual black vest and his tally-marked grey cape as he asked "Did he say what was the matter? Is there something wrong?"

The soldier shook his head "No sir, only that it was imperative that he seek your audience as soon as possible" The Captain nodded and dismissed the soldier, moving around him and towards the open window nearby. He poked his head out and breathed in the crisp, cool air of the afternoon, fanning his wings out and placing his front two hooves on the window sill. With a mighty beat of his wings, he catapulted himself outwards into the air and immediately went into a banking dive to his left, soaring through the air and towards the main entrance to the Royal Castle. The two royal guards at the entrance gave him a respectful bow as he moved past them into the massive double-doors that lay open before him. He took a moment to look around at the busy activity that made up the great hall, with delegates and archives workers and guards moving this way and that. Some carried large piles of scrolls while others chatted about the politics and happenings of the day. Volokai narrowed his eyes, looking slowly to the left and to the right, blinking as he finally caught sight of his son standing in a far off and abandoned corner of the hall.

He let out a heavy sigh and began his trot, his heavy hooves making loud clopping sounds against the smooth marble of the floor. His son did not notice him right away, giving Volokai the chance to look him over quietly. He appeared to be in semi-good health...lacking sleep as always. There was a definite fear in his eyes however...a look of worry but also of curiosity. A look Volokai often recognized as one of a soldier's before marching into battle. He stopped behind his son, clearing his throat and speaking "Good morning son..."

Wolokai whirled around, surprised at the sudden appearance of his father. He looked up at his weary, tired face that bore the look of minor annoyance but also care and concern. "Hey dad..." he whispered, a small smile crossing over his face.

"Are you well son?" Volokai asked, a permanent frown etched into his face.

Wolokai noted this and his smile faded as he held up his hoof and said "I...don't know. There have been things happening lately that I just can't explain...and after history class today...questions came up that only you have the answers too."

"What is this about?" Volokai muttered, is patience obviously thin. He was still wanting to sleep...for the Princesses were in need of his presence later in the day and he needed to be well rested.

Wolokai's frown deepened "I was in history class today...we were reviewing some of the earlier history of Princess Celestia and then-"

"Son..." his father sighed, his patience finally giving way and his mind giving way to tiredness "Can't this wait till later on in the day? I'm behind on my sleep and I need to be fully awake for the escort I need to provide for the Princesses later on."

Wolokai let out a shout of protest as his father started to turn away "Dad wait! This is important! It has something to do about my nightmares and my lack of sleep!"

Volokai shook his head, beginning his slow walk away "That's what your counselor is for Wolokai...please, let this wait till la-"

He was shocked as Wolokai shouted out towards him, but he did not turn around "This can't WAIT till later! It's important Dad, please!!!" Volokai sighed, shaking his head and continuing his walk. It wasn't until his son uttered the next few words that he stopped in his tracks, his ears perking fully and his eyes widening rapidly.

"I know about the Lunar Shard!!!

Volokai shut his eyes and frowned, his body turning in time with his hooves as he moved about to look his son dead in the face. "Come..." he whispered, extending a welcoming wing outwards, inviting his son to his side "Let us have some tea..."

~*~

Volokai took a quiet sip from his cup, a heavy sigh rumbling through his chest as he stared over at his son, getting an equally awkward stare back. They were seated in the sleeping quarters of The Citadel, with Volokai situated in a small wooden chair pulled up near his nightstand, while his son sat upon his ruffled bed and giving him a long hard look of confusion and questioning. "How much..." Volokai began, setting down his tea cup "...do you know?"

Wolokai flapped his wings twice, getting himself comfortable as he said "I know they fought against The Solar Flare back in the day, and against The Guardians of Aegis Island. I also know that Grandpa disappeared during the Battle of the Everfree...which I found out shares the same day as my birthday." Volokai nodded, motioning for him to go on. Wolokai sighed, taking a sip of his own tea before he spoke "The number 142 keeps repeating itself no matter where I go...I see it everywhere. It's my birthday, the time I hear the sirens...which is what I wanted to ask you. Why do I hear sirens? Why that sound out of all the sounds?"

Volokai looked towards the open window as he spoke, an aprehensive look on his face "Son...the day you were born, it was as if the very forest whispered your name out to me...that day marked the last I had seen of the Lunar Shard. It was also during that battle...that your Grandfather Kolokai activated the sirens wired into the fort defenses. You see, it was during that time that a band of refugees were fleeing a small village near Hoofington, away from a rouge band of the Lunar Shard. Our group was split when the Lunar Shard attacked us in the trees, and it during that time that your mother...started to give birth." Wolokai looked down at the mention of his mother. His father had tried to explain to him in the gentlest way possible what had happened. Apparently one day his mother, Selena, had business to attend to in Manehatten...but when she left, only a note came back. A note that only bore two words: forgive me.

"Anyway..." Volokai growled, clearing his throat. Your grandfather knew the Lunar Shard was close to the other group...so to lure them away, he activated the sirens. It probably traumatized you at birth which is why it has stuck with you."

Wolokai nodded but held out a hoof "That makes sense...but there's something else that's wrong." Volokai raised an eyebrow, inviting his son to continue "Well...I heard that they worshiped an Entity..." His father nodded slowly, his eyes narrowing as his breath started to quicken "An Entity...that I wrote about...with no prior knowledge to the Lunar Shard's history..."

Volokai sighed, running a hoof under his chin and mumbling "It could be a coincidence son...life has a funny way of throwing curve balls like that."

"Yes but what if it's not" Wolokai whispered, pushing his teacup away with a hoof "I mean...the numbers, the nightmares. Dad I've SEEN the Lunar Shard in my dreams! What if this is something that's meant to be seen...what if it's a warning?"

Volokai frowned for a moment, looking into his son's eyes before he spoke "Well if it is, we'll be ready for it. We beat the Lunar Shard before at Aegis Island, we'll beat em again."

At this, Wolokai gasped, covering his mouth with his hooves as he whispered "You've...been to Aegis Island? The Guardians actually existed then?!"

Volokai raised an eyebrow in confusion, giving him a sort of 'duh' look. "Of course The Guardian's exist, didn't they teach you that in History? And no...I've never personally been to Aegis Island, as I was still enlisting in the Equestrian Army when the Island disappeared."

"Where are The Guardians now?" Wolokai asked, hopping off his father's bed

Volokai shrugged, shaking his head as he climbed up into his now vacant bed, laying out on his side "I couldn't tell you son. Shortly after the island disappeared, Solaria was given her powers back without question." A slight yawn escaped his lips, his eyes drooping as he reached out with his hooves "I'm going back to bed son...try and have a good day ok? Don't let any of this Lunar bullshit get you down. The Lunar Shard is dead and gone...they're not coming back, I promise".

Wolokai smiled, giving his father a tight hug and whispering "Thanks Dad...have a good sleep."

~*~

"Wolokai? Um...Wolokai...you there?" Ditzy muttered, cocking her head in confusion at the spaced out look Wolokai seemed to have stretched across his face. It had been around an hour or so since he had spoken to his father about The Lunar Shard, and still his mind was still slightly wrought with worry about the possibility of danger ahead. Upon his return to Ponyville, he was relieved to find Ditzy Doo waiting for him in the town square, offering the idea that they go and get ice cream to get his mind off things. It was there at Sugar Cube Corner that they currently rested, sitting outside at the many umbrella booths that lined the outside patio area of the establishment.

"Huh, what?" Wolokai stuttered, his mind finally catching up to reality and his eyes focusing on the Muffin Mare seated across from him. "Sorry...lost in thought for a moment." Ditzy Doo giggled and took a small sip of her chocolate milkshake, letting out a content sigh right afterwords.

"It's ok Muffin" Ditzy said, licking her lips and smiling "As long as you're enjoying yourself, you don't have to be sorry for anything!" Wolokai chuckled, taking a sip of his own vanilla milkshake and sighing. He looked up towards Ditzy Doo for a moment and noticed that she was already staring at him, a soft smile displayed on her lips. She looked away quickly however, a light blush passing over her cheeks.

"Hey, everything ok?" he asked her while extending a hoof out towards hers.

"Of..of course!" Ditzy answered, offering her best smile. Wolokai saw through his, however, and gave her a sly smile.

He took another sip of his milkshake and muttered to her "I wanted to thank you for last night...It was definitely the best sleep I had gotten in awhile."

"Really?" Ditzy breathed, her blush deepening and her heart skipping a beat.

Wolokai nodded and put his hoof gently over hers, caressing it gently "Of course...I mean, who wouldn't sleep peacefully while breathing in the warm smell of freshly baked muffins?"

"Wolokai..." Ditzy began, looking towards him with a shy smile "I...um..."

Before Ditzy could go on though...Wolokai froze. There was no mistaking what time it was...no need to look at his watch or the Ponyville Clock Tower. Just as it had always been for years...there was no getting around the solid fact that the Sirens would persist to haunt. Ditzy must have noticed his sudden change of expression, as she was now staring towards him with a wide-eyed, terrified look on her face. "It's ok Ditzy..." He muttered "It's just the sirens I always hear...you know."

This did not seem to calm Ditzy at all however, her body starting to shake as the Sirens started to get louder. Just as Wolokai was about to ask if she was ok, she spoke "Wolokai...I...I hear them to..."

"What!?" Wolokai gasped, turning his head to look out into the streets. All around the area, ponies stopped and turned their heads up towards the sky with worried and confused expressions on their face. The siren wasn't just in Wolokai's head anymore...it was audible everywhere.

"Wolokai what's happening!?" Ditzy cried, staring up towards the sky which had slowly started to blacken.

"I don't know...but we need to leave, now!" Wolokai shouted, springing up from his seat and motioning for Ditzy to follow.

They quickly galloped down the street, quickly moving around the ponies who had stopped to stare up at the blackened sky. Ditzy shouted as they moved down the street, the low rumbling of thunder barely audible over the sounds of the wailing siren "Where are we going?! Why is the siren going off, is there a tornado coming?!"

Before Wolokai could respond, the loud crackling of magic was heard just ahead, followed by a bright flash ahead of them. Wolokai skidded to a halt as a shadowy bolt of magic came sailing down the street, heading right towards them at an alarming speed."LOOK OUT!" he roared, throwing himself over Ditzy Doo and dragging her down to the ground as the bolt shot overhead. Wolokai watched as the bolt sped past, rocketing itself into one of the market booths and exploding with violent force. Splintered wood and debris flew about the street as ponies screamed and ran for cover. Wolokai growled, turning his head away from the chaos and staring down towards the source of the bolt. As his eyes met his would-be assailant, he gasped, taking in his appearance with a fearful pang in his heart and mind. A stallion stood further down the street, his form covered with robes of black and blue color with a matching hood and bandanna. From behind his coverings, two sapphire eyes gleamed along with his horn, illuminating his dark armor and the ground beneath him. Before Wolokai could move or even speak, the dark unicorn lowered his head and growled.

"BEND!" it roared, launching another bolt towards the two of them. Wolokai narrowed his eyes and pulled Ditzy along with him as he dove to the side, narrowly missing the second bolt as it whizzed by. Wolokai groaned as they hit the ground hard, pulling himself and Ditzy back up and looking around quickly for any means of escape.

Spotting an alley nearby, Wolokai started to push Ditzy in its direction and shouted "Through there! We need to head for Town Hall! There are Solar Flare stationed there, they can help us!" Ditzy nodded, and with the quick movement of their hooves, the two of them rushed away from the rampaging unicorn.

"M..muffin wait! I'm winded...I ca...I can't run anymore!" Ditzy cried, heaving for breath. Wolokai nodded, spotting an old dumpster nearby and motioning towards it. They hurried behind it and fell to their haunches, their breath coming out in ragged gasps. Ditzy put a hoof on her chest and wheezed "W...who was that unicorn? Why can't we just...just fly to Town Hall instead of running?"

"Because they're probably watching the sky..." Wolokai growled, looking up into the blackened sky as the sirens continued to wail "and by 'they'...I mean The Lunar Shard."

"Lunar Shard?" Ditzy asked, her breath finally starting to come under control.

Wolokai nodded, looking back down towards Ditzy as he said "Yes, it's a cult that disappeared around the day I was born. They're this dark group that terrorized Equestria a long time ago until The Guardians of Aegis Island and The Solar Flare defeated them. Why they're here now...I don't even know." He sighed in aggravation, looking up towards the far off city of Canterlot, its pearly white towers visible from their spot in the alley. "Dammit, I knew my nightmares were some kind of warning..."

"What do we do now?" Ditzy whimpered, looking towards Wolokai with a frightful expression on her face.

"We keep moving towards Town Hall" Wolokai answered, adjusting his watch and staring carefully at the time it displayed which was 1:50 P.M.. "As long as we make it to Town Hall and hold out until 2:23 P.M., we'll be ok."

Ditzy cocked her in head in confusion as they moved out from behind the dumpster. "Why that time?" she asked, trying her best to keep up with Wolokai's fast pace.

"Because whenever I hear the Sirens, it's at 1:42 in the morning or afternoon...but no matter what, everything goes back to normal 41 minutes later at 2:23," Wolokai said, moving towards the opening of the alley which he remembered from memory emerged near Town Square "I don't know why...but it just does."

The two of them emerged from the alleyway and began their gallop towards the now visible Town Hall, their hoofbeats carrying them out into the large, open area that surrounded the central building. Just as they did, however, three more Unicorns of the Lunar Shard emerged from one of the streets and hissed towards them, lowering their heads in preparation for a magical volley of death. Wolokai gasped as three bolts of dark magic raced towards them...only to be met by three other bolts of bright light. The bolts exploded in mid-air, throwing up dirt and dust. Wolokai turned his head quickly towards the source of the bright magic and let out a cry of joy as he saw three of the Solar Flare's unicorns rushing out to meet them.

"The Heretics have returned!" cried one of unicorns "Protect the Captain's son!!!" Bolts were thrown back and forth across the open field as Ditzy Doo and Wolokai raced towards the hall. One of the Lunar Shard let out a deafening roar as he dodged one of the Solar Flare's bolts and threw back one of his own, catching the ground near one of the defenders and throwing him aside with the force of the impact. As they moved towards the town hall, Ditzy let out a startled cry and fell forward, tripping on a rock and landing face first in the dirt.

"Ditzy!" Wolokai cried, stopping in his tracks and turning to race back towards her. Just as he started to move, one of the Lunar Shard lined up his horn, aiming a bolt towards Ditzy Doo and shooting it forth with a thunderous cry.

"Watch out!!!" shouted one of the Solar's unicorns, watching in disbelief as his own bolt of magic failed to intercept his enemy's magic. Wolokai saw the incoming bolt, and quickly realized that based on its speed...it didn't matter if he moved to help Ditzy or not. One of them wasn't walking away.

Just as Ditzy got to her hooves, a sudden shove had her catapulting away to the right, sending her once more to the ground. A single moment later...and the electrical 'ZAP' of a magical impact had the Solar Flare in an uproar.

"SIRE!"

"Dammit! The Captain's son is down! Fire dammit, push them back!"

"Get them inside! Get them INSIDE!"

"MUFFIN!!!!" Ditzy cried, turning her head from her spot on the ground to look at Wolokai. The Pegasus in question was sprawled out on the ground, with half his vest fried from the impact of the bolt which had struck his side. His face was contorted into one of pain as smoke rose from his side, his right wing twitching slightly. Ditzy got to her hooves quickly as the magical battle resumed. Suddenly from above, just as Ditzy reached Wolokai, chariots from above dove out of the darkened sky and made a beeline for the Town Hall. Touching down quickly in the street, more of the Solar Flare lept from the chariots and rushed to join the fray...with one booming voice roaring over them all

"Get my son and the mare inside the Town Hall, NOW! Alpha squad, secure a perimeter while Beta Squad begins their push into the streets!" shouted Captain Volokai as he pointed a hoof towards the retreating Lunar Shard. "By Celestia I bested you bastards before, and I'll best you again!!!"

"Muffin! Muffin wake up!" Ditzy cried as Wolokai was heaved up onto one of the unicorn's backs, running with them as they rushed towards the Town Hall. As they rushed inside, the scene outside started to get worse, with more and more Lunar Shard appearing at the various entrances of the streets nearby. As the battle began, Volokai roared towards his men and pointed a firm hoof forward "By Celestia and all that you hold dear, hold your ground and keep your faith in the light! The Lunar Shard seeks to once more test our might, and I'll be damned if we disappoint now! Keep your heads held high and GIVE NO QUARTER! Down with the heretics! Down with The Lunar Shard!"

His soldiers all let out a unified battle cry as their enemy began their approach, horns flaring, wings expanding, and swords unsheathing. The cry rang out across the entire expanse of Ponyville as the siren continued its unearthly wail, a cry that carried the words

"Down with The Lunar Shard!!!"