Secrets of the Past
Story 6
Chapter 2: The Legend
By: FluttersIsAwesome

"So, you said you saw a vision?"

Rainey and I lay down on the island, leaning against the large tree right smack in the center. "They weren't really visions. They were more like... memories. I saw this unicorn with a hood and armor, and both times the situation he was in was similar to mine. I don't know how, but I mimicked what he did and it got me out of trouble."

"Hmm... I wonder what it could mean."

I turned to the waterfall for a moment, watching the water shine as it flowed into the lake. My thoughts drifted for a moment from my flashes to the waterfall, and how the lake never overflowed; then I remembered that various underground tunnels connected it to other waterways. "What really concerns me is that letter.... Whoever wrote it probably also sent those monsters to the village; you normally don't see Komodo that close to pony territory."

I felt a warm pressure on my side and turned: I was now Rainey's pillow. "I'm just glad nopony got hurt. I can't imagine what it would be like to lose you or Stone."

"Speaking of Stone, where is he?"

Either coincidences are common for me, or Stone was just hiding and listening. "Hi, guys!" Waving at us from the top of the tree, he smiled. "Braveheart said to meet him in the shaman's tent as soon as we can. I think by 'as fast as we can', he meant 'Right now.'"

It was never wise not to follow Braveheart's orders to the letter. The trek back to the village was much easier seeing as how we now had the sun to illuminate the forest. Still early morning, we didn't expect anypony else to be awake. However, expectations have a tendency not to be met. The congregation of villagers crowded around us as we exited the forest.

"Rainey! Are you alright?!"

"Stone, my baby, what were you thinking?"

"Don't you three know not to go into the forest after dark?!"

"Dust Devil! You are in big trouble, young stallion!" When my parents shouted, everypony knew that stuff just got serious. Almost as if they were commanded, the crowd parted as my mother and father walked toward us.

My father stood tall, stabbing my soul with a piercing glare. "I hope you know what kind of trouble you've gotten yourself into, Dust Devil. Come with us."

My father's hoof was blocked by a light-red hoof from behind me. "Stop, Mr. Typhoon! Dust hasn't done anything wrong, we convinced him!"

Stone walked up from behind me and piped up as well. "Yeah, Rainey's right. If I hadn't have told him, he wouldn't have even know we were leaving."

The blonde maned, light brown mare stepped up and moved Rainey's hoof from my father's. "Regardless of who told him, my son is in charge of his own actions. He could have easily said 'no', and in fact, he should have told somepony else what you were up to!"

"Correct. My son knows better than to let even his best friends influence him. Come with me, Dust Devil."

"STOP!" It was like he could command time. Every villager in Kimahri could say, with ease, that even in his old age Braveheart was the strongest stallion in the village. My father dared not argue with him, knowing he could be easily overpowered. "Leave the child be, Typhoon. I know you and Amythest are upset, but I am quite glad that these foals did what they did. They faced an encounter that I knew had to come sooner or later, and I'd rather it have been even sooner that it was."

My father, back on all fours, stared at him with widened eyes. "Chief... are you serious? My son could have been killed, and if he had been, it could have been avoided had he just beha-"

"Still your tongue, Typhoon. Not even you know of the power your blood possesses."

My gaze shifted from Braveheart to my father and back again. "Power?"

In complete contrast to my father's attitude, Braveheart made no attempt to even try and scold me. "Ginger Snap, I know you are hiding amongst this gathering. Come out so that I may speak with all four of you."

Again, Braveheart was not a pony whose commands were taken lightly. The little filly stood behind her sister, shaking. "Y-yes sir...."

"The four of you, follow me."

* * *
The inside of the shaman's hut was both a fearful and sacred place. Various carvings and paintings depicting old legends lined the walls. There were six pillars surrounding the center room, each with different incense burning at the top. Not only that, but both Princess Luna and Princess Celestia looked down on all that entered the hut from their painted mural on the ceiling.

From our semi-circle forming seats in the center of the room, we could easily see Braveheart rummaging through old papers. "There is a legend that has been passed down for fifty centuries. It tells of a great hero that matches the description of the unicorn in your memories."

A loud yawn escaped Ginger's lips as she leaned toward Stone. "Dust, a great hero? Hahaha... you're funny, Chief."

"I kid you not, young ones, it is here." The long scroll in his hooves was filled with symbols and characters that I did not recognize, but knew was not Equen. "Come here and listen closely."

After we had all scooted closer, Braveheart took this seat in front of his brewing cauldron.

" Five hundred years ago, a great evil haunted the land of Equestria. Legends had been told of an evil named Discord that had been sealed away by the Elements of Harmony, but this was of an entirely new magnitude. This entity of shadows stretched its hand across the skies, blocking the sun and plunging the land into a pervading darkness. Its power found its way into the darkness of some pony's hearts, and they followed him.

Just when it seemed as if Equestria was doomed, a hero emerged. Blessed by Celestia herself, the hero acted as a denizen of the darkness, working in secret against this great evil. He possessed a great power: the Element of Focus, one of the six Elements of Valor created by the leader of the Raishi people to give balance to the Elements of Harmony. One by one, the great hero felled the evil's underlings, with only little aid of the other Elements. As they drew closer to the source of the darkness, all twelve Elements came together to summon the greatest of all deities, referred to simply as "Sun". With his aid, the Elements toppled the evil's kingdom of shadows.

However, this battle was the end of the great hero. As his breath slowed, and his life force faded, he had the Princess seal his power in a foal to be carried on in that child's blood." After a long pause, Breaveheart turned to me with a rather intimidating gaze. "Dust Devil, need I tell you whose bloodline carries the hero's power?"

Staring at the blade that was still on my foreleg, I repeatedly extended and retracted it. "...My own."