Tribal Instinct - CH 2: You must know of the past

I. “Rule well, Queen of the Village”

The queen walked up in front of the village, but the voices of the excited crowd didn’t stop so she lifted a bell and gently rang it. The crowd went silent and she rewarded them with a warm smile. 

“Thank you everyone. The time has finally come! I know you girls are really excited!” The queen looked down in front of the stage, where a group of around ten young mares, just old enough to have barely gotten their sphirix shape settled, was swarming of excitement. They all acclaimed in response and the queen smiled back at them.

“So, may I get the names?” The queen turned slightly around, and Black Sunset came walking with a vase from the back of the stage. The Queen picked up the vase with her magic and lifted it up above the crowd. She then started shaking it as the crowd started knocking their hooves on the ground. After a while she stopped, and they all went silent again. She then pulled out with her magic a piece of paper from the vase, and brought it in front of her eyes.

“And this year’s Queen for a Day is…..”

She made a pause to build up excitement. The crowd didn’t make a sound before she spoke the name of a grifix:

“■■■■■■■■”

The crowd then broke out in cheers, shouting the name of the fortunate grifix and pushing her in front. At first she was a bit hesitant, but once she found herself in front of the queen she couldn’t hide her excitement anymore, her face being covered with a huge smile. The queen gently smiled at her, and picked up a crown covered in flowers that was resting on a pillow in the paws of a guard behind her. She then brought up the crown with her magic, and gently placed it on the head of the mare, in the cheers of the crowd.

“Rule well, Queen of the Village”

* * *

II. “Today is the day, Sparks!”

The village was already swarming  of grifix doing their morning routine. The warriors were doing their morning training, as the guards just changed into the morning shift. The morning sun was shining through the window on Sunstorm’s bed. Her brother left a few hours ago, she seemed to be still deeply asleep. 

All of a sudden, she lifted her upper body, with a strange determination on her face, yeeting her sphirix, who was sleeping in her lap, all across the room. The sphirix flew off so fast as it totally disintegrated, only to reappear next to her in a moment. She got out of the bed, and violently opened a closet, while braiding her hair with her magic. A full armor fell on the floor from the closet, and she put it on. The armor was kind of rusty and old, and had a matching greatsword which she obviously didn’t know how to handle, nor had the required strength to do so. Still, she dragged it after her out of the house with a solemn look on her face and headed for the castle.

“Today is the day, Sparks!” She told her sphirix.

* * *

III. “You seem to have something on your mind, Sunstorm.”

She slammed the door open. The two guards jumped up, surprised, one of them started so bad as he rolled down the stairs to the opened door of the library, and slammed on the floor between some books.

“My goddess Sunstorm!” The other guard shouted at her. He was a grey stallion with a green fading to blue mane.

“I’m ok ~” the other one spoke with a dying voice from below. Sunstorm totally ignored the two, and thrusted her greatsword on the floor violently.

“I have figured out my Queen for a Day prophecy meaning!” She proclaimed.

“You haven’t figured out shit! All you do is wreak havoc on this day every year since you got that prophecy! That prophecy was for the following year after you got it! You haven’t figured it out back then, it’s futile now!” The grey grifix argued.

“But that prophecy was weird as hell! Black Sunset agreed with this! Maybe it is referring to a different year!” Sunstorm replied, shoving the hammer of her sword under his chin, not being able to raise the sword higher than that.

“You just smoked too much of those creepy plants of hers, that’s all!”

“Oh, come on Fermstorm, give her a chance!” The fallen guard spoke from down the stairs, not showing any intent to pick himself up.

“Tsk! Fine, come on.” Fernstorm turned around and walked down the stairs. Sunstorm followed him, dragging the longsword and leaving a long cut in the carpet. The guard gathered himself up and moved out of the way, so they could walk in the library. In the library there was a blue haired mare, who gave Sunstorm a mischievous smile, and two cubs. Sunstorm recognized Silver Wing, the daughter of the warrior captain, and Zephyr, the younger brother of the guard who fell down the stairs, Sugar Melon.

She turned her head around when passing near Sugar Melon. She didn’t like him for being too close to her brother, Fernstorm. Silver Wing seemed to notice, and pulled her tongue out at Sunstorm when she sat next to her. Sunstorm repeated the gesture at the little filly. Silver Wing turned her head, pissed off. The rest sat down around in a circle, Fernstorm looking really annoyed by the fact that he had to put up with his sister’s idiocy. The blue maned mare came walking from behind.

“You seem to have something on your mind, Sunstorm. You’re worried that troubled times are coming?”

* * *

IV. “Young boy, you need to know of the past.”

One opened his eyes. A spirit cried out. Another screamed. A third laughed.

“Young boy, you need to know of the past.”

Eyes opened all around him, but they all belonged to the same soul. Or rather they all looked the same. And they all stank of death and evil.

Reality was no more.

“Young boy, you need to know of the past.”

The voice talked once again.

* * *

V. “Don’t forget the past…”

The Clone stood with its legs in the puddle caused by the overflowing Mirror Pool, the light of the full moon reflecting into the water. A drop of water could be heard repeatedly dripping from the ceiling, as a result of the rain that poured down continuously in the past few days. But the Clone could not know of that - it only took birth minutes ago. 

It looked down at its reflection in the water, but red swirls of blood deformed its face. The bodies of the dead clones layed all around the cave, their blood filling the puddles on the ground, flowing slowly into the Mirror Pool. The Clone raised its eyes to look at a particular body. That one seemed to be still breathing, but wasn’t conscious. In the water there was a reflection of an animal tilting over the body, but nothing could be seen above her.

A grin appeared on the face of the clone. It approached the body and sat down near it. It tilted its head above the abdomen of the grifix. The corners of its mouth stretched even more, as it was grinning, before it opened its mouth wide, and bit from the body.

A single scream filled the cave, from the dying grifx. Her eyes opened wide, then rolled over her head, as the clone was taking bites from her body. 

 * * *

Jadeite opened his eyes. The world for once seemed silent and normal. The forest was not full of eyes to spy on him. No entity was breathing behind his ears. No whispers around him.

“Don’t forget the past…” he heard one last dying whisper before the world went back to being silent.

* * *

Don’t forget the past

For it might come back to feed on you.

On the day between spring and summer

The past is closest to the present

And the future is being set in stone.