The Tale of Coltypt

by Rakoon1

The Truth Comes in Dreams

After the banquet, Amun came back to his quarters, where he knew where the Berberian mare awaited him. He was afraid of her reaction after he humiliated her the way he did.

Upon entering, he saw a silhouette through the curtains of his four-poster bed he thought belonging to the mare. He approached, wondering what would he tell her, and then cleared the voice and said to himself:

"Right."

Decided, he opened the curtain and, much to his surprise, he found the servant who should have brought the mare to his chambers completely bound and gagged. The young prince looked around and saw a rope made of sheets with one end tied to the pillar on the edge of the balcony. Amun went there and saw the mare trying to get out of the palace with her camel.

Using the rope that she did, Amun came down too. He saw that she was about to reach the exit, but then the prince saw two guards moving forward in the direction of the exit. Most likely they would find the mare and arrest her. Then, on impulse, Amun called:

"Guards!"

That made the mare stop walking, adopting a more alert state and saw it was Amun who had spoken. The guards turned and said, standing at attention, while Amun approached:

"Prince Amun."

Amun tried to find something to say, when he saw the mare. She remained motionless, as she watched what Amun would do. It was then that he told to the guards:

"There's a stallion tied up in my room."

Upon hearing that, the mare was surprised to not have been denounced.

"Well, look into it" Amun ordered.

"Right away, sire" the guards replied, going in direction of Amun's room.

Amun then turned to see the mare again, but she had already left with her camel. He ran to the exit and, there, he saw her disappear in a corner towards the citadel. He followed her up to the periphery of the kingdom, where the lower class lived. Amun then, hiding, saw the mare getting water from a well that belonged to a mare and a sha, Isis and Seth.

"Please, I need water. I have a long journey ahead of me. "

Isis threw water in the bucket to a pitcher, while Seth was holding the rope. After the pitcher was full, Isis said:

"May the Lord of Order protect you. "

"Thank you" the mare replied, taking the pitcher.

She mounted the camel and after she urged him, the camel started running. Amun advanced and saw her moving away towards the desert. He watched her walk away with a smile, because he'd never seen a mare more beautiful than her.

Suddenly, a sound of something breaking was heard and he saw that a pitcher had broken and its contents had been poured on his hooves.

“I’m sorry” Isis said, while taking the pieces of the broken pitcher. “I’m so sorry, I…”

She then looked at Amun who was shaking the water from his hooves and she dropped the pieces again and came back to say, while she was going to take the pieces again, giving up then and looking to Amun:

“Oh, please, forgive me. I… I didn’t expect to see… you… here, of all places, at-at-at our door.”

It was then that she showed a certain enthusiasm and she exclaimed:

“At last!”

“At last?” Amun repeated, confused.

She went to her adoptive brother, who was still holding the rope of the well, and told him:

“Didn’t I tell you, Seth? I knew he would return when he was ready.”

But Seth didn’t share the same enthusiasm as Isis and told her:

“Isis, do you want us flogged?”

But she ignored him and said, advancing to Amun:

“I knew you cared for our freedom.”

“Isis…” Seth whispered.

“Freedom?” Amun repeated. “Why would I care about that?”

“Because you’re…”Isis started. “Well, because you’re Pharaoh Nefertem’s son.”

“Who?” Amun asked. “I’m sorry, I’m afraid you’re mistaken. I’m the son of Pharaoh Seti and think there was a pharaoh with that name.”

Isis seemed surprised for hearing that and she asked:

“They never told you?” Isis asked. “I know that the Pharaoh decreted nopony could tell the truth, but…”

“Who never told me?” Amun asked.

Isis, whose smile was gone on her face, said:

“But you’re here. You must know.”

She tried to touch him in one of his forelegs, but he pulled it back, saying in a warning tone:

“Be careful, slave!”

Seth then pulled Isis back and said to Amun:

“Oh, my good prince. She’s… She’s exhausted from the day’s work. Not that it was too much. We quite enjoyed it. But she’s confused knows not to whom she speaks.”

He said the last sentence in a warning tone to his adoptive sister, but she said, releasing herself from him:

“I know to whom I speak, Seth.”

Isis turned to Amun and said to him:

“I know who you are. You’re not Seti’s son.”

“Isis!” Seth said.

“What did you said?” Amun asked, incredibly affected by her declaration.

Seth put himself in front of Isis and said to Amun:

“Your Highness, pay her no heed.”

He turned to his adoptive sister and told her:

“Come, Isis. May I discuss something with you?”

“No, Seth, no” Isis answered, while Seth tried to take her away, but always resisting and addressing to Amun. “Please, Amun, you must believe!”

“That’s enough” Seth said firmly, while continuing to try to take her sister away.

“You were born to Queen Seshat in our house!” Isis exclaimed.

“Stop it” Seth said.

But Isis released herself and said to Amun, approaching him:

“You’re our savior.”

With the pride that he was taught to have being hurt that way, Amun said in an arrogant air:

“Now you go too far. You shall be punished.”

It was then that Seth put himself between them and kneel, begging:

“No! Please, Your Highness. She’s ill. She’s very ill. We beg for your forgiveness.”

He stood up and try to take Isis away with more strength, saying:

“Please, Isis, let us go.”

But Isis just continued to say, while struggling against Seth:

“Your mother risked herself to set you adrift in a basket to save your life!”

“Save my life?” Amun asked. “From who?”

“Ask the stallion that you call father” Isis replied.

Listening her talking about Seti that way made Amun say:

“How dare you?”

“The Lord of Order saved you to be our deliverer” Isis said, releasing herself from Seth at the door of their house.

“Enough of this” Amun said, approaching.

“And you are, Amun. You are our deliverer”

“I said enough!” Amun exclaimed, grabbing one of Isis’ hooves and making her drop on her knees and then dropping it. “You will regret this night.”

And having said that, Amun started to move away to return to the palace. However, Isis, who didn’t want to give up, still on her knees, composed herself and start to sing. It was the same lullaby that Seshat sang to Amun when she delivered him to the river.

Listening her sing that lullaby, Amun stopped as he started to remembered that song. She turn to Isis and then a distant memory came to her mind. It was a voice, a voice of a mare, singing that same song. And that voice seemed to bring peace and tranquility, like a mother. With that, confusion took over his mind and the smile on Isis’ face after finishing the song was to much for him and Amun, unable to control his hooves, started to run away.

Amun run so fast and blindly that he ended colliding with an elder stallion. When Amun looked to him, he saw the fear and the terror on his eyes. It seemed he feared that Amun would do something to him because of what happened. But Amun, still affected by what Isis told him and that lullaby, just stood up and continued to run.

He then arrived to the palace. Arriving there, Amun leaned against one of the pillars in the entrance hall, feeling the cold alabaster stone. He then advanced to the inside and went to his room, looking at everything he had and then to the engravings he had, representing all his life with his family. He didn’t want to believe that the father, the mother and the brother he knew for his entire life were not his true family, however, there was some little voice inside his head that was saying the opposite. It was like a feeling.

With his head so full of thoughts due to everything that happened, Amun just leaned against a nearly wall and let himself sit on the floor, starting to give himself up to the sleep.

The Lord of Order observed Amun through one of his mirrors, sitting on his throne. He said:

"Finally Amun is ready to know the truth. And he will know his true origins. For this, I'll use one perfect method, using a realm which I control."

And, having said this, he opened his hand and a star seed with a moderate cobalt blue light appeared. It was the star seed that controlled the moon, the night and dreams.

"With this, I will finally be able to make Amun start to mature."

And the star seed began to shine.

Amun’s mind was taken to a dream. When he found himself, he was in an engraving. He looked and saw a stallion he recognized as Seti, but without his headdress crown. He then pointed his hoof and soldiers began advancing. These soldiers began fighting with other soldiers and beating them. A pharaoh entered the battle, but he was also defeated and brought to Seti who stabbed him and took his crown. That image shocked Amun, who saw how supposedly his adoptive father became Pharaoh.

After that, something caught his attention. He saw a mare running away, hidden, going to the citadel and met with a mare that had with her a filly and a young sha that were Isis and Seth. And so, from the Mare, appeared a baby that Amun saw that it was a lot like him. Was that colt really him?

Then he turned and faced a large image of Seti on his throne and with his crown and scepter. Seti then looked to the army that was behind him and pointed to the front. The soldiers began marching. Seeing the army coming towards him, Amun began to flee, putting himself behind some reeds. The soldiers passed by him, continuing his path.

The young prince saw them going through pillars with engravings and heading to the lower class part of the citadel. The mares that were represented there began to panic, while the soldiers abruptly started to raid their homes to get the baby colts who were there, some even tearing them from their mothers’ forelegs.

In the confusion, Amun saw the mare who had escaped the palace with Isis and Seth, with the latter carrying a basket. In one of her forelegs, the mare had her colt. The four then started running away from the scene with the soldiers. Amun tried to stop them, because of the danger in which they were, but it seemed like they didn't hear him. He saw them running, hiding from soldiers who were passing around. Amun followed them. They entered in the reeds, with Amun behind them. They reached the river and Amun, upon his arrival, saw the mare putting the colt in the basket and send it downriver, getting to see the sadness in it. That image made Amun understand the veracity of Isis’ words and a tear appeared in his eye.

But he didn't have time to think about it, because the soldiers began getting close. Amun went to escape, but ended up falling on some cliff, along with the colts that soldiers kidnapped, falling to the great river that was underneath, where crocodiles were waiting for their preys.

Amun woke up suddenly from this nightmare. He passed the hoof by his face and then he remembered the dream. He had planted in his mind a question he had to take. Using his horn to give him some light, Amun headed to the deeper zone of the palace and began inspecting all the engravings were there. He continued searching until, finally, to his great shock, he found what he was looking for.

He was faced with the same images he had seen in his dream: Seti killing Nefertem, taking the throne, and ordering to his soldiers to kidnap the colts of the citadel and launch them in the river. Not wanting to believe, Amun got down on his knees, while a wave of sadness and tremendous disappointment got over him. It was then that a hoof landed on his head and Seti’s voice said:

"My brother refused to take our kingdom to glory. If he had continued, the more likely it would be our Kingdom fall with any enemy attack. I had to make sure that didn't happen. But he had a lot of loyalists and I couldn't let them uprising against me."

Amun turned to Seti and told him:

“Father, please tell me you didn’t do this.”

“Amun, sometimes, for a greater good, sacrifices must be made.”

Amun rose up, passed his hoof by one of the baby colts represented, and asked, not wanting to believe that his father would do something like that to his subjects:

“Sacrifices?”

“Oh my son” Seti said, embracing Amun. “They were only slaves.”

Hearing that, Amun had the confirmation of what it was told and shown to him about Seti. Horrified, he separated himself from his adoptive father and run away.

Without knowing where to go, Amun went to same place where he was found by Tuya. He sit there until the sun started to raise up. He didn’t stop thinking about everything that happened.

“Amun…” a voice called.

It was Queen Tuya, who started to approach Amun.

“Is this were you found me?” he asked her.

“Amun, please, try to understand” Tuya asked.

“So… everything I thought, everything that was told to me, everything I am, is a lie.”

“No” Tuya said, kneeling over her adoptive son. “You’re our son, and we love you.”

Amun still didn’t know if his adoptive parents knew who he was and asked:

“Do you know who am I really?”

“You are probably the son of one of our subjects, who decided to save you from all that terror” Tuya replied.

“But I know who I am” Amun said.

“What do you mean?” Tuya asked.

“My father was the same Pharaoh that your husband killed and my mother risked everything to save me” Amun told.

Tuya was stunned when she heard that and said:

"So you are..."

"Mother, please tell me everything what happened with those colts was not because of me."

Tuya tried to say something, but was not able to tell you the truth, but Amun was able to perceive.

"So, it's true. The father who raised me wants me dead."

"That's not true" Tuya said. "Your father wanted the descendant of his brother wasn't a danger to him, but that's because the Lord of Chaos manipulated him."

"The Lord of Chaos?" Amun asked.

There was a pause and then Tuya told:

"When Seti became Pharaoh, he has made the Lord of Order to be seen as an enemy and that the Lord of Chaos was worshipped. The influence the Lord of Chaos has over ponies can make even the most generous stallion turn into something unrecognizable. But there is something I don't doubt, Amun. The love your father and I have for you is genuine. Although he does not know your true identity, he considers you his son. Please, don't hate him for things that are now in the past. Try to see him through the light that he still have and you will see that I'm right."

Despite everything he discovered, Amun was unable to put aside the love he felt for his adoptive parents. Maybe his mother was right. Maybe he should try to see things differently and maybe he could see what Tuya was trying to explain. He then embraced Tuya.

The Lord of Order saw this scene and said:

"My dear Tuya, I think that your attempt to try to keep the whole family together is quite noble. However, I'm not going to let my brother to stay in control of something that is rightfully mine. Amun will accept his fate and will stick to it, even if it takes years."