Chapter 1:Death, and Rebirth
As I lie on the ground, I know I am slowly bleeding out from my wounds. Not to long ago I was standing in formation with my fellow guards, holding off the Holy Roman Emperors army, now I lay dying while Rome is sacked. tears run down my face, as I know I will never see my beloved mother again. I think back on the things that happened in my life
From when I remember, my mother told me stories of my father, how he was soldier of the pope, and how he had been a Venetian captain sailing towards the infamous Ottoman Empire, only for his boat to sink, and for him to drown. She had told me stories of how they met in Venice, a country just off the Italian peninsula.
She told me how, after his death, she was to over whelmed with grief, and had moved to Rome. How my mother found out she was pregnant, and the panic She felt. I remembered meeting the son of the Swiss Guard Captain, how Swiftly we seemed to get along.
I remembered practicing with long sticks and using them as if they were halberds. I remember me and my best friend Christian Agosti, how I was placed in the swiss guard, and how he was assigned to the pope himself.
I smiled, knowing that, even knowing he had done better than I had, I still felt no bitterness towards him. I remember the young English woman that had been sent by her father, a noble, to study in Rome, and become a Christian, like her Father.
I remember the time we spent together, a guardsman and a noble woman. I remember the kiss she gave me when she departed back to England. I remember the slightly rounded belly of my lover, and how I knew, despite my death, my line would live on through my child.
I remember the letter I had received a week ago from my love, Elizabeth, stating that my Son had been born safely, and she had named him.
As I close my eyes, I remember his Name, Nicholas. "Nicholas, Elizabeth, I am sorry I will never see you again, but if you somehow hear this, I love you both" I whispered out faintly, and I drew my final breath
Without even knowing why, I began crying, but that should not have been possible. Had I somehow survived . . . , No, I had not, I didn't know how, but I knew I had not survived, so how was I crying. That was when I heard it, a voice, the comfort of a blanket being wrapped around me, as if I was a new born child. "Nurse Resting, write down the words I say, Name: Hopeful Cross, Age: 32, Race: Unicorn, Sex: Female, Method of body disposal: Burial"
There was a brief sound of quill on parchmen . . . t, wait, quill and parchment haven't been used in years. Had these people not invented paper, or pens yet? I wondered to myself. I soon felt the tears stop, along with the sounds of my crying
"Alright Doctor Horse, now the death date" said a soft feminine voice
I then felt movement, a something furry pressing and moving against my nose. I noticed that I was moving, as if I was being carried. I couldn't hear the voices, all he could hear was the babbling and giggles of babies. It was strange, I felt my self being lied down on a blanket.
I slowly opened my eyes and looked around, well, to the best of my abilities. I saw I was in a room, filled with Cribs. I saw, foals?, in each crib. It was then I noticed that I had hooves instead of hands, I saw a horse muzzle, what was I. My first Thought was that I was a horse, but I was too small. I also noticed something on my head. W-was that A horn? Well no matter, I saw a small orange foal in the crib Next to me, it had blonde hair from what little hair I could see, and she had green eyes.
I then heard Voices, A two women, and a man. "This way Mr. Mac and Mrs. Butter, I'm sure you can't wait to meet your new foal" said a soft voice.
"You ready Big Mac, It's time to meet your new sister" said a man's voice. I then saw 4 horses enter the room, the first bore the sign of the knight hospitallers, the second was a yellow stallion who wore a strange hat on his head, the next was a small Red foal, and finally was a light orange mare. They walked over to the crib next to me.
"Hello there Applejack, I'm so glad to see you, It's time for you to come home with us". said the light Orange Mare. The Nurse then looked over at me,
"Oh, sorry, just wait here a moment, I need to put the name tag on this little ones crib". She walked out of the room, and the mare came closer to me.
"Well, hello there little sugarcube, why aren't you just the cutest little thing" she said. I just looked at her, I tried to speak but only little babbles came out.
The Nurse came back in, her ears were lying against her head, she seemed upset. She put a tag on my crib, and sighed. "W-what's wrong Nurse Caring, is everything okay with this little fella" The Mare asked the 'nurse', what ever that was.
"Well it turns out that this little one's only relative, his mother, passed away during his birth, she only managed to give us his name, so we don't know what to do with him".
"W-well we could adopt him, you know, we apples are always looking for a bigger family, and we have the room, so" said the light orange mare
"Oh you can, please do, none of us mare's here at the hospital would have time to take care of him when he grows up, so if you could, it would be a big help" said the 'nurse'
"Sure, we could take him home today with Applejack, we just would need the papers and his name"
"Oh of course, his name is Pious Halberd, and I'll get the papers, just take him with you to the seats down the hall, and I'll get you the adoption papers".
I thought that everything seemed strange, small equines, adoption, . . . , well, looks like I have a new family, I only hope I can defend them and enjoy my time with them, like how I wanted to with my own family. I soon noticed how tired I felt. I felt myself being picked up, and soon I faded off to sleep