Chapter 1: The pariah's return.
It was the night after the Great Dragon Migration and both princesses were in Celestia's private chambers. The moon hung low outside the window and the room was lit by only a few candles, but the sisters could still see each other perfectly.
Luna grinned. "It's been such a long time since we've had the opportunity to talk, hasn't Tia?" The two royal Alicorns sat at the wooden gold-trimmed table, resting their forehooves on the elegant marble floor as they began to talk.
Suddenly a strange and fast moving wind blew through the room, throwing several loose scrolls haphazardly about room and flipping the table with a resounding thud before it gathered around a ball of red light that had appeared in one the corners of the room, hovering 3 hooves off of the ground.
A few seconds later a unicorn with a solid white coat and a mane that ran like blue fire down his neck leapt out of the ball. As he jumped, the ball winked out of existence with nothing more than a whisper.
He clearly wasn't expecting to have been leaping at the royalty of Equistria and so unable to control his landing, he crashed into the closer of the two, which happened to be Luna.
Outside the room the two guards on duty heard the scuffle and barged into the room. As they rushed in they took in the flipped table, scattered scrolls and unknown unicorn laying on top of Luna all at once and immediately determined that the unicorn was a threat. The two guards untangled Luna and the unicorn and after ensuring that both the princesses were ok, they detained the threat, hoof-cuffing the unicorn and putting him in the corner.
The unknown unicorn was clearly still dazed. He shook his head several times, in a vain attempt to clear it. Suddenly the unicorn's horn flared and instantly he was surrounded in a blue, bubble-like force field which threw the guards against a wall, knocking them unconscious, before It vanished, leaving no trace that it had ever been there.
If either of the princesses were shocked by this turn of events they didn't show it. The unicorn looked up, shook his head a final time and scanned the room, observing his new surroundings before muttering. "Not again Discord. I'm not falling this trick again." He turned to the princesses, cocked his head to side and started chuckling. "I must say Discord, you've done a much better job this time. Last time they barely looked like ponies," he hissed to nopony in particular. From the princess's perspective it appeared that the unicorn was not addressing them, but the room around them. It was as if he thought that it, not them, had caused the pony's qualms.
Luna looked at her sister who appeared as confused as she was. "What's he rambling about?"
Celestia shrugged "I don't know for certain, but it appears that he thinks the cause of all of this is Discord. I think he believes that what he is seeing is a product of Discord's influence." Luna raised an eyebrow. "You got all that out his one sentence?"
"There is a reason I'm the Older sister."
Hearing Discord's name the unicorn had turned to face the Celestia. "I knew it, I knew this-Agh!" Thousands of shards of priceless jade swirled around his head like a swarm of wasps before he collapsed to the ground, unconscious.
Celestia turned to Luna, who held the remains of one of several ancient vases that decorated the room, a bashful smile on her face. "Luna what was that for?" She scolded.
The princess of the night pouted at her sister. "But Tia, he was rambling!"
•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
As the unicorn came around, he found himself in a cell that was quite spartan in design. There was a bed, a toilet and some loose, old hay on the ground. Classic iron bars crossed the only doorway.
Moments later Celestia and a reluctant Luna entered the cell. The unicorn backed into one of the corners, though he did not look scared. Celestia approached him slowly. "I'm not going to hurt you." The unicorn shook his head again. "Why would I believe you? She hit me over the head!" He motioned at Luna.
The Alicorns looked at each other and then at the unicorn. In perfect sync they raised an eyebrow and said. "You accused us of being a figment of Discords mind." For a split second, his facade dropped and his face showed the uncertainty that was raging in his mind. He repressed it almost immediately, but his mind was still racing with all the furious exhilaration of a swarm of bees.
"Alright, I'll believe you if you can tell me something Discord wouldn't know, but both you and I would know." The unicorn looked at them with a look of triumph upon his face.
Luna spoke up. "Actually, there is something that Discord doesn't know." The unicorn raised an eyebrow and Luna continued "He doesn't know that I was trapped in the moon for 1000 years."
The unicorn nodded. "That is true. So I'm going to assume that you are real, which means I finally escaped the horror show I've had to endure for around a year. So I suppose I can in fact trust you."
The unicorn lay down with a huff, a tense breath escaping his muzzle. His eyes flitted rapidly about as the gravity of his situation finally hit him with the force of a small locomotive. "What am I supposed to do?" He muttered bleakly. "Everypony I know... they've all moved on. They probably don't even remember me!" The first of many tears slid silently down his face, its lustrous trail sparkling in the dim light of the cell. "All my friends... my parents... everyone." He was now shaking ever so faintly as he wiped furiously at the tears on his cheek. They were easily replaced, however, by fresh ones falling from his glistening eyes. "Everyone..."
Luna looked at her sister, sadness evident in her eyes. "I thought when Twilight Sparkle and her friends defeated Discord, everything he that he had committed was undone." She shook her head. "Clearly we were wrong. What is your name young unicorn?"
When the unicorn finally looked up the pain was still there, clearly showing in his eyes. "My name? My name is Paladin . If you wouldn't mind, could I have a better room to think about what I'm going to do with my life?"
Celestia nodded uncertainly. "Alright I'll set if I can get you a room in the Castle. It will take a some time to organize however, so for the moment you'll have to sleep here."
Paladin climbed on to the bed, his legs shaking softly. "Thank you. I'll assume I'm no longer a prisoner, so I should be grateful to you." And with that Paladin was left alone to think and to sleep.
The next morning Paladin awoke to find he had both a minor headache and a guard waiting for him. "Alright, you're to come with me. I shall escort you to your new room." Paladin got up and started to stretch. "Alright then, lead the way."
The trip took around five minutes. But somehow Paladin still managed to find so many things to be impressed with. He "ooed" and "ahed" at the beautiful and graceful spires, the lavish buildings, the sophisticated ponies. To him, it all seemed so new, and so foreign. It filled him with invigorating excitement.
Eventually they reached the spire where he would be staying. As he stepped in the room, Paladin was taken aback. The room was overly lavish, from the four-poster bed, to the huge oak desk with gold finish.
Paladin simply couldn't see how he deserved such a magnificent room. After all, had he not jumped into a princess and knocked two of her guards unconscious? Had not accused both of the royal Alicorns of being figments of Discord's mind?
Paladin staggered over to the bed and collapsed on it. He lay his head down and let the darkness welcome him in like an old friend. The guard trotted over to the unconscious pony and poked him several times. "Humph, out cold. I guess the generosity of Celestia stunned him a bit. I suppose I should go tell her he fainted." He left he room, closed the door and trotted off to find one of the princesses.
•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
Paladin woke with a splitting headache and the sensation of having drunk a very large quantity of alcohol. "Oooh my head."
Paladin looked around. The candles were out and the moon had just started rising. The moonlight barley illuminated the room, casting long shadows. He got up and lit a few of the candles, lighting the room up considerably. He rubbed his head, trying to clear the headache, to no avail.
He half trotted, half staggered over to the desk where he found a note.
Dear Paladin,
When you wake up I request your immediate presence. I understand if you have a headache, Luna can hit quite hard when she wants to. I will most likely be in my chambers. If you need help finding me, just ask one of the guards.
Celestia
Paladin read the note three times, just to get the meaning into his head. "Yes, she can hit quite hard... Ow" Paladin muttered rubbing his head again. "Alright, time to find her." He said walking over to the door. He opened it quietly and went in search of the nearest guard.
It took him 15 minutes to find a guard and another 10 to find Celestia. The time had done nothing to his headache and he was still staggering a lot. He had to lean on the guard, just to walk straight. As it turns out Celestia was in her chamber, but with Paladin staggering around as he was it took ten minutes just to get there.
Paladin finally staggered into the room and collapsed next to the table, which had been flipped up to its original position. He placed his head on the tabletop and moaned.
Celestia walked over and sat down next him. She stretched out and stifled a yawn. "Sorry, I'm quite tired." Paladin shook his head, indicating that it was alright. Celestia continued "I summoned you here to ask whether you have decided as to how you are going to proceed. But first, I'm curious as to why you are stumbling around like a drunk."
She studied him for a few moments. "Let me guess, you still have a headache?" Paladin gave the barest of nods. "Hmm, Luna really didn't have to hit you that hard." Paladin shook his head. "What, you think you deserved that?" Another nod. "You are a strange one. Well, we can't have you suffering like you are. Hold still a moment."
Celestia closed her eyes for second, her horn flared, and Paladin's vicious headache was gone. "Thank you, Your Majesty. And as a matter of fact, I have thought about it and I think I know what I want to do. I don't think I can face my old friends or family after all of this, in fact I doubt I could even find them. Instead I would like to go someplace new and restart my life. Do you know of such a place?"
Celestia nodded "I do know of a place where you could start anew. It is a small town called Ponyville. It's a quiet little place that I think you'll like very much."
Paladin thought about it for a second. "Hmm, Ponyville." He mulled the word over in his head like a fine wine. A small smile appeared on his lips. "It sounds nice enough." He nodded. "Alright then, that's where I'll go."
A/N: I would like to thank CosmicAfro and TheBandBrony for their great ideas and editing in this chapter.