The Eternal Knight

by Nerom_Fencer

A Paradox

Celestia phased back and forth in her study. The scrolls she had been sent was most disturbing. The first was a report from one of the small towns just passed the dragon borders. This small town, Catersville had been attacked yesterday. The other one was a threat from an unknown source. connections between the two had yet to be made. A knock on her door made her stop her phasing. "Who is it?"

"It's me I'm sorry to bother you." A voice called from outside.

"Cadenza dear you do not bother come in please." She called back Did I sound that harsh? The princess of love and compassion entered the room. "Whats on your mind dear? Have something troubled you?"

"Not at all aunt Celestia. But I do worry about you tho. You seemed to get really upset about that rapport. But when you got the other one you just stormed out." She said. That's Cadenza for you always thinking about others.

"Yes dear but that is something you don't need to worry about right now. Just some bad new. Terrible even, I just needed to summon Luna here. And I think if we ask, he will aid to" She said as an answer.

"Who?" Cadenza asked.

"Nero of course. I can't really command him to do anything seeing that he is not a pony and not employed as a guard." Yet But I think Lu want to give him some sort of position, She has yet to choose an honorguard.

"Why do you need his assistance? Another dragon?"

"No dear. We got a threat sent to the castle. That was the second message I got. Seeing that he is capable I want him to guard you."

"So you think this might be about my wedding?" She said and Celestia gave her a nod.

"That is a possibility. Luna should arrive shortly if she have gotten the message I sent to Twilight."

"I better go then." She said with a slight giggle. Still going on? "I know it's silly but that's something I want to do. Good day aunt Celestia. Oh and fill me in on the bad news later."

"I can do that now, but you won't like it. Catersville have been attacked by demons that escaped from Tartarus yesterday. The attackers have been dealt with, but there was no survivors among the noble family that lived there that we know of." Celestia said grimly

"That means, oh no! The Rose family was all visiting there for.." She stopped.

"Yes it looks like one of our noble houses have been wiped out mostly. The only living member I know of is locked in Tartarus itself on the longest sentence possible." Cadenza knew the story and only said almost unheard.

"Nocturne."

"Yes dear. I told you that it was terrible. They might had been distant but they were still family. Luna will not take this news well. She was overjoyed when Crystal got.." She had no time to finish before she was interrupted by Cadenza.

"No more. I knew them to. I should think of happy moments like that myself, not what can happen if something like that happens. Excuse me." With that she left the study the quick nod she gave Celestia was filled with tears. Poor girl to hear this news now. Must be unbearable but she should know.

Minutes passed before the door to her study abruptly opened. "Sister what are these dire news you speak of?" Luna said stressed.

"You look worried to the bone. Did I scare you by any chance?" Celestia asked her sister.

"No but just after we got your message Nero vanished into what I think was a portal of some sort. No location spell have been able to find him. Not even the starswirl one." She said stressed but calming herself. Celestia could read her sister like a book.

"And the girls how are they? No pains no agony?" Celestia asked.

"No. Why do you wonder that?" Was all she got. Celestia let out a sigh of relief.

"Good that means that he is still here in our world then. Now the question is where? And maybe when?" She said.

"And what makes you so certain?" Luna said sharply. You are getting mighty upset about this Lu.

"For Twilight and the others can't survive without him for at least the next hundred years." She said with a pained sigh, nasty thoughts. "I'll try to find him, I have other means to do so than Starswirls spells."

"Like what? Nothing that I know about."

"Come dear sister and I will show you." She said gracefully and so the sisters set out to another part of the castle.

---

Nero rubbed his face with his hand as he got back on his legs. The misty area was riddled with stars, in front of him stood a stallion almost entirely made of stars. Smiling at him with a crooked grin, Nero thought that he was the smuggest bastard he had ever seen.

"You finally answered my summon." He said in a regal tone. "The girls giving you a hard time?"

"What summon? How the fuck did I get here?" Nero said in a harsh but somewhat confused tone. He felt that something was off, really off.

"Mine of course. Who else is here?" The stallion said.

"ME!" A females voice boomed. The stallion turned in place as Nero moved around to see.

"Who are you? How can you be in my ethereal realm!?" The stallion boomed. Nero was stunned by her appearance. It was just not possible, it just couldn't be.

"Mom?" He whispered. That was impossible his mother had been dead since he was young. No she only resembles her, yes that's it. This red haired woman in dusty, tattered clothing could not be his mother.

"I'm here to kill you! That's all!" She raised a gloved hand to the stallion.

"Not going to happen." The stallion laughed. "Goodbye." His horn flashed and the woman vanished. "Now. Let's get back to business." He turned to Nero. Problem was Nero was standing with a knife at his throat, arm twisted behind his back.

"Might be a problem." He swallowed.

"Not for me. Twenty years! I have searched for a way to get here!" She hissed. "You made me like this, sending him back would not be a wise move."

"Who are yo... I see." The stallion said.

"Yes I'm a paradox. something that can't exist." She whispered into Nero's ear. The knife moved slowly from his throat upwards graced his cheek. He could not help staring at the tip as it hoovered before his eye. "I'm you." her breath blew in his ear.

"Your me?"

"Don't trust Cosmos. He's corrupted. Galaxia will show the way." She whispered.

"Let him go and no one gets hurt." Cosmos said reassuring.

"You do realize that if I kill him I die to right." She snapped. "He's not a hostage." Then she whispered into his ear again. "You won't like this. I'm sorry Arty." Then she plunged the knife into his eye and slashed down.

---

Nero found himself in a bed, he layed on on his back half naked. Instantly he tried to open his eyes, the left could not see. 'Oh Fuck.' He ran a finger down the straight line that had formed, it ran halfway down his face. Already healed. As he got up he noticed that his wings was gone. "Oh that's bloody fantastic." He sighed and scanned the room. Everything except the grand bed was covered by a thin layer of dust. His remaining clothing was neatly folded by the foot end of the bed. Once dressed he slowly opened the door. The thin layer of dust was now much more prominent, the once deep red carpet was bleached and worn by time. "No one has been here for a long time." The dirt stained windows were all whole in the fist corridor, all to dirty to get a proper look trough. "Some kind of castle or palace. judging from the size of it." He mumbled as he tried to look trough the third corridors windows.

He continued walking the grand corridors until he came across a ball room. 'What the--?' Finding a ball room was not a big thing, especially in a palace or a big mansion. Finding one full of statues was. All of then was so realistic, just standing there in full color. "Those can't be made out of stone. Wax maybe?" He grumbled. In the ball room he also found the first damage to the place, in the opposite from where he had came from, a hole was in the wall.

"Not wax, ashes. poor thing didn't stand a chance." Nero spun around to come face to face with another ethereal pony.

"Gahh!" He took a step back. "Don't do that again." She stood proud and tall her entire being radiated the gentle colors from space, the radiant glory of stars.

"Ponies, Humans, orcha and worgs." She looked out over the ball room. "No dragon kin." She walked past him going towards the far end of the room.

"What happened to them?" He followed her.

"Light-mass bomb. Massive damage to living creatures. The result is them." She flared a wing at the statues. "Horrible thing. Only good thing was that the only known maker of the bomb has been dead for a long time."

Nero snorted. "Well that's a relief." They walked down to the main floor and waded trough the statues. Seeing that she evaded the statues, Nero decided to do the same. They where made of ash after all, he noticed when they came to the damaged area.

"The first bomb breached their defenses there" She nodded to the hole. "and many more exploded all over the surrounding town, leveling it" They walked into the throne room, grand as it was it was riddled with statues.

"so it's rubble now?" She nodded. "Must be horrible to lose your people like that." They walked by the side of the mass of bodies.

"Not my people." She said as they ascended. "Do you remember your birth-name?"

"That's a odd question to ask." He said as they looked over the hall. He remembered what the woman from before had said. "But no, Why do you ask?"

"Because I know. Question was if you did, has it occurred to you that you can't recall any of the names of the people you knew." She circled around, so did he. "Sit." She pushed him with a playful giggle, Nero stumbled backwards into the old throne. She looked over the crowd again Nero tried to get up. "I said sit." She herself took the seat in the other throne.

"So we are just going to sit here around dead people?" She looked at him again, her eyes where empty now.

"These people lived once, they where led by a woman and later co-ruled this city with her husband. Ten years she sat here alone. She built this city from the ground, when she came to grow older the people wanted a successor."

"But the woman had no heir."

"Correct, she asked for more time in this world. Cosmos granted her more time here but only to get an heir.

"And when she did, she died."

"Yes, the father, the king. had passed only days before in a battle. They hadn't told the queen yet and in in fear of the child's safety the people asked once again to the heaven for help. This time I answered the call. I have children of my own, which I love very much. I sent the child to where it was safe.

"Then this happened?" He motioned to the lifeless crowd. "No kingdom to return to."

"No, she returned. Mere moments after she left, aged almost 25 years."

"And this has to do with me remembering no names?"

"Nothing, all I needed you to do was sit in that throne. You have passed your first test, Trust." She smiled at him her eyes still felt empty. "You trusted a complete stranger, in a place you don't know where."

"Then who are you?" He tried to sound curious but he had already work it out.

"I think you know that."

"Galaxia. That's who I think you are." She nodded slowly.

"Only fair for me to tell you something you didn't know." She stood up and walked past him again. "Diana, that was one of your mothers names."

"So?" He followed the mare. "It's not like I can say that I remember much about them. I barely remember my mothers looks and the little I do know is only because I met myself as a woman." He said calmly. "She called me Arty." He added like he just remembered it; They now walked a hallway much similar to the ones in Canterlot.

"I know. You would not be here if she hadn't done what she did. You would have followed another path, one of war and strife. While there will be battles to be fought for you soon, they will not change the future like his influence did."

"Meaning that this whole thing is a paradox?"

"Essentially, yes. However that path would have destroyed everything you have come to know in Equestria."

"Doesn't explain why my eye got gorged out and I lost the wings."

"When Cosmos pulled you into that realm he put a spell on you, seeing that he had more power than Celestia when he was still 'alive' so we saw no other option than to pull you out of there. The other you created a paradox. You'll get the wings back when you leave, ether you like it or not."

"This place is one of those realms right."

"Yes; I, just as Cosmos can't walk the corporeal plane anymore. But it's a accurate copy of the Dawning Isles for the most part. Anyhow the spell Cosmos put on you will break. You have no more powers than a child right now, I'll break some of it when you leave. You'll get some magical abilities back, primarily telekinetic powers. Ready for use when you leave this realm."

"So your not strong enough to break it entirely?" He asked skeptically as they passed the statues of lovers doing what they could in their last moments.

"I am strong enough. But! Letting a mortal or semi-immortal into a sacred realm has it's consequences. That's how other immortals primarily are made, rare as it is. Even some of my own children has gone trough it. Cosmos and I only came here after deaths grasp had long taken us. Far before the world Equestria is in was created."

"Let me guess Celestia and Luna have been in these realms?"

She lifted her head proudly. "Yes. The story called; Lullaby for a Princess." She touched his forehead with wing, images
flashed before his eyes.

"Luna was corrupted."

"And killed Celestia, allowing her to pass trough the realms, reborn as they are today; mostly. That was the second time they passed trough the realms. Now I believe we are off topic."

"We are; But why are we even talking about that?" They walked briskly trough out the palace as they once again rounded a corner a brilliant light enveloped them and Nero no longer found himself in that castle.

---

"So what are we doing again?" RD asked as she hoovered above them.

"Planing our move to Canterlot, making sure that everypony is ready and so forth." Twilight said, it was her idea to plan and make sure everything was ready into the smallest detail; Much to the other ponies annoyment. She had gathered everypony in The golden oaks for a debrief on their current problem, the fact that their newest friend had gone missing not only an hour before and what they should do about it.

"And why are they here?" She pointed at the foals in the room, three fillies and a colt gleamed at her.

"So far I know Eclipse is going with Nero for the time being, who have been offered a suite in the palace. Sweetie Belle is going with Rarity. The others are here for support, or they have nothing else to do. Your pick Rainbow." She said almost as she had trained it in all day.

"Ah have things tha do at the farm so could we hurry up with this, Granny is pondering me with chores that needs to be done before ah leave." AJ didn't sound like she was in a direct hurry.

"An I think you can stay a while." Said the new member of the group that just walked into the library. They gasped at her. Another human and from what Nero had said, a female to boot. She had high boots ending just a few inches before the knee; in a leathery brown and under that, stockings spanning even higher. A green skirt that was higher in the front than the back was joint by an empty tool-belt to the brown and green corset she had on, Over that she had a brown aviator coat and a pair of goggles hang around her neck. Her hair hung like playful locks of scarlet, her eyes was milky white. Twilight deduced that she might be blind.

"And who are you?" Rainbow quickly said.

"Artemis; I'm sorry for this." She raised an amber orb at the ponies, a shockwave came from it causing seven of the ten ponies in the room to crash to the floor. The names of close and beloved was shouted in unison. Then something unsuspected happened, something outside Artemis plans. The tree ponies and Spike the dragon launched themselves at her.

---

Nero found himself sitting in something that felt like a lukewarm spring once again out of clothing. "What's whit these ponies and undressing me. I'm in my bloody pants again." He muttered as he pulled the weight that had emerged on his head, as he did his shoulder burned a little it clinked as he set it down next to him. He let his head fall backwards as he tried to relax in the now warmer water. "Blood an ashes my body aches. Ah, what in the name of Lucifer did they do to me." He stretched a wing, he mentally noted that he might need a massage. He rubbed his eyes as he tried to remember after that flash of light.

"Is the water to your liking?" A female voice asked. She did not seem to wait for an answer as he felt the water rise. He looked at his hand. The golden dragon that was once in an lying eight was now circling a black 9 pointed star. He then looked at the female, he was not in luck today. The mare looked back at him like this was nothing special. The light charcoal unicorn looked at him with her rose eyes. Her red mane floated on the water as she laid in the water.

"Could be warmer. Does good for aching muscles." He noticed the filly that peddled next, she tried to settle by the mares forelegs. This one also had the same red mane, but instead had piercing green eyes and a white coat. "Dis you head what I said before you got in the water?"

"I have heard worse. Don't do it again." She said smugly to which he groaned. "So what happened to your eye." She asked as she willed some water over her head. He touched his bad eye, still a scar there. He grunted. "Like normal you won't talk about anything. Here you comes saves everyponies hides and don't want to take credit for it." She let out a loud Pfft. "Stallions! What's with you?" He looked confused at the mare, somewhere in his mind he knew her and somewhere he did not.

"Maybe I don't want your bits for driving of some monsters." He said as the notion that he had done just that came over him. Then he 'remembered' something else. "Didn't I tell you that not to follow me? I'm in the bath for gods sake."

She just laughed at him "Hehehe! I heated the water for you so why are you complaining." She continued to giggle. Nero groaned again, she abruptly stopped. "Am I'm that annoying?!" She snapped.

He groaned again and rubbed his eyes. "No, It's just my head." He looked at the lump he had put down on the tiles. The crown looked darker than it had before. He payed it no more mind and yawned.

"That orb that redhead gave you did something to you. Didn't it?" She moved her filly to her back when she stretched out more in the water, resting her head next to his hand. He muttered something under his breath, she could not hear. Not like she cared about that when he gently stroked the base of her skull and neck. Nero did not notice what he was doing as he was deep in thought, he lowered himself into the water and let his mind wander. Into something he had known and will know again. He lay there for a while in his own memories. "Brother? Don't sleep in the bath." He wanted nothing more than to go to sleep. He no longer felt the mare next to him. He rubbed his good eye, blinking he scanned the bath room. The charcoal mare stood in the door draped in a robe and towel, looking at him concerned.

"Sorry Rosie, must have dosed off." 'Rosie?' He got out of the shallow bath. 'I don't even know these ponies.' "I'll be there in a minute. Just let me dress." As he put his shirt on a image flashed before his mind.
Before him stood some kind of reptile, the creature lunged at him and Nero retaliated. Only to defend the ponies behind him.

He but his boots on.

He held one of the only ponies that had helped him ward of the demons in his arms. She once alive and well. He had one shot. She had given her life for a filly by the use of magic so the filly may live instead. He had one shot, her last words echoed in his head. ,Take care of her, brother.' He held a very precious crystal in his hand, one of two. He had one shot, a single tear fell to the crystal star. "No, that won't be needed." He whispered.

He walked out the door and met up with the mare. Rose, her name is Rose. She finished running a brush trough Prim's mane. The town ponies had come together to make a feast for them.

He watched the crystal shatter in his open palm, a feint mist swirled around the ponies before him. A sliver of gold mixed in it. The mare took a deep breath, coughed and opened her eyes. She felt the little filly pushing against her shoulder. She tried to smile and failed doing so, instead she just looked at him.

'Nocturne Rose' in his eyes a hero. To others? The black hermit, the mare in the woods, The night watcher. Etc. Him? The White Wanderer, The demon slayer, The blind knight. Etc. The town ponies had not a single way to send for help. save for the mail mare, now when the nobles that had direct communication with Canterlot had died. The letter took five days after the attacks were over to reach Canterlot, the mare must had to gotten lost or something. He and the others sat down and ate and had a merry time.

Nero felt his rage course trough him. He had never been this angry, he roared as he slashed the next reptilian demon's head off. The last of them fell, others where coming his way. He dropped the scythe and it became dust before it hit the ground. As he heard the next wave scamper his way a Claymore manifested in his hands. Nocturnes weapon spell still running strong. Rocks vibrated in a dark aura and lifted to eye level. The first few of them borrowed themselves into the skulls of birdlike, reptile-like and ponylike demons. He felt no remorse as they fell before him, as they they tasted his naked blade.

He lay on his back in the evening sun, He raised the amber orb that he had given himself. Inside it a blue mist swirled. Memories, a short story of who he was. In Equestria anyway, and in there together with it, power. To create balance again he needed to know. Right now all he knew was who he used to be, before Equestria. All the shit that he seen, he felt cold inside, Nero sighed. "I'm a paradox. Fucking hell." He looked trough the crystal, sighed and touched the orb with his forehead.

Author's Note:

I'm sorry for the mumbo jumbo happening in the chapter, it has a reason I promise.

Comments

[shadow chaser]

this chapter has me confused ten ways from sunday

[Nerom_Fencer]

2396232 Then I have succeeded in someway. Because it suppose to do.

[Lord Charles]

ugh.. i feel like im in math class... im so confused.