//------------------------------// // Unexpected Guests // Story: Equestria's Star Warrior // by castroedgar316 //------------------------------// Several minutes later after the tour around the castle, we now find the group in the training area with Star Knight and Shining Armor in the center, wield wooden training swords. "This is going to be so cool, I just know it!" Spike exclaimed as he, Twilight, and Princess Celestia watched from the sidelines. "Hopefully they don't end up hurting each other." Twilight said. "I'm sure they're going to be fine Twilight." Princess Celestia assured, "They both have lots of experience in combat, I'm sure they'll know when to stop." "I'm ready when you are, Star Knight!" Shining Armor called. "I was ready the moment we we got our weapons." Star Knight called back, "And since you're captain, I insist that you have the first move." "If you say so!" Shining Armor said before charging towards Star Knight, with is sword in his magic's grasp. Instead of getting ready to counter, Star Knight just stood there, watching Shining Armor get closer and closer. "What's he doing!" Spike exclaimed, "He's going to be hit if he doesn't move!" "Patience Spike." Princess Celestia said, "Knowing Star Knight, he's waiting for just the right moment." Once Shining Armor was right in front of Star Knight, he swung his sword at him, but at the last second, the star warrior swung his sword, causing both weapons to clash for a moment before Shining's was knocked out of his grip and onto the sidelines. Before the royal captain could even react, he found that Star Knight was holding his sword against his neck. "Do you yield?" Star Knight asked. After processing what the star warrior said for a moment, Shining Armor replied, "I guess I don't exactly have a choice." Upon hearing Shining Armor's response, Star Knight dropped his sword to the ground. "Well Star Knight, you won fair-and-square, and as captain of the royal guard, I hereby proclaim you as an honorary royal guard!" Shining Armor said "Thank you captain, I'm honored." Star Knight said before taking a quick bow. "Wow, that was amazing Star Knight!" Spike exclaimed as he, Twilight, and Princess Celestia walked up to the duo. "I'm personally surprised that you beat my brother so easily." Twilight said. "Now that I think about it, it actually looked like you were counting on me to charge at you like I did." Shining Armor said. "A good knight knows that an opponent is much easier to deal with if they don't have a weapon." Star Knight said, "Which is why if one were to fight someone with a weapon, try to disarming them as quickly as possible." "I see." Shining Armor said, "Well, I'll be sure keep that I mind next time. As for now I need to check if all the other guards are at their posts and aren't joking around." With that, Shining Armor made his way out of the training area. "Well Star Knight, now that you're officially part of the royal guard now, what do you want to do first?" Spike asked. "That's something I'll let Celestia decide." Star Knight replied. Before Princess Celestia continued respond, one of the royal guards burst inside the training area. "Princess Celestia!" The guard called, "King DeDeDe has made a surprise visit, and he's brought some guests along!" "DeDeDe does tend to show up without warning." Princess Celestia said to herself before telling the guard, "Please have King DeDeDe and his guests wait in the throne room and tell them that we'll join them shortly." "Yes princess." The guard said before leaving. "Who is this 'King DeDeDe' you speak of, Celestia?" Star Knight asked. "He's the current ruler of dream land." Princess Celestia responded, "While he can act a bit selfish at times, he's overall a good leader and a great ally." "I suppose you want to greet King DeDeDe and his guests by yourself, princess?" Twilight asked. "Actually, I think it would be best if you three were to come with me." Princess Celestia responded, "I'm sure since the king may have brought some of his subjects, I could bring some of mine. I'd also like to introduce him to my newest knight." With that said, the group begin to make their way to the throne room. A few minutes later, the group arrives in the throne room, only to be greeted by a large penguin dressed in a red robe and fancy shirt. "It's about time you showed up, Celestia!" The penguin said. "Forgive me for making you and your guests wait, DeDeDe." Princess Celestia apologized, "But I must ask, what is the meaning of this unexpected visit?" "I had actually been planning this for a couple of weeks now." The penguin now know as King DeDeDe explained, "And just yesterday I sent one of my waddle dees with a letter saying so." Immediately after he said that, a waddle dee walked into the throne room before handing Princess Celestia a letter. Upon opening it, Princess Celestia found that it was the letter King DeDeDe just spoke about. "I guess your waddle dee was stalled." Princess Celestia said, "I just received the letter you sent yesterday." King DeDeDe groaned before turning to the large snail and said, "Escargoon, remind me to not have a waddle dee deliver any of my letters ever again." "Yes sire." The snail now know as Escargoon said. "Care to introduce us to your subjects?" Princess Celestia asked. "Sure, why not." King DeDeDe responded, "As you just heard, the snail here is my right hand man, Escargoon." "A great to meet you." Escargoon said before taking a quick bow. "The two who in the full-body armor are Sword Knight, and Blade Knight." King DeDeDe said, gesturing towards the duo. "It's an honor to meet you." Both Sword Knight and Blade Knight said in unison. Sword Knight wore a suit of aqua green armor. The helmet revealed a dark hole where their eyes would be but something was keeping them hidden. The helmet had four open ridges along the side and large shoulder pauldrons. He also had a two pronged sword sheathed to his hip. Blade Knight on the other hand, wore a tiny suit of light green armor with a long helmet which covered most of his face except for a pink section that looked like a chin. The helmet was adorned with several red tassels and his shoulders with large pauldrons decorated with crescent moons along with the same gloves Sword Knight wore.. His sword had a sheathed straight sword on his silver buckled belt. "And last but certainly not least, this is my best knight, Meta Knight." King DeDeDe said gesturing the one behind behind Sword Knight and Blade Knight. "A pleasure to make your acquaintce." Meta Knight said (in a deep Spanish tone), stepping forward before taking a bow. Meta Knight appeared to be the same species as Star Knight along with wearing similar attire. Meta Knight had a blue body and wore a silver mask that was completely round, which only allowed his completely yellow eyes to be seen. His cape was the same as Star Knight's, but was dark purple with golden trimmings. Whatever else he had on was concealed by his cape (which he had around most of his body). "It my pleasure to meet you all as well." Princess Celestia said, "Now I would like you to meet some of my subjects." Princess Celestia then gestured towards Twilight before saying, "This is my star pupil, Twilight Sparkle." "A pleasure to meet you all." Twilight said. "The young dragon is her assistant, Spike." Princess Celestia continued, gesturing towards Spike. "Nice to meet you." Spike said. "And this a very old friend of mine, along with being my newest knight, Star Knight." Princess Celestia said, gesturing towards Star Knight. "An honor to meet you all." Star Knight said. Upon noticing Star Knight, King DeDeDe and his looked guests at him with different emotions. King DeDeDe seemed amazed, Escargoon, Sword Knight and Blade Knight were shocked, and Meta Knight (which everyone couldn't tell because of his mask) was interested. "He looks like a recolored version of Meta Knight." Escargoon said, before quickly adding, "Only his mask if different." King DeDeDe let out a laugh before saying, "I see that you liked Meta Knight's appearance so much, that you hired someone who looks a lot like him!" "Actually your highness, I barely arrived in this planet an hour ago." Star Knight said, "Plus I joined out of the goodness of my heart, not because I was told to." "'Barely arrived in this planet?'" Meta Knight asked, "You wouldn't happen to be a star warrior, would you?" "I am, actually." Star Knight responded, "Just like you." "Wait a second!" King DeDeDe exclaimed, "You're actually a star warrior, Meta Knight!?! Why didn't you tell me." "You never asked." Meta Knight responded simply. "Are all star warriors the same species as you and Star Knight?" Spike asked Meta Knight. "No, star warriors consisted of many spices and anyone would be considered one if they decided to join us." Meta Knight responded before turning towards Star Knight and asking, "Although I would like to know how you knew that I was one." "I was going to ask you the same thing." Star Knight countered, "But to answer your question, managed to find a computer that had the names of all known star warriors, with the name 'Meta Knight' being among them." "A reasonable answer." Meta Knight said, "And as for how I knew, I recall there being a young star warrior who was sent away for both safety reasons and in hopes that he would return as an excellent fighter who would protect the galaxy long after the end of the war. That, and you're the only star warrior who I recall who is naturally pink." "...I guess that makes sense." Star Knight said. "Wow, if what Meta Knight said is true, then he's definitely older than Star Knight." Spike said whispered to Twilight, "Although we don't know how old Star Knight is, we do know that he met Princess Celestia hundreds of years ago." "How do you figure that last part?" Twilight whispered back. "Being how we haven't heard about Star Knight until he arrived earlier today, and how there isn't anything in the castle that mentions him, not even a book about him, and I know that's true since you've read just about every book in the castle library." "Hey! It's not my fault that books are interesting!" Twilight argued, earning a snicker from Spike. "Although you look experienced, I would like to test your abilities." Meta Knight said. "How so?" Star Knight asked. "I was considering that we duel." Meta Knight said, "I want to see how much you've learned for the last thousand years, and a duel will help me rate your skills. It would also be an honor to duel with another star warrior again." After thinking about it for a moment, Star Knight said, "If you desire a duel, then I accept! I personally desired a challenge for quite the while now." "Then it's settled." Meta Knight said before turning towards Princess Celestia, "Is there anywhere we could duel in your castle." "I suppose the training area for my guards could be a good place-" Princess Celestia began. "It would be perfect." Meta Knight said before turning towards Star Knight, "I don't suppose you know how to get there, do you?" "I was actually there a few minutes ago." Star Knight responded, "Follow me, I'll lead you there." "Don't think you two are going alone!" King DeDeDe exclaimed, "I want to watch the two of you duking it out with each other! Watching a brawl between two star knights isn't something one sees everyday!" "I'm with King DeDeDe." Escargoon said, "Something like this could happen a once in a lifetime, and I wouldn't want to miss it!" "If you all want to watch, that's fine by me." Star Knight said before turning towards Meta Knight, "How about you?" "I don't mind either." Meta Knight responded, "As long as no one intervenes with our duel." "Then it's settled." Princess Celestia spoke up, "If you all could follow me, I'll lead you to the training area." "Lead the the way then." King DeDeDe said before he and everyone else followed Princess Celestia out of the throne room. As everyone exited, Meta Knight kept his eyes on Star Knight. 'It was foretold that this star warrior would be the mightiest of them all and would be the one to purge the universe of darkness.' Meta Knight thought to himself, 'Wether it's true or not, I must see if is capable of such a task, and if he is willing to make sacrifices when the time is right. But for now, our duel should allow me to recognize his fighting style in case the next time we battle isn't a duel.'