The Nobody's Regret

by Synthetic Soul


XXII.

Deep below in the catacombs under the ruins of the Castle of the two sisters, a near total darkness dominated everything. Only small cracks leaking light from the outside aided in fighting that darkness. That was until a magical light was created, illuminated by the horn of an unknown pony. The pony walked through the halls, the only sound being the clip clop of their hooves.

The pony made their way to what seemed to be a dead end. Turning around to make sure they weren’t followed, the pony reached into their pocket, and pulled out a small emblem pin, no bigger than 2 by 1 inches. The pony’s light magic grew in strength, enough to reveal an imprint in the stone wall that matched the emblem. The pony placed the emblem against the imprint like a key. From that imprint, a white light outlined the pin, which then spread out to illuminate the mortar surrounding each brick.

The pony stepped back, retrieving the pin and placing it back in the pocket of their black hooded coat. The bricks began shifting, spinning and turning to open a doorway, which revealed a hallway illuminated by a series of lit torches lining the walls. The pony cut the flow of magic to their horn, and began making their way through the hall, as the bricks returned to their original position behind them.

The pony made their way through the hall until they came to a very large room. The room was moderately lit by torches lining the enormous, cavern like space. There were many shelves, weapon stands, alchemy stations and such decorating the room. But in the center of the room, in between four un-carved natural stone pillars stood thirteen white marble thrones.

Sitting on one of the thrones was another pony, their face shrouded by the hood of the coat they wore, which was exactly like the one the first pony wore.

The pony walked towards the pony on the throne, and kneeled before them. The pony on the throne spoke.

“Number II, welcome back.”

“My Lord, the prophesy has been fulfilled. Nightmare Moon has been purged, and Princess Luna has returned.”

“And the boy?”

“Sir Roxas has returned as well.”

“Then the time has come to begin our plan.”

“What do you ask of me, Number I?”

“Our third member will arrive in Ponyville within two weeks. I have foreseen it.”

“I will see to it that she falls to the darkness,” stated Number II as they stood up from their kneeling.

“See that you do. I have selected each member to join the organization for a reason. Do not fail me.”

“Of course, my Lord.” Number II turned, and made their way to the wall from which they entered. They opened the secret entrance, and left the room.

“I will do your bidding for now Master,” said the pony to themselves once they were sure they were alone. “But someday soon, I shall be the one in charge.” They then teleported away, to do the work they were assigned.


Roxas stood in his new room in Canterlot Castle. It was an exact replica of his room in the old castle; complete with all the things that had been missing when Roxas was there last.

The warm light of the morning day flowed through the window, illuminating dust particles in the air. Roxas ran a gloved hand across the mahogany window shelf, as he gazed at the city below. His window had the perfect view to see the hustle and bustle of Canterlot.

‘Even watching the show, and living in this world for more than a thousand years didn’t prepare me for this view. It’s beautiful,’ he thought. Then, a knock at the door called for his attention.

“Come in!” said Roxas. The door opened, and Roxas turned to see a royal guard standing in his doorway.

“Mr. Roxas, the Princesses have requested your presence in the throne room,” stated the guard.

“Oh, alright thanks,” he said, turning to face the guard. He then walked towards the door, passing the guard, who stepped to the side to make way for him. “Also, you can just call me Roxas. Mr. Roxas was my father.”

“It was?” questioned the pony.

“No.”

Roxas made his way to the throne room, where he found Princess Celestia and Luna conversing with another pony, a unicorn stallion with a blue mane.

I know him…he’s Twilights brother,” thought Roxas. ‘What’s his name again? Gleaming Shield…no, Bright Guard, no, it was…Shiny something…why can’t I remember?’

“Roxas!” the human was brought out of his thoughts when he heard Luna call his name. The Princesses motioned for him to join them. He offered a smile, and gave them a friendly wave.

“Good morning!” he greeted.

“Good morning!” replied Celestia. “Come, we have someone we want you to meet!”

All three ponies looked to Roxas as he joined the group.

“Roxas,” said Celestia. “This is Shining Armor, Captain of the Royal Guard. He’s also the older brother of my protégé, Twilight Sparkle.”

‘Yes, THAT’S his name!’

“Nice to meet you,” greeted Roxas as he offered a hand to Shining Armor. The stallion looked slightly perplexed at the appendage, but did offer his hoof to shake.

“Shining, this is Roxas, a friend of ours from ancient times, and the first royal knight. He was also the unofficial leader of the Royal Guard.”

“Nice to meet yo…wait a minute,” stopped Shining as he examined Roxas quizzically. “You…you’re the Knight in Black, aren’t you!” Roxas was surprised at that, and caught a little off guard.

“Uh, yeah, that’s what some people have called me.” Instantly, Shining’s demeanor energized.

“You’re the knight character in that old story, The Knight in Black and the Horrible Hydra! That was Twily and my favorite story book when we were kids!”

‘Someone recorded that? Whoever they are, they owe me royalty!’

“Your story inspired me to join the Royal Guard, but I always thought it was just a story! To think that you’re actually real, and one of MY predecessors, it, it just blows my mind!”

“Well it’s good to meet you, and I’m glad I was able to inspire you!” I replied.

“Hey, if I go get my copy, would you sign my book?”

“Uh, sure,” I replied, not expecting this kind of child like excitement coming from a grown stallion.

“Awesome, I’ll go get it!” Shining began a mad dash towards the doors to the throne room, heading off to retrieve his copy of the book.

Roxas hadn’t noticed, but the two sisters had been holding in their laughter, but after Shining had departed, they let their laughter out at full.

“Is he usually like this?” I questioned, chuckling myself.

“No, never!” said Celestia through her laughs. “At least, not usually! Ha ha ha!”

After the three of us regained our composure, I spoke up.

“So, he’s the new Captain of the Guard, huh?”

“Yes, he has been for a few years now,” replied Celestia.

“So, has he had a lot to do, dealing with wars and stuff?” Roxas asked.

“Actually no. Aside from…well…”

“Nightmare Moon,” finished Luna solemnly.

“Yes, aside from that, Equestria has been at peace. In fact, we’ve been at peace for centuries. We've had relatively little use for the Royal Guard. We’ve had a millennia of peace, and hopefully we’ll have another.”

“Yeah. Hopefully,” said Roxas.

‘Unfortunately, I know better,’ thought Roxas, thinking of the future events that would come to pass. ‘But we’ll get through them. I know that for sure.’