//------------------------------//
// Chapter 13: The Knight 
// Story: The Life of Penumbra Heartbreak 
// by Unwhole Hole 
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It was an otherwise ordinary day in early spring when the shield defending the Crystal Empire trembled. All of the crystal ponies stopped their work to tremble in fear, knowing for sure that the twin goddesses had come to enslave them- -at least until their chains were tugged and various whips cracked to pull them back to the mines or farms. 
When the shield did not collapse, though, the slaves of the Empire shuddered. Whoever had approached it had come with a spell to open it. So very few possessed codes like that- -and those ponies were infinity worse than the Sun and Moon. 
On the far western side of the Empire, a procession began in silence. The ponies in those areas retreated to the sides of the roads, and those in buildings sealed the shutters- -but only enough to let them still see out in silence. 
And so the somber and terrible parade passed through the broad crystal streets. At its center stood an enormous cart on which sat a tremendous, ghastly skull. Behind it came other carts filled with numerous immense bones: femurs, ribs, horns, vast claws; even inner-ear bones the size of a pony. Beyond that were cars loaded down with containers, many of which were overflowing with treasure and strange artifacts. Then, finally, came the teams of ponies tied to the rear, still shivering and blue from the immense cold beyond the shield. A few had stopped walking and were dragged unconscious along with the others. 
None of them were crystal ponies. They had come from every race: earth ponies in heavy chains, unicorns with their horns shackled in dimeritium, Pegasi with their wings clipped and banded- -as well as a smattering of donkeys, cows, and other sorts of sentient creatures. 
What drew the most attention, though, were those who walked in the front. The whole of the apparatus was hauled by a team of type-B golems, their armor battered and dented from constant battles. On the front edge of the cart lounged ponies-at-arms who were not even ponies at all. Rather, they were griffons. Those of the Crystal Empire rarely saw members of that race; none of them would have known that these griffons were substantially larger than they should have been, or that their owl-like eyes were a product of severe forced mutation. But the crystal ponies did take note of their strange armor, and the silver swords they wore on their backs. 
At the very front of them was the most horrible of them all. Leading the procession was an immense unicorn clad in deep-blue armor. It was angular, harsh, and heavy, though from his motions it was impossible to tell that it burdened him in the slightest.  None who witnessed him knew his name, but all knew him as Ten of Thirteen: the Blue Knight. 
The procession continued through the vast city, rising high into the capital district to where the Citadel stood, and to where both the kingdom’s shield and its perpetual miasma of fear originated. Some of the griffons began to grow restless, as they had been trained by long hard lives to sense evil- -but they stayed, as their long and hard lives had also taught them the value of coin. The ponies in the rear began to protest and wail, pulling themselves backward and crying to the blank-eyed crystal ponies for help. They did not yet realize that it was already too late.
The golems only stopped at the main gate beyond which no commoners could pass. The griffons fluttered down and took up stations, with a few goading the new goods to be quieter. Only the Blue Knight passed forward, across the courtyard that surrounded the Heart of Darkness. He caught sight of it, and the vestiges of new machinery being installed around it. Though he noted it, his attention was almost entirely focused on those who had come to meet him. 
The first among them was the king, while the remainder were parts of his entourage. The only one that the Blue Knight noted was a particular skinny white academic. 
At ten paces, the Blue Knight suddenly stopped and drew his sword. It was enormous and made from a strange mottled metal, the likes of which were almost never seen in the latter days of Equestria. With a flick of his amber magic, he turned the sword to face downward and easily stabbed its tip deep into the corundum of the walkway. Then he knelt.
Actuators fired inside his armor, releasing the clamps that held his helmet. Several of the breathing hoses linking it to his recirculate released with a loud hiss; the gas steamed in the cold air. Then the Blue Knight removed his helmet and shook out his long mane, which was pale blue save for a single white stripe. It very nearly matched the teal of his body. 
“My lord, King Sombra!”
“Zither Heartstrings,” replied the king, acknowledging his knight. 
The Blue Knight raised his head and smiled. “My lord! In thine name, I have quested long and hard into deepest lands, to the realm where there be dragons!” He gestured to the enormous skeleton. “I have slain this foul beast in thine glorious name, and retrieved from it not only its horde, but numerous alchemical reagents for thine spells, and its bones and scales for the armor of thine forces!”
Sombra took account of the supplies and nodded. “This offering pleases me. You have done well, my knight. Though in the future, there is no need to bring something so horrid close to my castle. We have rendering knackery for that function.” His eyes turned to the new slaves, and they screamed and recoiled in horror. “As for those?”
“Ah, twas many a village we passed through on the way to fight the beast! I saw to it that each was liberated, and its citizens given the freedom of joining your great Empire! Much booty was claimed!” 
Somepony in Sombra’s entourage snickered. The Blue Knight’s orange eyes immediately flitted to the source of the disrespect, and much to his surprise saw a young girl standing between Scarlet Mist and a pony in much thinner blue-violet armor. 
The Blue Knight gasped. “My lord! Who be this fair maiden, whose form is like that of the most divine sculpture?”
Sombra turned slowly, looking from the girl back to the Blue Knight. “This is my daughter. Penumbra Heartbreak.”
Penumbra seemed tremendously surprised that she had been caught- -as well as addressed by name by her father- -and she shakily bowed. 
“Pon’ my horn!” cried the Blue Knight. “Was I truly questing for so long? How the kingdom has changed in my absence! But indeed, for the better!”
In a remarkably swift motion, the Blue Knight approached Penumbra. She took a step back, not sure what to do, and the Knight took one of her front hooves in his. Despite his size and armor, he was incredibly gentle. 
“Such be the paradox of life’s eternal mystery!” he proclaimed. “As our glorious king is the epitome of power, strength, and fortitude, his daughter is the archetype of beauty, grace, and daintiness! I have in battle faced Celestia and her evil horde, and having witnessed a goddess with mine own eyes, I can be assured that I have never before witnessed one so lovely as yourself, oh fair Crystal Princess!”
Penumbra tried to suppress a giggle, and was darkening several shades of red. 
“Zither!” cried Luciferian, pushing forward. “Unhoof her! You forget yourself!”
“Neigh!” laughed the Knight. “Tis it not a knight’s ultimate honor to behold a damsel, to serve her in the name of courtly love? But an elderly wizard would not understand this, I suppose.”
“I am NOT OLD- -”
Zither dropped to his knees, still holding Penumbra’s hoof. He looked deep into her eyes. “My Lady,” he said, softly. “I have sworn an oath to forever serve your father, but I think it is well within reason to extend that oath to you. I hereby swear upon the Ancient Sign to protect and defend you, to ensure that you, our divine and glorious princess, never come to harm- -to lay down my very life for thine honor alone, should it be asked of me! That I shall scour this land, as I have for you father, and perform glorious deeds in thine name! I swear this on my very SOUL!”
He leaned forward, and tapped his horn against Penumbra’s.
POMF!
The entire crowd gasped. Penumbra’s wings had both suddenly and fully extended, and now stood completely erect for all the world to see. 
“EEK!” She cried, releasing the Blue Knight and trying unsuccessfully to catch them and press them back down. “I don’t know what is happening to meeeeee!” 
A red glow formed around Penumbra and rather uncomfortably clamped her wings back against her. Penumbra looked up at Scarlet Mist, but saw that her horn was not glowing. She gasped, realizing that the glow came instead from her father’s horn. 
“Pon’ my horn!” gasped Zither, himself blushing. She unfastened his cape and draped it over Penumbra’s back. “Please, my princess, I beg your pardon! This was never my intention, I would never- -”
“Zither,” said Sombra, slowly.
Zither dropped into a bow. “My lord. My actions are unforgivable. I assure you my intentions were pure. But any punishment you may- -”
“I have no need to punish you. Swearing allegiance to my daughter in my vert presence was a bold decision. I am sure you realize just how much of a risk you have just taken.”
“Of course, my lord.” Both Scarlet Mist and Twilight Luciferian- -and even Thirteen, who was enjoying this display thoroughly- -knew that he was lying. 
“However, I value you for your boldness. I approve of your decision. But know that I hold this oath to be binding. There will be consequences should you betray it.”
“My lord. There is not an action in the world you can take against me than would be more painful or humiliating than my loss of honor as a knight. An oath once taken can never be broken.”
“I assure you, I can. And I will. Should the need arise.” Sombra pointed at the dragon skeleton. “Complete your duty and see to it that the skeleton is taken care of. As a reward, take whatever you deem fit as a trophy. Additionally, remove the vedmaki from my sight. I find them abhorrent creatures.”
“Of course, my lord.” The Blue Knight stood and immediately obeyed his orders. As he departed and called to the griffons in their strange, chirping language, Penumbra could not keep her eyes off his gleaming armored flank. 
“Scarlet, take the princess inside. She is perhaps not yet ready for public appearances.”
“Clearly.”
“My- -my apologies, my king.” Penumbra bowed to her father. “I will mediate on my failures and learn from them.”
“Then you have a great deal to mediate on. Go. NOW.”
Scarlet Mist picked up Penumbra and quickly carried her off. Thirteen looked to Sombra, nodded, and floated off, lifted by the glow of her own horn. That only left Sombra, his steward, and Twilight Luciferian, the latter of whom was quaking with rage. 
“Twilight,” snapped Sombra. “Control yourself.”
“He cannot be allowed to speak to my- -to the princess like that! The disrespect, the flippance- -”
Sombra took a step forward and was suddenly looming over Luciferian. Luciferian, who had not been prepared, instinctively recoiled, only to cringe when he realized that he had shown weakness to the one pony who must never be allowed to witness it.
“I tolerate your rivalry with Necrophilo,” whispered the king, “but I will NOT have you measuring horns against all of my other unicorns. Do not think that you are dominant, mage. The whole of your magic is but a speck compared to mine, and if allowed to grow, your ego will be your undoing.” 
Luciferian looked up and glared into the eyes of his king. He felt a cold, damp yellow hoof slide around his neck. 
“Do it now,” whispered the voice of a thing that would never truly be a mare. “He doesn’t know. You are far more powerful than he ever will be. Just manifest me. Take my power, and my body. Become a GOD.”
Luciferian felt a substantial burning sensation in his front left hoof, and the surgical scar just above his boot began to itch. He swallowed his pride, though, and bowed.
“Of course, my king,” he said. “It seems I am the one who has forgotten myself. I simply had become incensed at a perception of an insult to your daughter.”
“Then you are a fool. You have come to see her as a pony. She is not, nor is she my daughter. Not in the truest sense of the word. She is merely a living weapon. As you said yourself, her only value now is to strike fear into the hearts of my crystal slaves. She is nothing else. Nothing beyond that.”
“Yes, my lord. Of course. She is nothing but a tool.”
That, at least, was something Luciferian knew to be true.