OK...so...how should we continue?
Well, Knightmare, you’ve already written your version of events for the Gala, why don’t we just pick up where that left off?
I thought you wanted the facts?
You also gave me access to overhaul your original works. I’ll handle editing in the missing pieces later on.
….Oh. OK. Well, guess that means we’re jumping on ahead....now where did that leave off?
Well, Princess Celestia had just dropped a bit of a bombshell about her past, and you promised her that you’d be her ‘Knight in Shining Armor’ that she never got before. The Concert had just come to an end and, in general, a huge mess of everything imaginable had come crashing down. You joined a new Chess Piece in a song, Nyx had taken control for the first time, and Chrysalis had shown what she was capable of in combat when she wasn’t trying to take her targets alive.
That...is a LOT of stuff.
Well, most of what I just said were things that happened, but that you hadn’t added to your original memoirs.
True, I did have a bad tendency to skip over details, often important ones, like ChryssiePie’s badflankery...
...yeah. OK, so, I believe that we’ll be picking up on the day of the Knighting ceremony gone wrong?
Yup! I remember it like it was yesterday....Cue flashback effects, please!
Just...Just start talking.
Fine, killjoy.
*****
“Noooooo need to panic.” I told myself, “It’s only me being KNIGHTED by Celestia AND given a gift by Luna for helping stop the Nightmare after my best day ever was TORN TO SHREDS in the most literal manner possible......”
I kept walking, doing my best to calm myself down. It’s really confusing being elated, scared, and pissed all at once, doncha know? Regardless, I was getting ready to turn a corner when.....oh fuck.
“Hi there, I’ve been waiting for you.” said the dragoness, her back leaning against the wall.
“You...but....but....ffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffff-” To say I was pissed at meeting the same damnable draogness that DESTROYED the Gala and SET THE NIGHTMARE FREE was an understatement of epic proportions.
“WHAT THE BLOODY FUCK ARE YOU DOING HERE!?” I screamed, shifting into my felinoid beast form, going from barely hip-height to standing a head taller and twice as wide as the wingless reptile.
“I’m a guest here.” she said, pushing off of the wall and standing straight up, turning to face the livid changeling.
“A GUEST!?” I snarled, “A GUEST!? YOU ARE A GUEST NOW!? GUESTS DON’T GO BEATING THE HOST INTO A BLOODY PULP! NOR DO THEY UNLEASH ANCIENT EVIL DEMONS TO RUN AMOK! NOR DO THEY GO THREATENING OTHER GUESTS!”
“Do you even know why I beat Luna to a bloody pulp? Oh, and if you are wondering, I did fix her up afterwards, not a scratch on her. Damn well took a lot of strength to do that.” she muttered, crossing her arms.
I didn’t bother listening further, there was no way in HELL I’d be able to keep calm around this gal. I had to literally force myself to turn around and walk away, before I did something we both regretted. Like, say, punching her. No idea if she might have some kind of counter attack spell and I don’t feel like getting in trouble for any suspiciously dragon-shaped holes in the walls....
And yet, once I had turned around, the same goddamn FUCKING DRAGON was standing RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME!
“Excuse me, ummmm, Knightmare was it, but you might not want to try and run or forget about someone who can move faster than wind, just saying.” She said, a smug little smile on her GODDAMN LIPS!
“I’ll give you two seconds to leave me alone before I throw you through a wall. I’m a LOT stronger than you think, little miss Mary Sue.”
She uncrossed her arms and tapped her head slightly. “Two things, one, I have a weakness, and it actually is pretty damn big, and two, I’m not moving and I already know you could probably throw me through a wall. Thing is, unlike the ‘Lunar Legend’, that doesn’t kill me or hurt too much.” She grinned widely. “Come on.”
“Don’t care if it hurts, I just want you outta my way. I’ve had a LONG day and I don’t feel like dealing with a smug-ass egomaniac right now....why do you think I’m avoiding Griffin?”
Next thing I knew I felt a claw choking me, my head slammed into a wall. The dragoness was pinning me with one of her hands, and her eyes had changed, seeming to be both purple and crimson at once. “I’m not going to go into many details, but I am not an egomaniac. Luna stole the life I hated, only to deliver me to a living hell. I’ve lost more here than I believe you have, mister ‘Happy-Go-Lucky’, and Griffin can go fuck himself for all I care, he’s an asshole and I can’t wait for the day someone takes him down a peg or two.” She then stepped back from the wall, her claw relinquishing it’s grip from my throat.
“Honestly....” I said, “I don’t know what I lost....my only memories of earth are working for an organisation called ‘The SCP foundation’ and meeting Celestia. I’ve had most of my memories taken from me. I don’t know if I lived a good life, wasted it away, or went through hell and back. I don’t KNOW what my life was like outside of working for a bunch of murderous lunatics who think that being smart gives them free reign to control the world from behind the scenes. I’ve been working on recovering my memories. So, yeah. As far as I know, maybe you have lost more than me. I don’t know, nor do I care, I’ve been here for less than a week and already I’ve been nearly killed FIVE TIMES, raped once, and had to rebuild a town that was destroyed by someone who wanted to kill me....So, yeah. You aren’t the only one having a shitty time here in Equestria.”
She looked away from me, good, at least she feels some goddamn pain, then started to whisper back, sobbs hidden under her voice, “I’ve lost my father and my brother, my sister is the only person I have left, and the FUCKER” and here she punched the wall next to her, turning it into fine powder, “That killed my father is still walking free! Hell, he’s a goddamn hero in everyones opinion!”
“I know how you feel...” I sat down, curling my tail around my legs, looking less like a wild beast and more like a scared kitten. “When I heard of the mighty ‘Griffin the Griffin’, I was expecting some kind of awesome badass hero.... What I got was a depraved nutcase who talks up and down about how he was bullied and how he hates them....but that’s exactly what he is...a bully, a tormentor. He just doesn't care about anyone he’s not close too. Even then, he still treats his ‘friends’ as nothing but tools to use....”
She stopped for a second before turning to me, bloody tears running down her face. “It’s nice to know I’m not the only one who sees him for what he truly is.”
“...we need more heroes, Ember. If Griffin’s the best we’ve got...then it’s up to those of us who can see beyond the glory and glamor to take up the job....I don’t know about you but...I’m not gonna let that bastard hog all of his unearned glory...” I stood up, shifting back to my normal form. “I’ve got to get to a knighting ceremony...Knowing Griffin, he’ll probably ditch it just to be a dick. Care to join me?”
She wiped her eyes and turned to him, smiling slightly. “Only if I get to be the understudy.”
I grin. “I....have no idea what you’re talking about...no, literally, I’m missing all but a few years of a sixty year life, I have NEVER been to a knighting ceremony before.”
She chuckled at that. “It’s actually not that common. What I was referring to was acting, and moreover my desire to stay in the background. A changeling is one thing, a dragon? That’s stretching it.”
“If Loony’s OK with you, then I think I can handle it. Just...don’t break anything. And you hurt Celestia, and I break YOU. got it?”
“I only hurt people who either shatter my world, or threaten to do so, so Celestia is safe.” She said, then extended her hand. “The name’s Ember.”
“I learned that much from Ritz.” I said, “The name’s Knightmare.” I took her hand and gave it a light shake. “Truce?”
“Truce.”
*****
Wait, wait! Seriously?
Srsly, sistah.
Seriously, it was that easy?
Ask Gemina, she witnessed it from Ember’s mind.
I was just expecting..I don’t know, more brutality, a brawl or something...
Twilight Sparkle! I’m ashamed of you! Not everything ends with violence! Not even with Ember or Griffin....ok so it does with Gemina and Gun, but they’re nucking futz.
True, true. I stand corrected.
Twi, it’s been a long day. You think we can, I’unno, put this off for a while longer?
Still have problems on the homefront, huh?
Between asshole nobles of fifteen different races, making a somewhat peaceful connection to earth, AND rebuilding from the aftermath of Nyx's little ‘experiment’? Yeah...
OK, I think we can handle waiting a bit longer. C’mon, drinks are on me.
*****
OK, gentlemen! He’s at home, safe and sound. Just speak next to the paper and tell me your thoughts on Knightmare. We need to know this to make sure he’s mentally stable, especially since he’s still undergoing treatments from that little...incident.