//------------------------------// // The Knight and His Squire // Story: Rocinante, The Best Knight Ever // by Charliemane //------------------------------// Sassaflash eyed the clouds from the window of their train car. “I still can't believe you got tickets to the Grand Galloping Gala.” Rocinante merely closed his eyes and shrugged his shoulders. “I was indeed rather surprised to see that the tickets themselves were in fact, addressed specifically to me. It was not my intention to attend the Grand Galloping Gala this year. In fact I had the full and complete desire to give these very tickets to my niece as she is loyally being my steward whilst I am adventuring across the land. But when the tickets are addressed to you personally... well it becomes difficult to turn away a request from Princess Celestia herself.” Sassaflash looked to her reflection in the window and adjusted her mane. Rarity had done wonders, not only for her dress, but for her coat and mane. She felt like a princess instead of a squire as she smiled and looked to her cousin, Rocinante, the self-proclaimed knight-errant. “Well I would imagine that such a 'noble' invitation is common for all of the tickets.” “I can assure you, my dear Sassa, they are not.” From inside his rusted breastplate, Rocinante procured a letter and began reading. “To the esteemed Rocinante of La Manecha, I, Princess Celestia, do hereby request your attendance to this year's Grand Galloping Gala. I have noted that you have not booked your usual tickets for this year and it has been brought to my attention that with your recent turn of business, you may not mean to attend-” Sassaflash's priming and adjusting of her dress were immediately halted by Rocinante's words. But it wasn't the formal opening of the letter that had caught her attention, after all, most official business letters were written in Princess Celestia's name, that didn't necessarily mean that the Princess had written it herself. It was instead the next sentence that caught her off guard. “Usual tickets?!” Rocinante was unfazed as he looked up from the letter. “My dear Sassa, the Grand Galloping Gala is the single largest collection of nobles, aristocrats, and ponies of the gentry in the entirety of Equestria. As one of the largest landholders in La Manecha, I have oftentimes found that the Gala is one of the best places to discuss business deals with like-minded associates. That was why I intended to send my niece this year, as she is the one who is managing the fief at current, but this letter, if I may resume, is addressed to me personally.” Sassaflash slumped back into her seat at Rocinante's matter-of-fact answer. Though as she thought about it, it did make sense. Despite her cousin's appearance, he was in fact quite wealthy and the Gala was well known for being a party for the rich and elite. Seeing no further objection from his squire, Rocinante continued. “Let's see... hereby request... turn of business... ah here we are. I however wish to extend a personal invitation towards you as I have a favor to request of you at this year's Gala-” Sassaflash rose out of her seat, interrupting her cousin once more. “Wait, wait, a favor? The Princess, Princess Celestia, wants to ask you for a favor?” Rocinante, still unfazed but visibly annoyed, nodded his head. “That is what the letter says, my dear Sassa.” “What is it? Does it say what it is?” “Though if you were but patient, you would see that it does not. However, that is why her Royal Highness requested that we arrive early, so that she might take the time to carefully explain the fullness of the situation before her duties with the Gala preoccupy her.” “It says that?! You realize that this means it actually IS from Princess Celestia!” “My dear Sassa, if I may...” Sassaflash followed Rocinante's motioning to the letter before suddenly nodding very swiftly and returning to her seat. “Oh... yes, sorry.” “Never fret, my dear Sassa, for such circumstances as an audience with the Royal Crown herself is indeed enough to make anypony excited. Which was why I was so swift to make sure you could attend. After all, what is a knight-errant without his loyal squire?” Sassaflash nodded again, though much slower, as she readjusted her mane. Though she thought of herself as quite ladylike, she had still thought it peculiar that Rocinante would ask his squire to attend the Gala with him instead of some noble lady. “Let me see... yes, here it is: I wish to explain the details with you as soon as possible, but given the subject matter, it is not proper to discuss such things via letter. As such I request that you arrive early, before the gates are open, so that I may more fully explain the situation. Show this letter to the guards upon your arrival and they will see you to me unhindered. I understand that, since we are so close to the evening of the Gala, this a difficult time to find available tickets, and as such, I have enclosed two. One for yourself and the other for your traveling companion who, I am told, shares in your journeys across Equestria.” “She mentions me too?!” Rocinante nodded. “As you can see, I could not very well send my niece to go in our place with such a personal invitation from royalty.” “How... how does she know about us?” “Clearly my dear Sassa, our exploits have finally begun to be noticed by the Crown. No doubt we gained favor for our invaluable assistance to the recovery of Princess Celestia's beloved phoenix.” “But we didn't find the phoenix. In fact, we were looking in the complete opposite direction that the phoenix had gone.” “Details, my dear Sassaflash, you must not overlook the fact that we single-hoofedly searched an entire quarter of the town, freeing up valuable ponies to search elsewhere for the dear creature.” “Somehow, I don't think looking for a pet bird is the answer.” “Perhaps her Highness heard about how we courageously sortied out to meet the foul dragon that had foolishly threatened to enshroud our lands in an insufferable smoke.” “But thanks to that avalanche, the dragon flew off before we got there.” “Details, details, my dear Sassaflash, for surely the dragon heard of our coming and departed in haste, so as to avoid a direct conflict with a notable knight-errant.” Sassaflash gritted her teeth as she thought over the matter. She didn't have to voice how unlikely that idea was before Rocinante moved on to the next adventure. “Perhaps our valiant performance at the Battle of Appleloosa, I did charge their ranks at full speed.” “And was promptly knocked aside. Honestly, I thought you were going to be trampled there.” “Fear not, dear Sassa, for each time a knight-errant is knocked unto the ground, he shall rise again and again and evil will be undone!” “Still...” Sassaflash sighed as she leaned back into the bench they sat on. While they certainly had their fair share of misadventure, she couldn't think of anything they had done, or even attempted, that might warrant such special treatment. It almost left her afraid of what Princess Celestia might ask of them. After a few more minutes, the train arrived at the Canterlot station and as usual, the moment the train stopped Rocinante was up and through the door. He had often claimed that he didn't like sitting still in the train, but Sassaflash had noticed that in reality he rather enjoyed emerging from the fresh steam clouds produced by the train sitting idle at the station. For her part, Sassaflash preferred for the steam to dissipate so she wouldn't get her dress or her mane messed up before the Gala. Stepping onto the platform, Sassaflash sighed as she looked over her cousin. Rarity had been generous enough to sell them his suit rather cheaply, but it was already ruined before they even arrived at the castle. While she looked the part of a Gala pony, with her beautiful lavender dress and her mane done up nicely, Rocinante looked rather absurd. He wore a decent suit, but it was mostly covered by the rusted armor that he insisted he wear. To top it all off, on his head firmly attached to an old leather cap, sat the famed helmet of Marebrino, though it thoroughly looked the part of a mundane and battered brass basin. Despite its appearance but Sassaflash had personally witnessed the magic imbued into the helmet and knew with complete certainty that it must be what Rocinante claimed it to be, but she still wished that he hadn't worn it to the Gala. It looked quite ridiculous. Getting Rocinante into something more reasonable had proven impossible. The last time Sassaflash had succeeded in convincing Rocinante to travel unarmed, Nightmare Moon appeared at the Summer Sun Celebration and attempted to overthrow the kingdom. Ever since then, Rocinante was insistent that evil was always waiting for an opening to strike and that he, as a knight-errant for justice, should be ever watchful, ever ready. The walk to the castle was thankfully uneventful, though they drew more looks of curiosity and ridicule than most ponies could endure. Rocinante however, paid their spectators no mind, and Sassaflash, having traveled to numerous places across Equestria with her cousin, was able to brush them off almost as easily.