Storm Clash glanced around curiously as they trotted through Ponyville. Despite the small town being so close to Canterlot, he never visited it before. The few times he was assigned to guard the Princess on some delegation it was usually headed to one of the bigger cities. Even when he was on a leave, he opted to hang around with few guys from the Royal Guard, or visit his family in Manehatten.
Ponyville was quite peaceful looking. There weren’t any stuck up ponies in sight, everypony was polite to another, and all were visibly happy. It became clear as to why the Princesses and Sir Matthias felt it would be the best location for teaching ponies about the Holy Light... if what little he understood about it is true. Storm recalled hearing about how Sir Matthias was able to fight off the Changeling Queen and King Sombra, both powerful magic users, on even grounds; and at the same time heal those wounded at Sacred Heart Hospital, all thanks to its power.
For a moment the pegasus stopped paying attention to his surroundings, as he began to feel panic gripping his heart. Was he really a pony that could learn to control such powers? What if he would just humiliate himself during training, or worse, waste everypony’s time? What if-
“While it’s understandable to admire this beautiful town, you seem to stopped paying attention to what I’m saying, Storm Clash.”
At the remark, said by Sir Matthias, Storm snapped himself out of his brooding. Few ponies were glancing his way, some sympathetic, others - like Rainbow Dash - snickering, for getting reprimanded like that. Sir Matthias, however, didn’t even flick his ear at him, continuing to stare ahead as they trotted towards the Abbey.
“Sorry, Sir.” Storm said, wondering how he knew he wasn’t listening.
“No need to apologize, you didn’t miss much.” Sir Matthias replied with a warm tone. “As I was saying, all four of you will have to divide duties, such as cooking and cleaning, between yourselves. Don’t worry though, after you complete your training, we will have many new initiates, so there will be more ponies to pinch in.”
“Wish I could pinch somepony...” Tucker murmured, barely hearable. “Bow-chicka-bow-wow!”
The other sentence he said much louder, making the Grand Master glance back at him sharply.
“Um, sorry, sir.” the unicorn apologized, no doubt feeling a bit intimidated by the paladin’s stern gaze.
Sir Matthias rolled his eyes and turned his head back, to which Tucker sighed with relief. He then almost immediately looked to the left. Storm, following his gaze, spotted two mares sitting by a table in a restaurant nearby eating brunch. One was a unicorn with similar Tucker’s coat, but brighter, and mane pale cyan; while the other was an earth pony whose coat was pale yellowish, and mane blue pink. Storm Clash had to admit that they were quite pretty, but instead of gawking at them like Tucker, had redirected his attention back to Serenity, who’s just about to ask Sir Matthias a question.
“Lightbringer, sir,” Storm raised an eyebrow upon hearing this name, but decided to ask about it later, “how long does training initiates to paladins usually last?”
“It depends on many factors.” Sir Matthias replied. “Weapon training, prayers, discipline... but if you are wondering how long your training will last in particular, then know that I was hoping to have you became paladins in a matter of weeks.”
“Weeks?!” Storm thought, his doubts about himself again rising.
“However, after the ceremony that will grant you connection to the Light, you will still have to learn how to work with it, how to use its powers to heal others and fight your foes. I don’t expect you to be able to do such feats right away. It will take some time for you to understand how to channel the Light. I also plan for you to have a sort of ‘field practice’ at some point.”
Hearing that, Storm sighed quietly. It was huge relief for him, to know that it would still take time to learn everything after the ceremony... whatever would happen during it.
“Is it necessary for a paladin to go through ceremony to work with the Light?” Serenity still inquired.
“No, some can learn to open their hearts to the Light without it. However, where I came from, Light is much more... present, in the life of others, than it is in Equestria; so those that manage to find connection to the Light on their own have encountered with it before. For example, when I was young, I usually went with my family for praying session in a chapel to receive Light’s blessing. I am hoping that eventually, ponies will similarly start coming to Everfree Abbey for that, but all in due time, as they say. For now, we need to focus on your training.”
“You know, you never actually mentioned that before.” Twilight broke in to the talk. “Was the rest of your family also part of the Silver Hand?”
“No, I was the only one.” Matthias replied. “But the Light was an important part of everyday life to my family, so to speak, and many others.”
“Um, what’s a silver ‘hand’, Sir?” Serenity asked, confused.
“Hands are those things minotaurs have in their upper-legs instead of hooves.” Guard Shield told her.
“Yes and Silver Hand was the name of the order of paladins I was part of before I came to Equestria. My cutie mark is its symbol. And before you ask, the order was composed solely of humans and dwarves, creatures who also have hands.”
“But...” Storm said before he could stop himself. Sir Matthias glanced his way, so he had no choice to finish the question. “... if that’s true, then how come you were part of it?”
He remembered how Brann, the dwarf that was in Canterlot for few days, looked, and assumed that humans weren’t much different. Meaning completely different from ponies. How come a pony became a member of their order, then?
“Well,” Sir Matthias told him, smirking, “let’s just say that I’m a very special case.”
To Storm Clash’s confusion, as well as other initiates, judging by their expressions, Matthias comment made the six mares and one baby dragon all giggle.
“Well...” Sound Wave commented after a long moment of silence, “this is not much different.”
“Oh, quit whining.” Cherry Bomb replied, already feeling annoyed. “And besides, I think this is better than standing uselessly in some corridor of the castle.”
“So, standing uselessly at the entrance to an abbey uselessly is better? How do you figure?”
Cherry had to admit that his friend is right at that point. Both of them were now at the newly-built Everfree Abbey, and were supposed to stay and guard it for as long as there wouldn’t be more paladins wannabes training here. That could take months, for all they knew.
“Well, obviously, this part is as boring as that.” he finally said to his fellow unicorn. “However, you clearly weren’t paying attention when we went through this town. If you did, you would have noticed.”
“Noticed what?” Sound inquired, now curious.
Cherry grinned as he told him.
“Notice how much mare-stallion ratio is in our favor.”
After a second to comprehend that, and possibly also recall how many of the ponies they passed a few days earlier when they went through Ponyville were mostly mares, Sound Wave also grinned.
“Heh, I guess you’re right. We will have to discuss with Matt how often could we go on a leave. Damn, now that I think about it, isn’t that hot DJ from Shining Armor’s wedding living here?”
“Why do you assume I remember the wedding?” Cherry asked, shifting the spear he held to stand more comfortable. “I don’t know if I ever drink so much as that night.”
“Hmm, I do recall two mares joining us and Matt... with one beating you!”
“And you were the first to go, as always.” Bomb retorted, once again feeling a bit ashamed that a mare proved to have stronger head than him.
“Not ‘always’, Shining Armor gets down before me most of the time... provided he stays until the end. Damn, when was the last time we went drinking with him?”
“Dunno, must have been last... May? Damn, that’s long.”
“Hmm, maybe we should ask for transfer to crystal guard?” Sound Wave pondered. “It would be nice to drink with him again.”
“Because then you wouldn’t be first to find himself under the table?” Bomb smirked at him, and noticing the offended look Sound gave him, he chuckled. “Anyway, as amusing as the sight of Shining Armor getting drunk is, I don’t think we would get to see that anytime soon, with him being Prince and all.”
“Yeah, he’ll probably never get to party like we used to ever again... poor bastard. So, do you think Matt will become our new drinking buddy?”
“The Grand Master of the Holy Order. Yeah, I can just see it.”
“Well, we need to get somepony new; it’s boring to just look at your muzzle across the table... maybe those new initiates? Hey, while we’re at it; who was it from the Royal Guard that is supposed to be trained here?”
“Storm Clash and Guard Shield,” Bomb reminded him.
“Oh, right. Hmm, I suppose Guard is a bit too old to fancy going out with us... and Storm, sadly, might scare away all the ladies-”
“Dude!”
“What? You know I don’t have problem with that jaw of his, but that is a fact.”
Cherry sighed, recalling the few times they took Storm Clash and few others for drinking (with the first time needing to drag him). Almost all mares were glancing away from their table whenever the pegasus with a crooked jaw was with them.
“Well, they were all prissy unicorns...” he tried to say.
“You do realize that we are also unicorns, right?” Sound asked, smirking.
“Yeah, but I’m from Dodge Junction, and you’re from Fillydelphia. We might have both moved to Canterlot when we were young and later went to on to join the royal guard, but we are not like those so called ‘elites’ of Canterlot.”
“You got that ri-” Sound began to say, but paused for some reason. “Hey, look at that, the Grand Master himself… with company.”
Cherry Bomb looked immediately the direction Sound Wave was nodding at. Indeed, he could see in the distance that Matt is approaching, along with ten other ponies (and one dragon), most of which were mares.
“Well, this will be pleasant.” Sound grinned, no doubt already planning to be better acquainted with one of them.
Sighing, Bomb found himself in sad duty of bringing his friend back down to earth.
“First of all, we’re on duty-”
“I know, but that doesn’t mean I cannot get a better look at them, right?”
“-and second of all, one of those mares is Shining Armor little sister.” Cherry Bomb finished. “Remember how back when we were teens you told him that she was a cutie and he-”
“Don’t even remind me.” Sound cut him off, his voice having lost all humor.
Bomb couldn’t blame him. Shining Armor gave them that day very precise description of what he would do to either of them if they would even try to date Twilight. Heck, both unicorns almost got nightmares from that.
Twilight gasped as she finally got a good look at the Abbey.
It was huge; easily double the size of Ponyville’s market. A small wall, big enough for ponies to jump over it, made of white stone covered the area outside of town. The big building inside of it, no doubt the ‘chapel’ Matt mentioned, was one of the most beautiful buildings she saw. While it lacked the size and sheer magnificence of Canterlot Castle or Crystal Castle, it was as elegant and captivating as the buildings in Altomare were. Twilight looked in awe at the white and gold walls of the chapel, and five spires, the central one being the highest, sprouting from the roof. She couldn’t wait to get a better look at it, and more importantly, what was inside.
The other building, while also quite spacious, was less impressive. It looked a lot like the Royal Guards’ barracks in Canterlot which, as she figured, made sense. After all, paladins needed some place to sleep, and considering Matt’s plan to have many more ponies training in the future, shelter such as this was the best option. Twilight could also spot a smaller building attached to it, right next to the huge empty space, but couldn’t tell what it was from this angle.
On the other end of the Abbey there were many trees, and the lavender unicorn assumed that Matt had some sort of gardens placed there, or a small park. She could also spot some fountain, and a weird looking statue...
“Eh, it’s not that big as I thought it would be.” Rainbow Dash remark, said in usual for her tone she used whenever she pretended to not be impressed, made Twilight concentrate on others.
“Well, it is only roughly a third the size of your ego.” Matt replied to Dash’s comment, making their friends giggle at the cyan mare expense. Glancing at others, the stallion asked: “So, what the rest of you think?”
“It looks amazing!”
“Gorgeous!”
“Mighty spectacular!”
“We should celebrate!”
“It’s very... big.”
Fluttershy’s comment, not by any means disrespecting, made Matt chuckle and glance at the chapel. “Well, I might have gone a bit too far with it. It actually looks more like a cathedral than chapel.”
Twilight was about to ask how exactly those two types of building were different, when she spotted that the break in the wall, with a road going through it, had two royal guards standing there. It didn’t take a genius to figure out this was the entrance to the Abbey, but why were there guards here?
“Due to our numbers being so small, I requested presence of the Royal Guard to help protect the Everfree Abbey.” Matt said as they neared them, as if reading her thoughts. “While I have nothing against ponies coming here - far from it, in fact - it would be bad if some of the weapons or armor pieces went missing.”
“Oh, that makes sense.” Twilight realized, wondering how she could miss that.
“Sound Wave, Cherry Bomb, how’s the first day on the job?” the paladin asked the two guards when they finally reached the entrance.
Twilight smiled to them as she realized those were her brother’s friends. She knew them, of course, but it was impossible to tell it was them with those armors on them.
“They look terrible in white.”
“Pleasant, and it surely beats what the last ponies that got relocated ended up with.” the one on the right – Sound Wave, by the voice of it - spoke. “They’re all the way on the border with Saddle Arabia, the poor idiots.”
“Idiots?” Matt inquired, seeming a bit displeased with the word.
“You would understand if you’d met those three. They were originally posted near where Crystal Empire was - you know, before it appeared again, so it was right in the middle of nowhere - for years. The seclusion must have affected them somehow.”
“Hmm, anyways, you remember those six ponies and dragon, and probably know Guard Shield and Storm Clash. The other two are Serenity and Tucker Out.”
“Sup?” Tucker greeted the two guards.
“Hi there, to all of you,” Cherry Bomb replied, both nodding their head. “So, is there any chance of going drink someday?”
The question was obviously directed to Rainbow and Applejack, who shifted a bit uncomfortably. Apparently, they still remembered how the reception ended.
“You do realise you’re on duty, right?” Matt asked the two, annoyed.
“We are allowed to take some time off though.”
“Eventually.” the paladin told them, but sighed as he ended the discussion. “Let’s go and see everything up close, shall we?”
Twilight was the first to march into the Abbey, right after the Storm and Guard. She got a good glimpse of their cutie marks while at it: Guard was, unsurprisingly, a shield, while Storm’s... a smiling face?
Putting the thoughts about cutie marks away, she looked around. The chapel’s entrance looks majestic, having short stairs in front of it, making the main floor of the building being about a meter over the ground. The frame of doors was lined with gold and silver, which reflected beams of sun, making Twilight turn away for a moment.
“This is the Lightbringer’s Chapel.” Matt announced, pride in his voice. “We will conduct prayers and philosophical part of your training here. Over there are barracks.” he added, pointing at the direction of other building. “This is where we will sleep and eat. Due to your status as initiates, you will be staying for the time being in the lower rooms, with multiple bunks in each, until you’ll rise up in the rank. They’re not co-ed.” the paladin told clearly disappointed Tucker.
Twilight chuckled quietly as she regarded the barracks. Now that they were closer, she realised that it had banners attached to it, which were now flapping on the wind. Most of them had the familiar symbol of Equestria, two alicorns flying in a circle with sun and moon, few had Crystal Empire’s, white snow petal with wines on violet background, but others... had a half of a sun on one side, ending of moon’s crescent with stars, and a single hoof above them, all on black background.
“This must be the symbol of Celestial Light!” she realized with a jolt, amazed that it took her so long to figure out.
“The building next to it is the armory.” Matt continued. “You will pick up an armor suiting your size, as well as weapons you will feel most comfortable with. Paladins traditionally fight with warhammers and maces, but swords are also popular, as well as spears, halberds and axes. Since paladins’ main duty is to protect, it goes without saying that we also carry shields, as well as sometimes librams, to aid our allies with incantations of the Light. We will practice fighting at this training yard.” he pointed at the big empty space near. After that he turned around. “This small park will serve as place where you can relax in peace, whenever you’ll find the Chapel to be too crowded for your liking.”
“Sir,” Storm Clash asked, a bit hesitantly, no doubt curious about one detail as everypony else, “this fountain... I mean, the statue...”
Matt chuckled warmly at the pegasus discomfort, before he glanced at the direction of the fountain.
It was a small pedestal, with water coming from its sides. On the pedestal stood big, massive being, reminding Twilight a bit of Bolvar, at least from shape. Like Brann, it - or rather, he, judging by the beard the portrayed being had - was bipedal, but much taller. He was clad in heavy-looking plate armor, in one hand holding a book, in other wielding huge hammer.
“This is a human, a man that trained me in the ways of Light, Uther the Lightbringer.” Matt said, and Twilight, knowing him well, detected a hint of sadness in his voice.
The unicorn glanced back the statue, and noticed a small plaque, that read:
Uther the Lightbringer
First Paladin and Grand Master of the Silver Hand
"The third and most important of the Light's virtues is compassion."
Twilight smiled at the tribute Matthias made for his old mentor, but before she could address that-
“My tail is twitching!” Pinkie’s scream pierced the air, and almost at once, everypony ducked for cover...
Except for the four paladin initiates, who looked at the strange behaviour in confusion; the two Royal Guards, glancing from the entrance to see what the commotion was about; and Matt, who continued to stare at the statue. Twilight opened her mouth to speak, but then:
“AAAAA-!” another quite familiar scream, erupted and was silenced, when the owner of it first appeared out of nowhere in the air, and then met violently with the ground few seconds later.
“Hi Brann.” Matt said nonchalantly, his eyes still on the statue.
