//------------------------------// // Chapter 3: The Devotion of Royal Guards // Story: The Return of Flutterbat // by Stotter //------------------------------// Fluttershy wakes up several minutes earlier than scheduled. She gets out of bed to check on Evening Cloak. She starts to worry as his bed is empty and unmade. Fluttershy leaves the room and looks for him in the halls. Her search leads her to an unused area of the cave system. Ponies who’ve been here awhile would know not to look for somepony here, for as far as anypony knows, there’s nothing important beyond, much less in, this unexplored maze. Yet, it is here she finds him. He’s looking into some dark corner, and in that darkness, a pair of eyes opens, their Spanish crimson hue piercing through it like a spear. She gets no closer than she needs to hear them, and hides behind a stalagmite. This mysterious figure speaks in a pitch lower than Flutterguy’s. “So, having heard my proposal, what do you have to say? Our cause can use your passion.” She fears this may be the one she was sent here to find, filled with dread not as much about having to deal with such a menacing figure as the possibility of Evening Cloak getting involved. Even if it meant having the identity of an enemy conspirator, she doesn’t want him of all ponies to be doing this. “You’re insane if you think you can pull off such a thing.” She feels significant relief upon hearing this, hoping that this is his rejection. “I would be, if I were alone. My master has assembled the resources necessary to accomplish his goal. Your support would help assure it, and your precious Princess Luna would finally escape her sister’s shadow.” She returns to her previous level of apprehension. “There is still time to think about it. Until then, we will be waiting, growing stronger.” He sinks back into the darkness. Fluttershy makes her retreat back to her bed before she is noticed. She lies in bed, worrying about the event that has transpired. Just then, she feels a hoof on her shoulder. She practically jumps out of her bed and ends up standing on the ceiling. Evening Cloak flies up to her and stands on his bunk. “I didn’t mean to startle you. I just saw you shaking and wondered if you were having a bad dream.” She gets down and lies next to him. “Oh, not really; it was just my nerves.” She proceeds to start a conversation, to get to know more about him. “So, you talked last night about why you came here. You mentioned something about how you would do anything to see Luna happy. You must be really devoted.” He went off into his own little world as he regaled her with his story. “Yeah, since I was a little colt. When I was told stories about Nightmare Moon, instead of being scared, I just felt sad for her. I always thought that if only somepony would’ve stayed up late and told her she was their favorite princess back then, she wouldn’t have had to suffer so much for so long. You can imagine how excited I was when she returned. I’ve only seen her twice up close: once on her return trip to Canterlot, while she was still small; then on the day I became a bat pony, more than worth it to see her so tall and regal. Whatever ponies say about Celestia, it was Luna who was shining then.” Fluttershy felt the need to ask, while they still had time, “What are your feelings towards-" He cuts her off, flustered. “Feelings? I just have professional admiration and concern for her. It’s not like what you’re thinking.” Fluttershy, innocently puzzled by his response asks, “What do you think I was thinking?” He dodges the subject. “Never mind, it’s almost time for reverie.” She was going to ask his opinion of Celestia, but she can’t feel suspicious of him when he’s like this. He reminds her of Pipsqueak, just grown up. The thought of this makes her giggle, but before he can respond to it, 2100 hours rolls around and she gets to the bottom bunk just in time to avoid a misunderstanding as the others get up for another night of training. [++++++] Earlier that day, in the Crystal Empire, Princess Cadence received a message. As opposed to the lengthy rant of a letter sent to Celestia, this was more laconic and cryptic, but no less threatening. It was a corrupted crystal, with an engraving that read: We have returned. The words themselves were almost an afterthought compared to what the medium of the messages signified. At the very least, it meant somepony out there has some connection to Sombra and they can use dark magic. “How many ponies know about this message?” She asked with grave seriousness. “I brought it here directly after finding it. The prince allowed me through after looking at it himself. That is the extent of the message’s disclosure.” Looking at the crystal pony guard she’s talking to, the most likely source of the implicit threat occurs to her. “I need to ask; even Sombra had guards, right?” “Yes, many of them had defected as soon the alicorn sisters arrived and gave them hope for freedom. Others waited until Sombra was losing before they defected, though by then it became a moot point when he cursed the empire to disappear for a thousand years. After our return and Sombra’s demise, it didn’t occur to anypony that there would still be even a single Sombra loyalist left, considering it would amount to madness.” “Well, I have to think there is. Do we have records of all the guards at that time? I think we can figure out who sent this message by process of elimination.” “I will seek them out immediately Princess.” He galloped through the halls then stopped to ask two guards for directions to the records. “I need to look through the past records of the Crystal Empire’s royal guard.” They looked at him, puzzled. “What happened with the guard that needed to look at the records last month?” He looked back at them equally puzzled. “Somepony came here to look at those records a month ago? Did he do so looking for Sombra loyalists?” They were disturbed by the idea of anypony still loyal to Sombra, but more so because that wasn’t the first they heard of it. “That was his reason. He said he needed to go search for them by royal order.” At that point, he knew what happened. “I need to investigate them by order of the princess. She wouldn’t have made the same order twice. I hate to think it, but by royal, I don’t think this stallion from a month ago was referring to any princess. He meant a posthumous order from King Sombra.” Before they had time to process that, he inquired further. “Please tell me he gave you his name.” “I think he told us he was called Knightly Dagger. He had the same coat and mane color as us, but his eyes were some shade of crimson. He also had a jagged scar along the left side of his face.” “I need to report this back to the princess.” He galloped back, fearing that this Knightly Dagger may have been some infamous war criminal overlooked by the chaotic patchwork that is the empire’s history. When he made it back to the throne room, Shining Armor and a pegasus guard from Canterlot were already there. “Princess, I have urgent news regarding the threat to the Crystal Empire.” The pegasus interjected, “I have urgent news on a threat to all of Equestria.” He gave over a copy of the seditionist’s letter for them to read. You could tell when she got to the part about her by the look on her face. When she finished, she inquired to the guard. “This is just a copy, right?” The moment he replied in the affirmative, she magically incinerated it in anger then turned to her own guard. “I presume you came back so quickly because you have a name.” He related to her the conversation from earlier. “If I find these two threats are in any way connected, the only thing this Knightly Dagger will be able to admire about Sombra is his fate.” So began the hunt for him. Those among the guard who remembered him were surprised not by his actions or lingering loyalty, but that he survived the fall of Sombra at all. [++++++] Over a thousand years ago, a battalion of pegasi led by Celestia and Luna soar towards the Crystal Empire, a sight filling the oppressed ponies with hope. Among Sombra's guard, their arrival caused chaos in the ranks as posts were deserted, projectiles were purposefully missing their targets, and commanders trying to prevent this were overwhelmed and captured by their own subordinates. A spear gets tossed at the Princesses, only to be blocked by then captain of the guard. This accurate attack with deadly intent came from none other than captain of Sombra’s royal guard, Knightly Dagger. His armor was in the style of the others, but with blades added to his foreleg armor. He did not yet have his scar. “Don’t make me have to start impaling deserters; we need those spears to take down the enemy. Now look, they didn’t bring the Elements of Harmony. They underestimate our king. Try as they might, they can’t block all our spears and arrows at once.” They looked at him like the deranged stallion he was. “What are you doing just standing around? They’re nearing the castle. Get them while they’re still in range.” “Why should we stop them when they’re our best and only hope for freedom?” Soon after those words were uttered, Dagger had lunged at him, barely held back by three, then four others. He was enraged and struggled wildly. “Traitor! I’ll slaughter all you traitors like Sombra will do to the alicorns. He will have their crowns as trophies to adorn his wall. You’ll see. You’ll all see.” He broke away from them and headed to the castle, hoping to be by Sombra’s side during the decisive battle. By the time he made it up there, Sombra had already engaged the Princesses in combat occurring elsewhere. He followed the trail of dark crystal structures to find him losing to them. He throws his spear in a futile attempt to change the outcome, but the shockwave from the magical beam fired at Sombra sends it hurtling into the dark crystal structure above him, causing it to collapse on top of him. The last thing he saw before disappeared with the rest of the empire was his king being sealed away and the Princesses flying beyond his reach, unaware he’s even there. [++++++] When the Crystal Empire returned, he was as dazed and confused as the rest. His face hurt, but the injury to his face scarred over in the interim time. The curse ironically saved him from succumbing to that injury. He removed his damaged and cumbersome armor and wandered the empire, trying to recover his sense of self and purpose. As the dat progressed his memories from before the reign of Sombra came back first, so he went looking for ponies he knew. He was encouraged to take part in the fair, but would not let anything distract him from his duty. That word duty in his mind opened the door to more of his memories. Anypony else wouldn’t want to remember those dark times but for him they were the glory days. He made it his mission to find his king. Soon enough, he showed up on his own. He witnessed as his king neared the crystal heart, only to lose it then be defeated once more. As Sombra started to disintegrate, the last of Dagger’s memories returned and he cried to the heavens as he lost his king again, once and for all. He followed the path of the debris, hoping to find some piece of him to give a proper burial. Out in the snow he found a line of smoke leading him to Sombra’s horn. It was still hot. He poked it with a crystal in the hopes that something would happen. The crystal was corrupted. Having his hopes raised, he puts it in a bag, awaiting the opportunity to exact his revenge.