Silver Schmitar and Chrome Shield galloped on through the Saddle Arabian desert, the hot sun burning down upon them. They were becoming more and more fatigued by the hour. If it weren't for the intense training they went through to become paladins, they would surely have collapsed and their fates would belong to the buzzards by that point.
"I still cannot believe we've been chased away from our own city!" said Chrome Shield. "I've never felt so dishonored in all my life."
"Sometimes, it is good to retreat." said Silver Schmitar. "It gives one an opportunity to regroup and plan their strategy."
"And I can't believe we left Green Sabre like that!" said Chrome. "With that...evildoer."
"I trust that he will be okay." said Silver. "Sabre is one of my most resourceful paladins. I should know, since I trained him personally."
They kept traveling along the desert, becoming more and more dehydrated, until...
"Silver, look!" said Chrome Shield, pointing ahead. "There is an oasis in the distance."
And he was correct; they could see a small body of water surrounded by vegetation.
"Hold on, Chrome." said Silver Schmitar. "It may be a mirage."
"We may collapse from heatstroke even if we don't check." said Chrome.
"Then let us investigate it." said Silver.
The two paladins made it to the oasis, which was indeed genuine, and sighed in relief. They rested themselves in the shade of its trees, and drank from its waters. But their rest was interrupted when they heard lead hoof-falls and heavy breathing, followed by a series of large shadows looming over them. The two paladins vigilantly turned around, to see a group of minotaurs standing and facing them, all wielding swords and axes. Some were wearing togas, and others had Greek-styled bronze armor.
"How dare you intrude on our oasis and pilfer our precious drinking-water?!" said one of the minotaurs, raising a sword.
"We're going to do to you two what we do to all thieves:" growled another minotaur, raising a two-handed axe. "Behead them!"
"Wait!" said Chrome Shield. "This is a misunderstanding! We are not thieves! We are in need of help!"
"Clearly, you do..." said a third minotaur, whose face was scarred around the left eye. "You need to learn the hard way that thieving is a serious crime!"
"We're not thieves!" said Silver. "We are paladins of the sultan of Mareusalem! A tyrant has seized our city and we need assistance!"
"Likely story." growled the scarred minotaur.
The minotaurs circled the paladins and poised to strike. Suddenly, there was a loud galloping, and several other Saddle Arabians in attire similar to the kind worn by Silver and Chrome attacked the minotaurs. They quickly overpowered their bipedal adversaries, and sent them running. Silver recognized the newcomers as his fellow paladins.
"You all arrived at the right time." said Silver Schmitar. "Mareusalem has been seized, and the sultan is in dire need of his guardians!"
"How did you find us, though?" Chrome Shield asked the paladins.
"A paladin's intuition." said Felix, who emerged from the group of newcomers. "I sent word to the other cities about what happened in Mareusalem. And then I came back here with as many paladins as Bridylon could spare."
"Very good thinking, Felix." said Silver. "We will need all the help we can get for what is in store for us."
"Why?" asked Felix. "What is happening?"
Then Silver, Chrome, and Felix sat down by the water, and spoke about what the former two discovered.
"I cannot believe it." said Felix, surprised and horrified. "Could it be...that King Nelphyn has returned?"
"Who is King Nelphyn?" asked Chrome Shield.
"He is a terrible monster in pony form." said Felix. "He ruled Saddle Arabia many centuries ago, using the power of an artifact known as the Alicorn Amulet. He forced our people to fight to the death against anyone or anything he chose. He was a true tyrant."
"But what happened?" asked Chrome Shield. "Why did he cease to rule?"
"He chose to declare war on Princess Celestia and her kingdom in Equestria." said Felix. "But the princess caught wind of his actions and flew to Saddle Arabia to personally do battle with him. She used the Elements of Harmony to strip the Alicorn Amulet from his body. But a mysterious force prevented the Elements from doing much else. I don't know what it was, but it certainly can't be anything friendly to Saddle Arabians, or any ponies for that matter. After that, King Nelphyn vanished into the unknown, never to be seen again. Until now, apparently."
"Just how did Princess Celestia learn about King Nelphyn's plans, though?"
"One of King Nelphyn's high-ranking servants, a stallion named Maroon Inferno, sent a message to Princess Celestia informing her of Nelphyn's plans." said Silver Schmitar. "He defected to her as soon as she arrived. He was made a hero in both Equestria and Saddle Arabia."
"What happened to him, though?" asked Felix.
"They say that he went with Princess Celestia back to Equestria." said Silver. "From what I heard, he became one of the princess's finest royal guards, and started a family there."
"I wonder if any of his descendants still live." said Chrome. "Because I have a feeling that we might need their help."
"I agree completely." said Silver. "But it would take days, even weeks, for us to send a message to Equestria. Felix, I want you to be the one that delivers the message, by any means necessary. Do you accept this task?"
"Yes, sir." said Felix. "Of course!"
Felix pulled out an object from his saddle-bag. It was hoof-brace with a blade attached.
"No paladin should go without it." said Felix, giving it to Silver Schmitar before giving another to Chrome Shield. The two equipped themselves with their hoof-blades, and made a combat stance.
"And now, I take my leave." said Felix, with a bow.
He turned and galloped westwards out of the oasis.
"Silver, do you really think that even if we had an army of paladins behind us, that we would stand a chance against King Nelphyn and his magic?" asked Chrome Shield.
"I don't know for certain." said Silver Schmitar. "But one thing is certain: attacking Mareusalem at night would be a hopeless fight as long as those shadowy creatures are under Nelphyn's control."
"Then what should we do?" asked Chrome.
Silver turned to the other paladins.
"Send word to the other paladins." he said. "Maintain a perimeter around Mareusalem. Hold it until either help arrives...or Nelphyn makes his move."
King Nelphyn stood in the throne room of the Palace of Mareusalem. He was deep in thought. The voice of Saegmuntitus was speaking to him once more.
"So you have seized the great city of Mareusalem, my omnipotent--but loyal--agent." said the deep, menacing voice of the Ram King. "Are you now ready to resume the task I long ago set out for you?"
"I'm afraid my own mission is not yet complete." said Nelphyn. "Not until all of Saddle Arabia is under my hoof once more. Not until the infidels that have been raised under that foolish sultan's dominion are re-educated or destroyed. Not until I prove that I am as powerful as any alicorn, will I have completed my mission."
"You test my patience, King Nelphyn al-Duroc." said the Ram King. "I bid that you test it no further, or drastic measures will be taken. You may have find that there are others in this world that would proudly emasculate one as powerful as you."
"I do not fear the princesses, master." said Nelphyn. "Nor any earth pony, unicorn, or pegasus under their rule."
"Perhaps not, but I was not referring to them." said Saegmuntitus. "But you will have that I have gathered a most formidable ensemble of minions of my own. Each more deadly than the last. Indeed, one of them already has a plan of his own in action, that shall come into fruition soon enough."
"And who, pray-tell, would this other agent be?" asked Nelphyn, feigning concern.
"One who you had better hope I do not send your way." said Saegmuntitus. "As I said before, he has no love for pony-kind. And that includes you. If he comes after you, even Tartarus will seem like a haven to you."
"I do not fear him or anyone else that you command." said Nelphyn.
"Only time will tell." said Saegmuntitus. "But by all means, complete your task. But I will have to ask you to relocate yourself soon. I can tell you have already risked drawing unwanted attention to yourself."
"I do not fear the Saddle Arabians." said Nelphyn. "Let them bring all the soldiers they wish and assemble the greatest jihad this nation has ever seen. They will be a wave of water against a wall of stone."
Suddenly, Nelphyn felt a horrifying mental pain that made his cry out in agony. He had a vision of a tall bipedal figure. The figure had clawed hands, two curved horns on his head, long hairy legs with black-hooved feet, bright red-golden eyes that glinted even in the blackness that surrounded him, a bestial muzzle with a black-and-gold ring piercing his nostrils, and a multi-layered shadowy cloak like a black fleece. He was floating with his legs crossed, floating in a dark shadowy void with neither end, top, nor bottom in sight. He was holding a long back staff with four prongs at the end, standing across from each other like the battlements of a tower.
"Do not underestimate your enemies." spoke the figure, in that same deep voice. "Nor should you underestimate me. You understand this, do you not?"
"Yes, master." said Nelphyn, still groaning. "What ought I to do?"
"Seek the ruins of your old lair." said Saegmuntitus. "There, you will control your minions in solitude. Mareusalem will be too obvious a target for those who wish to stop you."
"I will see to this soon, O Saegmuntitus." said King Nelphyn al-Duroc.
Then the vision faded and Nelphyn was back in his throne room. He took a moment to reflect on what his master told him, then went to the palace's rock gardens. He used the Alicorn Amulet to construct a group of twelve-foot-tall golems out of the boulders there, and then spoke to it:
"Patrol the streets. Let none leave nor enter the city."
And then the golems slowly marched out of the gardens and went through the palace.
Nelphyn teleported to the entrance of the palace. He looked down on the city he had conquered.
"What has occurred here shall only be the beginning!" Nelphyn spoke loudly to the citizens below. "Let it be known that I, King Nelphyn, shall never stop, until all of Saddle Arabia is under my control once again! Soon enough, every city, every village, ever oasis will share this city's fate! All laws will be defined by me, and me alone! All resistance will be crushed! All whose views contradict my own must be re-educated if they wish to survive! So sayeth Nelphyn al-Duroc, the true master of the deserts!"
The Alicorn Amulet glowed once again, and King Nelphyn disappeared in a flash of red light.