//------------------------------// // Chapter 1: Past, Present, and ...Future? // Story: Days of the Knight // by Sanguine Eyes //------------------------------// It was late in to the twilight hours. The darkness stretched along the deep lightless night. "She does not raise the moon. She knows we left without her blessing. General, please let us return" Dark webbing membrane stretched over the lightweight bones of a bat winged pegasus, with abnormally long wings and bright copper eyes. The very same eyes that focused and burned into the horizon before he turned to the side. "Sombra makes a mockery of the sisters. He takes our princess's beautiful night and uses it with fear and evil magics. He is an abomination of power and fear. You know as well as I do, our princess loves us. We are more than her guard, we are almost as her children, and I ask you, would you allow that same abomination to get within a thousand miles of the mother of night? It is our sworn duty to protect the night in the name of Princess Luna, and I cannot lay claim to my position of General, nay I cannot call myself a stallion unless I do all within the power of my soul to oppose all who would abuse her or her beautiful night." Before him stood his ten strongest knights. One a pegasus, three unicorns, one griffon, one earth pony, and four bat winged pegasi. All wearing the old armor of Luna's knights, as tradition dictated. Only these were the knights in service to General Abyssal Dart. The one pony who fought and held the line against the chaos unleashed by Discord while the royal sisters dealt with the rampant draconequus. He had won the highest honors able to be bestowed upon a pony of Equestria. As such, Luna permitted him to take his pick of her guards and create the Knights of the Night, the most elite of the combat guards and soldiers within Equestria. At least of those who served Princess Luna. Celestia spoke against having a standing military after Discord had been dealt with, and even then, against having any pro-day or night groups seeing that their new nation would not last long under the strain of civil conflict. However, seeing Abyssal Dart's actions were close to legendary, he was gifted with the right to create such a group. "But General...she told us not to go...we should not have come..." spoke one of the knights. "No... Celestia told us not to come, we are Luna's knights, and I will not allow that thing to abuse her night, nor will I allow her to be forced to fight him. Sombra falls this night. He will taste the cold sting of my glaive, and the burning fires of our hearts. Now stand with me, or leave in disgrace. Luna's eyes will fall upon those who earn her favor. Die this day with bravery in your heart and your names will be known for a thousand years, sang in glory of our triumph over the abomination and abuser of her beautiful night." With that, he stamped his hoof, and the steel glave lit up with the magic of his amulet. Gliding about his body with grace, his wings gave a solid stroke, blowing dust as the others nodded. They feared Celestia's authority. However, they respected Abyssal Dart and shared his love for their princess. "Forget not the bravery we will show this day, the weapon of our enemy is fear. We are that which thrives in the night, and know nothing of fear. Sombra, you will fall this day!!" The marching hooves clacked and moved through the early morning. The sun had not been risen yet, as it was still three hours before dawn. The darkened Crystal Empire lay before the two ponies. "Sister...I do not see them." "Be calm Luna, he is your finest soldier. I have not seen a finer stallion in all my years, not to mention he is with his ten finest knights." Luna shook her head in worry. "I know, but he is so brash and hard headed, what if he-" "-Did exactly what we know he probably did? Attack and challenge Sombra to an one on one noble combat?" “Yes, that...” Celestia then turned to a strikingly similar looking young colt just barely fitting in his new armor. "Your Grace, this is as far as I can track my father. He has long since been through here. I believe from this point he flew directly into the heart of the city." She nodded and turned to face the soldiers. "Today we end Sombra's tyranny, today my sister and I will end his torment and evil. Stay here and await our return. The moment you lay eyes upon any of the Knights Of The Night, take them in immediately. I am to have a word with with General Dart" They all nodded firmly as the two princesses took to the skies. Instantly spotting the first sign that Abyssal Dart had been through this way, Luna smiled and Celestia frowned. Unlike many who wanted only to end evi,. Abyssal Dart had a very bad habit of making a show of his strength as he ended the evil he sought after. Instead of landing in the castle, he had landed just outside the city and literally fought his way through every one of Sombra's guards, every building and every wall. Carving straight through the city to the center castle, the duo kept flying until Luna's eyes caught something that make her go pale. Dropping quickly with a swoop, a confused Celestia followed closely until she too saw it. a struggling and badly injured shackled unicorn. His fur as black as night and his horn broken off. But what drew her to the ground was not pity. This unicorn wore the armor; he was a Knight Of The Night. "Dark moon, milady, we failed you" the stallion confessed, with great shame. Luna's magic flared and the shackles snapped off, and the stallion fell to the ground exhausted and badly injured. "Knight...what happened here?" "Sister he is injured, give him time." warned Celestia. "Time is not something we have." The weakened unicorn looked up in pain. "It was all going according to plan. We attacked, and fought our way to the castle. But..." His eyes watered and he shivered. Whatever it was, it had broken this war-hardened veteran. "We fell so quickly. The reports were true, he is to be feared. No ...more than that... he is fear. General Abyssal was the only one who stood before him. They fought for most of the night as we fell victim to his powers. He refused to budge; he did not give an inch to the power that Sombra wields." "Then where is he?....Where is Abyssal?" The unicorn looked down in shame and despair. “Gone. Sombra's might proved to be too much. His power is one that we did not understand, and I am all that is left. Princess, please do not risk yourself. This is not a battle we can win." He shivered and gave in to the pain and the despair, collapsing into a heap. Celestia quickly focused. The magic gathered metal from the surroundings and encased the unicorn with a protective barrier, reinforced by her magic. Quickly she tossed the capsule back to the army. They would care for him as needed. Luna's tears hit the cold ground and the sisters feared that this would be a fight they would not return from. Canterlot over a thousand years later. "Ok, so what if a monster made of bubble gum sweeps over the land causing mass havoc and destruction as it rains soda and giant explosive cupcakes rain fr-" "Pinkie...we get that you have weird dreams, but I highly doubt that any of those will come true. Well at least not while discord is ‘reformed’...peh!" Rainbow Dash let out a dissatisfied and somewhat annoyed sigh. "Well, I reckon it was a good thing that Twilight was made into an alicorn princess and not Pinkie. I like to water my crops with water, not chocolate milk." The small group laughed happily trotting through the castle. "Oh my, I am just blown away, being asked to come to Canterlot to help plan a party! Oh, it’s just going to be the best. ‘Spikey Poo’, did you remember to bring the magenta silk?" "Right here Rarity!" The small purple dragon who was barely able to hold all of the trunks, cases, and fabric spools that Rarity had in her shop, was on the verge of collapse. Yet he still managed to free a hand and wave about the fabric. "So what was this whole thing about again?" Twilight smiled happily and with her ‘matter of fact’ look, she trotted forward. "Well as we all know, we have the Summer Sun Celebration and Nightmare Night. But Nightmare Night is more of a tradition that was made in fear of Princess Luna. I simply had the idea of holding a celebration in Luna's honor to remember her for who she is... the Princess Of The Night!" Twilight happily giggled. “Luna agreed, but asked that it be held next week instead of this week for some reason. She seemed a little sad, but that just means we have more time to make this her best night ever." The friends all smiled happily going about their merry making. Twilight stood very close to Rarity, and her all too willing yet tortured assistant, holding the book out firmly with her magic. "You see, there were similar celebrations a thousand years ago, but they kind of ended when...well - let’s not think about that when we are trying to celebrate her." With all her magic focused on leveling the banner that she was very carefully creating at the same time, Rarity flinched as a rogue breeze fluttered through and pushed her hair into her eyes. Giving a soft ‘foof’ the hair pushed back up and out of the way before the same breeze came in and repeated the offense against her one strand of hair. She let out a frusturated sigh and "fooffed" again. But yet again, the stream of air pushed her hair down. “Confound you dratted wind, I am simply trying to work!" Rarity turned about trying to find an open window to close, or a creaking door that could be the way to resolve her hair crisis, only to find a smiling Princess Celestia trying to hold back her laughter. "OH!" Fumbling about, Rarity practically flopped over into a bow as Twilight let out a happy squeal, finally being able to see Celestia. "What? I can’t have fun with my own friends?" She laughed happily and was soon joined by the others. "Oh, Princess it’s so good to see you again!" beamed Twilight. "Oh don't be so formal. You are my friends, and I am happy to see you all. Let’s forget all the royalty and such, as we have a party to plan." Pinkie happily squealed hopping up next to Celestia "Soooo.. who’s that stallion you brought with you? Is he your royal party planner?" "Um...stallion?" "Yeah you know, that guy in the armor hiding up there! I think he’s trying to play hide and seek with us." Happily and calmly pointing up high, the others looked up confused to see a very shocked pony bracing himself against the pillars above Celestia's head. “Though personally in my opinion, he needs to work on his hiding skills” Whispered Pinkie to Celestia. "What in Equestria? Can we help you-" The pony dropped down, and his cloak spread. With a strong flap of his leathery wings, the stallion rocketed forwards. The armor on his hooves clicked with a strong metal sound as blades extended. Eyes wide, Celestia took a step back as the stallion rocketed towards his target. Though as quick as he flew down on his bat wings, he was thrown to the side by a bucking and aggressive Rainbow Dash. The blades dug into the stone floors as he skid to a stop. “Stop where you are! GUARDS!" The castle doors burst open as two pegasi from each end of the room burst in. Spreading his wings, he took off, only to get a mouth full of Rainbow's hooves, returning him to the ground. Quickly he made a beeline for Celestia, then proceeded to get a mouth full of Applejack's famous bucking. Sending him end over end, he whipped back onto all four hooves before the combined might of two powerful magics’ purple and gold auras smashed him into the cold stone floor. "GAH!!... YOU HAVE NOT WON TRAITOR!" The stallion’s words reeked with venomous hate. "Traitor? What are you talking about? She’s the princess, who could she have betrayed?!" "Princess? A PRINCESS? That fiend is no princess of ours. She is a traitor, a deceiver and a liar, a grand puppeteer." Celestia's hoof clopped down forcefully, and just as forcefully, the magic holding him down pushed him even further into the stone making him groan in pain. "Are you delusional? What am I so hiding?" "Your betrayal… she wanted only love… the love we offered her...before you let us die. Then you cast her out. Sealed her away just because she wanted to be loved." Twilight looked at the deranged pony with confusion. "Celestia, is he talking about Luna?" "DO NOT SPEAK HER NAME! You are unworthy, a puppet to this deceiver just like the thing she summoned to her side with our princess’ face." "What are you talking about? Luna is in this very castle, everyone knows it’s her." "Do they? Ask yourself, who knows it’s her? What ponies could see the real truth? YOU? I doubt you have lived long enough to see the truth, is it the deceiver? Who would banish her own sister simply because she wanted to know the same love that the deceiver denied her? Is it The Embodiment Of Chaos? Who would lie through his teeth just to get a kick out of you? Who?" Celestia repeated the somewhat angry and hostile stamp, reminding him just who had who under their hoof. "Why are you so upset? Are you one of those foolish conspiracy theorists?" He grinned wide "We don’t need Conspiracy. We have somepony who does remember, and it is his sole duty to remember, and to raise the army of the night, to destroy the traitor and hold the throne until our real princess returns." Twilight's eyes stilled wide in wonder and shock. She was filled with confusion and fear. Her mind churned and begged her to consider what she knew. Celestia would never do something like that. She saw the past for herself, and saw Luna's banishment and the pain it brought Celestia. A tinge of pain in her mind reminded her of just how powerful and smart Celestia was. Her mind teased her with it. Had Celestia really wanted to, she could have easily altered any vision of the past she wanted to. But she couldn’t of, not her Celestia. Looking to Celestia, she opened her mouth to speak but faltered as she looked at a wide eyed Celestia staring at something attached to the armor on the assassin's chest. It was a crest, a glaive running through a fire set before the moon. "Princess? What is it, what’s wrong?" As if in fear and disbelief she shook her head "No...no...this cannot be. This...this is the Abyssal family crest....WHERE DID YOU GET THIS?!" The dark pony grinned wide but remained silent. "Twilight, take your friends out of the castle for now, I need to do some work. I am sorry for the trouble. Guards! Take him to the dungeons!" The guards nodded, and with a rope firmly pulled over his wings and hooves, he was hauled off. Celestia stared at the stallion as he stared back. His eyes a deep show of anger and hatred as he mouthed the word ‘traitor’.