Blackest Knight
Chapter 9
John sat in silence next to the captured Princess Mi Amore Cadenza. It was an awkward silence that filled the car. The changelings had cast a muffle enchantment over the car, so they did not need to gag her. Halberd had returned some time earlier and the princess jumped as she realized the ‘business stallion’ had been in on the plan. Otherwise, she did not move until John spoke to break the silence.
“So, Miss … er … Amore Cadenza?” The pink alicorn glared at him. “You know what, I’m just going to call you princess.” The glare did not falter. “I heard Shining Armor call you Cadance, is that your nickname?” She continued her glaring.
John sighed and got up. He spoke a few words to Halberd, who nodded permission. John returned and sat next to the princess again. He cast a muffle spell around them and the mare looked at him in confusion. “I don’t want to do this you know.”
The princess snorted, “Then why do you do it?”
“I have no choice. The changelings implanted something within me that forces me to comply with the wishes of their queen.” He took off his helmet and set it beside him as he spoke. The alicorn was shocked to discover he was a being of flesh and blood.
“So what even are you then?” The she asked.
“I am a human, from a world called Earth. I was kidnapped by Chrysalis, and forced to train and suffer augmentations that boosted most of my physical attributes.”
“Why do you comply? Why not try to find a way back to your homeworld?”
“The curse will not let me. If I try to refuse a command, or do something that would hinder Chrysalis’s plans, the curse will stop me and take over my body to comply. I have tried to fight back before, but I was forced to …” John stopped and looked away. The alicorn could tell he was in pain from a memory. He moved his left arm and looked at the underside, as if trying to view under the armor.
“Maybe it is not something you can fight with just strength.” The pink alicorn spoke quietly.
John looked at her, “What do you mean?”
“I have a feeling that you will understand in time.”
The two sat in silence for a minute before the mare spoke again. “Cadance is a name I allow my friends to call me.” John looked at her in confusion. “Princess Mi Amore Cadenza is just my title.”
“Thank you for telling me that princess.” John smiled at her, and she smiled briefly back.
The pink mare had a feeling that there was more to this human than meets the eye. She also felt that not all of it was bad.
“My name is John, by the way.”
The princess smiled again, “I am pleased to meet you then, John.”
Halberd signaled to John. He lowered the muffle spell. “The train will be stopping soon,” The changeling said.
“Well I guess we need to be moving then,” John replied, putting his helmet back on. A thought struck him, “How will we be moving the princess?”
John realized why the box wasn’t uncomfortable the first time he had ridden inside it. It never struck him before that the box seemed to be just big enough to move around in. Now, though, the wooden crate seemed all too small when filled with a human in full armor, a large sword, and a pink alicorn princess trying to keep as far from both previous objects as she could. She succeeded in no regard.
“Quit poking me!” The changelings had been smart enough to enchant the box with a muffle spell and strap it down to a trolley. The princess had the sense not to yell, but her cries of discomfort would not leave the box.
“I am not doing it on purpose.” John considered casting the spell on his helmet, but he needed to hear if anything was going wrong.
The princess pushed John as far into the corner as he would go. He helped by bringing his knees to his chin and wrapping his arms around his legs. The princess was still not happy that he could not get smaller, but decided to curl into the other corner. She glared at the human before harrumphing and laying her adjusting her legs underneath her. The position reminded John of a cat with its paws tucked underneath it.
“So why did you capture me anyways?” The mare asked.
“I don’t know. Chrysalis neglected to tell me exactly what her glorious plan was.”
“So you don’t know what you are doing?” She asked incredulously.
“Flying by the seat of my pants.”
“What?” She looked at John in confusion, and he realized he had never seen a pony wear clothes.
“Uh, pants are a type of fabric that humans form into a covering that covers our waists,” He pointed towards his, “down to our ankles.” He pointed to said part of his anatomy.
The alicorn thought for a moment before answering, “Wouldn’t that cover up your cutie mark though?”
“My wha…” John was interrupted as the trolley hit a bump. The crate was rocked, frightening both inhabitants. The alicorn flared out her wings, which only succeeded in hitting John in the face. Repeatedly. The tussle was quickly over, but the alicorn somehow found herself in the lap of the human. She retreated haughtily to her corner and glared at him.
“It’s not my fault,” the human tried to defend himself. She pointedly looked away and they rode the rest of the way in silence. They soon found themselves in a small crystal cave on the other side of Canterlot. The location would serve as a base to allow the team freedom to operate within the city, as well as hold the captured princess.
Chrysalis had predicted that Shining armor would be ordered to cast a shield over the city in response to the threat, so the team would not be able to enter and leave the city. Scouting efforts had found the forgotten cave, and it allowed free access to the city, while being inside the shield.
John watched as Chrysalis’s prediction was confirmed as a large magic shield slowly enveloped the city. He turned as he heard Halberd approach.
“We will be going scouting,” The changeling said. “We need to get a lay of the land.”
“What happens if I am seen?”
“I will keep my business stallion disguise.” Halberd pulled out a leash, “You will play the part of exotic pet.”
John tugged on the leash. It was humiliating. He tried to forget about it, but he could almost feel it clipped to his armor, feel its dragging weight. He sighed as he checked another corner. No one had spotted them yet, so they had no need to test the disguise.
John spotted Shining Armor on a bridge, talking to a lavender colored unicorn. He was not close enough to hear them speaking, but it was clear they knew each other. Chrysalis came onto the bridge, disguised as Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, and the lavender unicorn seemed to recognize the disguise. The unicorn jumped toward the disguised changeling and started preforming some odd ritual. The unicorn clearly meant for the pink alicorn to perform the ritual as well. Instead, Chrysalis dismissed the unicorn. It seemed Chrysalis did not even pretend to remember the unicorn. John could see the pain in the small pony’s eyes from here. He had a bad feeling that the unicorn would start to suspect something.
John and Halberd continued to follow the new unicorn and the disguised Chrysalis. Shining Armor had departed, and the unicorn and Chrysalis were checking on preparations for the wedding. John found it strange that the ponies were still going on with the wedding, but he supposed it was more to keep the populace calm. The duo checked with several ponies in charge of various elements of the ceremony. The unknown unicorn seemed to know some of the ponies. Chrysalis had been outright rude about their hard work, and the unicorn would talk with them after the disguised changeling left. She pled with them to believe her that the alicorn wasn’t the same alicorn she used to know, but Princess Mi Amore Cadenza’s withdrawal from the public eye meant none of them knew who she was supposed to be.
John had gotten close enough to one conversation to identify the unicorn as Twilight Sparkle. It seemed she was a sister to Shining Armor. Luckily, this Twilight had no luck convincing her friends. They all believed she was just being too overprotective of her brother. John had a sinking feeling though that the mare would not give up. The curse imbedded into his brain itched to take care of her before she became a threat to Chrysalis’s plan. He voiced his concern later to Halberd.
“We cannot touch her,” The changeling answered. “Her disappearance would be noted, and she has been selected to be Shining Armor’s best mare. She cannot be missing from the ceremony.”
John’s mind felt torn. One side of the curse was telling him to dispose of the unicorn, while the other was saying that doing so would interfere with the plan. His head pounded as each half of the curse fought the other.
John lay prone on a rooftop across from the castle. He could view the practice ceremony through the large windows. Halberd was casting a cloaking spell over himself and the human. The spell bent light around them, and rendered them nearly invisible as long as they didn’t move.
The practice was running smoothly, except for the fact that Twilight Sparkle had not taken her position as best mare. John worried that the mare would interfere. As feared, the lavender unicorn burst through the doors in the middle of the ceremony. John could not hear what was being said, but he knew she was accusing the face pink alicorn of something. John’s head hurt again as the curse was torn in half once more.
The disguised Chrysalis rushed past a smug Twilight crying. Twilight’s smugness disappeared as Shining Armor turned on her. Twilight’s friends filed past her with angry glares as well. Celestia was the last to leave after having a few terse words with the unicorn. Twilight sat down on a step and John could see pain on her face.
“It seems they are all angry at her now,” John commented, “If she disappears now, everyone would assume that she merely didn’t want to show her face after that stunt.”
“You’re right,” Halberd replied. “Let’s get her now that everyone else left.”
Halberd was about to move, but John stopped him. “Wait, look.” Chrysalis, still disguised, had reentered the room alone. She spoke to Twilight, and suddenly green flames erupted around the unicorn. Twilight sunk into the ground and disappeared. “What did she do to her?” John asked.
“I think the queen sent her to the crystal cave.”
John’s curse stopped fighting against itself.
John paused before he entered the door into Luna’s chambers. While he had been scouting with Halberd, Vice and Versa had disguised themselves as Royal Guards and got a layout of the palace. They memorized patrol routes and planned the fastest discrete route to Luna’s chambers. Mimic was the only changeling not to leave the caves, as he was finishing the spell to close Princess Mi Amore Cadenza into a crystal room. He had left to meet up with the team shortly before Twilight was sent to the caves. They gathered together to capture Luna.
John had led the team through the path set by Versa. They did not encounter any patrols and quickly made it to the door. John’s team prepared to enter the room and the human opened the door and rushed in.
“We have made it clear we are not to be …” Luna tuned and her vision was filled with a helmet blacker than her night sky. She could not react before a hand joined the helmet and clamped over her mouth. She tried to scream, but the hand glowed and she could sense a muffle spell. A second hand slipped a ring over her horn before she could cast a spell. She shut her eyes like a filly in a nightmare, expecting foalishly to be eaten.
“I will not hurt you, but you mustn’t struggle.”
Luna opened her eyes as the creature spoke. She felt something close around her wings and body, but her eyes could not leave the Y slit in the helmet. The darkness within the slit was unbroken, but she could feel a presence she had felt before. She looked into the darkness and it seemed to stare back.
“I am going to let go of your mouth,” The darkness spoke, “but I have already cast a muffle spell around us. It will be of no use to scream because it will only force me to gag you.” The hand withdrew.
Luna had no intention of screaming, her curiosity made her forget about the monster’s intrusion. “We have felt thy presence before.” As she said it, she realized she could not remember where.
The metal head cocked to the side, “What?”
“We don’t know where,” Luna said, “But we have felt thy presence.” She thought about it for a moment, then realized, “Thou art the mysterious being from the dreamscape!”
The darkness repeated its question, “What?”
Luna explained, “We are the princess of the night, we possess the power to traverse the dreamscape and interact with the dreams of our subjects. We found thy dreams some months ago. Lately they have been turbulent and dark. We would have come into thy nightmare and dispelled it, but some force prevented us from entrance.”
“We?” the darkness asked.
“Er … I. I was using the royal we again, wasn’t I? I meant that I could not enter thy … I mean your dreams.”
“Royal we? Never mind we don’t have time to explain things.” The helmet turned and Luna finally realized that four changelings had entered the room as well.
“What are thou foul creatures doing in our chambers!” Luna slipped back into the royal we.
“These foul creatures,” the helmet tuned back to the princess, “are with me. If you didn’t know, we are kidnapping you.” Realization sunk into Luna as the metal creature turned back to its companions. It barked a few orders and Luna was blinded.
John and his companions quickly left the palace using the same path they had taken in. The wedding was in progress and John noticed thousands of changelings battering the shield. The team was halfway back through the empty streets when the shield broke. The team left the shadows and hurried to the crystal cave as changelings flooded the city. They trapped Luna within the cave before a changeling found them.
“Human, you need to come with me.”
“What’s wrong?” John asked.
“The lavender unicorn broke Princess Mi Amore Cadenza from the crystal cave.” The changeling led the human and his team through the city.
“Great.”
“Don’t worry, since Queen Chrysalis has been feeding off Shining Armor’s love, she had enough power to defeat Celestia. But the six bearers have gone to retrieve the Elements of Harmony.”
“What are those?”
“The only things that can defeat Chrysalis now. We need to stop them. Luckily, we are closer to where they are held.”
Twilight and her friends ran to the large golden doors. Beyond these were the Elements of Harmony. Twilight reared up and pushed open the doors. As they swung open, she was disheartened to see hundreds of changelings swarming the chamber. Her eyes widened as she saw the large bipedal creature standing before the horde. Its skin seemed to be an armor made of a metal so black, it sucked in surrounding light. Twilight could feel Fluttershy cower behind her as the giant metal monster drew a sword from its back. The sword was larger than her body and sharp enough she could nearly feel its cut from where she was standing.
She looked back and saw another horde of changelings cutting off their escape. She looked back at the metal monster and saw it advancing on the group of ponies.
“You will come with me,” The darkness within the helm commanded.
John led the captured ponies into the hall where the marriage had been interrupted. He heard the real Princess Mi Amore Cadenza speaking to Chrysalis while Princess Celestia hung from the ceiling in a green pod.
“You won’t get away with this!” The pink alicorn proclaimed. “Twilight and her friends will …” She cut off as she saw John leading the mentioned ponies.
“You were saying?” Chrysalis mocked, turning to Twilight. “You do realize the reception’s been cancelled don’t you? Go! Feed!” The queen commanded the changelings within the hall. All the changelings but those from John’s team flew to devour the love from the inhabitants of the city. A green energy surrounded the doors and slammed them closed as Chrysalis chuckled. “It’s funny really,” she lifted Twilight’s head with a hoof, “Twilight here was suspicious of my behavior all along,” Twilight smacked her hoof away. “Too bad the rest of you were caught up in your wedding planning to realize those suspicions were correct.” She turned to John as she spoke, “Now her reward is to watch her friends be executed before her eyes.”
Mimic grabbed the yellow pegasus that had hidden behind Twilight earlier and brought her forward. A cyan pegasus tried to stop him, but was grabbed by Vice and Versa. “Fluttershy!” She called out.
“What are you doing?!” Twilight cried, Halberd stepped in front of her.
“John,” Chrysalis commanded, an edge in her tone, “execute her.”
John looked at the queen. “No, No you can’t …” Pain exploded in his head and the curse took over his body. “No, please! Not again!” John cried. His legs brought him toward the yellow pegasus mare. His arm brought itself up and gripped the handle. He fought against the movements of his body, to no avail.
“You monster!” The cyan pegasus fought against Vice and Versa, reaching toward her friend. “Fluttershy!”
Mimic forced Fluttershy to lay on the ground. His magic forced her head forward to stretch her neck. She froze as she watched John approach slowly. She could tell he was fighting his own body.
“No! I can’t do it again!” John cried. Silence filled the hall as he stopped before Fluttershy. Her friends looked on in horror while Chrysalis held an air of triumph. His arms reached themselves up and gripped the sword high above his head. John could not close his eyes and looked down at the yellow mare. Her blue eyes shone through her pink mane. Tears glossed them and fell down her cheeks. John stared into her eyes as he struggled to keep his arms from bringing the sword down. Their eyes were locked until John’s sword fell.