Recalled
“Dragon fire?” was the only question that Kain could get out amongst his dread and confusion.
“Oh yes. My assistant, Spike, is able to allow me to send messages to the princesses directly using his dragon fire breath.” Twilight said, explaining.
The dragoon didn’t have time to prepare and leave Ponyvillle in secret; he was being summoned at this moment. The leadership must have already noted the discrepancy of his identity and wanted to deal with him personally. There was nothing more to do than face the consequences; perhaps this was part of the trial Kain needed to undergo.
“When do I need to meet with the princesses?” Kain asked.
“In about two days.” Twilight replied if we leave tomorrow, we should arrive in Canterlot by the following day.
“We?” Kain asked.
“It’s been a long while since I last met with Princess Celestia and Luna. I was even told to bring my friends along as well.” Twilight said.
“Very well.” Kain replied. “We shall depart tomorrow.”
“Excellent.” Twilight said, beaming. “I’ll pick you up at the inn tomorrow morning, and we’ll all head to Canterlot.
////
That night, Kain slept restlessly as his mind wandered through scenarios of what might occur once the truth about him came out. For Twilight, this meeting was a simple reconvening of a soldier with his lordship, but the dragoon knew that the outcome of events wouldn’t be so simple. Simple, that’s the way he always preferred a mission. Nothing like saving the world while simultaneously fighting alongside comrades you’ve betrayed; amongst which two of them were caught with you in a love triangle to which they had no idea you were part of for the longest time. Kain tried to remember the last time any of his missions required him to simply fight, defeat the adversary, and move on to the next mission.
The dragoon drifted into slumber as his mind searched for that last, straight forward mission. All he needed to do was traverse a cave, and help deliver a package.
Soon, all he saw were scores of flames. Death, destruction, and those rage filled eyes of someone seemingly so helpless amidst the atrocity; the last ‘simple’ mission that changed the course of his life forever.
Kain awoke, readied himself and check out of the inn with his belongings in tow. Twilight stood waiting outside for him. If it weren’t for the fact she came off as obviously diligent and truthful, Kain could swear she knew the truth about his identity and would not let him out her sight.
At the station, the dragoon marveled at the machine that was to take Twilight and himself to the capital city. It was a technological undertaking in its own right, but it wasn’t as amazing as flying through the sky on an airship. What amazed Kain though was that this was a piece of technology created during for use during peace time. During the conflict with the crystals, he had seen the potential of machines used for war. Airships, the tanks created by the subterranean dwarves, even the Tower of Babel was an instrument of destruction.
////
“It’s too bad you all couldn’t come with me this time.” Twilight said.
“I am sorry darling. As much as I would love to go to Canterlot, sometimes we’re just too preoccupied, but please do enjoy your trip dear. And Kain, if anypony asks, your cloak was crafted by none other than Rarity of Ponyville.” The Rarity said.
“I’ll inform them should they ask.” Kain replied.
Turning back to Rarity, who was the only one amongst her friends seeing her off at the station, Twilight continued. “But I understand how busy everypony can be at times. After I meet with the princesses, I’ll be back soon and we can all have a nice picnic together.”
Without any further conversation or farewells, Twilight and Kain boarded the train. When the two settled in their car, the purple alicorn once again began to ask questions. Kain, still not wishing to give out any more information about his personal past, answered as carefully as possible. He never was very good at expressing himself.
“So I get that your missions are secret, but there’s just so much I’m curious about.” Twilight said.
“What is it that intrigues you?” Kain asked.
“Oh, where to begin?” Twilight began with a hint of excitement. “For one thing, there’s that armor you have, I’ve never seen anything like it. When I was helping my brother study to become part of the royal guard, I came across a book with so many illustrations of armor, but none quite looked like the type you wear. The only thing that comes close to your appearance is the armors worn by Princess Luna’s bat pony guard, but even that armor allows you to see the pony’s face.”
“And then there’s your abilities.” continued the alicorn.
“My combat prowess?” Kain asked.
“More than just defeating your adversaries, it’s how you do it. Rainbow Dash told me last night that you were able to leap into the sky and attack a target from the air, and the last time that I checked, you weren’t a pegasus.” Twilight said.
The dragoon realized that he was most likely the only warrior of his kind in these lands. Even given the fact that this mare now knew about his skill, he could rest on the alibi of being art of a special “secretive” part of the guard, so he used it to cover the truth. “It’s a special skill taught only to our branch of the guard.” he explained.
“Amazing!” Twilight exclaimed. “I suppose that having only a select group of ponies knowing this skill gives you a tactical advantage.”
“Indeed it does.” Kain said, remembering the dragoons of Baron. He wasn’t sure why he was still keeping this secret if it was only now a matter of time before he was discovered not be a knight of Equestria. Perhaps it was because he wasn’t seen as a traitor in the eyes of these ponies. Perhaps because in some strange way, being here felt like the good old days when he was simply a soldier performing his duty and the occasional act of heroism. When the time came to admit who he was, Kain decided he wouldn’t hesitate to face the backlash from this ruse.
“So, does your special type of guard have a specific name, or is that another thing you’re not allowed to speak about?” Twilight asked.
“I am what you would call a dragoon.” Kain replied, sensing no harm in saying what he was.
“Wow, is that why your armor resembles a dragon?” the Twilight asked.
“Yes, our order and its abilities pay respect to the dragons.” Kain answered.
“I can’t believe a group like yours has existed in secret for so long!” admitted Twilight. “I’ve only been a princess for a short while now, and there’s so much I didn’t know about. I hope Princess Luna and Celestia have books about your order in a secret archive somewhere! Or if there isn’t, maybe I might even be allowed to write a book myself. How exciting!” she continued, rubbing her hooves together.
Before the conversation went any further, the train’s service ponies brought a meal to the car. It consisted of strange variations of dishes the dragoon was otherwise accustomed to in their ordinary form. Once such variant was a take on a sandwich, which in this case had hay prepared instead of meat. Kain pondered a bit before trying it and notice Twilight enjoying the dish.
“I can’t believe they’ve got hayburgers on the trains now!” Twilight said. The alicorn levitated the sandwich and chomped down on it with delight.
Kain remembered his experience with attempting to eat the dried meat rations, and up until now, he’d been eating fruits, vegetables, and any baked items that didn’t appear to have grass or flowers in it. He decided to try the ‘hayburger’. To his surprise, it was delicious; he noted that his changed palette favored the diet of a pony. He was a pony now, or whatever is considered to be a pony in this world as far as he was concerned. But he wondered just why did it have to be ponies?
After the meal, the trip continued with random bits of inquiry by Twilight, ever curious about Kain. “So, How do dragoons learn to jump so high?” she asked.
“That is a closely guarded secret of our order.” Kain replied without a second thought. How dragoons learned to jump, almost no one in Baron itself knew. Kain left Cecil in the dark whenever he’d asked.
“Well, perhaps one day you’ll be able to tell me.” Twilight reluctantly replied.
“Perhaps.” Kain echoed in reply.
When night approached, the two went to their respective quarters on the train. Having not done much physically during the day, Kain found it difficult to fall asleep. All the talk of the dragoons brought his mind to the past. He thought about those warriors and his time in Baron. Slowly, he drifted into slumber.
////
“I’m sorry Kain, I can’t be with you today.” Said a man wearing dragoon armor. ”Perhaps another time I can go to the fair with you. Now go on ahead, I’m sure Rosa and Cecil will be expecting you.” The man said to a small blonde boy.
“Yes father.” Kain replied.
When the boy arrived at the town square of Baron, his two friends were waiting for him at the fountain. “Aww, your dad couldn’t come?” Cecil asked.
“Yeah, he said he needed to be on a mission with the dragoons today.” Kain replied. “I really wanted to be with him more, but he’s always so busy.”
“That’s too bad.” Rosa said. “Maybe if you were a dragoon, you’d get to be with him more often, and then you’d get to go on missions with him!”
Time shifted forward to Kain returning from his trial of becoming a true dragoon.
“You’ve come a long way Kain Highwind, you are now one of Baron’s dragoons.” the officer said. “Be proud of this day, and know that Ricard would’ve been proud of you as well.”
Kain’s subconscious warped time once more.
Kain was facing Cecil in a sea of red flames, “I will not sully the dragoons’ name by willingly committing atrocities such as this!”
Yet another jump in time.
“Kain…” sung a malevolent, tempting voice. “You do want Rosa to be yours don’t you?” it pressed. “Show me you are willing to do anything to get her. Prove you’re the man that belongs with her, and not that whelp Cecil.”
The dragoon made his way to the quarters that housed his warrior kin, he moved unnaturally silent, but with no intent on hiding.
“Master Kain!” spoke one of the newer knights. “How did the mission go with Sir Cecil?”
Kain spun his spear to a fighting stance in the blink of an eye, and before the younger dragoon could even asked a question, Kain struck the man through the chest.
“Cecil must die!” he muttered to himself. The traitor moved through the barracks and carved a path of death. Those who lived, fled and disavowed themselves from the dragoons; their most respected and decorated officer had gone mad, raving about how he’d ‘prove he was superior’.
Kain was now in Fabul’s crystal room, towering over a dark knight’s fallen form, ready to end his life. “Rosa belongs with me Cecil!”
“Kain stop!” a frantic white mage exclaimed.
The dragon knight hesitated, looked at Rosa and then back at Cecil. He felt gaze of shattered trust upon him. Kain had wondered at what he had become.
////
A rapping had come at the doors to his cabin. “Mr. Highwind? Are you awake?” asked Twilight. “We’ve just arrived in Canterlot.
The dragoon lifted himself from his bed, went to the door in his car, and opened it.” Allow me to gather my belongings and I shall join you momentarily.”
When Kain emerged from the train with Twilight, he beheld the splendor of Canterlot. Sure the Kingdom of Baron was enormous, but the castle as more of a testament to the military might of the kingdom. Baron’s smaller towns were more like Ponyville in terms of size. This kingdom had a beauty to it like Troia, secure but elegant.
“I bet it’s great to be back, isn’t it Kain?” Twilight asked.
“It’s been so long, I almost didn’t recognize it.” Kain lied half-heartedly.
The alicorn’s spirits were hardly dampened by the dragoon’s last comment, and she enthusiastically continued to press Kain into being more jovial upon returning to Canterlot. “This is so exciting; I’m going to get to see the inner working of a different branch of the guard! Oh, Shining Armor’s going to be so jealous, unless he already knows about you. Does he know about you Kain? Oh wait, you already told me you can’t talk about your kind! Oh, let’s hurry to the palace so I can learn more!” Kain finally spoke after finally given a hole in the conversation. “There will be plenty of time to get answers if we don’t dawdle here.”
“Right.” Twilight replied.
With every step the two took towards the palace, Kain thought more about just how he’d confront the leadership. Certainly the action of calling him ‘back’ to them meant they knew something was amiss. If they were hostile to his guise, then they would have sent out a party to arrest him. Instead they asked him to return, though in the company of another princess; it signified that he wasn’t in dire straits. Still, it wasn’t going to be easy letting the truth out and letting Twilight, who had genuinely taken interest in Kain, down.
As they neared the palace, many of the guards looked at Kain, enough to have Twilight pose a question. “Just how secret is you group?” she whispered. “Nopony here even looks like they’ve seen a dragoon.”
“There are very few of us.” Kain replied. “What’s more, we don’t usually make our presence known in broad daylight.”
“That explains you apprehension.” Twilight said.
The two travelers made their way into the grand palace and were met by a unicorn in golden armor; he had a white coat and a blonde mane.
“Blue Blood? Is that you?” asked Twilight.
“Lieutenant Prince Blue Blood.” the stallion said, correcting indignantly.
“I’m sorry.” Twilight said. “We’re just on our way to meet with Princess Luna and Princess Celestia.”
“Oh, Princess Twilight.” Blue Blood began, “Kibitz was looking for you at the west end of the palace. He said he needed you there right away.
“Ok, thank you. Come on Kain. You can come with me and then we can meet up with the other princesses afterwards.” Twilight said.
“Your friend can stay here for the time being, the princesses said they would meet with you here in the courtyard.” Blue Blood said.
“Alright, well just don’t begin the meeting without me!” Twilight said as she trotted off.
Kain was left with Blue Blood in the courtyard. He knew he was being isolated, but wanted to see exactly what the guards’ intentions were.
“Sir Kain, was it?” Blue Blood broke the silence. “I should think not. I heard about somepony out there in Ponyville claiming to be a knight. You can’t simply assume to be nobility you know? And what’s this; did you actually make your own armor so you could play knight?”
The dragoon was expecting the ridicule and interjected. “I was asked by the princesses to come here. All I seek is an audience with them. I understand my deception.”
“You will do no such thing!” Blue Blood asserted. “Do you think royalty has any reason to speak to the common rabble, especially when they try to pretend they’re someone important?”
Kain could hear the hoofsteps of several troops making their way to his general location from the halls of the palace. “I apologize for my deception, but I was asked to be here. I could very well have decided to decline the invitation. Did you not think I wasn’t expecting this possibility when I chose to heed the invitation?”
Blue Blood chuckled. “Why would you believe I would let you meet Princess Celestia and Luna? No, this little farce ends here; the princesses needn’t be troubled with every single pony that masquerades as somepony important, especially those who have not a shred of nobility to their name.”
“I beseech you to grant me the audience with the Princesses as defined in my summoning.”
Blueblood stamped a hoof down. From various portals and openings in the courtyard about half a dozen guards ponies made their presence known. Some had weapons drawn, others had magical auras readied. “As you can see,” Blue Blood spoke assuredly, “you are in no position to make any demands. Guards, dispose of this filth.”
~Belligerent Bindlestiff