Knightmares

by NerfedFalcon

Celebration

A month later

It was the last day of summer. If Cumulus was planning anything, it had taken him the whole month to do so, and no incidents had occurred that could be traced back to him. Canterlot, as a city mainly composed of Unicorns, had repaired quite a bit of the damage from the riots. Ponyville would need more time to recover from Cerberus’ invasion, however.

Gilda watched the sunset with some trepidation. She’d grown somewhat accustomed to taking orders from Shining Armor directly, but still didn’t want to call herself a Day Guard. Rainbow Dash had gone back to Ponyville without saying much, and nopony had written since except Twilight on her various friendship reports. She’d have written herself, but she’d never learned Equestria’s written language and didn’t want to ask for help. Besides, with Cumulus gone to ground and no other major incidents occurring, she had nothing to write about.

A knock on the door turned her head away from the sunset when it was mostly gone. “Skipper wanted everyone in the statue garden for something,” Shining shouted through the door. “He didn’t order you to come, but if you want, you can.” Before she could think of a reply, she heard his hoofsteps leaving the area.

He’d made it sound like a casual thing, but Gilda still wasn’t sure. She didn’t know who ‘everyone’ meant: if it was just three, four or even six. If the Princesses were there, she didn’t want anything to do with it; the Alicorns still made her uncomfortable, particularly Celestia being connected so closely to Ponyville. Eventually, though, watching the sunset became boring, and she left her room for the statue garden as twilight fell.

Midnight was the first to see her through the moderate darkness, and waved her over to where she, Skipper and Shining were sitting. They’d laid out a picnic blanket, facing the east side of the city for moonrise. None of them were dressed up. “You made it,” Skipper said without looking over as the griffon sat down next to him, away from the other two ponies. “I was starting to wonder.”

“Why’d you call me out here?” Gilda asked, looking around. “You didn’t bring any food or anything, so this isn’t just a picnic...”

“Every year, on the last day of summer, there’s a fireworks show,” Shining explained. “When Celestia learned about them, she insisted that it become a tradition. Perhaps it was her way of coping with the guilt of banishing her sister, or some such.” Skipper and Midnight turned to one another for a moment, but didn’t say anything.

“Well, the moon hasn’t risen yet, so nobody’d see the fireworks even if they went off,” Gilda pointed out.

“True enough,” Shining replied. “So while we’re waiting, who wants to tell a story?”

Everyone was taken off-guard by the request, and he continued, “Everypony... rather, everyone has a story to tell. Even if it’s not really their own story, I’d still like to hear it. Legends, stories of the distant past... they’re a hobby of mine. Not a talent, but just a hobby.”

“I’m not sure any of you really want to hear my stories,” Skipper said, “but there was a reason why I asked you here. It relates to my time at Chikatetsu.” At that, Midnight flinched back, and though they didn’t show it, Shining and Gilda were slightly perturbed. “Don’t worry, it’s not to do with a fight. That wasn’t quite the only thing we did there...”
~
It was about my third year, and I’d grown accustomed to being called Hakumen. By that time, I’d forgotten nearly everything about my past life. All I still had was the night I’d been taken, and I knew my name from that time.

I was alone in my marefriend’s house, and we’d slept together. I still don’t remember if we were more intimate or less, but I was only fifteen at the time, I think. As Hakumen, I hadn’t remembered what she looked like, or her name, but I remembered that she’d stirred beside me as I left the bed, halfway woken up by the noise outside.

“We will meet again,” I’d said. “I promise.” With that, I’d gone into the night, and never returned. I didn’t know how to fight then, and three ponies, one of each race, overwhelmed me. I had a lime green coat then. You know what four years without sunlight does to a pony? You’re looking at it.

I’ll spare you the details, and skip to the night I really wanted to talk about. There were about six of us in the common room at the time, all blooded. Between fights, we spent time together, though talking was discouraged. Mostly we spent our time training or, for some ponies, crying in the corner and planning to throw their next fight to escape their own guilt and fear. Whatever they were doing, everypony stopped to look when the guards brought a new arrival in.

She was a Pegasus like me, orange with a bright blue mane. I don’t remember her Cutie Mark. She was clearly terrified out of her wits, unlikely to survive even the first night, let alone the first day. Everypony had to fight on their first day, and every fight at Chikatetsu was to the death. It seemed like she knew that, and she didn’t want to accept it, until she saw me.

I recognised her as the mare from my one memory, and she clearly recognised me as well, standing up and slapping me in the face. “So this is why you didn’t come back?” she asked. “How many ponies have you killed? How can you possibly live with yourself?!” I didn’t answer. Doing so would only have made her more hysterical, and I doubt she would truly have understood. Besides, I couldn’t think of an answer.

She ran off onto one of the cots, crying sadly for herself and angrily for me. Everypony went back to what they were doing, but I just sat there, watching her. A few ponies asked why, but my lack of an answer was enough to drive them off. It lasted until lights out, when she came up to where I’d laid down to sleep.

“I’m sorry about before,” she said. “I don’t know what I was thinking. Is it true that I have to fight?” All I could do was nod. “I see. Then I suppose this is the end.”

“I’m sorry it had to be this way,” I said, but she put her hoof over my mouth.

“No, it’s not your fault. I’m just worried, for myself... but mostly for my daughter.”

“What?”

“Do you remember the night when you were taken? I didn’t want it to be true, but you gave me a daughter. I’d have liked for you to meet her, but I guess that’ll never happen now. I don’t want to say her name, or else they might look for her. She’s only two years old; she doesn’t need to know about this place.” She sighed before continuing, “I just want you to promise me one last thing.”

“What is it?” I asked.

“Promise me you’ll never lose your joy for life. That was what I remembered most about you, and now you seem so serious... I don’t want that to be all that’s left of you. I don’t want it to just be... what do they call you now?”

“Hakumen.”

“I don’t want it to just be Hakumen in there. I want Cloud Skipper to stay alive, too.”

Hearing my own real name threw me off balance, and nothing was said for about a minute until she continued. “You were always so happy, always able to find something to celebrate,” she whispered. “Promise me you’ll stay that way. Even if it’s only celebrating because you’re still alive.” With that, she walked back to her cot without waiting for an answer.

She died in her initial fight, and I think she threw it. She wasn’t cut out to be a fighter. Then again, I suppose neither was I, but I changed. I’d changed so much that hearing my own name, and being told to stay like I was before, threw me off guard like no foe could.
~
“That’s why I called everyone here tonight,” Skipper finished. “I want to pass on that lesson. No matter how bad things get, you always have something to celebrate. Celebrate because you’re alive, and that’s the one thing that you’ll never give up on. We’ve been through some hectic times, but all of us are still here, still alive and kicking. And that is why we’re all celebrating tonight.”

Almost on cue, the fireworks began, cutting off anything that Skipper could have continued into. Everyone turned skyward, watching the bursts of light and sound, of all shapes, sizes and colours. Midnight, in particular, was awestruck by the display, her jaw hanging open for a full minute after it ended. Gilda acted aloof, but in reality, she was almost as impressed.

"The four of us will never be broken," Skipper intoned. “Because we are the Royal Guard of Equestria. We serve as the shield of our sovereigns and our nation, and though foes within and without may batter against us, we will never bend or break.” He placed his hoof towards the centre of the picnic blanket. Midnight and Shining, and with some hesitation Gilda, reached out to touch it. They didn’t bother throwing their limbs skyward or cheering, but simply looked at one another.

Eventually, Shining was the first to pull away and leave the garden, followed by Midnight. Gilda and Skipper spent a while together, but neither of them said anything, and eventually they went their separate ways. Skipper went to sleep early, but Gilda stayed up almost all night, refusing to explain why when Midnight came to check on her.

Just before sunrise, Celestia heard a piece of parchment being slid under her door. Written on it, in the griffons’ runic alphabet, was the following:

Dear Princess Celestia:

I know you usually get these from Twilight in Ponyville, but hopefully you’ll be able to make an exception just this once. You see, I used to think that friends were just around to make you look better, and if they couldn’t do that then they weren’t worth having around. But the events of the past month or so have opened my eyes.

Seeing Rainbow Dash, who I’d rejected back in Ponyville, in the state she was made me feel angry for her sake, despite the bad terms we’d parted on. I haven’t seen her since, so I can’t say she’s really still my friend, but I’ve made some new friends in your Royal Guard. Cloud Skipper was willing to take me under his wing, despite the fact that I was a criminal, and the other two have come to accept me as well.

I don’t know if I can call myself a Royal Guard yet, or ever since I’m not really a pony, but tonight, I learned something: friends are the ones that you can celebrate with, no matter the occasion. Even if you’re just celebrating the fact that you’re still alive, it’s always better to have someone to celebrate with, be they higher than you on the social ladder or lower.

May the wind ever be under your feathers.
Gilda Stonebeak

Author's Note:

And so ends act one, with a chapter where nopony dies. (Well, mostly...)

The updates will probably be a lot less frequent from here on out, as the story gets more and more involved. And don't worry; there will be incidents aplenty as the arcs continue. I have a rough outline of the story in my head at this point.

Will Gilda truly become a hero? How did Skipper come by the name 'Hakumen'? Why does Midnight fear her parents? What is Cumulus' ultimate plan? Is the author ever going to run out of pointless, obvious questions? Let's all go find out.

Comments

[dghxcvr]

Love the story man, if you don't have an editor, you should ask around and try to get one, when your writing you don't see a lot of your own mistakes! Keep up the great work!

[Jake The Army Guy]

Wait... the entire military... quit? And they did it.... over one guard? Um.... o-okay.

[NerfedFalcon]

4864149

Don't wanna spoil anything, but I do have reasons (other than 'I needed to kick this off somehow'.)

[Silentwoodfire]

Hell of a plot device, but I like where your going with this and am most curious to see what you do with it all.

[Ise no Kami]

Great chapter. Really liked the MGS music link you put in there.