• Published 5th Jan 2017
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Age of Kings - A bag of plums



When King Sombra took over the Crystal Empire, one pony went into another world to seek help. Featuring the ancestors of the cast of Equestria Girls, this is the account of her quest in the human world.

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36 - Far From It

“Tis getting quite foggy out here.” Sir Trotivere adjusted his helmet, one foot atop a rock, allowing him to rest his elbow on one knee. “Perhaps we should search elsewhere?”

Sir Morn Dread, who hadn’t brought his helmet this time, squinted his eyes, trying to look ahead. “Lady Emerald, what do you think? If you would like to turn back, we may.”

Emerald Edge, who was following close behind both male knights, pointed a finger ahead. “Everywhere else seems to be clear as day. This fog seems unnatural. Perhaps an artifact could be causing it. We should have a look.”

“The lady knight wishes to push on. I support her.” Sir Morn turned back to Trotivere.

“Then so shall I.” The blue armored knight nodded. “I must say, these artifacts of yours are such a mystery. Why, there is so much they are able to do.”

“In truth, Sir Trotivere, I do not know what they are each capable of,” Emerald said, shrugging her shoulders as she followed behind them. “We shall find out when we find one.”

“If there is indeed one in these woods.”

Emerald had lost count, but she knew she had already been searching for artifacts for about two years now and still, she had no results. She dreaded to think there were none left, but she could only hold on to the hope that there were more of Star Swirl’s artifacts out there and if she could not get the shield, then she would have to find them.

Past the fog was a forest of large trees, each one standing at least fifteen times higher than Sir Morn. Their trunks were as thick as a hydra’s neck and their bark as black as the night sky. In any normal circumstance, Emerald would not want to enter such a foreboding place, but if there was indeed an artifact in here, then she knew she had to.

“Come. I shall lead.” Sir Morn removed Clarent from its sheath and walked on. “Such woods look like the home to cutthroats or bears. Stay on guard.”

Trotivere nodded and removed his sword. Emerald knew its name and she had even fought against it long ago during the tournament.

Fragarach.

It’s blade was serrated near the beginning and it widened at the tip. According to Sir Morn, Fragarach was one of the heavier swords of the Knights of the Round Table. Its gems of light pink dotted the hilt, still bright in the increasing density of the fog. Emerald made a joke to herself that if she got lost, she would be able to find Sir Trotivere through his weapon.

She also marveled at how Honor Proof was able to make such beautiful and strong swords. It was no secret that each sword of the Knights of the Round Table was stronger than any other and not to mention, more pleasing to the eyes. Even her own Amore was beautifully crafted.

“Perhaps I should take up blacksmithing some time,” Emerald said to herself as she clambered over a boulder.

The forest seemed to be leading up a cliff side, with the ground beginning to tilt up until it soon became a slope. Emerald watched where she was stepping, knowing a loose rock could easily send her tumbling back down to the bottom. She was in no mood to restart her journey through the forest.

“Would you like some assistance, my lady?” Sir Morn called from above.

“It is not necessary, Sir Morn.” Emerald shook her head, unsure if he could actually see it with the increasing density of the fog. By now, all she could see were silhouettes of her knight companions, with Sir Trotivere still ahead of them. “I am a spymaster. I shall manage.”

“As you say, my lady. But, do be careful.”

Emerald chuckled and took another watchful step up. “I will, Sir Morn. Do not worry.”

Fortunately for her, there were no loose rocks in her path, allowing the former pegasus to make the climb with relative ease. By now, the fog had gotten much thicker, making each tree look like ghosts, their long and gnarly arms ready to strike any moment.

Emerald Edge shook off that imagination and frowned. There were no shades or spectres here, just her thoughts running wild. She wondered if perhaps Spectrum’s and Honeygold’s fairy tales and legends were getting to her.

“Ugh, how much further?” Emerald called out, taking another cluster of steps up the slope. It still looked to go on for a good distance.

Ahead, there was no answer.

“Sir Morn?” Emerald called out again. “Sir Trotivere?”

It was then Emerald noticed there wasn’t a single sound in the woods. No birds, no toads or crickets, while lower down the slope, they had still been making noises happily. It was as though the entire forest had gone deathly silent.

“They must just be much farther ahead.” Emerald decided to think. Perhaps they couldn’t hear her because of that.

Emerald was about to press on again when something caught her attention just to the left of her. She turned her head, eyes darting around, but there was nothing. She thought she had seen movement, but she shrugged it off. It was probably just the fog playing tricks on her eyes.

“Sir Morn? Sir Trotivere?” She decided to try again, but to no avail. Still there was no noise.

Continuing the climb, Emerald kept her eyes up the slope, hoping to see it come to an end as she traveled. From here, it still looked like it kept going on forever, with the fog preventing her from seeing very far.

And then she saw it again. Something darted away in the corner of her vision, but when she turned to look, there was nothing. Just the ghostly shades of trees all around her, and the absence of sound-

Wait. No.

It wasn’t silent. Not any longer. Emerald heard something familiar, coming from somewhere around her. The crunch of rocks beneath a greaved foot. It was the sound of walking.

“Hello? Is it you, Sir Morn? Sir Trotivere?” Emerald looked around for the source, but she couldn’t determine it yet.

There was no answer.

Sensing trouble, Emerald retrieved Amore from its scabbard, holding it out in front of her, keeping her eyes out. There were many footsteps around her now, increasing in volume, telling her that there was more than one human or thing out there, and they were getting closer.

With the forest’s silence, the footfalls seemed to echo out all around her, Emerald’s trained ears betraying her senses already.

Without a second thought, Emerald broke into a run, heading up the slope. Perhaps if she could find Sir Morn and Sir Trotivere, she would stand a better chance against whoever or whatever was out there.

And then it happened. A shape darted out from her left, swinging what looked like a club for her face, ducking, Emerald slashed out her sword, cutting the dark figure across the chest. She heard the sound of armor and flesh ripping as the figure grasped for his chest, coughing.

Emerald didn’t stop to find out who he was. She kept going, still hearing greaves clinking a against the forest floor.

From what she saw, her attacker looked like a knight in black armor, but he had on a long dark cloak and his helmet looked to have the horns of a deer. And there were still more of them out there.

“Sir Morn? Sir Trotivere!” Emerald yelled, hoping to find them before more of these humans showed up. She hoped they were still out there, safe from these people, but worry began to cling at her heart. Emerald wanted more than anything right now, to fall into Sir Morn’s warm embrace, to know he was with her.

And then she saw him. Just ahead, next to a well-sized boulder, was Sir Morn Dread. He was lying on his side, unmoving. Shock appearing all over her face, Emerald instinctively ran over, fearing for the worst. She dropped to her knees and flipped his face to hers, but his eyes were closed, and there seemed to be a huge lump at the back of his head, beneath his blue hair.

Emerald was about to call out his name to wake him, but then she felt something hit her on the back of her head and everything around her went black in an instant.


“...rald. Emerald… Lady Emerald.”

Emerald Edge realized she was awake and slowly opened her eyes. It was Sir Morn who was calling her name.

“Ah, thank goodness, you have returned to us. How are you faring?” her beloved knight asked.

“I… My head hurts…” Emerald tried to reach a hand up to her head, but then realized they were tied behind her back. Looking down, she found her legs bound as well. She struggled against the rope, but found she could not escape. “What happened?”

Sir Morn and Sir Trotivere were beside her, their swords missing from their belts. Both Knights of the Round Table were also bound at the arms and legs, just like her.

“It seems we were knocked unconscious by a blunt weapon,” Sir Trotivere answered. “Whoever has captured us has failed to account that we are Knights of the Round Table and it would prove disastrous if they continue to keep us here.”

“That is if we can escape these binds…” Emerald struggled against her ropes. “Sir Morn, even you cannot?”

The knight in question struggled, but even with his strength, he was not able to escape. “Nay. Whoever has done this has done this well.”

Emerald frowned, but then remembered her hidden blades. Their captors had missed them.

The spymaster was about to unfurl them when she realized their surroundings were much clearer than earlier. They were no longer on the slope, with the forest floor quite flat all around them. The fog had died down, allowing Emerald to see for quite some distance. All around the three knights were the humans in black armor and cloaks. They stood in a circle among trees and boulders, unmoving. None of them held any weapons, but that was from what Emerald could see. Perhaps they would have some under their cloaks.

And then to the front was a black knight, standing almost twice the height of all the other mysterious humans. Unlike the others, his helmet revealed his face, where a long thin moustache spread out from under his nose and past his helmet’s width.

Without warning, the tall knight lurched forward and barked a single word, “Knee!”

Suddenly, all the other black-armored knights around him began to say the same word, over and over again.

“Knee! Knee! Knee!”

“Elbow!”

The knight who said that was suddenly whacked on the head by another. “Fool! Elbow was last week’s word!”

“Oh, yes. Sorry about that.”

“Knee! Knee! Knee!” they continued again.

“What have we stumbled upon here?” Sir Trotivere asked in confusion.

“Let us go.” Sir Morn twisted around in his binds. “Let us go and you shall all live in peace.”

“Silence! We do not listen to just any strangers who wander into our forest,” the tall knight said. “We… are the Knights who say… Knee!”

The rest of his people began chanting the word again, echoing throughout the forest.

“You three have been foolish enough to enter our territory and for that, you must now perform three daunting tasks if you are to be set free from our grasp.” The tall knight had a very high pitched voice, almost comically so. Emerald couldn’t help but focus on his long and thin moustache as he spoke. “If you attempt to run, you will find we are very good at tracking and very good and silencing our invaders.”

I doubt so.

“Now to leave, you must first complete three of our trials. Only then, will we let you go,” the tall knight said smugly. “And you will accept these tasks!”

At that moment, after sharing a glance with Sir Morn, Emerald unfurled her hidden blades, cutting right through her arm binds, then quickly cutting the ones around her legs.

“What? She tries to flee! Kill her!” The tall knight pointed at Emerald.

At once, three of the black knights ran for her, their cloaks flying back to reveal their clubs. Crude weapons, but still deadly enough.

Emerald quickly ducked behind Sir Morn, cutting his arm binds as the knights reached them.

As their assailants attacked, Sir Morn pushed up to his feet, knocking them all back with his arms before Emerald quickly got to work on his leg binds and Sir Trotivere’s.

“Hey, you are not supposed to do that!” the tall knight shrieked.

More of his group charged Emerald and the two men, but with her hidden blades and Sir Morn’s and Sir Trotivere’s unarmed combat, soon, all the tall knight’s men were lying on the ground, incapacitated or injured.

Sir Morn was swift to retrieve Clarent, Fragarach and Amore from a wooden weapon’s rack, tossing them to their owners before pointing its tip at the tall knight.

“Yield, and perhaps we shall let you go unpunished.” Sir Morn touched the tip of Clarent to the middle of the knight’s moustache.

The tall knight still wore his intimidating scowl for a few seconds, looking like he was unperturbed. Then his face changed into one of fear and he cowered back, raising both hands in front of his face.

“Please, do not harm us any further! We only wanted someone to do our trials. Anyone. No one comes to these parts, you see. We get… lonely and bored.”

“Knee! Knee! Knee!” the other black knights chorused.

“No, why would we? We are busy knights.” Sir Morn frowned. “We are Knights of the Round Table of King Dawn Saber of Canterlot. You have wasted our time and resources. Now we are going to leave, and you will be lucky this is all you are getting.”

“Wait, Sir Morn,” Emerald spoke up. Then she turned to the lead black knight. “If we just leave, you’ll just go capturing other people to do your trials. Well, what if we did them? Would you be satisfied then?”

“You would like to participate in our trials?” The tall knight suddenly morphed his face into a surprised smile. “No one has ever participated in our trials! Oh, this is a glorious day for the Knights who say Knee!”

“Knee! Knee! Knee!”

“My lady, are you sure?” Sir Morn looked over to the spymaster. “These men have proven to be capable of cunning and subterfuge. We should not waste time and look elsewhere for your artifacts.”

Emerald looked at the Knights who say Knee and she felt a little sorry for them. They were hiding out in these foggy woods, hoping for people to pass by just so they could capture them and force them to participate in their trials. And from what their leader said, no one has ever come here and participated in their trials. That must’ve been hard for them. All they wanted was a little entertainment to liven up their boring days. As to why they continued to stay here to ambush people instead of moving to live somewhere else, Emerald didn’t know.

“If it would permanently get them off our backs and other people’s, then I agree with Lady Emerald Edge.” Sir Trotivere walked over, sheathing Fragarach. “We should at least see what these trials have to offer.”

Sir Morn looked back to the tall knight. “And do we get anything out of participating in your trials?”

The knight stroked his long moustache. “Normally we would simply award a person with their freedom once they complete our trials, at least, that was our plan if anyone were to show up. But as circumstances have… changed, we could offer you a suitable reward of… a case of shadowbanish wine? It is a specialty of our order. It allows you to see in the dark!”

“See in the dark? Really?” Sir Morn lowered his weapon.

“Oh yes, we have it so we can spot people wandering in the fog at night,” one of the Knights who say Knee said. “And besides, it tastes nice.”

“So what do you say, valiant Knights of the Round Table?” the tall knight stood back up to his full height. “Will you participate in our three perilous trials?”

Emerald shrugged. “Fine. What’s the first trial, then?”

“First!” the tall knight said loudly in his high-pitched voice. “You must journey to the forest’s edge and… plant a row of seeds!”

“Do what?” Sir Trotivere had a confused look on his face, joining Emerald and Morn.

“Planting seeds is a matter unsuited for us knights.” Sir Morn Dread sheathed Clarent. “Tis a matter for a peasant.”

“Oh please,” the tall knight begged.

Emerald looked at her fellow knights and ran her tongue around on her teeth. “And where are we to find these seeds?” she asked.

“Knee! We have them right here!” The tall knight gestured to one of the others, who stepped forward and deposited a small satchel in Emerald’s hands. She opened the bag slightly, revealing a collection of different colored and shaped seeds inside.

“And is there a preferred edge of the forest you would like these planted, or will any side do?”

“Preferably by the south. It is where you three came from.” Then the tall knight lifted an arm horizontally to his body. “Now go! The Knights who say Knee, demand your work!”

“You demand?” Sir Trotivere reached for his sword, but Sir Morn waved him down.

“Leave it, Sir Trotivere. The sooner we do this, the sooner we leave peacefully.”

“We shall return,” Emerald told the Knights who say Knee before walking off, with Sir Morn and Sir Trotivere following behind.

Finding the way back down was easy enough, just needing to see where the ground started to slope back down. Only when they returned to the edge of the forest did Sir Trotivere ask how they were going to dig into the soil without tools.

“You humans have these hands.” Emerald bent down and began scooping at the soil. “You can use them.”

“Digging the earth with our hands? Tis uncouth!” Sir Trotivere took a step back in shock. “Farming is a peasant’s work.”

“If you two don’t want to help, then just wait there.” She handed the seeds over to Sir Morn. “I shall do it.”

Sir Morn sighed and bent down to help. “While I would normally condone such actions, I cannot let a fine lady like you work on your own. I shall assist you.”

“Thank you, Sir Morn.” Emerald quickly snuck in a kiss to his cheek. “I knew I could count on your help.”

“Always,” Morn chuckled.

After digging the first three holes, Sir Trotivere decided to join in as well, though he didn’t look too happy to plunge his hands into the dirt.

“Why are we even doing this?” he complained. “There is no backfire if we were to leave now. They would never know. Perhaps in due time, we could send workers back here to help them farm.”

“Did you see the knight’s face?” Emerald smiled. These Knights who say Knee were just absolutely bored down here. They had likely been waiting for a long time for someone to wander by just so they could give them their trials. Emerald felt partially sorry for them. On the other hand, they did club her over the head. “They are under King Dawn Saber’s rule as well. We should help them.”

“Psh… Very well. But just this once, you hear me?”

In very little time, the trio had buried all the seeds, throwing a small handful into each freshly dug hole and then covering it with earth.

“Well,” Emerald said, dusting her hands on her thighs. “That’s all of the seeds planted. What’s next?”

There was a moment of silence. Then there was a shout of “Knee!” from the bushes behind Sir Morn. The tall black knight popped up, surveying the ground. “You have passed the first trial, Knights of the Round Table. Now… the second trial…” He held up two fingers. “You must journey to the village of Manehampton to the north and get… a flower! Knee!”

“A… flower?” Sir Trotivere said, tilting his head. “Surely we shan’t need to go all the way to Manehampton just to get a flower. There has got to be hundreds in the forest.”

“Not just any flower. You must get… a frostbloom! Knee!”

“Knee! Knee! Knee!” His other knights leapt out from behind various trees and bushes.

“They want us to go to a village a good distance from here.” Sir Trotivere pointed out. “We could leave whenever we want. Who is to know if we do not return here.”

“Oh, come now,” Emerald wheedled. “We are Knights of the Round Table. We must honor our agreements.”

Trotivere shrugged and looked back at the black knights. “The lady speaks the truth. Very well, let us find this frostbloom from Manehampton.”

“The town is in that direction. I shall lead.” Sir Morn pointed to the right and began walking.

Emerald walked alongside Sir Morn, glad that she at least had the chance to be with him. “What do you think they want this flower for?”

“I do not think it has any alchemical properties…” Sir Morn thought. “But then again, I am no mage. Perhaps this frostbloom has some characteristics that I am not aware of.”

Emerald wondered as to why the Knights who say Knee would want a special frostbloom specifically from this town. A town, of all places. That meant this frostbloom would likely be sold in a shop.

Finding their horses where they had left them, by a cluster of trees before the black forest, the three Knights of the Round Table set off at a brisk trot toward the town of Manehampton.

It wasn’t very far, able to be seen from where they set off at the edge of the forest. Emerald had never been there, but Sir Morn and Sir Trotivere seemed to know the place.

“Unfortunately, my lady, we have never purchased flowers before,” Morn Dread admitted. “We will have to search for such a shop.”

“No matter. It would not be too difficult.” Sir Trotivere replaced his helmet on his head. “Flowers are hard to miss, are they not?”

The spymaster nodded. Emerald knew plenty about flowers. Mostly because there were a few species of flower she enjoyed eating, but other than that, she used to watch Light Speckle mix various flowers into her potions, much like the mages did in this world.

The three knights easily arrived at the town, walking right through its low walls as townsfolk looked on at them. Emerald supposed they didn’t see a lot of knights here. She wondered how they defended their town from beasts or bandits.

At first, all they saw were vegetable carts or meat stands, with Emerald trying to hold her breakfast in after watching the man at the stand chopping the head off of a chicken.

That poor chicken…

The town looked like it was greatly in need of a rebuilding, with most of the floor being mud and dirt and a few of the cottages still sporting hay rooftops.

“Even Trottingham wasn’t this bad…” Emerald said to herself. She craned her neck, looking around for a shop that might sell a frostbloom, but there was too much fog and there were too many people to see clearly.

“We’ll never get anywhere like this,” Sir Morn said at last. “Come. Let us dismount and ask one of the villagers for directions.”

Trotivere and Emerald nodded, slipping down from their horses. Trotivere offered to stay back and watch the steeds while Emerald and Sir Morn went ahead to find someone to ask. It wasn’t long before they encountered an old woman who was swinging something at a wall.

“Is… is that a... cat?” Emerald asked hesitantly. “Why is she doing that?”

It had been a long time since Emerald had last seen a cat. She almost didn’t remember what cats were until she saw that poor creature being slammed against the wall.

“Halt! Stop!” she yelled and pulled the cat from the old woman’s grasp, gently patting it on the head. “What the hay do you think you are doing to this poor cat?!”

“What?” the old woman said grumpily, squinting up at Emerald. “Pussycat wasn’t catching as many mice as usual, so I showed him what happens to lazy cats around here!”

“And you thought beating your cat would make it work better?” Emerald said incredulously.

The old woman shrugged. “Worked for my husband. Who do you think you are, anyway? Sticking your nose where it don’t belong.”

“Pardon our intrusion.” Sir Morn bowed. “We are Knights of the Round Table of King Dawn Saber’s court. We have come to your humble village in search of a rare flower.”

“A frostbloom to be precise...” Emerald finished for him. “Do you know where your flower shops are?” She put the cat back on the ground, where it quickly scurried away back into the house with a loud meow.

The old woman’s eyes bulged as Emerald said ‘frostbloom’, shrinking back like a cornered rat with a hiss. “Who sent you?!” she asked warily.

The fury that the old woman had in her eyes was quickly replaced by one of fear.

“Over by that black forest, not too far from here.” Sir Morn pointed past the cottages. “There are a group of knights there who call themselves the Knights who say Knee. They have sent us here to collect a frostbloom for them.”

The old woman suddenly shook her head wildly. “No, no frostblooms here. You are mistaken.”

“Are you sure?” Emerald pressed. “The Knights who say Knee seemed certain there would be one here.”

“Do not say that word! It is a curse to utter such a word!” the old woman yelped.

“What, ‘here’?”

“No, not here. The other word! Saying it will bring doom to us all!”

Emerald looked to Sir Morn for advice, her brows creased in confusion. The other knight glanced back at Emerald and shrugged.

“What word? Knights? Certain? Knee-”

“That one!” the old woman gasped. “I’ll tell you anything, just don’t say that word!”

Emerald continued to watch the woman in confusion, but didn’t say anything else. She was already going to give them the information they wanted and she didn’t want to lose that chance. Still, she didn’t know what was wrong with the word. All humans had knees. Two, in fact.

They were soon pointed towards a flower shop, which wasn’t too far away. It was, of course, an almost broken stand with mushrooms growing by one of its legs. Fortunately, they didn’t need to stay long. With Sir Morn purchasing the flower for twenty bits, a little overpriced for such a small village, the three knights were soon on their way back to the black forest, with Emerald wondering just what all these trials were for.


“Yes, it is a very nice frostbloom you have brought back.” The tall knight held up the light blue flower as he inspected it. “I especially like how the tendrils curl around each other like that.”

“Yes, now that we have brought you your flower, what have we to do for our final trial?” Sir Morn Dread got to the point. It seems even he only had a limited patience for these knights’ petty tasks.

Emerald herself hoped it would be something easy and close by. At least then, they would be quickly on their way in her search for more of Star Swirl’s artifacts.

“Plant this by the tallest tree in the forest.” The tall knight handed the frostbloom to one of his minions. “Knee! And make sure it is placed nicely.”

“Knee! Knee!” the others squeaked as the chosen knight scurried off.

“And now for your third and final trial! Knee!” the tall knight said and folded his arms, earning another chorus from his black knights. “There is a hidden lake in this forest, hidden from our eyes by… shrubbery!”

“Knee! Knee! Knee!”

“And you want us to… find this lake?” Sir Trotivere asked, resting a hand on Fragarach’s pommel.

“You must find the lake… And you must bathe in it!”

“Bathe in the lake?” Sir Morn repeated. “Why?”

“It is a clean lake. You would like it, and… it makes our trial slightly harder.”

Emerald shrugged and looked to her companions. “Sounds simple, does it not?”

“Too simple,” Trotivere groused. “And yet at the same time all too hard.”

“I do not see a problem. It is simply bathing in a lake that is hidden. I could use a bath after this long journey.” Emerald sniffed at her left arm. “So where is this lake?”

“I cannot tell! But it is in this forest.” The tall knight squeezed his moustache. “But you will find it and you will bathe! Knee!”

“Perhaps it is nearer the bottom?” Sir Morn looked down over to the slope’s direction. “Water flows down, does it not?”

“Is it there or not?” Sir Trotivere asked the tall knight.

He chuckled and so did his minions. “Far from it! That is your last and final clue! It is within the forest. It it not at the forest's edge, but deep within!”

“Knee! Knee!” The other black knights began squawking.

Sir Trotivere and Sir Morn looked unimpressed.

“Very well,” Trotivere said at last. “We will search for this lake. But after we’re done with it, no more tomfoolery, understand? We are only doing these trials to ease your boredom.”

“Knee! Knee! Fine! No objections here.”

“I am,” Sir Morn muttered with a sniff, “growing tired of hearing ‘knee’.” Emerald privately agreed, but kept quiet so as not to antagonize the Knights who say Knee.

With nothing else for it, Emerald and the other two Knights of the Round Table headed off into the forest, using their swords to hack away the underbrush. Up ahead, the spaces between the tall black trees were slowly but steadily getting filled up with more brambles and bushes, some too thick to even walk through, hence their swords in hands.

Emerald figured that if the brush kept thickening, then they were going in the right directions. The Knights who say Knee did say the lake was hidden by shrubbery.

Emerald felt a cool breeze blow over her face.

“We must be getting close,” she announced. “I can feel it.”

“I feel nothing,” Trotivere said, lifting his helmet’s visor and looking around. “But I do smell water.”

“Tis the truth.” Sir Morn sniffed at the air. “Much water.”

Hacking through the last few scraps of shrubbery, the trio were treated to a view of a medium-sized lake, with clear, mirror-like water and flowers growing around its shores. There was a small island in the middle of the lake, upon which a single solitary tree grew, bigger and stronger than any other in this black forest.

“Such beauty…” Emerald breathed. “It would be an honor to bathe in such a place as this.”

Emerald’s gauntlets were quick to fall to the grassy floor, but as she began working on her chest armor, a hand stopped her.

“Lady Emerald, what are you doing?” It was Sir Morn, and for once, his cheeks were slightly colored. Emerald had never seen his face flushed before. She didn’t think it was in his person to feel embarrassed; she wondered what was making him feel so.

“Umm… You humans remove your attire to bathe, yes?” She unfastened the last of her armor’s straps and dropped it beside her gauntlets. “That is what I am doing.”

“But this is not a bathhouse!” Trotivere hissed, turning away. “Please, Lady Emerald, have some decency.”

“It’s not like I’m shaving my coat off or anything,” Emerald said with a snort.

As she peeled off her under-tunic, Sir Morn also averted his eyes.

“Look, my lady, if you want to bathe in this lake, by all means do so, but Sir Trotivere and I will keep watch by the shore. What do these knights mean by ‘bathing’ anyway. Just a quick dip in, or do they want us to linger in the lake. Either way, tis a poor strategy to drop our armor and weapons. They might ambush us once we were rid of them.”

“True,” Trotivere said, nodding in agreement. “It only makes sense for us to stay at the shore and stand guard.”

“As you say, sir knights.” Emerald bent down and removed the remainder of her clothes. “But you are indeed missing out on such clear waters.”

Emerald put one foot into the water and squeaked. It was awfully cold, much colder than the water at the bathhouse. Humans were so prone to the cold. It was one thing Emerald didn’t like about this world.

“My lady, are you faring well?” Sir Morn asked, his back and Sir Trotivere’s still facing her.

“I am. The water is just cold. I shall get used to it in time,” Emerald answered and brought her other foot into the lake.

Immersing herself fully in the waters of the lake, Emerald fought back a shiver. The lake was unusually clear, to be sure. She could see all the way to the bottom, where there were small fish foraging among the stones. She looked closer. Those were some oddly shaped white stones littering the bottom.

“Huh. I’ve never seen rocks like that before,” Emerald said to herself as she kicked out and drifted toward the central island. It felt vaguely reminiscent of her first day in this world, where she had fallen into the lake. However, without her armor to weigh her down, she felt much better about swimming, however, she found it wasn’t as easy to paddle and stay afloat with a human body. She had difficulty keeping her head above the water as she fumbled her way around the lake.

Overhead, the sun shone brightly, but it did little to alleviate the coldness of the lake waters. With a few final splashes, Emerald arrived at the tree in the middle of the lake.

“Whew,” the former pegasus huffed. “That was harder than I imagined.”

With the objective being to bathe in the lake, the former spymaster took the chance to start washing her body in the water as she looked up at the tree, spotting a small yellow bird hopping along one of the branches.

“Hello,” Emerald said, and the bird chirped back. Abruptly, there was a breath of wind and the bird wasn’t there anymore. A dark shadow streaked across the island and Emerald was shocked to behold that a large owl had caught the yellow bird, and was now in the process of swallowing it. “Hey, put that poor bird down!”

The owl paused mid-swallow, looking down at Emerald. Then it rotated its head backwards and continued eating.

Scrambling out of the water, Emerald ran over to the tree and began to scale it. “Just you wait. I will show you something when I get up there.”

Once again, her wings would’ve been much more effective here, but she had to remind herself she had lost them on her way to this world.

As Emerald put her hand on one of the higher branches, the tree seemed to shiver, the leaves shaking and loose ones falling down. The owl’s eyes bulged and it spat out the yellow bird before flying off into the forest.

“What was that?” Emerald muttered, descending from the branches now that the yellow bird was no longer being eaten. She dropped down to ground level and made her way over to the bird. It was slimy from the owl’s saliva, but a quick dip into the lake got rid of that. The yellow bird chirped in thanks to Emerald before flying away. Emerald wiped her hands on her legs before turning around to look at Sir Trotivere and Sir Morn. They were stoutly standing guard, their backs to her. She was about to call out to them when the ground shook slightly, causing her to pause and look around.

“Not another earthquake?” She looked around, but Sir Morn and Sir Trotivere didn’t seem to feel it.

Then after that came the crackling of branches, the sound a tree made when it was about to fall. Understanding, Emerald turned back to the tree, just in time to roll out of the way as a portion of the large tree came crashing down beside her, only, it wasn’t some accident. The portion that had crashed down was still attached to the main tree, but Emerald could make out four fingers, ending in sharp bark, now clawing into the dirt as it drew back towards the tree.

“What in Equestria is this?” Emerald breathed and took a step back, the back of her right foot touching the lake’s clear water.

“My lady, are you doing fine?” She heard Sir Morn call from the other side of the lake. Emerald raised an eyebrow in confusion as to why they couldn’t see the attacking tree, but she guessed they were probably still facing their backs to her.

“The tree!” she yelled out to them as a second hand emerged from against the trunk, pushing against the ground. “The tree is trying to kill me!”

“You’ll have to speak up, Lady Emerald,” Trotivere shouted, still not turning around. “For a moment is sounded like you said the tree was trying to kill you!”

“It is!”

Sir Morn and Trotivere glanced at each other. This was a difficult choice, in terms of the chivalric code. Here there was a lady in distress that by the code they were bound to aid, yet if they turned around to help, they would be looking at a naked maiden, which was also strictly against the code.

“I do not think we were trained for a situation like this…” Trotivere admitted, shuffling his feet.

Sir Morn grimaced back, his hand gripping Clarent’s hilt but not drawing it. “It is a predicament,” the knight said.

“Sir Morn! Sir Trotivere!” Emerald called again.

The tree had already pushed itself up, uprooting itself. There were two stubby legs under its trunk and the top half of it had a face carved into it, its eyes and mouth now glowing orange.

Without backup, Emerald decided to scramble back to where the other two knights were. Leaping into the water, Emerald waded through as much as she could before swapping to all fours, paddling her way back across the lake.

There was a roar behind her and the tree began lumbering towards her, its huge arms helping it walk forward.

Back at the shore, Sir Morn and Sir Trotivere were growing restless with all the noise.

“Do you suppose… we should turn around?” Sir Morn asked hesitantly.

Trotivere bit his lip. “No. We cannot risk sullying our honor as knights by laying eyes on an unclothed lady. I am sure Lady Emerald can make it back here and dress, then we will turn around.”

“Oh. All right. Tis a good plan.”

By now, Emerald was almost halfway back to the other two knights, who were standing with their backs to her with their hands on their swords. She just couldn’t understand why they weren’t trying to help her. This was simply absurd.

“Why are you two… pleh… Still standing there!” Emerald said while spitting the lake water from her mouth as she tried to keep her head above the water.

And then the tree was in the water, splashing its way through behind her. It felt dangerously close now.

“You two!” And then Emerald felt the rough bark wrap around one of her legs and in no time, she was dangling above the water, looking into the eyes of the tree monster. “I need assistance!”

“Stay here.” Sir Morn unsheathed Clarent and held it in both hands. He wasn’t going to wait around any longer.

“What are you doing?” Sir Trotivere asked, appalled. “You cannot lay eyes on Lady Emerald’s body! Tis uncivilized.”

“I shan’t have to.” Sir Morn smirked and closed his eyes. “That is why, you stay here. I shall go.”

Taking a deep breath, Sir Morn Dread focused his thoughts and exhaled. He could see it in his mind. A vague mental image of the area around himself, made of hazy colors. He could see the outline of Trotivere beside him, the calm flatness of the lake, and the eddies of wind as they tickled the grass. More importantly, he could sense the disturbed water in the lake, as well as the faint shape of Emerald and some hulking creature near her. The entire vision pulsed like a heartbeat with every breath he took. His hand fumbled on the ground for Emerald’s sword, and as soon as his fingers brushed Amore’s hilt, he drew it and raced toward the struggling Emerald, wading into the water with his armor.

“My lady!” Sir Morn shouted, keeping his eyes tightly shut. “Catch!”

And then he threw it, listening as it spun through the air towards Emerald’s scent.

He could picture her, lifting an arm, reaching for her blade. And then she caught it, instantly using it to shear off one of the creature’s fingers, cutting right through the thick appendage.

Inhaling again, Sir Morn knew Emerald fell back into the water, already swimming away from the hulking creature. Emerald had mentioned it was a tree, and the only thing he could think of was a treant, but he had yet to open his eyes to see. And he was not going to open his eyes.

“My lady, to me!” He reached out a hand towards her scent.

He could picture her still paddling as he waded out as far as he could. He could also see the treant, still walking towards them, rage emanating from it. It put a burning feeling against Morn’s tongue, but he tried his best to ignore it.

And then he felt Emerald’s hand close over his and he pulled her to him, scooping her up in both his arms and wading back to the shore as fast as he could move in the water. Emerald’s bare skin was soft in his touch, but there were more pressing issues to think about.

“Thank you, Sir Morn.” He felt Emerald run a hand down his cheek. “But why do you not just open your eyes? How can you see with your eyes closed?”

“Alas, my lady, we cannot look upon your unclothed body. It is uncouth of us to do so.” Morn smiled. “And tis no trouble. I can smell your presence and the treant’s. It still approaches.”

“You humans and your strange customs.” Emerald shook her head. When the got back to shore, Sir Morn let her go and she scrambled to get her clothes back on. At least then, the two knights would be able to see.

The former pegasus got her smallclothes and outer clothes back on before picking Amore back up. The treant, as Sir Morn said, was already upon them, lifting both arms high.

“I am ready! Eyes open!” Emerald yelled and readied her sword.

“Finally!” Sir Trotivere turned around and brandished Fragarach. “Time to do battle!”

The treant swung its arms down, but Sir Morn was already to its side, cutting at its leg. With one clean sweep, the entire leg was sheared from its trunk and it fell with a roar and a splash. Trotivere leapt out into the water and cut at its trunk, his weapon also easily cutting through the bark.

Emerald looked at her Amore and smiled. Honor Proof really made wondrous weapons. Entering combat, Emerald attacked one of the treant’s arms, slicing off two of its fingers as it reached for her again.

It bellowed to the air and then fell to the side, trying to crush Sir Morn and Sir Trotivere, but the two knights easily stepped out of the way.

“We will need to dry ourselves before moving on…” Sir Trotivere complained and stabbed his sword deep into the treant’s trunk. “What a bother. This creature’s heart is under its mouth. We must strike it to end the fight quickly!”

Emerald nodded and charged back in. She dived under one of the treant’s swings, swallowing a mouthful of water as she splashed deeper into the lake. Reemerging, she grabbed ahold of its trunk and began climbing. Morn and Trotivere assisted her from the sides, with the former grabbing one of its arms and holding it down, while Trotivere cut away at the other side of its trunk, closer to its last leg.

“Will. You. Just. Keel over. And die!” Sir Trotivere shouted, punctuating each word with a slash of his sword. “It’s heart, Lady Emerald!”

Stopping beneath its mouth, Emerald got a faceful of treant breath before drawing her sword back and thrusting it as hard as she could through the treant’s trunk. The fine steel went right through the tough bark, all the way to the hilt.

The treant roared, its mouth dripping with tree sap. It staggered backward, tried one last time to reach out to the knights before collapsing backward into the lake with an almighty splash.

Emerald emerged back up from the water and paddled back to the other two knights, who were already by the shore, shaking the water from their arms and legs.

“I am glad that this is over…” Sir Trotivere took off his helmet and tipped it upside down, pouring out water from inside. “Fantastic work, Lady Emerald. A treant is no easy opponent.”

“It wasn’t just all my work.” Emerald pulled at her ponytail and wringed it like a wet cloth. “It is thanks to you two that I was able to get close enough to finish it. But as for earlier… You knights need to rethink your priorities. I could have died there.”

“We can never lay our eyes upon a maiden’s unclothed body,” Sir Trotivere explained. “Tis simply barbaric. Only once we have married, may we do such a thing.”

“I really do not get what is the matter, clothes or no. Back in Equestria, we sometimes go around without our armor.” Emerald looked to Sir Morn. “Even you, Sir Morn?”

“Um, yes, Lady Emerald.” The knight scratched at his cheek. “You see, we are… are not married, not yet.”

“Oh. Yes… You are right.” Emerald blushed. All they were right now were lovers. By their code, even this was still not enough to see a naked body. Such self control they have.

“I suppose we have completed the third task.” Trotivere sheathed his sword. “We should tell the Knights who say Knee and finally be on our way.”

“Knee! There is no need!” The tall knight and his black knights suddenly emerged from the shrubbery around the lake. “We have seen it all! You have triumphantly succeeded in your task and have completed the Trials of the Knights who say… Knee!”

“Knee! Knee! Knee!” the others chattered.

“You were… watching?” Sir Morn stomped over to the tall knight and grabbed him by the cloak. “You dare to watch an unclothed lady bathe herself?”

The tall knight laughed nervously and looked away. “You see, she had a rather nice figure-”

Sir Morn’s fist found his face and he fell back over one of his knights. The other Knights of Knee scattered and looked at their fallen leader.

“Now, if we are done here, we would like to leave.” Sir Morn put his helmet on and folded his arms. “And you knights. You are to no longer prey upon unsuspecting travelers for your trials. Is that understood? If we find out you continue to do so, it shan’t just be a punch.”

The other black knights cowered back and nodded vigorously, followed by short bursts of, “Knee.”

Emerald smiled as the knights nodded in agreement. She loved it when Sir Morn fought for her. It made her feel… wanted and loved. It was a nice feeling.

“We shall take that wine now. As our victory reward?” Morn held out his hand towards the knights.

Dutifully, one came forward and held out the bottle of shadowbanish wine, though very hesitantly. Sir Morn, however, wasn’t hesitant in taking it.

“My thanks, good knights.” And he walked past them with a smile on his face.

“Come, let us go. We shall need to travel far for dinner.” Sir Trotivere beckoned as he stepped back into the shrubbery. “Tis a shame. I was looking forward to seeing one of your world’s artifacts, Lady Emerald.”

“I too, but at least we have dealt with a problem here.” She stepped over the tall knight’s dazed body, also looking back to the treant’s carcass. “In more ways than one.”

True, they hadn’t found an artifact or clues of more artifacts again today, but at least they would be making life easier for the humans in the area. If anything, they did a good thing today and that made Emerald happy as they proceeded back down the slope to their horses.

Today was a day of triumph.


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