Eternal Knight

by Metroid Prime

Chapter 5: Secrets

Smokey Mountains

Daring Do wandered through the temple corridors of an ancient ruin. She did her best to maneuver her way through to the center, wondering why it had taken her this long to finally decide to visit.

The reason why she had never came here before was not because she did not have the resources and acquaintances to do so, but because she didn't find what laid within to be of priority. It was probably on the bottom half list of places she tried to visit. On a whim she decided to got to this place anyway.

The explorer had to go through a few more booby traps before she came to the room which contained what she was looking for. Resting on a pedestal was a rectangular brown plate. It bore no inscriptions to the naked eye, but Daring knew that every relic held a secret.

The Pegasus smiled as she got closer to her prize. According to her informant, this place was rumored to be built by humans long ago, but no one could say for sure as the architecture of this place did not bare any signs that it was built by Romans.

Daring reached the pedestal and carefully removed the plate and replaced it with a premade replica that would fool that trap into thinking it was still there(and mostly because the last time she tried using sand trick, she had to escape a rolling boulder). Looking over the relic, Daring began to ponder for a moment.

"Wonder who made you? And why did they leave you behind?"

Deciding to observe the plate later, Daring put it in her bag and then started to walk out of the room.

However, the Pegasus suddenly heard footsteps. Heavy footsteps. Reacting quickly, she hid in the darkness of the ceiling and waited. A few moments passed by and nothing came through the door, a few more and the walking stopped. Daring waited patiently for something to come through her door, but nothing happened. The sound of footsteps then came back, but this time it sounded like they were walking away, they became softer and softer until she could hear no more.

Daring waited a good full minute before letting out a sigh.

Then all of a sudden an invisible force grabbed her by the neck and slammed her to the floor.

Daring was dazed for a moment bore for her vision cleared, and once it did, she wish it hadn't

The figure that held her was a humanoid in dark armor. A red glow coming from the eyes of its helmet.

"No, nonononono!" the Pegasus's mind raced "Of all the people in the world, why this thing!" Daring knew all too well who she was at there mercy of. While Equestria was still trying to identify what attacked Princess Celestia, it took one description and a witnesses drawing to identify that this guy was the Black Knight of myth. A old mare's tale meant to scare foals into behaving.

As the knight lifted her up into the air, the Daring knew that their was literally no way out of this. Anything that could take down the Princess Celestia was sure to show her the same mercy it has shown her guards.

"Well Velvet, looks like you can now keep Flare all to yourself." she closed her eyes and waited for the end to come.

But instead, she felt a hand go into her bag and pull something out.

The hand around her neck opened and she dropped to the floor. After coughing and taking some deep breaths, she opened her eyes to see the knight standing over her with the plate in its hand.

The knight looked at Daring, the plate and back to Daring again.

The explorer looked at the armored being, noticing how she couldn't making out anything about this guy. It was as if everything about it was concealed.

Before she could say or do anything, the knight then bolted from where it was, running into and througha wall, then another on, and another one, and another...

Once the noise of smashing walls stopped, Daring looked to see sunlight pouring into the ruins as several holes made conveniently connected the outside to the center of the ruin.

---

Gilgamesh was.....a complex individual. For someone who is humanity's oldest hero, he held himself to high esteem and never considered anyone's opinions and only valued himself and his many treasures.

So it would go without saying that he also had little respect for the gods of the world he was currently in. Despite the many divine beings roaming this kingdom that was called Equestria that would destroy anyone who crossed them, it was to reverse when it came to the King of Heroes.

The (former)ruler of Uruk walked through the Canterlot shopping district wearing his signature golden underwear and open black jacket(minus a shirt) in the daylight of Celestia's sun. The rays gleamed off him as the nearby residents noticed him and were drawing gazes upon the king.

Normally, Gilgamesh would ask those with curious eyes who gave them permission to look upon him, because while he considered everyone else beneath him, akin to mongrel dogs, he saw horses as even more inferior and dumb.

However, the insistence of his master stayed his hand. As much as he did not like being told what to do by anyone, he acknowledged the wisdom in not drawing the ire of the goddess that ruled this city for entertaining himself.

While his master was busy with his machinations, the King of Heroes was taking some personal time to himself. He had decided to see just how the mongrels of this country lived their lives.

"Spread the light of Princess Celestia! Our benevolent goddess who loves and watches over us all!"

Gilgamesh turned to the noise to see a unicorn mare dressed in a blue robe and had held a staff while wearing a sun necklace. She was accompanied by two other ponies in similar attire.

"Our great ruler was viciously attacked by a monstrous fiend. She needs your support by spreading her word and showing how we will not waver in the face of adversity!"

"Ah, this day may be amusing after all."

The heroic spirit walked up to the trio of ponies, who took notice of his presence.

"Greetings human! Have you come to hear about the wise words of Celestia from her blessed priestess?"

"Actually I have come to inquire about your ruler." Gilgamesh said with a hint of sarcasm.

"Oh so you are not around here? You must be if you have never known about the greatness of Princess Celestia."

"You could say that."

One of the other priestess stepped forward, "Well what do you wish to know?"

"I ask, if this Celestia is undisputedly your ruler, then why does she not identify herself as a queen?"

All three ponies looked like they were just slapped in the face, and at the same time, every other pony who heard him say the the word “Queen” stopped what they were doing at looked at Gilgamesh with a similar expression.

The main priestess regained her composure and put on her friendly smile(although it was clear what he said had an effect on her).

"Well good sir, you see the last queen we had was a bloodthirsty tyrant who was so vile and repulsive, she essentially made the name queen and even kings to be very resented, so that's why ponies here to not identify as a queens and kings. It is heresy to call Princess Celestia a queen."

"So because of the actions of one, you cast aside the names king and queen as insults and heresy?"

"Yes."

A silence fell upon the area as the priestess (and the crowd that had assembled) waited for Gilgamesh's response.

"You are wrong."

Everyone gasped.

"A King and Queen are the highest authority in the land. To identify as something lesser shows how you cannot truly grasp the concept of ruling."

At this point the Priestess right eye was twitching, "Excuse me, good sir I'm not making any accusations here, but are you implying that our Princess Celestia, our immortal goddess and leader, is unfit to rule?"

Gilgamesh's face betrayed no emotions to her voices hint of instability.

"Well, if you think about it, anyone who could be brought down by a lowly mongrel such as the one who attacked your so called Princess-"

The priestess gripped her staff tighter.

"-is someone lacks the capability of being one."

The entire area went silent the second Gilgamesh finished his sentence, at which point the priestess look on her face was absolute fury.

"Who the hell does this human think he is insulting our princess like that! Forget the who, he's a dead man!"

"Y-you, you dare speak such blasphemy about our glorious Princess Celestia!? I shall see you burn for your blasphemy!"

As uproar of agreement came from the crowd, the priestess staff glowed with heat as she prepared to strike the heretic.

But before she could, she felt something fly past her ear and impale itself in the ground next to her.

Looking down she saw a decorated sword with almost the entirety of its blade in the ground, the amount of force needed to put it that deep was scary. Looking up she saw a rippling golden portal rip next to the human's head and his hand was in a position as if he had just made a gesture.

"While I normally respond to threats with death, and considering you just raised your hand at a king," Gilgamesh spoke as the mare took a step back as she saw another sword poke its hilt out of the portal. "I will allow you to live since you gave me some modicum of entertainment."

With a wave of his hand, the portal disappeared and the sword that was in the ground vanished in a golden light.

Gilgamesh then turned his head as if to adjust the crowd.

"You mongrels, be grateful for this mare right here. She is the reason I have decided not to level your city today."

Once he was done speaking, everyone watched as he too disappeared in a shine of golden particles.

---

Baron Insight looked up from the object he was studying as he heard a knock on the door. Once he got up and opened it, he found a mare in a cloak standing there.

"Ah it's you."

The mare made her way inside and once Baron closed the door, he locked it and looked outside the window.

"Is somebody following you, cause you look like you're in a rush."

The mare took of the hood to reveal a tan Pegasus.

"Nope," Daring Do began. "But I did need to speak with you about something important.

Once the two sat down and Daring explained her story, Baron was left rubbing his chin.

"Well, this is intriguing."

"Yeah, I thought I was a goner but it just let me go and took the relic with it."

"Yes, well let's see if we can make sense of this. Do you have any idea what that relic was?"

"Not really. Rumor has it that it contains the power of the earth but can only be properly used by a creature of the earth."

"Is that all?"

"Other than the fact that the place I found it in was built by humans, I don't know."

"Ah, so it was a Roman relic?"

"No, the place didn't look very Roman like. It looked more ancient than that. Plus, the Romans never got that far in Equestria to build that place and no one would notice."

Baron's face then became even more interested. "Not of Roman build, you say?"

"Yeah, Daring nodded. “That's what I was told, but nothing other than that."

The middle aged stallion got up from his seat, "Come with me."

Daring followed him to his study office where she saw him rummage through his desk.

"There are only a few ponies in the world who believe this myth." Baron then pulled out a key from a hidden compartment in his drawer. "And even fewer who have some pieces of evidence."

The two then went downstairs to a basement then was full of old papers and chests. Going to a bookshelf, Baron removed a book and pressed a hidden button behind it. Some gears and hidden mechanisms were heard before a section of the wall moved away to reveal a box. Taking it out the box, Baron set it down before opening it with the key. Inside was a number of papers and drawings.

He handed a paper to Daring while saying, "Tell me how much do you know about the reign of Queen Majesty?"

Daring narrowed her eyes at the mention of her name. "Only that she was the most hated pony in Equestria. How she subjugated and attacked anything that didn't fit into her perfect world."

"Do you recall her invasion of the Folkland islands?"

"Yes, she Invaded and conquered them and is the reason we still have tensions with the Romans today."

"Indeed, but do you ever wonder why she never wiped them out."

"Its because she didn't see them as a threat, right?"

"Exactly," Baron then held up another drawing "Or so many would believe."

Daring looked out the paper. It seemed to be a drawing of a group of humans as well as some strange looking creatures.

"The Romans say they are from another world, having migrated here thousands of years ago. But they weren't the only ones."

Now it was Daring's turn to be intrigued. "What do you mean?"

"Well the story goes like this, a group of humans one day mysteriously appeared on this world. Like the Romans and yet at the same time not like them, they claimed to be colonists from another world, and they were seeking to stake their flag on this land and expand their Kingdom. But Queen Majesty did not like this, another species just coming and settling her land like they owned the place, and she did what she did best."

"Conversion."

"Well not really. For some reason, the effects of the conversion potion did not work on this group of humans, which only fueled Majesty's hatred of them."

"Wow, I heard that no one was immune to the effects of the potion."

"They were. So instead of converting them, she just killed them all. But she did not destroy what they made."

"Why?"

"The humans brought something with them, something that would help her strike down the gods and let her rule the world."

"What was it?"

Baron looked her dead in the eye, "Eternium"

Daring's heart nearly stopped, "Eternium!?"

"Yes, the impossible metal that is capable to slaying gods and goddess now matter their power, origin, importance, or role. A metal so deadly that it won't just kill someone, it will end them. No revive, regeneration or resurrection. Your soul will simply go to whatever afterlife it deserves and stay there. The metal embodies the truth that we all have to die sometime."

Daring was trying to process all this, but found the mind to speak again, "These humans seriously had that stuff!?"

"My dear Daring, where do you think we first heard about it? Those humans were the reason gods started whispering about it in their nightmares."

"W-Wow, this is just...Eternium? That stuff is so rare it's virtually nonexistent. I hear that whenever somebody claims that they found the stuff, they get a visit from the gods, and are never heard from again."

"Can you blame them? This stuff can be used as a weapon to wage war against divine beings. Imagine what would happen if some Nightmare Cultist or Chaos Wacko got their hooves on that stuff. I'm pretty sure Princess Celestia would be six feet under. That's why they want to destroy every piece that they find."

"Well, even though this is all mind blowing, what does this have to do with the Black Knight? How is he connected to all this?"

"I'm not entirely sure, but I do have a theory."

"Which is?"

"Before your encounter with our dark friend in those ruins, I read in the newspaper that the Olympian Crystal was stolen from the Los Pegasus Museum of History, and according to security crystal footage. The Black Knight was the thief."

"Wait, the Olympian Crystal? Wasn’t that thing just a dud?"

"Yes, and no. Remember that it was said to be made by human heretics, key word Human."

Daring soon understood the connection, "Dear sweet Celestia."

"Now we both know that the crystal itself is dud, but nopony said anything about the distinct metal band it was encased in."

"Which means...that thing now has the power to slay the gods."

"Indeed, and considering what it did to Celestia..." The stallion shivered, “I don’t really want to think about it.”

"And then it stole that plate. That can't be a coincidence."

"Yes, Daring. Whatever this thing is it knows something about that ancient human civilization. And from the looks of it, it seems it is trying to gather everything related to it."

"Yeah, but one thing still doesn't make sense. Why would it steal a ton of power gems, what does it need that for?"

"Don't know."

"Well, we can't keep this to ourselves. We need to tell Princess Celestia."

"Already on it."

---

Berserker walked into the room of the Entity and held out the plate that he was sent to get.

"Master, I have retrieved the relic that you asked."

"Ah yes, thank you." The Entity took it and then put it in a vault along with the piece of Eternium.

"There are only a few more relics left on this world to recover and we shall be ready to go home."

"Am I to assume that the power gems are working?"

"Yes, I have regained enough strength that my power is starting to regenerate on my own. I will have enough energy to open a breach and deal with any resistance we may encounter."

"Master, if I may ask a question."

"Go ahead."

"How is it that you became trapped down here? If you are truly what you say you are, then surely nothing save an army of gods could bring you down."

"And that Berserker is where you correct."

"Pardon?"

"When I brought the humans to this planet they didn't exactly get along with the natives as well as I hoped, not to mention that the Eternium I brought with me did not sit well with the gods of this world. To know that such a metal could slay them all, and that I had brought so much with me."

"What happened?"

"The former ruler of this land, Queen Majesty I believe her name was, she rallied the other more fearful gods at that time into attacking me. Of course I easily saw through her deception. She planned to use the Eternium to kill the gods herself once they were weakened from their battle with me. Explaining this to my attackers would do no good. I was the immediate threat to them. Now left with little options, I hid myself away down here, creating a seal that would mask my presence from the world and putting myself into a deep slumber while I healed my wounds. But as you can see, I built my hiding place a little too well."

"You trapped yourself, in your own haste."

"That is why I need you Beserker, you are the only one who can free me and find these relics that we can't leave behind. I don't trust these natives to not use them against us should they seek revenge for my actions in the past, and present."

---

The next day

Sunset and Spike walked off the train and into the town that they had set off to.

Spike looked around the place, the village looking like a generic version of Ponyville, "So this is the place, huh? Shion Village. Looks better in the description."

"Yes, if there is anyplace that can tell us more about the Black Knight, this place certainly fits the bill."

"Well let's not stay here for too long."

"Yeah, Yeah, I read all about how their are some Discordian Cultists seen in the area. We'll be fine."

"Are you sure? I heard ponies saying they saw a Destructicorn and a few Smashers with them."

"I'll be sure to tell them that I took on a freaking dragon when I see them."

"Okay, just saying."

As they began to walk through town Sunset noticed a human who walked passed them. He wore armor and had a smile on his face that gave off an odd sensation.

"Sunset, you okay?"

"Yeah, its just, was that guy staring at us?"

"What guy?"

"The human, the one with the-" Sunset looked back but when she did, the human was nowhere to be seen.

Meanwhile on a clifftop overlooking the villages, a very unusual looking pony stood. Its body was split into two colors down the middle as well as its head, or rather heads, each sporting a single eye.

"She has arrived," The two heads said telepathically.

Then, another pony walked up next to them. His primary colors were black and red, and sported a horn and wings, the markings of an Alicorn.

"So you both are sure, Princess Sunset Shimmer is down there?"

"Yes"

"Good, it's about time you two stopped arguing for once and predicted something we can work with."

A bunch of other "ponies" soon came into view, some of them wearing ragged and mismatched clothes while others came jumping on pogo sticks. Others ponies included those whose lower half had been replaced with a unicycle and their front limbs traded for sharp blades and scythes, the rest looked like they were undead or had been mutilated. In the air where flying serpents with wings and birds who were growing needles out of there own bodies.

"General Mismatch, the Fates have confirmed it. Princess Sunset Shimmer has arrived."

Another figure them walked passed him. Floating by his side was an eight pointed mirror with a smile on its face that would make any normal pony go insane. His master was somepony who had a goat's head, four limbs that looked nothing like the other, and a dragon's tail.

"Good, once we kill her and her dragon brother, we will have dealt a great blow to Princess Celestia, and be one step closer to bringing about the return of our one true lord and master of Chaos!"

A cry of approval came from the assembled army of Discord’s followers.

---

Princess Celestia walked to her throne room with Fervent and Chief walking by her side.

"So," Celestia asked Fervent. "Where are we on finding the Black Knight?"

"Unfortunately your highness, next to nowhere. Our best scholars have come with up with nothing that we know already from the myths and stories."

"Still, you can't blame them, who would have thought that the Black Knight was actually real!?" Chief said intriguingly.

"I think we should be less concerned with its confirmed existence and more adept about ending said existence." Fervent said with an annoyed voice.

"Wow, someone's a killjoy."

Fervent almost wanted to go over there and strangle the Chaos cultist. "Listen here you immature dolt! Princess Celestia herself was attacked and humiliated in her own castle, we should not rest until that thing is rotting in Tartarus. It will not escape justice!"

"Fervent that's enough." Despite the calm manner in which Celestia said that sentence it had the effect of a shout, which in turn made Fervent a bit guilty the he had upset his princess.

Celestia let out a mental sigh. While Chief and Fervent did argue a lot, it was mostly Fervent who started the argument, which was why she spent more time trying to reel him in.

"We shall find the Knight and it will answer for its crimes."

The trio opened the throne room doors and walked inside, "But only until we work with a calm clear mind can we solve the issue the before us."

"Are you sure about that?" A voice said.

All three pair ponies looked up(in great shock) to see the owner of the voice, who just so happened to be sitting in Princess Celestia's throne.

The perpetrator was a blonde haired human with red eyes and adorned in golden armor. Despite the fact that he was sitting in someone else's throne, some would argue that it suited him greatly.

"Cause it seems you mongrels can't even solve the the issue of your dynamic."

Author's Note:

I feel like a High Inquisitor is about the be very triggered..

Comments

[Mr cold ghost]

An update at last! Thank you sir! Also I find the bit of TCB mixed in here very interstating. I would love to read more on how humans work and behave in this world. I hope that there will be more stories that show humans in this verse.

[Mkchief34]

That part at the end was EPIC.

Nice update, Prime.

[That Sun Praising Author]

Heresy detected, purge in the name of the emperor of man!

[NobodieZ]

Gilgamesh is an @$$!