The Knight

by TheStoveHater

A Trip to the Library

Celestia lay in an open meadow, the rays of the sun running over her outspread wings like liquid gold, a cool breeze ruffling her feathers and mane like the gentlest of massages. Her hair did not flow like an aurora, but simply hung from her body, ruffled only by the gentle breeze that flowed around her. She was at peace, her mind was not clouded with politics, nor the stewardship of the sun and moon, her mind was empty except for the total bliss she felt as she lay in the meadow...

"So... This is what hath been wrought from use of those stones..." A voice whispered, it was distant and Celestia tried to ignore it, focusing instead on the meadow, but she felt the wind blow a little harder as the voice spoke once more. "A sliver of thine former majesty..."

The voice seemed curious and amused as Celestia focused more on her surroundings, on the blue sky dotted with small brilliantly white clouds. "Oh? Has mine sister practiced mine own art?" The voice asked, now even fainter than before, giving Celestia a small amount of satisfaction. "The same art she ridiculed so?"

Celestia bit her lip slightly as the voice seemed to resist, no longer growing fainter with each passing second. She felt the source of the voice grow steadily closer, she forced her mind to picture the verdant meadow, filled to the brim with poppy and dandelion flowers... Yet something disrupted it... The sun seemed to dim, the wind died down to the point that it wasn't even strong enough to brush the petals of the flowers around her, and the air grew colder...

"Dearest Sister, thou forget that this is Our domain, even with a millennia of practice, thou shalt not keep Us at bay." The voice said quietly, but now very close. Wincing slightly, Celestia opened her eyes, the field she had pictured in her mind was gone, and in its place was a mockery. The poppies and dandelions that once filled the meadow were replaced by pure white moon flowers, bathed in dim beams of light from their namesake, partially hidden behind the newly formed clouds, and the wind had stopped entirely.

Standing three or four pony lengths away sat a midnight black Alicorn mare, who gazed back at her quietly, her slitted, cobalt eyes looking deep into Celestia's own rose tinted ones. "What do you want, Nightmare?" Celestia asked quietly, her lips barely moving. The black Alicorn closed her eyes and took a slow, deep breath, before speaking.

"We art glad thee still remember our name at least, Dear Sister..." The Nightmare replied quietly, her midnight blue mane shining softly in the moonlight. Celestia's ears twitched slightly at these words, watching as Nightmare slid down to her forelegs, copying her sister's position.

"You are not my sister..." Celestia whispered, barely audible despite the silence that pressed in on the two. "What do you want?" She asked again, louder, her wings starting to ruffle in irritation.

"Thou truly still believe that? That the one who now sits before thee is not thine sister? We had hoped thee had changed in a thousand years..." Nightmare said quietly, her eyes dropping to the ground at her hooves.

"My sister is Luna... Not... You... You are a tool that we were forced to use, a parasite that refused to disappear when it were no longer needed." Celestia hissed, trying to bore holes into the other Alicorn's head with her rose colored eyes.

For a moment nothing happened, Celestia continued to stare at the dark Alicorn, her eyes like embers trying to ignite the alicorn across from her. Then quietly, almost sadly, Nightmare spoke.

"Thou really have not changed have thee, Day Breaker?" Nightmare whispered, her hair slowly turning to stars and her wings hugging tightly to her side, as she slowly climbed back to her hooves.

Celestia's eyes narrowed and she stood with Nightmare, gritting her teeth. "I told you to never call me that again. That name is not mine, that thing was not who I truly am! I cast it off, why couldn't you!?" She shouted, stomping her hoof and crushing the pearly flowers underneath.

Nightmare stood, her mane and tail moving like a calm ocean of stars, pushed by an unknown force, the stars shining and blinking in the dim moonlight. "Fine... If thee shall not accept Us as We are... The next we meet Celestia, know that thou shalt not find Us as amicable as We art now..." Nightmare said quietly, her voice sounding almost sad as she stared back, slowly fading from Celestia's dream. "Fair thee well, shell of sister mine... We shall see thee on the morrow." Nightmare whispered before fading entirely, leaving only a single large flower in her place.

In the span of a blink, the meadow returned to its former glory, but Celestia did not notice this, for she once again lay upon the ground, tears slowly sliding down her muzzle as she stared at the only hint that Nightmare had been there, a large moon flower seemingly still bathed in moonlight...

_______________________________________________

Celestia's eyes snapped open and she shot up from her bed, her breathing heavy and ragged. She stared into the dark corners of the room, expecting at any moment to be attacked... On instinct Celestia tried to turn on the lights with her magic, only to wince and bring a hoof to her temple, luckily she didn't get another headache, but magic was out of the question for now. Sighing softly Celestia rubbed her eyes, only to pause as she notices the tracks of wet fur. Before she can ponder further a knock echoes through the room, causing her to freeze for a moment, her mind flashing back to her dream, shaking her head and slowly taking a deep breath Celestia climbed from her bed.

Hurriedly wiping her face clean with a nearby blanket, Celestia took another deep breath and walked towards the door. Instinctively knowing where everything in her room, most importantly the light switch, Celestia flicked it on carefully and blinked a few times, letting her eyes adjust before cracking the door open a little. "Yes...?"

"Princess! you're alright!" Came an excited voice, before Celestia knew it a small purple body had pushed the door open and wrapped itself around her forelegs. "Oh we were so worried! The guards said you stayed in your room all day, well, night, but you know what I mean!"

With a shaky sigh Celestia sat down, looking down at the beaming face of her Student, just seeing her lifted some of the exhaustion from Celestia's shoulders, giving her the energy to smile in turn. "Yes my Dear Student, unharmed, but very, very, very tired..." Celestia hoped Twilight would get the hint, but instead she simply nodded and stepped back, blushing lightly at her brash hug, standing in front of her mentor.

"That's what all the guards said, but I REALLLLY need your help, so I snuck past them! I need to check out a book, well several, but the Librarian won't let me!" She says hurriedly with a slightly embarrassed but hopeful smile.

Celestia stared down at her student for a moment, watching the hopeful comparatively little filly flicker between happiness at seeing her mentor and worry that she might be reprimanded. Finally a quiet giggle escaped the Solar Princess, and picking Twilight up in her forelegs she hugged her close, laughing as she held the innocent mare to her chest. "Oh Twilight how I have missed you."

Twilight squirms with wide eyes and a red face, looking up at her mentor. "But Princess, I've only been gone for two days at most! Although without the sun rising it is a tad difficult to tell..."

Chuckling softly Celestia sets her student down, gently tapping her hoof against Twilight's nose she opens the door fully, waving her forward. "Come Dearest Student, let us see about these books you want to check out. I'm sure it's nothing to worry about."

Getting back to her hooves Celestia and Twilight made their way down the staircase, Twilight glancing up at her mentor every few seconds and chewing on her lip. Celestia, not having the the patience to wait for Twilight to speak up, spoke first "Is there something you want to ask Twilight...? ...Is it about Nightmare Moon?" Twilight immediately looked away, not realizing she had been so obvious.

Gulping softly Twilight looked back up at her Mentor, seeing no signs of anger or disappointment, only a tired resolve, she spoke. "Princess... Did you know she was coming back? A-and if you did why couldn't you tell me? I could have missed that story book completely, or, or have been more prepared!" Twilight winced, realizing she had raised her voice slightly.

Nodding, Celestia draped a wing over her students back in reassurance before speaking. "Yes... But if I had informed you before hoof, do you think you would have been more focused on Her eminent return rather than making friends? Would you not have insisted on staying at the library, or with me, until she returned?"

Twilight thought for a moment, before nodding slowly. "I suppose that... Without my friends we wouldn't have been able to banish her back to the moon at all, much less defeat her for now..." Celestia held back a wince at the moon comment, but simply nodded. "Is she really your Sister, Princess? Was she really a Princess like you?"

This time Celestia did wince, stopping in the middle of the hallway before taking a deep breath and continuing. "That question is... complicated... Nightmare Moon is not my Sister, but the mare that lies underneath all of that darkness is. Her name was Luna, and yes, she ruled alongside me over a thousand years ago... My hope is that the elements will cleanse her of the Nightmare rather than simply send her back to the moon..."

"But how do you know the Elements will Cleanse her?" Twilight asked, her scientific mind piqued.

Celestia thought for a moment before speaking, trying to put over a thousand years of study of the elements in as simple terms as possible. "The elements are strange, truly ancient artifacts, predating even my own birth. But they do have a set of rules, they cannot kill, not truly, and they gather power primarily from their wielders strongest emotions, or in times of desperation, the wielders magic itself. The more stable and the more power, the better. How it decides what punishments or effects it has on others is still rather... Unknown, due to ah... Lack of proper test subjects..."

"But with the right amount of power it can accomplish amazing feats, but when I used them to banish the Nightmare I was forced to draw partially from my own magic, as unfortunately the emotions available to draw from were rather... Erratic at the time..." Celestia finished with a whisper, her ears drooping and her eyes staring into the floor.

Taking a deep breath Celestia shook her head, standing tall again, she had had a thousand years to mourn her Sister's betrayal, it may still hurt, but it would not keep her from continuing. "Even so the Elements managed to banish her to the moon, as I said the Elements never truly kill, only contain or banish depending on the amount of power its wielders can supply. I think with enough power you and your friends can cleanse Nightmare from my Sister... The creature I mentioned before is the only reason she was not cleansed when you used the elements on her the first time..."

Twilight's did not speak as she digested this information, chewing on her lip. After a minute of silence they turned a corner, the large doors to the castle's library stood shut, guarded by no less than four guards from the castle's personal barracks, moving quickly and with precise steps the guards stepped aside and opened the doors for the two, saluting as Celestia walked past.

The library was one of the first rooms to be created when the basis of the castle was constructed, as such it technically had more space than even the throne room. Although due to most of this room being taken up by shelves that seemed to stretch endlessly away from the doors, desks, and reading areas, a pony would be unable to tell just how big it was by comparison unless they attempted to map it out.

Upon stepping inside Twilight took the lead, quickly trotting towards a table where, along with a large stack of books, sat Twilight's new friends, all chatting happily amongst themselves. Pausing for a moment Celestia reflected, watching as Twilight started to tell them what had happened and what Celestia had told her. Twilight had been quite a bit calmer than what was typical, and seeing how easily she slid into conversation with these mares, and how they openly accepted anything she said with the utmost trust, as if they had been friends for years rather then less than a week, set Celestia's mind at ease. Twilight had a brilliant mind, but one often marred by anxiety and nervousness, if these new friends of hers were her rocks, then the only advice she could truly give Twilight was to trust in them...

Turning away Celestia walked over to the Librarians desk, sitting she very gently tapped the bell, resulting in a soft bang and an even softer curse sounding from the slightly ajar door behind the desk. A moment later an older, probably in her late 50s at best and early 60s at worst, Thestral, one known as Midnight Star, stumbled out. She had a graying mane that had once been a deep shade of blue, and eyes that were uncharacteristically pink, an oddity among her kind, hiddben behind a pair of thick reading glasses which were balanced precariously upon her nose. "Miss Sparkle I told you, without direct confirmation from the Princess I cannot-" The mare froze, her mouth agape as she looked up at the still tired, but awake Princess. "Y-Your Majesty!"

Quickly bowing the Librarian popped back up, her wings hidden beneath a dark purple sweater, twitched nervously. "A-are you here to approve of the books Miss Sparkle wanted your Majesty...?" The mare quietly lifted a stack of rather thick books, all of them clearly being hundreds of years old, if not older, and in remarkably good condition, which is to say they might still be readable. "Princess I know you say to give her any book she requires, but these books are from the most restricted areas of the Library, I'm not even sure how she found them! And their content... Lets simply say that it was written when the idea of 'peace' as we know it was considered the insane ramblings of a Mad Mare..." The thestral mare looked up at her imploringly, gently laying out each book in front of her.

Celestia looked down at the books, their covers cracked and faded, she was only able to make out the title of a single one... The Massacre at Jǫrmun... Celestia slowly nodded in agreement, glancing over at the happily chatting group of ponies. On one hoof... This book, along with with the other three, if her memory served her correctly, would undoubtedly scare them, maybe to the point of inaction... On the other hoof, they must understand the severity of the situation should they encounter that creature again... Making up her mind Celestia nodded to her librarian. "Please place these with the rest of the books from the old castle, sadly this is a story I must tell personally..."

Turning away Celestia walked slowly to the table of waiting mares, trying to think of a 'gentle' way to tell a story about hatred and violence on a scale unseen for over a millennia and a half...

Author's Note:

It's Back! Apologies for the delay. I'm lazy, next chapter is coming! Eventually

Please ask any questions you may have, point out any story flaws, etc, along with grammar and spelling errors.

I know, the Canterlot Library (as for as I know) isn't actually in Canterlot castle, much less a short monologue away from Celestia's own rooms. Good thing this isn't that library! This one is supposed to be a combination of Celestia's personal library that she's collected over the years (hence why its massive) and a lot of the books from the original castle. Imagine it like a combination of the layout of the Starswirl Wing, with the sitting area of the Canterlot Archives.

Comments

[PuppetXMaster]

since it's been so long mind giving a recap of all the important things that have happened? like why Luna is on the moon again but for some reason, Celestia thinks the elements can cure her...

also i like the idea that the nightmare version of both of them are their war masks

[TheStoveHater]

9101412
Woops! I worded it improperly, shes not on the moon atm, just in hiding. I can see how the wording makes it sound like they sent her back, ill fix it

[TheStoveHater]

9101412
Hows it sound now?

[PuppetXMaster]

9102264
much better, a small bit of wording can go a long way it seems, also this has been bothering me for a small bit now, why is the knight's normal personality still sane? it's like he's just recently been possed or something, you'd think, after all the years inside that suit and in the backseat of his own mind, he'd have changed, also this is another thing, even when fighting beside someone you hate, war brings people together, sure the knight is possessing him, but when the knight was fighting for his very life (in the past) the normal guy would grow somewhat attached, as the knight is in a way defending him, and is the only companion he has, you could almost say he would have Stockholm syndrome by now...but no, he's completely normal (just a little strange by human standards)

[TheStoveHater]

9102811
I'm afraid answering that would be a bit of a Spoiler. But if you REALLY wanna know (as its probably not going to be said outright) read below. But if you're talking about the starting portion of some chapters, those are actually just flashbacks.

The Knight is actually a single soul split in half, the side that is not always yelling and angry is the original souls Militant, bloodthirsty, rage filled, soldier side, so emotions like happiness, love and (to an extent) independent thought, are non existent to that side, hence why he occasionally comes off as stupid and insane. While the other is his happier, more imaginative, but also scared, less stable side, swinging from terrified to joyful (and vice versa) on occasion. The reason the angry side of the soul cant grow to like the other is because he literally cannot grow closer to him. Imagine their relationship like "I HATE EVERYTHING (except Queen Nightmare) BUT I HATE YOU SLIGHTLY LESS" as the Militant side can see the advantages his imaginative side has, without openly admitting it.

[PuppetXMaster]

9103193
angry and bloodthirsty people are the most passionate, as they need to be very emotional to be bloodthirsty so that kinda goes against itself, but I think I get what you mean, although he came off more silly rather than no nonsense....might need to think of that in the future

[TheStoveHater]

9103319
I'm not saying hes not emotional, im saying his emotion are focused solely on certain ones. Also unfortunately yes hes going to continue coming off as silly as I reeaaalllly dont wanna make this story too violent (got my fill of Violence in my other fanfic, Gigantomachy), I thought about letting him go ham, but imo it would be a bit too much.

[PuppetXMaster]

9103774
I can understand that, but if your going to give him a violent past (such as what those books imply) then it will clash, like this other story I'm reading, you can't imply what someone is like but then never give any examples of that behaviour, this one guy in that other story is described as a psychopath that enjoys killing people, yet there are no examples to back this up, there are actually most examples refuting this rather than backing it up, my point is if you give a character a reputation (or at least imply they have this reputation) but then write them in a way that doesn't relate to that reputation, you'll get someone people not fully enjoying the character (i wrote this just before going to bed, pls ignore any spellings mistakes or the like)

[TheStoveHater]

9103848
That IS true... Ill have to think about that some more, I don't really want anyone to die tbh, but we shall see.