Knight of Equestria - On Distant Shores

by SupraMacPringles

Chapter 32: The Wanderer Returns

Twilight Sparkle awoke bright and early the next day to prepare for the trip to Canterlot. As she and Spike went about their morning routines, she made her way downstairs to find Matthew Nabal asleep with a book in his lap as well as a large pile next to him. She peeked down at what he was reading. It was a book documenting mysterious disappearances, and the orange pony on the page was described as a 'popular street artist' from nearly sixty years ago.

After he got home yesterday, he shakily told Twilight about the events that took place after he left with The Doctor. Though it was hard to believe at first, she had never seen the human so shaken up. He spoke of an orange, guitar playing pony who gave his life for the other prisoners there to escape. She recalled Matt saying everyone was snatched from different points in time, and she deduced he was searching for his friend, probably all night.

She gently nudged him. "Matt? Wake up, we have to get ready." she said softly.

His eyes opened quickly, glaring forward until he noticed Twilight. His glare softened quickly. "Right." was all he said.

He snapped the book closed and placed it on the same pile next to him. He stood up, stretched, then went to his room for a change of clothes.

…...

After a short while, she, Spike and Matt were at the train station awaiting the other members of their group. Matt had barely said a word to her since they left, but she kept trying to start a conversation.

"I know you aren't really a morning person, Matt. I hope you aren't too groggy." she said.

"Could do with a coffee. Didn't get much sleep." he replied.

She wanted ask why, but she already knew and didn't want to bring up such a tender subject.

Thankfully, the silence was broken by Spike. "Look, there's Rarity!" he exclaimed.

Sure enough, Rarity, as well as a large luggage bag, was making her way to the station. "Good morning, everypony!" she said.

Everyone greeted her and she seemed to notice the state Matt was in. "Matthew, darling, are you alright? You look so... drained." she said.

Matt tried his best to smile. "You could say that. But I'll be fine." he replied.

Rarity nudged Twilight. "Have you made any progress?" she whispered. Twilight blushed but didn't get a chance to respond, as if Rarity had read her mind. "Ooh, you'll have to tell me the details later!" she said excitedly.

"Howdy y'all!" they heard from the opposite direction as Applejack briskly trotted over to join them.

"Good morning, Applejack." Twilight responded. "Have you seen the others? They seem to be running late."

"Now that you mention it, I haven't. Although when I spoke to Rainbow Dash yesterday she said something about not coming." Applejack replied.

Matt's expression soured, knowing he was probably the reason.

"But... This is important!" Twilight said. "Has anypony seen Pinkie Pie or Fluttershy?" she inquired.

"I'm already here!" Pinkie Pie said, suddenly being among the group.

No one bothered to question how that was even possible, or ask when she got there.

Rarity squinted and looked skyward. "Look, there they are!" she said, spotting the two pegasi en-route to their location.

Fluttershy smiled when she saw the group, but Rainbow Dash didn't even look at them. She looked quite upset. As they landed, they both greeted the group.

"Sorry we're late everypony." Fluttershy said softly. "Rainbow had something she needed to talk to me about."

As Fluttershy explained, Matt locked eyes with Rainbow Dash who quickly looked away angrily. He sighed a defeated sigh, and began to board the train silently. He took a seat in the back of the car and leaned his head against the glass of the window. He thought back to the last time he was on a train, when traveling with The Doctor, Vinyl, Octavia, Lyra and Bon-bon. He thought of the music festival they crashed, he thought of the island they were stranded on. He thought about the prison he and The Doctor were held in for three days. He wondered if he would see any of his fellow 'performers' ever again. He had no way of knowing when they were returned to.

As he was lost in thought, his friends also began to board the train. Twilight spotted him in the back and came to join him. "Do you mind if I sit here?" she asked.

His train of thought was derailed. As he looked at her. "Of course not." he said, patting the seat next to him as an invitation. He then propped open the window to get some fresh air.

"Are you sure you're okay? It's alright to to take a break if you're not." Twilight said. "I haven't seen you like this since you arrived here."

He smiled softly, genuinely. "I appreciate your concern, Twilight. I'll be okay." he said. Twilight still didn't believe him, but she decided not to push the issue anymore.

"Hey, what's with that guy?" Spike asked, pointing out the window.

Everyone looked out the window to spot a pony in an all black jester costume, with tiny silver bells and studs all throughout it. He was singing something.

"His mind was once innocent, his heart was once pure. He was driven insane, he was driven unsure. All will suffer under his red throne. With wrath in hand, The Wanderer has returned home!"

"Didn't think Equestria had doom prophets, too." Matt said, disregarding the strange pony.

"I've never seen him before, but it looks like he's having fun!" Pinkie Pie said, giggling.

The strange pony continued his song and dance routine even as the train pulled away.

"Can we all agree that that was strange?" Rarity asked.

Everyone nodded in unison as they went back to conversations they were having beforehand. Matt noticed Rainbow Dash glaring at him from the corner of his eye again, only stopping to respond to Applejack talking to her.

Matt sighed. "Rainbow is still pretty upset, it seems." he said.

"Yeah, I noticed that too." Twilight replied.

"I understand she's mad at me but I don't understand why. Nor do I understand why she's mad at you." he said.

Twilight knew the reason, but she was trying to find the best way to explain it to Matt. "Matt, she... was 'interested' in you. Like I was, er, am."

A wave of realization hit Matt quickly. "Oh. Oh."

"I don't think she realized how oblivious you could be. No offense."

"None taken, it's true. Now I feel even worse." he replied.

"Oh, I'm sorry! Please don't feel bad, I still like you!" she said. "I'm sure Rainbow will get over it and we can all go back to being on friendly terms."

"You're right." Matt said, honestly hopeful that would be the case. "And Twilight? I still like you too."

Twilight giggled. "Well I would hope so!" she said.

Rainbow was looking back at them again, this time looking more sad than angry.

…...

Before long the group arrived at Canterlot Castle. The Princesses Celestia and Luna were waiting to greet them.

"It is so wonderful to see you all again." Celestia said.

"Before we attend to the business at hand, we request you all join us for a royal breakfast." Luna added.

"Breakfast? Yeah! I'm starving!" Spike said.

As the Princess sisters led the way, Twilight caught up to Celestia.

"Excuse me, Princess? I have something I needed to discuss with you."

"Of course, my pupil." she said. "Luna, please lead the guests to the dining hall." she said as her and Twilight branched off to talk in private.

Matt approached Luna. "Excuse me, Luna." he said to get her attention. "Do you have any coffee here?"

"Of course, my human friend! I brew it myself." she replied, proudly.

"Have I ever told you that you're the best?" he said with a smirk.

"I don't recall, but I look forward to hearing it more."

…...

Twilight and Celestia moved to an unoccupied chamber. "What is it you needed to discuss?" Celestia asked.

Twilight cleared her throat before starting. "The other day, Matt, Spike, Pinkie Pie and I came across a hidden room in the library that lead to a very strange place." she said.

Celestia's eyes widened for a second. "Go on."

"We found a room filled with many old books, and another with all sorts of artifacts. Everywhere we stepped there seemed to be a trap of some kind. We also found a spirit possessing a pair of old glasses. His name was-"

"Clever Clover." Celestia said.

"That's right!" Twilight exclaimed. "He said you had him placed in charge of the artifact wing and he called the place 'the Undercroft'."

The taller princess paused for a moment, her composure nearly broken. "Y-yes... the Undercroft. It was meant to be a place of storage for powerful knowledge and items. I canceled the project, and I thought we had sealed it off."

Twilight took in the information for a moment. "Wait, sealed it off? So the cave in was on purpose?" she asked.

"It was. I was sure to evacuate the facility beforehand. We couldn't collapse the other entrance, so we just had it sealed and hidden."

Twilight looked aghast. "There were two ponies still down there... and you just left them?"

"Twilight, I had no way of knowing they were trapped inside."

"But you didn't look for them after they disappeared?!" she replied, raising her voice slightly. "Clover... Possessed me. He possessed Matt temporarily, too. When he did, we saw his memories. We saw you. We saw you promote him and his partner to caretakers."

"Twilight Sparkle!" Celestia exclaimed, attempting to stop her protege from rambling. "I swear to you, if I knew they had been trapped I would've done everything in my power to save them. I had assumed they fled Ponyville, upset at me they had lost their positions due to the Undercroft project being canceled."

"But why didn't you clear the place out if the artifacts were 'powerful'?" Twilight asked.

"I had assumed they were well hidden. It took nearly five hundred years for anypony to find it."

Twilight sighed. "I'm sorry, Princess. The way Clover's memories painted you was... disturbing."

"I suppose that's understandable. He probably hated me, thinking I abandoned him." she closed her eyes and exhaled. "Come now, I think we should rejoin the others."

…...

Meanwhile, in the dining hall, everyone had already begun to eat. Matt Nabal sipped at his coffee casually, wearing a satisfied expression. He sat opposite Luna, who had an empty, large chair next to her. To his left was Applejack and to his right was another empty seat. Spike sat next to Rarity, and Fluttershy between Applejack and Rainbow Dash.

"Luna, you do masterful work." he said.

"This is true." the Princess replied, clearly proud of her coffee brewing skills.

Matt looked around at the ornate room. Behind him were three large windows, and behind Luna was a large door, guarded by two royal guards. Twilight and Celestia arrived through said door and both took their seats at the table.

"Is everything to your liking?" Celestia asked. Everyone replied positively and she smiled warmly. "Excellent. Now, I'm sure everypony is wondering why I called you here."

Matt had thought he was the only one uninformed, but it seemed like no one knew for sure. Luna continued where her sister left off. "We called you here to discuss plans for our Hearth's Warming celebration."

Rarity let out a small gasp. "Oh dear, I've been so busy I nearly forgot it was so soon!" she said.

"Hearth's Warming?" Matt asked.

Twilight took a bite of breakfast and levitated her fork back to her plate. "It's an annual winter holiday we celebrate here in Equestria to celebrate its founding. We exchange gifts and decorate trees."

"Ah, I see. We have something similar where I'm from. We called it 'Christmas'." Matt replied.

Suddenly, Rarity, Twilight, Celestia and Luna all shouted out in pain. The four of them clutched at their horns.

"Whoa, are you alright?" Spike asked.

As sudden as it came, it seemed to go away. Matt placed a hand on Twilight's shoulder. "What was that?"

"I have never felt something so awful in all my life." Rarity said between breaths.

"Neither have I..." said Twilight, gasping for air. "Princess?" she called out, looking at Celestia to see her equally distraught.

"I-I..." Celestia stuttered, a rare moment of broken composure. "I don't know what that was."

There was a commotion from the hallway outside. The group heard a royal guard talking to someone. "You there! Halt! You can't be here, you need to leave-" he stopped what he was saying and began to scream, it sounded like he was in pain. The two guards at the door looked at it with confused expressions.

Just then, the outside guards body was thrown through the door and landed several feet behind Celestia and Luna, who both stood to face the apparent intruder. The two guards rushed to their fallen comrade's side and then took a defensive stance facing the door.

A large, imposing figure stepped through. They were tall, taller than Celestia by a few inches. Draped over the left side of their body was a large, red-scaled dragon wing, which obscured their left side almost entirely. Their right arm was also covered in reddish-brown scales and what looked to be a dark metal, the arm ending in five long, black claws. Dark metal and red scale also made up a chest piece of sorts, the middle of which was inscribed with unknown letters. Their face seemed reptilian, though it's eyes and mouth had not yet moved.

It walked forward into the room and the guards tighten their stances.

"Who are you?" Celestia asked.

"And what do you want?" Luna added.

A small chuckle escaped the figure as he glanced around the room. He raised his right arm in a half-shrug.

"I can't believe you've forgotten me so easily." it spoke in a gravely, masculine voice.

"Answer the questions." Celestia said firmly.

Matt and his friends were incredibly shaken and confused as the exchange continued.

The figure continued to ignore their questions. "After all this time, Celestia, and you still have no taste for interior design. This castle is still beyond tacky." as he spoke, his face didn't move, even slightly.

"Quit talking as if we know you." Luna demanded.

"Luna, Luna, Luna. Ever the subservient little sister. Fine." he said, wagging a claw before pointing it at the sisters." I've returned for your throne."

"Guards!" Celestia shouted, and the guards rushed the mysterious intruder.

As they did, what looked like a force-field intercepted them and threw them back. The figure laughed.

"How foolish of you! You thought I would return alone?" he said.

Next to him, light began to distort revealing the shape of a pony. As the light finished distorting, out stepped a hooded figure, wearing a purple cloak lined in gold. They flipped off their hood, revealing a violet unicorn mare, wearing what seemed like a metallic headband to hold her mane back. She wore a cold expression and dropped the force-field covering her and the stranger.

"That was an invisibility spell... I've never seen one cast so perfectly." Twilight said, staring in awe.

"Quit playing games with us and explain yourself!" Luna shouted.

"As you wish..." the stranger said, as reached for his neck with his clawed hand.

He slowly pulled what was revealed to be helmet of some kind off of his head. As he did, long black hair escaped and flowed downwards. His skin was a ghostly white, his teeth long and sharp looking. As he opened his eyes, he revealed two malice-filled red orbs. Despite his oddities, everyone knew exactly what he was.

He was Human.

"My name..."

He placed his arm across his chest and bowed deeply

"... is Gabriel."

He dropped the helmet onto the ground. "Now as I was saying. I've returned for the throne."

Matt found himself standing in shock. "What the hell is going on here?" he asked.

Gabriel let another laugh escape. "What's the matter, boy? Thought you were the first?" he said.

"He is the first." Twilight said, rising to her hooves as well.

"And only." said Rainbow Dash as she and the rest of the group stood as well.

Gabriel looked to be in his early thirties. He was constantly smiling, exposing his elongated, vampire-like teeth.

"Sorry to disappoint, but..." his smile vanished, replaced by a scowl. "I won't have the nine years I suffered here ignored, regardless if all of you forgot."

Celestia and Luna had apparently heard enough and began to charge magic with their horns. As the discharged their blasts, they realized that what came out was no bigger than a walnut. As they impacted Gabriel' chest, he made over dramatic, comical gasps of pain before smiling again. Celestia turned to her sister, bewildered, to find Luna looking at her the same way.

"I'm insulted." Gabriel said. "The two of you thought I wouldn't plan ahead? Not like it matters, humans are magic-proof."

Twilight came to a realization. "That sudden pain in our horns... That was you?" she asked.

"Oh, no! No, no, no, no, no! Not me." he gestured to the mare at his side. "It was however, her. Nicely done, Amethyst."

The mare stepped forward. "The effects you're feeling are the result of my magic suppression field. It is a spell of my own design." Her facial expression never changed from being uninterested, though her voice was firm and cold.

Twilight's mind was racing. What sort of magic could suppress three Alicorns, she wondered.

"Now, then." Gabriel said, also stepping forward. "Make this easier on yourselves and surrender."

"We will not. You have no claim to the Equestrian throne." Celestia said.

A delighted look spread across Gabriel's pale face. "I was hoping you'd say that."

He lifted up the wing draped on left side revealing two things. Firstly, he didn't have a left arm. Secondly, at his waist was a large metal handle that he grabbed and drew. A large, thick, double-edged metal blade emerged from a scabbard, bearing pink glowing runes much like the ones on his breastplate along the blade. The sword was very large, even for a human, and had to be immensely heavy. He propped the blade on his right shoulder.

"My claim is very simple, very straightforward." he said, stabbing the sword into the floor in a quick motion. His eyes burned with scarlet light and the runes did the same. "I claim the throne by right of power!"

As he shouted the last word, a shockwave originating from the sword flung everyone ahead of Gabriel into the wall. It flipped the table and broke the windows as well. Matt's head hit the stone wall quite hard. As consciousness faded from his body, he watched Gabriel and Amethyst carry off Celestia and Luna respectively, both of whom also seemed to be knocked out.

"You know where to take her, Ammy." he heard Gabriel say, Amethyst responding with a quick nod.

Matt locked around to see Twilight knocked not to far from where he was. He reached an arm out to her, finding himself unable to move.

"As for the rest of you? Get out of my city."

…...

His prisoners locked away, Gabriel walked passed the bodies of knocked out guards and made his way to throne room. He stopped in front of one of the large stained glass windows, one depicting a strange blue box. He smirked and tapped the glass, breaking it in an instant. He approached the throne, stabbing his blade in the ground and dragging it as he walked. He opened a hole that shadows flooded out of, which began to take the shape of skeletal creatures, bowing to him as he passed.

Amethyst was already positioned to the left of the throne. Gabriel stood in front of it, seemingly disappointed.

"Something wrong?" Amethyst asked.

"I, uh... didn't expect the throne to be so low to the ground..."

He tapped the side of the throne with the flat side of his blade, seeming to force the earth underneath it to raise it up. He stabbed the blade into the tiled floor, leaving it off to his right as he sat down. He crossed his legs and rested his head on his fist. Another skeletal creature emerged from the ground and formed next to him.

"What are your orders, master?" it said.

"Fix that window. And for the love of god, destroy those awful drapes."