The Countryside Knight

by Dark Krystal

XVI - The Indignant Train

A low rumble echoed through the train as the wheels begun to turn, and the train begun its journey to Canterlot. Twilight’s ears perked as the wheels of the dining car woke and moved, her gaze taking a peek at the window before going back to look down at the table. Occasionally, her eyes wandered up to glance at the stallion sitting with his forelegs crossed across from her.

Moonfall leaned back against his seat as the train dining car moved. His eyes refused to move away from the ceiling despite the new change. His ears flicked occasionally, picking up the small sounds of rocks and pebbles that were on the tracks being crushed under the train. A sigh left him at the sound, and his body relaxed.

"Moonfall, I want to make sure about this. Are you…"

Moonfall’s eyes moved away from the ceiling and focused on the visibly nervous Twilight.

"Are you sure you want to tell me? A-after all, you need some rest, and I s-shouldn’t really have taken that fr—"

Twilight paused as Moonfall raised his hoof up in the air.

"It’s alright. I'm fine, I can handle just staying awake a little longer."

Moonfall dropped his hoof and his gaze shifted to the side, finding some focus on the pattern of the train floor.

"Just… give me a moment. It's been a while since I've had to tell somepony about it. Everypony in the guard knows about it, including the captain."

“I understand.”

Moonfall smiled a bit but kept his eye focused on the floor. His smile slowly faded over time as old memories played out in his mind. He closed his eyes and exhaled through his nose.

"Well… I guess I should mention the main issue first."

Moonfall slowly opened his eyes and turned his head to look at Twilight. His body pulled away from the seating as he leaned forward and placed his forelegs onto the table. Twilight, adjusted herself and focused all her attention on Moonfall.

"My father is in Canterlot."

Twilight stared silently for a moment, waiting for a continuation. After a moment of the two staring at each other, Twilight realized she was supposed to say something in response.

"Oh! Uh… I didn't think Bat-ponies lived in Canterlot or would even think about living there, after everything that's happened to them."

Moonfall chuckled softly.

"You’re not wrong, but,"

Moonfall lips formed into a slight frown and eyes shifted down to the table as his brows furrowed.

"I never said my father was a Bat pony."

Twilight’s eyes widened at the statement.

"My father is a unicorn. His name is Sunrise. He's the—"

Twilight’s eyes nearly bulged out of her sockets. She abruptly stood up, nearly making her fall over the table but catching herself by slamming her hooves down onto the table on instinct.

"S-Sunrise!? As in, Sunrise, the vice-captain of the royal-I mean Solar Guard! Are-are you talking about THAT Sunrise!?"

Moonfall silently nodded.

"Wha… But… H-how!? Last time I spoke with Shining Armor, he said that Sunrise was a married with only a daughter! He never mentioned Sunrise having a son…"

Moonfall snorted, his lips twisted into a scowl.

"Yeah, because I'm his little bastard…"

For a moment, she stared at him in confusion. Her pupils shrinking as her brain brought back one of the older definitions, of "Bastard".

"O-oh! Moonfall… I… I…"

Twilights pupils shook as she stared in bafflement. He was one of the Solar Guard's more well known members. From what Shining Armor had told her, he had been in the guard since he graduated from Canterlot Academy and had stayed in the guard till his late-thirties. He was even known as the Bandit Hunter, due to his history of successful bandit raids.

The very thought of somepony who was seen as a respected member of the guard having a bastard child was… hard to swallow, and yet, as Twilight took a moment to take in Moonfall’s appearance. She started to visually compare the two. When she had first met Moonfall his coat had stood out to her due to how bright it was compared to the others.

Bringing her memories from the brief glances she saw of Sunrise when she used to watch Shining Armor train. She noted Moonfall's coat and eyes were just a darker shade of Sunrise's.

' Even their builds are similar! But… how come he isn’t a hybrid like Dusk Blade? Is… Is this a case where the genes regarding his species were stronger in his mom? That would explain why…`

"Moons ago, when my mom was young, she didn't like the idea of spending her whole life in our town, but she didn't have the skills to get into the squads that could leave the town."

"So, she decided to sneak out during one stormy night, because rain and thunder mess with our hearing, and left the town. After that She went around Equestria wearing a dress that hid her wings, eye contacts, clipped off the fur at the end of her ears, and changing how she spoke and ate, so her fangs weren't so noticeable."

Moonfall let out a small sound and leaned back a bit as he looked out the window.

"Eventually, she decided to visit Canterlot. She went on castle tours because she wanted to see the castle that Princess Luna once lived in, during the castle tours she met Sunrise. They hit it off and dated for a bit before becoming lovers, and blah, blah, dumb romance stuff."

Moonfall rolled his eyes and snorted.

"My mom eventually became pregnant with me. When Sunrise found out, he proposed to my mom, and in turn my mom… decided to tell him the truth."

Moonfalls demeanor changed, he bore his fingers and narrowed his eyes at the window.

"She took off her disguise in front of him. He… that… that… that worthless, son of a… a damn doxy! Was disgusted!. He broke off the engagement, and granted her the "mercy" of letting her leave without turning her in. She tried to talk to him out of it, but he refused and left her."

"After that, he spread the word to her friends in Canterlot about what she really was. Her friends abandoned her, and a small group of hunters was formed to hunt her down because they thought she was going to, you know…”

Moonfall raised a hoof as he opened his mouth and tapped his fang.

“Suck their blood. So, she left Canterlot, and she decided to go back to our town."

Moonfall clicked his tongue and turned his head back over to Twilight. He froze at the sight that greeted him. Twilight stared at him with both of her hooves over her mouth and her widened eyes filled with tears.

“T-Twilight? Are you… uh, okay? You’re uh…”

“S-sorry! I… I just… give me a moment!”

Moonfall silently watched as Twilight levitated a nearby napkin over to her face and started wiping her eyes. The anger he held had been replaced with unease, his eyes lowering down, and a flustered look held on his face.

It was strange for the stallion. Almost everypony he had told this story told had only on expression, and that was anger. Of course, all of them felt sorry for Moonfall and his mom, but not once did they ever cry.

“I can… uh, stop, you know. I-it’s not that big of a deal.”

“N-not a big deal?!”

Twilight wiped her eyes once more and slammed the napkin down on the table, making Moonfall jump in his seat.

“Moonfall! This is a big d-deal! The fact tha-that something like this… happened so close to me or even happened at all is terrible! The very concept of that Sunrise, a member of the guard who citizens in Canterlot look up to! A stallion who works with my big brother! Could-could even do something like this! It… it,”

Twilight's face started to twist, her brow furrowing and bits of unstable magic started to form around her horn for a moment before she realized her emotions were getting out of control. Twilight quickly sat back down and performed a series of deep breaths. The magic around her horn becoming stable once again before vanishing.

After a bit, she slowly opened her eyes and met with Moonfall’s eyes, the stallion shifted in his seat slightly as his eyes slightly wavered at the glare the mare had on her face.

“Tell me more.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes.”

Moonfall jolted a bit at the blunt tone of her answer, but quickly shook it off. He sucked in a breath and looked slightly off to the side to avoid meeting with Twilight’s gaze.

“Well… uh… After all that, I was born. I had a normal foalhood, though I did notice eventually how… you know, family dynamics. Luckily, no pony ever really bothered me about it since almost everypony in town knew about what happened… except me, of course.”

“So, one day I asked my mom about my dad, and she told me that he died. I accepted that answer for a couple of moons, but eventually I realized that we never once went to visit my father's grave and the details around his supposed death were… all over the place.”

“When I grew older, I decided to ask around again. My grandfather was the only one who gave me an idea of the truth, and being the colt I was back then…”

Moonfall’s ears fell down. A grunt escaped him as his cheeks brightened slightly in embarrassment.

“I ran out and confronted my mom about it, it was… Very messy, but she eventually sat me down and told me the truth. After that, I had a desire to see him.”

He closed his eyes and released a drawn out sigh.

“So, when I became of age… I left in the guise of joining the Lunar Guard, when I went to join the Solar Guard instead,

Moonfall clicked his tongue and narrowed his eyes briefly.

“Pretentious bastards, every one of them…”

“Anyway, I took a page out of my mom’s book and disguised myself so they didn’t find out what I was… at least until I met him.”

Twilight’s ear twitched at the statement, and a look of concern washed over her face.

“You… met him?”

“Yeah… After a couple of Moons in the guard, I finally caught him at the right moment when he was about to get off for Night duty and confronted him about… me and my mother. I took off my disguise and asked him why he what he did, and… Heh!”

Moonfall smiled as his brows furrowed tightly.

“The damned look on his face when he saw what I was! It was as if he was looking at a body that was mangled by an Ursa Minor! Hahahah!”

Moonfall let out a bitter laugh as his hooves pressed against the table, making the table tilt towards him.

“The worthless scum, claimed he had nothing to do with a “filthy creature like you”… I sort’ve lost it when he said that.”

“Lost it…?”

“Yeah. I got… real mad, and started attacking him. Landed a blow or two before his senses caught up to him, and kicked me out the window.”

Twilight jolted against her seat and gasped.

“He kicked you out the window!?”

“Mhmm. I… almost came out real messed, since forgotten I had wings because I was didn’t use them for a good while, but after that, he turned on all alarms-”

Twilight eyes widened and her body stiffened

“-And claimed that I was an assassin, out for… er… your life.”

Twilight sat there in silence for a moment. Her eyes frozen on Moonfall as she replayed the story in her head and letting a realization erupt. Twilight’s forelegs dropped to her sides.

“You… You were Dawnguard!”

The anger that was on Moonfall’s face vanished in an instant.

“Y-yeah… That was the name I used back in Canterlot. How’d you know?”

“There were posters in Canterlot for a while looking for any information regarding a guard named Dawnguard… I-I never heard about the assassin part… but,”

Twilight’s gaze fell down and she squinted her eyes.

“That explains why there was a period where security was tightened.”

Moonfall let out a sigh and leaned back against his seat.

“Thank Luna, I disguised myself and used a fake name then…”

“Did… did you go home after that?”

“Mhmm. I went straight back home, completely forgetting how messed up I looked until my mom saw me. I told her the truth and-”

Moonfall looked off to the side with a small smile

.”- got scolded of a lifetime.”

Moonfall’s smiled faded as he looked down.

“She blamed herself for what happened to me. Thinking that her not being honest of what happened caused this…”

“She made me promise her that I wouldn’t ever see Sunrise or attempt to see him again, and I… I well… as you can see, I’m not keeping it.”

Moonfall tilted his head back and closed his eyes.

“Even moon’s after what happened, I… I can’t let it go. What he did to my mom… what he said to me. No matter how much I tried to get it off my mind and move on, it won’t… I need to make him pay for what he did… somehow. It’s why I joined the Lunar Guard in the first place.”

Moonfall opened his eyes and stared at the pattern of the metal ceiling.

“I initial thought of making a name for myself, you know, become some figure that normal ponies heard of with a mix that I was Sunrise’s son and get his attention that way…”

A bitter chuckle escaped him.

“But… even I know that was stupid. I had no clue how’d I get revenge. SO, I just floated by… and hoped that an idea or an opportunity came to me.”

Moonfall sighed, shutting his eyes tightly and leaning his head down near the table.

“... And it did, when Princess Luna announced these sparring matches… I… I knew that I was going to see him again. Whether it was in match or him just watching. Since then, I’ve been asking myself what to do. If I could face him in the match, then I’d have an excuse to beat him… but,”

Moonfall pulled his head up slightly to give a tired gaze to Twilight.

“Like the captain feared… I’m not ready… just putting on a show. I’m not even sure if I can beat him if we were to fight again, and even then… What do I do after?”

Moonfall’s squinted his eyes as his gaze fell down.
“My mom doesn’t want revenge… I want it, but what does it accomplish in the end? It solves nothing… but I just… I just want it, even when I know how pointless…. How damn meaningless it is in the end. I’m not even confident I can pull it off, and I’m having a damn crisis over the aftermath.”

Moonfall let out a bitter laugh before his small fell completely, and his face became more pessimistic.

“Sorry for dumping this all this unrelated gunk on you.”

Twilight hesitantly slid her hooves over to place them over Moonfall’s. The stallion looked up at Twilight, and paused lightly upon seeing a tired yet saddened expression on her face.

“It’s okay, I don’t blame you. Hearing all of this… I’m fighting between sending a letter to Princess Celestia or dealing with this myself.”

“Don’t involve yourself in this… This is a family issue.”

“I know… I know, but hearing all of this just makes me want to… do things that Princess Celestia has always taught me not to do…”

Twilight tilted her head down, letting her mane cover her eyes.

“When Princess Celestia told me the origins of Bat Ponies I… figured most ponies are against Bat Ponies, but I… I honestly thought it would be something like when I first met Zecora.”

“Zecora?”

“She’s a… zebra that lives in the Everfree forest near Ponyville. When I first met her, the town thought she was an evil witch because of her appearance. None of them ever tried to talk to her, and-”

Twilight’s eyes fell, and she felt her stomach squeeze tightly.

“I almost believed them until I spoke to her myself.”

Twilight grimaced at the memory of that day.

“Nopony never really treated her badly, everypony just hid from her… Everything was cleared up once my friends and I cleared up the town’s misunderstandings about her. Since then, I thought that instances like that would always like that… until I met you guys.”

Twilight pulled her head up and looked at Moonfall with a crestfallen look on her.

“I only heard of Bat Ponies being referred to as “Thestrals”. I was also scared of them too… and If Princess Celestia hadn’t told me about your origins… I might’ve been the same.”

Twilight’s eyes wavered, and her body shook slightly.

“... And that scares me now. I thought I learned about judging books by their cover, but I guess deep inside all this time… I really didn’t, and after being with the Lunar Guard for a while. I hadn’t realized until earlier today how… big and bad this problem was…”

“Almost everypony are taught that Bat Ponies are blood sucking creatures that foalnapped ponies at night. That probably extends to my friends, Spike, and my family too.”

Twilight’s body shook more as the corner of her eyes begun to well up.

“Sorry… I-I didn’t mean to dump this on you… or make this about myself!”

Moonfall quickly sat back up and pushed his hooves forward and placed them on top of Twilight's.

“H-hey, hey! It’s uh… Well, it’s not okay but. Uh…”

Moonfall looked to the side, searching for words.

“No, no… I’m fine… just got a bit off-topic.”

“No, it’s uh… jeez. Sorry, I suck at comforting…”

Twilight chuckled and pulled away from his hooves. Wiping her eyes as Moonfall groaned in frustration.

“Look, I’m… sorry. I didn’t think about what you were going through…”

“I can say the same thing to you too.”

Twilight gave a small smile as Moonfall let out a sigh.

“Still… if it makes you feel any better, we do appreciate you… Is “appreciate” the right word…? Maybe “like” is better.”

Twilight broke into a genuine smile at that.

“Really?”

“Yeah! When you first arrived, Dusk Blade was making bets on how long it'd take you before you break out on us. Faded Light was waiting for you to make a single mistake so she can “justifiably” punish you. Fallen Shine just thought you were holding it inside. “

Twilight let out a chuckle, trying her best not to question Faded Light's part in there.

“I'm… glad I was able to improve everyponies opinion of me.”

Moonfall smile and opened his mouth to speak, only for the first word to become mangled by a yawn exiting his throat.

“Sorry… Fatigue is starting to catch up now.”

“No, no! I should be sorry! I stopped you from sleeping just to answer my selfish curiosity!”

“No, no! It's okay,”

Moonfall slid out of his seat and stood in the walkway, with Twilight following his example and joining him. The two made a silent, synchronized decision to start walking back to the sleeper car.

“We both probably need to rest after this whole spiel.”

Twilight nodded.

“I can stay up a bit longer… I was thinking of talking to Ratimir…”

“The captain? What about?”

“His involvement with Canterlot. He really, really didn't want to go there…”

“I would give up on that trip if I were you.”

Twilight turned her head towards Moonfall and quirked a brow.

“Why?”

“The four things I know about the captain. He hates the Solar Guard, maybe more than us. He hates magic, hates nobles, and Finally, he gave off some hints when he was training us for this that he probably did… something… that made the princess assign him to the Lunar Guard and as far from Canterlot as possible.”

“Something…?”

“Sometimes during our conversations, he would call the Princess naive and then reassure to be as ruthless as possible in the matches. “

“So, you believe that he possibly did something er… ruthless that Princess Celestia disagreed with?”

“Maybe… I don't really know, anytime Faded Light tried to get a bit more out of him, he avoided it. The captain feels less like he’s doing this out of spite and more of using this to prove… something to the princess.”

“Trying to prove something…”

Twilight furrowed her brow. One thing she figured was that the friendship between Ratimir and Princess Celestia seemed one-sided on Princess Celestia's part. Yet, he never spoke of her in a hateful way… just more of an annoyance he’s grown accustomed to.

"I wouldn't bother asking him. He’ll either get angry or dodge the question.”

Twilight drooped her head a bit and sighed.

“You’re not wrong… I’ll put it off for now.”

“Yeah, I think that’s for the best…”

The two nodded, and made back to the Sleeper car. Moonfall wished Twilight goodnight as he entered his bunk. Twilight in turn picked the bunk in the closest to the doorway to the car door that lead to Ratimir’s car. Twilight placed her saddlebags against the wall on the corner of the bed and laid in the bed.

A soft sound left Twilight as she felt her body lightly sink into the bed. Twilight hadn't realized how tired her body was despite how little she traveled. Hesitantly, Twilight proved her own side and felt her flesh give a little squish.

“... Maybe I do need to exercise more…”

Twilight grumbled before letting out a heavy, closed eyed sigh. Only opening her eyes after taking a few minutes of ambience of the train moving. Her thoughts wandered back to Moonfall and Sunrise.

“Sunrise… Should I tell Princess Celestia? It's the proper course of action, so I should! But, Moonfall wants to deal with it himself… “

Twilight frowned. She couldn't help but want to get involved in the situation…
but she knew it wasn't right for him, Moonfall wants to deal with this on his own. All she can think of doing was just backing him. Twilight nodded to herself at that internal agreement. With that issue checkmarked, the next one came in, her brother. Twilight turned her body to the other side, a look of nervousness running over her face.

“Shining…”

When it came to Shining Armor, there were multiple issues at the ready. How would he feel when she chooses to side with the Lunar Guard? Would he hate the Lunar Guard for being Bat Ponies? Would he hold a grudge against her when he finds out? A part of her told her to keep out of his sight and continue like that, but the other half wanted her to pretend she was on his side. Her stomach twisted slightly at the thought, but she closed her eyes tightly and took a deep breath.

“I’ll tell Shining when I see him and get it over with… Plans the like never work out in the end, it’s best to honest, like Apple-.”

The memory of the time Applejack ‘s stubbornness during harvesting season came to Twilight’s mind.

“-err, It’s best to just be honest.”

Twilight nods to herself at the end, checkmarks that. Leaving the one issue that she knew she couldn’t checkmark right away, Ratimir and Canterlot.

`It was clear from the start Ratimir disliked the Solar Guard but to extend to Canterlot too… and Moonfall’s belief that Ratimir wants to prove something, along with his theory that Ratimir may have done something that made Princess Celestia push him out of Canterlot and the Solar Guard.`

Twilight clicked her tongue as she tried to make up theories.

`Princess Celestia never seemed up or angry when she spoke about him, it was the opposite. So, it would have to be something that didn’t affect Princess Celestia herself… then did it affect others? Is it possible that he did something that forced Princess Celestia to move him against her own will?`

The very thought of almost seemed foolish. Princess Celestia was the sole leader of Equestria, who could possible force the leader of a nation to move their “friend” away despite her own wishes? The only possible answers were either; other bodies of the government in Equestria or the nobles of Canterlot. The government theory was possible, an unhappy government was an unstable government after all, but it all looped back to the source of this theory.

What… could Ratimir do that would turn Canterlot against him and force Princess Celestia to remove him?

Author's Note:

Let's start off this year with family issues.

Comments

[technofan]

What… could Ratimir do that would turn Canterlot against him and force Princess Celestia to remove him?

Bed the princess???? im just going off what i remember from the first chapters lol

[Wing]

Keep it up \o/

[Midnight Blues]

I'm guessing he went on a rampage after dealing with all the shit nobles and solar guard do. Maybe someone he was friends with got in trouble. Like 500+ years ago(although maybe up to 900 years as I don't think Celestia kept an entire generation of bats in jail) a similar situation as with Moonfall happened and the bat pony was his friend. Celestia probably showed up to stop him and almost died fighting him. Or maybe there was a coup that almost got her killed and he murdered everyone involved. I'm guessing the former as it'd be easier to cover up. I really think they should tell Luna Moonfalls story as she might be unaware of the shit-show that is about to kick off under her orders (is Moonfall still a wanted criminal?). She'll blame herself for stuff they should really have told her before hand. Although in that case she should blame Celestia who knows what's going to happen and still approved of the fights.