The Pilgrim Warrior

It was said that before Equestria was formed, and even before the legendary dominions of the three tribes the world was divided in several kingdoms, their names forgotten long ago. They were good neighbors and harbored a friendly relationship between them, but as many lands before and after them, they succumbed to the shadows of greed and hatred. That’s when the war came.

Heroes and villains born and died in the fields of battle spilling the blood of their brethren, not minding if they were innocents or not, causing great pain to the ponies through all the land, a growing despair filling their souls. But a small hope appeared to these ponies.

A legend of unknown origin was told by these ponies, a legend of a foreign warrior who was the chosen by fate to end the war. The story was told by children to their parents, and those told it to their peers in the taverns and inns… soon everypony knew about it, and they pleaded and prayed to this unknown warrior to end the war. But years and decades passed… and the warrior never came.

The lands were scorched by the flames of war, and almost everything in sight seemed decayed or burned, battles happening here and there, a mere sport for the feudal lords of these kingdoms. Even in these dark times for the world, the ponies still waited for their savior to appear.

During another of these gray days a young colt appeared from one of the roads who lead to the outer lands. With ragged clothes, armor barely standing on its place and a rusty and dull sword who adorned his less than impressive body he wandered around, looking more like an orphan than a traveler. The young colt wore a pained expression while looking around him. He wanted to know why was this happening, so he walked towards the castle of the feudal lord. Soon he found himself inside the court of the feudal lord of the region.

“Why these ponies must suffer this poverty and despair?” he asked to the lord, who accepted to have an audience with him for the sake of mockery towards the apparently deluded colt.

“It’s the war, stranger. We need the money to pay the soldiers and defend the populace who cannot fight, keeping them safe and sound” he replied, not really interested in the issue.

“This isn’t safe and sound, sir. They are dying of starvation and because the despair in their hearts. When are you going to end this war?” he asked to the lord, pushing the issue on, not scared of the vain lord.

“It will end soon, and the glory of victory will be mine. The enemy will perish and I and my fellow nobles will rule the land under the watch of our king” He said. The colt heard enough and excused himself before leaving towards the neighboring kingdom.

His travel was a repetition of his previous encounter, noticing that the feudal lords and even the kings didn’t cared for their subjects, and the land once green and lustrous was only a shadow of its former glory, charred by the battles and pillage. So the young colt cried…. cried for the fate of these poor ponies, helpless against the oppression of their rulers. Wiping his tears, the young colt decided that something must be done, and with determination he went to the lands of the first lords he met.

With his shredded clothes and broken sword he went on a personal crusade to free the ponies who were suffering from this corrupted nobility who only desired war and personal profit. He defied each one of them to a duel of honor inside their own castles. Both nobles laughed at the bold colt and accepted, seeing that he couldn’t win with his puny sword and battered armor. But both stallions met their end by the rusty blade of the young colt, in front of their subjects no less.

As it was tradition during those times the winner of a duel of honor inherited the property and titles of the fallen enemy. He shared the properties he earned from the duel equally between his new subjects who accepted with great joy and welcomed happily their new lord. The young traveler declared that, as he has done there, he would free the lands from other lords to end the war. His new subjects didn’t dare to laugh at his statement, but their looks were less than hopeful after looking the poor clothes and armor he wore. Even with doubt in their hearts something unexpected happened, and a young foal came to the side of the foreign traveler and said that we believed in him to end the war. The young colt, promising victory, departed to the nearby feuds.

One by one the prideful lords fell against the foreign colt, gaining fame and honor during his crusade. So known was his wage and successful against his foes that the kings of all the nations involved were fearful of their crowns. In a vile scheme they accepted an audience at a neutral zone, a small hill known by its central position between the kingdoms, with the young prodigy in order to end him once and for all. The young colt accepted, unknowing of his imminent doom. They tried to trick him with false promises of wealth and power, each one of them quickly dismissed by the determined colt who questioned from where their wealth came and why they were waging war against each other if they were wealthy enough to sustain their subjects. The kings backed away, intimidated by the will of the traveler and in the heat of the moment they attacked him, catching him by surprise, and they used dark and forbidden arts against him. Thinking of him dead, they returned to their castles, satisfied with the results, the little nuisance eradicated.

Little they knew that it was the last of their problems. Some days after the fateful day one of the kings was found dead, his head and crown missing. News of a resentful and skilled warrior that was revenging the poor colt slain by the hooves of the kings spread like fire, but even the quick news were slower than fate, and at the end of the week all the kingdoms were found without a king, and without a head of state they fell into chaos.

But again a ray of hope appeared, and a message was spread wide between these ponies. The message said that those who believe in the legend must go to the hill were the young lord was slain. A great number of ponies went to the hill, expectant to see some kind of miracle. And a miracle happened.

From a nearby forest came the figure of the young traveler, still in his ragged clothes and rusty sword hanging on its side, wearing the crowns of the dead kings. Some ponies looked confused, others murmured at the sight and even some of them were angry… but none dared to attack him. He picked the crows, sword and armor and casted them aside, laying on a rock.

“There is the proof that I brought peace, as I promised! With no kings or nobles with ill wills against each other there is no reason to fight anymore” he stated to the populace. But they were unhappy, because they didn’t have a ruler and they were as divided as before and after all what happened they didn’t trust him to be their king. But they were surprised when he assured that he already known who was going to rule them… and that they needed to know the truth.

Suddenly he turned into a lustrous alicorn in a show of power and magic, his mane waving with might on its own accord and his blue eyes gazing gently towards them. He then levitated the rusted sword and asked what they were seeing. Everypony said that a rusty sword. He then did the same thing with the armor, receiving the same response from them. But a young foal, the same colt that he met after his first victory, came to him and looked at him with a frown.

“What’s the matter little friend?” the alicorn asked to the young one.

“They are lying” he stated firmly, earning a grumbling of disapproval from the crown, who was quickly silenced by the alicorn.

“They lie you say? Then tell me… What do you see?”

The little colt picked the armor and wore it before giving an answer. In the moment that the armor touched his tiny body it turned into a glamorous armor that covered each bit of his body, shimmering like platinum bathed by the light of the moon. “I see armor like any other, an armor proper of a hero”

Then the male alicorn levitated the sword to him. “And what do you see here?” he asked calmly. The colt picked the rusty sword between his hooves, and it turned into a magnificent sword, with a blade too sharp that looked like it could cut the air with its mere presence, with a golden hilt that shone with pride under sunrays.

“I see the best of the swords, as lethal as beautiful” he said, admiring his new garment with awe, while the alicorn nodded sagely.

“That is true my little friend. They are Eversharp and Everfaithful, both items created to support Good in all of its forms. Your pure heart, free of any evil, could see through the appearances and that’s why you will be the king of the new realm, now under your crown” he stated, levitating all of the crowns and with a unknown but beautiful magic he fused them in a set of regalia with a quality never seen in the world before, and put it over the young king. He was baffled at all of this, and his look turned in one of concern.

“But sir, how can I be the king? I don’t know anything about ruling. I’m just a little foal” he said. The alicorn nuzzled him affectionately, making his concerns void.

“Worry none my young friend, for the wisdom will come in time. You will become a great king, that I am sure”

The ponies, awed by the events happening in front of their own eyes bowed to the new king, this turn of events seemed like divine providence and a clear signal to embrace a new era. The new king observed with fear and turned again to the majestic alicorn, who nuzzled him again.

“Don’t be afraid, for I will be always with you” he said, pointing to the right hoof of the young colt. Confused he put out the bracelet covering his hoof and beneath it a magical mark appeared. “This mark will link you and your heirs to me, for when the danger comes I’ll be here with you if the need is dire. Now I must depart. Show me how a true king is, little friend… and farewell” the alicorn said, vanishing in a flash of light and mist. Even with the alicorn out of the scene the ponies of the land rejoiced and partook in joyful festivities, for the war ended at last and they have a new king. And so a new era of prosperity began.

Years and decades passed and the kingdoms of the land, now unified under one flag and under the rule of one king, flourished and prospered under his rule. In time he turned into a stallion of wisdom and trust, loved by their subjects and his daring but caring wife. The fields were green again, and foals played on the streets of the cities, not worrying about if their parents were going to return home safe, enjoying their lives in harmony and happiness. The king was content and always looked with a tender gaze at his subjects, worrying about their problems and always solving them the best as he could. But a small void resided in his heart.

Every night he would walk around the forest of the hill where, in that fateful day, he was crowned king of the known lands. The small hill was now place of pilgrimage and joy for everypony in the kingdom, even with some kind of memorial built to remember that day. He returned there to remember the gentle touch of the great alicorn, his warm and paternal presence always linked to those memories. Sometimes he could swear that he saw the silhouette of a young colt with ragged clothes, watching him with a gentle smile, but when he turned his head to see him the figure just disappeared from sight.

The story will always know him as the Great Alicorn, emblem of the new kingdom, but in the hearts of the ponies that lived the miracle and prodigy of its creation he will always be the wanderer warrior who went as he came, in the time of a breath. It was a popular belief those days that when something good happened, it was the good traveler that looked for that lucky pony, and that we was watching them, protecting them from evil.

And from a distant place in the endless space between reality and magic, the alicorn of glimmering sky blue eyes was smiling, carrying on with his endless journey, for the pilgrim warrior was always on the move.

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