The Knights. Once known in their time as great artisans, the annals of history remember them only as whispers of violence. But while history forgets, the truth can never be lost.
In Equestria's distant past, long before the rule of Luna and Celestia, before even Discord and the endless winter, the three tribes of ponies lived united, but they were not alone.
Among the tribes lived another race, unskilled in magic, incapable of flight, and without the natural talent to farm, they relied instead on their strength, industriousness, and ingenuity to find their place amongst the ponies.
In their time they were known as great builders and artisans, a gentle hand molding the world of culture and bringing joy and shelter to all.
But history learned them by another name.
Knights, the great warrior race that faced the armies of Tartarus and perished in victory, or so the legend goes.
But as Princess Celestia, the Elements of Harmony, and all of modern Equestria shall soon learn, one should not put trust in the words of fairy-tales...
In Equestria's distant past, long before the rule of Luna and Celestia, before even Discord and the endless winter, the three tribes of ponies lived united, but they were not alone.
Among the tribes lived another race, unskilled in magic, incapable of flight, and without the natural talent to farm, they relied instead on their strength, industriousness, and ingenuity to find their place amongst the ponies.
In their time they were known as great builders and artisans, a gentle hand molding the world of culture and bringing joy and shelter to all.
But history learned them by another name.
Knights, the great warrior race that faced the armies of Tartarus and perished in victory, or so the legend goes.
But legends are not facts, and neither is history, though it may strive to be so, and eventually all is lost to the unending flow of time.
Or so history says.
And so it came to pass that the Order of the Knights of Sunflare did march upon the gates of Tartarus, the great Knight Celerion at their head.
Onward did they march to Death and their demise, embracing death to destroy Death and find new life for those marked for death.
"Lyra, it's time to order."
Celerion's met Death at Tartarus, and the forces of death and Tartarus met those on the battlefield in turn.
The Knights met Death and death in turn, and through strength born not of strength, death became as Death had been.
"Lyra?"
Weakened by the battle against Death and death, the Knight's deed was far from finished, and drawing on the last of their strength born not of strength, they forced back the armies of Death and sealed them behind the Gate of Evil, so that none would again fear their might.
"Lyra!"
"What?" the mint green unicorn's head shot up, suddenly hearing her friend's voice, "Bonbon, what's the matter?"
The beige earth pony sitting across from her placed her hoof firmly in her face, "The waiter was trying to take your order."
Lyra blinked as she looked around in confusion, her eyes widening as she slowly recognised the restaurant around her, and then the impatient unicorn waiting.
"Oh, right," Lyra blushed fiercely as she spoke, "I'll uh, I'll have what she's having!"
The waiter mumbled something vaguely polite as he rolled his eyes and left the now rather maroon unicorn being scrutinized by her concerned friend.
"Hey Lyra, you feeling okay?" Bonbon bit her lip as she looked over her friend.
"Yeah! Fine! Why? Never better!" she stuttered out quickly in response, an insincere smile on her face, "Uh, why?"
"Well it's just that you don't usually get that spacy," Bonbon was used to Lyra's oddities and tended to cut to the heart of the matter, "I mean, most of the time when you space out I can get you back in just a few seconds, but you looked like you didn't even know where we were this time."
"Yeah, sorry about that," Lyra's blush deepened, "but it's just that I got this really interesting manuscript and..." she trailed off, averting her eyes and biting her lip.
Bonbon smiled slightly at her friend's actions, Lyra had a tendency to go off at length about whatever subject had caught her attention recently, though she tried to curb that tendency as most ponies were less than appreciative of her insight.
"You can go ahead," Bonbon waved a hoof as Lyra's eyes brightened, "I don't mind."
Lyra's face broke into a grin so wide Bonbon feared it might crack, and she quickly reached across the table to embrace her friend in a rib-bending hug, returning to her seat before Bonbon could even process what was happening.
"Well like I was saying I got this manuscript from Type Cast at the Amateur Historian's meeting yesterday, you know the one who writes historical fiction?" Lyra waited for Bonbon's hesitant nod before resuming her breathless monologue, "Well he got it recently during his trip to Crete, did you know he grew up there? Anyway, apparently the Minotaur historians had been keeping a record of one of the earliest known writings of 'The Legend of Sunflare's Knights' you know what I'm talking about right?"
"How could I not?" Bonbon couldn't help but grin at her near-ecstatic companion, "It's got to be your favourite story in the entire world, you've got what, eight versions of it at home?"
"Nine, counting this one." Lyra motioned to the small book laying in front of her, "As you know, the tale is highly allegorical, and it serves as the origin for the belief that the embodiment of death itself is sealed away in Tartarus."
"Which is unsubstantiated by any historical record, of course." Bonbon said in her best imitation of Lyra's excited 'lecturing' tone, "We've been down this road a few times before."
"Ah, but this time is different!" Lyra felt a moment of smug satisfaction take over as Bonbon looked honestly shocked for a moment, "By all accounts this version of the legend from Crete is the earliest known, not surprising that we didn't have it considering that our history is filled with Windigoes and Discord and who knows what else that could have transpired between-"
"Lyra."
The unicorn stopped, fearing for a moment that she'd somehow upset Bonbon, a fear that was lifted when she realised the waiter was waiting for her to clear her side of the table.
Lyra sheepishly moved the book from the table to her saddlebag, and the waiter once again mumbled what may have been a pleasantry as he left.
"Well, don't leave me hanging," Bonbon ignored her food in lieu of focusing on her excitable friend, "you were just getting to the good part."
"Right!" Lyra's grin faded as quickly as it returned, "Where was I again?"
"A tangent, but I'm more interested in how this version is different from most."
"Oh yeah." both Lyra's enthusiasm and her train of thought returned instantly, "Well unlike the other versions, the Death referred to in the passage may not refer to death as a concept as all."
"How can you tell?" Bonbon began idly poking at her food with her fork.
"Well for the most part, it's down to repetition, death and this thing called Death are both mentioned repeatedly, and there's also some stuff about death becoming death or something, I haven't had a chance to do an in-depth analysis yet though."
"Huh," Bonbon finally started eating as she mulled over the information, "so you think this thing called Death got lost in translation?"
"Probably," Lyra sniffed her food carefully before deciding to eat it, "it's an unfortunate pitfall for those whose names are common words."
"Yeah, if you ever did anything heroic your legend would probably live on as that of the mystical talking lyre that cast down the wicked wall of knowledge!"
"Hey!" Lyra said in mock indignation, "I do more than read you know."
"Yeah yeah," Bonbon smirked wickedly, "so, is there anything else different about this new version?"
"Well..." Lyra chewed thoughtfully, "It's longer than most, I'm only half-way through and the battle of Tartarus is already finished, and that's all there is to some versions.
"Other than that, it uses the more common Celerion for the leader's name, so fans of Celerity won't be happy."
"Why do you say that?" Bonbon had nearly finished her meal.
"Type Cast said he was gonna write a new book off this version and credit the Cretan Scholar's Society for the information," Lyra smiled victoriously "if it's confirmed by local historians to be genuine, which it will, then Inkwell'l have to eat his words the next time we meet."
Bonbon sighed in a resigned manner, Starless Inkwell was a Canterlot historian that Lyra had some history with, it seemed to Bonbon that they disagreed with each other just to be contrary.
With a wry grin on one, and a look of smoldering achievement on the other, the two finished and payed for their meals.
"Well, I gotta get back to work," Bonbon glanced at a nearby clock, "I'm twenty minutes late as it is, what about you?"
"Twilight couldn't make it to yesterday's meeting, so I'm gonna take the manuscript over to show her," Lyra smiled brightly, "if there's any historic fact in this new version I know Twilight will want to know about it for sure."
The two bade each other goodbye, their departure seeming to hold no more significance than any other, and yet it was that same departure that would help shape the very future of Equestria.
The Royal Statue Garden in Canterlot is a famous landmark filled with effigies of ponies each representing a virtue or strength.
This is common knowledge.
It is also well-known that a single statue once displayed prominently for all to see was in fact the imprisoned form of Discord, the Spirit of Chaos.
What is less known is that a statue is hidden away amongst the hedges, in the deepest part of the maze.
A statue of a mythical Knight, an upright being akin to a minotaur or an ape, clad in armour and on bended knee, fist pressed against his breastplate.
And as it happened, on this same day that an eccentric unicorn had prattled on endlessly about the creatures, Princess Celestia made a point to visit the Knight's statue.
But it was no idle visit, for while even Celestia herself could not divine her true purpose in arriving at that place, she felt drawn strongly to it, as though some grave importance had been placed on the statue.
No matter how she looked at it she couldn't divine any importance from the statue, quietly she read the inscription on its base, Valour.
But what does it mean? she mused, her thoughts turning as she reread the inscription. This statue is even older than I am, did she hide some secret within it?
No sooner had the thought crossed her mind when shining cracks began to appear in the statue, starting from where the fist touched the breastplate and spreading.
Celestia stepped back warily, her eyes never moving from the statue as the cracks widened and expanded, they weren't cracks at all, but shining lines morphing to become a cohesive bright surface, blinding to a mortal, but not even painful to Celestia.
As quickly as the light appeared, it vanished, leaving a living Knight in place of the statue.
"Who are you?" despite her racing thoughts Celestia's voice was calm, "Why have you appeared before me?"
"Milady," the Knight spoke as he stood, "I am Captain Ardon, commander of the High Lady Sunflare's Knights of Order."
Just minutes earlier, Lyra was arriving at The Golden Oak library, she mused on its previous name, the Tree of Knowing, before she knocked.
She heard a clutter of activity from inside, followed by the door being opened by Spike.
"Oh, hey Lyra," he looked haggard, but pleased to see her, "what brings you here?"
"I came to see Twilight," Lyra grinned broadly, "I got a really interesting manuscript of the legend of Sunflare's Knights."
"Did you say Knights?" Twilight called out as Spike opened the door wider to reveal her standing next to what appeared to be a stone pillar covered in dirt, "Lyra, you have got to come see this!"
Lyra silently approached the pillar as Twilight's wings fluttered nervously, looking closely, it appeared to be some kind of statue.
"What is it?" Lyra asked breathlessly, grime was coated into its crevices and the shape was difficult to make out.
"I haven't finished cleaning it, but I think it's a statue of a Knight!" Twilight's face split in an almost scary smile as she observed her find.
"What?" Lyra's eyes widened as she quickly analyzed the statue, but it's form was just as incomprehensible, "But how can you tell?"
"Look at the inscription here," Twilight pointed to a clean part of the base with some unreadable symbols etched into it, "it's in ancient Equestrian, it matches the inscription on the statue in Canterlot."
"There's a Knight statue in Canterlot?" Lyra's face broke into wonderment at the news.
Twilight nodded, "Not many ponies know about it, but anyway, the inscriptions read 'Valour', which makes sense considering what they're depicting."
Lyra gazed upon the filthy statue with a new appreciation, "How did you find it?"
"That's the strange part," Twilight's expression turned uncomfortable, "I was going to visit Applejack since I hadn't seen her in a while, and I suddenly felt a strange pull on the way there, I followed the feeling and it led me to where it was buried."
"Do you think it was the statu-what?" Lyra cut herself off as cracks of light began appearing under the grime, shining through nonetheless.
"Lyra get down!" Twilight gripped Lyra and Spike in her magic and tossed them into the kitchen just as the statue's light intensified.
Twilight winced in pain as the light receded, revealing a living Knight surrounded by a circle of dirt on the ground.
"Who are you?" she asked hostilely, "What are you?"
"There's no need t'fear, Milady," he drew up to his full height, taller even than Celestia, and thick as a tree to boot, "My name is Garris, a Lieutenant in the High Lady Sunflare's Knights of Order."
"Y-you're a Knight?" Lyra came stumbling in from the kitchen, still shaken by Twilight's spell.
"That is correct Milady, I live to serve," Garris struck his chest with his fist and bowed to Lyra from the waist.
"Hang on a minute," Twilight's voice remained hard with suspicion, "the Order of The Knights of Sunflare were said to have been destroyed eons ago."
"Aye, and we nearly all were," Garris chuckled humourlessly, "and were it not for Celerius, we would be."
"Celerius?" Lyra asked timidly, "Not Celerion?"
"No, definitely not that." Garris shook his head, "It doesn't matter, we have more important matters to attend to."
"You mean like all the holes in your story?" Twilight glared darkly at the Knight, "If you're supposedly from thousands of years ago then how are we even speaking the same language?"
Lyra looked like she was about to object but she was cut off by a bark of laughter from Garris.
"Ye can thank Daystar fer that one, or ye could have once." Garris sighed deeply and buried his face in his palm, "She figured that by the time we would need to be called upon, the common tongue would have changed, and she was right abou' that t'be sure."
"That doesn't change the fact that we have no way of knowing who and what you really are."
"Well that's a simple matter, Highness," Garris crossed his arms contentedly, "just send word t'the High Lady Sunflare herself, she'll vouch fer me."
"But," Lyra started weakly "Tau Sunflare hasn't set hoof on Equestria for almost as long as her Knights were missing."
A dead silence filled the room, and Garris froze where he stood, tense seconds passed as the two mares braced for the large man's reaction, but when he spoke it was with the same friendly tone as before.
"I'm begging yer pardon Milady, but I surely misheard ye somehow, could ye repeat that about the High Lady?"
"It's no mistake," Twilight once more interrupted Lyra, "the last time Tau Sunflare was seen, at least according to legend, was when she received an offering from an artisan sometime before the reign of Discord."
"Discord ah?" Garris scratched his chin thoughtfully, "He hardly sounds like the nicest of chaps."
"He's making an effort."
"Well, it's no matter, I'm sure the High Lady left someone capable in charge," Garris paused to size Twilight up, "and no offense meant, but ye seem to be not much more than a fledgling by the standards of Alicorns."
Twilight bristled at the comment, but Lyra took a chance to make her own interruption.
"The ruler of Equestria is Princess Celestia," she said eagerly, "if anypony should know about you Knights, it'll be her."
"Excellent, then all we have t'do now is send off a message t'yer Princess and I'm sure that Lady Celestia will vouch fer me."
Twilight was about to retort when a loud belch and a green light came from the kitchen, soon followed by an excited purple dragon.
"Twilight, it's from the Princess, priority seal!"
As Spike ran by, Garris' eyes grew to the size of dinner plates watching him, "A dragonling, I haven't seen one since little Smoggy way back when, though I guess it's even longer now."
As Twilight took the letter, Spike grew considerably uncomfortable under Garris' idealistic gaze, "Uh, hi?"
"Hello little friend," Garris smiled widely, "and what would yer name be?"
"Uh, I'm Spike!" the young dragon pointed at himself exuberantly, having regained some confidence.
Garris was about to respond, but Twilight cleared her throat loudly, grasping everyone's attention.
"I apologize for doubting you, Sir Garris," she bowed low as she spoke, "I have been asked by Princess Celestia to escort you to the Equestrian capital of Canterlot, if you would allow me."
"There's no need for that, Milady." Garris smiled as Twilight sheepishly rose, "It seems as though Lady Celestia is more capable than I'd expected, I d'not know how she came t'be aware of me, but it seems we must away to your Canterlot with all haste."
"Thank you for your cooperation, Sir Garris," Twilight smiled awkwardly, "if you could allow Ms. Lyra to accompany you to the train station, I need to gather my companions for the journey."
Garris laughed heartily, "There's no need for such formalities, ye can speak plainly with me."
"Uh, if you say so," Twilight turned to look at Lyra, "you don't mind taking him do you?"
"Wha- n-no not at all!" Lyra looked like she might be in danger of dying from happiness.
"Great, then Lyra, Sir Garris." she inclined her head to each of them in turn, "Let's go Spike!"
Twilight levitated Spike from where he was trying to clean Garris' mess, overriding his objections as she placed him on her back and ran out the door.
"Well then Miss Lyra," Garris eyed the comparatively tiny unicorn, "I imagine ye've a lot of questions fer me, but I'm afraid I'll have t'start with one of my own."
Lyra gulped almost audibly, her eyes showing equal tension and joy, "And what is your question?"
"What in the High Lady's name is a train?"
It was not a quiet walk to the station, but neither was it complicated, very few stopped to stare and they did so understandably, after seeing a literal legend walking the street.
But none of them were prepared for what this living legend truly meant.
The Crystal Empire was a small but prosperous nation under the protection of the larger Equestria, which they were a part of in all but name.
Whether it had been named for its crystalline buildings, it's crystalline populace, or the variety of crystalline foodstuffs was unclear.
Also unclear to many were the unsettling events occuring within the Crystal Palace, mirroring the situations in both Ponyville and Canterlot.
"Good day My Lady," spoke the feminine Knight as she rose from her bow, "you may call me Escura, I am a Lieutenant of the High Lady Sunflare's Knights of Order."
It was fortuitous, Shining Armour decided, that he hadn't called the guard to investigate the secret chamber his wife had discovered.
As it was, the two leaders stood in front of a being straight out of a fairy-tale, and neither seemed sure how to address the issue.
Shining Armour sent Cadance a meaningful look, she was the one trained for diplomatic situations after all. Cadance merely returned his look and inclined her head, signifying that she considered this to be a military issue.
Great, the pale Emperor thought bitterly, I might as well go all-out then.
Shining Armour drew himself up to his full height, and whil he was still more than a head shorter than the Knight opposite him, he still held a commanding presence.
"I am General Shining Armour of the Crystal Empire, state your intentions Lieutenant!"
"Yes Milord!" she placed her palm over her breast and went down on bent knee, as when she was a statue, "I was placed into magical stasis by the High Lady in order to prepare for the day that the Knights of Order would once again be required, I apologise for this incursion into your Empire, I know not how I came to be here and I did not mean to tresspass upon your halls."
"It is quite alright," Shining Armour had trouble reconciling this information, everything from Cadance's behavior when she found the statue to the Knight's words, to the very secret chamber they were standing in were suspect.
"If I may sir?" Escura looked up and waited for Shining's nod to continue, "I have been indisposed for an unknown amount of time, if it's all okay with you I'd like to be filled in on the current political situation."
Once more Shining Armour looked to his wife for advice, a nod, the situation had turned to diplomacy.
Cadance prepared mentally for what was sure to be a long few hours of recapping all of the pony history she could remember.
The Obsidian Peaks, a brutal mountain range on the distant edge of Equestria, upon these peaks was built the most impenetrable stronghold ever built by ponykind, the Lunar Palace, more military base than royal abode, it was here that Luna lived with the night-dwelling chiroptasi, both separate from pony society and integral to it, for it's the duty of Luna and the chiroptasi to guard the sealed gate to Tartarus, located at the bottom of the Peaks.
All these facts rand through the Lunar Princess' mind as she looked down upon her palace, not at it's best in moonlight, but as the pure black slate it appeared in her sister's day.
Remembering the chiroptasi's loyalty even after her fall nearly brought tears to her eyes, the clans had stayed in the palace, following their standing orders for a thousand years and waiting for their Princess to return for generations.
But above all she thought about the efforts she had made to integrat the chiroptasi into normal pony society.
The results had been mixed to say the least, Luna cringed as she remembered a particular earth pony's reaction to the chiroptasi's diet.
On the plus side, Private Cereus learned a lesson in discretion, on the minus side, she didn't hear quite the same for a week.
Luna shook her head to clear her thoughts, but they continued to plague her mind.
Eventually she decided to clear her mind with a quick flight over the Peaks, their smooth sides coldly reflecting the Sun's rays.
As she flew she felt her worries slowly float away, granted a part of her mind was telling her that it would all come flowing back as soon as she landed, but she quickly silenced that part.
The Lunar Princess quickly adapted to a rhythm and was able to purge the last of the distressing thoughts from her mind.
Luna decided on impulse to fly low over the tree-cover, and it was then that she was gripped by a sudden desire to land at the base of a particularly large tree, that seems to have some stone figure sticking out from its roots.
While Cadance had been expecting to be giving a long history lecture, Escura had demanded more details at the first mention of a war, which Shining Armour was able to provide excellently.
After a few hundred years of history though, the conversation had derailed into Escura and Shining Armour tossing stories of battle back and forth, each more extreme than the last, as if they were competing for who'd had a rougher time of it.
Cadance had been calmly observing their interactions, and she recognized the look in her husband's eyes.
The last time he'd worn that expression it had been directed at a certain cocky mare in his unit who thought she could do his job better.
Even worse, the look was mirrored perfetly in Escura's eyes.
Cadance sighed internally, her heart heavy, she had known it would happen sooner or later, and unlike when he'd fixed his gaze on that mare, Escura had a similar military background to Shining Armour.
Her heart and mind filled with regret as she remembered the injuries that mare sustained, sure Lightning Dust had lived, but her wing injuries disqualified her from military service, just imagining what those two could do to each other was a horrible thought.
And still, that fire of rivalry burned hot in their eyes as they described in gut-churning detail each broken bone and dislocation they'd experienced.
Cadance was relieved and more than a little queasy when a messenger found them with a summons from Celestia.
Luna was awestruck at her find, the statue she had removed from the tree's roots was one she'd seen long before, in her childhood.
She had thought that only the one Celestia kept had survived, it was surreal to simply find it in the middle of the forest, and why had she come to this place anyway?
It had felt like she were drawn there somehow, like she was meant to land by that tree, meant to remove the statue from its roots, meant to... What?
Before she had time to ponder on it further, the statue was enveloped in a brilliant glow, shining brightly only to stop and reveal a Knight dressed in gleaming armour kneeling before her.
"Milady," his voice was soft as he rose, "I am Damarus, a Lieutenant of the High Lady Sunflare's Knights of Order."
"Truly?" a tinge of wonder crept into her voice as she moved closer to the Knight, "One of Mother's Knights survived to this day?"
"More than one I should hope," Damarus remarked casually, "There's not much I can do to help without the Captain."
"And why would that be?" Luna recovered somewhat from her shock and stepped back, cursing herself for letting her guard down.
"Only the Captain knows how to perform the spell of course."
"Spell?" Luna glared coldly, "To what spell do you refer?"
"Didn't your mother ever tell you about our powers?"
"We have not seen Our Mother in many a year," Luna's hooves and wings shifted as she prepared to fight, "but She never mentioned anything about Her Knights' return!"
"Hey hey hey," Damarus backed up, his hands held up in a placating gesture, "I'm unarmed see?"
Luna hesitated, on one hoof he'd mentioned having some 'powers', but on the other hoof he hadn't made any violent moves yet.
"Very well," Luna eased out of her stance, "We shall transport you to Canterlot on the condition that you remain bound the entire way."
Damarus scoffed, "So we're going where you want to go and only if your 'conditions' are met, if this forest weren't so dank I might just turn down your offer."
Luna glared darkly and Damarus let his hands be tied behind his back and his body taken to Canterlot, but not wordlessly.
"Must it be so tight?"
"I'm not sure you're a safe method of transportation."
"You know, at this altitude I'd die from a fall."
"You do realise I can't hold on with these bindings, right?"
Luna groaned, Only another seven-eighths of the way...
Captain Ardon stood on a high tower's balcony, Canterlot, Equestria's capital city, stretched out below him, beautiful to the eyes, but he sensed it rotting in his heart.
The sun was crossing the western horizon now, and the Princess had told him that her protégé and her companions would be arriving by 'train' soon.
It did little to calm his thoughts that they were the new Bearers of the Elements of Harmony.
At the very least I can trust them not to stab me in the back, he thought bitterly, which is more than I can say for their ruler at any rate.
Ardon's thoughts were interrupted when he saw a figure flying towards Canterlot, focusing hard he determined that it could only be one of his knights flying on either a remarkably large black pegasus, or much more likely the 'Princess Luna' he'd heard next to nothing about.
Ardon left the balcony, noticing neither the golden chariot flying from the north or the train winding up the mountain.
The Knight made his way to the courtyard, where Celestia was already waiting.
"Milady," Ardon bowed as he approached, "I assume you're here to greet your sister?"
"Among others," Celestia replied evenly, "though I suppose I should complement you on your eyesight."
It irritated him how she seemed to know every thing that happened, but he held his tongue as they awaited the other Princess' arrival.
Their patience was quickly rewarded as the Lunar Princess landed in fron of them, a gleaming figure facing flankward seated on her back.
"Sister we have a prison..." she trailed off as she spotted the other Knight, "One appeared here as well."
"Another Knight?" Luna's passenger tried craning his neck to see, "It's not Garris is it?"
"Damarus?" Ardon's composure broke as he moved to get a better view of his comrade, "I hope you didn't cause too much trouble-"
His words caught in his throat as he saw the bonds keeping Damarus' hands together.
"What is the meaning of this?" Ardon's words practically dripped with venom as he rounded on Luna.
"What right do you have to speak to Us in that way?" Luna lowered her horn and prepared a spell, but stopped when a golden-shod hoof touched her shoulder, the darker Princess' objection caught in her throat at the sight of her sister's disapproving look.
"Luna, these Knights are our allies, I would expect you to treat them as such."
"But..." Luna trailed off as Celestia's gaze lingered, "Very well Sister, we shall relinquish our bond on the Knight."
"Not necessary Milady," Damarus slid off Luna awkwardly, "I can take care of myself."
As he walked toward his Captain, Damarus' bonds shone brightly and disintegrated, leaving a stunned Lunar Princess behind him.
"Celestia, he just-"
"I know."
"But he shouldn't-"
"I know."
"But how?" Luna turned to her sister, desperate for some explanation for this madness.
Celestia's eyes narrowed. "That I don't know."
Just feet away, the two Knights were having their own conversation.
"They don't know much about us, do they?" Damarus wore a smirk Ardon was only too familiar with.
"Try to keep your jokes to a minimum," Ardon looked over his subordinate quickly, "I take it you didn't learn anything from the Princess?"
"They still have magic earplugs," Damarus shrugged nonchalantly, "not surprising really."
"I see." the Captain closed his eyes for a moment, thinking, "The Princess has summoned the Bearers of the Elements of Harmony, and there are two more Alicorns as well, so there's a chance our entire company will be present by nightfall."
Damarus opened his mouth, but his response was cut off by the landing of a golden sky-chariot, its passengers being none other than Empress Mi Amore Cadenza and General Shining Armour of the Crystal empire, and Lieutenant Escura.
"Captain!" Escura leaped out of the chariot and ran to her superior, saluting him, "Lieutenant Escura reporting for duty sir."
"Oh, right." Damarus moved beside her and copied her pose, "What she said, only five minutes ago and with my name."
"Let's leave it at that," Ardon said quickly, having not missed the look in Escura's eyes, "we'll speak more later, for now though, the Elements' new Bearers should be arriving soon."
As if on cue, the Element-Bearers, Lyra, and the Knight Garris entered the courtyard.
Twilight Sparkle stopped in her tracks when she saw the scene before her, three more Knights were standing together, smiling broadly as Garris and a hesitant Lyra approached. She was broken from her stupor by a nudge and comment from Rainbow Dash.
"Isn't that your brother?" Rainbow pointed to what was unmistakably a grinning Shining Armour and Cadance.
"Shining! Cadance!" Twilight ran up and hugged her brother, "What's going on, did Celestia summon you two as well?"
"That's right," it was Celestia who spoke, and every head in the courtyard turned to listen to her, "I've brought you all here because Captain Ardon has brought grave news to my attention."
At her statement, all eyes turned to the Captain, "It's true, but before I begin, is there some place we may speak more comfortably?"
"Of course, follow me." Celestia led the group to an opulent dining hall with strangely plain chairs, "Please take a seat."
Much to the surprise of the Knights the chairs transfigured themselves into a more comfortable form as they approached.
"We use this room to entertain diplomats from other races," Luna explained as she settled into her own elongated seat.
"Fascinating," Ardon and the other Knights settled into their chairs, each one cushioned and white with red trim, except for Garris' chair formed from two seats which was dark blue and rather intimidating, "how does it function?"
"Normally it searches for specific species markers and morphs into pre-programmed forms like with me," Twilight motioned to her own Celestia-sized chair, "in cases where no markers are found it simply makes an approximation."
"What's it think Garris is then?" Damarus asked with a wicked smile.
"That would be a minotaur's chair." Twilight admitted sheepishly.
Both Garris and Damarus burst out laughing at the news, joined shortly by many of the others.
Ardon stood as the laughter died down, silencing the last giggles.
"As Lady Celestia said before, the news I bring is grim, the spell placed upon us could only have been broken under one condition." Ardon closed his eyes as he placed his palms on the table, "Has any record of our final confrontation survived to this day?"
"The Legend of Sunflare's Nights." Lyra looked at the Knight nervously, but continued at his nod, "M-most versions of the tale say that the Knights fought death and sealed it in Tartarus though I've come across one that implies says that the Death they sealed in Tartarus was just some creature with the name."
"That's exactly it, thank you." Ardon looked at the ponies gathered before him, each of them, save Celestia, wore identical expressions of confusion and fear, "I'm afraid that Death, the beast we fought so hard to seal away, is making to escape."
"That's impossible!" all eyes turned to Luna as stood, "Cerberus and the chiroptasi have guarded Tartarus faithfully for thousands of years."
"What do you mean guarded?" Ardon's expression betrayed his fear too well, "Tartarus shouldn't need guarding it's a seal Celerius himself placed upon the greatest evil that exists what do you mean guarded?"
"The gates of Tartarus opened shortly after Discord's reign," Luna fixed Ardon with a cold stare, "my Sister and I were able to contain most of the beasts that escaped, and the chiroptasi have guarded the gates with Cerberus ever since."
"That can't be, the spells Celerius set in Tartarus should have awakened our containers before then."
"Discord," Celestia hissed vindictively, "his magic must have damaged the spells."
"Dammit," Ardon slumped down in his chair, "This isn't good, we won't have as much time as I'd hoped."
"Time for what?" Twilight tried to look confident as she spoke, "What did you plan to do in the first place?"
"There is a spell, invented during the war with Death's forces," Ardon locked eyes with Twilight, "with it, a unicorn can bond with a human and enhance both their magic and physical abilities, a linked pair of Knight and unicorn can fight together as well as a hundred soldiers."
"And you think this spell can save Equestria?" Celestia looked over the Knight's critically.
"No, but it's a start, and so long as the Elements make it to the final battle this time," he spared a glance to the Bearers, "a start should be all we need."
"Regardless, it's getting late, and most of you had a long trip here," Celestia flashed the congregation a warm smile, "might I suggest resuming tomorrow with clearer heads?"
"Yes, I agree," Ardon paused pensively, "I need to speak with my company as well."
"Naturally," Celestia ignored Ardon's eye twitching as she continued, "I'll have the cooks bring up a meal for us before we adjourn."
The meal had proceeded uneventfully, and night had fallen quietly on the castle. Later the Knights found themselves in a stately room that had four simple beds shoved into it, long wide tables next to each of them.
"Did you really need to insist on us sharing a room?" Damarus had just finished stripping out of his armour, which was now laying somewhat haphazardly on his table, "no offense meant or anything, but I wouldn't mind a little privacy."
"I'm still not sure I trust Lady Celestia." Ardon glanced up from his own armour, laid out neatly on his table, "And take better care of your armour, it's the only one you've got."
"Oh come off it, Captain," Damarus stretched out on his bed lazily, "I've seen this stuff take a hit from Death without denting."
"That was imbued armour," Escura piped in as she helped Garris out of his armour, her own already off, "you know full well that it's just normal steel until the spell is cast over it."
"Oh fine," Damarus rose and started straightening his armour out, "it's not worth it to have you on my case."
"And just what is that supposed to mean?" Escura finished with Garris and rounded on her other comrade, "Because it really sounds like you're asking to be my sparring partner tomorrow."
"Hey, no offense meant or anything," he threw his hands up defensively, "you're just relentless, it's a virtue or something."
"Regardless," Ardon interjected, rubbing his eyes, "We'll discuss what we've learned about this time in the morning, understood?" his Lieutenants gave their assent, "Lights out then."
With a snap of his fingers the candles were extinguished, and each of the Knights drifted off to sleep.
The morning sun shone brightly over the training field, illuminating the man and teen sparring on it with quarterstaffs.
"Your form holds well," Celerius said to his apprentice between strikes, "but your concentration is slipping!"
Faster than he could even see, the teen found himself on his back, tripped up by Celerius.
"Now then Ardon, should I criticise you for your lapse in attention?" the older man extended a hand to his protégé, who took it, "Or maybe I should complement you on your eyesight?"
Ardon found himself whipped about to face the very reason he'd lost focus, sitting just across the street, speaking to a pegasus mare, brushing her rich red hair from her face...
"So you've an eye for young Angua?"
"That's not it at all!" Ardon backed away from his mentor quickly, "I was just- I ah, well I-"
"There's nothing wrong with it," Celerius chuckled lightly, "everyone needs a bit of romance in their life."
"What about you Master?" Ardon was desperate to change the topic, "do you have someone special in your life?"
"I tell you what," Celerius grinned, raising his quarterstaff, "beat me and I'll tell you."
Ardon slowly woke from his sleeping reminiscence to the voice of his subordinate.
"Captain," Damarus stood over him, "we'd best get started now, I think the meeting was planned for noon."
"Right, of course." Ardon looked at his wide-awake Lieutenants on their bed, "Was I asleep long?"
"Only long enough to argue on whether to wake you," Escura said offhandedly, "so, what did you want to talk about Captain?"
"Yes," Ardon paused to think, "First off, what kinds of information did you find out? Damarus?"
"Unfortunately, Lady Luna was less than welcoming of my presence," Damarus sighed, "all I learned is how far we are from Tartarus and that I'm still tone-deaf."
"You saw Tartarus?"
Damarus shook his head, "Just the black mountains, we're a ways off, but it's nothing we couldn't reach in a day or two on foot."
"Understood, Garris?"
"Apart from how trains work not a great deal, I was mostly telling Miss Lyra abou' us," Garris rubbed his chin pensively, "though I did learn a bit abou' that Discord fellow Lady Celestia mentioned, apparently he's some kind of 'Spirit of Chaos' that tried to take over in the past, but they somehow won him over."
"Interesting." Ardon stopped to consider this information, "And Escura, what did you learn?"
"Yessir!" Escura grinned as she jumped to attention, "I was able to obtain information regarding the general military tactics and practices, the history regarding the reawakening of the Elements of Harmony, and at least a partial history of a rebellion enacted one thousand years ago by the Lunar Princess."
"Impressive," as his subordinate began to looked pleased with herself, Ardon continued, "but did you learn of their currency? The current political situation? The social customs employed in today's world? The current state of the law?"
Escura could only shake her head dejectedly.
"Thankfully we should be able to gain that information going forward," Ardon sighed, "it's not too important as I doubt we'll be in such a situation again, but a wider scope to your inquiries may have helped, and that goes for the two of you as well."
They each stated their assent, and Ardon smiled slightly.
"For anyone who's wondering, the currency is bits, which seem more valuable to the coin than marks by about three times, Equestria functions under a Diarchy through Luna and Celestia, but individual cities retain the majority of their autonomy, as for social customs, the largest difference I noted was that the racial boundaries amongst ponies have become less overt, and while I only skimmed their criminal code, I found that we'll need to register ourselves as agents of the crown in order to carry weapons."
Ardon raised an eyebrow as his Lieutenants looked at him appreciatively.
"Did you think I'd come up with those questions on the spot?" the Captain smirked, "Now then Escura, deliver your report."
"Right, I think it would be prudent to begin with-" she was interrupted by a knock at the door, "Enter."
The door opened, revealing a meek-looking unicorn, "Sorry for the intrusion My Lords, My Lady, but Princess Celestia asked I see to any needs you may have."
"Yes," Ardon moved his eyes over the room as he thought, "we'll need some equipment to maintenance our armour, and if you could run us all a bath that would be appreciated."
"A-a bath, sir?" the unicorn seemed strangely hesitant about it.
"Well we haven't had one in coming on," Damarus screwed up his eyes in mock thought, "ooh, longer than this city's been around, and no offense meant or anything, but my cohorts don't exactly resemble a sweet-pot."
Despite the Knights' good-natured laughter, the unicorn still seemed tense, "P-perfectly understandable Lordship, but a bath for all of you together?"
"Isn't that how it's done anymore?" Escura made a puzzled look.
"Well it's just not very common, what with the, er bareness of, that is..." by this point the unicorn resembled more of a pointy beet than a pony, "I'll have a bath drawn momentarily Milady."
An uncomfortable silence fell over the group that Damarus was only too pleased to lift.
"They do know they don't normally wear clothes, right?"
The shining halls of Canterlot Castle were richly decorated with elegant portraits and beautiful vases and sculptures, many dating back to before even the events of the Lunar Rebellion.
Naturally, this splendor was largely ignored by nearly every pony who passed by.
Unnaturally, Lyra of Ponyville could be counted in their number as she wandered, obsorbed in thought.
What was she even doing here? She was no Element Bearer, she wasn't royalty or a noble, she had no special skills that could be put to use in such a quest.
Lost in doubt as she was, she didn't hear the soft pattering of footfalls, nor the softly reveling voices approaching from in front of her.
Suddenly Lyra found her vision filled with something pure white and fluffy, she jumped back with a yelp, breathing a sigh of relief as she saw it was just the Knights.
"Are you alright Milady?" it was Damarus, who Lyra had nearly walked into, who spoke, "I didn't mean to scare you like that."
"N-no, I mean yes- I mean I'm fine!" a blush slowly grew on her cheeks as her brain finally caught up with what was happening in front of her.
Four Knights, creatures of legend she'd adored since foalhood, marvelous beings renowned for their courage, strength, and valour.
And they were practically naked.
Not that nudity held a special connotation for most ponies, but she found it strange to see the Knights looking so bare, she realised she was staring but couldn't quite help it, each Knight was dressed in no more than a fluffy white towel wrapped around their waist (Though Garris' looked like it had been magically stitched together from three different towels) and their sparse hair stuck to their damp skin where it was exposed, leaving them with an almost balding appearance.
"I know we're a bit of a shock to you, but you'll need to get used to us sometime," Escura chuckled, and Lyra couldn't help but marvel at the differences between their genders, "not to mention that in our culture it was considered rude to stare at a woman's chest."
"I-I'm sorry!" Lyra clenched her eyes shut and lowered her head, only to raise it in confusion as the Knights' joined together in laughter.
"She meant nothing by it Miss Lyra," Garris' eyes were sparkling as he kneeled to be closer to Lyra's head-level, though that still put him nearer to his comrade's full height, "ye can be at ease, I'm sure we'll be able t'sort out everyone's fears once we meet come noontime, ye'll see."
"I don't think I'll be going to the meeting, actually," Lyra turned her eyes away from the gentle giant in front of her, not wanting to see his stare as she delivered her news, "I've thought about it, and there's no reason for me to be here, I'm just a Bard, not some hero, I should be at home writing songs about all this."
"Miss Lyra," Garris' voice was tender, and Lyra couldn't help but look into the man's eyes, so full of compassion and sorrow, "if there's but one thing I've learned in all my years of being a Knight, it's that hero's aren't born, they aren't even made, because there are none worthy of the title who'd ever accept it."
"Then what would you say you are if not a hero?" Lyra chuckled slightly at how subtly absurd it all seemed, "A Knight? A warrior?"
"A Baker, as much as ye're a Bard." Garris' eyes twinkled as he placed one huge hand on Lyra's back, "Come t'the meeting, if ye still feel that ye don't belong here I'll understand, but I for one would enjoy yer company on the road ahead.
"As for us, these halls are a tad drafty, and our laundry's awaiting us in our quarters," Garris slowly stood back up to his full height, "So Miss Lyra, d'ye think this meeting will be able t'put our fears t'rest?"
For the first time that morning, Lyra smiled a bright and honest smile, "I think it will, Sir Garris."