A crusader of the Knight's Templar order finds himself in Equestria. He desides to capture Canterlot as the new holy city. Hilarity ensues.
Falling unconscious due to a strange event during a skirmish defending the holy city of Jerusalem Sir Rowan, a crusader of the Knight's Templar order, finds himself in a strangely familiar world. He meets new faces, some friends, some foes as he adventures and learns about this new and magical land. Eventually, all crusaders must crusade and he decides to take the castle of Canterlot for the holy church. DEUS VULT!
Trigger warnings: religion (nothing too serious), implicit mature scenarios, medieval violence, and some depressing stuff. (more stuff will be added as the story progresses)
“TO ARMS BROTHERS! SARACENS APPROACING FROM THE EAST!” You hear the marshal bellow from his location upon the keep’s wall.
You quickly throw on your greathelm and grab your longsword and fasten it to your waist, followed by taking your shield in your left hand. You quickly charge out of the tent followed by other knights, you can see them now. Saracens. Honorless dogs of the desert that have been your order’s mortal enemy. You unscheathe your longsword and point it skyward, letting it glimmer in the desert sun.
“DEUS VULT FILTHY SARACENS!” You let bellow as you lead the charge, many of your brothers following with the same if not similar calls of battle. You’re nearing them now, you can almost smell the unholiness upon them.
The first clash of steel is made when you cross your fine European longsword with the Saracen’s filthy scimitar. You quickly move your blade upwards throwing the Saracen’s arm backward as you follow through with a shield bash, slamming the holy red cross of the Knight’s Templar order into his drab leather armor. You finish the thing off with a downward thrust of your sword, impaling him and striking the sand he lied upon.
You withdraw your blade, it still dripping with the fresh crimson of Saracen blood, and ready yourself for the next combatants. You are instead taken off guard by a galloping sound coming from your left as you quickly swivel your head, allowing you to see through the small eye slits that a riderless etherial horse is barreling straight towards you. Its hollow eyes burrowing into your very soul. You have no time to dodge as its ghastly figure passess though you, dissipating like mist as you feel extremely cold and hit the ground falling into an endless void of darkness.
You hear the sounds of battle, of clashing swords and screaming men, begin to fade. As if they’re moving further and further away and all you can do is listen to the now murmur of battle that is far too distant to distinguish any kind of information as to whom is winning. You fade into a deeper darkness as your senses go numb and you no longer hear or feel anything but the void.
You begin to regain slight consciousness after you have no idea how long and slowly, very slowly begin to move. Your entire body aches as you attempt to lift yourself up, except you don’t feel the coarse ground that you had grown accustomed to whilst stationed in the desert surrounding the holy city. In fact, you felt grass between your rough fingers and felt wet dirt underneath your palms.
You push yourself onto your knees and sit there as you are absolutely blinded by the light of the sun, after your eyes adjust you can now see that you are definitely not in the desert anymore. If anything this was as far from a desert as you could be. Before you lay a deep and lush forest that for some reason gave you a sense of foreboding as you remembered storied your grandmother would tell you about naughty boys that would get taken into the woods by monsters. You look to your left and found a long stretch of short grass that lead up a hill to what appeared to be an apple orchard with some strange red building sinning amongst the trees. Maybe some things had changed back home?
Wait, how could I be home? It was several month’s travel from Jerusalem, you thought to yoursel. But this forest and field were familiar, but you could just feel something wasn’t right. Then you looked to your right and saw a small village with buildings that looked just like the one you had grown up in with your 9 brothers and 6 sisters (very few of which survived very long).
So, there was only two possibilities: one, you had died and gone to the afterlife that awaited all followers of the holy faith and are now in paradise. Or two, you had been knocked into such a deep slumber that the war was already over and you were sent back home after a job well done, to be praised as a hero for all ages.
You slowly got to your feet, and after having to pick yourself up a few times, were able to take a few shakey steps forward. You stopped in place and quickly checked yourself, if this was your home or the afterlife you wanted to at least look decent. You straightened your tunic covering the linked chain armor underneath and straightened your greathelm, brushing bits of dirt and grass from the breathing holes. You then realise that you don’t have your sword or shield.
Where could they have gone, did they come with me or were they left behind by his holiness or my comrades? You quickly spin in place and find them behind where you had originally awoken about 30 feet back. You stagger towards them and slowly bed over to pick them up, your back aching in protest as you do. With the sword back in its sheath and having fastened the shield to you back you begin the slow, painful walk towards the village.
As you approach the village you begin to notice strange structures, like a flat topped building with some kind of metal rods lying upon the ground in front, stretching further than you could see in either direction. And another building that looked like a tent, but with small horse statuettes circling the top, around the conical roof. These were strange to say the least, but not the strangest thing you saw. As you approach the village to be around 10 feet away you see a small horse trot into view, flanked on either side by two more. While seeing roaming animals was strange, but not uncommon the appearance of these equines baffled you beyond all disbelief.
The one in the middle had a single spiraling horn protruding from it’s forehead and the one to it’s left had wings about its midsection. The one on the right while not bearing any strange features like the others was completely an obnoxious pink color, the other two also had strange coloring as well. The winged one was the color of the sky with a rainbow hued mane, and the horned one was the purest white that put your own tunic’s color to shame, while her mane was the deepest most rich shade of purple you had ever seen. Deeper than that of the silks of the few lords you had met during your beginning of servitude to the order.
You stopped, dumbfounded this must be the afterlife and these must be some kind of cherub angels. You stood perfectly still but as one of them crossed in front of you it caught a gleam of sunlight reflected off of your helmet and into her eyes, making her stop and shield her eyes in a strangely human way with her arm? (You didn’t know much about the anatomy of horses, being a footsoldier and all).
“Excuse me darling, but could you shine that somewhere else please. It’s dreadfully bright” it spoke in a rather refined and feminine voice, it reminded you of the ladies of lords back home.
You had no real response and spoke loudly to her, giving her a basic apology.
"My apologies m'lady, I meant no harm" you say moving aside, she smiled as she began to uncover her eyes.
“Thank you darling, that’s much bet-” but she stopped suddenly when she had to look upwards to meet the emotionless gaze of your greathelm the sun shining behind you.
Now you had heard warcrys, babes screaming, screeches from angry wenches, and cries from desert vultures. But never in your life had you ever heard such an ear-shattering shreik before. It resonated within your helm making your head feel like the great church bells of the holy city as you tried to stop you vision from blurring. Just as you regained singular sight you saw a speeding streak of cyan shooting at you as fast as an arrow.
You were just able to unceremoniously launch yourself to the left and dodge the projectile equine. Landing on your stomach you heard a frustrated grunt from somewhere behind you and saw that the rainbow haired equine was now flying and taking aim at you again. You quickly spun yourself around and unclasped your shield from your back and held it with both hands bracing against the impact of the pegasus (you think is what they’re called) and watch it fall to the ground a comically large bump now sprouting from its head and parting the now disheveled rainbow mane. You saw the unicorn (again a bit foggy on the names for these creatures) begin to create a glow around her horn, prompting you to fling your shield at her like a discus.
Unfortunately, the pink equine intercepted it, catching it in its mouth and letting out a muffled “got it!” before laughing to herself.
You quickly sprung to your feet your pain fading as the heat of combat began to boil in your blood, drawing your sword you unleashed a booming war cry as you charged toward the two remaing equines.
"AVE MARIA!" You bellowed out, startling the preoccupied unicorn.
The white unicorn lost her balance and fell backward, screaming, eyes filled with terror as you sprinted toward her, sword raised high while the pink one continued to bounce around happily oblivious to her and her compatriots peril. But, just as you were to close the distance and deliver holy justice you are suddenly floating in the air, surrounded by a purple sparkling bubble of light. You begin to hack frantically at the light, trying to free yourself, but to no avail. You drop your sword, but it remains within the light with you and you mutter a last prayer to save your soul before you perish.
[Moments earlier in a different part of Ponyville]
“Thank you very much for the quills Scribble Scratch!” Twilight said happily, taking the new plumes and placing them into her saddlebags gently.
“No problem princess” Scribble said as he took a deep bow behind his counter, bumping his head when he came back up. This elicited a giggle from Twilight.
“Please, just call me Twilight. I’m still the same pony who would always buy quills from your stall” Scribble just rubbed the back of his head as he nodded.
“I guess you’re right, I’m just not used to servicing royalty prin- I mean Twilight” he said quickly correcting himself.
“Well, if it helps just image want a it’s like to be royalty” Twilight moaned “Everything is ‘policies this’ and ‘proper actions’ that. I don’t even have much time to read anymore” she said a small tear welling up in her eye.
“I suppose you’re right Twilight, I never thought about how hard it would be to suddenly become royalty” he said, smiling sheepishly.
“I guess I was just being sel- hey, do you hear something?” Scribble said, interrupting Twilights current conversation with her favorite quill vendor and causing her to perk her ears up.
“Ave Maria!” Twilight could hear as she listened. Strange, she’d never heard anypony yell anything like that before and it was close too.
Then she heard it, the piercing scream of Rarity
“Oh no!” Twilight said quickly throwing bits onto the counter and sprinting off toward the sound of her friends screams.
As she galloped closer she saw a horrific sight. Rainbow Dash lay unconscious in the grass and pinkie bounced around with a shield in her mouth (ok, that’s not that horrible) but what really scared her was the hulking metal creature charging toward the collapsed, screaming form of Rarity. Twilight quickly sprung into action and channeled her magic, capturing the creature in a protection bubble before he could reach Rarity. She saw him swing a sword at the bubble a few times and then he suddenly dropped the sword and clasped his hands together and bowed his head.
“What in the name of Celestia is going on here?!” Twilight yelled confused at the display before her.
[Where you were, right now]
“What in the name of Celestia is going on here?!” Another feminine voice yelled, stopping yourself from your prayer to His Holiness.
You open your eyes to see that there stands another equine, this one however had both the wings of a pegasus and the horn of a unicorn. She was a lilac color with a three-tone purple mane and tail. Her horn appeared to be glimmering with the same colored light of your current prison, so you speak out to her.
“Excuse me fair lady, but could I bequeath thou to release me from these confines?” You ask, trying not to let your annoyance with this strange dark magic bleed through your words.
She seems shocked as she looks around to see if anyone else is around, as if she didn’t realise that you had spoken to her. So you try again, this time MUCH more directly.
“RELEASE ME NOW DARK HORSE SORCERESS OR FACE THE MIGHT OF THE KNIGHT’S TEMPLAR’S SWIFT AND HOLY JUSTICE!” You yell straight at her, accentuating your call by thrashing inside the magic bubble.
She seemed to be absolutely shocked and moved a few steps closer, until she was almost snout to greathelm with you.
“Y-you can speak? I thought that golems weren’t intelligent enough to speak?” She said looking straight into the eye slits of your greathelm.
“I am no construct of unholy magic, sorceress, I am a crusader of the holy order of the Knight’s Templar and I demand that you release me!” You say, rage beginning to boil within you once again. For a moment the magic bubble flickered and you began to float back towards the ground, to only inches away, be surrounded by the same aura and levitated back to where you were before.
“Wait! Why should I let you go?! You were trying to hurt my friends!” She looked over at the unconscious form of the cyan pegasus on the grass. “And you’ve already hurt Rainbow Dash!”
You could feel the magic bubble around you begin to grow warm and shrink, making it increasingly painful to be inside. You try pleading with her instead of threatening or demanding, praying it will free you before you are crushed like a beetle on a desert rock.
“P-please!” You cry out the pain almost unbearable.
“I was just trying to defend myself when the pegasus and unicorn attacked m-me!” You are now stuck with your head between your legs as you feel the magic continue to crush you, until suddenly it stops and cools.
“So you weren’t just some golem gone magic crazy and trying to attack my friends?” She asked looking a bit embarrassed.
“N-no” you say, cracking your back. "I had thought them angels of the afterlife, though strange ones. I never meant to do any harm” you say sitting crossed legged in the bubble.
“Now,” you say, snapping her attention back to you “wouldist thou release us, I plead of you” you look at her, trying to convey some emotion through the piece of steel on your head.
“I suppose that I can set you free” she started saying as she released you “but I’m just going to keep these away from you, just in case.” And she created a smaller bubble around the sword and pulled the shield from the pink one’s mouth, much to her discontent.
“Now, let’s start again” she cleared her throat and smiled at you. “My name is Princess Twilight Sparkle, and what may I ask is your name?” She said, waiting patiently for and answer.
You stood up straight and straightened your tunic, showing the bright red cross on your chest more clearly. Trying to convey some sort of greater image to your newfound conversationalist.
“I am Sir Rowan of the Knight’s Templar holy order of crusaders, sworn warrior to the Holy King and the Holy Lord!” You say loudly, but not angrily. Just pridefully boasting.
“But thoust can call me Rowan if it pleases thineself” you say looking away embarrassed under your greathelm.
You’ve never really gone by your title, it was either just Rowan or other mocking names that your brothers-in-arms would call you.
“Well, you can call me just Twilight if you wish to. I’d honestly prefer it” she smiled warmly at me, clearly she didn’t like her royal position. You could understand that, you was never much into politics. Too confusing.
“Well, now that we’ve gotten the introductions out of the way, may I ask you a question?” Twilight says not stopping her eyes from scanning your armored form.
“I suppose so?” you say, rather confused.
“What are you Rowan? I know you’re not a golem, but you’re not a minotaur or ape either and I’ve never seen anything like you before in Equestria, I don’t think anypony has! " she seems to be truly confused as to what you are.
You have to mentally recollect, did she just say that she’s never seen a human before? You take a big gulp to wet the uncomfortable dryness that is beginning to form in your mouth and decide to ask her a few questions after you answer hers.
“I-I am man, his Holiness’s greatest creation, following his Son the Saviour, of course” you quickly add, not wanting to be smited for blasphemy.
“A human, strange I don’t think I’ve ever heard of your kind before” Twilight says as she rubs a hoof under her chin, probably thinking.
“W-well, wouldist thou mind i-if I asked thou some questions?” You spoke worridly.
“Sure, ask away!” Twilight said happily, hoping to trade more information with you.
“What beith you exactly, Twilight?” You say, generally curious since she was both unicorn and pegasus.
“Oh, I’m a pony, we all are” she stated matter-of-factly.
“More specifically, I’m an alicorn. There aren’t a lot of alicorns around. Only four including myself that I know of” Twilight finishes her answer and you are confused to find that not only is everyone here a ‘pony’, but they’ve never seen a human before, which means...
“Twilight” you say seriously “Where beith myself, in this moment?” She looks a bit confused as to your question, tilting her head once you finish.
“Well, you’re in ponyville a small village in Equestria” she answers, tilting her head a bit and looking at you.
“So this isn’t the promised afterlife, and thou aren’t the holiest of angles that inhabit the final plane of eternal paradise?” You ask, fearing, but knowing the answer.
“N-no, just Equestria. Sorry Rowan” Twilight says softly, clearly not wanting to hurt you with the truth. But it was too late, the damage was done.
You fall to you knees and let out a sorrowfilled wail that would darken even the happiest of souls, tears coursing down your face, thankfully covered by your greathelm. Twilight seems worried about you and steps close, placing a hoof onto your shoulder as you see the pink pony stop bouncing and visibly deflate and darken a bit.
“There there Rowan, everything will be ok” Twilight says in an almost motherly tone.
“I-I d-didnt even g-get to c-claim the h-holy land” you say through choked back sobs and tears.
Twilight just moves closer and embraces you with her front hooves as well as her wings, giving you a sense of security and warmth as she begins to hum a sweet tune. Soon you feel yourself falling into a deep sleep, exhausted from today and hoping this is all just a dream that you will awaken from.
You drift off to sleep, still being held by Twilight, listening to her song as you hear a groan from behind you. And as you fade to sleep you can hear the muffled voice of a boyish female begin to speak and then yell, only to be stopped by the soothing voice of Twilight, whilst she still holds you in her embrace.
You open your eyes slowly, finding them sore and crusty. Probably from crying Probably from the blood of infidels. You begin to gain a better sense of your surroundings. You're currently on a small quilt laid upon the floor of what seems to be an archive of sorts, books of various colors and sizes surrounding you. You had always marveled at the patience that it took a scribe to copy, by hand, a single holy tome. You push yourself up into a sitting position, finding that you're still carved in your helmet and armor pieces. You feel your body ache from the weight of the steel protective pieces.
You don't however see any of the creatures you had met the previous day, only books as far as your eyes could see. Forcing yourself up you decide to search for the archivist that probably owns this place. You stand now in the middle of the room, having grabbed the quilt off of the floor and begin to fold it into halves.
"Hello! Beith there anyone here?" You shout out as you finish your folding, setting the cloth onto a nearby table.
"I don't mean to intrude, I have not the slightest idea why I'm here!" You call out, just in case the owner of this building is currently arming themselves, thinking you're an intruder or raider.
You begin to walk around the building, passing shelves upon shelves of colorfully bound books. 'They must have thousands of scribes working here' you think to yourself as you continue to meander around, finding more and more books as you continue to search for any signs of another being. Then you hear it, the sound of running water. Strange, you think to yourself, you had never heard of a waterwheel in any other building than a smithy. You venture toward the sound of running water, only to find that the sound is not only behind a small wooden door, but not accompanied by the systematic thunk of gears turning.
You brace yourself as you move an armorclad hand toward the door handle, not sure if you should be opening this door. You don't get the chance to open the door though, because as you are just about to lay your hand on the knob the door is opened inward. Thus revealing a very wet, very shocked Twilight Sparkle standing inside of a steam filled room. You see her eyes expand to the size of bucklers and her pupils shrink to pinpricks, all the while her face turns into a deep shade of red. Ypu find yourself being spun around and slid to the opposite side of the room, pressed into the wall by the same purplish glow you had seen yesterday.
You hear rapid hoofsteps moving behind you and then a door slam, you are then finally released by the magical aura and slump to the ground. You pick yourself up off the ground again, using the wooden wall as support and balance yourself upon your two feet. You make a movement toward where you had heard twilight run off to only to find a small lizard looking at you on the steps, his purple and green scales glisting in the morning light.
"Hey, good to see you're awake. Though you spooked Twilight pretty bad" he says scratching his round belly with a single clawed hand.
"I think she's embarrassed that you caught her coming out of the shower, don't know why though." He stops scratching And stands up, his stumpy legs pushing him upwards while he stretches his back.
"She never cares if her friends or I see her like that" He says, beginning to walk down the steps towards you. He stops with only a good between you and looks up at you from his low place, giving you a sharp-toothed grin.
"You are one wired thing, but it's cool that you're kinda like me!" He states, the smile growing larger, allowing you to see more of his sharp teeth
"I'm Spike!" He says, finally dropping the ear-to-ear smile into more of just a grin.
"I'm Twilight's number one assistant" he says proudly, accentuating his statement by throwing up a single clawed didgit.
You just continue to stand there, processing this information, not only was what happened yesterday not a dream, but there are talking lizards here also? Thinking back on what twilight said to you yesterday, apparently ponies and talking lizards weren't the only creatures that lived in this world of Equestria. You look down at Spike and find him looking at you expectantly, confused you tilt your head.
"What?" You ask, unsure of exactly what Spike wants from you. He let's out a childish laugh and quickly recomposes himself.
"I said: what is your name big guy?" He answers, still lightly chuckling to himself.
"I am Sir Rowan of the holy Knight's Templar order. I hath met Twilight yestermorn" you give spike a deep bow, extending one of your arms backward.
"It beith a pleasure to acquaint mineslef with her assistant" you say as spike begins to mimic your action, although sloppy, it was still cute.
"Well Sir Rowan, are you hungry? Because I was going to make myself some breakfast, care to join me?" Spike asks as he begins making his way around you, looking backwards at you.
"Gladly" you state, your stomach already feeling empty from the lack of food. Spike smiles and gestures you to follow and he leads the both of you towards the kitchen.
You had never seen such a strange kitchen before, no fire burning in the oven, no cauldron sitting in a flame, not even a single hung pheasant or rabbit to be seen. Spike seeing your generally confused state offers you a seat at the relatively large table as he walks over to a strange metal box standing next to the counter. He opens the door and you can feel the cool air spill out, you had never seen anything like it before. It was as though the door opened directly into winter itself! You see spike grab a few eggs from inside and close the door, ceasing the coldness's escape.
You watch in astonishment as he approaches another metal construct, this one being built into the counter itself and turns a knob, creating a small flickering flame instantly. He then places a pan onto tbe flame and proceeds to crack the eggs into the pan, pushing them around with a spatula. After a while he turns off the flame by rotating the knob back to its original position and removes the pan from the surface of heat, placing half of the eggs onto one plate, followed by placing the other half onto another.
"Here you go! I hope you like eggs, they're my third favorite food!" He says as he lays both plates on the table and begins munching away at his helping.
You are confused as to what those creations were that made your breakfast, but hunger overwhelms your mind and find yourself too interested in the food before you. You begin to slowly remove your gauntlets, careful as to not damage the leather straps that held them together in certain places, with this done you lay them on the table next to you with an audible clunk as the metal hits the wood. Spike stares at you in astonishment, perhaps he has never seen armor removed before? You reach up with your bare hands and move them underneath the greathelm, searching for the buckle that kept it secured on place. Finding it you undo the buckle and begin to remove your helmet, deciding to leave the arming cap on. As the helmet clear your head and you hold it above you, you are startled by Twilight looking at you her jaw dropped to the ground (literally) as she looks upon your unmasked face.
"Be there something the matter?" You ask Twilight as she appears to come out of the mesmerized trance she was in, picking her jaw off of the floor and reconnecting it with the rest of her face.
"N-no nothing wrong! Nothing at all!" her face behind to take a slight reddish hue, "I just thought that 'that' was your face!" She exclaims, pointing a hoof at your greathelm held between your grasp.
You look down at your helmet, it was an icon of the crusaders. The golden cross layered over the shining steel, one of the most terrifying things a heretic could witness. You could see how, never having taken it off in her presence, she could have thought that it was your true form. You begin to laugh heartily, continuing to grow until you were laughing like a madman.
"What's so funny?" Both Spike and Twilight ask in almost perfect unison. They're perplexed faces turning toward your jovial one.
"I am in disbelief that thoust thought that this beith mine true figure!" You say, finally getting a hold of yourself and calming down your laughter.
"Thou art like a child, believing that the first thing that crosses thine eyes is as it is" you finish, finally bringing yourself back to regular composure.
"Though I cannot blame thee, I hadn't removed mine helm in thine presence" you say in an attempt to calm the already growing frustration that Twilight seemed to be displaying.
She opens her mouth as if to say something, but you silence her with a raising of your hand.
"Come now, let us not ruin this morn. Join us in this meal!" You say, pulling out a chair for her to sit in and gesturing towards it.
"Alright" Twilight says as she grabs a collection of chopped fruits from the cold door.
"But you have some questions that need to be answered afterwards" she finishes as she takes a seat at the table, joining Spike and you for breakfast.
You had finished breakfast and Twilight had said that you could use the 'bathroom' to clean yourself up. While that sounded nice, you remembered a tale about how the filth of a man was his very being and that washing it away was like removing a part of you. However, you had to admit that you smelled quite ripe and your armor could use some proper care. So, deciding to go against legend, you made your way into the bathroom. Only to find that you were met with a very serious problem, you had no idea as how to operate the devices in here. There lie a large porcelain tub with a metal pipe bending up and curving back inward with two knobs located at the base of the pipe. You decided to take a guess as to the operation, not wanting to bother Twilight for something so simple as bathing.
You turned the knob with a blue coloring in its center and witnessed water begin pouring from the mouth of the pipe. You stuck your naked hand out to feel the water, only to find it uncomfortably cold. You then chose to turn the knob back and try the red colored knob. Once again testing the water with your hand you quickly had to pull your hand back due to the scalding hot water that had begun pouring into the tub. You fiddle around with the two knobs until you find a happy medium temperature and quickly, but carefully remove your various pieces of clothing and armor.
Removing first the tunic covering your chain protection, you take a second to admire the large red crucifix sewn onto both sides. The marking distinguished you from other orders and made it very clear that you were a Knight's Templar and that you to be treated with such respect. Placing it on the ground, you follow by undoing the belt st your waist. Allowing you to remove the chainlinked circus by lifting it over your head and letting it fall to the floor. You unbuckle the armored boots and shimmy out of the lightly armored grieves, leaving you only in your undergarments and loose shirt. Quickly tossing these into the same pile as the rest of your garb, you enter into the tub and the cascading water.
You had never felt so blissful, the warm water running down your form, washing away all of the pain and grime from your body. You notice that located on a small shelf next to the tub is various bottles. Choosing to grab and open one you are assaulted by the smell of lavender. It's smell is overpowering, but not unpleasant. In fact, it slightly reminds you of younger days when you would play in the fields with your brothers and sisters back in your home village. Pouring a generous ammount into your hands you begin to vigorously rub it all of yourself, coating yourself in that sweet floral scent. Finishing by rinsing yourself off you step out of the tub and begin searching for a method of drying yourself. You couldn't use your tunic, that'd be blasphemous and there was no point in trying yourself with your rancid clothes. You opt to call out for help, hoping your host or her assistant could acquire a towel for you.
"Twilight! I haven't a method of drying mineslef, couldst thou assist me!?" You call out, hoping that she or Spike could hear you. Soon you begin to hear hoofsteps outside the door.
"Oh I'm so sorry, I had meant to give you a towel, but I get forgo-" Twilight is stopped midsentence when she opens the door and is met by your naked form, your member facing her at eye level.
She begins stuttering nonsense and blushing profusely, though you fade no better. Quickly you attempt to cover yourself with your hands, but it was too late. Twilight had seen your spire of manhood and quickly set the towels down and exited the bathroom, leaving you standing there rather embarrassed. You quickly dry yourself and wrap a towel around your waist, making certain that it was secure before taking your apparel into your arms and exiting the bathroom.
You made a point to busy yourself with cleaning your armor and clothing, trying to clear your mind of what had just happened. Soon enough you had fallen into a trance of meticulously cleaning and checking your armor and clothing for wear and damage. You were so busy with your task that you didn't even realize that there was someone else watching your every action just over your shoulder.
"Whatcha doing?" You heard a familiar voice mutter from over your shoulder, startling you.
"AHH! Maria Virgo in corde!" you let out, spinning around to find yourself looking eye to eye with the same pink pony that had caught your shield yesterday.
"Hiya! I'm Pinkie Pie, but my friends just call me Pinkie. Although sometimes they call me Pinkie Pie, and sometimes I'm called Pinkamena Diane Pie. But that's only when I get in trouble and my parents are scolding me. What's your name, is it something really cool or is it something more boring? I don't mean boring I mean like normal, like Donut Joe or Greg. I didn't mean to call you boring and ...." Pinkie continues to speak, but you've lost track of what she was saying and are now just listing to this crazy pony talk on and on and on.
You quickly silence her by placing your hands around her snout and shutting her mouth, unsure if anything else could stop her. She does stop talking, but begins to giggle.
"Hehe, that tickles! Your claws are soft" she says through a closed mouth, the sound muffled and quieter.
"How didst thou enter the premises, I hadn't heard the sign of entry" you say, finally releasing her snout and allowing her to sit on the ground across from you. Her bright blue eyes staring at you, watching you as you speak.
"You sure do talk funny! Kinda like Princess Luna did, or does. She sometimes goes back to talking like she used to back in the old days. OH! Are you from the old days!? I mean from wherever you from that is, because you look like a lot of pictures of knights. Except instead of a pony you're a, well you're a.... hmmm what are you?" Pinkie asks, finally stopping her slurry of words and allowing you to recollect your scattered brain from her verbal assault.
"I beith Sir Rowan, man, and Knight Templar of the the holy order. Renown warrior and legendary crusader!" You boast, playing yourself up a bit.
You watch as Pinkie's smile widens to an unnatural size and then she opens her mouth to speak, but before she can say anything you raise a hand and stop her.
"Please fair lady Pinkie Pie, I beseech thee to keep thine words short and simple. Lest I lose myself in thine verbality" you state, lowering your hand and allowing a now more collected Pinkie Pie to speak.
"Well Sir Rowan, you already know that I'm Pinkie Pie" she says and you nod in response.
"When you said that you're a 'man' i think i know just the pony that you should talk to. Well, after the princesses speak to you and make sure you're alright to be walking around town!" She finishes, leaving you perplexed.
You thought that you had already spoken to the princess, how many princesses can one kingdom have? You decide to not worry about it and return to the task of cleaning your armor, turning back around and beginning to polish your greathelm.
"It was mine pleasure to meet thee Lady Pie. Perchance if thine princesses see me fit thoust could shom mineself to this pony that thoust speakith so fondly of" you say, turning to wish Pinkie a farewell. But upon turning around you find that all traces of her are gone! You decide not to worry your head about where and how she had gone and decide instead to finish your current task.
You finally finished cleaning your armor and begin to put back on your now dry clothing, after having left them hanging to dry. With your clothes on, followed by your armor you find yourself looking much better. The white of your tunic looking much cleaner and your armor shining in the afternoon sun. You're about to place and fasten your greathelm back on your head, but decide to leave it off. Especially if you are going to meet royalty, you feel it would be better if you spoke to them face to face. You place the helm underneath your arm as you exit in the main room of the library. You find Twilight pushing a few books back into their place, helped by Spike.
"Greetings friends!" You say, startling Twilight and making Spike turn his head and look at you.
"Hey Sir Rowan! Wow your armor is super shiney!" Spike remarks as he sets the few books he was holding down and walks over to you, admiring your now clean armor and clothing.
"G-good to see you too Rowan" Twilight says as she recomposes herself and places the remaining books back in their places, all the while avoiding eye contact with you.
"Is there something the matter Twilight?" You ask, wondering why she refuses to look upon you.
Then it hits you like a mace, she's still embarrassed about seeing your privates in the bathroom earlier today! Your face is quickly overcome by a blush and you too look away as the memory begins to run through your head.
"So Sir Rowan, I heard that the princesses are coming here to 'determine your safety', whatever that means" Spike says, clearly oblivious as to the situation between Twilight and you.
"Y-yes, I hath heard from Pinkie Pie that they wouldist arrive this day" you reply, perking the interest of Twilight as she turned around and faced you.
"You spoke to Pinkie? How? I don't even see her come in. I was in the library all morning" she asks perplexed, then she proceeds to just shrug it off. You have the feeling that she is used to this kind of thing with Pinkie Pie.
"On a more important matter, the princesses are indeed coming here. All three! And they want me to take part in your judgement so, try to present yourself as a gentlecolt. Please" she finishes, giving you the most adorable face you have ever seen. It feels as if you have looked upon the face of adorableness itself and it was begging you for something.
"I will attempt to act as honorous as thout wish" you reply, finishing the statement with a deep bow that you notice makes Twilight blush. She clears her throat and begins to speak again.
"They will be arriving soon, so I would like to have done help getting things cleaned up and made presentable here" she says, a slight bit of pleading can be heard behind her words.
You decide to help her with this task, giving her a quick nod.
"Great! Then this will take no time at all!" She says, clapping her hooves together and smiling widely.
Soon Twilight, Spike, and you are all cleaning up the library in preparation for the princesses' arrival. Just as you finish wiping down the last surface you hear a knock at the door, followed by Twilight approaching to open it. You knew who it was and mentally braced yourself as she neared the door. What would happen if they disapproved of you? You thought, would they banish me, execute me, send me home? Now you were both terrified and hopeful. You straightened your stance and clutched your greathelm tightly underarm as Twilight opened the door to reveal your judicators.
The first peop- ponies through the door are several golden-armorclad stallions and a few mares in the same regalia, they quickly take position, surrounding you in the center of the room. Their spears held in their magical grasp, begin to worry you a bit more than you already were. The next ponies to enter were unlike anything you had ever seen before. You had never seen an alicorn before until you met Twilight, assuming that that is what the rest of them would look like. You were shocked to find that while the features of wings and horns were present on the other three their appearances were nothing like Twilight, unlike even each other.
The first one to enter was a beautiful shades of pink, with a luxurious mane and tail of various shades of pink and a highlight of yellow. She took place standing left of the doorway, allowing another alicorn to enter. This one was the deepest blue you had ever seen, with a flowing tail and mane that resembled the night sky blowing in a non-existent breeze. This one took sentry to the right of the door, allowing one final alicorn to enter. While the other two were considerably larger than twilight, this one was enormous. Her pure white coat shimmering in the setting sun and her mane and tail a beautiful streak of sunlit colors. Varying of pinks blues and greens to make an almost living sunset trail behind her head, that now through the doorway could see eye to eye with you without having to strain her neck. Her deep purple eyes appearing both stern, but soothing as well. Like an angry mother who is more worried for her child than she is upset at their actions. She took her place directly in front of the door, closing it with her magic.
"Sir Rowan, we have heard much about you" the center princess starts, gesturing at the two other princesses flanking her.
"We thought it necessary to decide through a collective vote what the best course of action should be in handling a situation, such as yourself" she finished, looking you dead in the eyes.
"However, I believe introductions are in order" she says as she sits on the ground, mimicked by the other two princesses and Twilight at your side. Not wanting to be rude you also sit on the ground, crossing your legs and placing your greathelm on your lap.
"I am Princess Celestia" unfurling her wings behind her "Ruler of the sun and co-ruler of Equestria" she finishes, closing her wings and looking to her right.
"This is my younger sister Princess Luna" she continues and you see Luna nod her head slightly in greeting.
"She is Ruler of the Moon and all its stars, the other co-ruler of Equestria" She then looks to her left and begins to speak again.
"This is Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, ruler of the Crystal Kingdom and all of its crystal ponies" finished with introducing her entourage, she now looks at you.
"I see that you have already meat Princess Twilight Sparkle, while she doesn't have a kingdom currently" she states, a hint of regret in her voice "she still holds the respect and responsibilities of a Princess" she finishes, returning to her motherly tone.
You begin speak, watching the guards tense up as you do.
"I beith Sir Rowan. Crusader of the holy Knight's Templar order and sworn warrior to the holy king and his Holiness the Lord. Although I would venture to assume thoust already had that information?" you state, making sure that you make eye contact with the three opposite princesses while you speak.
"Indeed we knowist whom thoust be good Sir Rowan, however we haven't the slightest as to what thout are at heart" Luna says, drawing your attention towards her.
Pinkie was right she did speak like you, properly. You smile at this small sliver of normality in this world.
"Exactly as my fellow princess states, we would wish to run a test if you will as to your character. To determine if you are safe for ponykind interaction" Princess Cadenza says, now pull in your attention back to the conversation at hand and in turn her.
"Pray tell, how wouldist thout perform this test of thine?" you ask, curious as to what these princesses had in store for you.
"Princess Cadence will use her magic to see into your heart" Celestia states, answering your question.
"If there is good, then you will be free to act as though you are a welcomd visitor to our lands" she stops, suddenly locking eyes with you, an intimidating feeling about her now.
"But if your heart shows evil then you will be dealt with swiftly in order to protect my ponies" with this uttered she relaxes and returns to her motherly demeanor.
You gulp audibly, you knew what these ponies' magic could do and you'd rather not be on the receiving end of it again. You simply nod, showing that you understood the circumstances before you.
"Good, then let us begin" Celestia says, prompting Cadence to begin channeling magic from her horn towards your chest.
You feel warm on the inside, as though you've just drank some hot broth, then it begins to increase in temperature to almost painful levels. You steel yourself, not wanting to show any (more) weakness to the rulers of this land. Then, suddenly you are cast into a deep darkness and can feel yourself falling from this world. The void overtaking you, this void however was not cold as the last one you experienced. Instead it bore a certain heat to it, the same that you felt in your chest, but much milder now. You let yourself drift off, listening to the hum of Cadence's magic within you.
[The heart of Sir Rowan, Cadence's perspecive]
You hadn't expected to be messaged by Celestia herself, informing you that a new, possibly dangerous creature had appeared in Ponyville and was now under the watch of your sister-in-law. As you made your way through the inner soul of Sir Rowan's being you began to laugh. Here you were, traveling through an alien's heart, judging whether or not he would be a safe addition to the already diverse population of Equestria. Well, it definitely beat the monotony of the Crystal Kingdom's political problems.
Continuing through the darkness you began to hear distant cheering and jovial singing, this is what you were looking for. What this creature held dear to himself. You finally come close enough to witness one of the fundamentals of Sir Rowan's character, however you were quite surprised as to what you saw. Sir Rowan sat amongst others that looked similarly, dressed in the same white tunic, decorated with the red cross. You see him laughing and drinking, making merriment with the folks around him, every so often starting into a song that the others around him join into eventually. This was a good sign, comroderary and merriment were at the base of his being. You begin to turn, satisfied with what you saw, until you heard a commotion in the scene you had just watched.
You turn to see another man appear inside the rent, looking panicked and winded. He begins to speak quickly, but you're only able to catch a few words through the commotion taking place. Something about 'Saracens' and 'nearing the city's walls'. You watch on perplexed as Sir Rowan, along with everyone in the tent quickly place their helmets on and utter a unanimous cry.
"DEUS VULT!" they all yell before rushing out of the tent.
The scene before you shifted to show the middle of heated combat, blood painting the sand crimson around the corpses of Sir Rowan's allies and new looking creatures who bore a drab brown armor and curved swords. There lie upon the ground many more of Sir Rowan's allies than these new beings. You sense Sir Rowan in the crowd, focusing your attention on him you draw the image closer around him.
He looks badly wounded, blood splattering his white tunic a similar red to the cross emblazioned there. Both of his hands gripped tightly to a sword, his eyes full of rage and violence. You watch as he lunges towards a group of the drab men, skiewring one of them on the end of his blade, sending blood pouring out both sides where the sword had broken his flesh. Sir Rowan didn't stop there, he used the skiewred man as a shield, blocking slashes of the curved swords with the corpse, opening wounds along the man's back. It was sickening to watch, how could someone so seemingly polite do such atrocious things?
You watched on as Sir Rowan embedded his blade in another man's neck, slicing downwards toward the center. Spilling blood and viscera onto the sand beneath them. Finding his blade stuck in the corpses Sir Rowan leapt at one of the final two men, landing an armored fist to the center of his face. Blood spewing from the man's face he grabbed the curved blade from his hands and swiftly decapitated him, leaving only one final drab man left. The man now terrified as you were of Sir Rowan began backing away from the beast in man's form, stumbling and falling to the ground. You look away before you see Sir Rowan begin hacking into the man, blood drenched screams eminating from Sir Rowan's butchery.
You quickly move along, a sickening ball beginning to form in your stomach. Perhaps Sir Rowan is truly a beast, how could he do such violent things? You think to yourself, searching for anything else in his heart. You passed many battle scenes like the first, until you spot a young man running on a lavender covered hill, laughing and calling out to more younger looking beings. You quickly trot towards this, relieved to have left the bloody images behind. You watch intently as a young Sir Rowan runs through the flowers, accompanied by other that looked like him, many boys and a few girls. You smile as you watch them play and call out to one another, but then the scene changes.
The sky is no longer bright, but it is a dark and dreary grey. There stands only four beings where there had been at least a dozen. At their feet lie a large hole, dug into the earth of the lavender hill. Looking into the hole you see rotting bodies, these however aren't drab armored men or crusaders. But children. You watch as Sir Rowan lowers a blanketed body into the hole and begins to shovel the dirt onto them, filling the hole. He finished by driving a wooden cross into the dirt at the head of the now covered hole. He boss his head and mutters something in a language you don't understand, but that sounds vaguely familiar. The others around him repeat the phrase and then trace a cross over themselves moving their hands yo touch the left and right sides of their chest, as well as their head, finishing the action by clasping their hands together and bowing slightly. They stand there for a while before the scene begins to fade.
Now you knew who Sir Rowan was in his heart. He was a brother, a wild warrior, but he also had a deep sadness from having to bury his kin. You wipe away a tear as you focus your magic to create an exit. But, you see Sir Rowan standing before it, this one not bound to a scene. You are confused, nopony had ever followed you into their heart. You see Sir Rowan turn and begin walking towards you, you begin to panic. Is he angry or worried that you had seen what you saw, was he going to make sure you didn't tell the others?! You begin to prepare another magical spell, aiming it at Sir Rowan, but before he gets go near he drops to his knees and bows his head. You hold your spell, but don't release it, in fear of this being some kind of a trick.
"You needn't be afraid Princess, I know what thout hath seen. I know what I hath done" he said, looking up at you now.
"I will accept thine judgment as thout see fitting" he finished, one again bowing his head.
You felt not fear, but pity for the sad creature that Sir Rowan was now. You released the magical build-up and took a few hoofsteps closer. He did not stir from his position as you finally arrived in front of him, streaching out a hoof and placing it on his shoulder causes him to look up at him, tears in his eyes.
"Fear not good Sir Rowan, I have seen what you are and it is not evil. You are truly the most complex creature I have ever seen, your heart is a mixture of good and evil, happiness and sadness, bloodlust and brotherhood" you say as he begins to rise, rubbing his eyes clear of tears.
"Now come, I have a judgement to pass that you will want to be present for" and with that saId you exit Sir Rowan's heart, accompanied by the owner himself.
[Back in the Ponyville Library, Sir Rowan's perspective]
You come out of the void, lead by Princess Cadence and find yourself surrounded by guards as Twilight looms over you, a worried look on your face. You open your mouth to speak, but only make a choked croaking sound. Your eyes and throat sore from what feels like hours of sadness.
"Greetings" you let out faintly, catching the attention of Twilight and causing all the guards to go stiff and point their spears towards you.
You see Twilight begin to tear up a relieved smile take her face as she helps you up. The guards withdraw and return to their previous positions, now keeping an even closer watch on you.
"Doth thout fare alright Sir Rowan? Thout had fallen unconscious soon after Cadence's spell" you hear Luna say.
Looking at the three princesses you can see a distinct look of confusion and worry from Luna and Celestia, but Cadence only bears a knowing sad smile. She clears her throat and regains the attention of the rest of the princesses.
"After searching through Sir Rowan's heart" she begins, pausing to take a deep breath and close her eyes, collecting her thoughts.
"I find him suitable for integration into ponykind" she finishes, opening her eyes and looking to the princesses next to her. They seem to stare at each other for what feel like hours before finally Celestia speaks.
"Well, then let us take our vote, all in favor of Sir Rowan's integration say aye. All opposed say neigh nay" the princesses now look at you, as if they're looking into you, searching for some sort of reason that you would be unfit of Cadence's kind words.
Then the voting begins.
"Aye" votes Luna a small smile gracing her lips while she looks at you, making your heart sing.
"Nay" votes Celestia and just like that your hopeful heart is crushed. You now rely on Cadence and Twilght to allow you to continue to exist in this world.
"Aye" votes Cadence, putting you at ease.
"Aye" votes Twilight, closing the court of your life.
"Then it is decided, Sir Rowan is hereby approved for integration into ponykind and all its allies" Celestia proclaimed while standing up, followed by the other three princesses and then finally yourself.
She gives you a slight nod and lights up her horn with magic, slowly consuming the room in a blinding white light forcing ypu to cover your eyes. When the light finally subsides and you are able yo see again, you find that the only people left in the room is Twilight and yourself. 'Magic is seriously confusing' you think yo yourself as you begin to laugh. Twilight joins in on your laughing and soon the two of you are both laughing like madmen. You finally settle yourselves and wish Twilight a goodnight as she heads off to her room, leaving you to spread out the quilt on the floor again. Removing your armor and placing it in a neat pile you simply lay on your back, your mind racing from what had just happened. You chuckle lightly before you feel deep begin to slowly pull you away from the day.
After successfully passing the judgment of the princesses you decided to spend the rest of the day in the library with Twilight, having her teach you about the history of the land you were now free to explore. You had no idea how extensive a history Equestria had, tomes upon thick bound tomes were brought to you by spike. Only beginning to pile higher and higher, until both Twilight and yourself were surrounded by these books. The piles rivaling even your own large stature.
"Me thinks that enough literature for the night" you say stretching your sore back, eliciting a loud crack.
"I shalt retire for the eve, I bid thee goodnight dear Twilight and hope to continue this at a later time." Giving Twilight a deep bow and turing to go to your makeshift chambers.
"Wait Rowan!" you hear Twilight call out from behind you as you shift books away to make an exit.
"Perhaps rather than sleep another night on the floor, you could share a proper bed with me?" She asks, a slight blush overcoming her features.
You think about this, while you wouldn't want to intrude upon her personal privacy you do wish to sleep on something else than a quilt over a hard wood floor. You stop and turn to her, making sure that you were looking her dead in the eyes.
"Doth thout truly wish to share mine company this eve, I would hate to intrude or cause discomfort in thine bedding" you say, hoping that she would only see your reply as merely a formality and allow you to join her in a more comfortable sleeping arrangement.
"O-of course, it's no problem! I have plenty of room in my bed and I'm sure that Spike wouldn't mind you in the room either" she replies rather quickly, the blush becoming more and more obvious on her face as she looks down at her crossed forehooves.
You had never thought of bedding in the same room with an animal before, then again they were beasts back where you came from. These ponies however, they displayed an almost equivalent amount of intelligence to yourself.
"I thank thee for thine offer and accept it gratefully" you finish your speech with an even lower bow, almost toppling yourself over.
Twilight smiled brightly and sat up, exiting through the opening you had made in the book wall and walked towards the stars, gesturing for you to follow. You obliged and allowed Twilight to lead you upstairs and into her room. The bed near the window was definitely large enough for the two of you to sleep in comfortably, a small basket at the foot of the bed already housing a sleeping Spike. You smiled as Twilight trotted over to the bed and got in, you began to remove your apparel and with your undergarments and shirt being the only remaining clothes, joined her in the bed.
It felt nice to feel the heat of Twilight warming the blankets, and you soon found yourself drifting off to sleep. The world falling away as you began to dream, leaving you alone in the darkness of your mind.
You felt a certain unease come over you as you found yourself standing in a barn backness, the only light appearing to emirate from your standing form. You quickly search around, frantically looking for any kind of hint as to where you were. Then it hit you, you were dreaming. This was just the basic startings of a dream, the foundation of fantastical adventures and mystical images. You smile, relieved that you hadn't sipped into any kind of dark realm. Then you heard it, distant at first, but growing into an audible level. It was the voice of Princess Luna, this began to worry you. Perhaps you were wrong in your assumption of your current location and indeed you had slipped into a hellishly dark place and now she and her compatriots were searching for you, hoping to find you before the creatures go this world did.
"Princess Luna, I am here!" you called out, waving your arms above your head and attracting the attention of a flying Princess Luna.
"Ah, good Sir Rowan. I am glad that I hath found you here" She said, landing a few feet in front of you. Curling her wings back to rest against her sides and looking up at you.
"It was quite the difficult task to find thine dreams, and navigating them was even more so a challenge" she said, letting out a girlish giggle.
You were relieved to find that you were indeed in your dreams, but now confused as to why Princess Luna now accompanied you here. Perhaps you had just dreamt her into being to accompany your lonely self in this endless blackness.
"Art thou real or art thout merely a figment of mine mind, Formed into creation to accompany mineself in this dark void?" you ask, using an arm to gesture around at the black expanse surrounding you.
"I assure thee that I am very much so real Sir Rowan, I wished to speak to you privately after our first encounter. You had, peaked my interests for lack of better phrasing" she said as she moved closer to you, her hot breath moving across your face as she stepped within inches of you.
The smell of blueberries becoming noticeable as she began to circle around you. She finished her actions by seating herself on her haunches only a few feet away from your tensed standing form, a bead of sweat dripping down your forehead as you recomposed yourself.
"I had not the knowledge that I peaked thine interests Princess Luna, I am humbled upon learning of this" you shakily said, taking a deep bow.
"I hope it nary too bold of mineself to beseech thee as to why thout has taken interest in me?" You ask, a bit of apprehension leaking through your question as you stood and faced Luna. She shook her head and smiled at you, calming your nerves as you too took a seat across from her.
"I had hoped to ask you a few questions good Sir Rowan as to thine origin and to thine meaning of 'crusader' and the 'Knight's Templar order' that thoust speak of so fondly and frequently" she said, ruffling her feathers and making herself more comfortable in the blackness. Clearly knowing that the tale she had asked you to regale upon her was to be a long one.
"It would be of mine greatest pleasure to speak of my past, however I must warn thee that this is a harrowing tale and not one suited for the faint of heart" you warned her, waiting for a response. She merely gave you a short nod and laid upon the ground, conjuring a cushion to rest her head upon as you told her your life's tale. You exhaled a sigh and began slowly, bringing forth the daemons that lurked in your past.
"my life had begun as a simple blacksmith's son in Armenia, working with my father and brothers to forge tools for the local farmers and workers. It was around the age of fourteen years that a Knight happened across mine father's smithy, ordering us to repair his sword. My father was ill that day and so I, being the eldest, took responsibly for the task, promising that it would be done before the sun had set the next morn. And so the knight cast his blade to me for repairs, what he had failed to mention was that the blade had been spit in two. Forcing me to forge a new blade
"I had worked tirelessly at the forge, pounding inch after inch of that blade until it was so sharp and fine that it would suit a king. The knight had returned the next morn and reclaimed his blade, remarking at the craftsmanship. When he had sheathed the blade he asked if I was interested in squiring for him. I was hesitant at first, due to my father's condition, but reluctantly accepted. I had served under that knight for a short amount of time until he was struck by a bolt in combat, ceasing his existence. I still cannot remember his name. He did however open a new possibility for mineself!
"Word had spread to the order of the Teutonic Knights that a skilled bladesmith was now without a master. The day after I had returned to my home to bury some of my siblings I was approached by a Teutonic Knight who, after much hesitation offered me schooling from his order. I accepted immediately, wanting to serve His Holiness right away. Under the Teutons I learned how to properly fight with shield and blade in my grasp, and how to mix herbs and oils to make remedies and poisons. But soon, I was called away from Dutchland and to Francia to serve in the Knight's Templar order.
"Upon gaining my title of crusader I boarded a ship headed to the Holy City of Jerusalem and was to act as a sentry along with others from both my order and affiliate orders." You paused, looking over at Luna to see her completely infatuated with your tale. Her eyes wide with amazement as you spoke more of your life. You smiled and continued, glad that she was so interested in yourself.
"Upon mine arrival to the Sea of Sand and the Holy City, I found myself placed into the first defense of the city. We had taken to calling ourselves God's Hand, since we delivered justice to those that sought to perverse Jerusalem. I had searved with my brothers-at-arms at the Eastern outpost for three seasons before, one battle I was struck by an etherial steed and awoke here in Equestria" You said, finishing your tale and looking at the currently amused princess lounging in your dreams.
"I thank thee for telling me thine tale good Sir Rowan, but it seems that thou art about to awaken. I bid thee farewell and hope to speak with you again" Luna said, rising to her hooves and giving you a bow.
"It would be my honor princess, but could I request that thout call me simply Rowan?" You ask, giving her a bow as you stood as well.
"If it pleases thee then I see no qualms in thine request. I shall speak with you again Rowan, until then" Luna said, taking flight and appearing to vanish before you began to awaken, the blackness of your dreamscape being replaced with the morning in Twilight's bed.
You had woken up in Twilight's bed, finding that sometime in the night Twilight had snuggled against you, her sleeping form pressed against your body. Carefully moving out of bed as to not disturb the sleeping princess you were able to gather up your apparel and exit the room almost silently, not waking Twilight or Spike from their slumber. Quickly washing yourself and donning your armor, you exited the library and headed outside to explore Ponyville proper.
At first the ponies had been quick to panic, quickly running away from you whenever you came near. However, after many polite "Greetings" and waving you were able to calm them to a normal level, although they still refused to approach you. Continuing on your morning stroll you saw a collection of foals ad fillies playing in a field, curiosity getting the better of you, you decided to join in on their fun. Jogging up the children you saw them all freeze as you approached, some beginning to quiver in fear. Suddenly three fillies approached you, apparently not afraid of your strange form.
"Who are ya stranger?" The small earth pony asked. her coat was light tan and she had a large bow tied into her red mane.
"I think you mean what are you" the small orange pegasus corrected, blowing a tuft of her sort purple mane aside.
"Hi! I'm Sweetiebelle and that's Applebloom and Scootalo, we're the Cutie Mark Crusaders!" The last one shouted, jumping in front of her arguing friends.
"It is my pleasure to meet thee Lady Sweetiebelle, likewise for the Ladies Applebloom and Scootalo" you said, giving the fillies a deep bow and ceasing their arguing as they turned their attention to you.
"L-lady, I've never been called a lady before" Scootalo said, a cute blush being to creep along her face.
"I ain't no lady, I'm a cowpony!" Applebloom said, stomping her foot for emphasis.
Sweetiebelle just blushed, unable to make words come to her mouth. Upon seeing your interaction with the 'Cutie Mark Crusaders' the other children slowly approached you, asking all sorts of questions. You answered as any as you could as accurately as you could before a bell sounded and much to their hesitancy, the children galloped off to a red building, filing inside. Left alone in the field, you decided to examine the nearby orchard.
Reaching the outskirts of the orchard you examine the apples hanging from the lush trees, whoever kept these fields did an amazing job you thought to yourself. Taking a closer look at the apples they were the richest red you had ever seen, their size being as large as your gauntleted fist. Plucking one from its branch you remove your helmet to take a bite, when a strongly accented female voice stops you.
"Now I know that you're not thinkin' of eatin' my apples without permission, nopony does that and the same applies for non-ponies too" She said, a bit of annoyance lurking at the edges of her tone.
You quickly set the apple back on the ground and turned around slowly, making sure to have dawned your helmet before facing this new face.
"I hath meant nothing by it m'lady, twas a simple lack of control due mine hunger. I deeply apologize to thee" You explain, giving her a bow and coming back up to look face to face with an orange mare, her blonde hair covered by a strange hat.
"Now I'm willin' to let ya off with a warnin', what on account of ya bein' a new face and all" she said, tilting her head in confusion at you "Definitely a face i've never seen before"
"I berth fairly new to Equestria, having just gained the ability to roam about freely as deemed by the princesses" you explain, a look of understanding coming over her.
"well why didn't ya say so! Any friend of the princesses is a friend of mine" she said, removing her hat and holding out her hoof "I'm Applejack, it's nice ta meetcha"
You shook her hoof, it was strange that these ponies knew what a handshake was, since they didn't have any. Smiling, you feel like the name Applejack was familiar.
"Doth thout know a filly by the name of Applebloom, good lady Applejack?" You ask, feeling like their names had to be connected, and if not it was an amazing coincidence.
"Eyup, Applebloom's ma lil' sister" she said, a smile coming and going quickly "Why, what did she and her friends do this time?" She asked, a now annoyed look taking over her once cheerful one.
"Thine sister hath done no ill deed, I had merely stumbled across her and a youngling entourage over yonder" you said, gesturing towards where you came from.
"Oh, ya must've caught 'em headin' off ta school" she laughed "Ya must've been up pretty early ta catch em outside!"
"I must admit that I indeed had awoken at an early hour, I needed to breath the fresh air after spending the night with Twilight" you say nonchalantly, noticing that Applejack's ears flattened against her head and her face began to flush the same shade as her apples.
"I-I uh, I see. And how did the uh, two of you spend your night?" She asked, a hoof digging around in the dirt lightly.
"She had taken pity on myself and offered to share her chambers, it was quite a kind action" you say, still not realizing the reason for Applejack's apprehension.
"W-well that was mighty kind of her. I gotta go, um, tend to my apples. It was nice meeting you mr. uh..." she said, trying to rack her brain as to your name, you realizing that you hadn't shared it made to reprimand that.
"The name is Sir Rowan, but thou should feel free to call myself simply Rowan" you say, now having introduced yourself to yet another pony. But by the time that you had finished introducing yourself Applejack was already well down the orchard, continuing to walk on.
You decided it best not to waste the apple you had already picked and grabbed it off the ground, giving it a light dusting off before taking a bite. What graced your tastebuds was one of the richest apples you had ever tasted, not too sweet and not too bitter. You quickly found that you had completely eaten the apple and making sure nobody or pony was watching picked three more, putting them into your belt pouch.
You had continued walking around Ponyville, munching on the apples and greeting any pony that would allow you close enough to interact. Eventually though you found yourself back outside the center of Ponyville, the library looking busy as ponies flowed in and out. Smiling you began to walk back towards your current home, until you were stopped by a shocked cry emanating from behind you. Turning, you now looked at a mint unicorn, her mouth agape staring at you.
"Oh sweet Celestia" she whispered "I can't believe it, a human. A real living human! Can today get any better?!" She cried out, hoping around in a circle in front of you.
"Excuse me, I would hate to intrude upon thine joy, but what doth thought know of humans? All others I come across I am alien to" you say to her, now curious as to who this pony was and how she knew about your kind.
"Oh, right. Um, I'm Lyra, Lyra Heartstrings and I have spent A LOT of time digging up ancient Equestrian texts about anything human" she explained, stoping her bouncing and facing you, a more serious air about her as she told you of her work.
"Well then, I am not the first man to ever come to Equestria?" You ask, sow interested in you're kind having been here before.
"Well yes, or no. I'm not really sure, a lot of it is just old mare's tales and reeeeeeealy old legends" she explained, making the idea that more humans may be on Equestria begin to dwindle.
"Ah, I see" you say, a bit dejected at the new information.
Lyra taking notice of your change of attitude quickly retorted with more conversation, attempting to lighten the mood.
"Well I'd love to hear more about you sometime! It'd be really cool to talk to a real. life. human" she said, finishing her statement with an excited squeal.
"Well I have to go, but we should talk some time Mr. Human" she said beginning to trot off happily.
"My name is Sir Row-an" you finish, but know that Lyra didn't hear. Great, another pony that you had to introduce yourself to later.
Tired from your trip around Ponyville you walked into the library and found the large armchair that sat in the backlist section, sitting down in it and letting out a heavy sigh. With so much more to learn about this strange new world and its inhabitants, you decide it best to save it for another day. Slowly feeling yourself beginning to sink into the comfy chair and drift into sleep.
You wake up the next morning, back sore from sleeping armored in a chair all night. You stand and take a moment to stretch, eliciting some loud pops of your vertebrae as you do. You make your way into the kitchen, already smelling the scent of freshly toasted bread. Entering you find a small plate of preservative covered toast waiting for you, a note standing next to it. Picking up the note and a piece of toast you begin to read as you eat, enjoying the sweetness.
"Dear Rowan, I've gone off to Canterlot and won't be back for a few days. Sorry that I didn't tell you, but I left early and I didn't want to wake you. Try not to get into too much trouble while I'm gone. Love, Sincerely, Twilight" you finish reading the note as you finish the last piece of bread, noticing that Spike was gone too.
You shrug that off as him either being in Ponyville running errands and such, or in Canterlot with Twilight. Stepping outside of the library you take a moment to flip the open sign around to closed and shut the door behind yourself, unable to lock it due to the lack of the device. With the library mostly secure you made your way into Ponyville proper in search of Lyra, wanting to speak with her and find out what she knew about humans. However, as you are strolling around town a commotion catches your attention. Approaching the sounds you notice a crowd of ponies, worriedly speaking to each other in hushed tones. Clearing your throat you make yourself know to the crowd, briefly startling a few of them. Deciding to try and take a less intimidating demeanor you take a knee, coming closer to eye level with the ponies in front of you.
"What is this about, what seems to be the qualm?" You ask, noticing the tension disperse a bit as a emerald mare steps up to you.
"M-me and my husband were having a picnic in the field over there when a pack of timberwolves came out of the Everfree and attacked us" She began, her eyes beginning to water.
"My husband tried to fight them off, but got injured. But, t-they, they took our foal! Please help us, nopony dares to go into the Everfree" She pleaded with you as tears began to stream down her face.
"Hush now, I Sir Rowan of the Knight's Templar order will accept thine request and will return to you thine child" You say, giving the worried mare a scratch behind her ears, making sure not to hurt her with your gauntleted hand.
"Now, couldist thou give me a description of thine child?" You ask as you stand back to your full height, now towering over the ponies around you.
"He's got a light grey coat with an emerald mane, his name is Sky Chaser, he's a pegasus like his father" she explained a sad look forming behind her eyes.
"Fret not good mare, I shalt return thine child in haste!" You exclaim as you made your way into the dense and ominous woods ahead, not looking back at the shocked ponies behind you.
You made your way deeper and deeper into the woods, using the tricks that your brothers and after had taught you in tracking wild game. Broken branches, footprints, a small trail of blood, a tuft of emerald hair. You were going the right way, although you were still unarmed. Unsure as to where Twilight had hidden away your arms, you were glad that you at least had your dagger, a prize that you took from a Saracen commander one raid. Making your way along the trail, you took note that it was becoming dark. Strange, you thought, you feel as if you had just entered the woods only a few moments ago. Perhaps it was just more of the magic Twilight had taught you about at work, deciding to not worry about it you continue onwards. Finally reaching what appeared to be the end of the trail, you noticed a cave hidden away amongst the trees. You could hear a quiet sobbing coming from inside, accompanied with a deep vibrating growl. You took cover behind a mossy rock as you watched a large creature exit the cave. It looked as if it was a wolf, but completely made out of bits and pieces of wood, its size slightly dwarfing yours. Taking your dagger in hand you snuck your way around the rock, trying to stick to the foliage as much as possible, hoping your armor's sounds didn't attract the attention of the beast. Now poised a few feet off to the left of the creature you took position to strike, your muscles in your legs tensing up in preparation of your lunge.
Springing forth from the underbrush you were able to catch the beast unaware and drove your dagger deep between the wood under it's maw, feeling warm sap begin to coat your gauntlet as you pierced through the wood, an arm around it's snout to silence its last moments. With its life drained it broke apart into the wood that once formed its body, the pieces falling harmlessly onto the ground. With a content and relieved exhale you turned to enter the cave, only to be met face-to-face with the open maw of another 'timber wolf', it's rows of sharpened wood teeth coated in a dark crimson. You were only able to get your left arm in front of you, an instinct you had learned from having a shield on you most of the time. This time however you did not, this fact making itself evident as you felt the wooden teeth pierce through the chain protecting your forearm, some teeth getting through the gauntlet, but most cracking and shattering against the tempered metal.
"Ahhh!" You let out, wrenching your arm from the timberwolf's mouth, taking a few teeth with you as you did.
Flipping your dagger around in hand so that the blade was facing downward you drove the blade into the back of the creature, missing your target of its head as it lunged and connected its jaws with your torso. Feeling the teeth once again pierce through the light cloth covering, continuing through the chain armor underneath and finding home sunk into your sides, you pulled the dagger towards yourself, dragging the blade through the skull of the wooden creature. This causes the beast to crumble into pieces, leaving teeth embedded in you where it had bit. Taking a moment to focus through the pain you honed your senses in search of any more timberwolves, assuming that like their form they lived and hunted in groups larger than two. With your dagger at the ready in one hand, the other uselessly hanging limp, blood trailing down and dripping onto the wood shards and dirt beneath you, you scanned your surroundings. Not noticing any more, perhaps they have gone after more prey, you thought as you relaxed your posture and limped inside the cave, following the quiet sobbing emanating from within.
Coming to the back of the cave you could only barely make out the form of a small pony, curled-up in the corner of the cave. Slowly approaching as to not startle him, you sheathed your dagger and made your way on all fours towards him.
"Psst, come here child. I beith here to rescue you, I swear no harm will come upon thou" you say in your kindest tone, noticing the foal rise and begin limping towards you.
"I just want to go home to my mommy and daddy" he said through pained tears, the salty liquid mixing with the wounds along his side where you would assume he was held in the mouth of a timberwolf.
"I shalt return thee to thine parent, however thou must not be frightened by mine appearance and must trust me" you explain, holding out your good hand to the injured foal.
"Ok, you promise you'll get me home?" He asks, taking your gauntleted hand under hoof and using it to brace himself.
"I swear upon the name of His Holiness himself and the Knight's Templar order, I shalt see thee returned safely" you say reassuringly as you pull him closer and into the light of the cave mouth.
You watch as his face goes from relief to terror, then back to a more rested look, taking to heart what you had said about 'not being scared by the way you looked'. You quickly catch him with your good arm as he collapses into you, now able to see that he had a line of wounds along his sides, some teeth remaining in him. You decide to use your training to help him, even if it would hurt him simultaneously. Removing your tunic you brace one hand against him as you grab hold of one of the teeth embedded in his side.
"This may hurt and I apologize, but it will assist thee in thine wellbeing" you warn him before swiftly pulling out the tooth, a piercing scream of agony ringing out from him as he tries to bite onto his hoof to muffle the cry.
You proceed to preform this procedure two more times, causing the foal to draw blood from his hoof from biting it too hard. With all of the teeth removed you then wrap him tightly in your tunic, staining the white fabric crimson, but also slowing the blood flowing from the foal's wounds. With the wounds treated as best you could right now, you scoop the injured foal under your good arm and started making your way towards what you remember the location of Ponyville was, hoping to be out of the wood before night fully fell. Following the trail in reverse with your senses perked, now begging to feel weak from the exertion of having to cary this foal and your wounds you pressed onward, fighting off the lingering tendrils of unconsciousness.
"Oh my, oh no" you hear a soft voice speak as you push through the last branches and come into a clearing, the lights of Ponyville off in the distance, but a small hut close by with a yellow pegasus standing out side, hooves covering her mouth as she stared at the foal and you in shock.
Collapsing onto the ground, making sure not to fall on top of the already injured foal, you notice the pegasus approach hesitantly, fear in her eyes. You push the foal towards her and follow her gaze as she notices the injured pony and quickly rushes inside, emerging moments later with a small bag with a red cross on it. Chuckling, or more-so gurgling on your own blood you found it funny that they had your order's symbol on something here. You watch as she begins to tend to the injured foal as you vision begins to tunnel, blackness creeping along the edges, until you are fully consumed by the dark and drift into unconsciousness.
"Sir Rowan, What hath happened?" You hear Luna say as you open your eyes to the familiar sight of the unending darkness of your dreamscape, this was a good sign. It meant that you weren't dead, yet.
"I hath injured mineself in quest to rescue a foal, I do pray he is faring well" you say, a bit of worry for the young pony seeping into your voice.
"I hath visited his dreams, he is well. Though without you I believe he would not be so" Luna said a hint of pain taking her face, but was quickly cast away as she looked back at you, a smile now gracing her lips.
"I had said that I wished to speak with you again, however this is nary what I hath meant by that" she said, a light chuckle escaping her.
"Well, I suppose that since we art already here to take advantage of this?" You venture, eliciting another laugh from Luna, this one less restricted than the last.
"Maybe another time good Sir Rowan, I believe that thou art to awaken soon. Plus, I would like to speak to thee in person, come visit in Canterlot, I may have a reward for thine valor" Luna says as you begin to feel yourself awakening, giving Luna a farewell bow.
"I shalt see thee again soon, in person of course" you finish as you begin to awaken, the black dreamscape flooding with white light.
"Fare thee well Sir Rowan, try not to injure yourself again" she says as you are surrounded by the white light and awaken.
You wake up to find yourself surrounded by animals of all sorts, all of them looking at you. Sitting up you cause many of the animals to retreat, leaving only a single white rabbit. It stood there, its small arms crossed and thumping it's foot impatiently. Moving to stand up you are stopped by a stinging pain and find that your wounds on your torso and arm have been treated and wrapped, also your armor was stripped from you, its shining shape lying a few feet away on a table. Forcing yourself to your feet you stumble your way over to your armor and brace yourself against the table. You slowly begin to dawn your armor, finding your tunic also on the pile, still stained and punctured. Donning your armor and tunic you are brought back to your senses by a gentle voice behind you.
"Um, excuse me? I don't think it's a good idea to be putting those back on so quickly, your wounds just closed" the voice says, you spin around to look at the same yellow pegasus from last night. She quickly hides behind her long pink mane, apparently scared of you.
"Uh, forgive me m'lady I didn't mean to startle thee. May I ask thee thine name?" You ask, dropping onto a knee letting out a pained gasp and your body shifted, making pain shoot through your fresh wounds.
The mare tucks further behind her mane and says something that you couldn't quite make out, the volume too low. Tilting your head you give her a kind smile, making sure not to bare your teeth.
"I'm afraid I couldn't quite make that out, couldist thou repeat what thoust said?" You ask, noticing the pegasus come out from behind her mane a bit.
"F-fluttershy, my name is Flutte..." She says, her voice becoming quieter and quieter, until it was inaudible.
"Well lady Fluttershy I must thank thee for thine services, without thine assistance I surely would have perished" you finish giving her a big smile and exteding your unarmored hand and giving her a scratch behind the ear.
At first your touch caused her to tense up, wings flaring as if she was going to fly away, but she soon calmed and began to enjoy your touch, pushing her head into your palm. You give her a few more scratches before retracting your hand, noticing a small frown at the loss of your touch. Standing back up to full height and placing your last gauntlet and helmet on you looked down at the slightly panicked mare.
"Where have thout placed the foal? I must return him to his family" you say, watching Fluttershy extend a hoof that pointed upstairs. Giving her a bow you proceed up the stairs.
Upon reaching the top of the stairs you noticed the sound of gentle snoring coming from the door to your left, upon opening you find the foal. His wounds were gone, his flesh and fur having grown back completely. You took notice of a collection of strangely shaped bottles along side the bed on a nearby table, most of which were empty. Assuming that those were the reason that he had healed so well, you lightly shake the foal awake. Watching his eyes begin to open slowly then a look of sadness come across his face.
"Y-youre not my parents, I'm not home yet" he cried out, tears beginning to form at the corners of his eyes.
"Not yet yes, but we must make haste back to Ponyville! They art waiting for thee there" You exclaim, watching as the look of sadness melts away, replaced by a fire of determination on the foals face.
"Well why're we still here, let's go!" Sky Chaser exclaimed while hopping out of bed, quickly running underneath you and down the stair.
You follow slowly after him, bracing yourself against the wall to keep yourself stable. Making your way down the stairs you wished Fluttershy a farewell, giving her a deep bow that shot a lightning bolt of pain through you. Grimacing you stand and proceed out the door, fooling the foal into town with a hand held around your torso to ease the pain emanating from there. After a short walk you found yourself back in Ponyville, ponies emerging from their houses as you followed the foal through town, until he stopped at a house and knocked on the door. You watched as a injured steel grey pegasus stallion opened the door, soon accompanied by the familiar emerald mare you and met yesterday. The two of them took the foal into their embrace, a touching scene as you watched from a few feet ahead of them. The mare went inside with the foal as the stallion turn to you, giving you a big smile and a swift nod before shortly disappearing inside and then reemerging with a small pouch in his teeth. He trotted up to you and placed the bag onto the ground in front of you, he looked up at you, now visible tears of joy in his eyes.
"I can't thank you enough for saving my son, please I know it's not much, but I want you to have these bits. There's no amount that I can ever give you that would repay you for what you did" the stallion said before holding out his hoof, you took it and shook, the smile growing on his face as you did.
"I thank thee for thine generosity, but I cannot accept this" you protest, attempting to give the bits back to the stallion.
"No no, you earned that and much, much more. You're a hero, whatever you are" he said giving you an awkward smile and went back into the house, closing the door behind him.
Picking up the bag you opened it to find a collection of gold coins inside, shuffling them around it looked to be around fifty of these so-called 'bits'. Tying the bag to your belt, you made your way to the library, hoping to find Spike and regale him with your tale of heroism.
