Shadow Knight: An Untold Legend

The sun was raising and Shadow was outside drinking coffee, awaiting Rainbow's arrival. "I can't believe I'm doing this. I mean I just wanted some peace and quite. I guess a knight's life never dull." He said thinking to himself. Suddenly he heard wings flapping in the distance, he drank the last of coffee and stood to greet the visitor. "Good Morning, Sir Shadow Knight." It was Rainbow Dash up and wake as ever. "Good morning Squire Rainbow Dash. I see you know some knight title etiquette." Shadow said in a tried tone. "But of course, I don't want to dishonor you with the wrong dialog." Rainbow said proudly. "Well since I don't have to teach you an important lesson on etiquette. I can move on to teaching you about the different types of knights." Shadow Knight said while grabbing a heavy book. He walked inside and noticed Rainbow wasn't following. He set the book down and said, "Going old school are we? You may enter my domain as a guest Squire Rainbow Dash." "Thank you Sir Shadow Knight. I read a book about knights that I borrowed from Twilight." Rainbow said with a bow. " Then she die just to have a copy of this book." Shadow said while placing the book on a mahogany table. It was worn from age, it was brown, and had gold trimmings. The title read 'The Book of Knights.'

" There are many types of knights, most of them are earth ponies. But their are some that were pegasi and unicorn. Some were created through pure revenge; others were born into the life style. Black Iron, Starsaber, and the pegasus Dragon Dame." "Dragon Dame? I understand the dragon part,but what about the Dame part." Rainbow asked. "The word Dame means female knight." Shadow said in a knowledgable tone. "I just thought it was an insulting word males use." Rainbow Dash said. Shadow just sighed and said, "These times are changing. I'm going to training you to be a Pegasus Dame. When your done I will give you the rank Recruit, when needed we will help the citizens of Ponyville. Once proven yourself I will give you your title." "Awesome. Lets get started." Rainbow said with glee. "As you wish Squire." Shadow replied. Shadow Knight gave Rainbow a sword, it was rusty, old and beated. "Umm. I'm guessing this is my training sword?" Rainbow questioned. " Yes, I need you to get use to carrying a sword around. Also learn how to use it and keep it nice and sharp." Shadow Knight said while grabbing a couple pieces of the equipment he used last night.

"To remove the rust use this blue bottle, it's a special acid, to sharpen the blade use this whetstone; make sure to scrap it in one direction otherwise you'll dull the blade even more. Once complete you need to use this red bottle to polish and make your blade so shiny it can magnify the suns energy to burn a hole through a tree." "You knights sure know how to keep your equipment in fine condensation ." Rainbow said while grabbing a clean cloth. "Our equipment is what keeps us alive, without it a knight is pretty useless." Shadow replied. Rainbow began the restoring process of her sword. Shadow meanwhile was dusting off some other training equipment and odd pieces. Then headed outside where he placed each one in a cruel order. Along with the training equipment, Shadow also add obstacles to make things more challenging. Rocks, trees, and other things were apart of a plan Shadow was putting together. Once done he went inside to see how Rainbow Dash was doing, she was on the sharping process of the sword. Giving Shadow time to catch up on some reading.

Meanwhile at the Carousel Boutique, Rarity had to deal with her sister and he friends after they got in trouble for playing with Rarity's sewing machine. "Sweetie Bell! I can't believe you did this out of all the things you three try, why sewing?!" Rarity shouted. "We are just..." Sweetie Bell started to say, but was cut off by Rarity. "No wait don't tell me, we are just trying to get your cutie marks." Rarity said in a sarcastic tone. "Well, guess what! You three are not allowed to touch anything in this boutique! In fact, I want you three out by the time I count to three." Sweetie Bell, Scootaloo, and Applebloom ran out the boutique before she started to count. They began to walk slowly through town, "Sorry about that Sweetie Bell." Applebloom said. "Yeah sorry." Scootaloo said. "It's not your fault, besides we need to keep trying." Sweetie Bell said. "Yeah, but where?" Applebloom asked. "Well, lets start at the library and ask Twilight." Sweetie Bell said before trotting off, while her friends followed her.

At the library Twilight and Spike were practicing magic spells. Twilight was concentrating on a candle. She was trying to use her magic to make the flame on the candle turn into shapes. The first was a Phoenix, then a dragon, lastly a rose. Once finished she sat down to rest, "Wow that was by far the best one yet." Spike said in excitement. "Yeah and the hardest, lets take a break and read for a bit." Twilight said in a happy ,but tried voice. Suddenly the door burst open and The Cutie Mark Crusaders ran in and said all at once, "We need to find more ways to earn cutie marks!" " Not this again. I'll see what even got." Twilight said while looking among the book shelves. " By the way, you didn't happen to see Rainbow Dash?" Scootaloo asked. "No, but I think she is with Shadow Knight." Twilight replied. "Who's Shadow Knight?" Applebloom asked "He is a new pony in town, he lives at the edge of Ponyville in that old mansion." Spike answered. "You mean The Haunted Manor?!" Sweetie Bell asked. "That's what it's called?" Twilight asked "Its said that a mare dressed in white; roams the very hallways." Scootaloo added. "You mean the White Mare Ghost?" Twilight questioned. "Yeah." The three fillies said. "Oh great more legends and myths. Look girls, I'm sure that Rainbow Dash is fine in fact we can go see her now." Twilight said. "Yeah besides, Shadow Knight is a nice guy and a war hero." Spike encouraged. "We'll if you say so, It's like my big sister says never judge an apple by its looks." Applebloom said. Since Applebloom agreed the other two followed.

Rainbow lifted her sword to the light and it shined with a perfect glare. "Good, now that your sword has been restored. We need to test it's strength." Shadow said. Both Rainbow and Shadow walked to the back yard to see a training course. It had everything from training dummies to an archers gallery. "You had this stuff just lying around?" Rainbow Dash questioned. "I'm a sentimental type of knight. Though I'm no older than you or your friends. I still feel like I'm as old as time itself." Shadow said in a mystic voice. "But how is that possible?" Rainbow asked. "In most of my missions, I had to wear an amulet of time. The amulet allowed me to jump from past to future. Due to its effects, I have shaved 5 to 6 years off." Shadow answered. "Wow. That's awesome." Rainbow said in amazement. "Yes, but we need to get started." Shadow guided Rainbow to a boulder that was full of cuts and cracks. "Depending on the depth of the cut, will tell us how good of a job you did. I want you to swing your sword as hard as you can at this boulder." Shadow instructed. Rainbow lifted the sword and bashed it on the rock . It's made a tiny cut no bigger than a paper cut. "Well, I guess the next lesson is to teach how to swing a sword." Shadow said. "Here, let me see your sword." Rainbow reluctantly gave Shadow the sword. He swung the sword and sliced through the rock cutting it in half. "Just as I expected. Your sword maintenance is superb. " Shadow said. "You just need practice and training." Rainbow was still in awe, but followed Shadow Knight to some training dummies.

Each training dummy was either big or small, some with swords, and some with other types of weaponry. " All of this dummies are built for speed, strength and magic, but we are going to start from the bottom and work our way up." Shadow said while guiding her to a dummy that was oblong, fat, and had a silly face drawn on it. "This is our opponent for today's training." Shadow explained. "Seriously? This goof thing?" Rainbow said in an annoyed tone. "Swing the sword properly and we can discuss your next lesson." Shadow said while standing back. Rainbow picked the sword up and began swing it as fast and as hard as she could, but each time she hit the dummy; the sword just bounced off of it. "Gaah!" Rainbow screamed. "Stop." Shadow Knight said. "Your swing it like a boy. Look tilt your head like so and as your swinging let your body flow with the sword." Rainbow Dash did as she was told, and landed a hit on the dummy bouncing it back . Rainbow smiled at this and Shadow gave an approving nod. Rainbow then kept repeating the motion til she broke the dummy.

Shadow guided Rainbow to the next dummy, it was a little more complexed than the first. It had a sheild and a sword, with a more angry frown. " This one will test your blocking and countering. So when you see that blade coming for you, be sure to send it back at him." Shadow said with a smirk. Rainbow nodded and rushed at the dummy as if she was rushing into battle. As she hit the dummy, the dummy responded with swinging its sword arm toward Rainbow. Which knocked her back a few feet, but she keep on trying. "I see Rainbow is enjoying her training." said a voice behind Shadow. He turned around to see Twilight, Spike, and three fillies. "Twilight Sparkle and Spike, it's nice to see you again. And who are the little fillies behind you?" Shadow said. The three jumped when he mentioned them. "It's ok girls go introduce yourselves." Twilight said with encouragement. As they walked up to Shadow the looked at him in the eye.

"I'm Applebloom a-and this are m-my friends, Sweetie belle and Scootaloo." Applebloom said in a shaky voice. "Oh yes I've heard of you three from your sisters and Twilight, if I'm not mistaken you three are The Cutie Mark Crusaders?" Shadow said in a low, but soft tone. " You know Applejack?" Applebloom asked. "Oh yes, she helped me move in, Because of that I own her a favor. Not to mention she gave me an sample of your families apples, it was tasty and juicy." Shadow said. Applebloom lighted up at Shadow's words. Shadow looked at Sweetie Belle and said, "And you must be Rarity's little sister, she loves you to death and she told me if it wasn't for you she never get done in her boutique." Sweetie Belle smiled at this. "Last, but not least. Rainbow Dash's number one fan. I have heard so much about you from Rainbow, she really thinks your a tough kid." Shadow said. "Really?" Scootaloo asked. "As tough as armor." Shadow said. Scootaloo was excited to hear that.

"It's very noble of you three to help other little ponies get their cutie marks. Definitely Crusader material. You three remind me of childhood when me and my friends use to run around and tried fighting off imaginary monsters. But then we called ourselves the Knights of the North." Shadow said while drawing his sword and holding it high in the air. "Wow, what happened to your friends." Scootaloo asked. "Well, we became real knights when we got older. I was the only one how came back home." Shadow said in a sorrowful tone. "Awe, that sad." Sweetie Belle said. "Yes, but luckily I met Twilight and her friends." Shadow said. "Sweet, so your a real knight?" Applebloom asked "Retired, but yes a knight none the less." Shadow replied. "Can we be knights too?" The three fillies asked. Shadow chuckled and replied. "Your better than knights your Crusaders. Crusaders are ponies that help other ponies by guide them on the right path. So far from what I have heard; you have been doing your job." Shadow said with a wink and smile.

"Awesome!" The three fillies shoutied. "Cutie Mark Crusaders for life." The three fillies yelled. "Oh, can we hear your cutie mark story?" The fillies asked. "Of course, now lets see when I was young. My friends and I began traveling on your own. We left home to find a source of powerful magic, something called The Stone of The Alicorn. Now what we heard from legend, it could grant you three wishes. Since there were three of us we each would share the wishes. We traveled to the edge of The Hallow Shades, where we found an old temple. My friend Dragon Dame, who was the smartest of us; solved the three riddles. Black Iron did all the heavy lifting to solve the puzzles, and I help fight the Fire Hounds." Sweetie Belle raised her hoof in politeness. "Yes Sweetie Belle?" Shadow asked. "What's a Fire Hound?" Sweetie Belle asked. "It's a being that thrives off of object of great magical power." Twilight answered.

"Correct, Dragon Dame was almost done for if it wasn't for me. I jumped in front of the Alpha male's attack to protect her. I was badly injured and had blacked out. Dragon Dame and Black Iron rushed at the beast and drove it away. They found the stone, the first wish went to Black Iron. He wished for a sword that was unbeatable. Dragon Dame wish for a book with unlimited knowledge. The last wish they made for me, I was healed and healthy once more. But to preform such a task the stone infused my body with magic and my coat never turned back to its normal white color. I changed my name to go with my new image, and that's when I received this mark upon me." Shadow was pointing to his cutie mark, which was a sword and sheild that were both black and red. "What was your real name?" Applebloom asked. "Guardian Angel." Shadow replied.

"I think your legend should go into a book." Sweetie Belle said. "Thank you, but I think my tale has just begun." Shadow said. Suddenly a loud Crack sound broke their conversation. The dummy's head rolled toward the others as Rainbow Dash walked over to them. "Whew that guy was tough, but I showed him whose boss." Rainbow Dash said "That's good, each dummy should teach you a new technique So keep going. As for you three, you should run along now, come back tomorrow and I might have something to show you." Shadow Knight said in a happy tone. "Ok, Thank you Mr. Shadow Knight." The three fillies yelled as they ran toward Ponyville. "Just when I think I have you figured out, you surprise me with another tale. Your like a library I never been in." Twilight said. "Ms. Sparkle you don't even know the half of it." Shadow said with a smirk.

Rainbow was then, knock back at their direction. She skidded until she was in between Twilight and Shadow. "Ow." Rainbow said. "What happened?" Shadow asked. "I tried moving on to the next opponent." Rainbow said while pointing to a huge dummy about the size of a house. "I'm not surprised you got such a hit. Even I got knock around on my first go." Shadow said. "Yeah, yeah, what is it trying to teach me?" Rainbow said. "It's trying to teach you to be careful and try to find a weakness in its defenses." Shadow said. Rainbow didn't say another word just got back up and kept trying. "What's this?" Twilight said. Twilight was levitating the book Shadow had. "Umm. That's my Book from my knight boot camp." Shadow said. "Wow it's really big and old." Twilight said while staring it just itching to read it. Shadow saw this and knew she loved to read. Unforntantely, part of him is hesitating. He finally decide and said, "You can borrow it if you want, just make sure you bring it back." "Really? Oh thank you!" Twilight said while hugging him. "Your welcome, oh and don't let anyone less see its contents. These are knight secrets, if the wrong pony got their hooves on this book. I'm afraid what might happen." Shadow said. "Your secrets are safe with me." Twilight reassured him. They both smiled and watched Rainbow Dash train.

It was almost dusk when training was over for Rainbow. "Alright you did great work. Your ready for the next level of being a Dame. Be here tomorrow same time." Shadow said in a professional tone. "Sir, yes sir!" Rainbow said. "And be sure to keep that sword in good concession." Shadow added before dismissing Rainbow, til the morrow. Shadow was just finished unpack the last of his boxes, when he found a picture in a frame that was detailed with an Alicorn on both sides. The picture was of his friends and famliy, when he was just a little colt. His coat was white and he had sky blue eyes, just like his father. His mother was a unicorn that had a dark grey coat, orange mane and eyes. Standing next to him was his friends, the green pegasus with yellow eyes was Dragon Dame and The black earth pony was Black Iron, who looked like a young Macintosh. Shadow smiled and placed the photo on the mantle above his fire place. "It's hard to believe that my old home would still be standing." Shadow thought to himself. "Even though the times have changed. The friendly atmosphere of this town never dies. All the turmoil, the suffering, and the pain of my Knighthood seem to last as well. Luckily I had these memories to keep me going." Shadow, then headed to his master bedroom to get some sleep.