The Knights of Night

The mother mare lie down, sweating and weak with pain from birth. She knew her child lived, she'd heard its cries as it'd came into the world. Her vision was blurred from exhaustion, and silence overtook her hearing aside from birds chirping and the wind blowing through the clinging vines of Passiflora that distinguished her house from the others.

"'Opal..." a deep, gentle voice came from outside of her door as her silver-grey husband walked in, concern and care for her showing from the depths of his heart. In a small basket he'd attached to his side, the smell of hyssop, lemon grass, and bell pepper filled the air now. The light seeming to surround them, flowing through the room abundantly now.

"Meteor," her voice grew a bit stronger as he came closer," is our child a filly or a colt?"

"You need your rest, Opal--"

"Where is my child?" her voice gained a Motherly power, causing Meteor Knight to look her in the eyes.

"You -we- have a new filly and colt, both bright like the New Equestrian ponies. The little girl," he chuckled happily, hiding his own tears of joy," She resembles you very much, Opal, But her coat is light green and her mane is evergreen with black instead of white."

"And what of the boy, Meteor?" her voice resounded some hints of hope," what does he look like?"

"He..." Meteor trailed off nervously, but began speaking once more," he has a bright yellow, almost golden coat, with a few specks of vermilion that will probably fade with time. His mane and tail are a deep violet contrast with his complexion very well. Have your hopes returned for our return to New Equestria come back along with your colorful children?"

Night Opal laughed hoarsely," Yes, my love, we may soon return to Canterlot without being attacked by guards. Or by the young princesses for that matter."

Meteor looked down with a sincere stare," Scythe Knight helped a Royal leave the Forest today."

"You sound disappointed in her for some reason," Opal replied fretfully," did she harm him?"

"No, it's nothing like that," Meteor's answer was quiet," It's just... Ever since that incident in the Castle Gardens, she's been usually afraid of guards and other colts, especially males who aren't related to her."

"It's natural for her to be afraid. She's known this village for most of her life."

"But what if she ends up alone? She knows that the rest of the ponies can have normal lives. They don't have to fear killing their loved ones with their power. Opal, I--... I just don't want to see our oldest daughter grow old alone. Being alone is what drove Cosmos to her madness." Meteor sighed, his eyes now brimming with sadness instead of happiness.

"We can't force it on her either, though," the emerald mother snorted," so an arranged marriage is out of it either way since we all might object."

"I hope she can at least make friends with ponies from outside of her clan, though." Meteor handed her a bright red bell pepper; Night Opal graciously grabbed the vegetable, biting into it. They were the closest thing to the apples that actually grew within the Forest when they were in season, tasting nothing like fruit, but seemed to help with eyesight drastically. If the ponies had cut any more limbs from the trees in the past, they could the sweeter foods, yes, but if a Day Pegasus had seen the village, they might have told others.

"Mrs. Opal?" a young filly with a dark metallic coat opened the door," we would like to know the names of our two newest arrivals."

"Snow Lancet," an older colt behind her mumbled, but caught her attention," we shouldn't bother the Mother-"

"It's quite alright, Obsidian," Night Opal replied, giving both of them warm smiles," but have you seen Night Reaper? I need to talk with her."

The two young ponies shuffled their hooves, looking away from both of their leaders.

"Lancet, Scimitar," Meteor's voice was testy like a parent who'd caught their child stealing from the cookie jar," where is she?"

Snow Lancet's white irises hid now as she closed her eyes," Well after the altercation with my mom two days ago, she stayed in her house for a few hours, silent as death as she sharpened and maintained all of her scythes. When nighttime hit, Cobalt told me he could hear her crying for some reason. I went over to her house, and she was tending her garden, as though nothing had happened. She told me she simply had some allergy issues and needed to bring in fresh flowers for her vase. and when I went to her house this morning, Nightshaede had been there, and said that Night Reaper had gone to gather more food for the village. She hasn't been back since that time."

"That's not like Reaper at all," Opal muttered worriedly, lying her head down and contemplating.

"She's right," Meteor Knight added," Reaper doesn't have allergy issues and Cobalt and 'Shaede went gathering yesterday and the day before."

"Maybe she just went to see Zecora," Obsidian suggested lightly,"she usually disappears to there from time to time. Learning about herbs, she says she's doing, to help us during winters."

"I hope you're correct, Lancet," Meteor answered with concern of ten fathers.

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Night Reaper tied her rope trap with a fiery determination that almost made her eyes accidentally glow again, the aquamarine mare's words playing through her mind over and over again.

"I am not a guide. I am a Knight. I am not a guide. I am a Knight," she seemed to chant the words as though they were a prayer. Around the young alicorn mare, the dark forest felt like a prison, with only enough light filtered through for everypony to see each other and the color of the plants. The prison always seemed to darken more with each passing century, never even a small ray of sunlight leaking through. Night Reaper longed, desired the bright sun and the young princess who looked to her as an equal, not just as a simple guard. She dreamt of the open skies, the beautiful feel of the wind against her wings, the light, the bright green of soft grasses and softer plants-

"Night Reaper...?" Blood Moon's voice halted her incessant chanting, making her notice the tears on her face and her body trembling. Swallowing the lump in her throat that allowed her tears to stop, and regain most of her cool composure.

"Y-you're back. Why?" her voice didn't falter as she'd expected, allowing her to breathe more relaxed and stronger. Reaper turned to the Pegasus with no fear of tears, forgetting about the bruise that rested on her left cheek.

His own eyes showed no regret for returning to the forest,"Why did you help me last time, Night Reaper?"

"You're a... Royal," Her answer hid most of everything she knew," we, as guards of the Knight clan, are still also your guards despite--"

Blood Moon came closer," That's not your truth. What you just said was your Father's truth, but what is your's? Your own reason for helping me?"

"I don't have a reason." she replied to him, moving her hand near the scythe by the trap that had been laid out perfectly, the gleaming silver blade shining fiercely. He could see her grabbing for it, maybe in defense, or a bluff, bet he didn't want to take any kind of risk, and quickly backed away a tad bit.

"You don't have a reason for what exactly?" he sat three feet away from the dark silver Alicorn female, who gave a confused look for a second, still bringing her scythe closer to her, her sharpening stone in her other hand. Night Reaper ran the rock harshly across the blade, watching sparks fly and listening to the sliding noise that echoed around them both.

"I don't have a reason to hate you or to not help you. If anypony is in trouble, wouldn't you try to help them, even if they were cruel to you? You.. you weren't even born when any of this happened, so I can't exactly say that you yourself were cruel to any of us."

The replies sent a dizzying stun spell on Blood Moon. Despite the short time that they even knew the other had existed, Night Reaper's answers seemed completely true, with very little left out. It wasn't just that, but the amount of care she felt towards the ponies didn't come from the Forest would astound the rest of the Royals.

"You probably think that I'm a pretty stupid Knight if I show compassion, don't you?" her voice became flat with a sense of self-ridicule, hiding her eyes away.

"Actually," he felt his face flush pink with heat as the answer was given," I kinda wish I could be that way."

"What way?" Night Reaper gave another confused glance, which looked like somewhat of a death-glare. Quickly remembering her iris pigmentation, she looked up completely. Blood Moon nearly flinched, but knew his own eyes gave off the effect almost as well as her own.

"The way you can still want to help people despite what they've done to you."

"Just because one or two ponies in an area are cruel doesn't mean you should be judging the rest." Night Reaper lowered her voice, feeling another's presence nearby," that's why I sent everypony that wasn't a Knight back to the Forest's edge after giving them a potion with amnesiac effects, and told them to tell Cosmos that there was no trace to be found."

"Really?" his voice showed no mockery," then why did you put on that menacing act when we first met?"

"Because males are prone to acting their real selves when they're not around other ponies they know." lashing he tail as she stood, putting her scythe in its sheath and her clawed trap (that had been peeking out because of excess rope) deeper into her large side pack.

Blood Moon stared intently at the rusty, yet well maintained trap that Night Reaper had quickly hidden from sight," Your people seem more like hunters that you do Knights, what with all these traps you lay out."

Night Reaper felt her feathers burn redder than ever," How do you think the castle stayed safe from Unicorns and Earth Ponies when a revolt would begin? When my family and other friends were fighting the Pegasi like yourself?"

He flicked his ears back, discomposed," Not all ponies were against your clan, 'Reaper. Many of us were actually against Cosmos, since her first mistake of trying to back-stab your dad into marrying her. So get off of your anger sled."

"Reaper?" Nightshaede's voice came from the veil of tiger vines where the presence had been felt. The young filly stared at her sister with a sense of being dazed by the white Pegasus," Who is he?"

"Unconditional love and Creation at its fullest is what fills the Empress card, meaning that no matter how terrible something you make turns out, you will love and cherish it nevertheless." - N.R. to Nightshaede, 120 & 325