Knight of the Sun

Knight of the Sun

Prologue

Amethyst Star had always been an unlucky pony.

Her special talent was in finding gemstones, amethysts to be precise. This was the only way she had ever been lucky, as her talent meant that she would always have the money to make up for her little accidents. Clumsily, her flank would always somehow bump into items for sale in the shops, which were guaranteed to be breakable. She’d buy an ice cream, only to have the wind cruelly take her tasty treat to the dusty floor. The previous week, Amethyst would have sold her house to be free from the bad luck which had cursed her since the day she was born. But in hindsight, Amethyst would have taken all those little accidents tenfold, had it meant that she had not decided to go gem hunting one night three days ago.

“Work more pony! No rest! Only work!”

Amethyst flinched as the dog raised his whip to strike her, digging her hooves into the dirt desperately. Satisfied that she had restarted her work, the massive guard dog went back to observing the rest of the pony slaves in the tunnel, all of them pulling carts filled to the brim with rare jewels.

The diamond dogs, as they were called, had been plaguing Equestria for months now, enslaving any pony they found and taking them to work in their pits. It had gotten to the point where Celestia had sent the Royal Guard to actively begin hunting for the dogs and had officially warned the gem market of the danger the slavers posed. But when it comes down to taking a little risk or going hungry, Amethyst had taken the former, even though she wished to Celestia that she had just gone to her parents house for the night instead.

“Stop pony!” barked another dog. Amethyst blinked and did as she was told automatically. The work was so tiring and monotonous, she didn't even realise that she had reached the unloading point. Two dogs started to dig their paws into her cart full of gems, throwing them into shoots based on colour. Amethyst slumped to the floor, dejected, knowing that she would only get a few minutes rest before she would have to take the heavy iron cart back to the mines to be reloaded.

Then came a sharp slap on her flank.

“Feeding time my little pony,” A brown dog called mockingly. He threw down a bucket of water and a small bag of oats down onto the ground in front of Amethyst, who was still trembling in fear shock from the slap.

“Now now my little pony, eat up! We want you big and strong!” said the brown dog, giving a scratch on the back with his claws. Amethyst shuddered and whimpered as they cut into her skin.

The three dogs around her cackled before going back to their business. Amethyst slowly forced her tired muscles to carry her to the buckets which contained her lunch. Before she took a drink of water, Amethyst caught a glimpse of her reflection in the water and froze. Her pale pink coat was matted and filthy, and her face was covered in cuts from working in the mines. Her mane wasn’t faring much better.

A single tear made it’s way down the pony’s cheek. Her life was in tatters, just a week ago she would have been at home, warm and safe. She’d be worrying about the little things, like what to have for dinner for the next week or when to next go out with her friends. Now here she was, wondering if she’d ever see the sun again…

“Pony! Break time is over!”

Amethyst cried out as leather whip cut into her back.

“Bad pony! That’s a very bad pony! Bad!”

The lashes kept coming, and Amethyst kept screaming, just wishing for the pain to end. For somepony, anypony, to stop her torment.

‘Please,’ she prayed. ‘Please Celestia, I beg of you. Help me!’

But the pain continued, and Amethyst prepared herself for what she knew to be the end.

“Pony needs to learn! Bobo will make bad pony learn! Ba- Ergh!”

Amethyst felt what seemed to be warm water drip onto her head. The ground shuddered and their was a large thud next to her head. Cautiously, she looked up to see what had happened to her tormentor.

The diamond dog Bobo was laying in front of her, blood pouring out from his chest. Above the corpse was a bipedal creature, a giant which towered over diamond dog and pony alike. Amethyst gazed up in wonder at her savior.

The creature was covered in shimmering metal plate armour, all the way from it’s weirdly pointed feet to it’s shoulders. It had a black, shaggy mane and a rough beard along an otherwise skinless white face. It’s nose was small, it’s blue eyes beady yet fierce. In it’s hands it carried a long sword, dripping with blood from the dog it had just pierced, and in his other hand there was a shield, the front of which Amethyst could not see.

The other dogs in the cave stared, dumbfounded at the foreign creature to their cave. Finally, the main guard dog shouted.

“What are you creature! Why you enter our cave, kill our brother! Speak!” The large dog’s voice reverberated around the cave, his fur standing up in apprehension.

The creature grinned, his armour glimmering in the low light of the cave.

“I am Sir Adam, Knight of Sol,” The Knight got into a battle stance, his sword pointing at the dogs before him with his shield covering his chest. At that point, Amethyst was able to see the front of the shield. It was a pure white, and gilded with an ornate, yellow and gold sun.

“And tonight, I will become a slayer of monsters.”

With that, the knight lunged forward, plunging his sword into the nearest dog’s chest as they scrambled away from him in fear and surprise.

“To arms! Kill the shiny thing!” yelled the leaders of the dogs coming to his senses and, unsheathing his own sword. The dogs followed his example, and charged at the intruder to their home.

Sir Adam’s smile grew all the wider.