Your faithful guard, Zen: Prologue

Celestia's sun was at it's highest and Ponyville was busy as ever and enjoying the peace that Equestria managed to keep over this last year, The mane 6 were all doing good as well as Rainbow Dash was now not only a Wonderbolt in training but was closer then ever to graduation. Pinkie Pie helped Vinyl open a brand new club in Ponyville and worked nights planning the upcoming events yet no one knew how she did this with her morning job as it seemed she never slept but no one questioned it, Fluttershy and Rarity seemed to be the only one's who never changed their normal lifestyles, but who could blame them. Fluttershy was always happy the way things were and Rarity was busier then ever as being friends with a princess boosted her popularity, the only one with issues was Applejack as with her friends busy she didn't have much help with Apple buck season.

But this story isn't about the mane 6, no our story is about the lazy colt sitting at his desk drawing away rather then working with his adoptive parents running the herb and spice part of the Ponyville market. Zen always hated the fact he was born into such a boring life as he always wanted to live where the adventure was, and always dreamed of someday being a knight but the only family who supported him was his Grandfather ElderFlower, who always hated that name since birth so they always called him grandpa. His grandfather wasn't much of a knight but studied almost as much as Twilight and knew quite a bit about sword techniques, and secretly trained Zen in the afternoons after work back in the forest so his parents would never know, he even crafted Zen his own sword although it was nothing special it meant more to him that his Grandfather honestly cared about his dreams rather then the family business.

"Zen" he heard his Grandfather called to him.

"Up here" he said calling from his room in the attic.

ElderFlower soon came in to see Zen was drawing again, he always wondered what it was he was making as he worked on the same picture for nearly a month.

"Can I see it now" Elder asked looking at Zen's drawing.

"Sure it's almost done anyways" Zen said showing him the picture, it was of armor that Zen pictured himself someday wearing.

"I'm surprised you haven't saved up your bits to move out and start the life you want, you're already a fine swordsmen I'm sure you could pass training easily" Elder said with a smile.

"I'm not worried about that" He said with no expression "It's just Ginger and Barberry always hated the fact I never wanted to work in the market."

"That's not your problem boy, don't let them try and control your destiny."

"I guess you're right but I was thinking maybe we could postpone our training so I could see if Applejack is hiring. It is apple buck season so I'm sure she could use some help."

"Good plan but you better hurry I hear she starts her task's fairly early."

"Alright then I'm off and if mom and dad come home tell them I quit," he said laughing.

Zen soon hurried as fast as he could run to Sweet Apple Acres, he always knew applejack would have a job ready for him as he had been working at this for quite sometime. Ever since Fluttershy caught him training alone on evening he had soon became friends with the rest of the mane 6 shortly after Pinkie Pie even threw a party for it as always. He saw Applejack looking tired as ever as her and Big Mac were the only ones doing the whole orchard by themselves.

"Hey Applejack" Zen yelled walking over to the collapsed mare "You okay? I figured your friends would be here at least to help you out"

Alright here goes my attempt at Applejack

"I'm afraid they're all too busy these days to help some good folks out," She said looking like she was close to passing out.

"So I think now would be a good time to mention I came here looking for a job?"

"Yer darn tootin" she said as she jumped right up and her eyes widened.

"Okay then how about I start bucking while you take a break you look like a mess, no offense."

"None taken sugercube but if I stop now you'll just end up in the same shape as me and besides three is better than two," she said as she started bucking again.

Zen wasn't exactly weak, all of his training put him in decent shape to where he could buck almost as good as Applejack. Although surprisingly he was a lot faster at it. Soon enough the whole orchard was almost finished and Zen finally got Big Mac into a conversation but that all ended when he realized he couldn't see Applejack anymore.

"Wait where did Applejack go?" Big Mac said looking around as they all agreed to stay close.

They suddenly knew where she was from the loud scream she let out "Timberwolves!!!!!" she cried.

Zen was stunned and so was Big Mac, Timberwolves? out here? They were no where near the forest so how was this even possible. Sure enough though she was surrounded by what looks like 10 Timberwolves but what was even more shocking was what one of them spoke, yes one spoke.

"We never forget." it whispered as Applejack panicked being to tired to even think to fight back.

Big Mac rushed in but was quickly thrown back by the Timberwolves. Zen panicked worse then he ever had before he was just about to watch his friend Applejack get killed by Timberwolves, before he could even know what was going on he was already running toward her. Not thinking just acting as he pulled a short sword from his saddle bag. His grandfather told him to always carry it as you never knew when someone would need saving.

Applejack closed her eyes as a few wolves pounced at her. All she could hear were a few slashes and it all went silent.

Am i dead she thought in her mind. When she finally got the nerve to open her eyes she saw three Timberwolves on the ground in pieces.

"Wwwhat?" she barely managed to say looking up to see Zen standing over her.

"You guys want to try that again?" Zen said holding his sword and looking more serious then he ever had in years.

Two more wolfs jumped at them both but Zen easily took care of them, but not without getting slashed at by the third. He ended up with a massive cut on his chest that was pretty deep but it never fazed him. He knew he had to save Applejack and that was more important than his own safety as he quickly attacked the wolf that got him which left the other wolves to form a giant Timberwolf much like the one he heard Spike managed to defeat. Before Zen made a move Applejack already threw an apple into it's mouth causing it to choke, during this Zen slashed at the beasts neck killing it, he was surprised to find the pieces of wood left from the wolves disappeared in a black smoke.

"What the" was all he said watching the mist rise into the air.

"You...you saved my life." Applejack said staring at him.

"Eeyup he saved us both" said Big Mac.

"It was nothi..." Zen said before passing out from his injures.

He later woke up in Ponyville hospital and made a full recovery from the chest wound. Pinkie once again threw a party to celebrate during which Zen had to explain to the mane 6 how exactly he managed to do what he did, explaining how he had trained in secret to become a knight which made them all shocked and all agreed to lend him a hoof for saving AJ's life. He continued to work at the Ranch and later had enough money to build his own home outside of Ponyville not too far from Sweet apple Acres. Rarity made the plans while Applejack and Rainbow Dash helped build it with Twilight managing the whole project and Fluttershy making sure the home was no where near animal homes. Once the project was finally finished another month had passed when Zen got a knock on his door.

"Just a second." he said rushing to the door he opened it to see Twilight Sparkle "Hello your highness."

"Zen cut that out we're friends now you can call me Twilight." she said giggling.

"Sorry Twilight," He said wondering why she was here exactly.

"Can we talk for a moment if that's alright?"

"Sure," he said seriously wondering why she was here.

"As you know I am a Princess and friends with Celestia and Luna, and I have been talking with them lately about how you saved Applejack, and got Angel out of the Everfree when he ran off, and the time you.." she was cut off by Zen

"Anyway" he said with a smirk.

"Anyway Celestia is very happy with you Zen and she wants you to go to Canterlot and enroll at the academy. You won't have to worry about the waiting process as three princesses approval was more then enough to get you in."

"OHMYGOSHOHMYGOSHOHMYGOSH!" he said mocking Rainbow while at the same time laughing. "Thanks Twilight you have no idea how much this means to me."

"Anything for you." She said smiling "You've already done more then enough to earn it."

In less then a month Zen was off, already having more experience fighting then most of the other ones there he quickly became a knight in less then a year. He was sitting in his dorm room writing his daily letter to his friends and Grandpa who couldn't be more proud of him even his parents were happy for him for once. Everything was normal that day until he got called by a guard that the Princesses wished to see him. He was completely stunned that Celestia and Luna wished for him to see them. He walked in the main chamber trying to keep his jaw up when walking towards them both as they ordered the remaining guards to leave them alone.

"Welcome Zen it's great to finally meet you." Celestia said with a smile.

"It's an honor to meet you as well Celestia, and you too Luna."

Luna remained quiet but smiled as Zen mentioned her name.

"My pupil Twilight has told me may great things about you and I can tell from the look of you and the power in your heart that you are indeed special."

"Thank you Princess but why have you asked me to come here, not that I don't enjoy meeting you."

Celestia smiled as she backed up "It was not me who wished for you to be here but my sister Luna did."

Zen wondering what it could be that the princess of the night wanted from him of all ponies.

"I will leave you too at it while I attend to some matters" Celestia said as she left in a bright light.

Luna looked at Zen remaining silent as she signaled him to follow her. She took him to an area of the castle not many were allowed in, as she finally spoke as they reached the door of the old library.

"Zen what exactly do you know of your real birth parents?" She spoke in a serious tone.

"Not much but I don't understand why we're here." he said confused.

"I will show you." She said as they entered a hidden part of the library.

Zen looked as he saw books and paintings of dragons and an old rusted black and white sword that looked even more basic then the one he already carried

"What if I told you your father used to be a knight under me." She said in a serious tone.

"I would believe you." Zen said listening to every word she spoke with care.

"Good now what I'm about to say may shock you so please listen until I am done."

Zen simply nodded and took a seat at the only table in the room.

"Your father's name was Zane, and he came here to Canterlot from the edges of the badlands where his village once was. He was a very skilled knight even more then yourself and passed effortlessly when trying to prove himself. He even saved Equestria from threats not even listed in our books before even Nightmare Moon existed. I later took him on as my own pupil and trained him myself, until the day came when a threat had came to Equestria in the form of a black mist lead by a leader who's name has long since been forgotten, however his reign never will be; he almost wiped out Equestria, so in an effort to save this land I combined my powers with Zane's granting him the way to defeat the Mist leader and save Equestria. But his new god like power had driven him crazy as he was never pure as he let on to be. I could sense this before even making him a knight but his skill was needed at the time, but his thirst for power grew even more as he became mad. We had no choice but to banish him from Equestria, but that never stopped him; he simply went to the dragon kingdom and learned their secrets as well planning with them how to strike Equestria. He had promised their king that he knew everything about the castles defenses and easily convinced the king to train him as this was the time before ponies and dragons got along as they do. As he had no intention of serving the Dragon king and quickly turned on him and killed him. Now with dragons and ponies secrets at his disposal he finally unleashed his full power and used the black mist for his own evil wiping out city after city in a never ending nightmare. But using the elements of harmony we sealed him away to the deepest pits of the underworld and the mist went along with him."

She finally stopped as Zen tried to process all he had just learned.

"But what does that have to do with me, and who's my mother and-" he was quickly cut off.

"I told you this as I knew someday you would rise up and start your journey, and before you ask it was me and Celestia who removed you from your father's hands and as for your mother she is long gone like the rest he defeated."

"So black mist? I think I'm starting to understand why you brought me here, they're returning aren't they."

"Yes how did you know?" She asked rather stunned.

"Back when I saved Applejack from the Timberwolves I noticed they turned into black mist."

"Then you understand you must be the one to fight this as it's clear they already know who you are. Most likely why you're the first to encounter them" she said as she walked over to the case where the sword laid "This sword uses the same magic as the one your father had using a ponies true beliefs as it's power."

"I see so that explains why it looks this way" he said picking it up.

"Yes take it with you and also Zen, please do not tell a soul what you learned here today and never let the darkness inside your soul corrupt you for the sake of Equestria I beg you." She said more serious then ever.

"I promise you for my friends and family's sake I won't end up as my father did, and I will be here to defend Equestria when the time comes." He looked to the mirror next to him noticing Pinkie Pie staring at him through the mirror so he did the motions of the Pinkie Promise to Luna, which threw off the seriousness but gave her a good chuckle and with that they returned to the main room where Celestia was waiting.

"I take it you explained it all to him." Celestia asked still smiling.

"She did your highness and I'm ready to start my duties as a knight now."

"Great so have your choice of the princess you wish to represent." She said.

"Yes I wish to return to Ponyville and serve under Twilight." He said serious as the two looked at him only Celestia seemed not surprised.

"Choosing to protect your friends and home first I see." Her smile widened "Great it's done then from this point forward you shall be Sir Zen of Ponyville!" She said in a very royal voice.

Zen soon returned to Ponyville and began working for Twilight who was very happy he chose this path as the idea of having a knight excited her. He later got ambushed by Rarity who insisted on designing his armor, and maybe a shield. Of course Zen was surprised that Rarity had such skill but he later showed her the old picture he drew a long time ago and with a few slight changes to the chest she had made him a fresh set of armor and a stylish shield.

The armor stole the look of the royal guards of Canterlot except without the mohawk their armor was famous for and had a purple 6 pointed star on the chest plate, the armor was a pure white except the emblem. The shield had a light pink type outline around the base with a purple 6 pointed star in the middle the rest was a nice shade of silver.

Finally Zen had become a knight but with the knowledge of his father and a powerless sword and fear that the mist would someday rise in full force he wasn't ready to take this job lightly. At the start Twilight had him doing simple tasks for the people of Ponyville like helping Fluttershy round up animals in the winter, or help Applejack on the farm as he had done before, or even setting up towers of hay for Rainbow Dash to knock down. His Grandfather was amazed by what he had learned from the academy and his adoptive parents were now happy for him, although it was most likely due to the fact Zen was now working with a well paying job that was much better then the market, that or they were afraid of him which he knew they should be.

But one thing still sat on his mind during the nights and that was the sword that he held in his hoof as he remember the words Luna said to him. That the sword was powered by the desires of the one who wielded it, was the sword unsure of what Zen really wanted or was he unsure. All he knew was that until he could figure it out this sword was useless as it couldn't even cut the smallest of things. He decided to keep it with him at all times in case the answer ever came to him. But he never had time to think about much at the end of the day as he always had to report to Twilight at the end of his work days at the library in Ponyville. The second he opened the door and walked in Twilight met him with a checklist of checklists.

"Did you build Dash's tower?"

"Yes."

"Help Applejack finish this years season?"

"Yes."

"Help Derpy get her muffin out of the tree?"

"Yes...wait what?"

"I'm only teasing." She said in a rather cheerful mood as she started bouncing around the library humming a happy tune as she reshelfed some books.

"What's got her so happy?" Asked a familiar voice that turned out to be Spike returning from helping Rarity.

"No idea. She's been jumpier than Pinkie Pie lately." Zen said confused to the dragon.

"Meh Twilight always gets easily worked up like this you'll get use to it. But normally it's stress not cheer." Spike said with a smirk which Twilight soon gave him a glare over.

"Why wouldn't I be so cheerful, I now have TWO assistant's one for home and one to help the rest of Ponyville, do you guys even know how much stress that takes off." She said still jumping.

Spike and Zen just kind of stared at each other wondering if somepony slipped something into her coffee this morning.

"I'm only joking you two jeez." She said as she finally stopped the Pinkie Pie act "I just can't believe I have a knight. I'm just so shocked that Zen convinced the princesses to let him work in Ponyville. Why did you do that though you could have lived in Canterlot or the Crystal Empire, why Ponyville?"

"I thought that would be simple." He said with a chuckle, "My family is here and so are you guys who are all great friends of mine, Ponyville to me seems to be the only place worth protecting, plus I would much rather help the people here then the...well no offense to you two but a lot of ponies in Canterlot are well.."

"Rich snobs." Spike cut him off.

"SPIKE!" Twilight yelled.

"No he's right that's exactly what I was going to say." Zen said as he broke out in laughter.

Twilight glared at them for a moment before asking the one question on her mind for awhile. "So spike how come you're not acting jealous over Zen like you were with Owlicious?"

"Twilight seriously I'm over that phase besides I still help you at home and help Rarity make her dresses and I kind of feel better knowing there's someone else here to protect you sis, because let's face it if a major threat came to Ponyville there's not much I could do." Spike said the last part in a serious tone.

"Wow Spike you've really grown a lot since we first came here." Twilight shed a small tear before hugging her number one assistant.

"Besides how will I be able to live once you get your own castle and have an army of knights." he smirked as he walked towards Zen's side "As long as this kid looks after you that's all that matters to me."

"You won't have to worry about that Spike, I can promise you that now." He said as suddenly Pinkie Pie jumped out of the bookshelf.

"PINKIE I just reshelfed those!" Twilight then rushed with her magic to fix the fallen books as Pinkie got a creepy amount of close to Zen's face.

"You better Pinkie Promise right now that Twilight will never get hurt, you understand me buddy or are we're gonna have a problem buster." Pinkie said giving Zen a glare that would put Fluttershy's stare to shame.

"Sigh....Cross my heart and hope to fly stick a cupcake in my eye." as he did the motions.

"Great just don't ever break that promise or else." She said with a smile on her face from here to Canterlot.

"Or else what...?" Zen dared to ask.

"Oh nothing too bad I just wouldn't if I were you." she said as she pulled a tray of cupcakes out of nowhere "Would you like one?" she finally started to smile again

"Sure!" he said as he ate the cupcake "But Pinkie how exactly did you get here through the bookshelf?"

"Come closer and I'll tell you the secret."  she said as Zen got right up to her and she whispered in his ear "It's a secret." she said as she flipped the floor around her and was gone in a flash.

"Okay I gotta get her to teach me that one." Zen said as he walked over to Spike who jumped on his back.

Twilight took notice to this and asked where they were off to. Spike told Twilight that he was going to help Zen get some afternoon training in which, she allowed as long as Zen had him back before bedtime. Zen he agreed leaving Twilight alone in her home.

"Wow Zen is such a great guy, It's a shame we only met a few years ago. Would have been nice to have a knight during all those adventures I sure hope he knows what he signed up for."

He never had a clue of what was too come.