Lightning Dash met with the others in the throne room not too long later. However, he noticed that the Day Court had barely come into recess as he walked inside. Even so, everypony was there up to Shining Armor. Princess Celestia sat in her throne as her magic closed her door and cast a privacy spell around the whole room.

“Thank you all for coming. Let’s start with the announcements. First of all, your test was a success even more than I thought. Every single pony there exceeded my expectative,” everypony made a quick bow to Princess Celestia. “Continuing, I will start by Shining Armor. Step forth, my Guard.”

With a quick bow, Shining Armor stepped forward, “My Princess.”

“You have the leadership instinct and the courage to go through the unknown, while still having the calm to think things through and reason to not act impulsively. Starting tomorrow, you will be my new Royal Guard’s Captain.”

Shining Armor was sincerely astonished by that, “What happened to the previous?”

“Nothing as yet, my Captain,” Celestia answered with a smile. “However, as your first duty, you will be assigning troops around Canterlot for the next shift already. You have my authorization to bypass anypony’s orders, barred my own.”

Shining Armor noticed a small scroll floating towards him with the royal seal on it. He nodded and made another respectful bow before retracting. However, Celestia stopped him, “I haven’t finished yet, Shining Armor. This is what you can and will make public. There is one thing that you will not be able to tell anypony else, though, not even your sister, at least, not for now. As the other five already know, I’m bringing back an ancient force long forgotten in Equestrian history. In a hundred years, Shining Armor, You will be my first Knight of Harmony.”

“Sorry, Princess?” he asked puzzled.

“I’ll explain to you later. And I will prefer you to focus on your Royal Guard duties more than your Knight one. I know you’ll be able to manage that, Shining Armor.”

“Yes, my Princess,” he bowed once again and after a short nod from Celestia, returned to his place.

Celestia then addressed them all, “You five has also passed your tests and are now cadets of the Knights of Harmony. As the eldest Amazon of Harmony living and the only one apt to teach you, you’re training under my style. But first, I want to hear your testimony. When your name is called, step forth; say your name, a bit of your history, your fault and mission, and briefly your experience into the labyrinth. Scarlet Boulder.”

She made a quick bow and stepped forth. The red pony looked at Princess Celestia and smiled, “My name is Scarlet Boulder. I had grown into a rock farm, one of the many in Equestria, located at foot of Foal Mountains. Life was hard by my family had a lame, but true, saying that ‘working with a smile makes your day shine’. Thanks to them I learned to always see the bright side of the things and learned the true gift a smile was. My cutie mark is the proof of that, I gained it the day when I made everypony laugh when I broke a red stone and accidentally formed a pony-shape with the debris. I called them all to see and we shared a nice laugh together. Those stones are still in the same place in my family’s farm, protected as a reminder that a good laugh doesn’t choose anypony: it’s the pony that creates the reason for laughing!”

And her happiness was indeed contagious. Everypony else, but for Blaze, shared a large smile in their faces. “My fault, if you’re referring to the Castle incident, was intertwining with other ponies’ works trying to talk. My mission was to work alone to find the center of the labyrinth defeating at least ten enemies groups of two or more. During that mission, though, I learned that some kind of work can’t be done alone and others can’t be done in groups. And that some can be done alone, but are easier to do in groups. I can say I learned a new perspective about team working.”

Celestia smiled at her and nodded, “Thank you, Scarlet Boulder. Golden Breeze.”

The red pony returned to her place and was quickly exchanged by the golden pegasus. She also made a quick respectful bow before starting. “My name is Golden Breeze, born in Las Pegasus where since very young everypony learns to depend on nopony else but themselves and their families. While in the school, I met a teacher which always tried her best to help all her students, was very caring and patient. But was really a jerk outside the school, not even returning my greetings when I met her and more than once groaning something like ‘she follows me out of the school too?’ and the such. I made it a decision of myself to not be like her. Or I would be a total jerk all the time, or I would be kind all the time. My cutie mark symbolizes that I’m always moving out of my way to help others, and I earned it in a special chilly autumn night when I found a colt not much older than myself in the streets across the street. I took a blanket over to him and some food as well, since he seemed to live in the streets. I woke up in the morning with my cutie mark and with one blanket less in my closet, but my heart was happy: I’ve made the right thing,” and not a single pony there dared to say otherwise.

“My fault was being a bit too eager for this test of Princess Celestia and looking for some training with the Royal Guard. My mission was, then, defeating the double amount of enemies while in the labyrinth. There, I partnered with the other five, Lightning Dash not having entered as yet, and we were delivered missions. Me, Ice Sapphire and Shining Armor made a team, cleaning up the most probably straight paths and plenty of the resting spots so others could rest a little. After some time, Shining Armor was put into the open about our missions and helped me fulfill mine. I’ve learned that calm and patience can help a lot more in battle than mere strength, speed and magic alone.”

Celestia again nodded and smiled, “Thank you, Golden Breeze. Ice Sapphire, please.”

The ice blue unicorn took the golden pegasus place. “Well… My name is Ice Sapphire and I’ve born at a city far up north, at edge of the ice lands. The winters were rigorous back there and the city was famous for its unicorn population, which kept most of the cold outside the village. I gained my cutie mark for joining the team working on a winter wrap-up at an early age and for my water/ice magic. Most unicorns are born with a talent and I’ve born with two, so I wanted to use this gift for others. I gave my best to ensure others were safe and warm in their houses as soon as I mastered my ice magic. I don’t mind in harming myself to protect others. My cutie mark is some kind of shield while still associating my abilities with water and ice, sapphire being known as water stones.

“My fault was almost the same as Golden Breeze’s. I tried and advantage by learning combat spells from the library. My mission was then to invent two basic combat spells and defeat four enemies with each. During my mission in the labyrinth, I joined forces with others, mostly Shining Armor and Golden Breeze. I’ve learned that while knowing plenty of spells may be useful, your skills to improvise are at same high demand under emergency situations.”

Celestia nodded and smiled once more. This time, though, she turned her head to look at the next, “Blaze.”

He stood silent for a couple more seconds. “My name’s Blaze. I’m not telling about my past because it doesn’t concern you. About my cutie mark, I’ve stopped a fire where I have lived, that’s all I’m talking about. And--”

“No, Blaze. This time you have to share your experiences. You will understand later,” Celestia stopped him.

The brown earth pony sighed, “Fine. It was the result of the great drought around the San Palomino Desert, about twenty years ago. I was barely seven by the time and all my family was out in a delivery to another town, only me and my older brother stood home when the festival started. We were doing well enough despite the drought and had a reason to celebrate. Some dumb-ass, though, decided to make some kind of lamp made out mostly of paper. As he ignited the lamp, it started flying high in the sky and was a beautiful sight, but suddenly it began to fall hitting a stable. The whole vegetation was dried enough thanks to the drought and we had no water supply large enough for the fire that started without compromising the live of everypony else.

“As the fire grew, I saw more and more ponies running and even a few fighting the fires. Earth ponies can’t count on magic for that though, so they always are putting themselves at risk in such occasions. I saw many ponies dying for the fire, one of them being my brother. Not knowing what to do, I prayed. I closed my eyes and prayed for… somepony to give me ways to save other ponies, to stop their suffering. The raging fire has burnt for so long already that nopony noticed it was already night. When the moon appeared from behind a cloud, I felt this warm feeling inside me and suddenly I knew what I had to do: fight fire with fire. I started a new one to diminish and, eventually extinguish both fires. The whole town was destroyed, that’s for sure, but after my fire barricade was in place, all ponies behind it were safe. That’s what my cutie mark stands for: my hope, my trust and my faith.”

Not a single pony managed to keep a straight face. Nopony wanted to believe that there was such a tragic history behind Blaze. However, he wasn’t finished as yet, “My fault within the castle walls was due to respect issues and my mission was to avoid ten battles as well as defeating ten others. That’s why I was the last to finish,” Ice Sapphire looked at him surprised. She never thought that was his punishment. Didn’t Celestia mind them using their abilities? “Inside the labyrinth, I did as expected, learning the importance of respecting others, even my enemies.”

Celestia nodded, not smiling this time. “Thank you, Blaze. Shining Armor.”

Gotten by surprise, the new Captain of the Royal Guard stepped forward and made a respectful bow. “My name is Shining Armor, born and raised here in Canterlot. My cutie mark was earned at protecting my sister in many occasions, that being what makes me happy the most and the fulfilling promise I made her. About my fault, I was never pointed it so I don’t quite know, but my mission was to ensure that all of you reached the center of the labyrinth. Inside, I learned the value of listening to other ponies and learning with previous mistakes.”

Celestia nodded softly smiling at him, “Thank you, Shining Armor.” Celestia then got up and looked over them all, “You five, my little ponies, had shown your bravery and put yourselves into test, both mine and your own. The five of you grew stronger in adversity and learned valuable lessons to build your characters. And perhaps a bit more importantly, learned a bit more about all of you. You are entering the Knights of Harmony, a group known to sacrifice themselves in order to make the whole Equestria a better place, secure and beautiful. I, Celestia Solaris, Amazon of Harmony under the virtue of Leadership from the Unicorns, declare the five of you my apprentices as Class Three Trainee Knights of Harmony. You shall walk up the ranks step by step and meet me at the very top.”

The five looked at Celestia and bowed at her before Ice Sapphire raised her head, “But and about Lightning Dash?”

Celestia grinned and sat down again, “I haven’t forgotten him. Lightning Dash, step forth and answer my previous questions.”

With a bow longer than the others, Lightning Dash stepped forward and turned hir back to Princess Celestia and facing the other five ponies, much to their surprise.

“My name is Lightning Dash. I was born on Cloudsdale and was the one of the best flyer at Summer Flight Camp, second only to my younger sister Rainbow Dash. I know, it’s silly to say that a pegasus in advanced classes is less talented than one in more basic classes. However, I wasn’t much into flying, as I was into protecting. I entered the Summer Flight Camp to start my training to join the Royal Guard. I was the only one of my class to not have found my cutie mark as yet. At the age of ten years, they tried to put me down by saying I would never have one. But I knew what I wanted and I knew my cutie mark would appear in due time.

“One day, though, I saw these two colts bullying a smaller yellowish filly. I was going to step in and intertwine when my sister did that in my place and challenged them to a race. The race was a very good one to watch until the end. However, when they started diving, I got a knot in my throat. There were a lot that could go wrong for young foals if they couldn’t properly hold their flight at that moment. When my sister refused to reestablish her flight, I crossed right through the cloud floor and dived after her. Flying behind her back so she couldn’t see me, I started telling her what to do, before diving more and showing her when to make what. After a quick show, I stepped aside and let she do the rest for herself. When I returned to the café my friends were, they noticed even before me that I had earned my cutie mark that same day.

“My fault was endangering the life of ponies while flying for some fun and my mission in the labyrinth was to star ten minutes later than the last pony,” he said casting a fake angry glance at Shining Armor, “and being the very first to finish while still defeating ten enemies. What I learned in the labyrinth was that you shouldn’t refrain yourself from doing what you like. I always liked to fly faster as possible and even besides I got punished by it, I still did that in the labyrinth. But what I was taught is that we have the potential to do a lot more than we are expected to.

“Princess Celestia wasn’t trying to teach us those lame subjects. She was trying to teach us what to do in order to learn the true meaning of our cutie marks. Mine doesn’t mean speed as I always thought. It means my wish to protect, my determination to sacrifice myself for others and my loyalty to my ideals. I am Lightning Dash, after all, and that is what I want to do: protect ponies which can’t protect themselves.”

Everypony but for Lightning Dash was looking straight at Celestia, which grinned and touched Lightning Dash’s shoulder with a hoof. “Well said, my little pony. Now turn to me,” Lightning Dash said as he was told and looked at Princess Celestia in the eye. “You, my little pony, showed me your bravery, your will and your heart. And besides everything else, you had showed me your wish to protect.” Raising a little her gaze, she addressed all ponies in the room, “Inside the labyrinth, Rainbow Dash’s last fight was against me. And I know you thinking I had beaten him unconscious, but the truth is far from that. He came to me ready to fight for his dreams and he fought with everything he got. Towards the end of the battle, he noticed my attack at him and, instead of avoiding or blocking something he wasn’t sure was a real attack or bait, he summoned other ways to defend himself.” She then whispered to Lightning Dash, “Show them.”

The yellow pegasus turned at the ponies once again, closed his eyes and once more felt his mana flux into his body. Differently from during Celestia’s fight, though, he could feel it easier and clearer now. On the next second, Lightning Dash covered his body in that mana, once again creating lighting plates of a cyan-colored metal with magenta markings, like his cutie mark in his chest.

After everypony got the astonishment from their faces, Celestia explained, “This is not the spell I pretend you to master, but the one that originate it. This is called Divine Armor spell, a spell that reflects your will to protect and draws power straight from your heart for that. This is a rather simple spell which any tribe can perform; basically you have to focus your mana inside your body to slowly leaves and create a magic blanket over it. However, it’s hard to master since you must understand the true meaning of your wishes and desires.

“And it’s for this particular knowledge that Lightning Dash is assigned as the leader of your little group and a Class Two Trainee Knight of Harmony, one step above yours into the ladder to Knighthood.”

The reaction of the group was quite mixed. Shining Armor was quite puzzled how he, actually Captain of the Royal Guard, was such a low member on this group; Scarlet Boulder was quite happy and already planning what to do to celebrate her friend’s ascension; Golden Breeze had a shy smile as she gazed upon Lightning Dash armored form; Ice Sapphire had a approving smile in her face and gave him a soft nod; and Blaze glared daggers at him, almost refusing to receive orders of such a pony. However, those were the Princess’s orders, right? Then he would follow them.

Author's Note

Chapter 05 is now available! A little about the past of some other characters other than Lightning Dash and a bit of rivalry added to the mix. Man... It's only because I'm the author and know a few things about to come or are the tension between Lightning Dash and Blaze building up? Talking about Blaze, would you like to hear more of his voice? He's a stallion of few words, after all (at least not as much as Big Mac)...

We’re all Knights of Harmony, we all had about the same age, we know basically the same things, but why does that one got his armor first? Am I not that good? No… I decided for this for something bigger than myself. I’m not giving up, and I'll be the very best! The next chapter of Knights of Harmony is: Flames Of Truth"