Twilight's Knight

Twilight began to flip the strange book around with her magic, seeing every worn end of the black object until she deduced that it was yet another ordinary book. She reached her arm out and held it in her own hands for the first time, and felt something odd about it. It felt as if it were trying to speak to her. As if it were trying to throw out some great power.

The door behind her opened up to reveal a purple Dragon, walking in with a mass of luggage.

"Hey, Twi, I'm real happy about the new palace, but are you sure we don't need a staff or at least one butler, because there are a LOT of stairs here." he sighed out, trying to keep the massive bags of clothes with him.

She turned to the small Dragon, and examined his form. His purple scales were practically flowing with rivers of sweat, making him look like a living source of water. While he stood only a foot and a half shorter than her, Twilight knew how much strength he possessed, and that the mass of clothes and other assorted objects were well near his limits. She smiled at him before levitating the book out near him.

"Spike, do you know anything about this book? Like, if we had one like this before Golden Oaks was burned down?"

Spike looked carefully at the book and thought intently as he stared into its massive symbol.

"No, I'm pretty sure we didn't have anything on Dragons. Why? Where did you find it?"

Twilight levitated it back in front of her and ran her hand across the iron plated Dragon on the cover.

"It just came here, in a kind of flash. Like somepony wanted me to read it."

Spike hefted the bags once more and made his way to the stairs.

"Well... maybe you... should read... it. I mean... somepony... put the effort in... to send it... to you. Maybe you can... learn about who... did it and why... when you finish." he strained, carrying the baggage up the massive stairs.

She scratched her chin in thought and snapped her fingers.

"Great idea! Maybe it's like some kind of riddle book, or maybe it even has a mystery that the girls and I can solve together!"

Spike closed the door to his room as he fell towards the floor, causing it to slam, sending an echo through the massive area, followed by the sounds of multiple objects crashing. Twilight smirked when she heard Spike's "I'm okay" call from the other side. She grabbed the book with both her hands and stared at the cover for a few seconds. Then, she grabbed the side and opened it a bit...

... Before it flew out of her reach and fully opened itself on the center of the floor in front of her.

\\\//////

Celestia was awoken from her slumber by the rapid pounding on her door, marched by the panicked tone that came from the guard outside. She threw her sheets aside and walked towards the door. When she opened it with her magic, there were two Solar guards waiting for her, accompanied by a group of grey cloaked Ponies, with beards that matched. When she looked to the one in the center, she felt a great deal of magic emanating from their very beings, almost enough to rival Cadance or Shining Armor, which seemed ridiculous, as some of them were Earth Ponies and Pegasi.

"Princess," one of them started, "we need to speak with you."

"And just who are you, my little ponies?" She asked with a curious smile.

"We are the Greybeards, and we have come to discuss the damage done by the one known as Lord Tirek."

"I can assure you that he will no longer be a problem. Tirek is bound in Tartarus and won't be able to escape again."

"Tirek himself is of little concern to us. It is what he has awakened that threatens this land."

Celestia's smile dropped as she let her arms cross.

"What do you mean?"

"Tell us, how familiar are you with the tales of the Ancient Nords?"

\\\//////

As the party died down, the Elements of Harmony opted to sleep in town to rest earlier as opposed to trying to get to their respective homes. When the town finally settled down, they all decided to pay Twilight one last visit at her new residence and congratulate her on the new kingdom.

When the new Castle was in view, they began to talk amongst themselves.

"I still cannot believe that Twilight's got her own castle now! Isn't that super-amazingly-terrific!?" shouted Pinkie, her energy refusing to be bound by any physical means of general tiredness.

"Please, Pinkie, try not to get yourself so worked up when it's so late." said Rarity. "I mean, yes it is terrific for Twilight to get her own Kingdom, but I doubt that shouting about it at 12:30 at night would be good for anypony."

"Yeah, seriously, Pinks." Rainbow Dash agreed. "I'm real happy for Twi, but it's way too late to do any kind of cheering, especially when half the town's trying to rest after all that we just went through."

Their conversation was interrupted when a massive light began to flood the Palace's higher windows, as a massively loud chanting began to explode through the town as well. Massive storm clouds began to violently rumble around the top of the main tower, engulfing the structure with flashes of light that were concealed by a seemingly dark force. The mares all looked at each other and then bolted towards the castle, determined to find out what the sudden burst in power was, or if it was hurting their friend in any way.

\\\//////

"What is that?" was all Twilight could think of as she heard a type of drum beat from the light in the room, which was once a book.

Chanting began to thunder out into the building as the instruments began to pick up their own volume, until the first lines of dialogue boomed through the air.

DOVAHKIIN, DOVAHKIIN, NAAL OK ZIN LOS VAHRIIN,

WAH DEIN VOKUL MAHFAERAAK AHST VAAL!

AHRK FIN NOROK PAAL GRAAN FOD NUST HON ZINDRO ZAAN,

DOVAHKIIN, FAH HIN KOGAAN MU DRAAL!

As these words of old began to shout out towards the heavens and towards all of Ponyville, Twilight could not help but feel the massive power stemming from each word that passed. She even thought that with each word, she muttered a corresponding word in Equestrian, as if she were naturally translating it.

'Dragonborn, Dragonborn, by his honor is sworn,

To keep Evil, forever at bay!

And the fiercest foes rout, when they hear triumph's shout!

Dragonborn, for your blessing we pray!

Spike came barging out of his room the instant the horns began to blow even louder than before.

"TWILIGHT!" he shouted, "WHAT'S GOING ON!?"

As if on cue, the voices began to boom throughout the entire castle, shaking every inch around them with might.

HUZRAH NU, KUL DO OD, WAH AAN BOK LINGRAH VOD,

ARK FIN TEY, BOZIIK FUN, DO FIN GEIN!

The shouting began to quiet down, yet the power in the words still echoed throughout the room, illuminating statues that Twilight previously didn't see mounted on the walls. The light began to fix itself on a statue of some kind of fur-less Earth Pony, with a scruffy mane and no tail, with some kind of armor that seemed to be plates of solid bone. When her gaze fixed on the statue, her mind echoed the "translation" that had been imprinted on her.

Hearken now, sons of snow, to an age, long ago,

And the tale, boldly told, of the one!

As she was thinking, the voices from the book began to chant again in their lost tongue.

WO LOST FRON WAH NEY DOV, AHRK FIN RELIIK DO JUL,

VOTH AAN SULEYK WAH RONIT FRAAL KREIN!

Twilight gasped at this part, not because of the dramatic shift in tone from the voices, but because of what she heard them say in her mind.

'Who was kin to both wyrm, and the races of man,

With a power to rival the Sun!'

She now knew that whoever this was that was being sung about was boasted to be more powerful than even Celestia. And by what she had heard from the voices, she wasn't sure if she should be scared or absolutely terrified about what seems to be coming.

AHRK FIN KEL LOST PRODAH, DO VED VIING KO FIN KRAH,

TOL FOD ZEYMAH WIN KEIN MEYZ FUNDEIN!

Twilight's mind went racing as the words began to mutate in her head.

'And the Scrolls have foretold, of black wings in the cold,

That when brothers wage war come unfurled!

The light from the book began to manifest a massive cloud with reptilian wings and a Dragon that seemed to radiate the very concentration of evil itself, as it opened its mouth towards a small sphere that looked too much like the Sun.

ALDUIN, FEYN DO JUN, KRUZIIK VOKUN STAADNAU,

VOTH AAN BAHLOK WAH DIIVON FUN LEIN!

The shadow began to open its jaw and moved to devour the small world as the words ran across her mind yet again.

'Alduin, Bane of Kings, ancient shadow unbound,

With a hunger to swallow the world!'

As the Dragon-shadow began to engulf the small planet, a sword cut through the mist of the Dragon's mouth and stood between it and its meal. The Dragon gave a mighty roar as the warrior raised his weapon. Twilight focused on the figure and gasped at a realization. The figure matched the statue that was mounted on the wall. But, when she looked to compare, she saw that the statue was no longer there. She then realized that the figure was the statue. The book had just awoken an ancient warrior of some kind bounded to the Castle. Before she could speculate any further, the voices boomed yet again.

NUZ AAN SUL, FENT ALOK, FOD FIN VUL, DOVAH NOK,

FEN KOS NAHLOT MAHFAERAAK AHRK RUZ!

PAAZ KEIZAAL FEN KOS STIN NOL BEIN ALDUIN JOT!

As the lines progressed, the Dragon expanded to the point where she was convinced that all of Ponyville might be able to see it's terror. But, after it grew, the warrior slashed down on it, and the Dragon began to erupt into a brilliant light that began to spiral its way around the figure of the warrior in bone armor. It turned in the air until the glowing figure's face was pointed towards Twilight, and began to levitate down towards the now radiating symbol of her Cutie Mark on the floor, as more words were translated in her mind.

'But a day, shall arise, when the dark dragon's lies,

Will be silenced forever and then!

Fair Skyrim will be free from foul Alduin's maw!'

As the next lines began, Twilight found herself lost in a sea of images. The figure began to swirl the energy from the dissolving Dragon into its own body as it floated towards the ground, and began to shoot some of its energy into her. Twilight felt a massive burning in her heart and soul as the energy seemed to mold into her own flesh and blood. She even felt as though it was engulfing her voice in flames as power began to surge through her.

DOVAHKIIN, DOVAHKIIN, NAAL OK ZIN LOS VAHRIIN,

Twilight's vision flashed with the figure fighting off a similarly dark dragon, except holding a shield that seemed to be glowing with purple energy that came from a carving that resembled her Cutie Mark.

'Dragonborn, Dragonborn, by his honor is sworn,'

The vision switched to a large field filled with hundreds of figures in black, demonic armor, all lined up against the lone warrior in bone armor, who raised a massive sword against the line of unknown soldiers.

WAH DEIN VOKUL MAHFAERAAK AHST VAAL!

'To keep evil forever at bay!

The warrior seemed to shout something so fierce that the ground and sky exploded with might as the army of demons turned and fled before blinking out of existence.

AHRK FIN NOROK PAAL GRAAN FOD NUST HON ZINDRO ZAAN,

'And the fiercest foes rout when they hear triumph's shout,'

The figure turned to show its pale face to Twilight. She found herself mesmerized by it, captivated even. Clearly male now, and had no fur on his face, save for a small shadow of it on his chin. His mane was a chocolatey brown that curled out wildly in all directions, as if he were subject to many bad helmet days. He had three scars under his left eye, and had a rough and rugged exterior. However, she felt warm and safe by looking into his equally brown eyes. His smile brought about what felt like the final verse as she felt the energy flow through her for one more pass, before retracting the vision, showing the warrior hovering above the ground slightly.

DOVAHKIIN, FAH HIN KOGAAN MU DRAAL!

'Dragonborn, for your blessing we pray!'

After the final verse, the warrior fell to the floor as the lights all began to constrict into lines that flowed into his now glowing body. A steel sword arced at a slight angle was now wielded in his right hand as a soft hum was emanating from his left hand. The voices became far more angelic as the final words were whispered so softly that she couldn't even hear them anymore.

Eventually, the light and sound began to die down as the storm raging outside became apparent by breaking down the previously closed windows. When they swung open, so did the door to the living quarters. Twilight turned to see all of her friends burst through and stare at the bone warrior. A bolt of lightning came through and scorched off some of the books from the shelves as it bounched towards the warrior's sword and arced all over him. He shot up from his kneeling position as his features burst to life in a brilliant light. He landed on the crystal floor with a loud thud and rose to a standing position, his sword crackling with electricity as he swirled in in his grip. He walked over to the window, making a loud clanging of metal and bone on crystal, and stopped halfway, staring out into the storm. The warrior reared his head back as he breathed deeply, causing a field of magic to concentrate by will alone.

"LOK, VAH KOOR!" his voice thundered out into the blackness.

As the might of his shout reached the clouds, the darkness began to withdraw itself, along with the wind, lightning, and even rain, until nothing remained in the sky but the stars themselves. The might of his shout spread across the small town, almost waking everypony in their homes, but was kind enough to not bother to wake them. As it's sound reached its limit, the Dragons near the town in the forests and mountains became ever more so fearful of what lies within the town. Even from the depths of Tartarus, and all the way to Canterlot, all those wicked had a new fear rise from the dead once more to vanquish them.

The mighty bone-clad warrior turned from his spot by the window and examined the young alicorn at a distance, her friends paralyzed with a mix of fear and awe of his power. He walked over to Twilight and only stopped once he was standing merely three feet from her. There he stood, nearly two feet taller than her, outmatching even Celestia with his scale. He gripped the sword in his right hand once more, pointing the blade in an under-hand position, while the power from his left subdued. The warrior looked down to Twilight and spoke with a voice that flowed with a demand for respect, yet a yearning for righteousness.

"Are you Princess Twilight Sparkle?"

Twilight almost completely forgot the fact that she was in the same room as this behemoth of sheer power, and thus took a second to recollect herself.

"Uh, um... oh, uh, yes, that's me... and... you are?"

He raised the sword high above him and thrust downwards, embedding the blade into the ground at his feet. He moved his left leg back and went onto the same knee, while moving his left arm over his chest to signify a Warrior's Bow. When his new stance was complete, he was at nearly two-thirds of his height, and bowed his head down as he spoke.

"I thank you for bringing me back to the realm of the living once more. And as promised by the summoning, I am sworn by my honor to uphold your commands until the moment my breath ceases. I am known as Dovahkiin, the Dragonborn. But, you may refer to me as Aron. For now, I am your guardian."