"Please follow me Artorias." Princess Luna said with a mischievous smile.

Artorias nodded and followed her with Twilight and her friends in tow. The walk was silent, until they arrived at a large field with a platoon of royal guards training and sparring with each other using training spears and swords. Among them, were Captain Shatterstorm and his squad.

'Oh I get it, this is their training grounds.' he thought.

When the royal guards saw them, they immediately stopped their activities and bowed politely.

"At ease." Princess Luna said. The guards rose, formed and orderly line, and Captain Shatterstorm stepped forward.

"We are honored by your presence your majesty, is there anything we can do for you?" he said politely.

Then, she spoke in a hushed tone "Captain, I am declaring that all exercises today are canceled. Because Sir Artorias is going to do some demonstrations." she said.

Before addressing Princess Luna's orders to his men, the captain whispered something into her ears this received a nod from her.

Then he turned to his men, "This is your captain speaking, as ordered from Princess Luna herself today's training session has been canceled. Now pack your training weapons, get yourselves some water, and regroup on me!" his men (including his squad) saluted and do what they are told. Moments later, they are back with their weapons slung on their backs and formed four parallel lines, then he turned to Princess Luna.

"Your majesty, may me and my squad have a word with Sir Artorias for a moment?" he asked politely.

"Of course you may captain." she said with a smile.

"Thank you your majesty." he said with a firm salute. Then, he motioned for his squad to follow him and walked towards Artorias.

'Time for a word or two I guess.' Artorias thought to himself.

Once they got to him, they saluted firmly. Artorias bowed to them with a smile "Ah Captain Shatterstorm, I see you brought your squad with you. Anything I can help you with?"

"Sir Artorias we are very sorry about our last encounter. We behaved harshly. Please forgive us." he said while lowering his head.

Artorias smiled and put a hand on his shoulder "No captain, I perfectly understand. You, all of you were just doing your duties as the royal guards of Equestria." he said while looking to the captain and his squad who gave him smiles in return.

Without another word, he turned to his squad and a large unicorn stallion with white coat and black mane handed him a training spear with his telekinetic grip. Then, he held out the spear handle-side first and nodded towards Artorias.

"What is this?" Artorias asked, glancing between the weapon and the captain's face "I thought you canceled today's training session."

"As I'd ruin the hero of his fun. " Shatterstorm smiled mischievously and nudged the spear a little closer to him "Go on, take it. You look bored. So what do you say Artorias? would you like to spar with us? besides, if you spar with us that counts as demonstration for your combat techniques."

Artorias reached out for the spear, grabbed it, and gave a few practice swings.

Artorias is a perfect combatant, beside his skills in unarmed combat he is an expert in archery, and weapons combat. He is most skilled when fighting using his greatsword but crash courses with Dragonslayer Ornstein granted him skills in spear combat.

He turned to Princess Luna and the main six who smiled and nodded while mouthing 'good luck.'

He stripped his greatsword and satchel. After stretching a bit, he walked towards the center of the field with spear on his left hand.

Once he reached the center, he bowed two times. First to Princess Luna and the main six, and the second to the royal guards.

"Good afternoon mares and gentlecolts!" he said while remembering the line Princess Celestia used. "In case you don't know me yet, my name is Sir Artorias the Abysswalker. But please, call me Artorias or Sir Artorias whichever do you feel like calling." he said with a smile, this received smiles and nods of approval from the guards. Even between their smiles and nods, Artorias could feel curious eyes roaming between every inch of his body.

'They are really curious aren't they?'

"Today, I am going to demonstrate various combat techniques and magic capabilities." when he said the 'magic' part all eyes widened in awe and curiosity, especially from the unicorn guards. "But, as you may have or may have not heard; in order to demonstrate my combat techniques, Captain Shatterstorm has arranged me to spar with you" he said while twirling his spear "So, any volunteers?"

In an instant, hooves rose to the air.

'I didn't expect their enthusiasm to be THIS epic.' he thought while trying to pick his choice.

******

"Okay, you five." Artorias said while pointing to three unicorns and two pegasus guards and two unicorn guards who held their hooves up. He recognized them to be members of Captain Shatterstorm's squad. Immediately they trotted over to him, formed a parallel line, and snapped a quick salute.

"It's nice to see you mares and gentlecolts, but first before we get to the match; may I know your names?" Artorias greeted them.

"I am Corporal Hurricane, nice to meet you sir." a stallion pegasus guard with a grey coat and spiky-silver mane spoke up. He has a hurricane marking on his rear.

"Nice to meet you too Corporal." he said while they shake each other's hand and hoof.

"I am Lieutenant Swift Wind, nice to meet you sir." a mare pegasus guard with an ivory coat and blonde mane spoke up. She has three stripes resembling a flowing wind on her rear.

"Nice to meet you too Lieutenant." he said while doing the same thing with the corporal before.

"I am Sergeant Rose Breeze, it's an honor sir." an elegant (yes, elegant) mare unicorn guard with a crimson coat and brown mane spoke up while bowing politely. She has a spiky red rose marking on her rear.

Artorias smiled and bowed back "The honor is mine Sergeant."

"I am Master Sergeant Iron Sword, nice to meet you sir" a large stallion unicorn with a white coat and black mane from before spoke up, and extended his hoof. He has a mark that resembled an iron sword on his rear.

"Nice to meet you too Master Sergeant." he took his hoof and shook it firmly.

"I am Corporal Light Lasher, it's a pleasure to meet you sir." a stallion unicorn with an electric yellow coat and fiery orange mane spoke up. He has a light streak marking on his rear.

"It's a pleasure to meet you too Corporal." he said while they shake each other's hand and hoof.

After the introductions are done, Captain Shatterstorm stepped forward.

"Alright. Now that introductions are done with; shall we get straight to the match?" he said. They nodded.

"Okay.The rules are simple; first to land a clean hit to the chest or head wins a point. Best of three takes the match. First to incapacitate his/her opponent wins, and oh... keep in mind that thrusts to the face are illegal. There are precautions in place, both in the weapons and our gear, but still—we try our best to avoid gouging out each other’s eyes." he smirked at this.

"Sir, I'd like to go first." Corporal Hurricane said.

Captain Shatterstorm nodded and the corporal entered the arena.

Then they get themselves ready, Artorias readied his spear and combat stance. four of the volunteers retreated to give Artorias and the corporal some space. Artorias could feel adrenaline rushing through his veins, as he noticed the corporal's muscles tensed up and ready to spring into action.

"Ready..."

"Set..."

"GO!"

Corporal Hurricane shot at Artorias at a speed that would make Rainbow Dash jealous (in fact, she already is) with his spear pointed at him . As he sped towards Artorias, all eyes fell on him.

Artorias widened his stance, and readied his spear...but he was not going to use it, not yet.

Then, a loud thud echoed in the field.

******

All of the ponies gasped when they saw what happened. Princess Luna's eyes widened, Fluttershy fainted right on her spot, while the rest of the main six stared with their mouths agape.

On the other hand, the guards cheered.

"Gosh, is he going to be alright?" Rainbow Dash asked with concern in her voice.

"Ah don't know sugarcube, ah sure hope he ain't breakin' his ribs." Applejack replied.

Artorias laid motionless on the field with his back against the ground, the corporal managed to thrust his spear to his chest. Sure, those were just training spears...but at trained hands, or in this case hooves; a training spear could smash a coconut into pieces instead of skewering it.

"One point: Hurricane." the captain announced.

'So that how it feels like.' he thought, then he got to his feet.

'Maybe I should have wear my armor.' he thought, while rubbing his chest a bit. Seeing this, Shatterstorm spoke up.

"Corporal Hurricane, maybe you should ease--."

"No! no holding back!" Artorias cut them off.

The corporal glanced at his commanding officer, who only gave a slow nod. Immediately, he turned his focus towards Artorias and widened his stance. With that, he shot up towards Artorias even faster than before.

Although he was in a different world, the familiar rush of battle was all too familiar for him. The fiery eyes from his opponent, the weight shifting from his feet and weapon, was all normal.

'With all you've got corporal...with all you've got.'

Again, he readied his spear and widened his stance into a crouching position. But there was something different this time. Just before the tip of the corporal's spear managed to made contact with his leather tunic, Artorias side stepped and thrust his spear to the corporal's head. His steel helmet absorbed most of the blow, but the momentum from the attack was far greater than anticipated.

The pegasus corporal was incapacitated.

Captain Shatterstorm's squad was one of the best in Canterlot; and Corporal Hurricane was one of Canterlot's fastest spear. But even for an elite, attacking using the same strategy was a big mistake.

"Winner of the round: Sir Artorias!" the captain announced.

In an instant, the stomps of hooves and cheers could be heard emanating from the background. From the field side, the guards stomped their hooves repeatedly on the ground and cheered for him. On the audience's seat, the main six (excluding Fluttershy who was still unconscious) and Princess Luna cheered for him.

Then, he walked towards the incapacitated Corporal Storm an offered his hand. The corporal took his hand, and after getting on his hooves the duo shared a friendly shake which made the crowd cheered even louder.

"Good match Artorias, no wonder they call you a knight." the corporal said.

"Good match corporal, lightning fast moves back there." he replied.

Then, Corporal Hurricane rejoined his comrades.

One by one, the chosen five volunteers went up against Artorias. Artorias used the same strategy, sacrifice one point so he could feel his opponent's strength and gauge his strength against them so nopony and nobody got hurt severely on the spar. Even the mare guards told him not to restrain himself just because they are females; Artorias understood this, because no matter what gender a warrior is he or she must be treated equally or else he'd be disrespectful towards them. And as a knight, it is very important to respect others.

After their spar, Artorias and the guards catch a quick break before his next demonstration. During the break, he and the guards are joined by the main six (with Fluttershy who just regained her consciousness) and Princess Luna who made a circle in front of him.And once again, Princess Luna sat beside him.

After a while, Artorias stood up and walked towards the audience seat to retrieve his greatsword and satchel before returning to the group.

"Now that everybody's had their breaks, I am going to move to my next demonstration." he announced.

He put his greatsword on the ground, and took his talisman and staff from the satchel.

"What is that?" Corporal Light Lasher asked "I mean, I know that is a staff but what does it do? and what is that lump of cloth?"

"This is a talisman." he said while lifting his talisman into the air so the guards could get a good view on it "This is used to cast miracles; a type of magic mainly consisted of defensive and healing spells but also some offensive spells." the guards nodded "And the staff is used to cast sorcery. Mostly consisted of offensive and buff spells but also some defensive spells." the guards nodded again. The unicorn guards are quite surprised, since they are the only pony species (except for the princesses) capable of harnessing magic.

Before anything else could be asked, Captain Shatterstorm stepped forward.

" Sir Artorias, for your magic demonstration, is it okay if my squad are given exercise for their magics?"

Artorias rose his eyebrows "What do you mean captain?"

"Use your offensive spells at us." he replied.

"Are you sure captain? My offensive spells are deadly, if they are not prepared they could be seriously injured or even killed by my spell. Unless, they could create a magic barrier powerful enough to withstand my spells."

"That will be no problem sir." Master Sergeant Iron Sword stepped forward, followed by Sergeant Rose Breeze and Corporal Light Lasher.

"We are adept at using magic barriers." he said confidently.

Artorias nodded "Very well, but the ultimate decision is not mine to make." he said while glancing at Princess Luna.

"Princess? it's your call." he said.

Princess Luna thought about this for a moment and nodded.

"Thank you Princess Luna." The Captain and his squad bowed politely.

"So, are we going to do this or what?" Artorias said "Put your shields up."

Suddenly their horns sparked to life and in an instant a large magic barrier with three different colors (magenta, orange, and blue) enveloped the trio.

Artorias took his staff out, and suddenly the tip of the staff glowed blue and a small blue magic projectile flew towards them and impacted the magic barrier.

It barely effected the barrier. Even the main six and Princess Luna raised their eyebrows in confusion.

"Was that it?" Light Lasher asked.

"I was just testing your shields,now prepare yourselves." he said while raising his staff to the air. "By the way, that was the Soul Arrow spell." he said again while glancing to the audiences.

Once again the staff glowed a blue color but this time instead of a weak magic projectile, Artorias launched a spear-like blue magic projectile at the speed and force equal to a speeding bullet train. It impacted their shields, and the guards recoiled heavily.

"That was the Soul Spear spell." he said while glancing to the audiences, receiving nods of acknowledgement. "It is developed by a sorcerer of a land called Vinheim; his name is Logan I think. Some said he lived for centuries, but the flow of time in my world is distorted so, eh; we never really know." he informed them.

"Now, I am going to demonstrate some healing miracles. Lower your shields." Artorias said. The three do as they are told.

"Captain Shatterstorm, could you come over here please?" he asked.

Immediately, the captain galloped to his side. "What do you want me to do?"

"I want you to kick my leg as hard as you can." Artorias said nonchalantly.

"Are you sure? I am way stronger than I look, maybe you have to amputate your leg if I do it." the captain asked.

'Stronger than he looks? I am sure don't want to make him buck me on purpose' he thought while eyeing the captain's muscular body.

"Trust me, I know what I am doing."

"Alright, but don't say I didn't warn you."

With that Shatterstorm reared up, and kicked Artorias' leg as hard as he could. With that, a sickening crunch echoed throughout the field. Princess Luna covered her mouth with a hoof, Fluttershy fainted again, and the rest of the main six looked at the scene with a hint of disgust.

"I think I am going to hurl." Twilight said while covering her mouth with her hooves.

"Oh the horror!" Rarity exclaimed dramatically.

With his other leg crippled, Artorias knelt on one knee and clutched his talisman close to his chest; muttering something to it. With that, a bright aura enveloped him and runes started to circle the wounded area on his leg.

And in the next instant, his broken foot was healed and he stood back up casually.

"B-but HOW?!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed.

Artorias smirked "That, was the Soothing Sunlightmiracle." he paused "Actually, besides of healing myself it can also heal nearby allies in the vicinity of the caster." he said, earning nods from everypony.

"Now, I am going to demonstrate some defensive miracles."he paused "I need you three to charge at me, full speed."

The trio nodded to each other. And retreated to a distance, and once they are far enough; they sprinted towards Artorias at full speed.

Artorias stood his ground, his talisman at the ready. When they were mere inches away from him, Artorias quickly spread his hand to either side of his body with palms open and emitted a harmless shockwave; knocking the trio to the ground.

"Ugh, what the hay was that?" Rose Breeze said, still dazed by the knock down.

"That, my friend was the Force miracle." he said "There are actually three types of this miracle: Force, Emit Force, and finally the Wrath of the Gods. And these types of miracle, deflects arrows and sorcery."

Pinkie Pie shot up "Oh-oh-oh! Is that the same magic thingy you can use when you have at least level 28 faith and get for 10.000 souls from Reah of Thorolund?" she sealed her sentence with that signature smile of hers.

"What?" Artorias said with a dumbfounded expression "Who is--?"

"She is just being Pinkie Pie." her friends replied.

"Wrath of the Gods? that sounds AWESOME!" Rainbow exclaimed in high-pitched voice.

Artorias smirked at this "Indeed, but it can kill almost every living creatures instantly." all eyes fell on him "Er, which is why I am not going to demonstrate it here." he said with a sheepish smile.

The ponies sighed in relief.

"Now, I need you three to fire your magics at me. I am going to demonstrate another defensive miracle." the trio nodded and aimed their horns towards Artorias, focused their magics at high power levels, and fired. Seeing this, he immediately activated his talisman; resulting in a powerful magic barriercovering his entire body. As the magic bolts impacted on the magic barrier, they barely made any effect with the barrier much less Artorias himself.

"Amazing, at that level their magic bolts should be more than enough to incapacitate a manticore." Princess Luna said.

"But they barely even scratch the barrier." Twilight said to nopony in particular.

After the barrier faded, he continued "Alright, now I am going to demonstrate some offensive miracles." As the three prepared to raise their shields again, they were stopped when Artorias raised his arm. "But first, I am going to show you something." he smiled mischievously.

"Rainbow Dash, could you come here for a second?" he asked

Immediately Rainbow flew to Artorias' side "What's up?"

"You said you are the fastest flyer in Equestria right?"

"Of course I am!" she exclaimed proudly "What about it?"

"Lets see how fast you can go now." as he said this, he activated his talisman and a circular patterned runes appeared on her body. Suddenly her wing flaps became very slow and heavy, noticing this she panicked.

"W-w-w-w-what d-did you do t-to m-me?" she stuttered. As she said this, snickers could be heard from the audience seat; Applejack.

"That my friend, is known as the Tranquil Walk of Peace ." he chuckled.
"A very powerful tool against opponents that rely on speed." he smirked "No offense."

"None taken." she said with an annoyed expression. Then the runes disappeared, and her speed was back to normal; she flew back to her seat beside Applejack.

"Ya should'a seen yer face." Applejack said while stifling a giggle.

Rainbow glared at her; and she stopped giggling.

Artorias shook his head in amusement,"Alright, offensive miracles. For real this time, put your shields back up you three." the three do as they are told.

He put his hands in front of his chest, and suddenly a large white energy sphere materialized on his hands. He pushed the energy sphere now turned as a projectile; traveling at lightning speed. It impacted the guards' shields and within; the guards recoiled heavily.

"That was the Emit Force miracle; the same spell I used to blast through the gates of the wedding hall." he said nonchalantly.

"I guess that explains that." Iron Sword said. Still a bit winded from the impact.

"Okay, now I am going to demonstrate one more offensive miracle. Now, ready up and muster more power to your shields." he said. The three of them charge their shields with more power and soon their auras grew brighter and stronger.

Artorias lifted his talisman high into the air and suddenly a large-fiery lightning bolt materialized in his hand. Astonishing everypony once again.

He retracted his hand, and threw the lightning bolt.

As the bolt zipped through the air at (literally) lightning speed, thundering noise and the crackling of electricity could be heard throughout the castle grounds.

It impacted the guards' magic barriers, shattering it instantly and moderately electrocuting them.

"What the buck was that?!" Light Lasher exclaimed as they recovered.

"That, was the Sunlight Spear miracle. Very effective against dragons and magic." he paused "That's why it shattered your shields instantly."

"Very impressive Artorias." a soft-motherly voice cooed behind him. He turned around and saw Princess Celestia standing behind him, smiling.

"Hello Princess Celestia." he said while bowing politely; the guards followed him suit.

"I see you and my guards are getting along just fine."

Artorias smiled "Have you come to watch princess?"

Princess Celestia nodded, and took her seat beside Princess Luna. "Please, continue." she said.

"Alright, for my last demonstration of the day I am going to demonstrate perhaps the most powerful and dangerous of all magics." he paused "Dark magic" he said with a dark tone. "This time, I don't think the three of you will suf--."

"I would like to join." Princess Celestia cut him off "It's been awhile since I used my magic for combat." with that she walked towards the three of her guards.

"I would like to join as well sister," Princess Luna said as she joined her sister and the guards.

"May I?" Twilight asked with a big smile, only to be declined by Princess Celestia.

She deflated, but returned to her seat nevertheless.

Artorias sighed "Now, I need you to put as much power as you can muster and create a magic barrier stronger than before." They nodded, and in a matter of seconds, their horns sparked to life and conjured a supercharged magic barrier that would make Shining Armor proud.

"Okay Artorias, fire when ready." Princess Celestia said.

Artorias nodded, once again he raised his staff in the air. But instead of emitting a vibrant blue glow; the gnarled staff glowed a sickly black color and conjured five floating ghostly entities with white eyes.

Princess Luna's eyes widened as she saw the floating entities; reminding her of the entities she saw at Artorias' dream.

Artorias took his silver pendant and activated it. At a terrifying speed and force, the entities impacted the supercharged barrier; but even when both princesses are present, the barrier shattered with little to no resistance, hurled the guards with the princesses trampling a few steps back.

Artorias dropped to one knee; exhaustion began to take its toll on his body after casting magic rapidly. Fluttershy, who just regained her consciousness rushed to his aid followed swiftly by her friends.

"Artorias, are you okay?" she asked with concern present in her voice.

Artorias patted her head "I am okay Fluttershy, I am just exhausted that's all." he smiled.

"Are you sure darling?" Rarity asked.

"Yes I am sure." he smiled

Then, he saw Princess Celestia and Princess Luna walking towards him; by Sergeant Rose Breeze, Master Sergeant Iron Sword, and Corporal Light Lasher.

They look exhausted as well.

"Tell me Artorias, what makes your spell so powerful?" Princess Luna asked " surely there's a reason it was able to break our shields like it was made of leaves and twigs." she added.

He looked at the group "Excellent question" he smirked "But tell me, what kind of attacks your shields most effective at blocking?"

The guards and the princesses gave him a 'what are you getting at' stare but nevertheless answered his question "We made it specifically to defend against magic attacks." Princess Luna said.

"And THAT'S the trigger." he said while getting up.

"What do you mean?" Twilight asked.

"You see, dark magics are capable to deal two types of damage. In other words, beside of dealing immense magic damage it also deals a bone-crushing physical damage as well. Making it very effective at taking down shields and making targets stagger."

"That's amazing..." Twilight said while writing on a piece of paper with her quill.

"Artorias" Princess Celestia cooed.

"Yes princess?"

"Since Twilight and her friends are returning to Ponyville shortly, I am thinking of sending you there with them." as she said this, Princess Luna deflated a bit, while on the other hand Twilight and her friends done a huge grin on their face. "Because it will be a perfect opportunity to introduce you with my subjects there and give you more lands to explore." she said with a smile. "That is, if you accept of course."

"Of course princess, I'd love to.But first, I have to retrieve my armor." he said politely

"Very well Artorias, but do it quickly because the train is leaving soon."

"A what?" he asked with a bewildered look on his face.

Twilight's ears perked up at this "So, A train is basically a land transportation powered by--"

"What Twilight was tryin' ta say ,a train is our transportation. Ya know, to get ta far distances easily?" Applejack cut her off, knowing if Twilight starts the 'lecture mode' she could explain things for at least an hour. Twilight glared at her.

"Oh, I see." Artorias said. "Well then, I have to retrieve my armor." just as he started to walk away, Princess Luna trotted up beside him.

"I am coming with you, I have to take a rest after all." she smiled.

"Er, okay then." with that, the pair walked towards the castle with eyes eyeing them curiously. Then, Captain Shatterstorm stepped forward.

"Your majesty, permission to dismiss the troops."

"Permission granted captain." she said nonchalantly.

With that he turned around

"Dismissed!" with that,the guards saluted and went into their respective posts.

After they are gone, Princess Celestia smiled mischievously.

"I never found her to be that friendly to somepony she barely knows."

"What do you think princess? is she--" Twilight gasped.

"Perhaps Twilight, perhaps." she smiled.

Author's Note

And that was another chapter

In the next one, I am bringing a big surprise. When I mean big it's BIG.

I know, OCs everywhere (wish I could tag more characters)

By the way, since school is starting soon; that means more assignments and shits like that. But hey, I steal time

Anyways, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter; leave a like, comment, let me know if there's a mistake so I can fix them. You know the drill

Next chapter's coming up soon, and I will see you in the next one

-Lightning Spear