Knight Shield rubbed at the bridge of his nose as his squad started to tighten their armor in the early morning sun. He had been on sentry duty just before daylight and the long hours were definitely catching up. Not that I slept before my shift anyways.

His eyes ran over the small encampment, searching for his scout. As much as he had hated all of yesterday, that was no excuse to not thank him. And yet, “still no News.”

“I wouldn’t say that so quickly.”

Knight glanced back as Knife unceremoniously dropped the black pegasus. “News!” He knelt low and inspected the cringing form, noting the lacerations, bruises, and blood that now adorned his body. A low growl escaped him as he looked up at Knife. “What happened?”

“You don’t want to–” He stopped as Knight’s hand came up and grabbed his collar. Already a small flame was in the squad leader’s eyes, and Knife knew just how to stoke it. “I promise you, it’s better if you just forget about it.”

“I left my wife behind to protect him and my squad, so I would speak, now.”

It was hard, but Knife just barely suppressed a smile. “Oh… that, that’s terrible to hear. And to think you did it for such honorable reasons.” A low growl was all Knife got. He could see the bags under Knight’s eyes and the whole scene just became more delicious by the second to the commander. “Fine.”

“Last night, News attempted to save your wife. Instead, he was captured and tortured, and barely escaped before they decided to take his life. Your wife on the other hand was decided to be too much of a threat as she was likely to give secrets to the enemy. My condolences.”

Knight slowly let go of Knife’s shirt and stepped back. “Bu-but she wouldn’t hurt a fly.”

“And now today we march to our deaths, unable to retreat, lest we want Sombra to end our lives because we failed.”

“But our child, and my squad, and…” Knight wrapped his arms over his stomach, not sure whether to scream, or cry. Tears stung his eyes as he tried to process all of it, but nothing wanted to work, nothing wanted to respond. In the emptiness, a single voice spoke up.

Use me.

Knight reached into his armor, almost against his own will as his hand clasped around the small leather pouch within. He spent one more moment considering it before deciding it was more than worth it in order to destroy these monsters. A sharp pain filled his right hand as it clenched the crystal tight.

Everything around him turned dark and he soon found himself in almost complete emptiness. The only thing within the blackness was a single wisp of pink that floated to him. It glowed as its words resonated within him. “Tell me, what do you want?”

“I want her back. I want to have been able to protect her.”

“You can’t have that, so what will you do?”

“Then I will rip out their spleens and feed on their eyes before I let them take another thing from me!” The words shocked Knight, but at the same time, felt all too right.

“Understood. You… you will be fun. Just, don’t kill yourself.” The light surged forward and entered Knight’s hand. Immediately, he was back in the encampment, but now his mind didn’t take in the wounded soldier he was supposed to care about or the bastard across from him. He only knew his targets weren’t there, but he knew where.

Knife watched as a red aura surrounded the brown stallion, originating from his palm. “Good. Now, I want you to–” A small cloud dust erupted in his face as Knight took off into the forest. “Get back here!” He waited a few moments, able to hear the slowly fading sounds of the brush being torn through. He glanced around himself at all the soldiers who now stood staring at him. “What are you idiots doing? Get up, get your armor on, and follow that fucker!”

News slowly got up and stumbled a bit. He met eyes with Knife and both scowled at each other for a brief moment. News then turned away, determined to make sure Knight was alright.

Alright was not quite the right word to describe him though, as he found the wall to the village and promptly used his shield as a battering ram, crashing through the wall and even into one of the houses. The soldiers within were only half armed, still having been getting ready for the battle, and watched as the dust cloud cleared. Anywhere a large splinter had embedded itself into the intruder had a red, jagged crystal covering the wood and wound. Knight looked around and narrowed his eyes as the first opened his mouth.

His shield slammed into the stallion’s gaping maw and his head turned into a spray of red as it was smashed against a wall. One of the others tried coming over, but got a swift kick before the narrow point of the kite shield was embedded deep into his chest. The third one came down and Knight simply waited for the bait to come to him.

Doors started flying open as the outcries of one of their comrades filled the air. What they saw gave them all a moment for pause. Slowly making his way to the center of the village was a brown stallion with a sword in one hand, and a shield and their comrade’s intestinal tract in the other. Those who were right in front of him waited the longest though, as they saw the expressionless face and a thousand yard stare that depicted an utter lack of care for what was going on now.

Knight watched as the first few came, falling for his bait. If I am to rid my town of all these monsters, I must face them all. If they are given the chance to run, or no reason to stay, I will lose them. He stepped back as the first one arrived, his spear catching nothing as Knight spun and slammed his shield into his back with a loud snap. The next got him to finally bring his blade up, cutting open the stallion’s stomach.

For a brief moment a sharp pain filled his world and he looked down to see a pegasus who now had her daggers embedded firmly into newly formed red crystals on his chest. His head crashed against hers before he brought his foot down on her skull with a sickening crunch. Another blade caught his attention from behind, but the pain wasn’t bad. No, it was merely a signal telling him where to swing for his next kill as the shards on his face started to spread.

Rainbow Dash finally exited the top of the house she and Applejack were staying at, her head throbbing from the celebration last night. She unsheathed her set of daggers before reaching for a cinderblock and getting her tail yanked back. Looking back, she saw Applejack scowling and holding onto her. “What are you doing? Can’t you hear their screams?”

“Of course I can!” Applejack yanked her friend to her feet. “But were you even going to look at what was happening?” She forced Rainbow to see what she had already seen from the window, which was a stallion covered in red magic and blood who shrugged off any attack, and usually then killing the pony who had just wounded him. “I count ten bodies already. You tell me, especially with the rest of his force and whatever reinforcements he may have gotten, whether or not we can take that.”

“But we just won! This was going to be the first of so many… so many,” Rainbow glared back at Applejack as she clenched her teeth and slammed a fist against her friend. “You call it this time. I did it last.”

Knight’s eyes widened as he got done retrieving his shield from the last corpse and saw that the rest were running They aren’t allowed to run. I haven’t had my fill yet, I haven’t killed them all, I haven’t– A rock cut off his thoughts as it slammed into the side of his head. He barely got sight of his new prey before they ducked into one of the houses, but that didn’t matter. I’ll just tear it down.

He crashed through the door, as a rather annoying, high pitched whine filled his ears. The brief sight of a black wing caused him to sprint up the stairs, and he entered the bedroom just as the dead man picked up a small bundle from within the solitary cradle in the room. Knight tried to move forward, but something was resisting him. Resisting the fury.

“Wake up, Knight. He still needs you.”

Knight got his foot to move and started to trudge forward, the crystals on him starting to entirely mask his face and body. He let out a growl as his blade started to rise. The bundle shifted more and a dirty blonde hoof poked its way out as the foal inside cried harder.

“You don’t want to do this. You’re going to die if you push any harder.”

The crystal covered his eyes, bathing the world in red. The blade reached its apex, glinting in the sunlight coming from the windows. And then, it came down.

Crack, crack.

News panted as the crystals on Knight’s body started to weaken and splinter. The blade had fallen only centimeters beside him and the foal, and he swore the colt knew from how silent he had become after the swing. Finally, the crystals broke, and every wound they had stanched split back open. Knight looked up at News before going to a knee. “Help… me.” The world turned black for him soon after as he fell to the floor.

======+++++======

Knight opened his eyes, a dim, magical light buzzing just over his head and a dark blue mare holding a clipboard at his feet. He blinked a few times as his whole body screamed at conciousness. “Ow.”

The mare almost jumped out of her skin and stared at him for a few moments before straightening out, but also starting to visibly shake. “He-hello Knight Shield. How are you feeling?”

His vision lost focus for a moment and he felt something in him starting to rise. “I hurt.”

Her horn started to glow and she gently pushed him back against the bed as the soothing aura took effect. “Just go back to sleep sir, and rest. You’ve been unconscious for almost a month.”

Knight’s eyes popped open and he sat up, only to then double over in pain, the thing within him rising to a small boil. He started to pant and the nurse ran out of the hospital wing. What in Tartarus is going on? There is no way I was out for a whole month. Another spasm of pain ran through him and this time he saw the small red aura that was emanating from his hand, calling to him. Simply thinking about the power made his thoughts more pointed and almost seemed to pump adrenaline through his veins.

Sombra soon came through the door, spotting the slowly building storm of energy around the brown stallion. His horn glowed and a sphere of energy radiated from the tyrant king. Knight’s anger quelled almost instantly, replaced by primal fear and a feeling to bow. His breathing evened out and the aura was no only a few wisps coming out of his palm. “Wha-what did you do to me?”

“From what I’ve heard, stopping you from almost killing yourself, again.” Sombra stopped at the foot of the bed, the nurse cowering behind the tall stallion. “Do you even know what you did?”

Knight put a hand to his head and started shaking it. “Not really. All I can remember is…” He became very quiet as he remembered the news. The soul shattering news. Tears stung at his eyes, but this time he ignored the energy that beckoned to him.

“You won the fight that day. Apparently, you single handedly chased off almost a whole platoon of ponies, saving them from not only the enemy, but also from their own idiotic fears.” Sombra scowled and gripped into the metal railing.

Knight scowled as his memory started coming back. “Yeah, but how did I–”

“You took the power of The Crystal Heart, and apparently got a lot out of it. You will make a fine knight.”

“That wasn’t… what I was about to ask. How did I survive?”

“Your platoon told me that the blood transfusions, sleepless knights, and even the lack of treatment on their own wounds were nothing compared to what you had already paid to save them. Simply a situation of eye for an eye really.” Sombra was quiet for a moment before tapping his fingers against the rail. “I would like to offer my condolences. Your son already is safe within my nursery wing, and I would understand if you wanted to see him, spend time with him, things like that, and I will gladly give you the time to do so if you so require.”

He bit into his cheek, his memories slipping to all of the hours lost to simply watching him. They couldn’t stay though, not when compared to seeing his son falling into the shadow of his blade. “No, I can’t.” Knight squeezed his side and used the pain now, calling on some of the bubbling power as he stood on shaking hooves. “I want out as soon as possible.”

Sombra watched the stallion sway side to side for a few moments before crossing his arms. “Why?”

“Sir, I tried killing my own son. I want at least a chance to deal with this before…” He gripped his head as tears started coming to the edges of his eyes.

Sombra nodded slightly and put a hand gently on his shoulder. “You need another week of rest, and then I’ll let you go. Understood?”

Knight looked at him. “You’re going to allow this?”

He nodded. “I knew of a time once when I was like you, when I thought I was wrong. I couldn’t imagine that what I was imagining was even real, or something a pony could think about it. If you need time and will help me, I will not stop you, especially if it ensures my peoples’ safety.”

Knight bit into his cheek and shut his eyes as he readied himself to sit back down. “What is my assignment?”

Sombra shook his head. “First I need you to request something of you, a change.”

Knight’s eyes narrowed. “What kind of change?”

“Your name.”

“What’s wrong with it?”

“It is connected to old ideals, to thoughts of nobility. I allow my knights to be called as they are to abuse that image in others eyes, to try to garner trust. I cannot have them truly believing in such ideals though, as your name suggests.

Knight stayed silent for a few moments before letting out a small sigh. “What did you have in mind?”

“Something simple, so it won’t affect you much.” A small grin crossed Sombra’s face. “Night Shield.”

Knight winced as the barest flicker of a smile came across his face. “Yeah, I think I can live with that.”

Sombra nodded and stood. “If that is all you need then, I should be going. There is still so much to be done.”

Night knocked against the bar over his head to get the other stallion’s attention. “You never told me my mission.”

He nodded and smiled slightly. “Bring me Twilight Sparkle.”

Author's Note

And with this, the story ends, leading into Age of Terror. Thank you all for enjoying this, and if you wish to support me as I continue with my works, my patreon is here.