The Hybrid Warrior

Midnight in the land of Equestria. The full moon cast its light upon the land, bathing everything in a pale light. Under the watchful eye of Princess Luna, Equestria slept in comfort and tranquility.

However, gazing out onto the land from her balcony, the Princess of the Night could not feel the same. Even though she didn't voice it openly, she still felt a pang of envy towards her sister Celestia every now and then. She never dwelled on it though, for she did not wish to repeat mistakes of the past. And besides, most of it went away when she came to accept Nightmare Night, though it still showed up on rare occasion.

She shook the thoughts from her head, focusing her attention back on the task of monitoring ponies' dreams. Oftentimes, this was the part of the job she enjoyed the most, but other times, it was one she dreaded. It was her job to prevent nightmares from entering ponies' dreams, but every now and then she would be reminded of her past as Nightmare Moon from seeing some of these nightmares.

While searching through dreams, she came across one that piqued her interest. It wasn't the dream itself, but rather the pony dreaming. The pony in particular looked to be a male, a unicorn to be exact. His coat was a shimmering golden yellow, while his mane and tail were a shining silver. His mane seemed to be rather short compared to other ponies, and despite its color, he looked to be a relatively young stallion. He also had sapphire blue eyes, which looked as though they had seen a lot.

What really caught Luna's attention, however, was the pony's cutie mark. The mark was a pair of sword hilts with what seemed to be blades made of magic crossed over each other behind a highly decorated shield that had the sigil Ω on the front of it.

She could not remember ever seeing this pony before while monitoring dreams, which was confirmed even further when the pony sat up in his dream and unfurled a pair of large dragon wings. The inside skin of his wings were the same color as his eyes, and upon closer inspection, she saw the same color in the swirls of his horn.

Who is this pony, Luna thought, and where did he come from?

She quickly cast a location spell to see where the dream was coming from. It would lead her to the pony in question if she could figure that out. After a few moments, she figured out where it was coming from, and her eyes narrowed in worry.

“He's in the middle of Froggy Bottom Bog!” Luna exclaimed.

Without thinking, the Princess of the Night spread her wings as she prepared a teleportation spell that would take her near Ponyville. It would take too long to send a search party from Canterlot or wake Twilight and her friends, since there had been reports in the past that a Hydra resided in Froggy Bottom Bog. The quickest way to make sure this pony stayed safe right now was to see to it herself.

Casting her spell, the Princess of the Night vanished from her balcony and reappeared in the skies above Ponyville. Flapping her wings, she looked around to orientate herself. Once she had recovered her position, she began flying in the direction of Froggy Bottom Bog as quick as she could, praying the pony would be safe.

Sprawled out in a painful position in a tree, the pony in question began to stir from his slumber. He slowly opened his sapphire blue eyes, looking around. He became aware of a dull pain drumming inside his skull as he got his bearings.

Ugh...my head...he thought as he continued to check the unfamiliar surroundings. Where am I...? What happened to me?

Thankfully, the full moon overhead gave plenty of light for him to see around the swamp. He started to sit up, but unfortunately one of the branches he set his hoof on finally gave way and snapped, causing him to start falling. The unicorn may have had dragon wings in his dream, but trying to unfurl them now, he felt that there was nothing there to unfurl. The wings had just been a part of the dream, so there was nothing to stop his descent as he face planted into the softened ground below. Standing up, he shook the grime from his face and placed a hoof on his forehead.

Note to self, actually look where you're laying before you try to stand up, he thought in embarrassment. He could have sworn that those wings had been real, but he thought it best not to dwell on it.

With that out of the way, he noticed something shining in the moonlight out of the corner of his eye. Turning towards the source, he was greeted by the sight of two sword hilts, one black and one white. The black one held in the center of it a white gem in the shape of a crescent moon, while the white one had an orange gem in the shape of a sun. Curious, he approached the two objects, completely unaware of the hungry eyes staring at him from the shadows.

His horn became enveloped in a sapphire blue aura as he activated his levitation spell, the hilts being covered in the same aura as he brought them closer. The gems seemed to give off their own individual glow as they got closer to him, causing him to raise a curious eyebrow.

It was then that he heard a faint voice in the back of his head. It spoke to the unicorn with such wisdom and confidence that he wasn't entirely sure whether it was his instincts or something else.

Spark the gem, it whispered. Spark the gem? What did that mean? How was one to spark a gem?

Feed it magic...spark the gem...

Feed it magic? he thought. How would that help? And what would sparking the gem even do?

Well, only one way to find out... he thought. Activating his magic once more, the unicorn focused on siphoning a moderate amount of magic into the black hilt's gem. With each passing second, the gem began to glow more and more brightly, until finally...

There was the sound of a beam spell being cast, and the gem flashed brightly without warning, disorienting the pony slightly and causing him to stumble a little bit. When he regained his senses, he looked at the hilt, and his eyes narrowed as he saw a glowing crystal white broadsword blade sticking out of the top. The blade glowed with the same light as the moon, and it looked sharp enough to cleave through trees with a single swing.

So distracted was he by the sight of the blade, he didn't notice the shaking ground as a three-headed Hydra lumbered towards him from behind...that is, until he heard a yell come from the air. Looking up, he saw an alicorn in flight, pointing towards him and preparing a spell. From the looks of it, it was an offensive spell, and the unicorn began to slowly back up, thinking the pony was hostile. It was then that he bumped into something very large and scaly.

(Cue music: Kingdom Hearts OST – Shrouding Dark Cloud.)

The unicorn gulped and slowly looked up to see three pairs of predatory eyes staring down at him. One of the heads lunged down at him, jaws wide. In a panic, the unicorn bolted through the Hydra's legs and began galloping as fast as he could away from the monster, all while hearing the attacking head smack into the ground.

He looked behind him as he ran and saw the Hydra recover and begin to give chase, only to be cut off by a beam of magic. He stopped running and turned around, seeing the Alicorn land between him and the Hydra, a determined look on her face. The Hydra looked at the Alicorn, then him, then back to the alicorn, trying to decide who to chase. It finally settled its gaze on the alicorn, licking its jaws.

The alicorn spread her wings then and took flight as the heads began snapping at her, forcing her to dodge and weave around the heads. “Leave this monster to us!” she called out to the unicorn. “Get somewhere safe!”

The unicorn couldn't move. This pony was willing to risk her life to see to it that he got away...he felt a pang of guilt at that. Realizing he still had a magical grip on the sword hilts, he turned to the black sword, giving it a few test swings in the air with his magic. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath as he began siphoning magic into the other sword hilt. A few seconds later, there was another bright flash, and an orange broadsword blade appeared from the white hilt.

He opened his eyes and looked at the Hydra, steel in his gaze. He wasn't going to run. Not this time. Galloping back towards the Hydra, he drew the two blades to his sides with his magic, ready to swing. He stopped just underneath the creature's necks, having still not been noticed, and flung his weapons up towards the heads with his magic, making them spin like sawblades.

The blades flew straight and true, taking two of the Hydra heads clean off. The alicorn noticed this and opened her mouth to protest. The distraction cost her dearly, however, as the last Hydra head snapped its jaws shut around her and swallowed. The unicorn saw this and narrowed his eyes, calling one of the swords back to him, while he willed the other to fly in an arc towards the Hydra's neck. It sliced cleanly through the neck, stopping the alicorn before she got past the esophagus. The neck and head fell to the ground as the torso writhed in pain.

He quickly ran up to the neck as he called back the other blade and began to carve it open, being careful that the blades didn't penetrate too deep and hurt the alicorn. Once through, he held out a hoof to help the slightly sticky alicorn to her feet. She simply stood up and shook off the goo before glaring at him.

“Have you any idea what you've done?!” she asked furiously. The unicorn gave her a very confused look. “Never mind, we need to get out of here now!”

“Wait, what?” he asked, confused as all hell. “I beat the monster, didn't I?”

“You don't understand!” she spoke in a worried yet frustrated tone. “That was a Hydra! For every head you cut off--”

There was a sudden rumble as the torso of the Hydra began to stand back up, heads quickly growing from it.

“...Three take its place,” she finished, looking in horror at the now nine-headed Hydra.

The unicorn's ears went flat against his head, and his eyes narrowed in terror. “RUN!” he screamed before turning tail and galloping away, with the alicorn following close behind.

The Hydra quickly gave chase, quickly gaining on the two ponies. The nine heads snapped wildly at them, with the ponies just barely avoiding them as they ran. Eventually, the duo came to a ravine, with the only way across being two narrow platforms that were too far to reach. With nowhere else to go, they turned around to face the monster.

The Hydra heads smiled, knowing that it had its prey cornered. The heads quickly descended down on them, but were met with a magic barrier set up by the alicorn. It began pounding its heads against the barrier, each strike causing her to visibly weaken.

The unicorn looked at her with worry, but suddenly felt himself being enveloped in her magic. He felt himself being lifted up, and was abruptly thrown out of the barrier and across the ravine, colliding with the rock wall on the other side. Recovering quickly, he ran to the edge of the ravine and looked on in horror as the Hydra lifted its foot into the air and slammed it into the barrier, shattering it and pinning the alicorn underneath its foot, and she let out a scream of pain that pierced his mind.

Everything around the unicorn suddenly faded away and time seemed to slow down around him as the Hydra heads lunged for their prey. All that was left in his mind was him, the alicorn and the Hydra.

She's going to die...and I can't do anything to stop it!

He reached out a hoof towards her, and he saw her look his way and reach out to him as well.No...no...NOOOOOOOO!!!!**

In that moment, something deep within him snapped, and all hell broke loose.

Mere inches away from reaching their destination, something caused the Hydra to stop dead in its tracks. It heard a long winded scream and looked towards the source just as a huge pillar of light erupted from the other side of the ravine.

The screaming continued for several seconds as the pillar of light slowly dissipated. Standing there was the same pony as before...or was it? The pony was about as tall as Celestia now, and had much more muscle than before. The horn had grown considerably, to the point where it resembled the length and shape of Celestia's own horn. It glowed with a sapphire blue aura as the blades floated next to him. The pony opened its eyes and gave a determined smile, its eyes still sapphire blue, but they were no longer the eyes of a pony. They were the eyes of a dragon.

The pony gazed at the Hydra and unfurled a pair of massive dragon wings, easily the size of Celestia's own alicorn wings. He leaped out over the ravine and took flight, heading straight for the Hydra while sucking in a deep breath. When he got about five feet away, he opened his mouth and a torrent of flame flew from his mouth with a roar, causing the Hydra to rear its heads back and back up while hissing, freeing the alicorn in the process.

The pony landed and began advancing on the Hydra, blasting it with more flame as his magic held his blades at the ready. He abruptly stopped and ran underneath the Hydra, tossing the blades in a sawblade manner just like before and cleaving its only two legs right off. The monster shrieked in pain and, with nothing there to support it, collapsed onto the ground, effectively stunning the creature.

The pony's expression showed no remorse as he took to the air yet again and flew high above the monster, all while the blades caught back up with him. Once sufficiently high up, he grabbed the monster in his magic and flipped it over onto its back, stunning it yet again. “For as long as you have lived, you have terrorized Froggy Bottom Bog and anyone who comes through for far too long. Every time someone takes you down, you get back up. No more!” He then took the black blade in his back legs and held it so that the blade was pointing down at the monster in a reverse grip. His next words were spoken in such a cold manner that it sent a chill through the spines of both the Hydra and the alicorn. “I, Knightmare Steel, will make sure you never rise again.” He then folded his wings and began to plummet down towards the Hydra as the white and orange sword's blade seemed to get longer and longer.

“THIS PLACE SHALL BECOME YOUR GRAVE!!!” he screamed as he made contact with the Hydra. The black blade stabbed straight into the monster's heart, killing it immediately as its heads simultaneously tensed and then hit the ground as they went limp. Pulling out the blade, the pony then slashed with the second sword, cleaving the Hydra's torso in two.

The white sword's blade quickly retracted to its original length as Knightmare Steel landed softly on the ground using his wings. As his hooves touched the ground, he suddenly felt very light headed, and he began to shrink as his wings disappeared and his eyes returned to normal. Knightmare then collapsed to the ground, unconscious as the two blades clattered to the ground next to him, their connection to his levitation spell having been severed. As darkness claimed his consciousness, he could only pray that the alicorn was safe.

(Cue music: Kingdom Hearts OST – Dive Into the Heart.)

Falling...falling through the endless abyss that was his subconscious...nothing but blackness all around him as he fell...and then, he suddenly felt something slow his descent, and he righted himself. His hooves touched down on something solid...but when he looked down, all Knightmare could see was the empty blackness below. He looked around at his surroundings and suddenly heard the faint sound of flapping wings.

Looking up, he was greeted by the sight of a large dragon slowly descending towards him. The dragon was covered in golden scales, and its eyes were the same sapphire blue as Knightmare's. The inside skin of its wings were also sapphire blue, and it had claws that looked like they were made of pure silver. The dragon carefully landed a few feet away from Knightmare, gazing down at him with eyes full of wisdom and caring.

**“Welcome, Knightmare,”* it spoke slowly, with a wise yet confident tone. “I have been expecting you.”*

Knightmare cocked his head to the side in confusion. “Who are you?” he asked with a hint of nervousness.

**“I am you, and you are me,”* it answered in a soft and caring tone.*

“I meant your name,” the unicorn said with a slight hint of irritation.

**“My name is of no importance,”* the dragon replied calmly. It then gestured out to the endless abyss around them. “All you need to know is that we must cooperate with each other to survive the coming times.”*

“I don't understand,” Knightmare spoke.

**“All will be made clear to you in time,”* the dragon spoke, gazing at Knightmare with weary, wisdom-filled eyes. “Your memories...your abilities...and most importantly, your destiny. But until that time comes...keep the Lunar and Solar Blades close to your sides, and your friends even closer to your heart...”*

“Lunar and Solar Blades?” Knightmare asked. “Friends? What are you talking about?”

**“All will be revealed in time...”* the dragon repeated. “But we must part ways for now...you will be awakened shortly...”*

The inky blackness suddenly and rapidly began to fill with light. Knightmare desperately held out a hoof towards the dragon, wanting to ask more questions. But it was too late. The invisible platform they stood on shattered like glass underneath them, and the unicorn was falling once again, but this time towards the source of the light below...

Knightmare woke with a start, snapping his upper body up with a gasp and breaking out in a cold sweat. He snapped his head back and forth in a panic, barely taking in his surroundings until he noticed the same alicorn mare from before staring at him with a worried look. He looked down and started taking deep breaths to calm his nerves.

It was just a dream, he thought in relief as he slowly began to relax. Thank the gods, it was just a dream.

“Are you alright?” the alicorn asked with more than a hint of concern in her voice. “You were talking in your sleep.”

“Y-yeah, I'm fine...” he answered, his breathing starting to get back under control. “I'm more shook up than anything...” He then looked at the alicorn. “But what about you? Are you okay? The last thing I remember is seeing that monster lunge its heads down at you...and then I must have blacked out, 'cause I don't remember a thing after that.”

The mare gave him a confused look. “Really?” Knightmare nodded in response, and she seemed to pause in thought. “Well,” she continued, “the important thing is that we made it out of there alive.”

Knightmare nodded in agreement. “By the way...um, not to seem rude, but who are you, exactly?” he asked. “I mean, I can't thank my savior properly if I don't know her name.”

The mare managed to maintain a calm and caring smile, but internally she was utterly baffled that he didn't know who she was. “I am Princess Luna, co-ruler of Equestria alongside my sister Princess Celestia,” she explained.

In that instant, Knightmare's eyes shrunk to the size of peas and his jaw dropped. “P-p-p-princess?!” he exclaimed, and instantly bowed down as best he could before her. “I-I am so sorry for my lack of manners, Your Highness! I was not aware I was in the presence of royalty! Please forgive me!”

Luna raised an eyebrow. How is it that this pony did not know about her and Celestia, nor recognize her as a Princess when they fought together? Those were questions for another time, she supposed. At the moment, comforting this pony was top priority. She gave a warm smile and placed a comforting hoof on his shoulder.

“There is no need for formalities with me,” she said in a soothing voice. “After all, I get enough formalities from ponies as is. I would not mind if at least one pony could treat me as a friend, not as royalty.”

Knightmare looked up at her, gazing into her beautiful teal eyes. There was so much he could see in those eyes, but he couldn't process it all fast enough and instead focused on her mane. Her mane was a midnight blue with a semi-translucent border of a slightly lighter blue, and it sparkled as though it were a clear night sky full of stars. It also seemed to flow as though there was always a constant breeze blowing through it. Her tail had the same features as her mane, and her body was a midnight blue. She wore what seemed to be teal metal shoes, along with a black necklace with a crescent moon in the center. Her wings were large and elegant, and she also wore a black tiara on her head that seemed to hide slightly behind her mane and horn. All in all, she was very beautiful. However, she seemed shorter than he remembered.

Taking a step towards her, his hoof was met with empty air. Unable to recover in time, he fell head over heels off of the bed he had been unknowingly standing on and groaned in pain. Rubbing the back of his head with a hoof, he looked up to see Luna standing there with a hoof to her mouth, shaking as she tried to hold back from laughing. Knightmare gave her an embarrassed smile. So that's why she looked shorter.

Standing up, he then took the opportunity to look around the room. Most of it was the same midnight blue as Luna's coat, and the bed was a regal one fit for a princess, with posts going off of the head and hoofboards and linking together at the peak by four more posts into the form of a square. Midnight blue curtains draped down from the canopy, giving privacy to whoever was sleeping as long as the curtains were closed. At present, they had been drawn back, most likely so that Luna could watch over him while he had been out cold. The center of the room also had a large, black, round carpet of sorts with a white crescent moon in the center. A chandelier hung from the ceiling, but it looked like the candles were out right now.

And then there was the balcony. Stepping out onto it, he reared up and placed his hooves on the railing to get a better view. And what a view it was. Luna's balcony faced away from what Knightmare assumed was the rest of the castle, giving him a clear view of the castle grounds and beyond. The morning sun was up at this hour, and the view it presented stretched for more miles than he could possibly count. He was able to see beyond the castle grounds into the city, along with an excellent view of the valley beyond the city to his right. Judging by how high the sun was, he guessed it must have been somewhere around noon.

Knightmare drank it all in as much as he could. He was definitely going to commit this view to memory. It was then that he felt a wing go across his back, and he turned to see Luna standing beside him with a content smile. “Quite a view, isn't it?” she asked, though it was more a statement than a question.

Knightmare nodded and grinned. “To say it's pretty would be an understatement,” he replied. “I could look at this view all day.”

“I feel the view is much better during the night,” she spoke, looking at him. “Regrettably, I'm afraid we won't be able to spend all day together. I have royal duties to attend to, as does my sister, so I had planned on bringing you back home once you were back on your feet.”

Knightmare looked down at the railing and frowned, searching his memories. To his surprise, the only things he remembered were the fight with the Hydra before he blacked out. Other than that, all he had was his name and that was it. “Um...there might be a problem with that, Princess,” he spoke softly, afraid of angering her. Luna raised an eyebrow. “Um...I don't remember anything before last night. All I remember from before that is my name...Knightmare Steel...with a K.”

On the outside, Luna looked perfectly calm, but in her mind, she was completely perplexed. No memories from before? She supposed it did explain why he didn't know who she was. A blow to the head would certainly cause anmesia, as she had witnessed cases of that firsthand, but there could also have been some spells out there that erase memories. If that were the case, then the only one who could undo the spell was the one who erased them in the first place. Of course, there was always the possibility that the memories would come back on their own.

“So, are you saying that you don't have a home?” she asked. Knightmare shook his head, a solemn expression on his face.

“Not that I can remember,” he replied. The Princess of the Night turned her head away and looked at the ground, pondering her options.

We could have him stay with us for the time being, until he remembers where home is, Luna thought. But neither me or my sister would have much time to spend with him, and I don't want him to feel neglected. The guards aren't the most social of ponies. She then turned to look at him out of the corner of her eye. And if his memories don't come back, then he may wind up with some lonely new memories. What to do, what to do...

It was then that the answer came to her, and she smiled. Of course! Why didn't I think of it sooner? She looked towards the direction of the valley, where Ponyville resided. We can bring him to Ponyville! Everypony there is very friendly, and Twilight Sparkle and her friends are there, so he should have no trouble making friends. She looked back at Knightmare Steel and smiled warmly. It will be the perfect place to make happy memories, and a great place to begin a new life if his memories don't return.

She draped one of her wings over him, getting his attention as she gave him an almost motherly smile. “Fear not, Knightmare Steel,” she spoke. “I know the perfect place for you to stay.”

Celestia sighed as she sat on her throne, patiently awaiting Luna's arrival. She was supposed to be there early in the morning to prepare for her daily duties, but it had been an hour and there was no sign of her. It's not like Luna to neglect her royal duties, Celestia thought. Perhaps something has her held up...

At that thought, she heard the double doors to the throne room open, and in stepped her beloved sister. But she was not alone. Accompanying her was a golden yellow unicorn, who seemed to be taking in his surroundings as the two troted forward to greet the Princess of the Sun. While he shifted his head to look around, she caught a glimpse of two metallic objects floating beside him. She couldn't quite make out what they were at first, but then the unicorn turned to look at a particular stained glass window and she got a good look at one of the objects. The object was definitely metallic in nature, was pitch black in color and looked like a sword hilt, while it had a white gem shaped like Luna's cutie mark in the center. The gem itself seemed to give off a faint glow, giving Celestia the impression that the gem was magic in nature.

This raised some questions in her mind, but Celestia decided to leave it be for now. She rose up from her throne and smiled warmly at her sister and her companion. “Good morning, Luna,” she spoke, generating a regal air. “Who is this you have brought with you? A new friend of yours, perhaps?”

Luna smiled and nodded. “We actually met last night,” she answered, causing Celestia to raise a mischievous eyebrow at her sister. “I discovered him during my nightly duties. He was in the middle of Froggy Bottom Bog, so I brought him here to get him out of danger.”

“Froggy Bottom Bog?” Celestia asked, her voice puzzled and concerned. “Why in Equestria would anypony be there?”

Luna shook her head. “I am just as confused as you are, Sister,” she replied. “We ran into a little bit of trouble in the form of a Hydra, but we were able to handle it.” Luna's face said otherwise, however, and she brought her face close to her sister's and whispered in her ear, “I'll tell you the details later.”

Celestia nodded. If she didn't want to say it in front of others, then something must have happened. As Luna pulled away, she saw the unicorn trot up to the edge of the steps to the throne and bowed. “You must be Princess Celestia,” he said, clearly trying to be polite. “It's an honor to meet you.”

Celestia smiled and trotted towards the unicorn. “You may rise,” she ensured, and the unicorn quickly rose. “May I ask your name?”

“My name is Knightmare Steel, Your Highness,” he spoke. “With a K.”

Luna stood next to Knightmare and got down to business. “Sister, I was hoping we could relocate Knightmare to Ponyville,” she said, causing Celestia to raise an eyebrow in confusion. “He does not seem to have anywhere to go, as he seems to have developed a severe case of amnesia. All he can remember from before last night is his name and the most basic things.”

“Why not allow him to live here?” Celestia inquired. “Here we can monitor him and you will be able to see him anytime you wish.” Luna shook her head.

“I thought about that as well, Sister,” she said. “But you and I both know we cannot abandon our royal duties. And there is the possibility of his memories never returning.” She looked to the ground solemnly. “If they don't, then it would be beyond cruel to fill him with lonely memories. We both know that the royal guards aren't very talkative either.”

Celestia raised a hoof to her chin and thought it over. Her sister had a point. It wouldn't be ideal if his memories never came back, and they likely wouldn't have very much time to be with him thanks to their line of work. And with Cadance and Shining Armor overseeing the Crystal Empire, all that Knightmare would have left was the guards, who were, as Luna said, not the most talkative. Not to mention the majority of the Canterlot ponies would take too kindly to him, as he looked far too much like a commoner. Clearly, staying in Canterlot would not be the best option for him.

Her thoughts then turned to Ponyville. The small town...it would be the perfect place for Knightmare to start fresh. The place was full of friendly ponies, and was inhabited by Twilight and her friends, who could always help him out if necessary. Celestia smiled. Her sister had the foresight to think this through before coming to see her.

Resting her gaze on the two before her, her smile became much more motherly. “Very well,” she finally spoke. “I will inform Twilight immediately that there will be a new pony coming to Ponyville. Luna, will you escort Knightmare to the train station?” Luna nodded. “Excellent. I will tell her to wait for him at the Ponyville station. But we may need something in order for her to identify him...”

Luna raised a hoof to her chin in thought for a moment, before she smiled and teleported out of the room. She reappeared a few moments later holding a necklace with her magic, which had a small crescent moon attached. It was a bit smaller, but matched Luna's own necklace perfectly.

Celestia's eyes narrowed. “Luna, are you really giving him one of your old necklaces?” she asked, earning a nod from Luna as she began to fit it around Knightmare's neck. She sighed and placed a hoof on her head. “Well, I suppose it will have to do. I can't think of any better ideas at the mom--”

The second the necklace was in place, Knightmare's eyes narrowed and suddenly began to glow, startling both sisters. His head snapped up towards the ceiling and he began talking at a rapid pace in a language that the alicorn sisters recognized as Dragon. His horn began to glow, as did the necklace, and then there was a bright flash that temporarily blinded Celestia and Luna.

When the light faded, Knightmare still stood, but his necklace had transformed into something entirely different. Gone was the black design and white crescent moon. In its place was a necklace of pure sapphire, polished to perfection as its translucency perfectly contrasted the golden yellow coat underneath, and where the crescent moon used to be was the same Ω sigil as his cutie mark.

Luna and Celestia simply stood there, their mouths agape as the light faded from Knightmare's eyes. He shook his head as though he had just awoken from a trance before looking around. His eyes came to rest on the alicorn sisters, and he looked at them with a puzzled expression. “What?” he asked. “Do I have something in my teeth?”

“Knightmare...the necklace...” Luna breathed. “It's changed...”

Raising an eyebrow, he looked down at the necklace, and his eyes narrowed in shock. “What the buck?!” he exclaimed. “I just blacked out for a second, and then this happened?!”

“W-well,” Celestia spoke, recovering her composure, “at least now you have something that Twilight will be able to recognize you by.” Her gaze fell to Luna for a moment as she was still processing what had happened. Was this a similar experience to what my sister saw?

“Y-yes, it should help her identify you,” Luna spoke up as well, shaking off her shock. “We will depart for the train station immediately. Do not worry about the costs, we will cover them.”

Knightmare smiled and bowed before the princesses as Luna began trotting towards him. Hidden behind her mane, the Princess of the Night turned her teal eyes away from him as she and Knightmare walked out of the throne room. They would have to have Twilight keep an eye on the unicorn. As much as she disliked the idea of spying on her friend, she felt that if what happened back there kept happening after he reached Ponyville, the locals might become wary of him. Plus, there was no telling just what kind of secrets lay within him.

Knightmare, on the other hand, was excited at the idea of starting a new life. Sure, his old life may or may not have been bad, and he wished he could remember, but he did remember one thing. He lived in the here and now. Dwelling on a past that he couldn't even remember was pointless in his mind. All that mattered right now was what he did here and now. And right now, that meant getting to the station so he could get to the town that would become his new home. He felt a giddy grin spread across his face as he gave one of the sword hilts a twirl with his magic. He had a feeling today was gonna be a good day.

Half an hour later, Knightmare stood at the station with Princess Luna as the train heading for Ponyville pulled up. As the doors opened to let passengers out, Knightmare looked over his surroundings slowly, and he felt a small pang in his heart as his face took on a solemn expression. “You know...” he finally spoke, getting Luna's attention. “I can't help but feel like I'm never gonna see this place again...” There was a hint of sadness in his voice that didn't go unnoticed by Luna.

The Princess of the Night approached him and wrapped her alicorn wings around him. “Do not worry, Knightmare,” she said in a comforting voice. “You will see this place again. I will also come visit now and again to check up on you.” She gave him a warm smile as he relaxed from the touch of her wings. “We will see each other again, my friend. You can count on it.”

Knightmare gazed into her teal eyes and smiled. “Thank you, Luna,” he spoke, rearing up and throwing his forelegs around her neck in a hug. “I'm gonna hold you to that.”

It was then that he heard the train's steam engine whistle, and he turned to the train car and walked aboard. He turned back towards Luna and gave her one final wave with his hoof before the doors closed and the train began to pull away.

As it pulled away from the station, Knightmare sighed. He already felt lonely, but he wasn't going to let this get him down. They would meet again. The Princess even said she would come visit him. There was no need to worry.

Taking in a deep breath, he let himself relax as he took a seat. Might as well relax and enjoy the ride, he supposed.

Within minutes, he had fallen asleep.

He awoke about an hour later to the feeling of something poking him. Slowly opening his eyes, he was greeted by the face of a white earth pony. The mare seemed to be wearing some sort of shades along with headphones, and had a somewhat wild looking mane. The mane itself was blue and cyan in color, and the mare had a cutie mark resembling a music note. She seemed to be trying to get his attention about something, as she was pointing behind him with her hoof.

Knightmare sat up and looked in the direction she was pointing. It was the view of the town in front on the other side of the window that woke him fully from his sleep-induced stupor. “Oh man, is this Ponyville?!” he asked, looking back to the mare, who gave him a nod. “Oh, thank you so much for waking me up! If you hadn't, I would've slept straight through my stop!” He jumped from his seat and galloped towards the door, the white mare following close behind.

(Cue music: Kingdom Hearts 2 OST – The Afternoon Streets.)

The two made it out just as the doors began to close. Knightmare quickly checked to see if he forgot anything on the train. Lunar and Solar Blades, necklace...he was good to go. He turned to the white mare and smiled apologetically. “Thanks again for alerting me to that,” he spoke up, clearly embarrassed. “I guess I didn't sleep too well last night.”

The mare smiled and nodded as the two trotted out of the station and towards Ponyville. Knightmare stopped to take in his surroundings as he watched the pony, who he assumed to be a DJ given her cutie mark and headphones, go on ahead. As he looked around, he noticed another mare approaching him. This one was a purple unicorn. Her mane and tail seemed to be a blue that almost looked black and each had two small stripes going through them, one purple and one pink. Both were kept in a neat and tidy manner. The pony also had purple eyes that gave off an aura of knowledge and compassion surpassed only by Celestia and Luna. Her cutie mark appeared to be a six pointed pink star surrounded by smaller white ones. All in all, she actually looked very attractive...

NO! Bad Knightmare! he thought as he caught himself. Keep your mind out of the gutter!

The purple unicorn smiled as she approached, and Knightmare attempted to return the smile, though his came out more shy than anything else. “You must be the pony Princess Celestia mentioned in her letter,” she spoke. “I'm Twilight Sparkle. What's your name?”

Knightmare grinned sheepishly. “My name's Knightmare Steel, with a K,” he replied. “Nice to meet you, Miss Sparkle.”

Twilight closed her eyes and chuckled. “There's no need to be formal,” she informed him. “Just call me by my first name.”

Knightmare blushed in embarrassment and smiled shyly. “Sorry, Miss Sparkle...I mean, Twilight. I'm not used this kind of thing just yet,” he replied, catching himself.

“That's alright,” she assured him, coming a bit closer. “It's going to take some time to adjust, so just take it slow. In the meantime, let me take you back to the library. All of my friends are waiting there to meet you.”

Knightmare nodded and gestured out to her with a hoof. “Sounds like a plan,” he responded. “Lead the way, Twilight.” The purple unicorn nodded and began walking into town, with Knightmare following close behind.

“So,” she began, “I guess you must have met Vinyl Scratch, huh?” She looked behind her to see Knightmare cocking his head to the side in confusion. “The white mare you came out of the station with. She's Ponyville's resident DJ.”

“Ohhhh, so that's her name,” he said. “I kind of guessed she might have been a DJ from her attire, but she never told me her name.” At that sentence, his eyes went up to the sky in thought. “Now that I think about it, she didn't say anything at all.”

Twilight giggled. “Oh, don't worry about it,” she told him. “Vinyl's just not the talkative type. Some ponies say that she lets her music speak for her.”

Knightmare looked back at her with a thoughtful expression. “That would make sense, being a DJ,” he reasoned. As they continued to trot, the golden yellow unicorn took in his surroundings, noticing that there was a lack of ponies out on the streets. Puzzled by this, he looked at Twilight. “Hey Twilight, where is everypony? I was told that there were a lot of friendly ponies in Ponyville.”

She looked behind him and smiled. “Don't worry,” she assured him. “You'll be seeing them around town pretty soon. Right now everyone's gathered for a special event.”

Knightmare raised an eyebrow at that, but shrugged it off and looked ahead of her to see a huge tree coming into view. Only, the tree seemed to have windows and a door...plus a mailbox outside it. Was this their destination? I've heard of treehouses, Knightmare thought, but this is ridiculous.

He watched as Twilight's horn became shrouded in a purple aura, and the door opened. She gestured for him to go in ahead of her. He thought it a bit strange, but didn't dwell on it too much and stepped inside. Twilight followed suit, closing the door behind them. It was too dark to see the interior. He began to get a bad feeling about this. Where were Twilight's friends? Why was it so dark in here?

Suddenly, the room lit up and a large group of ponies jumped out yelling “SURPRISE!!!” This caused Knightmare to almost jump out of his skin as he leapt back with a yell of alarm. He almost brought out one of his blades in reflex, but he held back from doing so as he noticed confetti and streamers come raining down. The ponies all gathered around him as he took in his surroundings. It looked like the whole place had been turned into a party zone. There were balloons, buffet stands, what looked to be different party games, even a giant banner strung from the ceiling that said “Welcome Knightmare Steel!” Wait, how had anyone here learned his name? He literally just got here. Word couldn't have spread that fast. He looked behind him at Twilight, but her expression said “Don't look at me, I didn't know your name until we met.”

Knightmare watched as the ponies began to gather around him, while Twilight and five others approached him. Well, okay, four of them and Twilight approached. One of the ponies, a pink earth pony, bounced once in the air and landed right in front of him, then proceeded to start talking at a rapid pace. “Hi! I'm Pinkie Pie, and I threw this party just for you! Were you surprised? Were you? Huh? Huh? Huh?” The pink pony's antics were starting to stress out Knightmare as his expression became more and more nervous.

One of the four other newcomers, a white unicorn with an elegantly styled purple mane and tail, blue eyes with light blue eye shadow and three diamonds for a cutie mark, noticed this and spoke up. “Pinkie, darling, give him some space,” she said, her whimsical voice sounding like it belonged to a noble. “The poor dear only just got here, and you're making him uncomfortable.” Pinkie Pie looked back towards the white mare, then to Knightmare as his growing nervousness quickly became apparent to her.

“Oh, I'm sorry,” she said quickly, backing up a couple steps as she gave an apologetic smile. “I always get carried away when I meet somepony new.” Knightmare gave a sheepish grin as he relaxed.

“It's alright,” he replied. “It just caught me off guard, that's all. You said your name was Pinkie Pie, right?” The pink mare nodded enthusiastically. “I'm Knightmare Steel. That's Knightmare with a K, by the way.”

“Silly billy, I already knew that,” she said, gesturing to the banner. “See? Your name's right there!”

How in Tartarus did she find out my name without anyone telling her? he thought in confusion. After wondering for a brief moment, he shrugged it off. Best not to dwell on it at the moment.

“Well, I guess as long as people noticed the banner, I shouldn't have to introduce myself very much,” he pointed out. As he did, he noticed the other four come closer. “Are you all Twilight's friends, perchance?”

The white unicorn from before nodded and stepped forward. “Indeed we are,” she answered, extending out a hoof towards Knightmare for a hoofshake. “Welcome to Ponyville, darling. I am Rarity, Ponyville's resident fashionista and seamstress.”

Knightmare smiled and put on his best suave voice as he shook her hoof. “A pleasure to meet you, Lady Rarity.” He noticed Rarity blush and smile as he spoke. “You likely know who I am already from the banner, but it would be proper to introduce myself formally. I am Knightmare Steel. That's Knightmare with a K, by the way.”

“My, such a gentleman,” she said. “I believe we will get along very well.” Knightmare nodded and smiled. “But please, do call me Rarity. After all, we are friends, are we not?”

Knightmare felt his heart skip a beat as he froze. “W-we are?” he asked.

“But of course, dear,” she assured him with a warm smile. “Any friend of Twilight's is a friend of mine.” Knightmare simply stood there for a moment, dumbstruck, but he quickly shook it off and smiled. “Well, thank you, Rarity,” he responded.

The next pony to step up was an orange earth pony, who had a blonde mane and tail, both of which were tied up at the end. She wore a cowboy hat and had emerald green eyes, and seemed to have some light freckles. Her cutie mark consisted of three red apples. Knightmare smiled and extended a hoof towards her, only for it to be taken with two hooves and shaken rather rough and quick. “Howdy do, Mister Steel,” she began enthusiastically, her voice carrying a heavy southern accent. “On behalf o' the Apple family, welcome ta Ponyville. Ah'm Applejack. If you're ever lookin' for some good ol' manual labor, just drop by Sweet Apple Acres and Ah'll get ya set up toot sweet.”

Knightmare felt like his leg was going to be torn from its socket. “It's nice to meet you Applejack,” he said, trying to hide the strain in his voice. “Um, you can let go of my hoof now.” She quickly realized what he was saying and let go with an apologetic smile.

“Mah bad, partner,” she apologized. “Ah got a little too carried away there, Ah guess.”

“It's no big deal,” Knightmare assured her as he slowly started to get feeling back in his leg. “Everypony has their own way of greeting someone.” Applejack gave an understanding nod.

The next to approach was a butter yellow pegasus with a pink mane that draped over one side of her face. Actually, she didn't really approach. It was more like Pinkie Pie was pushing her towards him while she was trying to dig her hooves into the floor. She had teal eyes, just like Luna, but they seemed a lot more shy, and her cutie mark was that of three pink butterflies. Judging from the way she was acting, she was the most timid of the group, so he would have to be careful in how he approached her.

As Pinkie finally brought her close enough, the pegasus shyly hid behind her mane. Knightmare chuckled softly. The way she acted was incredibly adorable. So adorable, in fact, that Knightmare felt like if she did something extremely adorable, he might actually wind up having some heart problems. Putting that thought aside, he carefully approached the mare and moved her mane back just slightly so he could see her. As he did, he heard her let out a soft squeak of fright. “There's no need to be afraid,” he spoke in a soft and comforting tone. “I'm not going to hurt someone as adorable as you.”

This seemed to get her attention, and she looked up at him with a blush on her muzzle. “Y-you think I'm...cute...?” she asked in a quiet voice. Knightmare nodded and smiled earnestly. She returned it with a shy smile of her own and slowly got to her hooves. “Um...my name is Fluttershy...” she squeaked. “I-it's nice to meet you, Knightmare...” She seemed to cringe at that name, making him raise a hoof to his chin in thought. His face brightened as he thought of something else she could call him.

“It's nice to meet you too, Fluttershy,” he replied. “Although, I can see you're not entirely comfortable with my name, so if you'd like, you can just call me K.” Fluttershy seemed to perk up at this and nodded, giving him an adorable smile that caused him to raise his hoof to his chest and groan in pain.

This in turn caused Fluttershy to run up beside him with a worried look. “Oh my goodness, are you okay?” she asked. Knightmare nodded in response.

“I'm fine,” he replied. “It's just that the smile you gave me was so cute, I kind of had a mini heart attack.” He noticed that she held a hoof to her mouth in shock. “Not literally, Fluttershy. Just a figure of speech.” That got her to relax again, and she went to rejoin the others, but not before giving him a hug that caused him to blush quite a bit.

The final one to introduce herself was a light blue pegasus with a rainbow colored mane and tail. Both were maintained in a wild, tomboyish style. Her eyes were pink, and her cutie mark depicted a thundercloud with a curved lightning bolt that was composed of three colors, red, yellow and blue. There was an arrogance and ego in her eyes that could not go unnoticed by Knightmare. Somehow, he didn't think this exchange was gonna go over well.

She had been flying when she started her approach, but once she got close enough to him, she landed and smirked. “So, you're the new pony in town, right?” she asked, though it didn't seem to be an actual question, as she began circling around him. “You don't look like much at the moment...buuut you did just arrive in Ponyville, so I won't make any fast assumptions.” She certainly seemed arrogant. “I'm Rainbow Dash,” she continued as she came back around to face him, holding out her hoof. “Fastest flier in Equestria, and the only pony able to pull off a Sonic Rainboom.” Knightmare shook her hoof, raising an eyebrow at the size of her ego.

“Knightmare Steel,” he said in a blunt tone. “It's nice to meet you, Rainbow Dash.” The pegasus smirked and took to the air yet again as she began bragging. Knightmare rolled his eyes and mentally tuned her out. He wasn't ready to deal with that kind of ego, not just yet. He then turned to get a better look at Pinkie Pie. Her coat was a hot pink while her mane and tale were a slightly darker shade of pink. Both mane and tail seemed to be puffed up like they were balloons, or cotton candy. Her eyes were blue, and she appeared to have three balloons as a cutie mark. Two of the balloons were blue, while the one in the middle was a butter yellow color. Knightmare guessed she must have been some party planner, considering this party was organized so quickly. If that were the case, she was a professional in her field.

“Well,” he spoke up, “I believe that's enough standing around talking.” He felt a grin spread across his face. “Let's get this party started!” The crowd of ponies around him gave a cheer and he heard music start to play. He noticed that there was a DJ stand nearby, the source of the music, and saw that behind it was Vinyl Scratch.

(Cue music: Michael Jackson – Smooth Criminal instrumental.)

He smirked as he felt a strange feeling of energy surge through him, and his hoof began tapping the ground reflexively. He began dancing to the music, raising up on his hind legs and making sharp, smooth movements to the rhythm of the music. Everypony turned to watch as they realized what he was doing. Others began to dance along with him as the music picked up, keeping up very well with Knightmare's movements. He suddenly pulled a full 360 twirl in place, and coming out of it, did a backwards flip, landing neatly on his hind legs and raising his hoof into the air with a yell fueled by pure energy. Twilight watched on the sidelines in awe as he continued his routine, putting his hind legs together and leaning way forward, then moving back into his original position using nothing but the strength of his legs and breaking out into a series of sharp movements, the kind you'd expect from an expert in this kind of field. It was like he had done this before. Every movement was on the money, perfectly matching the rhythm of the music. Twilight turned to her friends to ask what they made of this. Everypony was present, except for one. Pinkie Pie. She turned back to the show to see her dancing next to Knightmare, dressed in a white fedora and jacket, matching Knightmare move for move. How she had gotten that stuff on and made it over there to dance  with the stallion within a second of Twilight looking away, she would never know.

Knightmare grinned as he noticed the pink mare beside him. Now things are getting interesting, he thought in amusement. How I'm doing this, I do not know, nor do I care. All I care about right now is seeing just how far I can take this. He began intensifying his movements as the tempo increased, turning to the side and moontroting in place, looking behind him to see that Pinkie was matching him perfectly. The dance continued on for several more minutes, neither being able to outdo each other, and Knightmare was enjoying the hell out of it. He knew it wasn't a contest, but he was thoroughly enjoying the fact that the pink party pony was keeping up with him. It was like she knew what he was thinking of doing and replicated it perfectly. Plus, everypony's eyes were on them, which made things all the more interesting. As the song neared its final note, he went into a twirl, maintaining it until just before the final note, abruptly stopping and pointing his right hoof out towards the crowd while his left rested against the back of his head as he let out a yell of pure energy. The song ended as soon as the yell left his mouth, and he held the pose for a moment before the crowd let out a round of applause. He grinned widely as he looked over at Pinkie, only to find that she was struggling to keep her balance as her eyes rolled in separate directions inside her head. She must have tried to replicate the spin, but had gotten incredibly dizzy in doing so. Knightmare laughed and held out his hoof to her, which she gladly accepted as she unsteadily got to her feet. She quickly shook her head to get rid of the dizziness and grinned.

“Pinkie, that was incredible!” he exclaimed as he laughed. “I've never felt such exhilaration before! How did you know what I was going to do?”

“Silly billy, that's a Pinkie Pie secret,” she replied with a smile. “Besides, even if I told you, you wouldn't understand.” She then looked around and brought her face close to whisper in his ear in a very serious tone. “The last time I tried explaining it to Twilight, she nearly wound up in an insane asylum.”

Knightmare's eyes narrowed at that little revelation. “I'll take your word for it, then,” he said nervously.

Pinkie smiled again as Rainbow Dash suddenly zipped up to them with a huge grin on her face. “That. Was. Awesome!” she exclaimed. “Where'd you learn to bust a move like that? You've gotta teach me!”

Knightmare gave her a sheepish grin. “Honestly, I don't know,” he replied. “It just felt natural to me. Truth be told, I really don't remember anything from before last night.”

This caught Rainbow's attention, and she zipped up to him with a look of concern. “Are you serious?” she asked. “You can't remember anything at all?”

The golden yellow unicorn shook his head. “No,” he answered. “The only thing I have is my name, the most basic of knowledge, and that's it. I have no clue where I came from, what my life was like before this, or what my purpose is.” He glanced at his cutie mark as he said this. “I mean, I still have a cutie mark, but I can't remember what it represents.”

(Cue music: Kingdom Hearts 2 OST – Friends in my Heart.)

As he turned back to Rainbow Dash, he noticed that she had landed in front of him and had an expression of compassion on her face. She placed a hoof on his shoulder and smiled. “Hey, don't worry about it,” she said reassuringly. “No way I'm gonna stand idly by after hearing that. We'll help you get your memories back, no sweat. You can count on that.”

Knightmare's eyes narrowed in surprise. “R-really?” he asked. “You'd do that? Even though you barely know me...?”

Rainbow grinned and nodded. “Heck yeah!” she responded. “I'd never leave my friends hanging!” Knightmare looked down and blushed a bit in embarrassment. He never knew the ponies in Ponyville could be so hospitable. For some reason, it felt completely foreign to him. His heart ached, as though it had been wanting this kind of friendship for a long time.

“You...you called me your friend...” he muttered, looking back up at her. “Even though we just met...you consider me a friend...?” Rainbow Dash smiled and nodded once more.

“Hey, it's like Rarity said,” she explained. “Any friend of Twilight's is a friend of ours.” As she said this, he felt another hoof on his shoulder. He turned his head to look behind him and saw Pinkie Pie standing there, a look of equal compassion on her face. One by one, Twilight and her friends gathered around him, each one with a caring smile. He felt tears begin to well up as he was surrounded by his new friends, and a happy smile spread across his face.

“Thank you...” he murmured softly as his tears began to fall. “You have no idea...how much this means to me...in such a short time, you six have shown me a kindness that I can never repay...you've welcomed me with open arms into your town without so much as a second thought...I am forever grateful for the hospitality you have shown me today...thank you so much...” In that moment, the six ponies embraced him in a group hug. Unable to hold his emotions back any longer, he just let the tears fall as he quietly broke down in the hooves of his new friends. Twilight and her friends simply embraced their new friend, comforting him as his emotions overwhelmed him. The other ponies stood back and watched, all smiles as they witnessed this happy moment.

After a few minutes, Knightmare began to calm down, and he sighed in content, which signaled the Mane Six to let go and take a couple steps back. “Feeling better now?” Twilight asked him. Knightmare looked at her with a smile and nodded. Twilight returned the smile and continued. “If you need anything later on, just let us know. We'll do our best to help.”

Knightmare nodded again and turned to look at Vinyl Scratch, his tears now dry. “All right,” he spoke up, “now that my tears are all dried up, I believe it's time to get back to the party.” Vinyl nodded in understanding and began playing music again. The party quickly got back into the swing of things as most of the ponies dispersed to do their own thing.

As Twilight was about to go join in on the fun, she felt a hoof rest on her shoulder. She turned her head back to find Knightmare standing there, a serious look on his face. “What's up, Knightmare?” she asked, turning to face him.

“Well, I figured I'd better get this out of the way before the party's over,” he began, clearing his throat. “You said to let you know if I needed anything, right?” She nodded in response. “Well, I don't necessarily have a home at the moment, so...”

She smiled and nodded in understanding. “That's alright,” she assured him. “You can stay here with me until you find a home, if you'd like.”

Knightmare raised an eyebrow. He shouldn't be surprised that she was so open to the idea, he knew, considering how openly they had accepted him as a friend earlier. But it still caught him off guard that she had offered to him before he could ask. “Are you sure?” he asked.

Twilight placed a hoof on his shoulder. “Princess Celestia asked me to help you out until you settled into a place of your own,” she replied. “Of course you can stay here. Not to mention, the books here will help you get reacquainted with the world.” She then gestured her head towards the countless rows of books in the main room. “Who knows, we might also find a way to help get your memories back.”

Knightmare smiled wholeheartedly and came closer, wrapping his hoof around Twilight in a hug. “Thanks, Twilight,” he said softly. “I'll repay you for this someday.” With that, he retreated back to the party while Twilight headed upstairs.

His stomach abruptly growled as he realized he had not yet eaten anything, and he began looking for a table of food. Spotting one, he began to trot towards it eagerly, only to be joined halfway by Rarity, whom Knightmare acknowledged with a friendly smile. As he reached the table, he noticed that Rarity had been staring at him for a while. “Something wrong, Rarity?” he asked.

This caused her to snap out of her stupor, shaking her head and looking up to meet his gaze. “Oh, terribly sorry darling,” she apologized. “It's just that I couldn't help but notice that necklace you're wearing. Is that made of real sapphire?”

Knightmare glanced down at his necklace, remembering how it had somehow transformed into this from one of Luna's. “I think so,” he answered. “To be honest, I'm not entirely sure how I got this. Luna gave me one of her old necklaces, and when she placed it around my neck, I blacked out for a second. Next thing I know when I come to again, the necklace has turned into this.”

Rarity seemed to be taking great interest in his story. “How strange,” she muttered, her hoof resting on her chin as he eyes were turned upward in a puzzled look. After a moment, she turned her gaze back to him and smiled. “Well, however the circumstances, it certainly suits you. A necklace made entirely out of sapphire, both blue and gold...I dare say that I've never seen anything quite like it. It may be the only one of its kind.”

Knightmare raised an eyebrow. “You really think so, Rarity?” he asked, receiving a nod from the mare. He looked back down at the yellow sapphire Ω, nestled comfortably inside the blue sapphire that wrapped around his neck and met in the center of his chest. Its color gave him the impression that the gem was not really sapphire, but was instead pure gold given the form of a crystal. Upon closer examination, he noticed that there was some kind of silver crystal that faintly outlined the symbol. He would have to ask an expert what that silver crystal was.

Then a thought crossed his mind. Wait a second...Rarity could tell at a glance that my necklace was made out of sapphires, he thought. They could have been any other kind of gems, but she specifically labeled them to be sapphires. Assuming she's right, she could very well be an expert on gems.

He smiled and turned back to the mare. “Rarity, I just noticed something about this necklace,” he began, immediately grabbing her attention. “It looks like there's a silver crystal outlining the symbol, and it's very faint. Do you know what kind of gem it is?”

Rarity stepped forward to get a closer look, while Knightmare stretched his neck and stood up as straight as he could so she could get a better angle. Sure enough, there was the silver outlining the symbol. She squinted as she tried to make out any telltale signs of what this silver was, and after a few minutes, she managed to pick up on the type of gem it was. “Darling, that silver appears to be Spinel,” she concluded with a smile, stepping back and allowing Knightmare to relax. “Spinels are quite popular for their brilliance and single refraction. They tend to show gray and silver at their best.” She took another look at the necklace, taking in every detail as she ran her hoof along it. “Whatever did this certainly knew what it was doing. The crystal is cut so smooth that it can be worn comfortably, and yet it never sacrificed its radiance. Not a single bump or scrape on the crystal to mar its beauty or cause discomfort...it's magnificent!”

Knightmare put a hoof to his chin in thought. Why was the necklace so smooth? Could it have been the result of some kind of magic? It was the most likely explanation, especially since Luna's necklace had somehow managed to transform into this. But then, who cast the spell? It couldn't have been the princesses; they had been just as shocked as he was.

So many questions, not enough answers, he thought in slight frustration. He turned to look at Rarity once again and opened his mouth to say something, but the sound of his stomach growling reminded him what he was doing over there. Rarity placed a hoof on her muzzle and giggled in a ladylike manner.

“It seems someone is rather hungry,” she said with a smile. “Well then, I will let you get something to eat. Take care, darling.” With that, she trotted off back into the party.

Knightmare smiled as he watched her go. I could get used to a mare like her, he thought in amusement. She's so polite and ladylike, she'd make an excellent wife. I just hope she can eventually find someone who would be worthy of her.

He turned back to the table, filled to the brim with goodies of all kinds. However, most of it was pure sugar. Given how badly his belly was growling, sugar would probably just upset his stomach. He needed something actually filling and nutritious. He began to look around the party, quickly noticing that there was an Apple Bob game on one end of the room. A few different ponies were already bobbing for apples, and Knightmare recognized one of them as Applejack.

“Jackpot,” he said to himself as he began to trot over to the tub full of apples.

Applejack noticed him as he approached, and gave a big friendly smile. “Howdy, Knightmare,” she greeted. “Up fer some apple bobbin'?”

“Sure, I'm game,” Knightmare said with a grin. He placed his front hooves on the tub and looked into the tub. There were plenty of different apples in the tub, but his eyes immediately settled on a Red and Delicious. His eyes tracked the apple for a few moments as other ponies bobbed for apples, and when it got close, he plunged his head into the water and grabbed the apple in his teeth, pulling his head out of the water and holding it in his teeth triumphantly. He then took it in his magic and began chowing down on the apple like he hadn't eaten in days.

Once he finished the apple, he noticed Applejack giving him a smug look. “Ya were real hungry, weren't ya?” she asked. Knightmare nodded with a sheepish grin, swallowing down the rest of the apple. “Ya know there's a snack area, right?”

“I know,” Knightmare replied. “But the problem is, most of the food there is sugary stuff. Right now, sugar would likely upset my stomach, plus I needed something filling.” He looked down at the tub of apples. “Then I saw this tub full of apples, and well, you can figure it out from there.” Before Applejack could reply he dunked his head down and snatched another Red and Delicious before popping back up.

“Ah s'pose that makes sense,” Applejack reasoned as Knightmare munched down the apple. “Ah'm glad ta see ya like our Sweet Apple Acres apples.”

Knightmare grinned as he finished his apple. “These apples are local?” he asked, to which Applejack responded with a nod. The yellow unicorn smiled. “No wonder they're so fresh and delicious. I'm willing to bet you harvested these yourself.”

“Darn straight,” she replied with a grin, puffing her chest up slightly in pride. “Yer lookin' at one o' the hardest workin' Applebuckers in Ponyville.” Knightmare rolled his eyes. He hadn't expected the Southern Belle to have that kind of ego. “Well actually, ta tell ya the truth, other than mah brother Big Macintosh, Ah'm the only Applebucker at Sweet Apple Acres.”

Knightmare raised an eyebrow. I stand thoroughly corrected, he thought. She doesn't have an ego, she just takes a lot of pride in her work. That being said, I still don't know how much land she and her family own...oh buck it, I'm not gonna make any more premature judgments. “Really? You're the only ones who work the place?”

Applejack nodded. “If ya like, Ah can show ya around the place tomorrow,” she offered. “And since it's only me an' Big Mac workin' the orchard, we can always use an extra hand if yer interested. We'll even pay ya fer yer troubles.”

Knightmare put a hoof to his chin in thought. “Well, I don't have a job at the moment, nor do I have any funds as far as I know...” he muttered. “Alright Applejack, I'll take you up on your tour offer, and we'll see about that job offer. It's gonna depend on whether or not I can even do the job.” He extended his hoof out to her, and they shook on it.

“Alright!” she exclaimed with a grin. “Ah need ta transport some apples into town tomorrow. Once Ah'm done there, Ah'll swing by and come get ya.”

Knightmare nodded and smiled. “Sounds like a plan,” he said as he released her hoof. He was feeling much better now that he ate, so he said farewell to the orange mare as he headed back through the party. Vinyl had started playing a mix of all sorts of music genres, creating a unique atmosphere that seemed to satisfy anyone. He had to admit that he was really loving the party so far. He was able to socialize a bit with a few of his newly acquired friends, had a dance off with Pinkie Pie, and had the most heartwarming experience that he likely has ever had.

I think I'm going to love living here, the unicorn thought as he began to dance with other ponies.

Several hours later, Knightmare watched from Twilight's balcony as the sun began to set in the distance, bathing the sky in a beautiful red color. Down below, he could see the townsponies going their separate ways, likely heading to their respective houses for the night. He felt a smile make its way across his face as he watched them go. Everyone had welcomed him with such hospitality that it almost felt alien to him. He closed his eyes as he walked away from the balcony and back into the bedroom, where he saw Twilight getting ready for bed. He gave her a warm smile as he made his way to the bathroom for a bath.

As the tub began to fill with warm water, he began to reflect on everything that happened so far. So much had happened in the last thirty-six hours. He'd fought a Hydra, been saved from said Hydra by a princess, said princess brought him to her home to watch over him, then sent him here to begin life anew, where he met six new friends, one of whom had gathered the entire population of Ponyville to welcome him with a party. Needless to say, it had been a trying time, and Knightmare was slowly beginning to feel the fatigue setting in as he stepped into the tub. He allowed himself to relax as he let his body sink into the soothing water. He closed his eyes for a moment and let out a content sigh. I needed this, he thought as he used his magic to levitate a sponge and soap over to him. Nothing like a nice warm bath to wash away the stress.

Within thirty minutes, he had finished up his bath and began to dry himself off. As he stepped up to the mirror to examine himself, he blinked in surprise. I must be more tired than I thought, he thought with an exhausted sigh. I could've sworn I saw my eyes change for a second there. Shrugging it off, he stepped out of the bathroom and headed to the guest bedroom. The bed wasn't exactly the highest caliber in terms of comfort, but he supposed it was better than nothing. He had no clue how often Twilight got people staying over, so it made sense. It was big enough for at least three ponies, but that was only if they were all squished together. More than enough for just one pony. As he climbed into the bed and layed his head to rest on the pillows, he couldn't help but feel excited about tomorrow. It would be the day he officially started his new life.

Within minutes, Knightmare Steel had fallen fast asleep.