Author's Note
Prologue:
History is often not at all like what we of later generations are taught. The rise of Equestria as a kingdom in it's own right is a case in point.
This tale takes place about 3000 years in the past of the modern MLP canon. During this time, Celestia and Luna are still fillies, though close to grown physically. The events here recorded come shortly after the defeat of the Sunlord as told in FORTRESS CANTERLOT! and are part of the foundation of the modern kingdom of Equestria.
For more background information on the canon of this tale, please read:
The Coming of Tam O’Canter and Heather Bloom O’Red Hoof to Ponyville
Hearthwarming Eve / Starvation’s Night
De Writer and the Orb of the Ages
From Darkness to Dawn
Fortress Canterlot!
Cover art by Wind, the Mama Cat
The Knights of Justice
The Knights of Justice
by
De Writer (Glen Ten-Eyck)
///////////////////////
The Great Hall of Camarg was in an uproar. The King, with his Queen beside him had to raise his scepter to demand quiet. That was enforced by the Herald’s trumpet blast and call of, “Their Majesties demand silence! It is understood that you have complaint to lay before them. This shall be done in an orderly and civil fashion!
“This is a Royal Court, not a village commons!
“Baron Sir Salten, I believe that your business was first. From what I am hearing in this unseemly clamor, most of you have similar cases to bring.
“Listen to Baron Sir Salten. If your case is similar to his, go to the left of the room.
“In this way, we can speed up this mess.”
The King of Camarg raised his wings impressively where he sat his throne and intoned, “Baron Sir Salten, what is it that has you here before me?”
The Baron doffed his steel chanfron helmet and stepped forward, limping a little. “I shall be blunt, Your Majesty. I have been robbed. My guards were driven off, my tax wagon taken and emptied of all the casks of dried fruits, nuts, and grains that it carried.
“I led an expedition of armed force against the robbers and was driven away! Salten needs assistance to stop this incursion!”
The King, Camarg II, of Camarg, tilted his head and gave Salten a hard stare. While he was doing so, more than half of the Noble Pegassi and Unicorns had gone to the left of the room.
Camarg II, King of Camarg did not hold his position by being entirely stupid. He whispered to a page near him. That pony retreated and returned shortly. He handed the king a scroll.
He sat on his throne and reviewed the contents of the scroll carefully. Several in the Court were reminded that this was not just show. Camarg was literate. He looked up with a small, tight smile and pronounced, “It appears that you are not being fully honest with me, Salten. Your taxes were reported as fully collected and the Royal Levy taken.
“How then, can it be that you are robbed of the contents of a TAX WAGON?”
A number of those who had gone to the left, quietly sneaked back to the right side of the Great Hall.
“My Liege! You are ignoring the important issue of Fealty! I have been attacked and you must, by oath support me with arms!”
“Salten, Salten,” Camarg said dismissively, “Fealty works TWO WAYS. You are to support Me by the Royal Levy in time of peace. In turn, I am to support you in time of war or famine.
“YOU ARE FORBIDDEN to collect any tax without a Royal Dispensation, to be sure of the proper distribution of the Levy.
“I agree, in principle, that Salten needs armed support. I will investigate FIRST this fraud of the taxes. I was about to call you to Court, when you came on your own. The villages of Roachmane and Tailswitch have both sent ranking burgers to complain of being taxed twice.”
“They do mention the force that defeated you. Two pegassi, two unicorns and four earth ponies. Not exactly an invading army.
“According to the burgers, the unicorns of this force marked all the chests and casks by magic when they returned everything to the villages. They advised the villagers to come to My Court for redress. Again, not precisely the actions of a hostile force at arms.”
Queen Megan spoke softly from her throne. “Salten, I have seen the reports and spoken to the burgers of Roachmane and Switchtail. They say that when you were driven off, that you were trying to bring back the tax wagon to take what was not yours for the second time.”
Behind them, down the Great Hall, the removal to the right again became a near stampede.
The Queen put it simply. “You are seeking to manipulate Fealty to gain Our help an unlawful collection of a Levyless tax.
“You seek to gain Our assistance in robbing both Us and your own tenants at the same time.”
Multicolored light from the stained glass windows shone on the left side of the hall, where no noble ponies were.
The Queen’s sardonic glance took in that fact. She declared, “We have received a goodly number of similar complaints. They are all from villages on the side of the kingdom facing the Sunlord’s old land. There is a new power rising there.
“Far up a steep mountain side in that empty land is a mighty fortress named Canterlot. The Sunlord attacked that fortress. In only a few battles, he was not only defeated, he was destroyed. We have not moved to try taking any of the land that was his. It is now under the sway of the Fortress Canterlot.”
She stared down the nobles most known for their fractious and warlike behavior. One, Count Wilton, squirming a bit under the Queen’s pitiless stare, replied, “Your Majesties, perhaps we are being too timid here. They must be severely depleted after defeating the Sunlord. Now could be the advantageous time to strike and strike hard! We have much to gain and little to lose!”
King Camarg gave him an amused and dismissive glance. “Thought of, Wilton. Investigated and decided against after receiving factual reports.
“We sent a delegation under truce to Canterlot. They are ruled by two Princesses. Besides finding that their standing army is over four times ours, our delegation discovered that the entire army is composed of volunteers, largely from the Sunlord’s old forces. They are also fanatically loyal to the Princesses.
“Those Princesses personally led the battles where the Sunlord was, first defeated and then, when he would not give up his tactic of murdering the wounded, they destroyed him. Personally. On the field of battle.
“More, they gathered the fallen, regardless of side, and did their best to heal all of the injuries of misfortune or war. That is part of where the fanatical loyalty comes from. They do not just lead battle, they heal its aftermath.”
Queen Megan picked up, “That healing is not limited to upper classes or warriors, either. After the Sunlord was defeated, they sent their army back up his line of march. Their orders, which were followed, were to help rebuild or repair houses, barns, byres. To see what could be saved of orchards, vineyards and crops. Wounded, sick or injured peasants were taken to Canterlot and healed if possible.
“To the Princesses in Canterlot, justice and fair treatment extend to all, even donkeys.” She shook her head at the bizarre notion.
Briskly, King Camarg replied, “That could be seen as a great weakness but I have to wonder about that. Remember, Salten, the force that drove off your armored fighters was only four earth ponies, two unicorns and two pegassi. The puzzle is simple. Why more earth ponies than either of the groups that are capable fighters?
“Perhaps we can have our answer soon. As we sent a delegation to Canterlot under truce, so also have they. I had word that they have arrived a short while ago.”
The herald’s trumpets blasted a fanfare. The lead Herald called out, “Make Way for the Delegation from the Twin Crowns of the Equestrian Lands of Fortress Canterlot!” The large doors of Great Hall opened.
The delegation from Canterlot entered the throne room of Camarg. They were led by a dark mare, easily as large and light of build as a horse. Her color was hard to determine. Black? Dark blue? Try the color between the stars of a clear midnight sky. She had a horn, long narrow and straight, far longer than the horn of any unicorn pony. Along her sides were folded the largest wings that any there had ever seen, and some of them had fought in Gryphon wars.
She wore a simple crown of gold, enameled with the same blue as herself and bearing the emblem of a crescent moon. It matched her flank marks and the great pectoral necklace that she also wore.
Her mane and tail were long and flowing, the same midnight hue as herself. They rippled like a wind blew them and there were stars to be seen in them, though the constellations were strange. Her hooves on the stone pave, before she came to the carpet runner that led to the throne, were silent.
It was as if a dream had walked into the daylight of the throne room. Behind her were two unicorns, one brown and one blue. Two pegassi in war harness, Chanfron helmets doffed, followed them.
They followed the Dark Mare to the foot of the Throne dais.
There, the Dark Mare, knelt into a curtsy. Both unicorns bowed. Both pegassi curtsied.
Camarg was wise enough not to insult them by making them wait. “Arise and be recognized.”
Courteously, the vision of a Dark Mare replied, “I do thank you, Your Royal Majesty. My name is Princess Luna of the Equestrian Lands of Fortress Canterlot, Guardian of the Night, Keeper of Dreams and the True Embodiment of All Nightmare. These, my followers are: my Foster Father De Writer, the inventor of that art which you find so useful. Justice Truthkeeper, to whom a lie is impossible. Wing Commander of our Royal Pegassi, Swift Feather and Wing Commander of our Royal Pegassi, Bright Cloud.
“We are here at the invitation of your Royal Delegation to discuss proper bounds, boundaries and the enforcement of Just Law.
“If I may say so, your Royal Majesty, we have made a study of your Law and find it mostly fair and just. It has but one great flaw.”
Camarg looked skeptically across at the disturbingly tall Princess, so unlike any creature of his experience. He, on a throne atop a three step dais, was at her eye level. His Queen Megan was also discomfited by Luna’s size but wise enough to ignore it.
Sounding truly interested, she inquired, “And what, Princess Luna, is that flaw in our law?”
Luna smiled at her and Queen Megan found herself actually at ease with her strange visitor. Luna’s reply was, “You were just dealing with that flaw when we arrived. It is not the law that is at fault. It is those entrusted to administer and carry out that law in a fair and just fashion.
“Your taxes, for instance, are reasonable and well divided according to the types of work done and crops that are raised. Not only do those monies and goods support yourselves and your nobles, a portion is set aside for relief of your populace in famine or disaster. All of this is wise and well designed.
“Baron Salten’s unlawful tax expedition is an example of the problem. First, the Barons gather the tax, which is all properly accounted and your Levy taken. Later, without your knowledge or authorization, a second tax is taken, solely for the benefit of the Barons and Knights of the Realm. This second tax, they call the “Gleaning,” so that if, in speaking of it, they are overheard, it will sound innocent.
“On our way here, we did interrupt Baron Salten’s unlawful gleaning. Since both the Law and Honor of our Hosts, your Royal selves, were at stake, we took the liberty of disrupting the crime and returning the stolen goods to their rightful owners.
“My followers, here, begged me the boon of correcting this wrong and I granted it.
“If I have erred in this action, proper redress shall be made from the supplies of Canterlot.”
Queen Megan thought for only a second before replying, “The only error, there was not time enough to amend. You had not Our Royal permission. We here grant that the need of swift justice and honorable action were paramount. You are forgiven that and thanked for your well carried out and restrained response.”
Luna bowed her head gracefully and said, “We thank you. All that we have heard of your Honor and Grace are upheld by this.”
Baron Salten, outraged, bawled out, “They attacked us without cause! We did no thing to them! When we came back, over fifty strong, to seek revenge for unprovoked attack, they drove us off!”
Bright Cloud began to chuckle and then laugh outright.
In moments, Swift Feather broke into a smile, grin and began to chuckle too. King Camarg looked on, bemused for a moment and then requested, “Perhaps you can let us all in on the source of your levity? It has been a mostly unpleasant session of Court so far and I could use a laugh.”
Nodding, Bright Cloud got hold of herself and explained, “It was Baron Salten’s assertion that we drove them off! He did have a bit over fifty at arms. These he divided into two wings. He encircled a small copse that he presumed us to be hiding in and closed in.
“His right wing attacked his own left, who, understandably, defended themselves. The battle of Baron Salten against himself was still raging when we came over a small hill and saw it.
“We took them from outside the ring. They panicked and began a rout, which the Baron joined! Except technically, we did not defeat them. Baron Salten defeated himself through sheer incompetence and lack of organization. Perhaps you needed to be there to appreciate it fully.”
The King on his throne and his Queen on hers were grinning ear to ear. “I think not, Wing Commander. That did indeed lighten things. How badly did Baron Salten defeat himself?”
Soberly, Princess Luna replied, “Five of his unicorns at arms and four of his pegassi are dead. We were delayed in getting here because we stopped and did such surgeries as we could on the survivors. We saved their lives, healed their wounds and mended their broken bones. We came on only after we had done all that we could for the fallen.”
“Why would you bother?” demanded the discomfited Salten. “They were mere ponies at arms. Peasants all.”
It was the old blue unicorn who spoke in answer. “Luna’s Creator/Mother was the Titan of Life Creation herself. Luna, very rightly, regards only the question of whether the pony before her lives. If that pony is alive, she works to keep it so.
“You, on the other hoof, have no care for life at all. You fled the field and abandoned your ponies. We did not. Some of those that we healed have requested that we take them to our service. This, we could not grant for their being the warriors of a friendly nation and we not having Royal Permission to take them.
“What is the source of your power as a Baron? It has two roots and you have actively worked to make one wither. The King to whom you owe Fealty is one root of your strength as a Baron.
“The other root, the vital root, is those peasants that you think so little of. They provide the crops, tend the orchards, spin and weave the fabrics, quarry the stone, cut and shape the timbers, mine, smelt, cast and forge the metals. They make EVERYTHING that you batten off of.
“They are not MERE. They are the Solid Foundation upon which the WHOLE of the kingdom rests. To dismiss them as MERE is to dismiss the kingdom as a whole. It cannot exist without them. Nobles are the ones who can be most easily dispensed with, not the peasants.
“Nobles were first created to defend the kingdom and its peasants. If a noble falls, as happens too often, another will be raised. The true work of a Noble is not in Court, as important as that can be, it is in organizing the labors of the peasants to get the best for the kingdom as whole. Any who abandon that work have abandoned the kingdom.”
Camarg, on his throne was listening brow furrowed in concentration, a smile on his lips.
Salten snapped, “That is sedition! The Kingdom is Here! We are the Kingdom!” He swept a hoof dramatically about the room.
Camarg whispered to a page who left and returned shortly after, bearing a scroll. The whole Court looked on, puzzled as the King’s eye swept down the scroll. Looking up, he nodded to himself.
Speaking to De Writer, he said, “It appears that you have indeed studied our law and ways.”
Turning to Salten he pointed with his scepter and said, “I have just read your Induction to Fealty, Salten. In this Court, today alone, you have denied your Fealty, not once, but thrice.
“You attempted to have me send armed force against the Delegation of a Friendly Power for your own criminal gain. You have lied to me about the nature of your defeat, a thing that you well knew. Further, you have, in open Court, called sedition the very Instrument of Fealty to this Kingdom, which I personally wrote in my second year on the throne. I have just verified that you signed that instrument as read and understood when you were Elevated.
“For these crimes, I hereby cast you from the Barony of Salten. The title and estates are Vacant until a new Baron shall be found.
“Guards! Take Montre Saur, once Baron Salten, to a prison cell.”
De Writer said softly but in a carrying voice, “We did indeed study your laws. That Law of yours was so clear and well written that We of Canterlot adopted it with but few changes as our own law, too. Its origin in your wisdom is recorded as a part of the law as we have it written. For such wisdom and clarity, we do thank you, Your Majesty.”
Luna gave a piercing look at the pony on the throne. When she spoke, it carried conviction to all who heard it. “Your Majesty, since we began Canterlot, we have been carrying out what you wrote. We sent our armies out after the Sunlord War to do all that could be done to repair the damage and loss of that war.
“We have tried to be open to all who had just grievance. Where we failed, was in finding the words to make good law of it all. Your wisdom gave us those words.
“In going through your other law, we have found much that was like to it in both wisdom and clarity. All that fits our situation we have credited and are using. We came here to meet in person the pony who could write with such grace and wisdom.
“Seeing you now, enforcing that law, has made up my mind. We do wish a compact with you. We will discuss that matter privately at a later time.”
A stealthy wisp of pale yellow magic slithered out from among the gathered nobles. Near invisible, it reached for Luna’s tail. Without even looking, she twitched her tail to one side, so that the tendril had to make a second effort.
As it did, Luna’s magic, seeming to have a life of its own, raced up the yellow tendril, swallowing it like a midnight serpent. Luna did not even bother turning her head to watch. The rusty brown unicorn who was the source of the tendril was enveloped in star-shot midnight magic.
In only moments the magic lifted from him. Luna did turn then. To her foster father. To the old blue unicorn, she asked, “Did I do it right, Father?”
With an amused grin, the old blue unicorn replied, “Hoof Glue, you mean? It certainly appears so.”
Turning to King Camarg, De Writer asked, “Would Your Majesty please have the assembled nobles of your court step over to the left side of the carpet runner to your throne? I do believe that my Foster Daughter Luna has so done things that the criminal who attempted to steal hairs of her tail for black magical purposes will be revealed if you do.”
Queen Megan quietly said, “Such an attempt was made on me too, My Liege. That crime could not be traced. If we have one among our court who is dealing in such acts, it is best if that one be found.”
King Camarg nodded slowly. The herald called, “Would the assembled Court of Camarg II please cross to the left of the Carpet?”
A lone rusty brown unicorn was left behind. He was struggling, to no avail. His hooves were fused tight to the stone pave. He was stuck there like a cockroach in glue.
Besides that, he was trying frantically to muster his magic but it would not come. It would build to barely visible shimmer and fade at once.
Straining at the stone that would not release his hooves, eyes rolling in fear, the unicorn called frantically, “Sire! What is this, if not Black Magic? I can not use mine at all! I am trapped here by an evil sorcery!”
Interested, the King cocked his head at Luna and asked mildly, “What have you done to Baron Cutshort? It is most amusing, I must admit.”
Luna smiled. “I learned the magic that we call Hoof Glue from Father. He used to run a school of reading and writing. It was a harmless means of discipline for the unruly among the students. I have blended the stone of the flooring and the lower parts of his hooves. It is easily undone at your command.
“For the other, my title, Keeper of Dreams and the True Embodiment of All Nightmare, is exact and literal. He has a day dreaming nightmare fear of his own magic, which causes him to extinguish his magic the instant that it begins to manifest. This also, I can remove at the moment that your Majesty shall command it.”
The King pursed his lips as he thought. He called his page close and whispered in his ear. Moments later three guards came to the King’s side. He whispered to them for a moment.
They left on their errand.
Baron Cutshort guessed what it might be and redoubled his efforts to free himself.
It was not long at all before the guards returned. They bore a box that was painted black.
King Camarg stared long and hard at the struggling Baron. That pony had gone from angry struggles to despairing efforts. His head drooped.
Turning attention to the guards, the King asked, “Have you looked inside this box?”
Straightforwardly, they answered, “Nay, Sire. Our order was to bring to you anything that we found suspicious. This was hidden in his sleeping stall with all arranged so that it would not be easily found.”
“Well done. Whatever is here, the Baron clearly does not want us to see.”
Luna spoke up in her gentle voice, “A Boon, Your Majesty Camarg? I would be the one to open this box. I have a very good idea of the contents. As the Embodiment of Nightmare, it will not be so hard for me as it might prove to others.”
The Queen had been watching all with sharp eyes. Megan asked, “May I inquire HOW you know what is in that box?”
Luna nodded briskly, “I would think you remiss if you did not. I have given the Baron Cutshort a waking nightmare. It was for the purpose of rendering his magic useless for now. That nightmare has given me a bridge to his fears. He knows very well what is in the box and its uses.
“With your Royal permission, I will essay to open it here, in court, before you all. It has deadly traps against being opened.”
The king, sitting his throne, looked his strange visitor level in the eyes and made up his mind. “Open it then, if you deem it safe enough to do so.”
Luna nodded her head and then turned to the old blue unicorn that she had named De Writer. “Father, when this is opened, I will need your speed to preserve the contents. There is a spell in there to destroy them besides the traps on opening the box.”
One of the nobles in the crowd of courtiers barked a laugh. “Speed? An old pony like that? You would be better getting a garden snail!”
The old blue unicorn vanished. The one that had expressed such levity suddenly flipped flat to the stone pave. The old unicorn was sitting on his neck and had the laugher’s own knife held just under the chin.
Looking down at the fallen unicorn, whose horn was capped by a hard looking sheath of blue magic, the old one said, “Speaking of slow, Turtle, old pony, you certainly fill the bill.”
The knife clattered to the pave as the old one vanished again. He was standing exactly where he had been. “Now, dear. Go about the opening of the box. I will winkle the contents out when you do.”
Nodding to herself, Luna gathered her magic and enclosed the box in a clear bubble of it. A thread of midnight shot with stars seeped into the lock.
A needle like blade whipped out of the box, aimed at Luna’s eyes. It was being driven by a pustulent yellow magic. Striking Luna’s delicate seeming, thin, clear, bubble of magic, it stopped as if it had hit a solid object. Her magic enfolded and shredded the the yellow.
Baron Cutshort’s horn briefly glowed and died as he whinnied in agony.
The king nodded grimly. “If further proof of his guilt were needed, the breaking of that magic causing it to rebound to him gives it.”
The lock clicked as Luna’s magic dealt with its workings. The lid snapped up and flame washed out of the box. There was a small pile of objects on the carpet in front of old De Writer, who was looking pleased with himself.
He said, “It was easy, Luna, my dear. I had over a half second to get it all.”
The King, Queen and Court were staring in distaste at the objects. The gazes of most were drawn to the skull. It was from a half-grown foal unicorn. The yellowed scroll along side it drew some attention. Ritual knives, wands, candles and other things made up most of the balance. There were neatly labeled envelopes, carefully sealed. Each bore the name of somepony from the Court.
Luna’s head turned toward the envelopes as if her horn was iron drawn by a powerful lodestone. She gently hoofed through the envelopes and extracted one.
The Baron’s eyes filled with despair as he saw which one it was. Luna, voice filled with the deepest of compassion, asked him, “Please tell me of this one. I thought that I understood when I saw the others. Members of the Court. Power through control of them. I now see that I was wrong.
“Cindermane. Tell me of her. Tell us all.”
The Baron’s eyes hardened like granite and his struggles stopped. He showed true spine, suddenly. He glared at one of the Court. He gave the impression that, had he fangs and been free, he’d have ripped the throat out of Count Eleten.
“She was a pony of my estates. I met her through accident and loved her. I was preparing to make her my baroness. Count Eleten found it out. As she was still a peasant, he demanded her of me and I had to yield her up. Two months later, I was curtly informed that she had died of a choking death.
“I required her body for interment in my Barony. The Count refused me! I led a secret expedition to bring Cindermane home. We did that. She did die of a choking death. The noose was still on her neck!
“The Count Eleten murdered her! I determined to bring him low for the crime! He is the aim of my Workings! Those others are all ones that he is either related to or close friends!”
The old blue unicorn noticed that the king was hanging onto civility by a hair’s breadth. At a gesture from the Queen, three guards ponies had quietly bracketed Count Eleten. Luna noted it too.
She pursued, “And me? The Queen Megan? What part were we to play?”
Baron Cutshort did hang his head then. “I meant you no actual ill. I only sought to have highly placed allies who would also work to bring down Count Eleten.
“Once my revenge was complete, I meant to destroy all the means of my Working and never have aught to do with necromancy again.”
The Count Eleten yelled, “Lies! This is all lies to darken the noble name of Eleten!” Several others, who all had their names on those envelopes of necromancy, were nodding agreement.
Luna turned her head to one of her entourage. “Good Justice Truthkeeper, has the Baron Cutshort spoken truly? Has he lied, evaded or withheld anything?”
The brown unicorn with the flank mark of a pair of scales balanced over a sword’s edge, gave Baron Cutshort a penetrating gaze. He also stared at Count Eleten. “The Baron has withheld two things and two only. Where he found the body of his beloved Cindermane and what he hoped to accomplish by necromancy with her.
“The Count Eleten is lying completely. He knows the truth of the accusation.”
Looking almost forlorn, Luna turned back to the Baron. “Baron Cutshort, if I release you, will you give us honest parole to stay and hear the judgment of your King Camarg and make no effort to escape from that judgment?”
Addressing the envelope that Luna held, the Baron said softly but clearly, “Forgive me, Cindermane. Now you will never again walk beneath the sun.”
Speaking to Luna, he affirmed, “I have failed both my love and my revenge. All that I can do now to recover my honor is to do as you have asked. I do give you my parole. I will hear my King’s judgment against me nor try to evade it in any whit.”
Luna stepped over and wrapped a comforting wing about the Baron. “I take your parole, Lord Cutshort. Where was it that you found your Cindermane?”
“About a half mile to the south of Eleten’s wall is a copse of trees and brush. There he casts the corpses of those who have seriously displeased him. We were interrupted in recovering her.”
He pointed to the skull of the unicorn foal among the necromantic things. “The Count and a few henchmen came down to the wood while we were there. That foal was an illegitimate offspring of his by a peasant mare. She hid it from him.
“He broke all four of her legs and made her watch as he struck the head from her foal. Then he clubbed her to death with a stroke to the back of her head.
“I took the head as a powerful talisman against the Count when we recovered Cindermane’s body. I did hope to return her to life as the last Working of my necromancy.”
Luna continued to hold him with her wing as she looked to Justice. Justice nodded confirmation.
Luna told Baron Cutshort, “You are free of all of my magics. Now I must tell you a sad truth. All of necromancy is based on nightmares and lies. Those spells that do work would work regardless of the setting and be more effective free of the hate and limits of the necromantic ritual. The dead cannot be returned. Your Cindermane is gone past the reach of any.
“This is a thing that I am certain of. My mother/creator was the Titan of Life Creation. Life can be created. It can be passed on from one to another. It cannot be recalled when it is gone.
“Now that all of the truth of this is known, I must give you in judgment to King Camarg.”
The king sat his throne and glared at Count Eleten, bracketed by the Queen’s Guard. He leaned over and spoke softly to a page. The page left on his errand.
The King then turned to Baron Cutshort and asked, “Why did you not bring the matter of Cindermane to me? You surely know that my dear Megan, Queen of Camarg, was but the second daughter of an esquire before I married her and raised her to Queen of the Land?”
Baron Cutshort answered, “By the workings of Fealty, My King, I am required to bring my complaints to the Count who holds my Barony for his judgment. Once the Count has ruled of my complaint, I may appeal it to you.
“My Count is Eleten. He has not refused my complaint, which would free me to come to you. He has simply not ruled on the complaint, which, he claims to be still pending. Thus, I was blocked by the workings of Fealty and Law.”
To the surprise of the whole Court, King Camarg nodded sagely. “This does reveal a flaw in my Law and the Oaths that bind together this kingdom. That shall be amended with care.
“I find it to be of extenuation in the matter of your Necromancy. That, sadly, I cannot ignore. It is outlawed entirely. We have laws for a reason. We have a King for a reason as well.
“Normally, I would have to have your head struck from your body for it. The law has already hurt you more deeply than death. I would not make that wound worse. I shall have to think on this for some time to come.”
Luna approached the throne of Camarg and knelt as a supplicant. The King and Queen looked down at the kneeling Luna and the Queen said gently, “What is it that you wish of us, Princess Luna, Co Ruler of The Equestrian Lands of Fortress Canterlot?”
Luna looked up to them and replied, “I would have of you the person of Rufous, Baron Cutshort. His life, placed in my hooves, shall be as long as the fortunes of living allow. In my lands, we shall give him such honor as he is worth, nor shall he or his ever be set against you in war or battle.”
It was Queen Megan who pronounced, “Granted. Rufous, Baron Cutshort shall not be stripped of title or lands but allowed a proper abdication to join your service. What he did and admits of is such that only a great reason could allow this.
“He did all of Love, even the seeking of his revenge had that root.” She paused and gave the King, on his Throne beside hers, an affectionate gaze. “I do know the strength and the power of that Love which is the very root of a good life.”
Luna stood and said, “I do thank you most deeply, Your Majesties. You have given to me a treasure of great value.”
Camarg, from his Throne, replied, “We are most mindful of that fact. Were there any way to keep him that allowed us to keep our law as well, you should not have got him from us.
“Do use him well, for both his honor and the good of your land.”
“Sire, I do have exactly such a place for him in mind.”
The gracious Queen Megan asked, “May I be so bold as to ask what use you have planned for him?”
Seriously, Luna replied, “While speaking with him of his beloved Cindermane, I touched his dreaming heart. Truly he sought no more than justice for the wrong that she suffered and hoped that he could do her the justice of returning her to land of the living.
“He is driven by a love of honor and justice. That is the use that I will, with only a little training, make of him.
“He will be given good lands, adequate to his support. His work will be a roving or, some would say, errant commission to the finding of injustice and repairing it, be it high or low.
“He shall be a Knight of Justice.”
King Camarg thought that over carefully for a few moments. “Will you have a cadre of these Knights of Justice, Princess?”
“Your Majesty, they will need to be carefully chosen, but yes, I will.”
He nodded. “Princess Luna, We are honored that you are neighbor to us. We shall be pleased to work with you to settle properly the boundaries of our lands.”
The page that had been sent out earlier returned. He bore a scroll. The king, looking down it, grew visibly enraged.
“Bring forth the person of Count Eleten to stand judged for his crimes!”
The Count attempted to rear away from his guards, gathering magic powerfully to his horn.
Luna’s midnight magic literally slapped him from his hooves and capped his horn with a sheath of darkest blue power. As she stalked over to him, she was visibly changing to a creature out of Nightmare.
In a voice that sounded of both ponies screaming in horror and the roars of beasts ripping them asunder, she demanded, “Traitor! It is before the Throne that you MUST go!”
She reached out a deadly claw and sank the talons into his shoulder. With no seeming effort, she dragged him to the carpet at the foot of the Dais. His shoulder was frost rimed and deeply cut.
“His Majesty, King Camarg II, has required you here. You have attempted to defy your Liege in Open Court. Hear now the judgment set against you.”
Turning to both King and Queen, Luna said, in the gentle voice that they had been hearing earlier, “I apologize for showing the truth of my title, The True Embodiment of Nightmare, Your Majesties. For the crime that he was preparing, time and measured force were of the essence.
“Count Eleten is now before you and shall hear your judgment.”
The King glared down coldly, his wings lifted stiffly in anger. “Count Eleten! You dared to lift your magic against your sworn King! That is Treason.
“You have slaughtered at least twenty two whose corpses or skeletons could be easily found by a swift search carried out by my Guard, who have just returned from that errand. That is a Breach of Fealty and Law.
“You have unjustly Gleaned extra taxes from your peasant ponies and neither claimed them in law nor paid the Royal Levy upon them. That is a Breach of Fealty and Law.
“You have conspired to keep from Me, not only these things but your contempt for those lower in station than you. Those whose labor provides you with all that you possess. That is a Breach of the Kingdom Itself.
“Normally, I would have you executed by beheading for these crimes. I am minded to try another route in your case.
“Princess Luna, in your judgment, can Baron Cutshort, now to be a Knight of Justice to your Court be trusted to render honest and honorable judgment of this Count who has so wronged him?”
The Nightmare Luna smiled almost serenely as she replied, “Indeed, I do believe so.”
The King and the Queen both smiled but not the sort of smile that one before them would wish to see. It was a cold and heartless smile.
They asked together, “Baron Cutshort, Knight of Justice to Princess Luna, what say you of this pony before us?”
Baron Cutshort gazed thoughtfully down at his past tormentor and said, “I have several parts to what I would do.
“For the first, Treason against Your Majesties, here, in open Court, he shall be divested of all lands monies and titles whatsoever. Eleten shall be Vacant until it pleases Your Majesties to install another.
“For the second, attempting to use his magic against his sworn Lords, the persons of Your Majesties, in some form his magic be taken from him. Either his horn be removed or the magic of it be withered such that he cannot use it again.
“For the third, Morton, no longer noble at all, shall be placed upon the lands of Eleten, among those that he wronged, with a hovel of one room a cot and table. With it shall go five acres of land to be cultivated by his own hoof.
“As he thought the Gleaning good, he shall pay his tax with the proper Royal Levy at twice that of any other peasant of Eleten. Nor shall he be allowed to remove from that land for any reason without permission given by Your Majesty in writing.
“That is what I would do, were it my place to bring justice to what he has done.”
King Camarg looked to Luna, who had gradually resumed her normal appearance. “Princess, your choice for a Knight of Justice was truly excellent. His judgment against Morton, no longer Count of Eleten shall stand.”
To his Guards he said, ”Cap the horn of this pony and take him to a common cell until his horn’s powers be withered. After which, the balance of the judgment against him shall be done.”
–THE END–
