Knights Rising

“Are you sure you want to go back?” asked Zamir.

“I’ve waited long enough. It’s been too many winters since I’ve seen home. My sister probably believes I died, but I have to tell them what became of the others.” I said as I walked over to him.

“Will you rejoin the guard?” he asked looking out at the desert.

“No, I think it’s time that my scythe be used for harvesting instead of battle. I think I’ll follow in my father’s hoof prints and take up farming like most Earth ponies.”

“You aren’t an earth pony… well you have the strength of one, but you were born to fly my friend. Raised to stand your ground and fight to protect that which you care for. I don’t think that your blade will be farming much. As for your abilities they don’t have to be a curse. We’ll start to travel at dawn tomorrow.” I watched as the sun disappeared under the horizon. As the moon rose I looked back at the zebra that I had started to like. He was going to make a good ruler one day.

I felt torn looking at the moon. Part of me loved the night but another one wanted to erase the silver orb from the night sky along with the mare that raised it. I laid down, not the easiest task for a pony to do when missing a hind leg. I looked back at the jagged scars that once had been my wings. A row of black crystals followed my spine, my black mane was braided to try and hide them as much as possible. My coat darkened from its apple red to a very dark crimson. Sighing I wonder what my mom would have thought about the fact that I didn’t have a black, gray or dark blue coat like most bat ponies. Unlike most half bat half pegasi I didn’t only show the traits of one or the other but changed from one to the other based on my surroundings. My mom, Lunar Rose was half bat pony and half pegasi. She fell in love with an earth pony named Iron Back. He was royal guard that had retired. I had taken after my mom but she died giving birth to me. Dad did his best, but when he started to realized that I was having a hard time controlling the bat pony in me he decided it was time for me to start training. Dad’s family have been warriors for generations. So his idea was to teach me control through teaching me how to fight.

A cold desert wind blew by and with it a smell I had almost forgotten. I looked up and spotted three almost invisible spots fly through the air over head. Bat ponies, I switch my eyes to my bat pony eyes. Night Guard, Luna’s Night Guard. They circled us at a distance. I laughed they weren’t long time veterans because they stayed in formation. After about an hour of watching them I was getting more than a little ticked off. The winds started to pick up and swirl around the camp. Inside it was calm as if there was no wind at all. Sand started flying around creating a wall made of a sand storm around us. I missed this the ability to control the weather. Since I lost my wings I could barely do it. I pulled my cloak closer covering my cutie mark and my missing leg. The bat ponies landed near me. Two took up defensive positions and the one in the middle stood up trying to seem tall. He failed as I stood and made my way closer to them. I was never very small. I had gotten my father’s size making the bat ponies look up at me as I stood over a full head taller. I let the wind die.

“Tell the Pegasi to come out as well…” he commanded stopping as moon light showed through the falling sand. His eyes were looking at the two fangs in my mouth and my slitted eyes. “Where are they?”

“You’re looking at them,” I stated.

“You aren’t a… you don’t have…” he seemed very confused. Then realization slammed into him and he lowered his gaze. “Please tell the Pegasus to come out.”

“I am a mixed wing,” I stated.  I heard a snort as one of the other bat ponies tried to suppress their laughter.

“You find something about my friend funny,” said Zamir in an icy tone as he trotted towards us.

“No sir,” said the one on the right.

“Obviously you did. Was it the fact he sacrificed part of himself to protect others,” Zamir said. “If I were you not only would I treat him with the utmost respect, I’d fear him. Somepony willing give part of himself to protect something they hold dear is a very scary adversary. He is prepared to die in order to win. It would also do you some good to remember if it wasn’t for him we wouldn’t even think about anything to do with Equestria.”

“Forgive him sir, he was out of line. We were sent by her majesty Princess Luna to escort you to Canterlot. There is an airship inbound on this position it will take you there by this time tomorrow.” Said the leader.

“Why change the plans?” I asked.

“The Princesses are north in The Crystal Empire. They should be back in a week or two, but we were sent to bring you to Canterlot and help you settle in till they get back.” The leader said.

“Zamir, you and the others go with them I’m going to go to The Crystal Empire,” I said. Zamir opened his mouth then closed it thinking better than to go against me in this. Zamir waved one of his guards over. A unicorn came up to him and Zamir told him something. A flash of light later and my saddlebags appeared along with a large glowing crystal. Zamir took the crystal and held it out to me. “So you know?”

“That you use magic stored in crystals like the ones in your mane to…” I nodded and took the crystal. I brought it up to my muzzle and looked into it. Magic swirled within it like a whirlpool of sparks. The crystal was about the size of a good sized apple. I opened my mouth and took a bite. I swallowed it and then the rest. The winds started blowing hard. I knew my change well enough to know what was happening. First black crystals like the ones in my spine would grow out from my stump and once they touched the ground they would change shape. It would become a prosthetic leg. Next the crystals in my spine would grow out then they would change into a black breastplate. Two large bat wings stuck out from the armor. I flapped them checking for any defects. They flapped silently as the armor grew up my neck and formed a helmet around my head. The bat ponies took a step back I wouldn’t blame them. A crippled Pegasus with no wings and missing a leg now looks like something that crawled out of the depths of Tartarus. I picked up my saddle bags and tightened the harness. I took off towards The Crystal Empire.