Knights Rising

The wind howled and tried to take my cloak from me. The enchantments on it held it from coming off. My coat grew long and thick. A trait from my father that I was thankful for in the harsh cold of the north. I plowed through the deep snow. An old lodge came into view and I continued on my way. I walked under the deck roof and up to the door. I opened my saddle bag and take an old beaten key out. Sliding the key into the lock and unlocking the door memories tried to come into my mind of the last time I had been here. I suppressed them harshly. I opened the door to find not a cold dark lodge but one of warmth with light from glowing crystals. I entered and hung my cloak next to the door on one of the many pegs that lined the wall. My father's family had once been even more numerous than that of the Apple family. Technically this tundra belongs to the house of the Frozen Blade, my house. Although I was a high born colt it was a fact well hidden and guarded. My own mother didn't know of her high standings. My sister and I were told of our ancestry by our father when he brought us up here to train.

Unlike most ponies that lived in Equestria we didn't follow Celestia's no killing rule. This land is harsh and would swallow hole those that show it weakness. To grant an enemy mercy here will only leave you in crimson colored snow. Celestia understood that and never forced us to live by it. The result made my family retain the primal strength that even few Earth ponies have. We never gave up our warrior ways and when called upon we lead military campaigns, cut down rebellions and strike down threats before anyone even knew they were there to begin with. When I became a Knight there was no big ceremony. It wasn't known to most that there was even a Knight at all.

I sighed a house that had once been so large was now down to two. I looked at the crystals embedded into the wall. Only two of the several hundred in the wall glowed. The first looked like a dying ember. The second caused me to pause. It should have been a silver color. The fact that it wasn't tore at my already ruined heart. The midnight blue crystal was small. It seemed that while my sister was no longer alive, I wasn't completely alone.

"Oh, who are you?" Turning around I found a young filly with a midnight blue coat. Two parts of her appearance made me stop. She had a bat pony's eyes, but a horn sat in the middle of her forehead. While she didn't have wings it still made me worry. "Are you the other crystal?" She asked.

"Yes, my name is Crimson Bolt. Please call me Bolt," I said trying to bow a difficult thing to do missing a rear leg.

"Oh, my here let me," she said as her horn started to glow. I felt a tingling feeling on my stump. She stuck her tongue out as she tried harder. Looking back I was surprised to find that her magic wasn't just getting sucked away by my crystals. Tears welled in her eyes as she stopped.

"Don't worry little one with how I lost my leg it won't be coming back," I said. She suddenly perked up as if remembering something.

"Prince Discord..."

"Discord," I couldn't stop the pure hatred that filled my voice and me along with it. Discord a draconequus that once ruled this land. A mad soul that tormented and enslaved. I was suddenly taken out of my thoughts as a bucket of ice cold water was poured over me.

"Sorry Uncle Bolt but you caught...Fire? It was Black through." I couldn't help the laughter that had replaced the hate. She looked at me like I had gone mad.

"I'm sorry little one, but you remind me so much like my sister. Although she probably would have used snow or ice."

"Yeah, Mama would have." She looked down and I suddenly realized what she had been saying. I have a niece. I Have a niece!!! I pulled her into a hug and held her as she cried into my chest. The sound of the door opening and closing caused me to look up. Looking up I looked at Shining Armor shaking off snow. He set his gear on the bench by the door.

"So you've met Lily shield. Lily could you please go get your uncle something to dry off with," Shining asked. She nodded and trotted off. "Crim why... why didn't you..."

"Shiny," I started and a thought hit me. The crystals on my spine glowed briefly then my mane started to undo itself. The black crystals that lined down my back. Shiny's eyes grew big. "Five years as a lab rat and another trapped like how you found me after I died the first time. Then it took three more to learn to control and figure out what I had become. The last year I spent in a land far from here helping them rebuild their kingdom. My leg and wings have been taken from me, but I gained the ability to absorb magic and then bend it to my own. Although I have a large amount of natural magic that I was born with should I use it... well you saw the results of that. There has been so much blood shed along the path I have traveled these many long years. The blood of friends and enemies alike as well as much of my own. Its a wonder that I haven't drowned in it all yet. The pony that left a Knight has returned a monster."

"Crim what did they do to you?" Shiny's eyes looked me over again and again. His trained eyes picking up the hidden scars and the hairline cracks in my hooves. The slight dull look in my left eye. "Your wings..."

"Ripped from my back during our escape... my escape... my death... our deaths."

"Your death?"

"I got better," I laughed. He glared at me and the laugher died in my throat. "That crystalized state you found me in happens because of one of two or both things happened. The first is that,I used my own magic instead of that of which I borrowed from others. The second and much more dangerous is that I am killed in battle. When I die because one of the experiments I had endured, they combined me with an extremely rare type of phoenix. The Shadow Fire Phoenix was bonded with me. These crystals were one of the first experiments. They bonded them to every bone I have. They forcibly poured magic into me after. Then they used the crystals to bond the phoenix to me. It wasn't the only thing they bonded to me. The others went through similar things... Not all of us survived them. In between experiments they treated us piss poorly and often used us as entertainment..." I stopped as I heard Lily returning. She carried a couple of towels and dragged something that made my breath catch in my throat. Shiny saw the black metal leg that she dragged with her magic.

"I got some towels and I found a leg," She said with a smile. Shiny picked up the towels with his magic and threw them over me. I chuckled and dried my self off. Suddenly I felt something clamped down around my stump. My eyes grew huge as it dawned on me what it was. I tried to tell them to stop but my voice turned into a howl of pain as the prosthetic leg locked in. Six control rods drove deep into my flesh and locked into one another. If it was anypony else they would have passed out because of the pain. They were supposed to be out already when it happened. "Uncle are you alright!?!?!?"

"I'm fine just never thought I'd be wearing one of Mom's prototypes. However it will need some work, she never did finish it." Black sparks flowed down the leg covering it. They disappeared leaving a black armored leg that fit perfectly. I tried it out walking around in small circles.

"Crim, please stay the night with me and Cadence. After all the last train for this week left about ten minutes ago."

"Sure..." the sound of slamming and clangs rang out. "Celestia's plot, lock down! Now what could it be?"