Princess Celestia was up bright and early to raise the sun once more and looking forward to another day of royal duties. Her day started off with the usual signing of documents and meeting with a few nobles to discuss the current progress of the kingdoms economy.

"Raven what else is on my schedule?" The princess asked her secretary who was shuffling through the pile of paperwork before her.

"Well you have afternoon tea with your sister and then there's that meeting with Princess Twilight and Ponyville's newest resident."

"Ah yes. Sir Pendragon."

"With all due respect princess why do you keep calling him that? He is no longer a knight." Raven inquired as they continued to walk towards the castle gardens.

"Well I think after todays' meeting that will all change." Celestia smiled with confidence in her response. By the time she had reached the castle gardens she had noticed her sister luna who was waiting impatiently for her arrival.

"Well it's about time sister. The tea was getting cold." Luna huffed while the servants poured the tea and began mixing in the sugar and cream.

"I'm sorry Luna, I was caught up in my work."

"Ah that reminds me. Have you gotten a response from Sir Pendragon yet?"

"Not yet. I sent him a royal summons today with a rather...unique request." Celestia gave a sly smile making her sister a bit cautious.

Meanwhile

Instead of taking the train, Princess Celestia requested that Pendragon travel to Canterlot by another method, one that left Twilight a bit surprised.

"You're walking?!?" Twilight asked in confusion knowing that the city was a mile away.

"Yup." Pendragon replied while giving a few stretches.

"But it'll take you a whole day to reach the city by hoof! Considering you don't pass out from exhaustion."

"Relax, I did this sort of thing back home plus it'll be good exercise." The stallion then took off like a shot leaving a small dust trail heading down the road to Canterlot. By noon, he was already halfway to the mountain road leading to the city and was already out of breath and dripping in sweat.

"Hoo boy! I gotta lay off the hayburgers." He huffed as his galloping dropped to a slow and steady trot while he continued forward admiring the scenery. The clear blue sky and fields of grass were a beautiful sight to behold along with the ocean of trees that was the Everfree Forest, they reminded Pendragon of his old home back on Azeroth and the only thing that could make this better is if he was carrying a sword and marching to a battlefield which seemed strange but perfectly natural since he spent most of his life as a soldier and some part of him missed it; The sound of battle and the thrill of victory.

His thoughts were cut short when he saw the gates leading into the city and from the moment he entered he could see Canterlot was as lively as ever. Dozens of ponies were trotting through the streets with many of them being the local nobles of Canterlot while others were either tourists or workers getting to their jobs but for some reason many of them gave him odd looks and began cringing back until Pendragon realized why. He stank to high heavens after his long trek to the city.

"Excuse me. Could you point me to the nearest well?" He politely asked one of the ponies who quickly directed him to the city square.

"Thank you."

Once he arrived at the well, the stallion doused himself with a bucket of fresh water that washed off the sweat and dirt he obtained from the trip and was greeted by a familiar voice.

"I say, that's an odd way to take a shower."

"Fancy Pants?"

Fancy Pants was one of the highest ranking nobles in Canterlot and a close friend of Rarity and Luna. He and his wife Fleur were on their way to the castle for afternoon tea with the princess and were surprised to hear of Pendragons journey to the city.

"You really walked all the way here? My dear boy you must be exhausted!" Said Fleur noticing the fatigue in his eyes yet for some reason the young stallion seemed to be more delighted than tired.

"If you'll excuse me, I must get to the castle before the day is over."

"Why don't we go together? The princess is expecting us as well." Fancy suggested as all three headed toward the castle where a rather large group of nobles had gathered along with Twilight and her friends.

"PEN! OVER HERE!!" Pinkie Pie shouted waving her hooves when Rarity yanked her back down.

"Pinkie please! This is a formal gathering, not one of your parties." She lectured after hearing a few nobles whispering about them.

"Sorry." The pink mare apologized as their friend came over.

"Hi girls. Rarity, you look good." Pendragon complimented the white mare after noticing her outfit.

"Oh why thank you, I was saving it for a special occasion."

"What is the occasion?" Pinkie looked around to see a good number of the canterlot elite had gathered in the gardens when Princess Celestia and Princess Luna arrived with their royal guards escorting them into the gardens. Like always, the first to greet the two sisters were the canterlot elite in hopes of gaining some favor with the royals while Celestia went to greet her former pupil.

"Twilight I'm so glad you could make it. Both you and your friends."

"Thank you princess but I was wondering why was Pendragon asked to walk all the way here?"

"Yeah what gives?" Asked Rainbow Dash who had her back legs planted on the table, much to Rarity's dismay.

"You'll see soon enough." The princess then called for Pendragon to stand in the center of the gardens along with six elite royal guards who formed a circle around the stallion.

"Thank you all for coming. For your entertainment pleasure, our royal guards will now demonstrate their combat skills against Sir Pendragon."

The seven friends gasped in shock while Luna covered her face in shame after her sisters plan was finally revealed as a test of Pendragons stamina and strength. The nobles however found this amusing and even began to smirk at the thought of a common farm pony getting beat up by Celestia and Luna's personal guards.

"This ought to be amusing."

"A filthy farm pony like him against the elite guards? What a joke." A unicorn couple said to themselves. Rarity instantly recognized the two as Jet Set and Upper Crust whom she considered to be the most snobbiest of all the unicorns of Canterlot and the most rude especially to her friends.

"Begin!!" Celestia gave the order and the fight was on. The first two guards charged at Pendragon from the sides with lightning fast speed yet the stallion stood there frozen like a statue while looking at his opponents as if he were analyzing them.

"Too obvious." He said to himself before ducking out of the way as the guards smashed into each other.

"He's fast!" Another guard said in astonishment before feeling a strong blow hit him in the gut and looked down to see Pendragons right hoof making a huge dent in his armor.

"Keep your eyes on your opponent!" Pendragon lectured before viciously slamming him into the ground with another blow of his left hoof. The crowd was in awe at the display of skill and even began to applaud as the fight continued.

"You filthy dirt lover! Take this!!" A unicorn guard began firing his magic at the stallion in rapid succession and seemed to have him on the defensive.

"Not so tough now eh farm boy?" He boasted with a laugh until he felt two hooves strike him in the back of the neck.

"Watch out for overconfidence!" Pendragon bucked him into the dirt as he leaped to a safe distance when the fifth guard charged him head on in hopes of tackling him to the ground.

"Too eager!" Pendragon shouted before stepping to the side and biting on his opponents tail, throwing him into the table where Jet Set and Upper Crust were seated the impact caused a great deal of tea and pastries to stain their outfits making them very annoyed while the rest of the crowd laughed for a short moment. The last guard to face Pendragon stood there frozen in fear after seeing his comrades wiped out so easily and as the stallion approached him he didn't see a simple farmer but a seasoned fighter who had experienced many battles.

"I...I surrender." He said raising both of his front hooves while Pendragon stopped in his tracks.

"I yield to the better man..."

Pendragon accepted his surrender and nodded with a satisfied smirk showing how much he enjoyed the fight. The crowd was pleased with the demonstration and gave a round of applause for both sides before continuing on with the party.

"Nice moves there soldier boy!" Said Rainbow Dash giving her friend a firm slap to the back that almost knocked the wind right out of him.

"Thanks cough!!"

"I'm so glad no pony got hurt or at least I think no pony got hurt." Fluttershy said looking at the guards being patched up.

"Perhaps you should've held back." Rarity suggested after seeing the damage that had been done.

"I did hold back."

"How is that holding back?!?" Twilight asked furiously when her friend gave a rather shocking answer.

"Well I didn't kill them. Right?"

For a second the friends were shocked by his response until one by one they broke into a humurous laugh when Jet Set and Upper Crust came onto the scene looking rather annoyed.

"I fail to see the humor in this! I mean how can you ponies admire such a barbaric display?" Upper Crust wined while wiping some frosting off her shirt.

"Only a dirt loving stallion from a hic town like Ponyville could fight like that." Declared Jet Set with his nose in the air until Pendragon stood up to look him straight in the eye.

"Don't insult my hometown in front of me you stuffed shirt!"

"I beg your pardon?" The unicorn was stunned by the insult just given to him.

"What's your name?"

"I am Jet Set, one of Canterlots most elite ponies!" He boasted before noticing the look in Pendragons eyes.

"And just what is it that makes you so elite hm? You fancy folk live up here in your big houses with servants waiting on you while ponies like my friends and me work our flanks off to provide the food that fills your big fancy kitchens!" Pendragons voice was raised slightly and began to draw the attention of the crowd.

"I can tell just by looking that you've never had to work one day in your life, everything was just handed to you on a silver platter!"

"Sir, you will find the word Fear is not in my vocabulary!" Jet Set replied trying to look tough but all could see his hooves were shaking.

"Perhaps. But it's in your eyes." Pendragon then gave a huge huff from his nose right in the unicorns face before storming off with his friends to meet with Celestia who was waiting for them at her table with Luna.

"I trust you finished your conversation with Jet Set and his wife?" Celestia asked with a rather unusual proud smile.

"Yes your majesty."

"Good. Now I would like us to pick up from our meeting the other day, have you decided?" She asked as the stallion nodded yes to her.

"I would gladly lead the guardians again, if my friends will join me."

"But of course." Celestia said with a smile while Twilight and the others joined in for a group hug to celebrate before rejoining the party.

"Um does this mean there will be a knighting ceremony?" Pendragon asked making Celestia giggle.

"Than can wait for tomorrow. For now let's enjoy the rest of the day.

End.

Author's Note

Proofread by: Wild Balance