I continued my way through the forest with the Fume at hand. I made landmarks along the way so I wouldn’t get lost. After a few minutes I came across a large patch of glowing blue flowers. I looked at them and felt every fiber of my body tell me to turn around and leave the flowers alone.

“It does make a good landmark.” I said to myself. I made a note of this as I continued on. After a few minutes I started to hear growls from the right of me. I turned to see a pair of sickly green eyes looking at me. I then started to see a few more of those eyes. I tightened my grip on my sword the beings that those eyes belong to stepped out of the brush.

They were like the zombie wolves I have fought before but instead of rotting flesh they were covered with scraps of wood, twigs, and moss. I saw about five of them surrounded me as I took hold of Fume with both hands. As they circle around me I waited for one of them to attack first.

And attack first they did as one of them behind me launch himself towards me. I rolled out of the way towards one of the wolves to my left. I brought the Fume down onto it at the end of my roll which shattered the wooden wolf.

Standing back up I quickly swung again at the wolf as it tried again. Looking around at the last three as I pulled out one of my Charcoal Pine Resins and put it on the Fume. Flames wrapped themselves around it as I held the flaming sword out, waiting for another attack.

It never came as the wolves looked at the flaming sword and ran with their tails between their legs, literally. I blinked at this as two yellow-greenish orbs came up from the piles of twigs and shot deeper into the woods. I waited until the flames went out as I came out of my stance.

“I guess they’re afraid of fire,” I said to myself. I thought about it for a moment as I kicked some wood. “They’re made of wood, of course they’re afraid.”

I shook my head as I continued my way into the forest.

~Ω~

I quickly made my way to the castle in Canterlot. Thanks to Trixie’s teleport spell we didn’t have to trek ourselves through the Everfree. The only downside is that Trixie complains about leaving her trailer back there.

I finally got to the main doors to the place as two Dawn guards stood at either side of the door.

“Ma’am, Day court is in session, unless you have-” he didn’t get to finished and I move past him and opened the doors to the castle.

I made my way through the halls until I saw the long line up of nobles ready to complain about something. I heard shouts at me as I walked passed them to the throne room doors.

“Ahh shut it you lot!” I yelled at them as I pushed open the doors. I marched my way towards the thrones.

“Excuse me, what do you think you’re doing!?” A shrill voice yelled out. I saw a woman that had enough jewelry on that she could blind someone. “Do you have any idea how long I had to wait to speak to the princesses-”

“Ahh blah blah your needs,” I interrupted as I spun her around and pushed her out. “Out, out, out!”

As I got the lady out of the room Trixie came stumbling in gasping and panting.

“Why did you have to walk so fast??” she complained. She looks around and saw one of the guards that watched everything that happened. “Good sir, mind getting Trixie some water? Trixie is in need of some.”

I left those two as I made my way to the thrones again. I saw the princesses looking at me with wide eyes.

Princess Celestia wore a beautiful white dress with a sun pattern at the ends of her dress. Her white flowing hair moved from an invisible gust of wind as her features were as perfect as the last time I saw her.

Her sister, Princess Luna, sat beside her I’m her throne. She wore a dark blue dress shirt with some black jeans with a moon and star pattern down her left leg. Like her sister her raven black hair moved in the same gust of wind. Not as perfect her features made her look younger than what she is.

“Miss. Daring, nice to see you again,” Celestia put her chin in her hands. “Are you enjoying your adventures?”

“Yes Princess,” I said as I bowed at them. “I have the next few books planned out as we speak.”

“Oh I’m excited to read the next book of the series,” Luna said happily. “Though I kinda missed the puzzle solving and slow pacing of the earlier books.”

“I don’t know sister, I enjoying the later books,” Celestia said with a smile. “The action and the fast pace of them gets me excited to see what happens on the next page.”

“Err, I’ll keep that in mind your highnesses,” I said quickly before they continued. “But this is important, when me and Trixie-”

“You mean the traveling Magi? Oh I do enjoy her shows,” Luna said with a smile. “She does boast a lot but her shows are very entertaining.”

I looked back at Trixie as she was holding a glass of water with her mouth open in shock. I shook my head.

“Look, we went there and found something.” I said annoyed. The two princesses stared at me for a few moments.

“What do you mean you found something?” Celestia asked in a more serious tone.

“When we were looking around we found a large stone door that looked almost impossible to open and a large black slab of stone that looked like a flat club, as we looked at it we heard footsteps from the other side of the door,”

“Wait, something was alive in there?” Luna asked.

“I don’t know if it’s alive or what but what I do know is that it’s strong, very strong.” I told them.

“Trixie can confirm that,” Trixie said as she stepped up beside me. “Trixie tried to open the doors with her great and powerful magic but they didn’t budge, then this thing opened them easily.”

“Interesting, what did this being do next?” Celestia asked, more interested now.

“Well the being walked over and picked up the slab, which probably weighs more than a few tons, and walked away.” I told them. They didn’t say anything for some time.

“Miss. Daring, are you telling me this being is now loose in the Everfree and it has strength that rivals the strongest Terran?” she asked me.

“Uhh yes.” I said now a little worried. Celestia looked over to her sister for a moment before standing up.

“Guards, tell the rest of the nobles that Day court is canceled for the day, something has come up,” she ordered. The two guards by the door saluted and went out. She then looked at one of the guards near the thrones. “I need a full squad of soldiers ready to head to Evos in fifteen minutes.”

The guard nodded and went off towards the barracks. Celestia looked over at me.

“Miss Daring I believe we need you to show us where the ruins are after we find this being, I hope you don’t mind.” she said. I shook my head at her.

“I don’t mind princess but I have to ask, why Evos?” I asked her. She looked at me and smiled.

“The town may be small but it draws in a lot of attention.”

~Ω~

About two hours has passed since my fight with the wooden wolves and I came across a section of the forest that the bratches hung low. This made it hard to carry the Fume around so I switched it for a battle axe and a shield.

I felt the familiar weight of the shield in my hand as I continued on through the forest.

I haven’t seen any more of those wooden wolves from before, or any creature at all really. It didn’t really help my nerves, every sound made me jump. I sighed as I continued heading forward until I heard someone shouting.

I turned towards the direction of the shouting and headed that way. I briefly question what I was doing heading towards the sound. I pushed the thought to the back of my head as I came closer to the sound.

I headed into a clearing with a large grouping of stones in the middle. I looked to my right and saw other beings here as well. Three of them were wolf like man with pelts on and holding stone clubs in their paws. They ganging up on a child, she was young with dark shade of purple hair. What was odd was there two transparent orange wings coming off her back, it reminded me of those corvinas I dealt with a long time ago. It seems that the child was trying to fly away but can only get a foot off the ground.

I don’t know what those wolf men were going to do and part of me didn’t won’t let that happen. I marched over to the nearest one, he must of heard me coming since he turned towards me.

“Wha-” he didn’t finished as I swung my axe at his head. I hit his neck but I didn’t get a killing blow, his skin was tougher than it looks. I pushed him away as I got ready.

“Ahhh! What that for?!” the wolf man asked. He held his paw to the wound I made, blood pouring out onto the ground. The other two turned and growled at me, I simply got ready for what’s next.

One of the other two charged forward to hit me with his club, I moved out of the way and hit him in the head with the butt end of the axe. I kicked him back as the second one tried to tackle me, I rolled out of the way and charged at the bleeding one. He tried to swing his club at me but I hit it away with my shield. While staggered I brought my axe down on him again, this time a bit more strength.

The axe tore into his flesh while the wolf man screamed in pain, after pulling the axe out I kicked him away as I turned to the other two ready for them. Those two looked at each other and charged, I raised my shield to block them but as I stopped one of them the other hits me on the side with his club. I backed up a bit as the same one kept coming at me, I blocked his strike and chopped the wolf mans arm off. As he screamed in pain I embedded my axe in his head.

He fell onto the ground as I turned to the last one. He looked at the two others that were dead on the ground and did the smart thing; he turned and ran off into the woods. I took some deep breaths as I calmed myself as I shifted my body a bit. I felt a bit of pain from the hit but other than that I felt fine. I looked over around and saw the child now hiding near the large pile of rocks. I walked over to her as she looked up at me.

“Are you okay?” I asked. The child looked at me and at the other three. I kneeled down to her level. “Don’t worry, I’m not going to hurt you.”

The child looked at me for a few moments, still not saying anything. I looked away for a moment to think before looking back.

“Do you have a name?” I asked her. The child looked at me and nodded.

“I-it’s Scootaloo.” she said nervously. I stared at her for a few more moments. That’s a interesting name.

“Well hello there Scootaloo, you’re not hurt, are you?” I asked her. She shook her head as I helped her up. She looked at the bodies, she turned a bit green at the sight. “What are you doing here?”

“I… me and my friends were playing and I threw the ball to hard into the Everfree, I went to go get it and I ran into that group of Diamond Dogs, I got scared and…” she stopped talking after that.

“I see.” I said to her. So, that’s what they're called, Diamond Dogs.

“Hey, who are you?” the child asked me. I stared at her for a few moments. Very few people I have met asked me for my name, every time surprise me by it.

“Nira.” I told her as I thought about it. Yes, that’s my name that’s the one I used since I woke up. She smiled at me, probably out of kindness or reassurance that she knows my name, I couldn’t tell.

“So… what now?” she asked me. I stood up and looked around at where we are.

“I don’t know, I was just wandering around,” I told her. I was about to start walking again but I felt her grab my hand. I looked down at her as she looked up at me.

“Umm, can you come with me? I kinda know where I ran from and I might follow it back but…” she looked back at the woods with a worried look. I stared at her for a moment then to the forest.

“I understand, might as well.” I said. She smiled at me as the two of us started to head into the forest. I saw her pull something from her pocket, it was a purple and orange box thing that lights up from the side towards her. She frowns a bit at it.

“Dang, no signal.” she said as she pocketed it. I look at her for a moment as I pointed at her.

“What’s that?” I asked her. She blinks at me as she pulls the thing out.

“You mean this? This is my cellphone,” she told me. She looks at it with a frown. “I have no signal here or I would call someone where I was.”

I blinked at her as I looked at the box thing for a moment before back at her.

“What’s a cellphone?” I asked.

“Are you serious?” she asked me. I simply stared at her in silence. “You’re serious.”

“I don’t understand that I have to be serious, but really what’s a cell phone?”

~Ω~

I stood in the field with my arms folded in front of me facing the Everfree forest. When I left Canterlot to Evos I made sure that I send my student a letter that I would be coming with my sister. Judging by the sorta rushed writing from her assistant that she’ll start making everything ready for my arrival, even though we’re there for a little while.

“Sister, what’s the hold up?” Luna asked me. I looked at her as she stood beside me in a completely different set of clothing. Instead of formal attire like what I’m wearing, a white dress with my symbol on it, she went for a more modern look with a t-shirt and jeans. I was happy that she’s integrating back into modern times but I do have to ask her why she’s wearing this. She looked up at me with a black staff at her side.

“The Captain of the Royal Guard is getting the soldiers ready sister.” I told her.

“Okay but why the Captain of the Royal Guard? Where’s the Captain of the Guard?” she asked me. I sighed at this.

“He retired due to a certain instance during the Summer Sun Celebration.” I simply said. She winced a bit.

“I did apologized to him,” she said as she thought about it, “Him and all the other guards.”

“That you did, he also said that he was planning to retire at the end of the month anyway.” I added.

“Right, so there’s no new captain yet?” she asked.

“Nope, there isn’t one, there are a few to be seen but so far all duty that the captain of the guard lands on the Royal guard captain,” I let out a sigh. “I hope we’re not putting too much work for her.”

As I said that I heard some yelling to the left of me. I turned to see a woman with two tone blue hair ordering the guards to get ready to head out into the forest. They seemed to be taking orders but awfully slowly. This only angered the captain more.

I sighed as I looked back to the forest. I pulled a note from my pocket and read it again; it was a description of the figure Miss. Daring gave me before the fight over here, she seemed to not want to come due to personal reasons. As much as I wanted her to come with us for her to show us where the ruins are I saw that she didn’t want to go to Evos and didn’t force her to come, saying that she can show us a later date.

I read the note a few times just to make sure I know what this being looked like; About her height wearing black dented armor with rags and holding a large slab like sword. I passed the note over to Luna to allow her to read it.

“Old dented armor with rags, reminds me of that old knight back in the day that didn’t want his armor to get repaired, says that it shows experience on the battlefield.” Luna said. I nodded with a smile. I heard footsteps coming from my left and I saw the captain walking up.

“Sorry for the delay, the guards are ready,” she said. I smiled at her.

“Thank you for coming Captain Shield, I know you have a lot of work to do until the new Captain of the guard can be found,” I said.

“It’s not a problem princess, I’m fine,” she said with a small twitch. “Besides, I can see my sister while I’m here.”

“True, how is your sister?” I asked, the captain just shrugged.

“Still tired I think, hard to tell with her nose in a few books.” she said with a smile.

“Do you mean ‘her nose in a book’?” my sister asked.

“No I literally mean she’s reading three to four books at once.” the captain informed her. Luna looked over at me with an odd look, I simply giggled at her. As the three of us stood there, one of the guards came running up to us.

“T-there's some movements in the forest! Something is coming out!” the guard said. Captain Shield went to the group of guards to get ready for whatever is coming as my sister got ready for it. I sighed as I looked out to the forest as some of the bushes were rusling. The guards slowed advance towards the bushes, spears at the ready as Captain Shield had her hand on her sword. As the guard got near, the being that was making the rusling fell out.

“Ow~, that’s smarts,” the being said. I saw a young girl with dark purple hair sat up and rubbed her face a bit before looking around. “Whoa… where’s the war?”

“Your Highnesses, isn’t that the child that disappeared hours ago?” one of the guards said.

“It is,” Captain Shield said quickly. The guard frowned at her as I looked towards the child as she was standing up. I walked over with my sister beside me to speak to her. She looked up at us with wide eyes.

“Whoa… you’re Princess Celestia…” she said with awh and wonder in her voice. I gave her a gentle smile as she looked over at Luna. “Umm…”

“Princess Luna,” my sister greeted. The child blinked at her.

“Ummm, sorry, I’m wasn’t that good in History in school,” she said, shifting uncomfortably on the spot. My sister frowned at this but didn’t say anything, simply looking away. I kneeled down to the child with a warm smile and asked her what happened.

After learning that she gotten lost in the woods and had a run in with the Diamond dogs, I put a hand on her shoulder. “You must of had a terrifying experience today Scootaloo, but now everything is fine now.”

“I do have one question,” Luna asked, walking up beside me. “How did you escape from three dogs?”

“I had help, a lady came and save me,” Scootaloo said. I frowned a little at this.

“Tell us, where is this lady?” My sister asked. Right on cue the bushes started to shake again, as if someone was trying to walking out of it. I stood up as the guards came up near us, weapons at the ready. After a few minutes of waiting the being came out of the trees. The being wore dented armor with a tattered cloak around their helmet. I saw bits of worn gold in places on the armor but mostly the being was covered head to toe with leather and cloth, armor peeking out in places. They had a battered shield in one hand and an axe in the other. The being looked around, taking in the sight around them as my sister walked closer to me.

“Old dented armor with rags, you don’t think…” my sister stopped as I nodded.

“I believe this is our knight, never thought they would of come to us,” I said. Scootaloo ran up to the being, making the guards twitch with worry.

“Nira! Where were you? I thought you were following me?” she said to the knight named Nira.

“I’m sorry, I tripped over a tree root,” the being said, their voice was feminine.

‘ a female knight? From what I heard anyone could of think it would’ve been a male,’ I thought. I looked up to see the child pulling the knight towards me and my sister. The guards tensed up at this, hands on their weapons. The knight’s head tilted a bit, if I would have guess she was keeping an eye on every guard that she could see.

“Nira, this is Princess Celestia and Princess Luna,” Scootaloo said with a smile. Nira looked towards me and my sister before bowing a little.

“Nice to meet you,” she greeted us. The guards were still at the ready, surrounding us. The knight didn’t seem to be worried, always tilting her head. “Scootaloo, if you know these two then I’ll take my leave, it seems that I bring worry to the knights here.”

Scootaloo looked at the knight as she started to turn and leave back into the forest. The guards that she was heading tensed up a bit and didn’t move.

“Miss Nira,” I said quickly. The knight stopped and stood there. “If it’s not a problem, would you answer some questions.”

“Why would want me to answer? I’m simply a knight,” Nira said, not looking back. I simply stepped forwards a bit.

“From what I heard, you came from a tomb that was just found not a few hours ago, half a day at most. I simply want to hear your side of the story,” I told her. The knight stood there before slowly turning towards me.

“My story is a long one,” she said. I nodded at the knight.

“Then, shall we go some place where we can talk.”

Author's Note

Sooo... truth time. I finished this chapter weeks ago and never got around to post it... whoops, sorry.