Chapter I:
Education for Everypony

Princess Celestia, ruler of Equestria, could be considered a very sociable and open pony. Despite all her obligations with Court, and having to micromanage every single aspect of her Kingdom, at least once a week she spare an entire afternoon reading and replying every single letter directed to her. From fan letters, to suggestions, and complains. Celestia never mind criticism. As a matter of fact, a considerable amount of her policies came after she read a letter of a pony complaining for something.
Of course, some of the requests were ridiculous, but in those cases she replied kindly, and moved to the next letter. Also, there were those anonymous ponies whose letters were full of insults and empty threats. In those cases, Celestia chuckled and dispose of the letters.

And, from time to time, she found letters that caught her attention just for how original they were. The letter had caught her eye since the very moment she opened the mailbag was in a wrapped black envelope, with a strange seal that represented an unknown emblem. It was a gryphon’s head, with a stylized ‘S’ underneath.

Celestia raised an eyebrow at this, and opened the envelope. The letter was written in a heavy piece of paper, headed with the very same emblem that the seal. Between intrigued and amused, the Princess began to read.

Dear Princess Celestia, I would like to share my ideas with you.

I’m not sure if this letter would ever reach you, but I hope it does. Also I hope that you take your time to properly answer my humble missive. I know what I’m about to say sounds weird, and fantastic, but it is true. I belong to an ancient order of knights. We don’t have many members left, neither political power. But what we do have is knowledge, and traditions that we transmit freely to those who seek them. It’s because of our rules that I cannot give you my name, so you’ll have to call me by my title: Great Master. I am the leader of our vanishing Order, the Holy Knights of the Silence.

Celestia scratched her head at this. The more she read, the letter was getting more interesting.

We, the Knights of Silence have a sacred creed: Education for everypony. And that’s what I came to question you.

I have lived in Canterlot long enough to notice this is a city of students. The majority of the most prestigious universities are in Canterlot, the formation centers where most of the students dream of attending. This is a city of dreams. But, most of those dreams are crushed because of the exclusivity of those universities. The best universities are also the most selective ones. Tell me, Princess, who are those old academics to say somepony is not worthy of their schools? In many cases, they only admit those whose pocketbooks are deep enough to freely exploit them until the end of their formation.

If you do not transmit your knowledge, sooner or later that knowledge will be lost forever.

Please, do not misunderstand me. I fully agree that education is something you need to pay for. Teachers need a salary, and the buildings, maintenance. However, the selectivity must stop. All schools must admit everyone who wants to learn. And that’s the nature of my request. I want you to force all schools to change their selectivity policy.

Knowledge isn’t something you keep for yourself. I humbly ask you to consider my request. From teacher to teacher, I think you can understand my point of view.

Sincerely,

Great Master of the Holy Order of the Knights of Silence.

Celestia had to read the letter twice, and still didn’t know if this was some kind of joke or what. Whoever this ‘Great Master’ was, she had a point. In the end, it didn’t matter if Celestia believed or not that this ‘Holy Order of the Knights of Silence’ was real. The criticism to the education system and the request was serious.
Celestia finally chuckled.

“Sister, what is it?” asked Luna, as she walked in Celestia’s study.

Celestia smiled. “Nothing Luna, is just that I received a very interesting letter. I don’t know, if they wanted to get my attention, they nailed it.”

Luna read the letter, and raised an eyebrow. “Okay, this is really something.” She turned to her sister. “What do you want to do, sister?”

Celestia shrugged. “I’m in a very good mood. I’ll answer this pony.”

Dear Great Master:

I had read your letter with interest, and, I am sorry if my answer is not the one you expect. I’ll be honest, I don’t know if I should laugh, or take this seriously. The criticism you are making is valid. I know that many talented ponies are rejected to study in the academy of their dreams. Also, I know that the exclusivity of the academies is a source of corruption to the old academics.
But, your point of view is like a child’s, and you don’t understand everything that is implied in the change you are asking me to make. Despite all the contras, there’s a reason for the academies to be exclusive, and that is the nature of the knowledge they have. For example, in my own academy, we work with ancient spells that can endanger the whole ponykind if they are left in the hooves of anyone. The exclusivity policy is a measure to assure that all the ponies who are exposed to that knowledge are capable to handle it.

The only thing I can and will do is to investigate the cases of corruption inside the academies, but nothing more.

Sincerely,

Princess Celestia. Ruler of Equestria.

The Princess sent the reply to the address that was written in the envelope, and forget about the letter. She may disappoint the Great Master, but this pony had to see the big picture. But, Celestia did send a soldier to track where the answer went. And it ended up being and an empty hose, for sale for a few weeks. Of course, this move was really common among all the anonymous ponies who wrote her, so Celestia didn’t mind.
When the soldier asked if she wanted him to stay and watch who would take the reply, Celestia shrugged.

“Don’t worry about it. Despite the originality of the deliver, this was like any other letter I’ve received.”

And, the reply stayed in the house’s mailbox without anypony noticing who took it.

It was a young earth pony, in her early twenties. For most of the ponies, she was just another student, living in Canterlot as she attended college. But no, this pony was especial. Her name was East Wind.
Two years ago, East Wind inherited a big mansion in Canterlot, from her beloved teacher. So she moved from her hometown to the big city, to turn her property into a residence for college students. And it proved to be a success. The mansion had big rooms, all with private bathrooms, an extra modern common kitchen, and a reasonable rent, that included an abundant breakfast. The residents enjoyed their stay, and, since East Wind was just about their age, they included her in their groups of friends.

But, East’s very best friends were a unicorn who was always studying, called Emerald Horn; and a pegasus called Cream Cone, who was preparing to be a pastry chef. When the two of them weren’t studying or attending college, they spend their time hanging out with East Wind. They even had their own reading circle.
But as close as they were, East still charged them for the privilege of living at her home.

“Hey guys!” greeted East, as she entered the living room. “Reunion tonight?”

“I’ve been waiting all week!” said Crem Cone, winking an eye to her friend. “I’ll bring the sweets we made in class.”

Emerald Horn looked at East from behind his book. “At eight P.M. as always, East?”

East Wind nodded happily. “It’s a date!”

When the clock marked eight, the two ponies entered to East’s room. Once inside, the young earth pony showed them Celestia’s reply, and using her magic, she created a black tunic, a blue robe, and a black mask with an unnerving blue smile.

The other two ponies, unicorn and pegasus, bowed before her, creating their own outfits with their magic. “Great Master!” they said in unison.

The Great Master made a small nod to them. “Rise your heads, my friends. My Knights of the Silence. As you can see, we have lots of things to discuss.”

“I can’t believe she rejected your fair request, oh, Great Master!” said Emerald.

“So there’s nothing to do? Are the academics keep rejecting every single pony they want to? Fuck those mummies!”

East Wind raised a hoof. “Peace, Emerald.”

He calmed down, but he was still really angry. He was all ready to enter Celestia’s Academy for the Gifted Unicorns. But because he got nervous during his entering exam, he was rejected in the spot. And still couldn’t forget the old dean who didn’t listen when he asked for a second chance.

“I know you are angry, my friend. That dean must learn the hard way he cannot keep denying knowledge forever. But, don’t get frustrated by the Princess’ answer. She is over five thousand years old, the ideas change with the pass of time. But she hasn’t changed. For her, the ideas that were valid in her times are as valid today. Elder people fear the new ideas. So, we must force the new ideas to them.”

The two other ponies looked at their Great Master in disbelief. “Are you sure, my Great Master?”

She nodded. “For years, our Order have survived by hiding inside the shadows. Specifically, the shadow of Silence. But that brought us to the point of extinction. Well, if we want to make a change, we must come to light and use our power to force it. Tomorrow we will make an appearance at Celestia’s Academy, and will show her the true potential of free knowledge. Tomorrow will be the day, where education exclusivity will end for good.”

The pegasus and the unicorn bowed before the earth pony. “You can count on us, Great Master.”

At the next day, at the famous Academy for the Gifted Unicorns of Princess Celestia, a huge line of young ponies were waiting for the moment of truth, their entrance exam. Most of the ponies left the building crying in silence, disappointed with themselves, or insulting dean Deep Knowledge. For the Knights, it was an infuriating thing to see.

Then, two strange ponies walked inside the building. Each of them wearing a black tunic, a blue robe, and a smiling mask. Cream Cone extended her wings, the only part of her that wasn’t covered outfit, and she began to fly above the crowd.

“WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE, TALENTED YOUNGSTERS? COMING IN HERE, WAITING TO DO YOUR BEST IN FRONT OF A DEAN, ONLY TO BE HUMILLIATED AFTERWARDS? WHO IS HE, WHO IS THE SCHOOL FACULTY TO DECIDE IF YOU’RE NOT TALENTED ENOUGH?”

Then, the unicorn made a step forward. “No one has the right to decide if you are or aren’t worthy. Knowledge is for sharing, no matter what. They have no right to reject you, so JOIN US, AND TAKE WHAT IS RIGHTFULLY YOURS BY FORCE!!”

A couple of security guards approached, too used to the students’ protests.

“Please, leave the building or you’ll force us to…”

Cream Cone landed in front of them, and with her magic, a black aura, she threw them both to the Academy’s windows.

Inside the Academy, a very scared unicorn tried to do his best showing his magic skills to his future teachers, and the infamous dean Deep Knowledge.

The old academic yawned. “So, this is all you have? Sorry, Mister Book Worm. But you don’t have the talent to study in this academy. Leave now before…”

The two private guards crashed inside, interrupting the rejection. Then, two masked figures jumped through the broken windows, presenting themselves before the faculty.

“Hi, dean. Are you enjoying yourself, rejecting those more talented than yourself?” challenged Emerald Horn.

Cream Cone comforted the unicorn called Book Worm, embracing him under her wings. “Don’t worry, my dear. Once we finish with this elder, you’ll be free to study everything you want.”

Deep Knowledge frowned. “What is the meaning of this? Are you coming to attack me because I rejected you in the past? In case you didn’t know, it is my duty as dean to choose only the best of the bests, and if you don’t have the talent, you shouldn’t waste our times. Also, you are so coward that you come here covering your face. Okay, I don’t care…”

A black magic aura blocked Knowledge’s mouth, as the masked unicorn began to use his power to look deep inside the unicorn’s mind. Behind his mask, Emerald grinned.

“Well, well, well… what do we have here? Nothing but a pathetic excuse for a unicorn trying to compensate the rejection he suffered in his youth by rejecting other more talented than himself.”

The other members of the faculty looked at the masked unicorn. “What are you talking about?”

“Oh, nothing. Is just that I can read souls. One of the many tricks my Great Master taught me.”

A squad from the Royal Guard rushed inside the evaluation room.

“Professor Knowledge!” they shouted, seeing the dean was being attacked.

Emerald groaned. “Cream, you take care of them. I have to make sure this old fucker doesn’t reject anyone anymore.”

The Guards approached to arrest the intruders, when Cream raised a hoof.

Each of the ponies’ shadows, including the faculty members, raised against their owners, and forced them to stay down. The move took everypony by surprise, making them unable to react.

“Each of the shadows have their owner’s strength. Resistance is futile.” explained Cream Cone.

The shadows, armed with shadow weapons, subdued the Royal Guard with ease, as Deep Knowledge struggled against Emerald’s black aura. The dean’s eyes turned black, as his deepest darkest secret was extracted and before he could do anything to understand what kind of magic was this, the memory was shown for everypony in and outside the academy.

The memory showed a unicorn colt, being rejected by that day’s dean.

“Your name was Shiny Talent, you say? Talentless suits you better. You can’t even do a basic levitation spell, you have no talent. And without talent, you are nothing. Get out of my sight and don’t ever come back.”

The colt escaped, crying. It was not fair! It was not fair! The worse student ever. But then, he decided to cover his Cutie Mark, and change his face to retake the exam under the name of Deep Knowledge…

The memory stopped, and much to the dean’s horror, now everypony knew the horrible truth about him.

Emerald horn laughed. “Talentless, he was right, pal, that name suits you. Now everypony knows what you really are: a fraud. Hahahaha, how can all of us be rejected by someone this PATHETIC!”

Emerald released professor Knowledge, and kicked him on the jaw. “You are nothing, now that everypony knows you are a fraud, you’ll get fired. Have an ice life.”

And again, Emerald held professor Knowledge with his black aura, and threw him out, right before the students waiting to be evaluated.
The reaction was immediate, all of them began mocking professor Knowledge, making fun of him, even throwing stuff.

This was the end for the dean.

But the Knight’s duty was only getting started. Soon enough, a tremor shook the entire academy.

“What was it?” asked a teacher.

Cream Cone shrugged. “Nothing important. The Great Master have finished breaking all the magic barriers inside your library.”

Emerald laughed happily. “This distraction was not only effective, but also, really satisfying.”

“WHAT DO YOU MEAN WITH BREAKING THE MAGIC DEFENSES IN THE LIBRARY?!” shouted the teacher.

But then, a powerful black aura blew up the library tower, as an earth pony dressed just as the ones in the evaluation room flew over all the students.

“My fellow ponies, listen to the message of the Knights of Silence. No one haves the right to keep knowledge from themselves. If you don’t transmit knowledge, it’ll get lost, forever. That’s why I tell you: EDUCATION IS FOR EVERY PONY!”

And with her power, she created several scrolls that she released over the applicants. One of them opened one, only to realize it was a thesis made by the Academy. An exclusive document, only available for those who studied there. And it was only the beginning. Every single one of the Academy’s exclusive books, thesis, experimental spells, research papers and such had been copied a thousand times, and now this pony was giving all that knowledge for free.

“Take this, is rightfully yours!!” said the Great Master.

It was only a matter of time before the applicants begin to take as many scrolls as possible, and then ran as fast as they could, happy to have all this for free.

The Great Master landed proudly, in the middle of her mess. Then, she felt a powerful presence right behind her. The Great Master turned, facing an astonished Celestia.

“Who are you?”

“I am the Great Master.”

Celestia gasped. “What?”

“You could avoided this. Now it is time for us to take this matter in our own hooves.”

East Wind’s disciples materialized from the shadows, and took their Great Master, only to vanish inside the shadows and escape before Celestia could recover from the initial shock.

“Teleportation in the shadows? What are these ponies?”

It had been a day and a half after the incident of the Academy, and Princess Celestia called to an emergency meeting. No pony understood this ponies’ actions, but it was unclear if this so-called knights were or weren’t a threat.

“Their actions doesn’t have any sense.” said Luna, thoughtful. “First, they write a letter, and then, they break into the Academy, steal every exclusive document, copy them, and gave the copies for free. What are they thinking?”

Twilight frowned, this whole thing reminded her of somepony. “This is pretty much that pony we faced long ago, Starlight Glimmer.”

Shining shivered, still remembering the damn pony, and her horrible death at the hooves of those things… “What do you mean, Twily?”

“They introduced their ideology to the Princess, but when she refused to do as they say, they go and force this idea into ponies.”

“Yeah, the most I think about this, the most it seems like a child’s tantrum instead of a terrorist act.” agreed Cadence.

Celestia sighed. “You may be right, especially considering that personal vendetta the unicorn had against professor Knowledge.”

“But, in the end, you had no other choice than fire him.” added Luna.

Celestia glared at her sister. “Yes, thank you for reminding me that.”

“What about the damage to the Academy?” asked Twilight. “Can’t we recover all that was stolen from there?”

“Yes, we can recover it, but the damage is already done. All the exclusivity of those documents is lost forever. For each copy we confiscate, the students make three more. Due to the nature of this attack, the amount of solicitants for my Academy declined in thousands. But that’s the least of my worries. No, the main issue here is the fact the three perpetrators used Shadow Magic during the incident.”

“Shadow magic?” asked Cadence.

Shining nodded. “According to the report, the unicorn who attacked professor Knowledge had a black magic aura. Never a good sign. Then, the pegasus used some kind of spell that solidified the soldiers’ shadows and used them against their masters. And finally, the earth pony also had a black magic aura.”

“And, in the end, they fused with their shadows in order to teleport.” finished Celestia. “There’s no doubt this is no other than Shadow Magic. Literally the darkest of all magics.”

“A pegasus and an earth pony?” asked Twilight. “That doesn’t have any sense.”

“That’s why we need to find this Knights of the Silence no matter what.” said Celestia. “It won’t be easy.” She sighed. “If only there’s a way we know if this ponies will become a threat or not…”

Twilight suddenly looked at her teacher. “Princess, there is a way. I knew that name sounded familiar. Remember the incident with Starlight Glimmer? When we met that corrupted and twisted version of ourselves?”

Celestia shivered, of course she remembered.

Starlight Glimmer was a dangerous pony, a unicorn obsessed with making everypony equal. To make such achievement, she developed a spell that stole Cutie Mark Magic from ponies. She was defeated by the Bearers of Harmony, and ran into hiding. Only to reappear months later, ready to take revenge on the girls.
But something went horribly wrong… for her.

Apparently she succeeded in her plan for revenge. She found the Bearers, stole their Cutie Marks, again, and destroyed them for good. Then, the girls wandered for over ten years looking for a way to defeat Starlight. They did, they sold their souls to the Devil, in a desperate attempt to get revenge.
Their souls supposed to descend directly to hell, as their bodies transformed into horrid creatures called Undeads. Monsters without the ability to think, guided by the dark desire of murder, murder, and more murder. But, because of the Elements, their souls did not descended to hell, and got stuck in their bodies. Transforming in the first rational undeads, still with an insatiable blood thirst, but with enough self-control to target only the enemies of Equestria. The creatures leaded countless massacres, starting by their tormentor Starlight Glimmer.

Then, they found a way to travel through time, back to the past. Right when they lost everything, when Starlight destroyed their Cutie Marks. The Undead Knights, as the creatures called themselves, saved their past selves, and killed Starlight with the hope they would disappear.
But they didn’t, and had no choice but coexist with their others selves.

The Undead Knights went into hiding, fighting in the shadows, saving Equestria by massacring the enemies of the ponykind.

Twilight looked at the other Princesses and her brother, explaining herself. “Before they murdered Starlight, my dead-self mentioned something about the true preachers of Equality. The Knights of Silence.”

Celestia shook her head. “Okay, they know something, but we’re not going to talk to those things. They are far too dangerous, if we contact the Undead Knights, who knows what will happen in Equestria.”

“They’ll intervene, we want it or not.” said Shining. “And you know it, your Majesty.”

“If they do, we’ll stop them.” said Luna.

“And how exactly? Undead creatures are invincible. Our only advantage against them is that they cannot think. But they can. Also, they have unlimited access to magic.”

“We’ll figure the way!” declared Celestia. “But I don’t want that anyone mentions the Undead again. That’s an order!”

No, please stop!” begged the minotaur sorcerer, as he was firmly held by unicorn and alicorn magic.

At plain sight, this creatures looked like normal ponies. A lavender alicorn, a white unicorn, a couple of pegasi, a cyan one and a yellow one. And two earth ponies: orange and pink respectively. But a closer look would reveal they weren’t nothing like ponies. First of all, they all had black Cutie Marks, long and sharp fangs, and the red eyes.

The lavender alicorn smiled at him, showed her teeth sharp as knives to her victim. “Oh, but you were trying to take over Equestria for yourself, weren’t you, Prince Steel Fists? That we cannot allow.”

The white unicorn smiled at her friends. “Your turn, darlings. Just make sure this one lasts longer than the others.”

A crosscut saw was placed on the minotaur’s legs, as the two earth ponies took a side each.

“No, please stop!!” cried Prince Steel Fists.

Ignoring his pleas, they two monstrous earth ponies began to operate the saw slowly, but firmly, as the minotaur’s cries for mercy were heard all over. But there was no one who dared to approach.

And just when the two earth ponies were about to finish cutting his legs, the two pegasi approached each carrying an axe. Without hesitation, they started to chop down his arms.

When the minotaur lost all of his limbs, the four monsters left them right in front of them, as the pink earth pony, Pin-Kill-Die, ripped off his eyelids with a knife.

“What was that for?” asked the minotaur.

“We just want to make sure you witness the whole thing.” smiled the yellow pegasus, Fleshy Smile.

A giant dragon appeared from behind the woods. He had purple scales, with black wings, and red eyes. The monster smiled to his victim, as he took a leg, and began to eat it. Prince Steel Fists tried to turn away from this horror, but the monsters forced him to witness how the dragon ate all of his limbs.

“Exellent job, Night Terror.” congratulated the lavender alicorn.

“Always at your service, Midnight.” smiled the nightmarish dragon, with blood dripping from his teeth.

They left their victim to bleed until he died, and only then, the white unicorn cut his head with a spell, and proceeded to apply make-up and perfume to the head, as she replaced his dead eyes with beautiful gems. Maybe she was dead, but still considered herself an artist. An artist of death.

“Beautiful as always, Gothic!” cheered the pink earth pony.

“Oh, thank you for your support, my dear Pin-Kill-Die.”

Suddenly, the alicorn Midnight turned to Equestria. “Feel that? There’s something in the air.”

“This better worth it!” complained Undash. “I feel like I can massacre an entire town now!”

“Be patient, dear.” said Fleshy Smile softly. “If there’s a threat to Equestria, we’ll make sure there’s enough murder for all of us.”

“Yes, killing is so much fun. Fun, fun, FUN!” she laughed.

“It is fun indeed!” grinned Jack the Reaper. “Do you have any idea what it is, Midnight?”

“No, but we’ll figure soon.” said the dark alicorn. “Thank the Devil I’m dead, or I would be dying to know what it is.”

Everyone except for the undead dragon groaned to this stupid joke. However, they headed to Equestria, ready to protect it from anything. After all, that was what they were there for.

The Undead Knights, the Corruption of Harmony.

Author's Note

Okay, I translated the first part of this story long ago, but, it works also as a standalone fic. What happened in the prequel have just been explained by Twilight, but if you want to check it out, please go.

Anyway this is more like an ideological conflict rather than a war. I hope you like it and,

Read ya’ later!!