Knights of the Silence: education is for everypony

XVI:
Student Demonstration

Dear friends, students, and apprentices of Silence.

Through this letter I am letting you know that our night sessions have to be paused indefinitely. Not because I don’t want you to keep helping you improve, but because the current circumstances gave me no choice.

Yesterday one of our most valuable Knights, now under the custody of the Crown, was brutally attacked by these supposed robbers. During this time we’ve suspected that there was something else going on, and now it is confirmed. I cannot tell you exactly what we’re dealing with, but what I can tell you is that this is a very dark force that won’t stop until the Order is annihilated.

Shadows had been our allies from the beginning, but now going out at night had become too dangerous for us to continue. Until this situation is fixed, or we are not pursued anymore by the Crown we would have to stop. I cannot let you expose yourself to this force just because of my ideology.

Please forgive me, I wish there were another way, but we have no choice. I will not carry any more of your deaths on my conscience.

Sincerely yours,

The Great Master.

The open letter on the morning paper left a sour taste on the mouths of the ponies who had read it. The Knights of the Silence have just quit? Why? What was this dark forced they claimed they were protecting their students from?

No! This couldn’t happen! Lots of ponies have gone improved a lot because of their efforts! They couldn’t just abandon them after all this time.

The day haven’t started properly, and lots of ponies were having a hard time after this news. This group of ponies disagreed with he Crown and stole several documents, so that meant they were alone at the mercy of this dark force? It wasn’t like they were selling this knowledge! This seemed so unfair.

The whole city of Canterlot was under an atmosphere of tension.

And everything exploded at Celestia’s Academy for the Gifted Unicorns.

Ink Heart was a humble unicorn from a humble town in the north who only made it to his dream school because of the Knights of the Silence, and he was a regular on the night lessons. So, after reading the open letter on the paper put him in an unbelievably bad mood.

When he entered into the Academy, he noticed the cry for help on the wall, and nodded approvingly along with most of the students in the Academy.

But then she noticed the janitor carrying a bucket of paint to cover the message. Ink Heart didn’t like it.

“Hey what do you think you’re doing?” asked the unicorn walking menacingly to the janitor.

The janitor, still half-asleep, looked at the unicorn. “Huh? Somepony broke in here and painted this on the wall. I’m covering it up!”

Ink Heart kicked the bucket of paint away, and pushed the janitor.

“I like how it looks. The graffiti stays here.”

The janitor looked at the pony, and the circle the ponies who were surrounding him, half of them were just curious. But the other half were on Ink Heart’s side. One of them even kicked the bucket of paint even further.

“Hey I’m just trying to do my job!” said the janitor.

“Yes, and you do a magnificent job!” said a young mare. “Your floors spark and you can see your reflection! So why don’t you go to clean the floor instead, huh?”

“Hey I was told to cover the graffiti!”

“The graffiti stays!” said a third student. “The Student Body supports the Knights of Silence. Lots of us wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for them!”

The janitor finally took his paint roller and escaped from the angry students.

A few moments later, a security guard walked in seeming angry. He did not want to start his day like this.

“What the hay is happening here?”

Ink Heart faced the guard. “Yes. We like the new decoration and we want to keep it. Is that a problem?”

The security guard looked at the graffiti and the angry students. “Please be reasonable mares and gentlecolts. This is Princess Celestia’s Academy, and this group is openly defying the Crown and…”

The students moved toward the security guard, some of them charging attack spells on their horns. The security guard looked at the students, and decided it was not worth it. He returned to the main door.

The students exchanged smiles when they heard more hoofsteps coming toward them. All of them recognized the aura, and they could tell she was pissed. But they had to stay firm. They were determined to defend their cause. The Knight’s cause.

“What is the meaning of this?!” asked Celestia with her Canterlot Voice. “Go to your classes. NOW!”

“And we will! As long as you promise us to not to touch the new decorations! The Student Body is with the Great Master and the Knights of Silence!” shouted Ink Heart.

“I can’t do that. Now go back to your classes or there would be consequences.”

Celestia turned to the janitor. “Proceed.”

The janitor took his paint roller and his bucket of paint and went back to cover the graffiti when a pony threw a rock with such precision that overturned the bucket of paint and all the content spread over the floor.

“Who did this?” asked Celestia.

Another pony threw a rock that took the crown of her head.

“Hey you have no right!!” she said trying to find the culprit.

“You have no right to pursue the Knights of Silence!” shouted another pony right behind her.

“We are with the Knights!”

The student body moved toward Celestia menacingly. The Princess frowned, she could easily put them on their place but she did not wanted to hurt her little ponies, and peacefully retired.

Then the unthinkable happened. The Student Body forced all the professors out of the Academy and then they closed the Academy using chairs and desks as a barricade, and improvising signs with their notebooks.

“This school is closed until the Crown stops pursuing the Knights of Silence!” shouted Ink Heart, the leader of the rebellion.

Celestia frowned.

“A student demonstration! Just what I needed!”

Celestia knew what was coming. Years of experience have taught her that the news would spread like wildfire, and all of the schools in Canterlot would be forced to close their doors by their own students, and they would join the demonstration.

And effectively in less than an hour all the schools have closed its doors, and three fourths of the students reunited at the main square holding signs and demanding the Crown to stop pursuing the Knights of the Silence and to do something about the dark forces menacing the Knights.

“KNIGHTS OF SILENCE DESERVE PROTECTION TOO!”

“No more pursuing! JUSTICE FOR THE KNIGHTS OF SILENCE!”

“The Knights are not the problem! The system is the real enemy!”

Etc.

Some students at Celestia’s Academy even dressed up her statue like the Great Master to show who they were siding with.

“We bow before you, oh Great Master!”

Celestia watched this from a balcony at her castle, frowning at the events.

Luna just listened to all the shouting from the ponies and sighed.

“To be completely honest with you Tia, this was to be expected. I am surprised it took this long though.”

Celestia shook her head as she punched a wall. “Stupidity is more dangerous than pure evil, and this group of idiots have managed to get a large group of equally idiotic followers.”

“Tia I know you’re upset, but you have to understand this was inevitable, also we have to admit defeat. The only way to stop this for good is to change the educational system for good, we cannot let schools to be selective anymore. Education is for everypony.”

Celestia glared at Luna but didn’t say anything. Instead she opened a book to forget about the commotion in the outside. But Luna was right, this was to be expected. The Knights’ actions would have this impact sooner or later.

“Besides this is a pacific demonstration.” continued Luna. “Ponies have the right to protest against the Government as long as they do not get violent.”

Celestia sighed. “I guess you’re right. I’m just worried what the Knights would do now.”

“Tia! You know they are not the problem!”

“I’m not talking about them! I am talking about the others… those are unpredictable and unstoppable.”

…

From the mountains surrounding Canterlot, a group of seven undead monsters looked at Canterlot and the commotion on the streets.

“So finally the time have come! Idiots protesting for other idiots’ rights.”

“JUSTICE! JUSTICE FOR THE KNIGHTS OF SILENCE!” shouted Pin-Kill-Die, mocking the studens. “Can you believe these idiots?”

“Faust made all ponies, but the Knights made us equal.” recited Undash. “That’s my favorite.”

Gothic seemed thoughtful. “Do you realize if it wasn’t for us, this demonstration would not explode until two years later? It seems that no matter how hard we try we cannot fully change the course of history.”

“We haven’t change crap!” said Jack the Reaper. “We were supposed to disappear when we traveled back to the past but here we are!”

Midnight rolled her eyes.

“I told you there was no guarantee that it would work. Instead of crying over spilled milk, let’s focus on the what’s important. You all know what would happen next, we’ve planned this for four years pushing them to their breaking point.”

Night Terror grinned. “Yes, the Great Master would have no choice but to reveal herself.”

“And when she does…”

“She’ll come to an end, along with her group of idiots.”

“We just need to spill a bit of more blood.”

The Undead Knights laughed in anticipation.