Knights of the Silence: education is for everypony

Chapter VIII:
Your true motivation

Two months had passed since the beginning of everything but there had been no progress. In fact everything was getting worse.

Large groups of soldiers patrolled every single corner of Canterlot, especially at night. Desperately trying to find the Knights of the Silence or a clue that eventually lead to them but it was impossible.
Each time they stopped a group of ponies wondering in the middle of the night they ended up being a bunch of drunk students who were on their way home after a night of partying. Those things were common in a city full of universities.

That was the main reason why the Knight’s sessions were always on Friday nights. So their groups of students go unnoticed among the other students.

To make thing worse the Undead Knights vanished from the land after the encounter with the other group of Knights.

“They are up to something. The undeads.” said Twilight Sparkle. “I feel it in the air.”

Celestia nodded. “Yes, they won’t give up that easily. And I’m afraid that they will turn against you.”

“You think?” asked Twilight.

“Yes. They won’t kill since they are you. But I’m worried that they’ll try to put push you out of their way since you bear the power of Harmony. The only thing that can stop them.”

“Unfortunately is not enough to seal them forever.”

Twilight looked to the darkness of night and sighed. “Princess Celestia, I know you brought us here because of the urgency of the situation. But we are stuck in a dead end and we must return to our homes and to our lives in Ponyville. Please let us return.”

Celestia nodded sadly.

“You are right, Twilight Sparkle. Any chance of negotiation is gone after their first encounter.”

Twilight frowned. “Yes, I wish I reacted before the Undead Knights scared them away. We’ll think about something soon. But from our homes. And don’t worry, we’ll let you know if something happens.”

“Go on Twilight Sparkle. I thought the Magic of Friendship would help us but I see it’s too late for that now. Rest in here for tonight and take the first train tomorrow.”

“Thank you, Princess.”

And with that Twilight went to tell the news to her friends.
The girls were really excited about returning to Ponyville. But also they were relieved that they didn’t have to confront the Undead Knights.

Behind a cellar in the middle of Canterlot Cream Cone said good bye to all her students except for Spike. She used to walk him to the train station night after night since he was the youngest of her students.

“See you later teacher!”

“Don’t forget to tell us when our next session is! I’ll bring a friend!”

Cream Cone said good bye to everypony and then she made Spike a sign to follow her.

“Okay Spike, let’s go.”

Spike smiled happily. “Thank you as always Cream Cone.”

Cream nodded as they started walking.
Spike felt ridiculous with having to have an escort but he had to admit it was for his own good. Canterlot was a big city and he could get lost between the endless streets. A danger that increased when he had to find the most hidden spots since those were the ones the Knights used for their lessons.

They walked for a while when Cream noticed Spike was worried about something. “Hey, is something on your mind, kid?”

“Yeah sorry.” sighed Spike. “Is just that I may not be able to keep attending to our sessions.”

“Let me guess. You spent all your savings in train tickets.”

Spike nodded.

Cream smiled gently at him. “I am quite surprised you managed to attend three sessions in a row. But it’s okay kid. You did your best and learned a lot.”

Spike smiled happily and used his newfound magic to levitate a trashcan in an alley. “Yes, I’ll have tons of fun with my new powers. And I wish I could learn more.”

Cream smiled at him. “Don’t worry. Is only normal for one of our students to skip a few sessions.” She sighed. “You know Spike? I wanna help you, I really do. But I’m a bit worry for your motivation to learn.”

“I don’t want to be a sinner anymore!”

“You are not sinning!” exclaimed Cream Cone. “Spike, you are doing this because of what a pony-eating monster told you who also fucks his own mother! Think about it, the only good thing those monsters have done was to prevent you to follow the same path they followed.”

Spike didn’t know how to answer this.
Luckily they had arrived to the train station so there wasn’t more time to keep discussing the subject.

Cream winked an eye to Spike as she approached to the ticket office and paid for his ticket. “Save the last of your savings. Tonight’s trip is on me!”

“Thanks Cream!”

“And I may have an idea for you to continue your learning but first I need you to reconsider your motivation. I don’t want you to do this because of what a monster told you.”

“Understood. I’ll send you a letter when I find my answer.”

She waved at hoof at him as the train went away.

“I hope you find your true motivation, kid.” smiled

The trip to Ponyivlle was short and pleasant.
The train was mercifully empty at that hour, and in just forty five minutes Spike was back on his home, and went to sleep.

It was strange how things have changed in such a short notice. He had been sleeping until 10 am, but a gently hoof woke him up at 7. Seven!

“Who the…?”

Twilight smiled at him. “Good morning Spike.”

“Twilight? What are you doing here? I thought you will be staying at Canterlot for a while.”

Twilight shook her head. “Well, that time is over. I just knew I had to come back.”

Spike smiled back at Twilight as he slowly got out of the bed. “I see. And what happened? Were you able to stop the Knights of the Silence?”

Twilight shook her head.

“No Spike, they know what they’re doing. And we must consider that they have the people’s favor. Especially students. And I’m fairly sure that they are hiding the Knights.”

“The people protecting the Knights? But why?”

“Because they’ve convinced themselves and the people that the Crown is wrong and that they are fighting for the best interest of all ponies. But let’s not speak about them. Tell me, how was the library?”

“Pretty boring. Some ponies came to borrow some cook books, a few bedtime stories for foals. You know, the usual.”

Twilight nodded, she knew all too well that reading was not a very popular hobby in Ponyville.

“Also, continued Spike, I met a student who came to make research about folklore according to them. She borrowed some books and asked me about local myths.”

“Oh Spike! I am so glad you made a new friend!”

Spike continued telling Twilight about the daily life in Ponyville as Twilight listened. She really have missed Spike.

Canterlot Castle:

It was Day Court. Princess Celestia listened to the Nobles and the people who needed to speak with her and she did her best to help her little ponies. Luckily it was a slow day since she was distracted thinking about the Knight of the Silence.
A fascinating group who just wanted to help but with questionable methods. And still they somehow managed to get the support from all the city.

Suddenly two guards interrupted her thoughts dragging a young earth pony. She had light golden fur and sky blue mane.

“What’s the meaning of this?!” asked the Princess.

“That’s my line!” complained the earth pony. “What’s wrong with your guards?”

The two soldiers bowed to the Princess.

“Your Majesty, we were patrolling the streets when we found this pony doing some suspicious activity near the marketplace.”

The earth pony glared at them. “Explain to me moron, what do you find suspicious about doing my groceries?! It’s insane!”

“You were doing magic!”

“So what? A lot of ponies were carrying their bags with their own magic!” said the earth pony angrily.

“Those ponies were unicorns!”

The earth pony rolled her eyes. “And? There’s no law against doing magic if you are not a unicorn, or is it?”

Princess Celestia shook her head.

“Of course not my little pony! Because no other pony race can do magic!”

“Anypony can learn if you find the right teacher!” said the earth pony. “And what’s the point of learning something if you don’t practice it.”

Celestia looked at her. “Don’t you see how strange it is to see an earth pony doing magic?”

“You don’t need an ugly thing on your head to do magic. Anypony can learn.”

Celestia looked at the earth pony to the eye. “What is your name my little pony?”

“Crepe Suzzette.”

“Crepe Suzzette, who taught you to do magic? It was the Great Master?”

“Of course not! I’ve not reached the level to be under her tutelage. But I was taught by a Knight.”

The two guards glared at her. “Tell us the name.”

“What? I don’t know! We call her teacher and that’s it! She always uses her black robe and mask so we can’t identify her. All I know is that she is a pegasus.”

“Are you a knight?” asked the other guard.

“NO! I just wanted to learn and they offered to teach me. That’s it, I am innocent!”

The two soldiers turned to the Princess.

“What should we do with her Your Highness?”

The Princess frowned. “Take her home and help her with her groceries. Understood? She clearly does not know anything, but bring every non-unicorn doing magic to me for interrogation. But that’s all we can do.”

“But Your Highness…”

“She didn’t break any law. She is free to go. But young Crepe Suzzette, we’ll keep an eye on you.”

Crepe Suzzette glared at the Princess. “You know that we don’t know when the next meeting is going to be, right? And that the Knights know how to read souls. You will never catch them.”

“Out of my sight!” commanded Celestia.

Crepe Suzzette gave a smirk to the Princess and then she left with the two guards carrying the grocery bags. But they were in bad mood. The earth pony was right, it was nearly impossible to catch the Knights of the Silence.
They were too careful and too smart.

…

Spike was having a good day. Despite being woke up so early he was glad to have Twilight back. Seeing her reminded him how much he have missed her.

The dragon asked if the others would come too but Twilight assured them it would be later since the girls also wanted to spend the day with their families and that they had the whole day together.

And it was at that moment when Spike finally understood his true motivation to learn.

“Twilight wait! I just remember that I have a letter to make! I’ll be right back!”

Twilight nodded. “Okay! Remember to use regular mail and not your Messenger breath, okay?”

Spike nodded and went to put the letter into the mailbox. She would not get it as fast as he wished but he had to keep this a secret from the knights and his terrifying other self.

At the next day Cream Cone received the letter, and smiled at it.

Dear Cream, my true motivation is my family.

Spike.

“Okay kid. You asked for it. I’ll prepare a strategy for you so you can keep coming to learn magic. And I hope it works.”