Early in the morning, Knuckles woke up and stretched his arms and legs so he could start his day. He would this constantly every day to make sure his muscles wouldn't cramp up on him. He went downstairs to make some breakfast and whistled a Skillet song while he was doing that. Once he was done cooking it, he sat down at the breakfast table and ate quietly. It still felt kind of empty to him, but that's how he rolled most of the time. Considering his current situation, he was totally fine like this. It was a way for him to spend some time by himself in the morning before he would join the others in Ponyville 3 hours away. He finished up his breakfast and put in the sink. He washed it off thoroughly and put it in the dishwasher which he would run later tonight.

He left the kitchen and went to change into his gym clothes so he could get that morning workout in. He turned up the Skillet music and did his workout routines like he does every other day of the week. To put it into perspective, 600 pounds feels like a feather to him. To many, that would be incredibly heavy, but for him, that's nothing. He usually benchpresses, lifts, and squats 1,200 pounds, but even that is not really a challenge for him because of his super strength. What would be a challenge for him would be anything more than the weight of 3 cars or 6,000 pounds. So, if he tried to lift 5 cars into the air, he would struggle a little bit compared to 3 cars. Knuckles didn't really care though because he got stronger as the days went on. He felt good and healthier as well as time went on.

After doing his workout for about an hour, he went into the locker room to change out of the clothes he was wearing and took a shower. Thankfully, he never had to worry about others trying to beat him up or flogging him with towels since he was the only one who used this space. He had to deal with that in middle school and high school somewhat, but at least it was easier there because he had Maddi. He didn't have that in middle school. He didn't know how it happened, he somehow made through despite always being a handful since people would never leave him alone.

He dried off his hair and combed it to make look nice. He wasn't going anywhere fancy, but he wanted to make himself look presentable in front of company. One of the most important things about his tribe was hospitality. If you didn't treat your guests right, you had no honor and were considered a coward. So, it was important that you demonstrated proper hospitality or else you would get a whooping of a lifetime. It might have sounded super strict, but it established discipline amongst the young in the tribe and it make them very good people to interact with.

Knuckles threw some clothes on and combed his hair again just a little bit in order to make sure he didn't mess it up with throwing his shirt on. He left the locker room and headed for his bedroom. The other good thing about the locker room he had was it was always kept clean and it wouldn't smell so terrible all the time except when he stunk anytime he walked in there. But that usually evaporated as soon as he took a shower and after he would leave, it would smell nice and fresh, so that was another bonus.

Knuckles threw on a jacket because he knew it was relatively cold outside and he didn't want to freeze to death. He was wearing one of his black leather jackets that he would wear anytime he would jam out to his electric guitar. It would make him look like one of those rock stars or something. He grabbed his phone and keys and left his room. He went over to the elevator and pressed the down button so it could come up to where he was. The doors opened and Knuckles walked inside. He pressed the button to the bottom floor and the doors shut closed.

He whistled another Skillet song as the elevator was traveling below ground and he stared at the wall while doing so because it was a very decorated elevator. He didn't exactly know how the heck he was able to afford building this mansion, but considering how nice it was, he didn't really care. What annoyed him so much was how high the income and personal property taxes were in this area. He remembers how much his parents complained about the high Maryland state income tax rate plus all those other ridiculous fees that the State of Maryland loves to charge on its citizens.

Fortunately, there are no states here in Equestria, but he still has to deal with the income and personal property taxes. The income taxes aren't really as bad here in Baltimare as he originally thought, but because of what he lives in, that jacked up the price of the income taxes. In other words, the high personal property taxes caused the income taxes to skyrocket through the roof. He thankfully has enough money to pay the taxes every month, but he really wished that they were lower. However, considering where he is living and what he lives in, it makes sense why they would charge so much.

But he doesn't directly live in the city. He tried to argue that, but the city didn't care. They stated that as long as he lived in the metropolitan area, which would include where he lived, he would be charged the same rate as everypony else who lives in the city. It left him pretty frustrated, but he wasn't going to waste anymore time with a bunch of politicians who refused to fix the crime situation in the city. It just wasn't worth it to him. The elevator doors finally opened and Knuckles stepped out into his Knucklecave. It was still looking as good as ever and he went over to Blackbird.

He hopped into the driver's seat and pressed the engine start stop button to turn it on. Everytime he started it up, it always had that nice deep V8 rumble to it and when he stepped on it, it sounded like the supercharged Hellcat engine that he was so used to hearing. When he built it, he wanted it to sound like that, so the fact that it turned out so well made him quite happy. He put on his seatbelt and he pressed the garage door opener button to open the big doors ahead of him. He pressed the throttle lever forward and he took off.

He flew through the caverns inside the island and the doors leading outside opened as well. He flew right out and the doors shut. Knuckles enjoyed having the wind blow through his hair and it was a beautiful sunny day out here in Baltimare. He flew over all of the tall skyscrapers that resided in the city and once he left the city limits, he slowed down the throttle a little bit and activated cruise control. He looked down and saw all of the beautiful fields that rural Equestria had to offer. It was a much needed break from all the skyscrapers and city life that he dealt with on a daily basis in Baltimare.

As a kid, he always loved visiting his grandparents in Hampstead, MD which was about an hour from where he lived in Baltimore. They lived out in the country and they had a really nice house for the area that they were in. Of course, he always had to hitch a ride with another family member because his parents refused to visit them at all since they had beef with them and he was left on his own. By the time he could get his own car to drive, his grandparents were dead, but he always visited the property when he could just to maintain it's great condition.

It was also a place for him to talk to his grandparents by himself out loud without his parents trying to disturb him or something. He eventually showed Maddi the place and the two of them bonded really well over there. Let's just say they may have gotten into some mischief when they were there. If you watched the movie The Best of Me where the setting was 1992, you'll know what I'm talking about. Losing his grandparents was tough, but not as tough as it was losing Maddi. At least she was there when his grandparents died, but when she died, he had no one because that was his only support system. He literally had to watch it disappear like a cloud of dust after having it for almost half of his life at that point.

He needed to get the Master Diamond back soon though. He had hid it when he fought Tirek over three years ago, but as long as it was still out there, the world and the universe would be in great danger. None of them would ever be safe again because of how powerful it truly was. The thought worried Knuckles even more than it ever has. Before, he only had himself to worry about. But now that he has made peace with the Mane Six, they were in just as much great danger as the rest of the country was.

He needed to get that artifact back in his possession before it was too late and Equestria falls to its knees to whatever evil force has control of the Diamond. As he was thinking about it, he could see Ponyville in the distance and he sped up a little bit so he could get there a little bit more quickly. He looked around and found a spot to land at. He stopped the vehicle and turned it off. He hopped out of the vehicle and went up to the front of the alleyway. He noticed a lot of ponies walking through there and doing business as usual.

He remembered the last time he was in this situation, he was absolutely gagging over it and complaining how terrible it was. He still wasn't the biggest fan of friendship, but he rather do this than to be sitting in federal prison right now. So, he just had to roll with it. He sighed and went out to start walking through the city. He looked around nervously to see if anyone notice, but they only seemed to either greet with smiles or not even acknowledge him. It was sort of awkward for him, so he walked a little bit faster to get towards the edge of town.

He finally made it outside of the town and stopped at the Castle of Friendship: the home of the Princess of Friendship aka Princess Twilight Sparkle. He didn't think he had to be knocking on large castle doors, but that's what needed to happen. He sighed very heavily and gave a firm knock on the door. Who knew that he would be knocking on someone else's door? Usually, it's others knocking on his door, but now, it's him knocking on doors.

The doors opened and Twilight was standing right there. She smiled and said "Good morning, Knuckles! I'm glad that you came. I wasn't sure if you would or not. But it's good to see you here."

Knuckles said in a serious tone "When I make a promise to do something, I never back down from it at all. I might not like it, but I will always do it regardless. My tribe is all about honor and running away from your problems makes you a coward, so whenever a vow has been made, a man must honor it or else he has none."

Twilight smiled some more and said "It seems like your tribe has strong values. It looks like you have a pretty good grasp of loyalty. As you may know, loyalty is all about devotion and being committed to some sort of allegiance. It also means always having somepony's back whenever they are in crisis and always being there for them. I think even Rainbow would be impressed."

Knuckles said "You could say that, but between the two of us, she needs some work. I'm not trying to insult her character or anything, but sometimes she can be a bit of a hothead and that's me being generous. I could think of a lot worse."

Twilight agreed and said "Yeah, I can see your point. She has shown off her ego from time to time, but she is always there when it counts the most. If you had said that three years ago, I would have been incredibly insulted by the remark, but after everything that has happened in that timeframe, I'm totally fine with it. Just don't say it too loudly or else Rainbow might get offended."

Knuckles chuckled a bit and said "That pony stands no chance. If she gets offended by the tiniest thing, she'll have it coming for her. Now where do we begin our journey?"

Twilight said "I thought we would take a walk through town to get started. I know it can seem a bit nerve-wracking, but I promise that this will be an effective tactic to get the train moving."

Knuckles grunted a bit in satisfaction and said "Then let us begin our journey." He turned around and headed out towards town. Twilight knew she had some work to do, but it was nothing she couldn't handle. Considering where she was just six months ago, this was a lot better than that disaster.

They began walking together and Twilight said as they were walking into town "Thank you once again for making it out here. I know that you already said no, but you don't have to travel three hours out west just to get here to Ponyville. You could always stay here."

Knuckles sighed and said "I appreciate the gesture Twilight, but really, I don't need it. I don't mind making the three hour trip here. Besides, I can't leave my house in Baltimare. Someone's gotta watch over it. It might be a little far, but that's where home is for right now. Now, you can drop the gestures and gifts you are trying to give me. You set me free from prison and I am grateful for that. You agreed to teach me friendship and that's all I need. I'm good with just that. My tribe might be fed up with that, but I am the only one left here, so it doesn't matter."

Twilight said "That does remind me: I tried doing some research to see if there was anything about your tribe so I could learn about it more, but I seem to ran out of luck because I couldn't find anything."

Knuckles said "You wouldn't. We as a tribe kept many secrets from the public eye for years and we always controlled the narrative to make sure we didn't get discovered by the rest of the world. The Echidna tribe was rarely known by most of the world and those who did know were sworn to secrecy about it or else they would suffer death. We were actually very successful for a long time and as far as I know, the world never did discover us which was good."

Twilight seemed interested in the story and asked "Why is your tribe named the Echidnas? If I remember correctly, it is some sort of porcupine creature."

Knuckles said "My ancestors decided to come up with the name because we named it after the creature. We would act nice towards others whenever we were out in public, but when we were threatened, we would attack like a group of snakes. We would show no mercy. I remember it like this: Mercy is for the weak. We do not train to be merciful here. A man face you, he is enemy. Enemy deserve no mercy. That was also a quote from the Karate Kid II, but we were the original ones to come with it."

Twilight snickered a bit at the remark and thought it was funny that a great quote like that came from his tribe and got stolen to be put into a movie. That wasn't something she heard everyday.

Knuckles ignored that and said "Anyway, many years ago, my ancestors settled in the area that is now known as Baltimore, Maryland in the United States, which is my hometown. When they first got there, they struggled mightily, but we were able to figure out how to survive. All with the power of the Ultimate Power. The artifact was considered very sacred and no one except us who are in the tribe are supposed to know about it because of how powerful it truly is."

Twilight got curious and asked "What exactly is the Ultimate Power? I've been trying to figure that out for quite some time now, and I can't seem to figure it out."

Knuckles gave a hard stare and said "I cannot tell you that. You are not part of the tribe, so I cannot tell you those details. One of the major rules of the tribe is you have to be part of the tribe in order to know the secrets and you have to make an oath to swear to silence about it or else face death. The only ways you become part of the tribe is either through birth or marriage, so for you, that would be the only way to get to know the tribe's secrets. Sorry. That's just the rules."

Twilight said "Your tribe seems to have a lot of rules."

Knuckles chuckled a bit and said "Yeah, we do, but each rule has its own special purpose and they are there for a reason. We wanted to establish discipline and respect. Another reason why we named our tribe the Echidnas was because we had many enemies. So many people wanted our secrets, but we would not let them because the Ultimate Power was far beyond anything they could imagine. The Echidna has many predators, so we constantly had to fight for our lives in order to survive. Thankfully, we had a way to protect ourselves which allowed us to take down our enemies. They did not know our forms of martial arts and when they threatened us, they suffered the penalty badly. Our tribe thrived for 4,000 years and now, I'm the one who has to carry that legacy."

Twilight was mind blown by this shocking revelation and asked "Did your secrets ever get out after you defeated these people?"

Knuckles shook his head and said "Thankfully no. We were able to keep our secrets locked away from the world and when the enemy moved in, we attacked like a pack of Wolves. They say that if you want to kill the Snake, you go for the head, so that's exactly what we did. The enemy never saw it coming, so when they got hit, they never recovered and died as a result of it. It might sound brutal, but considering how valuable the Ultimate Power was, we were willing to fight to the death for it. We were the guardians of it and we were tasked of protecting it from the enemy like those who created it told us to do all those thousands of years ago. You know what's funny about those people that got beat up by us and survived, when they went to tell others, no one believed them and thought they were nuts because of how unknown our tribe was. We were able to stay in the dark and that worked to our advantage."

Twilight said "Wow. That's an interesting story. I guess you all had a good reason to keep everything about your history secret so that you guys wouldn't have your artifact stolen."

Knuckles nodded and said "If you ever tried looking up our tribe through history books or the internet, you would not find anything. We weren't even on the list of Native American tribes because we didn't want people to know about our tribe just by looking on Wikipedia. Anytime we went out in public, we wore regular clothes like everyone else so no one would recognize us and we would blend right in with the crowds. We didn't even wear our jewelry that was associated with our tribe because people would discover about it that way as well just by simply asking. When our ancestors were forming the tribe, they thought of everything. They left no stone unturned. Our motto has always been: If man has no honor, then he becomes death. What it means is that if a man has no honor in him, then he is face to face with death itself and they suffer its fate. Honor was always the most important thing in our tribe and if you did not have it, you were considered a coward."

Twilight asked "Did any of you guys get into fights out in public and if so, how were able to not get caught?"

Knuckles said "Ah, that. So you see, the way of the tribe is you try to deescalate things first, then if that doesn't work, you give them a warning to back away and if all else fails, you fight them to the death. Most of the time, people that caused problems wanted to fight us because they thought they were tough, but they were softer than a baby's ass. After they would get obliterated, people would ask where we got those fighting skills because it looked a lot of Karate and some of them had watched the Karate Kid series, so they got curious. All we told them was the internet and all of them bought that excuse. Not only were we very smart when it came to fighting, we were also very innovative as well. We were able to adapt to changes and we constantly stayed in the loop of what was going on."

Twilight seemed impressed by this and wanted to hear more of this story because she knew she could get a good friendship lesson out of this.

Knuckles continued and said "Most of us were computer geeks, so we were able to inform the rest of the tribe how the internet worked and what people normally do on it. So, we never had to worry about being outdated because our tribe instilled into our brains that we are always supposed to adapt to change and keep the enemy at its toes. Make them keep guessing and when they least expect it, you strike. In the Karate Kid movie series with Cobra Kai, you had the slogan: Strike First. Strike Hard. No Mercy. But we were the ones to invent that sort of concept. We didn't have it framed quite like that, but the idea was the same. We would normally play defense to get the enemy to back down, but if we needed to, we would go on offense and there was no stopping us after that. We always had that perfect balance of that, but if you got us angry enough, we would show no mercy."

Twilight nodded her head and said "I see. So, you like to seem to talk a lot. That's good. Nothing wrong with that. I liked hearing your story, but the first lesson of friendship I have to teach you is listening. You never want to have a one sided conversation. It's a bad idea and makes things very awkward. It tells the other pony that you're more important than them and their conversation becomes less relevant as time goes on. I'm not saying that you think you're more important than anypony else, but it does send that message."

Knuckles looked at her with a stunned look on his face and said "Wow. You really are that smart. I guess I forgot one of the most important principles of the tribe: hospitality. That was one of the most critical things established in our tribe. If we had guests over, we were to make them feel like family and treat them with respect. It was part of the bigger picture of being friendly with people. Anytime we spoke to other people, we always spoke kindly to them and never disrespected them. We usually tried to avoid fights with people, but if they wanted to throw hands and threatened our lives, we would have no choice. The point is I forgot that one sided conversations count as bad hospitality and I apologize for that."

Twilight smiled a bit and said "It's okay. I accept your apology."

Knuckles sighed and said "Dang, this is hard. I never knew friendship could be this complicated or difficult to figure out. I guess I still have a lot to learn about friendship."

Twilight smiled some more and said "Hey, I've been there. Learning friendship for the first time isn't easy and relearning it isn't any easier either. For you, it's been a long time since you learned about it and the last time you had it, it betrayed you and put it in a bad light. So I understand. But with time, you will get better. I promise. Now, come along. We must learn our next lesson."

Twilight walked away and Knuckles just sighed. He watched Twilight leaving and he seemed to notice she was looking a little bit prettier than he normally saw her. He hit his head in realization and called himself stupid. He could not be falling for the Princess of Friendship. He had treated her and her friends so terribly for so many years and now he's gained them as friends. He couldn't lose that. He couldn't afford to lose it again. His mind was playing dirty tricks with him. Now's not the time to be crushing over pony princesses. He had friendship lessons to learn. He shook his head and followed Twilight to catch up to her.

When he finally caught up, he noticed that Rainbow was snoozing on a cloud and he had an idea. He jumped up into the air as high as he could and he slapped her across the face just to see her reaction. She suddenly woke up and Knuckles went back down. Rainbow looked around and saw him and Twilight down below. She asked "Twilight, who decided to hit me?! That's not very funny."

Before Twilight could say anything, Knuckles said with sarcasm in his voice "That would be me, ma'am. I really hope that wasn't a problem. I thought you needed a good wake up call after sleeping for about 5 hours."

Rainbow wasn't amused with the sarcasm and said "You know, it's not very nice to hit other ponies when they are sleeping."

Knuckles retorted "It's also not very nice to follow people home, threaten them with fights, or spy on them during their personal private time."

Rainbow wanted to say something, but after a few seconds, she came up with nothing, so she kept her mouth shut.

Knuckles sighed a bit and said "But, like all humans or in this case, ponies do, we make mistakes. They might have been really dumb and stupid mistakes, but they're mistakes regardless. I do know that you regret doing that and you don't have to admit it out loud. I already know. You're not a terrible pony, you just need work like the rest of us."

Rainbow was stunned by the sudden kindness shown by Knuckles and she said "Wow. I did not expect that from you. I literally thought that you would rip me to shreds for having a massive ego, yet you show me kindness. Why?"

Knuckles said "In my tribe, one of the core principles taught about life is humility. You discipline others when it's necessary, but you still treat them with respect because those who have no respect in the heart has no honor. Anytime you interact with others, you don't insult them or degrade them in a demeaning manner. I unfortunately broke that rule, but in the tribe, when a man admits his mistakes, he has more honor than cowards who hide it away in their hearts. You always be kind to others even if they don't do the same. I think that's something we can all learn in life."

Rainbow was blown away even more and said "Dang. Your tribe has strong moral values and you're right. I didn't always give you kindness and doing that made you return the fire. I want to sincerely apologize for that and I should have given you the benefit of the doubt."

Knuckles chuckled a bit and said "It's fine, Rainbow. Don't focus on the past. In the tribe, it was taught that if you focus too much on the past, you will never be able to move on in the future. You'll never forget what you did in the past, but you must not let it hold you back. Those who let the past influence their decisions is a man with no honor. Come, let us continue our journey." He walked away and Rainbow didn't know what to say.

She looked at Twilight and said "This dude is truly something else. I literally thought he would yell at me for how cruel I was to him, yet he seemed to forgive me no problem."

Twilight smiled and said "Yeah, it is incredible seeing that. I was about to scold him for retorting the mistakes you made and slapping you across the face, but then he pulled a Fluttershy on us. His tribe has very strong values and even though he might not follow it all the time, he always remembers them when it matters most. He says that he's struggling with friendship, but considering how much he has cited his tribe's values, it makes me think otherwise. I believe he is learning friendship very well and I think he'll turn out fine. He might have to fix some things, but he's got the main ideas down."

Knuckles and Twilight were walking through the rural areas of Ponyville and Knuckles noticed Sweet Apple Acres in the distance. He also saw that Applejack was working in the fields bucking apples. He said "I think I might have another idea."

Twilight gave him a deadpan stare and asked sarcastically "Does it include slapping more ponies?"

Knuckles returned the sarcastic look and said "Oh sure, of course I would do that. I clearly did not learn my lesson from the last time. I just love to go around smacking the living s[BLEEP] out of ponies. Yeah, no s[BLEEP] of course I would not do that. Do you seriously believe that I would do that again? I only did it with Rainbow because I wanted to get a reaction out of her. I'm not gonna do it to anyone else unless they provoke me bad enough. What do you actually take me for? Come, we must not keep our journey waiting." Knuckles continued walking and Twilight did not know what to say. She just shook her head and followed right behind.

Knuckles decided to basically do island hopping between the trees in a similar way Earl got past people to reach Flint Lockwood in Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. If you have watched that movie, then you know what I'm talking about, if you don't, oh well. Just go watch it and then come back here when you are done. Anyway, he hid in one of the trees and waited for Applejack to come over. Applejack walked over to the tree he was in and bucked it which caused some apples to fall and Knuckles himself.

That completely threw off Applejack and she said "What in tarnation?! Why the hay were you in a tree?"

Knuckles said "My apologies. I was sleeping there for the night and I slept in a little too long. I must say though that you do have incredible strength when bucking these trees. That's good. Hard work is part of all that. It's all about strength, courage, humility, respect, and honor. A man who does not work is a man with no honor and he does not eat. That was a core principle in my tribe. Also, a man is stronger when he uses teamwork, not when he works alone."

Applejack picked up on the sentiment and said "Can ya even buck a tree to make apples fall?"

Knuckles gave her a deadpan stare and knocked the tree behind him with a backwards punch which caused all the apples to fall easily. He said "Does a bear poop in the woods?"

Applejack was astonished by that and said "Well then, I guess ya got some work ahead of ya."

Knuckles grinned and said "I like that. Hard work makes a man stronger and teaches him respect and honor. If he does not work hard, he has no honor. Come, let us begin our task." The two of them went through the different rows of trees and with his help, they were able to get by much faster than normal. After they were done, he said "After a man does hard work, he rests. Come, let us take a rest." All of them did so and after a little bit, both Applejack and Twilight smelled something from the kitchen.

They went to take a look and saw that Knuckles was currently in the kitchen making apple pie and doing taste testing to make sure it wasn't a piece of crap. The smell was so strong that it even brought Granny Smith down from upstairs. She asked "Who the hay is cookin' in that kitchen?"

Knuckles smiled and said "Good morning, Granny Smith. How are you doing this morning?"

Granny returned the smile and said "Ahm doing alright sonny. Ya have more manners than Applejack here sometimes." Applejack did not find that very funny and gave her grandmother a glare.

Knuckles chuckled a bit and said "It's part of my tribe's philosophy. A man who does not respect his elders has no honor. When a man disrespects his elders, he disrespects his tribe and has no honor. A man must always respect their elders no matter how crazy or terrible they are. A man has no respect in his heart, he has no honor."

Granny was impressed by Knuckles' words and said "Very wise words, sonny. Yer tribe has very strong values and they know how to function in society. Ah wish there were more like ya."

Knuckles smiled and said "Thank you, Granny Smith. I appreciate your kindness. May peace be with you." Granny Smith nodded and left the room. After a little bit, Knuckles finished what he was doing and said "Ah, there we go. Ladies, I present to you the great Echidna apple pie." They were hesitant at first and weren't sure what to do, but Knuckles encouraged them to do so. He said "Go on. I promise. It doesn't have poison in it. I'm not that cruel."

Both Applejack and Twilight went to try some of this apple pie and after a few seconds, they were blown away with how amazing it tasted. They've had apple pie before, but nothing on this level. Applejack said "Ah've made apple pies plenty of times in mah life, but never once, did Ah ever have somethin' this good."

Twilight added "Yeah, I agree with Applejack. How did you make it so great?"

Knuckles pulled out something from his shirt pocket and said "My special spice that I use for any dessert item. Never leave home without it. This was invented from my ancestors thousands of years ago and they have used it for all kinds of stuff. What makes this special is not only does it make your cakes and pies taste better, but it can also be used as a defense weapon. It's like pepper spray, but slightly different. If there is ever a situation where our lives are threatened and we need a quick distraction, this will do the job. It will cause them to be temporarily blinded and one of the rules when it comes to fighting is if a man can't see, he can't fight. Of course, that was the third and final rule of the Quicksilver Method from Karate Kid III, but it's still true."

Both of them were left speechless and Applejack said "Ya gotta give me that recipe because that simply is too good not to have."

Knuckles said "Alright, but none of y'all better go tell the entire country. Otherwise, it won't be special anymore. We can't expose everything that is part of my tribe."

Applejack nodded and said "Ah understand. Ah won't tell anyone about it."

Knuckles said "Good. You can feast on the rest of that pie if you want. Have some of your folks try it as well. I think they'll love it. Now come, let us continue our journey." He walked right out the door and closed it.

Applejack looked at Twilight and said "How have Ah never seen this side of him before?"

Twilight shrugged and said "I don't know. We're all still trying to learn his personality and when you think you have one thing down, he throws another at you. It's incredible and I have no way to perfectly describe it, but this is good. He's showing progress and I think he's on the right track right now in adjusting back to a normal society after being isolated in his mansion in Baltimare for eight years. I'll see ya later, Applejack."

Twilight caught up to Knuckles and she said "I had no idea that you could cook anything at all! I've had my fair shares of Apple Pie, but never something on that level."

Knuckles chuckled a bit and said "I can cook a variety of different things, but I just choose not to most of the time because I am lazy which I really do need to get out of that habit. Anyway, like I said before Twilight, I am many different things. Things that are far beyond your own understanding. There's a lot to my personality. You may think you know my personality, but what you know is only scratching the surface."

Twilight said "I figured as much. Anyway, what's with that idea you had? Sneaking up inside a tree and lying to Applejack about why you were up there? That brings me to my second friendship lesson to you: When you talk to anypony, you always tell them the truth no matter what the consequences are."

Knuckles said "Ah, that. Yes. That was another core principle of my tribe. If a man bears false witness, he has no honor and is a coward. That one I believe they stole out of the Bible or something, but they added their own touches to it. I must apologize. I should have not lied to madam Applejack. That was wrong of me to do. I'm sure you've heard about the term sarcasm, but that does not excuse my actions."

Twilight smiled and said "It's alright. You're making good progress right now. You may think that you are not doing so great at friendship, but you seem to be moving along just fine. I have absolutely no worries. Also, it seems like your tribe's values have a lot in common with friendship."

Knuckles thought about it for a second and then said "You're right, they are. But we did not create them to make friends with the world. It was to build character, honor, and dignity. We wanted respect from the world, not simple friendships. I know that seems ridiculous, but considering we had to protect the Ultimate Power from evil, we couldn't take any risks. If they found out what it was, our entire race would have been in great danger, so respect from the world was key."

Twilight sighed and said "I guess that makes sense. I guess I didn't think that not everything could be solved with friendship."

Knuckles said "Well, you should know that. After I faked my death, you probably questioned and doubted friendship to no ends. You are right though. We would always try to be friendly with other people, but we would only show hostility if they did so first. Mankind is inherently evil and they will do anything to grab onto a power like the Ultimate Power. So, you always had to watch your back. We constantly had targets on our backs, so whenever the enemy struck, we would strike right back and defeat them with honor. We swore to protect the Ultimate Power with our lives and we were willing to die for it if it meant keeping it safe. Now come, let's cease of this talk and continue our journey."

The two of them walked back into town and as they were walking by, somepony was walking out of Carousel Boutique and Rarity called out to the two of them. They walked over and Rarity said "Hello Darlings, is there a reason you are strolling through town?"

Knuckles said in a serious tone "Do I need to give you one?" Rarity didn't know how to respond to that and started stuttering a little bit. After a few seconds, Knuckles chuckled a bit and said "I'm just joking, madam Rarity. We were just out and happened to walk by through here."

Rarity said "My, someone has quite the manners. I never thought you had that in you."

Knuckles said "Ai. A man who disrespects ladies has no honor. Ladies are very valuable to our society, so a man must treat them with respect. A man who does not has no honor in his heart and is a coward."

Rarity was even more impressed and said "You are quite the gentleman. I do have something I need your help with, so please do come in."

Knuckles followed her in and Twilight was right behind. Knuckles said "So what is it that you need my help with, madam Rarity?"

Rarity said "No need for the formalities, darling. Rarity is just fine."

Knuckles nodded and said "Ah, my apologies. I will respect your wishes. No man should ever make a lady uncomfortable."

Rarity whispered to Twilight that Knuckles has such well manners and Twilight felt like maybe Knuckles was going over the top just to look good in front of her friends and to impress her, but this was the first time in a while he took friendship seriously, so maybe she should cut him some slack.

Rarity said "Alright darling, what I need you to do is to stand still so that I can take some measurements from you. I have an inspirational idea and I need to make sure if it will work or not."

Knuckles nodded and said "Of course. As long as you don't touch my body parts, we'll be good." Now that was more like the Knuckles Twilight knew. Something about him just felt off.

Rarity said "I promise I won't. I know that it would be considered sensitive." Knuckles stood in place and did as Rarity told him to do. After a little bit, she said "Okay darling, I'm done. I just need a few days and I'll send you something in the mail. I want you to be the first one to try it out."

Knuckles looked surprised and said "Oh my. No, I have plenty of clothes back at my house. I don't really need any more."

Rarity would not take no for an answer and said "No, I insist, darling. This is my gift to you as a way to say thank you for saving all of our lives against Tirek three years ago. First one is on me. It's part of my policy."

Knuckles said "Well thanks. I appreciate you doing that for me, but really, saving all of your lives was the least I could do after how horribly I treated you all for so many years. I won't try to fight receiving a gift. A man who refuses a gift has no honor and is a coward. Now come Twilight, let us continue our journey." Twilight thanked Rarity for the generosity and the two said goodbye to each other.

Twilight said "That was performed quite well by you. You seemed to get the idea of manners down which leads me to my third lesson about friendship to you. Always be generous towards others even if they don't return it in kind."

Knuckles nodded and said "That's a good one. It was said in my tribe that if a man did not show generosity towards others and refused gifts, he had no honor in his heart. I'll say that generosity is a difficult trait to have. The world is always going to be hateful towards you and even if you don't return the retaliation, they'll still hate you for it. I've had my fair share of it back home in Baltimore."

Twilight knew what he was talking about and said "It probably had to do with Maddi."

Knuckles nodded and said "Ai. She would always have a generous spirit towards others, but unfortunately, most did not take too kindly to that and abused it like crazy. However, that never deterred her and she continued to show it despite all the pushback she got. I just wished that more people would have appreciated that because that is a rare character trait in the world I live in these days."

Twilight nodded and asked "You still miss her, don't you?"

Knuckles looked at her with seriousness and said "Is that even a question? My whole world changed because of her death. As much as I hate to admit it, nothing I do could ever bring her back. I still miss her greatly and I know that she does not want me to sulk because of it, but I don't think it's something I will ever get over because of how terrible the pain was."

Twilight thought about what he said for a few moments and then got an idea. She said "Come follow me. I have an idea that might help you." She began walking away and Knuckles raised a brow. What could she possibly do to help him out with this? Sure, she watched the memory of Maddi's death, but that was only one moment of her life. There is no possible way that she could ever feel the pain on the same level he has. It's just not possible.

Wait a minute. Why was he even talking about this to Twilight in the first place? This was a very sore subject for him and he was just openingly sharing it with her. Has he gotten soft for her? There was no way he could be falling for THE Princess Twilight Sparkle. She was a princess while he was a commoner and that would dishonor Maddi's legacy. Because she had died, he would never be with anyone else. He would remain single for the rest of his natural life. He will weaken over time as he gets older, but at least when he ACTUALLY dies, he'll reunite with Maddi once again.

He shook his head and continued moving forward. He caught up with Twilight and noticed that they were both standing in front of Sugarcube Corner. Knuckles looked at her and asked "Why are we here? What this place could possibly offer me? It seems like a waste of my time."

Twilight didn't respond and instead stayed silent. After a few seconds, Pinkie stuck her head out of the window and said "Hi Knuckles! What brings you over here?"

Knuckles said with a serious look on his face "I'm still trying to figure that out, but it's clear to me that I have no choice to the matter, so I better roll with it."

Pinkie said "Well, don't be so downcast about it. It just ruins the mood."

Knuckles said "You know, you sound just like Maddi. I'm not gonna lie."

Pinkie raised a brow and asked "Really? How so?"

Knuckles smiled a bit at the memory and said "No matter where we went, she always had a cheerful spirit and you couldn't stay down in the dumps for long. However, like with her generosity, people didn't appreciate it the way they should have. Some mocked her, others spat back in her face, and some just ignored her as if she didn't exist. But she never let those people stop her from looking on the bright side of things. She was a light to say the least in the midst of a very dark and cruel world in the city of Baltimore and elsewhere. She had a lot in common with you when it come to energetic and bright personalities."

Pinkie said "That's amazing! It's a shame I never got to meet her, but if I did, we would be the best of friends. I'm sure that even though she's gone, things will turn out alright."

Knuckles felt touched by that and said "You would be correct. I know that if she were still here, the two of you would bond together like peanut butter and jelly. Another things I just remembered is if a man is downtrodden, he has no honor, but if he is joyful, he has great honor. I appreciate the support Pinkie. I'll catch you around. Come Twilight, let us continue our journey."

Twilight thanked Pinkie for her help and Pinkie said it was no problem. She caught up to Knuckles and said "See? Wasn't that effective?"

Knuckles stared at her with confusion and said "I do not understand the purpose of that was."

Twilight sighed and said "This brings me to my fourth lesson about friendship to you: If you let others into your life who are there for you, you will never be alone. We are here for you. I know that we may not fully understand the pain you had on the same level as you, but we are still there for you."

Knuckles gave her a glare and said "You weren't there for me before, so what makes you think you would be there for me now? You all seemed interested in me after I faked my death, so why would anyone care now? For so many years, nobody gave a s[BLEEP] about me except for my grandparents, David, and Maddi and I no longer have them in my life."

Twilight said "Don't talk like that! I'll admit that most of us did not do the best job for a long time, but we're trying our best to make up now, so cut us some slack, will you?"

Knuckles rolled his eyes and said "Sure, Twilight. Even if most of your friends are trying now, it still doesn't change the fact I was treated so horribly for so long. None of your friends knew anything about the amount of s[BLEEP] I've had to deal with over the years and the second I faked my death, now they suddenly care after the constant slander I received for many months on end. I had to put up with so much and they didn't need to add on top of that. Not everything can be forgotten overnight. Maybe you should learn that." He put on his sunglasses and walked away.

Twilight was left standing there speechless and trying to take in what Knuckles had just said. It now seemed like this entire time, he had put on an entire facade and now, he was back to his old self like it was nothing. The very nerve! But then again, he had to put up with a lot over the years. He was right. None of them could ever understand the amount of pain he went through over the years and this sudden change of behavior seems strange to him because he's so used to everyone treating him like crap. Her friends certainly didn't help his case, but he didn't have to act so rude behind their backs. He just needs a little more time to see that they are all trying to make an effort to act better towards him.

Knuckles was busy walking down the trails and noticed the nature around him. Even though the world around him had a deep hatred for him and his tribe with a passion, he could always seek solace in nature. It was quiet and most of the creatures that passed through weren't as annoying as mankind was. He noticed some sort of cottage tucked in the corner and went over to discover it.

As he walked over, he noticed more woodland creatures and it brought him a sense of peace. He stopped in front of the chicken coop and watched Fluttershy feed the chickens. Fluttershy walked towards that direction and shrieked a bit when she saw him. But then she noticed it was just him and said "Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't know it was you."

Knuckles smiled a bit and said "It's alright. I was just watching the brilliance of nature and happened to find this place out here."

Fluttershy got curious and asked "You like nature as well?"

Knuckles nodded and said "Sure I do. It brings a calming peace to the dark and cruel world that we live in and have to deal with everyday. Anytime throughout my life where I had a bad day, I would go out into nature to get away from all the pain and suffering I was dealing with and it helped me get through life. There was this one place that I really liked going to whenever I could and it was probably the best place that you could go. My grandparents place was something else and anytime you stepped into the backyard, you could see all the sorts of different animals out yonder in the fields and topped off with the beautiful flowers and trees, it was truly a sight to behold."

Fluttershy smiled and said "It sounds so beautiful. I wish I was there to see it."

Knuckles chuckled a bit and said "You would have definitely loved it. I was able to bring Maddi to the place and she was absolutely head over heels for it. We also might have gotten into some romantic mischief while we were there, but it was all in good fun. After I lost her though, it just wasn't quite the same. It was... *chokes up a little bit* hard to deal with."

Fluttershy could sense where this was going and asked "You still miss her, don't you?" Knuckles just nodded and began to cry a bit. Fluttershy just gave him a hug and stayed there for emotional support which only made him cry harder. Twilight was watching from afar and she couldn't believe that Fluttershy got him to crack so easily. She had asked the same question as Twilight did, yet got a different reaction out of him.

After a few minutes, Knuckles wiped the tears away and said "Thank you, I needed that."

Fluttershy said "It's the least I can do. I know when someone is suffering and the best thing that I can give them is kindness towards them."

Knuckles nodded and said "I agree. A man who hides his problems has no honor, but a man who shows emotion has great honor. That was always the way of the Echidna Tribe. It was great talking to you. I'll see you around." Knuckles put back on his sunglasses and walked away.

Twilight ran up to Fluttershy and asked "How in Celestia's name did you do that?"

Fluttershy was confused and asked "Do what exactly?"

Twilight said "I asked if he still missed Maddi and I got an annoyed retort in return, yet when you did it, that got him to cry. How is that possible?!"

Fluttershy shrugged and said "I don't know. Sometimes, even the toughest of creatures have a soft spot and that happened to be it. I showed him nothing but kindness and he seemed to take that very well. It wasn't the same case with you it seems."

Twilight became frustrated and said "I don't get it! He is so complicated! One moment, he treats you like your best friend, and then the next, he treats you like your worst enemy. It doesn't make sense! I tried to be nice to him about that subject, but he still was very sore towards me."

Fluttershy said "Sometimes, it's not about what we say, but how we say it. Maybe he felt more comfortable talking about it with me because of my very calm demeanor, but he didn't feel the same around you. You and I know very well that he has suffered so much pain over the years and he's just now learning how to live in a normal society. He's going to mess up from time to time, but that doesn't mean that he is still a terrible individual. He's used to others treating him horribly, so when others act nice around him, it throws him off guard because all he has ever known is anger. So, give him some time and he'll get better."

Twilight sighed and said "Thanks Fluttershy. I guess I got frustrated without considering his feelings. All of us have grown up with normal lives, but Knuckles' has been anything but normal. The amount of anger and hate that he's dealt with over the years has ruined his life and his brain has been taught to respond with anger because that's all he's ever known. So maybe, I shouldn't be as hard on him sometimes."

Fluttershy smiled and said "That's what friends are for. None of us are perfect, but sometimes, a little kindness can go a long way." Twilight thanked her again and left quickly.

She caught up to Knuckles and said "Knuckles, I want to apologize for acting like that earlier. I got upset without taking your feelings into consideration and with that, I am deeply sorry."

Knuckles sighed and said "It's fine, Twilight. It's really me that should be apologizing. I got short tempered and I shouldn't have acted like that. I'm so used to responding with anger over the years that any other emotion is basically a foreign concept to me. But now that's in the past thanks to the help of Fluttershy."

Twilight smiled and said "That brings me to my fifth and final friendship lesson to you for the day: The smallest act of kindness can make the biggest difference in someone's life. It even change somepony's day."

Knuckles nodded and said "Yes, it is said that if a man shows no kindness, then he has no honor and is a coward. I would say that kindness is probably the hardest character trait to have out of all of them. In a world that despises you and shouts words of hate and slander at you, it's really easy to fire that right back at them. But when you show them kindness, it kills the fire of hatred and it silences the anger. I wasn't always the greatest at that, but Maddi would always do that towards others despite the negative reactions she got out of people."

Twilight agreed and knew that he was trying to get to a certain point on something, so she just waited for him to finish.

Knuckles sighed and said "I know that you guys are trying your best and it means something that you are putting in an effort, but it will still take me some time for me to fully welcome it. For so many years, I've had to deal with the anger and hatred from mankind and now when you all started to treat me nicely, it left me confused and I didn't know how to act. Honestly, I should be more like my tribe because I have seemed to throw out a lot of the rules that were established so long ago."

Twilight looked at him and said "It's not your fault, Knuckles. You grew up in a very abusive household and had your only support system ripped away from you just before you were about to marry her. Nopony would blame you for that. Anypony would have been that way if they were the same situation as you. I see you try your best when it comes to following your tribe's rules, but it was your parents who screwed you up, not yourself. Remember that."

Knuckles smiled a bit and said "I will. Now, I must return home to Baltimare before it gets too late because I have a long road trip ahead. Thank you for the lesson and I plan to see you back here in a few days. Take care." Twilight said goodbye to him and Knuckles walked away. He went back to Blackbird and hopped inside. He started it up again and put his seatbelt on. He put back on his sunglasses and turned on the music to the local rock station. He pressed the throttle lever forward and he flew off straight back to Baltimare.

Twilight watched him leave and waved goodbye. It wasn't the best day ever, but he had made a lot of progress since she first met him. She had some time left to go, but she was on the right track. She turned around and walked away. Meanwhile, Knuckles was enjoying the nice breeze of the wind flowing through his hair and the rock music playing so good in the background. He had that premium sound system too, so it added for extra effect.

He eventually returned to Baltimare and flew past all the skyscrapers. There was still plenty of daylight out, but the environment felt slightly different since most ponies down below were wrapping up work and heading home. Knuckles flew under the big bridge and made it to his house. The computer asked him for the password and he said "Criminals suck!" The computer thanked him and the buoys sprayed out white smoke to cover up the aerial vehicle from prying eyes. The island door opened up and Knuckles flew right through the caverns. The garage was fast approaching as he was flying through the tunnel, so he pressed the garage door opener button and he flew right through. The door closed and he came to a complete stop.

He turned off the vehicle and hopped out. He sighed and said "Ah. Good to be home. Nothing is quite like it. I think I'll go watch a movie and eat some snacks while watching it." He headed up to the kitchen to grab some snacks and went over to the movie theater room to watch a movie. Weeks passed by and Knuckles was making more progress, however, it was getting tougher not to notice Twilight's natural beauty and Knuckles wasn't sure how to feel.

One day, he was hanging on a tree branch and watching Twilight have lunch with her friends outside. He sighed and said "She really is something else."

His reflection gave out a noise of disgust and said "Are you seriously going soft boy?"

Knuckles rolled his eyes and said "What is it you want?"

The reflection gave him a sneer and said "I specifically told you before that you were not supposed to fall for pathetic pony princesses and yet, here you are, in lala land fawning over a book nerd who just so happens to be a princess by some miracle."

Knuckles didn't like how his reflection was talking and said "Hey! Don't talk about her like that!"

The reflection didn't care and said "You see? You're still defending her. Our tribe was the greatest on Earth and people feared us, and you want to throw it all away for some pony princess?! Pathetic. What would your ancestors even think? They would call you a disgrace to the tribe. We are not to show weakness and being in romantic land shows weakness. Do you seriously want to be a pu[BLEEP] or have balls? Because you can't be both."

Knuckles growled with anger and said "I do have balls, thank you very much. I'm not some stupid transgender person who doesn't have a clue who their gender is. You said the same thing about Maddi and I was perfectly fine, so how is this any different?" (AN: This is NOT trying to be hateful towards any LGBTQ+ person and I apologize if you're offended by that. It's part of Knuckles' personality. Anyway, enjoy the chapter!)

The reflection rolled its eyes and said "Did you honestly forget that Maddi died, boi? Do you seriously think that the same couldn't happen to Twilight? If so, you are truly more foolish than our parents were. Our tribe was built on respect and honor and doing s[BLEEP] like this is not going to help things. We had the Master Diamond in our grasp and then you decided to give it up just so you could save a bunch of motherf[BLEEP] bi[BLEEP] who don't appreciate a da[BLEEP] thing we as a tribe ever did!"

Knuckles gave the reflection a hard glare and said "You aren't exactly helping things either. I know very well that they don't know the pain I went through over the last three decades, believe me, I know, but they are at least trying to put in an effort to make up for how poorly they treated me."

The reflection simply laughed at him and said "You really are that ignorant, are you boi? How can you say that these bi[BLEEP] are even trying to make it up to us?! They treated us like f[BLEEP]ing s[BLEEP] and you seriously want to give them another chance as if that never happened?! You truly are a weakling and a coward. You are simply a disgrace to the tribe. I can't even believe you're still part of it."

Knuckles was getting fed up with this and asked with anger "Why are you even here?! All you're doing is talking s[BLEEP] about me and completely s[BLEEP]ing on Twilight and her friends! And somehow, me defending them is somehow "dishonorable" to the tribe. I'm not really seeing the picture here. I am aware I must not show weakness, but in case you forgot, our tribe established that if a man bears false witness, he has no honor and is a coward. I don't care what you say, but I will have more honor than you ever will."

The reflection laughed some more and said "Oh, you are in for a rude awakening, boi. Let me ask you this: How exactly are you going to tell you that you like her if you truly did? We are a simple commoner while she is a princess. If this nation found out you were dating a princess of Equestria, you would be on the front page of every newspaper out there. We don't like bringing unnecessary attention to ourselves, so anything you do is a lose-lose situation. Plus, you being with her would dishonor Maddi! She was our world, our rock and you want to replace her with a princess of Equestria?! How disgraceful."

Knuckles glared at him and said "I'm not replacing Maddi! She could never be replaced! But Twilight is so desperately trying to be a good friend. She is a lot like Maddi in many ways. She will never be Maddi, but she does share character traits with Maddi. She was the only one out of the entire group to give me the benefit of the doubt when the others didn't and no one has done that to me since Maddi had died and it's not like you could give me good dating advice anyway."

The reflection rolled its eyes and said "I am your conscience, so you would only be telling yourself dating advice. You just so happened to get Maddi because you stumbled around like a f[BLEEP]ing moron and she just happened to have a gracious personality and accept you as you were despite you being a f[BLEEP]ing disaster."

Knuckles had enough and said "Enough! I'm done talking to you. If all you're going to do is s[BLEEP] on the group of friends I have down there and tell me how much of a piece of s[BLEEP] I am, then you can just leave me alone because I don't want to hear it."

The reflection didn't really care and said "If you want to play stupid with yourself and defend a bunch of b[BLEEP], then be my f[BLEEP]ing guest. But don't come complaining to me when the s[BLEEP] hits the fan." Knuckles did not care and the reflection left him be. He simply huffed in anger and looked back down at the group of friends sitting at the table.

"You like her, don't you?" A new voice asked. Knuckles turned his head to see who it was and he saw Discord floating in the air next to him mimicking the same position he was in. Knuckles was not amused to say the least.

He glared at him and said "What is it you want, Draconequus?"

Discord said "Oh, you know, I was just checking in on my local human friend here to see how he was and what he was doing."

Knuckles gritted his teeth and said "We are NOT friends! I hardly even know you and considering your historical record, I don't find you very favorable. I don't exactly hang out with criminals, you know. That's not how I roll."

Discord laughed it off and said "Oh, come on. Surely, you would be more evolved after all the exploits you have had over the years."

Knuckles was having none of it and said "Cut the s[BLEEP], Discord! Why are you here and what is it you want? Answer the question NOW or else I'll make you answer it!"

Discord sighed and said "So angry. Anyway, I just happened to notice that you seemed to be staring at miss princess over there for excessive periods of time."

Knuckles raised a brow and asked "Why do you care? What's in it for you? It's not like you could do anything about it."

Discord scratched his goatee and said "I may not, but I think a certain pink princess in the Crystal Empire might be able to figure out your romantic issue."

Knuckles thought about it for a second and then said "Hmm. Princess Cadence. Yes. I'll think about it. Thanks, Discord." Discord nodded and then disappeared. That creature can be so annoying sometimes, but he can provide good insight from time to time. If what he's saying is true, then maybe Princess Cadence might be able to help him out. It looks like he'll have to take a trip to the Crystal Empire.

The next day, he got up and headed over to the Crystal Empire in Blackbird. It would normally take six hours to get there by train, but with his vehicle, it only took him about two hours, which cut about a third of the time it typically takes. He landed his vehicle in an undisclosed location that no one would find it and he began walking into the city. A lot of the Crystal Ponies were confused to see a very muscular supernatural human being with a leather jacket and shades on, but they were all too scared to do anything about it.

Knuckles didn't mind one bit and he kept on walking in peace. He finally made it to the castle, but the guard Flash Sentry attempted to say "In the name of Princess Cadence, I command you to stop-" However, Knuckles was having none of it and he yeeted Flash away where he could no longer be seen and was miles away. The rest of the guards standing there were completely shell shocked and they pointed spears at him.

Knuckles simply rolled his eyes and punched the objects right out. He then picked one of them up and rolled the rest of them down like a bunch of bowling pins. Knuckles simply laughed a bit and walked inside the castle. Guards tried to keep stopping him, but he kept tossing them away like pieces of trash that had to get taken out. The guards inside the throne room tried to warn Cadence and Shining Armor, but they got yeeted right out the window as soon as Knuckles opened the door.

He took off his sunglasses and said "Princess Cadence, I have come in peace from the great city of Baltimare and wish to have a formal audience with you. I come under the name of Knuckles and I apologize if my entrance was a little dramatic."

Both of them were still shocked by his entrance and had their jaws dropped, but then Shining's expression turned to anger and he said "What is it you want with my wife?!"

Knuckles turned to him with a glare and said "It's none of your d[BLEEP] business, s[BLEEP]head."

Shining became highly offended by that and asked with anger "What did you just call me?!"

Knuckles did not care in the slightest and said "You heard me. All I came here for was just a simple conversation and here you are whining like a little b[BLEEP] and thinking I'm going to steal your f[BLEEP]ing wife from you. I have standards you know. I'm not in the Echidna tribe for no reason. Now, are you going to let me talk to your wife here or are you going to continue acting like a di[BLEEP]?" Shining said nothing, so Knuckles took that as a sign to continue. He said "That's what I thought. Now, Princess Cadence, can I please speak with you on a private manner that I would rather not discuss here?"

Shining became angry again and said "What are you going to talk about?!"

Knuckles sighed with anger and said "What did I just say, you white trash piece of s[BLEEP]?! It's none of your motherf[BLEEP]ing business! Don't worry about it! I'm not going to steal your wife from you, you f[BLEEP]ing moron. I promise. Now stop acting like a little bi[BLEEP] and act like a man with balls. Good grief."

Cadence knew that this was going to turn ugly real quick, so she said "Follow me Knuckles. I have a spot in mind. I'll be back, honey."

Shining smiled at his wife and said "Alright dear, be safe." Cadence said that she would and she headed out the door. Knuckles glared at Shining one more time and did the motion "I've got my eye on you. I'm watching you." Shining tried to run over and hit him, but Knuckles simply punched him in the stomach and Shining fell to the floor. Knuckles simply grunted and slammed the door.

Knuckles made it to some sort of study room and Cadence shut the door. She turned to him and asked "Alright, so why did you come all this way from Baltimare, Knuckles?"

Knuckles sighed and said "Okay, so I have this friend who likes another friend of mine and he asked me to go ask you if you can give him any advice."

Cadence could easily tell that was a lie and she knew he was really talking about himself, but she decided to entertain the thought and said "Okay... Tell me what she likes."

Knuckles said "Well, from what my friend told me, she definitely loves to read books, seems to be very knowledgeable in a lot of subjects, and has a very nice personality."

Cadence said "Okay. Well, I'm sure you could tell how much you appreciate her for that."

Knuckles said "Yeah, I could totally- wait a minute. What?"

Cadence said "Knuckles, I know this trick all too well. It's part of being the Princess of Love. Many Ponies or in this case, humans, want to cast the spotlight away from them and ask romantic questions for friends that don't exist when they are really talking about themselves. That is the oldest trick in the playbook."

Knuckles sighed and said "Alright, you caught me, but this isn't exactly something that I want to tell everyone about. It's a very sensitive topic and it's not one I like to talk about."

Cadence nodded and said "I understand. So, who's the lucky pony?"

Knuckles raised a brow and said "Come again?"

Cadence said "Well, if you're coming to me for dating advice, I obviously got to know who the pony is so that I can tell you where to go."

Knuckles sighed again and said "I guess that's fair. I'm sure you would know exactly who this is because you have spent time with her and she's in the family."

Cadence spent a few moments thinking who it could possibly be and then she figured out who Knuckles was talking about. She gasped and said "Twilight? Have you fallen for Princess Twilight?" Knuckles darted his eyes around nervously to make sure no one was looking and then nodded. Cadence continued and said "Wow. I was not expecting that one. That's wonderful!"

Knuckles didn't share the same enthusiasm and said "Yeah, but I'm just a simple commoner while she is a princess of Equestria! If ponies found out I was with her, I would be on the cover of every newspaper out there. I hate the unnecessary attention and if that came along, it could seriously compromise my tribal secrets that I don't want revealed to the world. I don't want to put myself or her at risk like that. Also, I feel like that be dishonorable to Maddi. Twilight could never replace her and I already made a vow that I would remain single for the rest of my natural life after Maddi was gone."

Cadence said "I see. If you don't mind me asking, could you tell me about Maddi? She seemed like she was your first marefriend."

Knuckles said "Of course. She was my first girlfriend and I met her my freshman year of high school. Up to that point, I had a very rough upbringing and I was lucky just to get through the day. When my sophomore year rolled around, we started dating and it was probably some of the best times of my life. She was considered the most beautiful girl in school, but because of how weird she was, no one wanted anything to do with her. Well, except me of course, because I was an outcast at school as well. Long story short, we spent a lot of time with one another and just a few weeks after both of us got our master's degree, she was killed in a car accident. The guy who did it got let off the hook and eventually died after doing the same thing to someone else. It was hard and still is to deal with. She was considered my world, my rock, and to have that ripped away from me felt like half of my heart just disappeared. I never even got the chance to marry her, so it makes it sting even more. Even if I were to be with Twilight, I wouldn't want her to suffer the same fate that Maddi did. I couldn't handle it for a second time."

Cadence took all of that in and said "I see. I am very sorry to hear that your girlfriend had to suffer that fate. I had no idea that something like that could happen."

Knuckles sighed and said "You wouldn't be the first one to tell me that. It still is very tough to deal with and it will be something that I will probably never get over, but with time, I would be able to heal. I guess what I'm saying is I'm afraid to take that risk again after what happened to Maddi."

Cadence said "I understand. It's perfectly reasonable to feel that way and I'm glad that you care about her safety, but I must say that you don't have forever to make that decision. Twilight is a very beautiful pony and since she is a princess, she will be highly sought after by many stallions. You don't want to tell her when a stallion has already stolen her heart away or else you'll regret it for the rest of your life. So, tell her how you feel before it's too late. Also, it's not considered dishonorable to like somepony else after your first partner died tragically. Many ponies remarry after their spouse has died and they turned out just fine, so don't worry about dishonoring Maddi's legacy. She'll always be with you and I'm sure if she were here right now, she would tell you to go after Twilight."

Knuckles sighed again and said "I guess you're right. Thank you for your help, Princess Cadence. I'll take your advice into consideration and will think about it for a little bit before I make a final decision. It is greatly appreciated."

Cadence smiled and said "My pleasure. If you need anything else, come back at anytime because you are always welcome here." Knuckles thanked her again and walked out.

He was about to leave the castle when Shining spotted him and said "Where do you think you're going?!"

Knuckles glared at him and said "Where do you think, b[BLEEP]?! I'm leaving the castle. You got a problem with that?!"

Shining glared right back at him and said "Yeah, I do! We have unfinished business to settle."

Knuckles laughed at that remark and said "What "business" is there to finish? I already beat your a[BLEEP] and now you want a round two?! How lame. I'm already done with your wife, so you can take your a[BLEEP] out of here and leave me alone." Shining ran over to confront him, but Knuckles did the backwards punch on his chin and then punched him right into the wall, which left a giant crack in it. Knuckles simply grunted and said "Pitiful. I expected more out of you, but I see nothing more than some weak attempt at a prince who has no balls and gets his a[BLEEP] beat by total strangers." He put back on his sunglasses and walked out of the castle.

Cadence came back in the throne room and saw Shining still stuck on the wall. She asked if he was alright and he groaned in pain. He said "Remind me to never mess with that Knuckles dude ever again." Cadence could only shake her head and sigh. This pony still didn't get it. He will someday though.

Knuckles returned to Blackbird and headed back to Baltimare. What was the deal with ponies trying to start beef with him? Do these ponies seriously believe that anytime they come across anyone they don't recognize, they just automatically assume they're a threat? It was a good national security tactic, he'll give them that, but he's had to deal with this all of his life and he didn't need these ponies adding onto it.

Knuckles finally made it home and went upstairs to his office. He sat down in the chair and sighed. He saw the picture of Maddi on his desk and said "I really wish you were here right now to help me solve this. I don't know what to do and I don't want to put myself at risk again. I don't want to lose her the same way I lost you. What am I going to do? I need to come up with something and fast before it is too late." He sighed again and began working on his computer. If he was going to figure this out, he needed a solution so that he could solve this or else he was doomed. He could only hope that he found the right answer.

Author's Note

AN: I apologize for this chapter coming out so late again. I have just been so busy lately that I've hardly had time to write it, but it's out now. I'll try not to do this moving forward, but I can't make any guarantees. Regardless, we don't have too much left to go and things definitely got interesting to say the least. So stay tuned for the future chapters ahead. Hope you enjoyed the chapter!

Next Chapter: The dates! After getting advice from Cadence in the Crystal Empire, Knuckles attempts to tell Twilight how he feels, but he gets too nervous and starts acting really weird. Twilight eventually picks up on this and asks him what is going on. He tris to hide it, but Twilight isn't playing around. Will he be able to tell the truth to Twilight, or will he keep it locked away?

Until then, my fellow readers