The next morning, Twilight woke up and got out of bed. She quickly got ready and ran out the door as fast as she could to the train station. You may be wondering why she was doing this, well, the reason why was because she had an important project that she had to do and she wanted Knuckles to come along. The books she needed could not be found in her library and only in the Castle of the Two Sisters of the Everfree Forest. So, she figured that since Knuckles had been there before, he might as well come as well. It might be a good bonding experience.

She got on the train and it headed off to Baltimare. After three hours, the train stopped and arrived at Baltimare. Twilight got off the train and started flying over to Brody Manor on Brody Island. As she was flying over there, she thought about their most recent interaction. She had learned so much during that time ranging from the history of the United States to the story of Rapunzel. It was a great educational experience and she hoped to learn even more as time went on.

She eventually landed on the ground and knocked on the front door. Knuckles walked over to it and opened it. He said "Oh, Twilight. What exactly brings you here?"

Twilight smiled a bit and said "Well, I have an important project that can only be done in the Castle of the Two Sisters in the Everfree Forest and I figured since you've been there before, you might want to tag along."

Knuckles seemed a little surprised by that and sat in thought. She literally sat in a train for three hours just to tell him that? Seems kinda pointless, but he wasn't going to judge. He then remembered that it could be the only place left that might house the Master Diamond and there could be clues that would lead right to it. So, this might be the perfect opportunity to find it. He just had to keep it lowkey so Twilight wouldn't find out because she would definitely start to ask questions if she caught him.

He looked at her with a neutral expression and said "Sure, I'll tag along, but don't believe that means I'm telling you ANYTHING about the ultimate power or my childhood."

Twilight said "I had no plans on it at all. You have nothing to worry about."

Knuckles gave a grunt of satisfaction and said "Good. Now, since you came all the way out here to tell me this, we shall begin our quest back to the Everfree Forest."

Twilight smiled and said "If you follow me to the train station, then we can move along."

Knuckles shook his head and said "Uh, no, no, no. We ain't doing that."

Twilight raised a brow and asked "Then how are we going to get there then? The train is our only mode of transportation and it's not like we can just walk there. That would take hours to do so."

Knuckles rolled his eyes and said "Oh, ye of little faith. Do you not know who I am? Have you not met me? The train is way too slow to get over there. What I have will be much faster than some steam engine powered train. Wait right here." Knuckles disappeared for a second into his house and eventually came back out with his aerial vehicle. He said "I present to you: Blackbird. This thing is the fastest thing you will ever see and we'll get to the Everfree Forest in a matter of mere minutes. Come hop in."

Twilight was dazed in confusion for a few seconds, but quickly got on as she did not want to be left behind. Knuckles told her "Before we leave, make sure you put on the seatbelt. I don't want you to be flying out the window and killing yourself halfway through the trip because you forgot to use a piece of safety equipment."

Twilight said "I'm an alicorn, remember? I can fly. So, I fall, I can simply fly back up." Knuckles gave her a hard glare and that told her that she should just do it anyways, regardless of whether or not she was an alicorn. That was the least of his concerns and that meant nothing to him.

He said "With how fast this thing travels and the speed of the winds, you'll be glad you had that seatbelt on." Twilight questioned it no further and simply put that seatbelt on. Knuckles said "Alright, you ready to go? Okay, hold on tight because this thing can move." Knuckles pushed the throttle forward and the afterburners spat out tons of thrust before it propelled forward in a matter of seconds.

Twilight was thrown back in her seat and was holding on for dear life as the vehicle increased in speed. Once Knuckles was out of the city limits, he pulled back the throttle a little bit and put it on cruise control. Twilight let out a sigh of relief and basically ripped into him for driving this vehicle so fast.

Knuckles only shook his head and said "I told you that this vehicle moves very fast. I even warned you that it would be the best idea to put that seatbelt on because of how fast this piece of metal moves. So, you can't act all surprised Pikachu when you suddenly get launched back into your seat after you were warned that might happen."

Twilight tried to retort something, but then she realized Knuckles was right. He did in fact warn her this might happen and she still ripped into him for driving super fast in this vehicle. She hung her head down a little bit in shame and said "I'm sorry I reacted that way. I'm just not used to this kind of speed and you did warn me that could happen, so I should have reacted better."

Knuckles kept the neutral expression and said "It's good. It's not every day that you ride in something that can go almost 2,500 mph an hour."

After he said that, Twilight's jaw dropped when she heard how fast this thing goes. She said "2,500 MPH?! That's even faster than Rainbow Dash's top speed when she does a sonic rainboom!"

Knuckles grinned a bit and said "Indeed it is. When that pony does something like that, she's just breaking the sound barrier, but with this thing, it's traveling almost three times the speed of sound which is around 767 mph. That is what you call Mach 1 speeds. The vehicle we are traveling in is Mach 3.3 speeds which clocks in at about 2,450 mph."

Twilight was blown away by all of this and asked "So, what is the top speed of this thing and why is this called Blackbird?"

Knuckles sighed and said "The top speed of this is 2,445 mph and it is called Blackbird because I named it after the Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird which was and still is known for the world's fastest jet aircraft."

Twilight was interested in this story and asked "What exactly made the SR-71 Blackbird so legendary?"

Knuckles said "Well, like I said, it can reach Mach 3.3 speeds and get to places very quickly. The purpose of this aircraft was actually to be used as a spy plane over the Soviet Union during the Cold War and it was the most effective spy plane to date. The reason why was because it could fly over enemy territories without being attacked and it had a ceiling of 80,000 feet which is double the height a regular commercial aircraft could reach. It was never shot down at all during its years of service and it was the best way for the CIA and Department of Defense to keep track of what was going on in the Soviet Union."

Twilight wrote all of this down and asked "Why were they spying on the Soviet Union?"

Knuckles sighed and said "Well, the Soviet Union was considered an enemy to the United States at the time and they were a bitter standoff with them in what was called the Cold War. It wasn't an actual war nor did it take place during winter. You see, not long after World War II and when Germany was split up, the United States and the Soviet Union had become global superpowers and they had different ideas about economic systems. America believed in Capitalism which was where the country's trade and industry was controlled by private owners instead of the government. The Soviets believed the opposite and believed in a system called Communism where everything is controlled by the government."

Twilight wrote more down and asked "Why was the United States opposed to it so much?"

Knuckles said "Well, in Communism, you have something called redistribution of wealth which essentially means everyone gets paid the same amount of money. It sounds great on paper, but in reality, it's a disaster because it gives the government a ton of power and they usually treat their citizens poorly. It has been proven to fail before and the only countries left that still have Communism are China, North Korea, and Cuba. If you really think about it, redistribution of wealth sounds like a terrible idea because if you are a brain surgeon, you should not be getting paid the same amount of money as a janitor. The jobs are totally two different areas and the tasks done aren't even comparable at all."

Twilight thought about it for a moment and quickly agreed. If you're getting paid the same amount as a job lower in the economic system, then it's just not a good idea to do so in the first place.

Knuckles said "The other problem with it is that it doesn't teach anyone to work hard at anything. If I'm going to get to paid as a fighter pilot the same rate as a fast food worker, then what's the point? It's not worth the work if I'm going to paid the same as someone who is flipping hamburgers at McDonald's. So, because of that, the United States tried to prevent the spread of Communism across the world, but that was met with mixed results."

Twilight raised a brow and asked "How so?"

Knuckles sighed and said "Well, during that time period, there was an arms race, space race, and two wars that occurred. The United States and the Soviet Union wanted to see who was the better superpower and they traded blow for blow for forty years. People say that the United States essentially won the Cold War, but there was really no clear winner. While America did outspend the Soviets when it came to weapons and beat them to the Moon, Korea split into North and South and Vietnam split as well. It's back to one country today, but it's essentially pretty close to the Communist way of economics."

Twilight wrote down this new information and asked "So, where does the SR-71 Blackbird fit into all of this?"

Knuckles said "There were some pretty bad time periods during the Cold War such as the Cuban Missile Crisis and the United States needed to figure out what the Soviets were doing so they could prepare for doomsday accordingly. The Blackbird is most famous for being the only aircraft to go from Los Angeles to New York in about an hour. That is essentially one end of the country to the other. The United States clocks in at about 3.8 million square miles if you include all 50 states and Washington D.C. So, being able to travel that fast is crazy and no other plane has been able to do so since its retirement."

Twilight wrote that down and asked "Do you know how long that would be here in Equestria?"

Knuckles said "Well, here in Equestria, the area is roughly about 200,000 square miles which is about the size of the states California and Texas combined. You could easily fit Equestria in the United States no problem because America is almost 20 times bigger than Equestria. How long it took you to get to my house by train is about the same amount of time it would take to get from my hometown of Baltimore, Maryland to Jersey City, New Jersey by car. Also, if this vehicle that we are sitting in was going its top speed right now, we could essentially get to the Everfree Forest in about 5 minutes. That's how quick this thing is."

Twilight's mind was officially blown and she asked "Then how come we aren't doing that right now?"

Knuckles said "Because I don't have infinite fuel, that's why. I might live in a mansion, but I'm not exactly flowing with cash right now, so it's important to limit how fast I'm going so that I don't break the bank on fuel costs. Gas ain't cheap these days."

Twilight looked around the vehicle a little bit and asked "How long have you had this vehicle?"

Knuckles said "About five years. When I came here, I figured I needed a way to get around and this was the best way to do so. I built it myself and after about two months of construction, it was good to go. After that, I took it out a lot and have been driving it ever since. Love it."

Twilight turned around and looked down below. She was fascinated by it and stared at it. Never before had she seen this view and when she did, it was down below on the ground when she was on the train. But clearly, things looked a lot better even if it was just a bunch of fields. Knuckles said "Great view, isn't it? This probably the best part of traveling Equestria. It's so calm and peaceful and it's a nice change of pace instead of seeing skyscrapers out of every window in your house."

Twilight looked back at him and said "Yeah, I've seen this view before on the train, but it just isn't the same as it is up here."

After a little bit, they arrived at the castle in the Everfree Forest and Knuckles landed the vehicle. The two of them hopped out and walked towards the castle. Twilight said "I do have to warn you that there are a lot of secret passageways and traps inside of this castle. My friends and I have stumbled upon them the last time we were here, so just be careful."

Knuckles laughed that off and said "Petty little castle traps are nothing for me. If you actually think that those things can truly get me, then you got another thing coming. They shall stand no chance against me. Now, let's begin our research." Twilight was about to say something, but she just stayed silent and followed Knuckles. She was astonished that he was able to walk through this castle with no problem and looked as if he knew where he was going. He eventually spotted the library and said "Ahh. The castle library. Exactly what I am looking for. Let's see if the answer is in here."

Twilight stood there agape for a second and then asked "How did you do that?"

Knuckles turned around in confusion and asked "What do you mean?"

Twilight said "You were able to walk in here and just find the library no problem. Most ponies would get lost just trying to find it. It even took me a while to figure out where it was."

Knuckles said "I've visited a lot of castles during my lifetime. Almost every single one I visited had the library in the exact same spot, so I just assumed that was the case for this one and I was right. It's no big deal. I still wonder where those "traps" were. I saw none and I'm wondering if you made that up just so you could scare me. Let me tell you, you're gonna have to try a lot harder than that to truly scare me."

Twilight was annoyed and said "There are traps here! I saw them myself! Even my friends did as well."

Knuckles rolled his eyes and said "Sure you did. Plus, what makes you think I trust those "friends" of yours anyways? They believed some stupid lie about me because of one bad encounter they had and now I'm supposed to suddenly believe them? Yeah, no. That's not how I play things. If you want to continue to soak yourself in that disgusting "friendship" as if it were a tomato juice bath, then be my guest. But I want nothing to do with it at all and don't drag me into it either."

Twilight hardened her glare and asked "Then what am I to you?"

Knuckles returned the glare and said "A mere acquaintance is all you are to me. There might be some common interests that we have, but other than that, we are completely different individuals. Friendship means nothing to me and will always be nothing to me until the day I die. Now, if you excuse me, I need to do some research on some important information." He walked away and left Twilight standing there.

She was still trying to grasp what Knuckles had just said. He had insulted friendship entirely and slandered it as if it meant nothing to him. Wait. It did mean nothing to him. He said it himself. He even had the nerve to compare friendship to a tomato juice bath. It wasn't exactly the worst insult she had heard, but it was still pretty rude. The reason why is because no one likes to take a tomato juice bath whenever they get sprayed by a Skunk, but it's necessary. That's how he views friendship. Something that he doesn't want to do unless it's absolutely necessary. She wants to be really angry at him for that, but she remembered that she used to act that way, so she can't really judge him that much. She still has a lot of work to do and getting angry at him over something small like that won't do anything. It will only make it worse.

Meanwhile, Knuckles was busy traveling down the hallways looking for any information about the Master Diamond. As he walked along, he noticed all the traps and realized that Twilight was indeed telling the truth about this one. However, he dodged them with ease and just rolled down the hallways in a bowling ball formation as arrows, axes, and flames were being thrown his way. After a little bit, he arrived to another library and looked around a bit.

He was about to sit in the chair, but he wanted to check to make sure it was sturdy. He checked all four legs and three of them were solid wood. However, the left front one felt hollow to him. So, he picked it up and lifted the chair. But he noticed this metal thing come out and suddenly, the bookshelves revealed a secret entrance way into what looked like to be a private study. He got curious and wondered inside. He said "Now, if I were a book containing important information, where would I hide?"

He began looking around for anything that might give him clues about the Master Diamond and he could not spot anything in the room. He looked through books to see if there was any information in there, and every single one he read led to a dead end. He eventually got frustrated and slammed his fists down to the ground in anger. It caused loose items to be flown back and Knuckles sat on the beanbag in exhaustion. He said "I've looked everywhere and found nothing! How it can be so hard to find the most powerful artifact of all time?! I don't know where else to look!" He put his hands a little bit underneath the beanbag and felt something.

He got curious and pulled up the beanbag to see what it was. Sure enough, there was a map sitting right underneath the beanbag showing the location of the compass that would be used to lead him right to the Master Diamond. He said "Ah-ha! Now there is a lead somewhere. Perfect! This shows me where the compass is and then that can be used to show me the location of the Master Diamond. Better hide this somewhere so that Twilight doesn't see it. It's far too valuable for anyone to discover but me. This is my destiny and no one or nothing shall stop me."

He hid the map in his pocket inside his shirt and walked out casually as if nothing happened. He returned to where Twilight was and said "I'm heading out now. I've got what I needed out of here. Oh, by the way, you were right about those traps."

He was about to walk out, but Twilight asked him "Then how come you look completely unharmed? Are you some sort of warrior or something?"

Knuckles looked back at her and said "You could say that. I am many different things, Princess Twilight Sparkle. Things far beyond your understanding. To be more specific, I am a crime fighting vigilante who is part of the shadows and beats down any enemies that get in my way."

That caught Twilight's interest and she asked "How did you become that way?" If she could get him to talk about something he loved, then maybe she could move into more sensitive areas without making it so awkward.

Knuckles grinned with glee "Well, it's a long story. So you might want to get your popcorn out. But, I'll try to give you the executive summary. As a young child, I struggled to control my powers and didn't really know how to handle it as well as I do now. I remember it like it was yesterday. I was quite small at the time and I didn't think I stood a chance against anyone because I was a little kid that was easy to scare. But, I was training in several different forms of martial arts at the time such as Tae Kwon Do, Jujutsu, and Karate, so it wasn't a good idea to fight me if you got me angry enough. One day, I was at a tournament and I was fighting dudes who were bigger than me and I wasn't the most thrilled about it."

Twilight was confused and asked "How come?"

Knuckles sighed and said "Well, they thought they were better than anybody else and if you challenged them on that, they would beat the crap out of you whenever they got the opportunity, typically when there was no one around to tell them to knock it off. Anyway, I simply did what my master told me to do and I stayed calm the entire time. Unfortunately, I got hit pretty bad on the side at one point and everyone thought that I wasn't going to recover. However, that unlocked something deep within and when I got back up, I kicked those dudes' asses, so much so that they simply couldn't stop it and they eventually lost. They tried to fight me later after it was over, but I simply did it to them again, only with harder force."

Twilight was amazed at that and said "They must have really learned their lesson after that."

Knuckles said "Well, not exactly. After they got their ass beat, they complained to their master that I tried to kill them, but mine told them I was simply acting in self defense and they should know better than to try to engage in unnecessary combat. The other master agreed and they punished those boys pretty severely. After that, I was able to win every single tournament that I attended and I have many trophies stored in my house to remember my accomplishments. I was able to translate it over to crime fighting and I still yet to have a criminal beat me in a fight. So, yeah. That is the rise of the greatest crime fighting vigilante of all time!"

Twilight said "Wow, that actually sounds kind of interesting. How do you manage to survive those fights because some criminals out there are very dangerous."

Knuckles said "Well, with those who wield powerful magic, they cannot try to levitate me because I'm not part of the natural order in this world and for those who launch attacks against me, I simply dodge them and retaliate with my martial arts techniques. Those who try to use weapons against me, I just do the same thing as I do with magical attacks. I'm not one that likes to go into fights, but sometimes, I have no choice but to fight back. I try to give them a warning, but they usually ignore me anyway. So, after one round, they're done and they back off. Anyways, let's get out of here before it gets any later."

Twilight agreed and the two of them headed out. They were about to get outside, but the door started to close downwards. Knuckles saw that and ran as fast as he could to the door. He pushed his fists upwards and held it in place so Twilight could get through. She slid right down and Knuckles let go and made it to the other side. He thanked himself internally that he was still a bipedal, but if someone were to say it out loud, he would glare at them.

Twilight asked "What the heck was that? We were just leaving and all of a sudden, the door started to close."

Knuckles said "I really have no idea to be completely honest with you. Like you said, this place has a lot of different passageways and traps." He had a slight idea on what it was, but he didn't want to mention it because that would lead to a bunch of problems. Plus, he wasn't entirely sure if it was the case anyways. The map could have activated something, but he wasn't sure about it. He said "It doesn't matter though. We're out now and that's all that matters. Let's get out of here before something else crazy happens."

Twilight quickly agreed and the two of them got back in the Blackbird. He took her back to her library and dropped her off. She said to him "Thanks for dropping me off at my library. I appreciate it."

Knuckles said "No problem. Happy to do it for you. Now, I got to get home before it gets any later."

Twilight said to him "I had fun today. I hope we can do this some more." Knuckles was taken aback by that and didn't know how to react. But after a few seconds, he simply turned around the vehicle and took off in silence. It left Twilight slightly baffled, but it didn't bother her too much. He still wasn't into the entire friendship thing yet and it would still take time. She could only hope that he would come to accept it one day.

Author's Note

AN: I'm back bois! I have finally returned from vacation in San Diego and boy was that something. Southern California is definitely... different to say the least, but it's nothing like the D.C. area. It's good to be back home in Washington. Also, I finally started a memes account over on Instagram. Yeah, there was that one that got banned after I created it, so I ditched that one and created a different one instead. It's called wshmetro2022 and I usually try to post two memes a day. So if you enjoy that, feel free to check it out. Hope you enjoyed the chapter!

Next Chapter: The quest continues! When Knuckles eventually finds the map of the location of the compass, he returns to his mansion to begin looking for the compass in order to lead him to the Master Diamond. However, he runs into some challenges along the way and has to get past them in order to retrieve the compass. Will he be able to figure out a way around it, or will he have to reevaluate how to get the compass?

Until then, my fellow readers