More than just weapons

by clearshot01

Rating: teen
Tags: My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Alternate Universe, Sad, Romance, Princess Luna, Original Character, Sex, Main 6, Slice of Life
Length: 5586

My name is Panda. I'm looking for the one who saved me. Rising Knight.

My name is Panda, and I've been travelling throughout Equestria for the past few months trying to find the stallion who made my own survival possible. Rising Knight. Be it by skill or incredible dumb luck, he did something none of us ever even though possible. He escaped the facility. The resulting destruction killed most of the staff, and released the surviving prisoners. Most of them died, but they were scum, the kind of monsters that deserved to be put to death. I was one of the only ones to escape the facility's fall in one piece. Recently, I'd gone to Canterlot, hoping to find some information on him. What I discovered was, curious. Apparently, ponies had been talking about Princess Luna having a son, and that said son was currently residing in Ponyville. I figured it wouldn't hurt to put off my search for a while to check this guy out.

This fic is a collab between me and Ponylover, (BRONY AJ) die all on steam, based on The Knight is Rising, using an OC created by his friend, who goes by Deman on Steam.

Published 2012-11-02 05:40:01 UTC
Last updated 2012-11-02 05:40:01 UTC

Chapter 1

Panda walked through ponyville casually. She had a white mane and tail along with her black coat. Sadly she still had some of the scars of the tests they did to her. She was a pegasus who never knew her parents or had any friends.

As she made her way through ponyville some ponies began giving her strange looks. She was used to it since she was what you would call, a "Blank flank". A pony who didn't get their cutie marks when they should've.

As she walked memories of the facility came back. She knew she would've made a scene so she flew to the nearest cloud her head pounding. She curled up on the cloud into a fetal position. She quietly whimpered to herself as the memories came flooding in.
She hated this. The memories, the friends she once had being slaughtered in some kind of arena, and having to do so a few times. Her body twitched where the needles pricked her flesh and the searing pain of whatever they had in those needles surged through her body.

It took a good half hour for those memories to go away. She sat up on the cloud wiping away the tears sniffling a little. She took in a deep breath as she regained her composure. She looked down from the cloud wondering if there was anything worth seeing happening.

"HI"

Panda jumped suddenly at what she just heard. She turned to see a pink pony standing on the cloud with her. "How the buck can you do that?" She asked in surprise.

"Do what?" The Pink Pony asked innocently. "OH! You must be new, because I've never seen you before, and I know everypony in Ponyville, like my best friends, Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Applejack, Fluttershy, Rising Knight, Spike, Roseluck-"

Wait Rising Knight?! How do you know him?!" She asked frantically trying to get answers.

"Oh, I've known Knighty since he was a little colt, ever since I first moved here. He didn't talk much, he was always hiding behind his sister, Gold Shield. Now he's more social, and his new sister Hollow Armour helps make sure he spends time with us all." She said, still smiling.

"So... you think you could help me meet him?" Panda asked hopefully.

"SURE! I'll set up the PARTY!" She yelled, before disappearing so fast she left a smoky afterimage of herself behind.

She just sat there confused but a little relieved. She was finally going to meet the one who saved her. She was hoping that he would have answers for her.

"OH! One more thing!"

Panda looked up to see the same pony in front of her.

"Knighty doesn't like talking that much. Even when he's with us he can be a real frownie mcFrownerson. And that makes me frown, but then I found a cupcake recipe in the attic..." Panda tuned her out as she droned on and on and on. “...And that’s how Equestria was made!”

“Wait, what? Actually, nevermind.” Panda was wondering mainly about the party then it came to her. "When is the party?" She asked.

"Oh, one hour. Sugarcube Corner. Don't be late, Pinkie Promise?"

"Uhhh.... yeah sure." Panda said with a little bit of confusion.

"Ok, what you do is cross your chest and say 'Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye' and you put a hoof right up to your eye." she said, giggling as Panda poked herself in eye. "Ok, remember, Sugarcube Corner, one hour, don't be late!" She yelled as she disappeared again.

Panda let out a sigh as she flew off the cloud and onto the ground. She then began to walk around town looking for this "Sugarcube Corner".

"Ouch. That smarts." A female voice said as she bumped into somepony.

Panda looked at who she ended up bumping into. When she looked up she saw that it was a changeling! She ended up seeing a few of changelings in the facility and sadly saw some of them kill or be killed. What she wanted to do was just fly away as fast and far she could. But instead she asked a question with a hint of fear in her voice.

"W-who are y-y-you?" Panda asked with a little bit of fear. After all she did have to fight one amongst the few ponies she did have to fight.

The changeling looked at her with a her head tilted in confusion, before the realization flashed across her face. "You've...met changelings before, haven't you?" She asked. Panda simply nodded.

"Wait..." The changeling muttered, looking Panda over, before her face contorted in shock. "The facility...you were there...but..."

"Yes I was...there." Panda said. "I'm among the few that survived it when it collapsed."

"So, it did collapse...Gold really went overboard with that spell. Anyway, I'm Hollow Armour, but everypony just calls me Hollow." She said, extending a hole-ridden hoof towards Panda with a small smile.

"So...what brings you here? Please tell me you're not here to find information on One..." she said.

"No I'm not looking for one....I'm looking for somepony named Rising Knight. You know him?" She asked bringing her hoof back on the ground.

"Oh....I know Knight. He's my brother." she said.

Panda brought her hoof to her face, mentally berating herself for not recognising the name Pinkie had given her when she mentioned Knight's sister.

"Ugh...Hollow Armour. I remember now. Pinkie told me your name when she talked about Gold Shield and his 'new sister'. So where is Gold Shield anyway? Is she alright?" Panda asked curiously. It was then that Hollow's face changed to sorrow, a change which she hid well, but Panda still noticed.

"No...she's not. You know the explosion, the one that caused the facility to fall?" Hollow asked almost silently.

Panda nodded, realization and pain etching themselves across her face as a vivid memory came back. "She caused it with a spell....and it was a spell that would kill the caster causing an explosion." Hollow explained shakily. Panda had seen Gold Shield when it happened, but forgotten about it. It was just a blur, but the poor unicorn look to be around her own age.

"Yes...Knight was caught in the explosion and knocked out. I dragged him out of that place to Ponyville, even though the remaining members of the Hive threatened to cast me out for doing it. In other words, I'm scum to them. Even if I found my way back, I'd be killed on sight. But I don't need the Hive. Knight gave me a new home, and a new family." Hollow said with a small tear in the corner of her eye.

Panda was thinking of what to do. So she did what came to mind. She placed one of her forehooves on Hollows shoulder hoping it would help somehow. Hollow looked to her, a little surprised, before wiping the tear away, and putting on a smile again. "Thank. So...you're here to find Knight, right?"

"Yes I am. Pinkie told me that I could find him at this party going on in suger cube corner. You ok now?" She asked.

"Yeah. I'm fine. And Pinkie's throwing a party already? Damn that mare works fast." Hollow said with a small chuckle. "Anyway, right now, Knight's in the forest training. He's been preparing to go after One. You remember him, don't you?"

"Yes I remember him. He gladly joined the facility as a test subject to get money, power, and anything they could offer. He makes me sick. It's a shame he might still be alive." Panda said putting her hoof back on the ground.

"Not might be, is. I saw him escape with the one in charge before the explosion. I would've gone after him, but if I had, then Knight would..." She trailed off, the outcome not needing to be said. They both knew what would have happened.

"I see what you mean. So you know where I could find Sugarcube Corner?" Panda asked. She wanted to see Knight even more now.

"Oh, it's right over there." She said pointing at a building that looked like it was made of candy. Panda's mouth started watering the moment she laid eyes on it. "Oh, I never asked your name, by the way." Hollow said sheepishly.

"Oh my names panda." She said shaking her head a bit to come back to reality. "So when is the party anyways?" She asked.

"Well, we've been here talking for fifteen minutes. How long did Pinkie say it would be before it was ready?"

"An hour so we got 45 minutes." Panda replied.

"Well, if you want, I could take you to meet our other friends. Knight's known most of them since he was a colt. The only new friend he has is Twilight Sparkle, Princess Celestia's student, and niece-in-law after the royal wedding." Hollow said.

"Well that would be nice to meet them all." Panda said with a smile.

"Cool. The Golden Oaks Library is closest. That's where Twilight lives. Oh, one question, are you afraid of dragons?"

Panda shook her head. "No I'm not....why you ask?"

"You'll see." Hollow said as she grabbed Panda's hoof and led her to a huge tree with windows, a door, and even a balcony, in the center of Ponyville. "Welcome to the Golden Oaks Library." She said as she knocked on the door.

Panda was wondering who she was gonna meet. That answer came quickly. "IT'S A PUBLIC LIBRARY Y'KNOW!" A voice shouted from inside.

"It's also your home, Spike. And Twilight's. Is she in? There's somepony who wants to meet her!" Hollow said from our side. The door opened and standing there was a young dragon not even at teenage age yet standing in the doorway looking up at panda.

"Uhh, Hollow, who's this? She the pony that wants to meet Twilight? Lemme guess, you want a spell that can make you as fast as Rainbow Dash?" He said, rolling his eyes.

"SPIKE! DON'T BE RUDE!" A second, female voice yelled from upstairs

Coming down the stairs was a unicorn mare. She had a lavender coat with a black mane with purple streaks going through it. She stopped in front of the library where the dragon named spike was.

"Oh, hello Hollow. Here to pick up another combat magic book?" She asked, before turning her attention to Panda. "And who's this?"

"Name's Panda, and I presume your name is Twilight Sparkles?" Panda asked extending her hoof.

"Sparkle, and yes, that's me." She corrected. "So, what brings you here?"

"Just looking for somepony mainly and right now I guess i'm meeting new ponies." Panda said with a smile.

"Oh, and who might you be looking for?" Twilight asked curiously.

"Rising Knight." Panda said. "You know him?" She asked Twilight.

"Oh yes, I know my cousin." She said, oblivious to Hollow's facehoof.

"Oh, well ok. So Pinkie mentioned a party in Sugarcube Corner soon and you think knight will be there?" Panda asked. "Because I have some questions for him."

"Oh, he'll be there. Knight's not once missed a Pinkie Party since he came back. And maybe Princess Luna will come too." Twilight said with a smile.

"Ok well that's good to know." Panda said wondering what their next move was gonna be.

"So, Twilight, any ideas where Rainbow is?" Hollow asked. "I'm taking Panda to meet everypony and Rainbow is next on my list? So, she practicing or napping?"

"Take a wild guess." Spike said sarcastically.

Panda looked in the sky and saw a cyan colored pegasus with rainbow tail and mane making her way to where they were.

"Uhhh, Panda...You may wanna TAKE COVER!" Spike yelled as he dashed away from the door and hid under the table, while Hollow grabbed her at the last minute and shoved her out of the way.

The pegasus that was flying ended up flying through the air and ended up going right into the house. Followed by a loud crash.

"She ok?" Panda asked with a hint of worry.

"She'll be fine." Hollow said. Twilight started to shout, most likely at the Rainbow maned pegasus. "I think we should meet Dashie later, don't you?"

"Yeah.....who else should we meet?" Panda asked.

"Oh, we could go meet Applejack at Sweet Apple Acres. Just be careful of her little sister Applebloom. She usually hangs out with Sweetie Belle, Rarity's sister, and Scootaloo, Rainbow's biggest fan. They spend most of their time trying to get their..cutie...marks." Hollow trailed off as she finally took notice of Panda's flank, before she facehoofed.

"Yeah.... I don't have a cutie mark either." Panda said with no emotion.

"I'm sorry. Don't worry about it though. You don't need a cutie mark to be special. You just need to be who you are, and you don't need a cutie mark for that." Hollow said, trying to cheer her up.

Panda just nodded with a small smile. "Yeah you're right. So how long we got till the party?" Panda asked.

"About 30 minutes." Hollow said as the two kept walking, eventually coming up to a massive farm covered in apple trees. "Anyway, welcome to Sweet Apple Acres. Home to the Apple family, and more specifically, Applejack, co-owner and close personal friend of myself and Knight."

"Wow.... they harvest all these apples?" Panda asked.

"Eeyup. Anyway, Applejack's the most honest pony there is, she never lies. And even when she does, she sucks at it." Hollow said with a snicker.

"Heh yeah I be-" Panda was cut off with the sudden memories again. This time they were worst than before. All of them involving pain and misery of just her. She couldn't control herself when she suddenly fell to the ground her limbs twitching along with her wings. Pain surged through her as she couldn't control the whimpering and sudden crying.

"PANDA! Panda, are you ok!?" Hollow exclaimed fearfully. "Dammit. Hang on Panda, I'm gonna get you to AJ's house." She said, placing Panda on her back as she ran towards a small house near the entrance.

Panda kept whimpering the memories getting worst. The pain getting more unbearable. She could feel a pain unlike no other going through her wings being remembered that they were almost cut clean off. The constant stabs of needles and punches she received to the face and her body. She almost fainted tears streaming down her face.
"Panda, please hang on." Hollow said. "AJ! AJ GET YOUR FLANK OUT HERE! WE NEED HELP!"

Panda then jolted from remembering the pain of being stabbed in her jaw. The scar being hidden on her right cheek. She let out a scream of pain as she fell off the back of hollow and onto the dirt ground.

"Panda!" Hollow exclaimed, desperately trying to think of some way to help her. "Dammit. Panda, please forgive me." She said, before she started to drain the pain from Panda. Her body threatened to collapse, but she kept going until she couldn't bear it any longer, hitting the ground next to her with a thud.

Panda then opened her eyes the pain suddenly gone. When she looked to her right her eyes went wide. "Hollow what did you do?!" Panda exclaimed crawling to hollow. Hollow was in severe pain by the looks of it. Panda just did what she could think at this moment. She took hollow in her forelegs hugging her trying to help her with the pain.

"I...took your pain...as my own...it was the...only thing...I could...think of...I'm sorry..." She said, as she lost consciousness, unable to stay awake through the pain any longer.

Panda then heard a noise behind her. The sounds of breaking twigs. "HOLLOW!?" A voice yelled as a shadow-obscured figure dashed towards them.

Chapter 2

Panda could barely make out a horn hidden beneath a cloak before the figure reached them. "Who are you? What are you doing with Hollow?" The figure asked. Panda recognised the voice immediately.

"Rising knight?" Panda asked. The figure froze and looked to her, pulling it's cloak off to reveal a dark grey unicorn stallion.

"H-How do you know my...you know what, forget it. Tell me what the buck you did to Hollow, now." He demanded angrily.

Panda quickly explained the situation, from when Hollow found her to when Knight arrived. His expression softened and he looked at Panda with regret and remorse.

"I see..." He said quietly, before moving over to Hollow and trying to wake her.

"Panda...what did they do to you? I mean, I've had nightmares and episodes, Hollow too, but, they've never caused enough pain to almost kill her from absorbing it before." He asked hesitantly.

Panda tried to look for the right way to explain it. She let out a sigh and explained what happened. "Well to put it simple as possible........ they used me as a guinea pig so you wouldn't end up dying and somehow I survived those experiments. I just wish Hollow didn't go through what i did." Panda finished.

"So, the experiments they put me through...they put you through worse? Damn the bastard in charge. I remember he said he had only the highest expectations for me. I kept wondering why until recently, then I found out who I really was." Knight muttered the last part, more to himself than anypony else.

"We better worry about your sister. Will she be ok?" Panda asked.

"Yeah. She'll be fine. But only after this, Shadow, you're up." he said.

" Wait what do you mean?" Panda asked.

Knight didn't answer, but his body started to change. His coat turned from a dark grey to pitch black, and his eyes turned to dragon's slits. His mane and tail became white as snow, and lastly, his cutie mark, which was originally two crossed swords, became an eye with a slanted reflection of itself a little below it, sort of like the kind of reflection you'd see if you looked at someone standing in front of a puddle of water.

"Man, it feels good to get out and stretch." Knight said, except his voice had changed. It was slightly lower, and a little more, rough. 'Knight' looked between Hollow and Panda, who was staring at him with a mix of awe and horror. "So, let's see what we've got here."

Panda let the new Knight rook hollow and she just watched as he worked on her.

"Ok, Panda, was it? I need you to help wake her up. I can't do it if she's unconscious as I need to maintain eye-contact." he said.

Panda nodded as she went into thought how to wake her. She then did what some other ponies do to wake a sleeping mare up.

"Hollow, time to wake up breakfast." Panda said hoping it would work.

"Muh, hwa.....wait, what? BREAKFAST!" Hollow yelled as she bolted up, slamming her head into Knight's, barely avoiding impaling him with her horn. Panda barely concealed a giggle, but took on a look of confusion as a dark aura quickly surrounded the two siblings for just a moment, before disappearing as if it was never there.

"Owwwww, watch it Hollow." He said, rubbing the spot below his horn.

"Sorry Shadow." Hollow replied. "Wait, Shadow?"

"Shadow?" Panda asked.

"Eeyup.' He said proudly. "Rising Shadow, former demon, now Dark Guardian and shared occupant of this body. What, didn't you notice the color changes? Heck, I've even got my own mark." He said, pointing to his flank.

"Well yeah its just I don't remember any of this before..." Panda couldn't think of what to say as she started to feel guilty for what happened to Hollow.

Shadow took notice and placed a hoof around her, drawing her into an embrace. "Panda, it's not your fault. Hollow was trying to help you. Never place blame on yourself if someone is trying to help you. It only hurts you and belittles what they did." He said, rubbing a hoof across her back, as he started to change back. "Oh, gotta go. Hey, Panda, do me a favour and try to keep Knight outta trouble. He needs a friend who won't let him get away with anything, and, being Luna's son, everypony else seems to do the exact opposite."

Panda was shocked to hear this. But she hugged back hoping that Knight wouldn't mind the hug and she vowed to herself that she would do what Shadow asked of her.

"Ahem." Hollow cleared her throat to attract their attention, grinning like a madmare. "Knight and Panda, trapped in a maze, both are lost in each other's gaze!"

"S-shut up, Hollow." Knight said, blushing, and 'accidentally' holding Panda tighter.

"Awww, what's up Knighty?" Hollow asked, using Pinkie's nickname for him, "Embarrassed to admit you've got a crush?"

Hollow started making kissy noises over and over, which Knight tried very hard to ignore. The whole time, Panda's face was slowly turning a bright shade of red from embarrassment. "Ummm, Knight." She squeaked. "Do you think...maybe...you could let go...please?"

Knight looked at her for a second, before slowly removing his arms from around her, still blushing as he did so. "Sorry, Panda." he said quietly.

"It's ok knight." Panda said rubbing her right foreleg with her left forehoof.

"Yeah, cause she's crushing on you too!" Hollow said with a chuckle, causing both Knight and Panda to blush even further.

"She always like this?" Panda asked.

"No. Usually she takes things seriously. Unfortunately, the spell Shadow used on her sort of temporarily loosened her composure, meaning she's gonna act a little childish for a while." Knight said, rubbing a hoof on the back of his head.

"Huh.....well you think we should go to that party pinkie has going on?" Panda asked her blush slowly going away.

"Yeah...party sounds good." Knight replied with a nervous smile.

"Come on, Knighty, what's with you? You never get nervous!" Hollow said.

Knight replied with a quick spell, and Hollow's eyes closed as she hit the dirt with a snore.

Panda let out a quiet sigh. "Wow glad that's over. So I think the party will start soon. Wanna go?" Panda asked nervously at the last part.

Knight just nodded, blushing slightly. "Yeah..."

"Ok.... but about hollow. Where do we leave her?" Panda asked.

"Just a minute." He said, his nervousness disappearing as he cast a spell causing Hollow to disappear. "There. I teleported her to my mom with a small note explaining her condition. I didn't say how though. So...shall we?" He asked as he offered Panda a hoof.

Panda smiled taking Knights hoof. "Yes we shall." She said smiling and following him to Sugarcube Corner.

The second they walked in the door of the completely silent and dark store, (Knight had assured her that it wasn't trespassing), the lights came on and several ponies, Twilight and Rainbow Dash among them, burst out of nowhere yelling "SURPRISE!"

Panda let out a surprised yelp and jumped a little in the air. Suddenly, Pinkie Pie appeared upside down in Panda's peripheral vision, and she jumped back as she realised that Pinkie was standing on the ceiling.

"So, were you surprised? Wereyawereyawereyawereyawereyawereyawereya!?" She asked so fast Panda could barely keep up.

"Um well yeah....and how the ....... how are you standing on the ceiling?" Panda asked still a little surprised.

"She's Pinkie Pie, Panda. She defies the laws of physics every day. Trust me, if somepony says, 'It's Pinkie Pie', leave it at that. Trying to understand it will only drive you insane. Oh, and she's wearing suction cups." Knight said, chuckling, which cause everypony in the room to fall silent, until one mare suddenly exclaimed, "RISING KNIGHT LAUGHED! IT'S THE APONYCLYPSE! OH, THE HORROR! THE HORROR!"

"Um.... ok?" Panda asked confused as can be. She figured that she would just leave that behind for a bit. "So is this a silent party or something?" Panda asked aloud.

Rainbow Dash walked up to her and whispered. "Nopony's ever heard Knight laugh since he came back a few months ago. He's pretty much kept a neutral face no matter what. Even Pinkie couldn't get him to smile for more than a second."

"Oh...wow." Panda replied whispering back. She was still a little confused but brushed it off.

"Yeah. You must be something special if you can get Knight to laugh." She said with a smirk. "So....you two dating or something? How'd Princess Luna take it when she found out you were dating her son?"

"What? But we're not dating...I mean....Knight some help here?" Panda asked in a pleading voice.

"Uh...I-uh....." Knight couldn't say anything, and both of them were turning redder with every passing second. Suddenly, Rainbow burst into laughter and started rolling around on the floor. "BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! That was priceless! You are too easy. You should stick around so Knight here won't be such a stick-in-the-mud anymore!" she said, wiping a tear from her eye.

Panda just kept an embarrassed kind of face but chuckled a little. "Yeah maybe....still in shock that Knight let out a chuckle?" She asked aloud hoping to change the subject.

"Yeah, actually. Seriously, what did you do to make him so....un-Knight?" She asked.

"I don't know really but I'm sure knight will know." Panda said.

"Um...actually, to be honest, I'm....not really sure?" He said sheepishly.

"Well...whatever it was it must be different compared to what you ponies are used to huh?" Panda asked her blush JUST starting to go away, as was Knight’s.

"Yeah...so, how did you meet Knight anyway?" Rainbow asked.

"Well......could we just keep that quiet for now?" Panda asked with a hint of pain in her voice.

Rainbow took the hint and nodded slowly, leaving Panda to be 'greeted' by the rest of the residents. Knight stayed by her side the entire time, making sure he was there if she needed him for any reason.

When they were done greeting her the music started to kick back up again. Slowly the other ponies forgot about the little surprise Knight had with them and went back to talking, partying,and having fun as if nothing had happened. Panda and Knight made their way to a couch a little bits away from the party. They sat down on the couch.

"So Knight.......any questions you have for me?" Panda asked Knight as they sat on the couch, listening to the music playing in the background.

"I only have one. Did Shadow...say anything to you?" He asked, looking towards Panda and then away every few seconds.

"He said.... something about being a friend to you and keeping you out of trouble." Panda said.

Knight sighed. "Yeah, that sounds like Shadow. He doesn't want me going after One, but One killed my step-parents. I can't just let him get away with it." He said with a hint of anger mixed with sorrow.

"So...what now?" Panda asked curious.

"I'm going to keep training. I want One to pay for what he did, but I'm not strong enough to beat him yet. Shadow's soul still hasn't adapted to my body, so his Chaos magic is still weak." Knight said.

"Maybe... I could help going against him." Panda said. "He killed my whole family and when I was just a filly. He would beat me and do those experiments on me. Every time he would have an evil smirk on his face." Panda said tears on the verge of escaping her eyes. She remembered every detail of how her family was killed.

Knight embraced her tightly and began to rock her slowly. "It's ok...I promise, he will pay for what he did. Even if it costs me my life, I promise you, he will face justice." Knight said with fire in his eyes.

The tears she would shed before were forced and she couldn't control herself at the time. These tears were her own.

Knight just continued to rock her back and forth and comfort her for the rest of the night. Everypony was staring, with their jaws on the floor in shock at the sight of Knight comforting somepony, until Pinkie shooed them out saying that Knight and Panda needed their 'alone-time'.

Eventually Panda was calmed down, and she reluctantly pulled away from the embrace as she wiped away her tears from her eyes. "Sorry about that.... I just guess I can't deal with it right now." She said unknowingly resting her right forehoof on knights lap.

"It's ok. To be honest, I only got through my own episodes because of Hollow, and my mom. She literally entered my dreams and found the source of the episodes, and she destroyed it. Turns out, it was a time-release spell cast by One's superior, the alicorn in charge. It's meant to go off if a subject leaves the facility." He said bitterly.

"Oh...well Hollow helped me with the pain of the memories pretty well." Panda said. Then suddenly a question came to mind. "How long have we been hugging?" Panda asked.

"Uh...I don't know. But," Knight looked around. "Yep, everypony else is gone." Knight reluctantly released Panda from the hug, blushing. "I'm sorry. I guess I'm still not used to being, well, social, in any way."

"Well....Knight, I.... I don't know what it is but...I really like you....Knight, I don't know why...." Panda said all this looking away, blushing wildly. It was true she liked it a little because she never felt that way before...but mainly because of Knight.

"Wait...you...like me?" He asked hopefully.

Panda nodded still surprised she even admited it to him. "I really, really do, Knight." Panda said, still looking away. She didn't expect him to do anything, so it came as a pleasant shock when he replied by pecking her on the cheek.

Panda's eyes went wide as her was went deep crimson red. She turned her head to look at knight and saw that he was blushing a little to. "Why....why did you do that?" Panda asked confused as she placed a hoof on her cheek where he kissed her.

"I...I...I like you too..."He said, so quiet she almost didn't hear him.

Panda looked into his eyes and saw no hint of lying. She scooted closer to him just enough before they touched each other.

"Panda...do you have anywhere to stay?" He asked.

Panda shook her head. "No... I don't." Panda replied her eyes still glowing from emotions.

"Alright then. You can stay with me and Hollow if you want." Knight said with a soft smile. "Our house is actually in the Everfree, but I memorised the entire layout of the forest when I was a colt, so getting there won't be a problem. So, do...do you want to stay with us?" He asked.

Panda answered this by giving him a quick kiss. "Yes I do." She said smiling back.
"Uh...great. So, shall we get going?" He asked, still surprised she said yes, and happy she did so.

"Yeah." They both got off breaking the embrace.They walked side to side, tails wrapped together. They walked through Ponyville as ponies looked in shock, but kept to themselves. Then they came to the everfree forest.

"OK, I'm gonna teleport us straight there, seeing as the more dangerous inhabitants are always out at this hour. Are you ready?" Knight asked. Panda nodded moving even closer to knight.

Knight's horn glowed, and Panda's body started to feel strange, like it was being separated into millions of pieces, yet there was no pain. A second later, she was standing in the middle of a small clearing with a small cottage just in front of her.
"Well, this is it. This is my home." Knight said.

"Wow. I really like it Knight. You think you sister and your mom would mind if I stayed here?" Panda asked.

"I think they'd be happy. After everything, even though everypony in Ponyville considers me a friend, I'm afraid to get close to them because I'm afraid I’ll lose them like I lost my step-family. To be honest, I'm afraid of something happening to you too, but I'll put my life on the line to make sure nothing does." Knight said.

Panda smiled at this as she wrapped one of her wings around him pulling him close. "Thank you knight...I would gladly do the same." She said, her eyes closed.

Knight said nothing, choosing to kiss her forehead as he led her to her room. It was small, but much more comfortable than the cells they had both been used to. As she walked over to the bed, he turned to exit.

"Knight.... thank you so much for this.... kinda strange what happened in the past few hours." Panda said with a smile.

"Yeah...I still can't figure it out. I...I knew I liked you, but I was too afraid to say anything, then after Shadow healed Hollow..." Knight trailed off as he fell into thought.

"Well...I’m just glad how it turned out." Panda said walking up to him.

"I am too. Anyway, you can use the bed, I'll take the couch. Hollow will be in Canterlot for the next few days, as I asked mom to keep an eye on her, just to make sure she didn't overdo it." Knight replied with a warm smile.

Panda smiled back giving him a kiss goodnight as she turned and crawled into bed. She went under the covers, resting her head on the soft pillow. Calmed by the thought that Knight would be there to protect her if something happened, she fell asleep.