RiE Chapter 4 - Understanding

>Dead silence greets your prayer as every creature in that room is staring at you breath held
>Finally a voice, regal and motherly, asks
"Anonymous, Do you truly mean the words you just said?" she says quietly
>"I mean them Princess" you say truthfully
"Do you swear this Anonymous? Do you swear fealty to me, Princess Luna, and ALL of Equestria from now until your days come to an end?"
>As she is talking you raise your head from the floor to look at her
"Will you give your life and all that you posses in service should you be asked? Will you still serve when all others fail? Will you live when others fall?" she continues "Will you watch the night while the sun is at rest?" she meets your eyes as she says the last
>A gasp from the white horse in purple and gold armor to your left. Princess Luna's head turns quickly to stare at her
>Princess Celestia turns meets her gaze then nods
>Princess Luna then asks
"Will you defend each mare and stallion, each filly and foal in our name? Will you guide those who are lost? Will lead those who are found?" At this she turns and looks into your eyes "Will you watch the day while the moon sleeps?" she asks
>They begin to step off the dais walking slowly together
>When they reach your escort it parts before them like water
>The look on their faces is solemn. They make their way to either side of you and say in tandem
"Should the dragons come, Should the sea rise, Should the mountains burn do you swear not to flee from your duties? If Chaos comes and all are helpless will you bring back order?"
>Silence as they stare at you. How do you respond? You have never been in a situation like this
>"I swear this" you hear yourself say
"I, Princess Celestia, accept your oath and would name you a Knight of The Sun" Celestia exclaims loudly
"I, Princess Luna, accept your oath and wouldst name you a Knight of the Moon" Luna exclaims loudly
>They lean forward at the same time. Above your head their horns touch. a light pink colored light descends upon you and you feel a warmth inside you
>After a few seconds the light stops but the warmth remains
"It is done. Rise Anonymous Knight of Equestria. Servant of Sun and Moon. Shield of the defenseless. Spear of the fallen. Know that should you fall we shall know. Should you break your oath we shall know. they say in unison"
>As you stand they turn and walk back to the dais. Then the white horse from before steps forward and says.
"There is no greater honor than that which the Princesses have bestowed on you. There is no worse crime than failing to honor this oath. Take not your words lightly Anonymous."
>He looks at you with a wry smile on his face before he continues
"As the only other Knight of Equestria should you break your oath it will be my duty to hunt you down and bring you before the Princesses for punishment"
>You meet his eyes. He nods at you. Well might as well nod back
>You are not sure exactly what just happened but you guess that you are now their holy knight
>"What did you do to deserve this honor?" you ask yourself
"Shining Armor" Celestia says looking at the white horse who talked to you "I do not think we need the other guards here now."
>He nods and starts giving orders which are quickly obeyed
>Celestia turns back to you and says
"There is much for us all to discuss. Perhaps we should head somewhere a little less dramatic"
>Her and Luna start walking out a side door as you quickly move to follow

>Your stomach is in knots as you go
>You don't know what to expect. You have no idea how much they know about you.
>You follow them a short way in silence before a set of wooden doors open and you are lead into a small library like room with a large wooden oval shaped table in the middle of the room.
>Celestia and Luna take their seats at the table. you choose a seat a little ways away
>As you sit down the door closes behind Shining Armor who followed you
>He takes a seat next to Celestia then they all turn and look at you
>You stare at them awkwardly for a while before you ask "So what questions do you have for me Princesses?" you ask hesitantly
"The first we wish to ask" Luna pipes up quickly "What are you and where did you come from?" she asks with genuine curiosity in her voice."
>"I-I am a Human." At the blank look on their faces you continue "I am from a city called New York which is in the country of the United States of America." More blank looks
"How did you come to be here?" Celestia asks
>"I have no idea. One minute I was in my apartment on my laptop trying to wait out a Hurricane. Then I heard a sound like my roof was cracking apart. It felt like someone grabbed me around the spine and threw me straight up. Next thing I knew I was laying in a crater in the middle of nowhere."
>You say at all slowly trying to put that terrifying event into words.
"That raises more questions." Celestia says "Do all humans have the same power that you do?"
>She asks this with a bit too much interest
>"What Power?" you ask confused. You don't have any powers that you know about. Well except for your power to destroy toilets if you so much as look at zucchini
>Celestia looks at Luna and then back to you
"The power to give raw magic to other ponies without even seeing them. Also the power to speak into other ponies minds." she says calmly but forcefully
>What. Is she smoking something?
>"What are you talking about?"
"Since you have arrived me and my sister have had incredible amounts of magic. Even for ourselves. We thought this might be a celestial occurrence until your prayers started echoing in our minds. Every prayer you made gave us more strength. How do you do those things?" she explains to you carefully like you didn't understand.
>"I-I have no idea what you are talking about on the magic. I assume you heard my prayers because you are goddesses." Oh good you are now a knight to some crazy horse gods that don't even know how being a god works.
"Truly you have no control of that? Do you swear it?" she asks hastily
"Sister thou needs to calm down. If says he doth not know then he doth not." Luna chides her.
>You look at them both incredulously "Its fine. I swear I have no idea on how that works nor do I have any control beyond if I should pray or not."
Shining Armor pipes up at this point "He is not telling a lie Princess."
>Looking over at him you see that his horn is glowing blue "Were you seeing if I was telling the truth?"
>He looks you in the eyes
"I am sorry but I just doing my job. I cant have you lying to the Princesses. Especially if you are a brother knight." He smiles at you encouragingly
>You frown. This is not going very well.
>"Princesses. May I ask you a question?" Celestia nods "Why was I made a knight. If its such a high honor why am I being gifted with it when you cant even trust me not to lie."
"Yes sister. Please tell us why thou wished to make him a knight." Luna adds with a smirk
>You are starting to like this horse god she sticks up for you
Celestia sighs "I did it to ensure that you will hurt none of my people." She says quietly "If you are bound by that oath then should you break it we will know immediately. You were made a knight so we could keep you on tight leash until you have proven yourself." she looks like she wants to say more but she does not continue
>You look at her for a moment in shock thinking it over
>It DOES make sense. You are an alien here and she (like a good deity) seems to value her people.
>This way she knows if you go psycho on her people so she can stop you as fast as possible
>"I understand." you say nodding "Any other questions?"
"How are thou feeling" Luna asks with a smile on her face
>"I am confused but I am feeling well. You are the one who saved me are you not?" you ask her
"Indeed I did save you" Luna says "I had heard thine prayer for help. I am quite pleased that I had arrived in time." She frowns "I wish I could have gotten there before you were injured. Luckily I got you to Celestia before your wounds claimed you"
>Huh why could she not heal me herself? Maybe it has something to do with her powers
>"What where those...bird lion things that tried to kill me?" You ask. Those things are crazy. Why the fuck did they want to kill you.
"Those are gryphons. Thine home was an Equestrian watchtower of olde. It is just inside the southern border of the Gryphon kingdom. Its a remnant from an olde war." She says sadly. "Times were grim then"
>"But why did they want to kill me? All I was trying to do was survive!" you ask letting your anger creep into your voice
"I can answer that." Celestia says "Gryphons believe that before a gryphon child is born it first lives a life as an eagle and then as a lion. THEN it will be born as a gryphon. If the lion dies of anything other than natural means the soul is destroyed. Killing a lion or eagle is punishable under the same crimes as murdering a child."
>"That lion tried to eat me! I just defended myself." You say pleadingly
"Yes but that's not how they see it. You were an intruder in their land and killed one of their children when they tried to defend it. I understand that you did not do it with a harmful intent. However it is their beliefs so we can do nothing about it." She sighs
>So an entire group of creatures is going to hate you because you had to kill a lion to stay alive
>Fuck it you don't care but what if these horses have similar customs that are crazy?
>"Princesses I don't know anything about this world or how it works. I don't want to take all your time asking stupid questions. Is there anyone you can have teach me?"
Celestia Smiles at you "I bet there is someone" she waves a hoof in the air "That we can get to help you."
>"Am I going to be restricted to my room the entire time I am here?" that has been worrying you since this morning
>If you are forced to stay shut up in a room you might go crazy
"No you will be allowed access to the the castle and courtyard"
>You smile at her. Well that is good ne-
"But you will have to have an escort"
>Fuck. Well it could be worse at least you can walk around now
>Hmm wait a second "Is there any way I can request Star Sword to be my escort? He seemed pretty nice earlier."
>Shining Armor looks at the princess and then you
"I don't see why not. He is one of our be-"
>A sudden knock at the door causes everyone to turn
>A guard sticks his head in the room and says
"Princesses we have a small situation in the throne room. Prince Blueblood is there demanding an audience with you."
Celestia gets a dark look on her face "Did he say why?"
The guard stiffens a bit at that look "He is yelling that you knighted a minotaur before you knighted a descendant of the unicorn throne."
"I see. Me and my sister will be in there momentarily." She says curtly "Will you please escort Anonymous here back to his room?"
Turning back to you she says "I am sorry Anonymous but we will have to continue this some other time."
>"I understand." Getting up you head out the door when a hoof on your arm stops you.
"I will send Star Sword down to you when I can. You might want to visit the library if you want to know some more about Equestria." He smiles at you
>"Thanks!" Oh god a library? Fuck that actually will help a lot.
"Its no problem. Try not to cause any trouble." he says before he turns to follow Celestia and Luna down the hall
>Luna is looking back at you with a disappointed look on her face
>You wonder why she would be disappointed before you think maybe she had more to say
>Turning back the guard nods to you and starts walking down the hall.
>More tapestries and paintings line the walls
>You glance at them but don't bother stopping. Now that you have free roam you will be able to come study each of them
>The arts always were your greatest weakness. Maybe you will be able to take up painting again now that you are not having to fight to survive every day.
>Your Arts degree may not have been worth anything but a student loan bill back on earth but who knows here.
>Eventually you make your way back to your room. The guard never ventured to say anything to you so you did not press a conversation on him
>Outside your room stood two familiar faces Iron Gullet, and Blade Runner
>At some point you will have to talk to Blade Runner and tell him about that movie.
>"At some point Star Sword will be coming to escort me around the castle" you say to them
>Iron Gullet looks at you like you are stupid
"And?" he says in a gruff voice
>Wow guy is a bit of a douche "I was just giving you the heads up. Pardon me for trying to be nice."
>As you close the door you hear another voice say "Dude that was bucking rude of you." Ahh that must have been blade runner
>These horses were not so bad. Most of them were friendly and the ones that weren't haven't tried to kill you like those fucking gryphons.
>Gryphons
>You think about your altercations with them. Never once did you do anything but try to survive.
>All of this would have been saved if they had just fucking talked to you.
>A thought pops into your head "If they view lions as unborn children basically then wearing a lion pelt..."
>Crap. Now you cant really blame them AS much for attacking you. Hell if you had done that to a child on earth a cop might have just shot you then and there.
>You are glad they don't know that you ate that lion as well
>Mulling on that your mind comes to the Princesses. Are they truly gods.
>You think back to the throne room.
>Nothing has ever left you as awestruck as the feel those two gave off. It was amazing.
>You felt small as an ant while two giants studied you
>Laying there thinking you don't notice when the door opens allowing Star Sword to enter
He walks over to the bed and says "Anonymous are you ready?"
>You jump like someone just stuck you with a pin
>Looking over you see that Star Sword is standing there with a smirk on his face
>"Yeah, Yeah I am ready. I was just lost in thought." Getting out of the bed you say "And Star Sword, call me Anon"
He smiles "You can just call me Star. Anywhere in particular you want to go?"
>You think for a moment "Well I would like to go to the library and look at some of the tapestries and paintings in the halls for a bit"
He nods "Right this way then." He leads you out of the room
>As you pass Iron Gullet he grumbles something that sounds like an insult
>"Right back at ya pal" you say quickly eliciting a chuckle from Blade Runner
>Once you gain some distance from the room and turn down a hall you have not been down yet you ask Star
>"So what is Iron Gullets problem with me?" Star laughs in return
"The better question is what is his problem with the world. I think the only time I have ever seen that pony smile is when he was killing changelings during the attack a few months ago."
>He stops for second and looks to be thinking
"Wait I take that back, he smiles whenever he has food in front of him. Its just hard to tell with his mouth being full if its a smile or not."
>You chuckle a bit. Glad that its just him.
"So what are you going to be looking for in the library?" Star asks
>"Well honestly I don't know anything about this world. Like at all. I was hoping to find some history books or something to help with that." you say with a frown
>"I don't like being being stupid. I wish to change that. Like I have seen several of those symbols like the one on your leg and I don't know what they mean" Pointing to what looks like a series of blue stars forming a constellation in the shape of a sword on Stars back leg.
Stopping again he points to his mark "That? That's a cutie mark. Do you not have those where you come from?" he asks
>You shake your head and say "Nope."
He puts a hoof to his chin and thinks for a moment. "Well every pony has these. When they discover what they are good at they get a symbol that represents their special talent."
>Seriously? Magical marks that announce what you are good at? That...is pretty fucking cool actually
>"So what does yours represent?"
"Step back and I will show you." he says with a large smile on his face.
>He closes his eyes for a moment and then they shoot open as his horn starts glowing with a silvery light. Several transparent silver swords appear around him and start moving independently moving in their own unique path. Then all the swords vanish.
>Two copies of star both transparent silver with their own spears start dueling between you two. Before one lands a "Mortal" blow on the other and they both fade away.
"Cool huh! My talent is a focus on magical conjuration. Specifically in things dealing with combat."
>Cool does not begin to describe it "That was awesome! How did you do that? Could those things actually kill? How many can you make?" you gush at him
"Its my talent that's how. Yeah they can kill that's why I had you stand back when I did it. I can manage up to 10 but for that they have to move in unison with that many so other than for intimidation they are not that useful." He says his pride showing quite easily
>Wow that was incredible. You wonder what else these horses can do as you both continue walking
>"Can all you horses use magic" he stiffens at that and turns quickly
"Man that is not OK. You cannot go around calling us horses" He says angrily
>Wut. "Wait is that bad? Did I just use a racial slur or something?" You ask quickly
He sags in...relief? "Oh good I was hoping you were not like some of the minotaurs who come here. Yeah Horse is a pretty bad insult around here. Call us ponies if you need to refer to us like that. Its the one everyone uses"
>"Oh sorry I will keep that in mind. I didn't mean to insult you. This falls again into me not knowing shit about this place" you say hesitantly and follow up with "Bros?"
"Bros?" he asks
>This place does not know what bros are? They have much to learn from you. "Bros are your good friends. Your buddies ya' know?" Placing your fist out he nods and then taps his hoof to your fist
"Bros. That's awesome I was hoping you were a good guy. Especially when you got knighted. How did you pull that off by the way?" he asks inquisitively
>Truth or lie? Fuck it you are not lying to your first friend in this place "The Princesses did it to keep a leash on me. That way if I hurt anyone or go crazy or something they can find me and stop me."
He sighs "That is not good. Well at least they didn't throw you in the dungeon. So where is your mark?
>What mark? "What mark?"
"Your mark of Knighthood. Commander Shining Armor has his on his right shoulder. It should be a sun and moon interlinked with your symbol in between them" he says
>You look at your arms and don't see anything. "I don't know. I guess I will find out when I take a bath." you say laughing.
He smiles and stops in front of a large door marked with a book. "This is the palace entrance to the library."
>The door opens and a hallway with hundreds of doors greets your vision. Each marked above it with images representing what is inside you guess.
"History you said?"
>as he walks you past about thirty doors before stopping at one that has an Hourglass flanked by two soldiers
>You open the door and see rows and rows of books and scrolls on the shelves. It would take you hours to search for just a single book. Then you see your salvation
>An old grey pony with a cutie mark of a book and a scroll shelving books.
>You point him out to Star and walk up to him without him noticing you.
>"Hello could you help me find a book?" You ask noticing he has a horn now that you are up close
"Wuzzat your looking for?" he asks without looking away from the bookshelf
>"I need a book that gives a general overview of Equestria's history." you ask
He stops and says "Hmm I may just have the book for that."
>His horn glows red and nothing seems to happen for a few moments before a book flies from a shelf and flings itself at you
>Just before it would hit you in the face it stops and you grab it
>"Red Manes Guide to Equestrian History" the title says. It looks to be about 900 pages or so. This should work.
>"Thank you sir." You say politely before nodding to Star
>At that the pony finally turns at looks at you and jumps.
"What in the name of the Celestial Sisters are you?" he says while staring at you "WAIT! Don't tell me!"
>His horn starts glowing again and you hear a thump as the door to this section opens and a Huge book flies in and lands on a nearby desk.
>The book is larger than this pony
>Before it lands you see the title "Creatures of the Cosmos" By Starswirl the Bearded
>He starts flipping through the pages as fast as his magic can turn them.
"Maybe this?" He looks back up at you "No much to large."
>A couple of minutes of this and finally Star nods to the door and you follow him out
"Well you have your history book. Any other books you need now?" he asks
>Nothing that cant wait until you have read this one "Nope I am god for now. Lets go look at some of those tapestries. I would really like to see the one of Princess Celestia fighting all those dragons."
"Ahh yeah the fall of Smaug tapestry. Its one of my favorites. There are some shops down in Canterlot that sell reproductions of it"
>"Canterlot?
"Thats the city down below the palace" he says quickly
>Oh god an entire city below you? Well that is slightly intimidating for some reason.
>You flip your book to a random page. On it is a creature that looks like a hodgepodge of other creatures. Being struck by some sort of light from the princesses
>Underneath it says "The Defeat of Discord" huh. Who was Discord you wonder.