Time for some lore

“Twilight I’m sorry but the rest of your friends can’t come with us, they would be giant liabilities.” Shepard told Twilight while he sat in one of her library chairs across from where she stood pacing. “Fluttershy is probably about to go into a shock induced coma, Rarity was useless, and Apple Jack is such a bad shot that she couldn’t hit the broad side of a barn. The only ones who I would trust my back to are you and Dash, and Dash is too impulsive for my tastes in the first place.” Twilight stopped her pacing and turned to face Shepard directly.

“Shepard this isn’t negotiable, every single one of my friends needs to be with us on this quest, not counting Pinkie because she’ll turn up when we need her, but otherwise we need everypony with us.”

“Why? Why do we need all of your friends? What makes you think that they have the ability to survive what we will be going through? Do you honestly think that Fluttershy has it in her to kill somepony?”

“Shepard, do you know what it means to be called a Paladin?” Twilight asked him softly, Shepard shook his head. “Being a Paladin is an ancient rite that was established long before Celestia took the throne over a thousand years ago…”

“Wait Celestia is over a thousand years old?” Shepard asked interrupting the beginning of Twilight’s narrative.

“Yes Commander, Celestia is well over one thousand years old, now let me talk!” Twilight snapped. “Before Discord came, before Celestia and Luna banished him, before Equestria was even an inkling in the minds of its founders, there were Paladins. The original Paladins were said to be tremendously strong beings that possessed power far greater then Celestia and Luna combined. They were the protectors of the small, the defenders of the weak, and the ones who you turned to when all hope was lost. But as powerful as they were they were still only mortal, eventually they died whether in battle or of age one by one they fell until only six remained. They were the first to have accepted the gift and responsibility of being Paladins the original six beings that had singlehoofedly saved the ponies from the darkened world that surrounded them. But as I said they were still mortal, before they died they left an iota of their power in the command of the current queen so that she could give it to those that she considered worthy. The queen ennobled several replacements and soon they became the new protectors, but with each generation the Paladins became less and less worthy of the names and virtues that they should have held up unquestioningly. Eventually during the days of Celestia’s mother’s time the problem got far too out of hand and the queen of the day was forced to take away their powers, or what remained of them that is. Since then there have been no Paladins in Equestria, Celestia had not seen fit with honoring anypony with the abilities that come with the title. Until now, even as we speak I can feel my body radiating raw magical power, and that scares me Shepard do you know why it scares me?”

“Because, you’re afraid of losing control of it.” She nodded

“Shepard before you came here I was the Element of magic, I could do incredible things that would even make Celestia flinch! Hay, my friends and I defeated two beings that could be classified as GODS! Before my grip on the magic was tenuous but had it in firmly in control except for a few cases when I was under impossible stress, now my grip can barely hold onto all of this power!”

“Then why should I bring any of you along?” Shepard asked “It sounds like you will be unpredictable and unpracticed, which are the worst things to be when you’re on a battlefield.”

“Because Shepard although the Paladins were a force of good they also knew when good alone could not prevail, they knew the power that death holds over ponies was ultimately the way to end a problem once and for all! That knowledge is coursing through each one of my friends and me. Even Fluttershy is slowly being able to rationalize killing which is why she didn’t faint during the fight, why she hasn’t cried a tear over the bodies of the dead griffins, and why she will ultimately be useful during this quest of ours!” Shepard was silent for a long time while he silently drank a cup of tea that Spike had given him when he had first entered the library. Eventually the silence became awkward and Twilight went around the room collecting books and meticulously returning them to their spots on the shelves.

“Twilight, how powerful are you?” Shepard asked finally asked her breaking the silence.

“If I wanted to I could destroy all of Canterlot with a misplaced spell, only Celestia and Luna could stop me and it would be a close fight.” Her voice was far away as if imagining the conflict.

“And each one of your friends is just as powerful?”

“In their own ways I’m sure, but I have the easiest power to channel and the most experience using it although in a far more minor form, why?”

“Because I have no idea what we’re truly up against and I like to know my allies abilities before I’m stuck in a position that could get myself or one of my friends killed or worse. I also like to know how to stop one of my allies should they turn on me.” Shepard told her a hard edge coloring his voice.

“Thank you for the sentiment Shepard, now you should probably head home before Ash get’s worried that you’ve been away to long and decides that I’m attempting to seduce you.” Shepard bade her goodbye and walked down the path to the house; he heard a noise off to the side and carefully moved his hoof to hover over his Carnifex. To his surprise from the darkness emerged Fluttershy, her face was harder than he had ever seen it and the look in her eyes told him that she was angry.

“Where are they Shepard? Where are the ones who did it!” she said her voice was quiet but an undercurrent of malice ran through it.

“Who Fluttershy, who are you looking for?”

“I’m looking for the buckers who killed my animals Shepard, only Angel is still clinging to life; all the others were dead when I returned home! They were butchered Shepard their bodies violated and strewn about my house like so many dead leaves after the first winds of winter sweep through the fall trees!”

“What! How could this happen?” Shepard hadn’t known Fluttershy long but from his time around her he had discovered that she had a great many pets whom she cared about almost as much as her pony friends.

“All I know is that they were covered in sword marks, I will find who did this Shepard and I will end them.” This was insanely creepy for Shepard to see, but he managed to go over to Fluttershy and give her a comforting hug, which she returned as shudders ran through her body.

“Look Fluttershy we will find whoever did this, but I need to get back to Ash. You should go talk to Twilight about this she’ll know just what to do.” Fluttershy eventually stopped shuddering and nodded before she set off towards Twilight’s house. As he climbed into bed next to Ash his mind was still running through what Twilight had told him, and what had happened to Fluttershy. Whoever’s responsible for this is going to pay dearly for this! He swore to himself as sleep overtook him.

Next Chapter: A Tale of The Paladins Estimated time remaining: 3 Hours, 24 Minutes