Luna quickly traversed the halls of the Royal Castle, an aura of urgency surrounding her. The castle staff and guards were forced to quickly step aside for the princess who nonchalantly apologized for the trouble. Something had been picking at Luna’s head, her sister had not been there to greet her for her breakfast and her sister’s lunch. But that wasn’t the problem, the problem was that her sister would never do such a thing without giving her a reason, be it in person or through telegram. Today, her sister did not appear, nor was there any message of any kind. After her breakfast she focused on her sister’s magical signature, and set about locating her.

Her tracking led her to the Royal Library, to be even more specific the Forbidden Archives hidden within it. Having been through the archive many times already, she had grown accustomed to its many twists and turns. Eventually she made her way through the labyrinth of book shelves to her sister who was surrounded by mountains of books. “Sister! What art thou doing?” Seeing Celestia indulging herself in this amount of books was quite the surprise.

A slight jump could be seen from Celestia, the few words surprising her back into reality. Looking up from her book she found her sister slowly approaching her with a face of concern. “Luna… Is it this late already? Have I missed our…”

Bags could be seen beneath her sister’s eyes. Her expression revealing she wasn’t entirely there, “Indeed, but that be no matter. What on Equus art thou doing dearest sister? There may be a pile of books the size of a mountain.”

“I… have been… researching, Luna,” she said as she slowly closed the books she was reading.

“Researching what?” the fact that her sister was researching was... new. Usually her sister knew already of most of the happenings around Equestria and beyond. The fact she had read this many books meant that she knew nothing of a certain subject. A glance at a few of the titles of the books surprised her even moreso. “Sister art thou researching… Fairytales? Tall tales? Old foal’s stories and lullabies?

If that were so? Why wouldst thou require to research it? Certainly thou should know many of them by heart?” Celestia had read thousands of fairytales and this was concerning. Nostalgia? Boredom? Failure to remember a certain story? None of these thoughts made sense to Luna, her sister wasn’t the type to revel in nostalgia, be bored, and had a sharp memory.

“I wish it was so… I’m sure you heard in the news recently that Ponyville had been attacked again,” she placed a hoof upon the book’s cover, wiping off a small amount of dust.

“Well of course, but that is not new sister. The small town has always been plagued with these oddities.”

“This time it’s different, sister. This time it’s something completely new.”

“And thou art searching among foal’s tales? Hardly seems resourceful,” Luna picked up several books from the pile in her magic. Looking over each one with a critical eye.

“Well it seems to be our best lead, afterall; he claimed to be from the Age of Fire.”

At this Luna bursted out with a laugh, “Certainly thou did not take this creature’s words as serious? The Age is Fire is a mere foal’s tale Celestia. Tales so old that we may have never heard of them if we hadn’t ventured into that one old castle as mere fillies.” Luna’s laughing slowly calmed down, but when she looked to Celestia, her sister continued to hold a serious face.

“That is what I believed to Luna, but all the puzzle pieces seem to fit eerily perfectly,” Celestia levitated a particular book to her sister.

“Legend of the Old Wolf Knight and his Companion, Sif, I remember this tale. A nameless knight along with his beast companion fought back a tide of demonic creatures. After defeating the army he established the first ever kingdom on what is now present day Equestria,” Luna skimmed through the old text, pausing every so often on what she remembered to be the best parts.

“Well it seems that he may be no foal’s tale, Luna. That stallion, Artorias, may have been a real figure,” Celestia brought to her another book. After flipping through a number of pages she paused at a specific page depicting the knight.

“What art thou saying? That he is real?” she walked closer to her sister, close enough to peer into the book.

“All fairytales hold some truth. This Luna, is the knight I fought a few days ago… and lost,” Luna quickly stepped away from her sister all the while her sister continued to stare at the image.

“You defeated sister? Absurd! Thoust lie! A game of Maks!” as she continued to stare at her sister, that one word began sink in. Somepony she once thought of as invincible had lost. “Why tell me now?”

“I wanted to be sure what we were up against. More importantly, I didn’t want you going off on your own. He was powerful Luna, similar to that of the tales. And there is not only one, but three.”

“Three?!”

“Yes. There is Artorias, the Wolf Knight. Twilight recently informed me that another one of them has appeared, Pontiff Sulyvahn. Lastly, after reading through all of these books, a knight closely associated with these two, the Fume Knight,” she brought down another book from the pile to show her sister. After turning a number of pages there was another image depicting the three sitting together.

“Well if they are out and about, are they not heroes like the tales?”

“Indeed they are...” Celestia gave a heavy sigh and once again stared at the page of the three.

“I am sensing a ‘but’ sister.”

“But they are heroes of a time far in the past, in fact they are older than us by several thousand years,”

“Then surely they art a powerful asset for the good of Equestria,” Luna began pulling to her more books. Opening each book and skimming each one, she reveled in the old foal’s tales she once thought were fairy tales. These old heroes she aspired to be were real, creatures whom she can learn from.

The mare before her was not as excited. Celestia already knew that they can be of use for the sake of Equestria. And certainly these heroes wouldn’t go about an destroy her kingdom, but still, they were uncontrollable. Much like a certain draconequus that was safely locked away. “I’m am not sure about that Luna. We have no read on them, they themselves carry several advantages. Surprise. Strength in both brawn and magic. Ancient knowledge.”

Celestia began pacing back and forth, stepping perfectly between the piles of books around her. “Yes sister, but we have knowledge of them as well. If these books are true than certainly we can obtain something about their character. Weaknesses. Maybe even more!”

“But that’s just it Luna! They are merely stories. We have no way to verify if they are true or not. The writer would most likely have been biased while writing the exploits of their leaders,” Celestia was once gain skimming through book after book. By the time she had put one book down, she had already another three.

“Very well then. I shall confirm thy suspicions tonight, while the moon is high and they lie in their sleep I shall pounce upon them!” she gave a proud and fierce pose which had caught Celestia’s attention.

Small giggles had formed, Celestia cracking a smile at her sister’s antics,”There is no need to be dramatic sister. I have complete faith in you that you’ll complete the task.”

“Of course I shall there is no Mistress of the Night, but I. Only I shall be able to complete such a daunting task to save the sanity of mine sister who slowly goes derange by the hour. Oh woe is I, but a humble princess to do in such a predicament. Stay by my sister’s side, or venture out for the cure and not be by her side!” Luna struck several more poises in her scene until she gave a bow toward her sister who applauded quietly.

It was late into the evening with the sun having set hours ago. Two large beings, a large wolf, and a statue surrounded a campfire. Pontiff had returned from his venture into the local town and had brought back a plethora of books. Compared to being at the library, he took his time reading the books of fiction.

“Quite the last couple of days hasn’t it?” Pontiff asked Artorias, breaking the silence.

“Yea. Could have gone better. Ended up fighting one of the leaders of the country we’re in.,” the knight sat back up and faced his companions. “What took you so long in town by the way? You’re trip should have taken a minimum of an hour, but you spent quite a bit more than that.”

Sulyvahn looked up from his book, “Well besides the books that were there, there was our lavender friend. Turns out she runs the library.”

“Interesting, anything else?”

“From what I was able to garner from her, her friends that you beat up, specifically the orange one the blue one, are still in the hospital. As for her, the press is currently preying upon her for the next big story I suppose.”

“Sucks to be her. If I know anything about the press they tend to do that,” looking to one of the nearby piles of books Artorias reaches over and grabs one.“The Age of Fire, huh. Would you look at that, it’s labeled as a fairytale.”

Without looking back Sulyvahn responds, “Indeed. A shame that our exploits were reduced to fiction rather than history. But I guess that’s what a couple thousand years does to you.”

“I guess it does,” Artorias then opened the book in his hands. After reading the first couple of pages he looked back up. “When do you think Raime gets out?”

“Don’t know, don’t really care. Been in there for more than a thousand years, what’s a couple days?”

“Ouch. You hear that Raime. Good old Sully knows you’re A-okay!” after placing the book back into its pile, Artorias began stargazing once more. He could make out some interesting constellations, constellations that seemed more vivid than the ones he had seen in the past. As if they were purposely put there. A yawn soon escaped his mouth as he made out more and more shapes among the stars, his eyes grew heavier and heavier until the night sky bid him a good night's rest.

A strong wind enveloped the campsite, the fire fading rapidly as it continued its cold onslaught. Artorias swiftly awoke and stood up, but by the time he was standing the site had gone pitch black. “Sif, Sulyvahn you guys okay?” he called out, but no responses could be heard.

In the dark he was able to make out his sword and shield that barely shone. He cautiously made his way over to them, grasping them in their respective hands. Something definitely peculiar about the situation he was in, no wind should be able to blow out the fire they had made. It was enormous for the average man, one could call it a bonfire. Not only that, but the shadows that enveloped him seemed thicker like tar or slag. He felt the cold wind puncturing his already cold armour, he felt a ominous force watching over him. Rather than allow the darkness to linger any longer he grabbed the talisman on his waist and casted Cast Light.

Once more the forest was visible, but despite the use of the spell a tinge of shadow continued to envelope the world. What on Earth is going on?! Artorias remained vigilant as he scanned the forest that surrounded him. Eyes began to form in the shadows, watching his every move. “What do you want?!” he spoke his tone dark and threatening. The only thing he got in response was the eyes blinking simultaneously, “Well isn’t that just creepy.”

Another presence made itself known, emerging from the shadows was a night blue pony and much like the white one he had seen earlier in this week, this too had a horn and wings. “Quite an interesting dream We must say, or tis a nightmare? In terms of dreams, this one rather grey. Tis a dream? Tis not. Tis a nightmare? Tis not. A thought perhaps?” She continued to stare at her surroundings paying no heed to the creature before her.

“May I ask if this is your doing? And judging by your appearance, you must be Princess Luna, am I wrong?” Artorias asked calmly as he stood on guard.

“There be no reason to be so tense, We are just here to observe our new... friend,” she gave what could only be described as a pleasant smile, but the underlying threat was also made present by her tone. “Thou can tell alot about a pony, about a griffin, about creature, and for thyself, about a human through their dreams.”

Artorias visibly flinched at hearing the word human, but what caught really his attention was the word dreams. “You’re telling me that this is dream, its rather realistic is it not?”

“That is what thy mind wishes thou to believe,” is all she said before continuing her inspection of the dream. “Rather stable for being neither dream or nightmare.”

“Well if what you say is true, tell me; what do you know?”

“And lay out my hoof before the first card of the river has be flipped? I would do no such thing. Afterall, as you said there is much to discuss, though my sister will not enjoy it, she is willing to participate though. But that is for a later matter, right now We are here to, as we have said, observe.”

“Observe what exactly?” Artorias took a new stance. This time his shield was up, but his blade was aimed at the princess.

“Thou and thy dreams, thy character, thy motivation, what thou believes to be thoust purpose. Very simple things, truth be told,” she said as she continued to prod at the dream.

“You’re not searching for secrets?”

“Even if We wished to do so, We cannot. The mind of another shall only show what it wishes to show. And right now, for the most part, We are not allowed to see it because We are not welcome here. Tell Us, does thou believe the weight of the world rests upon thy shoulders? Just a question from one leader to another,” she never ceased to prod at the dream as ripples began to form all around.

“I wish it weren’t so, but yes, I do. As a leader those without look to you for guidance, for strength. Often times it is hard to find the strength in one’s self so by looking to another one kind find temporary strength. And eventually they too will form their own strength.”

“An excellent answer, We must say. We do not entirely agree, but for the most part We do,” her prodding ceased and she turned toward the knight. “Tell me, why in many of the stories do you not take up the title King?”

“I reserve that only for my kingly duties other than that I have no need for it. I do not take pride in being a King, I take pride in being a protector,” Artorias began dropping his guard. His thought reaching back in time when he fought back foe after foe for creatures who he did not even know.

“Another splendid answer by a thoughtful warrior. Now, let Us ask a few more question. Why art thou answering Our questions, are We not the enemy? And why art thou not asking Us questions, we are trespassing among thy mind.?” sensing that the tension in the atmosphere was dropping she made a few step toward the knight. He made response back and she continued forward.

“A simple reason, you can learn alot about a person by the questions they ask. For example, why are they really here. What matters most to them. Even their character,” she was no a few steps away from him. He was looking down at her, and she was staring back up. The height difference forcing the two to turn the necks sharply.

“I suppose any creature who has lived thousands of years would be able to do such a task. Thou hast exceeded Our expectations a hundred fold, Knight Artorias. We would happily invite thou and thy compatriots to Canterlot to speak with Us as well as Our sister, Celestia.”

“Thank you Princess Luna,” Artorias brought himself down to knee thanking the princess in turn. “I have much to apologize for for the few days I have been alive within your kingdom.”

“That can wait til the ‘morrow. We ask that thou obtain some rest as the journey to Canterlot is long,” with that said Luna’s body turned ethereal before completely vanishing into thin air.

A ray of light found its way through the trees and foliage, its aim set right on Artorias’s eyes. The warmth hitting his face caused him to stir awake, but the moment he opened his eyes the sun met with him head on. “Holy shit! My eyes! They burn!”

Next to him his wolf, Sif, woke to his master’s yelling. He seemed unimpressed and went back to sleep. Across the burnt out fireplace was Pontiff who stared in amusement at his friend's plight. “Good morning dear friend. I trust your sleep was peaceful.”

Rubbing his eyes of eye boogers and the itching of the sun. “Yup, until that happened,” his thoughts turned back to last night in his dreams, “Hey by chance, did a blue pony with a horn and wings speak to you?”

“No. Sounds like you had an interesting dream,” now looking at Sulyvahn, Artorias saw he was reading a book.

“Well I think I found our next lead from that interesting dream,” he stood up brushing of the dirt that accumulated on him.

“And what may that be,” he said as he turned a page.

“The capital of Equestria. Canterlot,” grabbing his sword he raised and pointed it at the sky.

“... You look ridiculous.”

“You’re not even looking up.”

“That’s just how ridiculous you look.”

“...”

“...”

“Fuck you.”

Author's Notes:

Its been a while, but I am back for this one chapter. Let me tell you though... College is a bitch! Besides that hope you enjoyed the chapter it was fun to write again after a while. As per the usual, please feel free to like, favorite, or comment. Criticism is much appreciated. And thank you to the dedicated fans who have stuck to this story despite my hiatus. I bid you all a farewell. After all, who knows if the fifth chapter will ever come out! I don't! Also, sorry for no free random art.