Guardians

The world spun around Violet, so dizzying she couldn't even stand. It took all her effort to avoid sliding down into the surrounding pit.

Tongues of flame leapt up at the unicorn filly, forcing her into the center of the platform. She couldn't stay long, though; the boulder above was about collapse. She had to think her way out, and fast.

Scenarios ran through her mind, but none of the non-magical options were anywhere close to safe. Even if she activated a spell, the nausea would make it impossible to guide.

But it was better than nothing.

Violet lit her horn, channeling her magic. She began with simple levitation, lifting herself from the platform. It remained stable for about three seconds, enough to lower her guard. Then, it whipped her around the edge of the "sight zone", as she called it, and nearly plunged herself into the pit.

Panicked, Violet swung herself out of the grip and towards the precarious boulder. She landed with a thud, shaking her temporary position. She took a few moments to catch her breath, then steeled herself for another dangerous spell.

The iris unicorn clambered to her hooves, then hopelessly lifted the boulder below. If she dropped it or lost control, it would have no stationary position to rest in.

She struggled to keep it in check, but practice and its sheer mass helped her stay steady. She pulled herself and the hunk of rock up through the shaft of light that supplied the sight zone. Every foot of distance induced a fit of nausea, but she stayed on track.

She reached top of the shaft, but there wasn't an opening, just a dark ceiling. She tore chunks of rock from her carrier and bashed them against the expanse above, but nothing happened. She couldn't even phase through; it was too thick.

Violet gave up on the ceiling. She'd had this dream a lot lately, and even though she didn't know what was outside the sight zone, she wasn't about to find out. Which meant the only way out was down.

She tried to push the boulder back down, but  it wouldn't move. Despite her best judgment, she reluctantly shuffled to the edge and peered over.

The platform had come up with her. To make things worse, so did the fire. She pulled her muzzle away just as a spout of flame shot up at her.

She was trapped. Really, utterly trapped. And she was running out of time.

✴

     I replayed a thought message in my head. It was an apology to my mother for the outburst the day before. After a few modifications, I reluctantly blinked it on its way.

    I came to an intersection and glanced around. Most ponies could sense thought messages, but for the most part only unicorns could actually transmit them. I'd only gotten these powers recently from the Tree, and I didn't want to show off before I came to terms with them.

     Suddenly, an emergency call echoed through my head. Most of the other ponies nearby looked liked they'd heard it, too. A few unicorns lit their horns and tried to trace it, but nopony seemed to have much luck. I doupted I would be much help, even if I were alone.

     Then I noticed two unicorns in the center of the crowd, glancing around with their horns lit. They weren't caught in the same spell as the others, though; their magic halos wrapped everypony else's up, skipping over the few semi-calm ones. One of them was pink with a straight blue and gold mane and tail, round and firm. The other was tall, had a lime green coat and fiery locks that curled and bobbed around her face.

     They exchanged a look and activated the spell. The messages were gone, nothing but an odd memory. It was over in an instant, and the intersection was calm again, if not confused. Ponies shook the incident away and continued down whatever road they were taking, worried looks on their faces. The two unicorns nodded, turning to leave. I caught up just in time.

     I cleared my throat. "I'm sorry, but, who are you?" I asked nervously. They seemed perfectly normal, but that spell was part of a whole other level of magic, one that I might never be able to perform.

     The silver made turned and smiled. "I'm Lilac, and this is Ember," she said, waving at her companion. "No need to thank us, it's all part of the job."

     I was about ask about "the job", but Ember shot the pink girl a warning look and cut me off. "Apologies for my friend. She's a bit... forgetful sometimes." Lilac shrunk a little. "We were just passing through, but we couldn't just leave a frightened child. It's not honorable! I trust you understand."

     I blinked, confused. I decided to leave her odd speech alone. "Yeah, but what child? The whole transmission was just a jumble of emotions, wasn't it?" I was starting to dislike this mare.

     Ember went wide-eyed. "What in heavens do you... Oh." Her frown deepened. "I thought you were a Caster. Thank the stars! I apologize again. You just seemed so in-tune. Forgive me. Anyway, the message signature was-"

     Now I was even more confused. "What's a Caster?" I asked.

     The fiery pony looked at me in disbelief. "Why, an unnatural magic user, of course! How could you not know those vile witches?!" I jumped slightly at the change of attitude.

     "What? I'm not- I mean, I am, but..." I stammered. Ember scoffed. "You only state proof," she replied venomously.

    I bit my tongue. "Fine. Just where did the distress call go?"

     Ember sneered. "Find out on your own, witch." She turned and walked away.

     Until that moment, I'd almost forgotten Lilac. The colorful unicorn sighed. "I'm sorry about my sister. She doesn't really have a sense of empathy. But she's a good pony, once you impress her. I think." She handed my a business card that had seemingly appeared from nowhere. "The messages were sent to ponies who could help and/or translate it, although we're kind of limited within our own operatives. It was too widespread for me and Ember, since we don't have any tech with us. But it'll be fine! And I really, really am sorry about her."

     I read the card. It was written in fancy ink lettering, which said "Temporal Task Force, helping those in need since 943 G(alixian) D(ynasty)." When I looked up, both unicorns were gone.

✴

     Domino pummeled the dummy. The poor makeshift thing buckled several times, and split seams made it look like an old stuffed toy.

     Her trainer smiled weakly. While the duchess may be able to take down a pony with such mindless offense, it would be useless against another dragon. Still, she was a fine disciple, a half-breed no less.

     The royal brawler jumped from the dummy and inspected her bruised hooves and popped claws. She winced as she snapped them back into place, hiding them from her trainer. If he knew, she would never be able to continue playing Rush. He would be fired first.

     As she inspected the wounds, a message pinged through her head. It was sent directly to her receptionist, where she could review it later. If it was urgent, they could just pass it to some other response team.

     Once her hooves were ready for practice, she returned to her typical flurry against the beat-up figurine.

✴

     The Temporal Task Force was buzzing with activity. Calls from every end of the galactic sector rang on ancient telephones, and creatures of all shapes and sizes dashed through office doors with unsteady parcels and documents.

    The transmission wove through the air, startling several employees and throwing bundles of paper into the air. It finally settled on a tired, pail lady. The Gomungan had six dull eyes, which brightened at receiving an assignment.  She stretched her graceful limbs as she stood, hitting a small red button on her phone.

     "Arosa, you are needed in my office at once." She trilled, nearly forgetting a celebration. "Oh, and bring bagels!" She removed her finger.

     Moments later, her smiling office manager glided in. He lit down on the back of a recliner, a box of confections in his two paddle-shaped hands. "I figured you might like donuts instead," he explained cheerily. He admired his mentor greatly, but had decided long ago to wait. This job required utmost focus. "So what's the occasion, Mrs. Nueshkuz?"

     She smiled back. "For one thing, call me Kizuana," she replied, "and for the second, we have an assignment. You'll never guess!" She laughed, plucking a donut from the box. The office manager was glad to have achieved a first-name relationship, even though it didn't work on his end; Only the most noble Aegoshans had surnames.

     Arosa slid into a chair. "An invasion on Kasaroy?" He questioned, preening his enormous wings. Kizuana shook her head. "The Faiem star system needs refueling?" She dissapointed him again.

    He tilted his head curiously. "War on Equus?" He chirped.

    His boss pondered the correlation. "I suppose. Not quite so substantial, though."

    Arosa smiled. "Oh, just tell me then!"

    "A dreaming pony just saw the future."

    "Should I ready the Divide?"

    "Definitely."

✴

Violet struggled against her fatigue, ready to faint as she withheld the spell. She didn't have long, though; Her grip on her own dreamscape faltered, and the flame had risen around her boulder. Every few seconds another burst spat up the side, chasing her around the surface. She didn't want to find out what would happen if she let go.

She was weighing the idea for the third time when a gap opened in the ceiling. Violet looked up to see a smooth, paddle-shaped appendage. As strange as it was, it was her only way out.

She reached up, levitated her back legs, and dropped the boulder down the shaft, or whatever remained of it. The appendage sculpted itself around her hoof, and tiny pinpricks bit into the skin. The rest of her was left dangling above the flames.

She was cautiously pulled out of the gap, through an impossibly long tube of glass. The sunlight above was blinding, and there wasn't any cover nearby other than a few spindly petrified trees. The ground, as far as she could tell, was all stone and sand, scorched and bleached by the sun.

Her leg ached as her rescuer brought her out of the shaft. It was full-on, blazing pain in a few minutes by the time she reached her destination: A mass of churning iron, seemingly hollow on the inside. She winced as she was dragged back into darkness.

Violet looked up to thank whoever it was for helping her, but her words caught in her throat when she saw them.

The one who had carried her up was completely covered in feathers, but they were much softer than any bird or griffon's she'd ever met. It had eight limbs, if you included its golden wings, which were each a few times longer than his chubby, rose-colored body. The other four were strong, taloned feet on virtually nonexistent legs and the same paddles that had carried her up. Its face protruded at the top and bottom, and was fringed with blue.

The other, who had to be at least seven feet tall, slithered on a long, steady tail. It had two elegant legs hanging at its sides, each with a minotaur-like hand on the end. Its six precise eyes were welcoming, if a bit apprehensive. Despite having no wings like its companion, it had a flexible beak, which curled up slightly. It took Violet a moment to realize the creature was smiling.

She sat there for a long moment, trying to process the situation logically. The creatures gave her space, but were clearly on a schedule. Violet shook her head, annoyed at her completely rational stupor. These people, whatever they were, had saved her. She ought to thank them.

She took a deep breath and cleared her throat. "Um, thank you both," she said in a quivering voice. "But, uh, who are you?"

The winged one smiled gratefully. "Good to see you're adapting so well! Most of your kind take a little while, y'know. So used to the same thing as always. Nice life you all have got." Then it realized it was rambling.

"Gah, sorry about that! I'm Arosa Dianan. I'm usually just an office manager, but sometimes I get to go on missions like this. I'll let my boss explain; she's much better with words," he chattered.

The tall lady smiled warmly. "Thank you, Arosa. Now, filly, this is only partly a dream. It exists in the psychological plane, but is real enough to travel into and have factual influence on reality. You might not remember when you wake, but try not to forget us. We'll cross paths again, my friend." She knealt down and helped Violet to her feet. "My name is Kizuana Nueshkuz-Urash. Me and my associate work with an organization called the Temporal Task Force, and it is our job to preserve this world. It would be an honor to have you as a colleague one day, if you see it fit."

Violet had started to like these people. "Uh, okay. But can you help me wake up?"

Kizuana frowned. "Actually, you're already on your way."

The world tipped dangerously, pouring its inhabitants back into reality.

     The unicorn filly screamed, but retained the dream. She caught herself and cast a spell to insure her prolonged memory of the dreamscape. Then Violet opened her dream journal, scribbled down the events of the entire night, and let the encounter trickle away.