A lone dog howled.
The howl developed into short, staccato barks. There was a zap, and then silence.
Twilight crept through rusted metal debris. A car, a blasted apart cart, even a dull-colored plastic foal's toy.
And then she heard it.

A crunch. A white, equine skull in front of her, resting on a car, was smashed to bits, revealing a metal hoof. She looked up to find a metallic, skeletal stallion standing over her, clutching a futuristic, jet-black minigun. It was aimed between her eyes.

Crunch

The stallion was knocked aside by her savior. They began to wrestle, and then a silver mass jumped onto him. She watched with horror as the T-800 was overwhelmed. The silver T-1000 impaled the T-800 with a blade-shaped leg, and withdrew the blade with a swift motion. It turned on her and leapt.

When Twilight pulled open one of her eyes, she was panting and sweaty. Outside, birds were chirping. She was lying on a ragged blanket, with two sheets of corrugated metal propped up above her.

She stood up, stretched, and yawned.
Walking out of the small improvisational hut, she sat next to the terminator in front of a fire he was tending.
"What's for breakfast?" she asked.
The terminator didn't turn to look at her. "Would you like some pine bark? It's nutritional."
Twilight's face contorted into a comical expression of disgust. "Pine bark?"
"Pine bark," he said, completely serious.
Twilight shook her head and sat down next to him. "Anyway, what's on the agenda? I assume we're heading back to Ponyville today."
The terminator turned to look at her. "We head south for today," he said simply.
Twilight rolled her eyes and looked for a few flowers in the grass ahead of her. "Where did you get the materials for this?" she asked, gesturing towards the makeshift hut behind her.
"The Everfree. It is filled with crashed airplanes, blimps, and other vehicles."
Twilight shrugged. "I read about that. It's one of the greatest deadspots in Equestria. Anyway, first order of business. We need a name for you."
The terminator shrugged on his leather jacket. "My CPU is not capable of creativity." he said, walking past Twilight and sitting on the motorcycle.
Twilight looked on at him. "How about Iron Guardian? It definitely suits your personality."
"I am made of coltan, not iron. However, I will answer to whatever you order," the terminator replied, making a "come hither" motion with a hoof. Twilight walked over to the terminator and sat behind him on the bike. He revved the engine and sped off south.

After about an hour of driving off road, mostly near the railroad tracks, Twilight finally got a glance of Ponyville.
"Head to my castle!" she shouted to Iron Guardian over the wind.
"Negative. We shall continue on to the San Palomino Desert, where the T-1000 will not be able to find us."
Twilight shook her head. "Are you crazy? All of my friends are in Ponyville!"
"Your friends are most likely dead," the terminator reminded Twilight.
Twilight snorted. "They can take care of themselves. I order you to go to Ponyville."

The terminator shrugged and took a sharp turn to the right, earning a squeal from Twilight as he leaned at a nearly forty-five degree angle. He bumped over a set of tracks and nimbly guided his vehicle across a narrow bridge. He found them on a long street flanked by houses.
The pace of the motorcycle lessened to a slow crawl as Guardian searched for the castle.
In a few minutes, the terminator was at Town Square. Ponies began to turn and look slightly in interest.

Applejack stood behind her stall, a slightly distanced look in her eyes. When she saw Twilight, she jumped up and ran over to Twilight.
"Twi! Yer okay!" she said. "We were so worried!"
As soon as she tried to hug Twilight, Iron Guardian hit her back onto the ground with a thud.
"Guardian!" Twilight said, gasping in shock. "Why did you do that to her?"
"She was possibly attempting to hurt you," he said, sliding off his bike and looking more closely at her. "She is unarmed and safe. I apolog-"
Iron Guardian was hit by a blur and flung into the sky.
"Guardian!" Twilight called, this time panicked.

Rainbow Dash lounged on a cloud, casually watching the market. On her off hours she enjoyed a short list of things, including napping, sitting on a cloud, and watching the busy of the square's resident flea market and farmer's market. Currently, she was doing all of those things- she was half asleep as it was, that counted, the way she saw it.

And that's when the bike drove in to the square.

With a start, she noticed that Twilight was on it with another stallion. The mare had been supposed to return from her short trip to Canterlot a day ago, and everyone was worried about her, as she hadn't sent a message. And there she was, riding casually into the square.

Restraining herself from making a totally uncool entrance, Rainbow prepared to jump off the cloud and glide casually to greet Twilight when she saw the stallion on the motorcycle with Twilight punch Applejack. Twilight reeled back and Applejack hit the ground hard on her back.

In a flash, Rainbow jumped from her cloud and rushed at the stallion, picking him up and dragging him into the sky.

Iron Guardian struggled against the wind as his sensors were forced to rapidly adapt to radically different surroundings. After a struggle, he finally stabilized to his high velocity spiral.

When he had finally adjusted, he found himself hit again. Iron Guardian grabbed onto his assailant and began to hit back. He managed a slap to the pony's face and began pummeling. He struggled with his attacker, who managed to pin his left leg. His right was holding her off and preventing her from hitting him. He threw a punch into the pegasus's neck. A scarlet bruise began to form. The pegasus reeled back and let go for a second.

Iron Guardian reached behind him and grabbed his shotgun. He aimed it at the pegasus's neck, but she grabbed it in her teeth. Iron whipped around the shotgun and hit the attacker across the wing with it.

In a split second, she stopped flying, and both ponies began to plummet to the ground at an alarming rate. Iron, seeing a window of opportunity, grabbed the attacker's wing and began to twist. She cried out in pain and flared out the one good one. The mid-air fight spiraled into an apple tree.

Iron gave himself a quick injury check. Forehead gash, front left leg scrape, and various cuts. No endoskeleton was showing. Indifferent to his injuries, he went to inspect the pegasus.

Rainbow mane. Cyan fur. Powerful wings. Definitely an athlete. Iron held a leg up to her neck. She was still breathing.

Iron Guardian put a hoof on her windpipe and began to crush it. The pony gasped and reached for the hoof, trying to tear it off, to no avail. Iron heard rapid hoof beats and heart yelling, but he phased it out, paying attention to the pony. There was an 81.36 percent chance that the pony was in fact actually the T-1000, and the gasping was a charade in an attempt to get him to get him off his guard. Voices around him began to yell at him again, pleading with him to remove his hoof. The pony beneath him had already passed out. She would be dead soon.

He felt himself rapidly lifted into the air. He tried to strain downwards and kill the pony, but he could not reach. Twisting around, iron found himself looking his protectee in the eyes.

"Iron Guardian, stand down!" she cried to him. He exited his combat mode.
"I apologize. Who is this pony?" he asked.
"Rainbow Dash. She's one of my friends. Please refrain from attacking anypony without clearance from me in the future," Twilight said, cross.
"Duly noted. Please drop me," the terminator replied. Twilight unceremoniously let him go, giving him a facefull of dirt. Twilight moved over to examine Rainbow Dash.

"She's breathing, but she's bleeding a bit and it looks as if she's broken some bones. You both need to go to the hospital. You too, Applejack," Twilight said. Iron noticed Applejack limping over to them. She nodded and began the trip back.

Iron Guardian casually picked up Rainbow Dash by a leg and slung her onto his back.

"Whazzit? Hey! Let me go! Bring it on, buddy!" she said indignantly. Iron Guardian continued the walk silently. "Hey! Danger is my middle name, big guy. Come on, do you even react?"
Guardian would have probably rolled his eyes if he had been a real pony. Instead, he acted simply and factually. "No," he stated without even turning around.
He heard a loud sigh but just wasn't phased by it.

Nurse Redheart tapped her pen impatiently on her receptionist's desk. Duly Noted was out sick with feather flu- again, and yet again she was running the front desk. Nobody had come in for hours- three foals had missed their biannual check-ups and Redheart only had the crackling of the fireplace to entertain her. A glance at the clock revealed she only had five minutes until freedom, and then Doctor Hooves and Nurse Tenderheart could take over for the night shift.

In a flash, the peace was gone. Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Princess Twilight, and an unfamiliar gunmetal stallion came through the door. Applejack had sprained a hoof, Rainbow had all sorts of injuries, and the stallion was covered in cuts and bruises but refused to be treated. When asked, the stallion identified himself as "Iron Guardian" and asked for a pen. Puzzled, Redheart gave him her metal pen, only for him to heat it in the fireplace and begin to cauterize his wounds in what appeared to be a highly painful method. After a lot of screaming and chaos, the poor mare was left with a scorched pen and frazzled mane. Redheart resolved to schedule a trip to the spa as soon as possible.

An hour later, Rainbow Dash was stuck in a bed with stitches and a cast, not to leave for three days, and even then she would need multiple casts and a wheelchair. Applejack had to wear a boot for three weeks with no manual labor. And Iron Guardian...
He was back in action.

Author's Note

I'm not dead, guys. Sorry, work emergency.
I'm liking this upvote/downvote ratio!
Wish more people would give me critiques, though. Please, every critique is helpful so don't hold back.