Our walk back home was a very pleasant one underneath Luna’s majestic moon and stars. We got to my house and Aloe helped me unpack the picnic basket. I then went out to take off my shoes and as soon as I stood up from taking off the last one, I immediately felt a familiar pair of pink hooves embrace me from behind followed by an affectionate nuzzle on my cheek and a soft sigh.

“I love you Barnaby,” Aloe said happily,

“I love you too Aloe,” I replied turning around in her embrace and gently pulling her in for a kiss. Our lips met in the comfort of love and happiness and Aloe ran her hooves along my back and neck while I caressed her velvet like fur and combed my hand through her silky blue mane, earning soft moans from the pink mare. We broke apart and gazed into each other’s eyes for a moment,

“Aloe, after that massage I think I should return the favour,” I decided,

“You don’t have to do anything for me, I have you. Your love for me is the only thing I need,” Aloe replied kissing my cheek. I sighed happily from her touching words, but I still thought I had to give her something in return after the massage,

“Aloe, I really do think I should give you something in return,” Before the rose coloured mare could reply, I gently picked her up and carried her bridal style to the bedroom. Aloe gave a soft gasp and wrapped her hooves around my neck,

“What are you doing Barnaby?” she asked with a giggle. I grinned back at her and said,

“You’ll see,”

When we got to my bedroom, I rolled Aloe out of my arms so she was lying on her belly on the bed. She looked at me with a playful smile,

“Now will you tell me what you’re up to?” she quizzed with a laugh. I continued to grin at her and pulled the bottle of body oil out of my pocket,

“Just returning the favour,” I replied. Aloe was about to reply, but stopped mid-sentence when the cold oil touched her back and I started massaging her.

“Ooohhhh, mmmm, that feels wonderful,” she moaned happily. I chuckled at her reply and continued kneading the oil gently into her back and loosening up her muscles. I brought my hands down to her lower back just above her cutie marks and began soothed the oil into her hips. Next, I went a little lower and lightly massaged her flanks which earned more pleasurable moans out of my special somepony,

“Ooohhhh you are so good at this,” Aloe exclaimed happily,

“I try to do the best I can for the ones I love,” I replied smoothly. Even though Aloe’s face was partly hidden, I could tell she was blushing.

After I was done with the top half of her body, I followed the path down her hind legs and towards her hooves. I moved back up towards her waist and went back down to repeat the process a couple of times. Feeling pleased with my handiwork, I stood up and smiled down at the relaxed pony on the bed,

“How was that then”? I asked. Aloe rolled over and took my hand between her forelegs and pulled me onto the bed. I landed beside her and she got on top of me and gave the bedroom look again,

“It was heavenly,” she cooed and she kissed me on the lips which I returned warmly. We pulled away and gazed at each other lovingly. I turned to look at my alarm clock on my bedside table and saw it was nearing to 11:00. I looked back at Aloe who was giving the cutest smile I had ever seen,

“Shall we turn in for the night?” I asked at last. Aloe nuzzled my cheek in the most affectionate way,

“Okay,” she agreed, “I need my very special somepony to cuddle with tonight anyway,” she cooed softly.
We smiled at each other and then we got ready for bed. After I had changed into my bed wear and had finished washing in the bathroom, I went back to my bedroom to see Aloe lying in bed on her side. The rose coloured mare was giving me that sultry look again and she had removed her headband because her silky blue mane was spilling across her back and chest like a sparkling blue waterfall. Her azure eyes followed me as I crossed the room to the bed and layed down beside her. We smiled at each other before leaning in for a kiss,

“I love you Aloe,” I said,

“I love you too Barnaby, my special somepony,” she replied softly. We had one final kiss and Aloe cuddled up beside me before I turned out the bedside light and we both wondered of to the world of sleep.

The next morning, I woke up to the sight of Aloe snuggled up against me with her hooves draped over my chest. I smiled at her before kissing her on the cheek. Deciding to let her sleep, I climbed out of bed and got dressed quietly without waking her and went into the kitchen to prepare breakfast for the two of us. I was just whisking eggs in a bowl when I heard movement behind me and a pair of hooves wrapped around my chest which was followed by happy sigh that I had no trouble recognizing.

“Morning Aloe,” I greeted kindly,

“Morning sweetie,” she replied kissing my cheek, “Why didn’t you wake me?” she asked,

“Because you looked so peaceful lying on the bed, so I decided to prepare breakfast for us,” I explained showing Aloe the whisked eggs and turning around to look at her with a grin,

“Awww, aren’t you the sweetest one,” Aloe smiled.

“I try,” I chuckled. I pulled her in gently for quick kiss and a cuddle. At that moment, there was a loud knock on the front door,

Who could that be? I wondered, letting go of Aloe,

“Can you just excuse me a second?” I asked,

“Of course,” Aloe replied kindly. I smiled at her and went to answer the door. I opened the door to find a rather annoyed looking Rainbow Dash standing there.

“Morning Rainbow, what are you doing here?” I asked. The cyan pegasus looked up at me,

“I need your help,” she replied,

“Sure, what’s the problem?” The look on Rainbow’s face went from hopeful to disgruntled,

“There’s this new unicorn in town by the name of Trixie,” Rainbow replied. I raised my eyebrow confusingly,

“Ooookay, what about her?” I asked suspiciously.

“Oh she keeps calling herself “The Great and Powerful Trixie” and goes on about how she is the most talented unicorn in Equestria and that her magic can’t be matched by any other unicorn,” Rainbow explained. My forehead furrowed at this information,

“Well that’s just stupid, because she’s not the most talented unicorn, Twilight is. She’s a princess for crying out loud” I replied. Rainbow sighed in annoyance,

“I know, but Twilight doesn’t want to show of her magic because she thinks she’ll be showing off as well. So I thought… that maybe… you could teach Trixie a lesson with your awesome powers,” she said beginning to blush. I smiled at the rainbow-maned pegasus,

“I’ll be very happy to Dash. I hate people who think they’re better than everybody else,” Rainbow’s face cracked into a huge smile,

“Thanks Barns, let’s go show Trixie who’s boss,” she said with smirk. I nodded my head agreement and then I concentrated on my ability and then there was a bright flash and next moment I standing before Rainbow in my blue and silver Guardian Armor,

“Let’s do this,” I said. I then activated my gliding ability and flew towards Ponyville Town Square with Rainbow flying alongside me. When we got to the town square, there was a crowd of ponies gathered round a blue unicorn mare with a brighter blue mane and tail. Rainbow and I circled around the performance and landed quietly on the roof of a house behind the stage. From there, we could hear what Trixie was saying to the on viewers,

“The Great and Powerful Trixie is the most talented unicorn in Equestria. Trixie has magic that no one can possibly match, but let’s put that theory to the test shall we?” she boasted to the crowd, “So, is there anything you ponies can do that The Great and Powerful Trixie can’t do?” she sneered.

“Yes, when was the last time you saved an entire planet from a full scale invasion?” I called out. The crowd gasped at my sudden appearance and even Trixie was surprised when she saw me in my Guardian Armor, but she kept her cool though,

“The Great and Powerful Trixie demands to know who you are!” she shouted back. I activated my glide and flew down and landed at the end of the stage.

“My name is Barnaby Abbott and I’m a Guardian,” I announced,

“Trixie doesn’t have time to talk with the likes of you,” she replied with a glare. I only smiled behind my silver visor,

“Okay then, we’ll have a duel,” I declared coolly. Trixie raised an eyebrow in confusion,

“What kind of duel?” she asked.

“Simple,” I answered, “We match my Stormcaller powers against the magic of The Great and Powerful Trixie,” I explained. Trixie thought for a moment before looking back at me with a menacing smirk,

“Alright, let’s do it,” she agreed. The crowd of ponies gasped at what was about to take place. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see that we had the attention of the entire town, including Twilight and her friends, but more importantly; Aloe. She was looking right at me with worry in her eyes. I looked back at Trixie to see her charging magic into her horn,

Time to call in the storm,

I threw my hands into air and focused my mind. I could feel Arc light flowing through me and there was black cloud forming around me. Suddenly, a bolt of lightning came charging down into my veins and enveloped my body in its power. When the dark cloud cleared, I was hovering a few inches of the ground with my armor alive with electricity and miniature lightning bolts coming out of my fingertips. The crowd and Trixie were standing with hanging jaws at the sight of me. It then occurred to me that this was going to be the very first time that Ponyville was going to witness the powers of a Guardian. A determined smile appeared behind my helmet and I looked back at Trixie who was still staring dumbstruck at me.

“Ready when you are Trixie,” I chortled. Trixie gave her head a little shake. She lowered her fully charged horn and shot a beam of magic straight at me. I was quick to react; I pulled out my Guardian sword and blocked the beam with an Arc shield. The beam evaporated into the shield and vanished. Full of determination, I charged some power into the sword and launched a swirling vortex of lightning at Trixie which sent her into a world of electric shocks. When it ended, the blue mare was lying slumped on the ground with her main and tail standing on end and black scorch marks on her body. I gazed down at her with triumph,

“Trixie gives up,” she mumbled. I powered down my armor and removed my helmet to meet her eyes,

“Do you really?” I asked. Trixie slowly stood up,

“Yes,” she replied. But then a sneer appeared on her muzzle, “You may have won this duel, but you’ll never have the show-stopping powers of The Great and Powerful Trixie!” she shouted. Then she turned tail and ran off out of Ponyville. I shook my head as I watched her,

I think I just did, I looked back at the crowd of ponies who were staring wide-eyed at me,

“Um… Is everyone okay?” I asked hesitantly. The looks they were giving me were as though they had just seen a ghost. Eventually, the silence was broken by a light blue pegasus called Flitter,

“What is that thing?” she merely asked, pointing a hoof at sword in my hand. I looked down at the crackling blade I had in my grasp and then looked back at the crowd.

“This is my Guardian Sword,” I explained, “The blade is made out of the strongest metal ever known and was named as the Arc Blade back on my planet. But I call it the Bolt Caster. Why? Because what I created back there was an Arc Swirl that has such a high voltage of electricity, you will evaporate and die in Arc Light. So in other words; this is one of the most dangerous weapons ever made,” I explained. The ponies gazed fearfully at the sword. I chuckled quietly,

“No need to look so worried, I don’t plan on using it on any of you,” I assured with a smile. At that point, it was Twilight’s turn to speak.

“Did you really save an entire planet from being invaded?” she asked slowly. I nodded my head solemnly,

“From whom?” the alicorn asked. I put my sword on my back, sat down on the stage and gave a deep sigh. I looked at the crowd who were staring at me with deep interest,

“Maybe it’s time I told you all about my past,” I said softly. The ponies moved closer and sat down on their haunches. I took a deep breath to prepare myself and then I began my story.

Beginning of Flashback

A couple of years ago, the Solar System which is where my planet is, came under the threat of war from four armies; The Fallen, The Hive, The Vex and The Cabal. The Guardians were already loosing before the war had even began. Three of the nine planets had fallen under enemy control; Earth had been taken by The Fallen, Venus had been turned into a giant machine by The Vex and The Cabal had attacked the buried city on Mars.
My father was the founder of The Guardian Tower on Earth and he knew it was only matter of time before The Four Armies attacked The Last Earth City which was where the tower was located. In the Guardian Legacy, there are three types of Guardians; The Warlocks, The Hunters and The Titans. My father sent The Titans to engage The Fallen on Earth, The Hunters to rip the power source out of The Vex on Venus and The Warlocks to blow off the heads of The Cabal on Mars.

Meanwhile, the fourth army, The Hive had sucked out all the light from Earth’s moon and their leader Crota, The Son of Oryx the Taken King was behind it all. My father sent one Warlock, one Hunter and one Titan to end the life of Crota and take back the moon and that one Warlock was me. Together we called ourselves; The Stormcaller, The Nightstalker and The Sunbreaker. With our powers combined, we were able to end the life of Crota and the rest of the Hive and regain control of the moon. At the same time, the three hostile planets were back in our hands and The Solar System lived to fight another day.

However, The Taken King wasn’t going down without fight. Secretly, Oryx had been retrieving the corpses of The Four Armies and was creating something that we weren’t prepared for; A fifth army called The Taken. A year or so later, The Taken sent a huge fleet of ships that was led by a superweapon called The Dreadnaught from The Rings of Saturn to Earth and launched a full scale invasion on The Guardian Tower and The Last Earth City. The Guardian Legacy fought bravely to defend our home, but the battle was lost when Oryx arrived and something very tragic happened to someone I knew.

During the battle, I was fighting alongside my fellow Titan, The Sunbreaker. We were using our powers, our Guardian Swords and guns to bring down The Taken hordes. Everywhere I looked, Guardians were being defeated one after the other. Even the toughest Titan, Lord Shaxx had lost his life and the slayer was Oryx himself. I confronted that monster and I launched my most powerful attack; The Stormtrance. Endless lightning strikes fired out of my fingertips and sent huge waves of electric shocks through The Taken King. To finish him off, I pulled out my Bolt Caster and sliced off his head, to which he burnt into ashes.

Even though Oryx was defeated, the battle didn’t stop. Taken minions were still coming and a group of them were heading for the briefing room where my father was. I managed to intercept the group of minions before they got there and I went to the briefing room to see if my father was alright. I arrived at the briefing room in time to see that we had been betrayed by one of our own. My father had been murdered by a sword to his chest, but it wasn’t one of a Guardian. It was the Blade of Darkness and it had been wielded by The Nightstalker; the hunter that had fought alongside us on our mission on the moon. His once brightly coloured armor was now a ghostly shadow and his face was a black mask with three glowing eyes.

“TRAITOR!” I yelled at him. He looked at me and I swore an evil look appeared in his creepy eyes,

“You haven’t won anything here!” he snarled, “Soon all the Guardians will be destroyed and The Taken King will rise again and darkness will spread across the galaxy!” I drew out my sword to fight him, but he vanished in a Shadow Orb, but not before shouting,

“I will find you and I will kill you!” and he was gone. I looked over at my father and I noticed he was still breathing and I ran to his side.

He looked up at me and gave me one final mission;

“Protect the galaxy from The Taken King, go to this planet and keep it safe from his prying eyes.” He said giving me a chip with coordinates inside it,

“They will not find you there,” I nodded my head and said,

“I will do it. For you and The Guardian Legacy,” And that was our last words before he died. I ran back outside to find the battle-scared Guardian Tower. Everywhere I looked were the fallen forms of Guardians and Taken minions. I realized I was the very last Guardian and one thought crept into my mind; Earth had fallen. The battle was either won or lost that day.
End of Flashback

“So there we are,” I finished sadly, “That’s how I ended up on this planet with this mission,” I looked around at the ponies and noticed a few teary eyes from the mares and fillies. I couldn’t help letting a tear roll down my cheek at the sight of it. I felt comforting hoof on my shoulder and I looked up into the kind azure eyes of Aloe who was giving me a warm, gentle smile. The rose coloured mare wrapped her hooves around me and brought me into a loving embrace. We pulled back and looked at each other in the eyes before sharing a quick kiss.

“Um…Barnaby?” came a voice from the crowd. I looked to see Twilight with a concerned look in her eyes,

“Yeah?”

“You know when The Nightstalker betrayed you and killed your father?” she asked. I nodded my head in my response,

“Where is he to this day?”

“To be honest, I really don’t know,” I replied slowly, “He could be anywhere in the galaxy. All I do know is that he is out there somewhere looking for me. The Takken King has been defeated but not destroyed. When The Nightstalker finds me, he’ll do whatever it takes to kill me and when he does, Oryx will come back and he’ll shroud the galaxy in darkness,” I explained as calmly and clearly as I could. The ponies gasped in worry as a result.

“Shall I send a letter to inform Princess Celestia about this?” Twilight asked,

“No,” I replied shaking my head, “I don’t want any of you to worry about any of this. The Nightstalker isn’t after you or the planet, he’s after me,” I hissed. Twilight put a hoof to her chin to think of something,

“Is there any way I can help you defeat him?” the alicorn pressed.

“I’m afraid not, only the blade of a Guardian Sword can defeat him,” Twilight understood and nodded her head. Then came a new voice from the crowd which turned out to be another pegasus mare with lavender blue fur and blonde mane and tail called Cloud Kicker.

“I can’t believe one of your own kind turned against you,” she stated with a frown,

“I know,” I replied, “I knew The Nightstalker very well. He was a good friend, a brave and loyal partner and an excellent hunter,” I explained. And then a scowl appeared on my face,

“Now he’s gone from to that to a deadly, cold blooded assassin and he’ll stop at nothing until he does what he needs to do,” I continued with slight anger in my voice. The ponies looked at each other, wondering what was going to become of them when Rarity spoke up,

“I think it’s time we left you alone now,” she said looking at me with a kind smile. The other ponies agreed and they left to go about their daily business. I watched the crowd leave and then I got slowly to my feet.

“Are you okay sweetheart?” Aloe asked. I smiled down at her,

“Yeah I’m fine, I just feel like being alone for a little while,” I explained. Aloe understood and she leaned up to kiss me on the lips,

“Okay. I have to return to the spa, but do come in and I’ll give you a relaxing massage,” she said kindly. I smiled at her.

“Thanks Aloe, I’ll keep that in mind,” I replied. We kissed and held each other before going our separate ways. I removed my Guardian Armor and went back to my house to pick up my guitar because playing a song helps me relax. With my guitar in hand, I headed for the park. When I arrived, I sat down on a bench and stared across the lush green field that was blooming with buttercups, daisies and dandelions. A short distance away, there were three fillies playing with a ball that they were passing with their muzzles and hooves. I smiled at the sight and the perfect song that I had picked up from one of my favourite bands came into my head.

After a few moments of playing, I put my guitar down and sighed happily.

“That was beautiful,” said a voice. I looked down to see the three fillies smiling at me,

“I’m glad you three enjoyed it,” I chuckled, “I didn’t think I’d catch your attention. From where I was sitting, you looked like you were having a lot of fun over there,” I continued. We all shared a laugh with one another. After we had calmed down, I got introduced to the three fillies; the cherry red unicorn was Berry Punch’s little sister, Ruby Pinch. The creamy yellow pegasus with the aqua blue mane was Alula and the sun coloured earth filly was Sunny Daze.

“Would you like to play hoofball with us?” Ruby asked. I thought about anything else I could do for a moment,

“Why not?,” I replied with a grin, “I could use some more entertainment,” The fillies smiled wildly and soon we were all running around knocking the ball to each other. After an hour of playing, I had the ball and was keeping it skyward with my feet,

“Get him!” a voice shouted. I turned around to see the three foals charging at me,

“Oh no, no, no, no, wait, wait, wait, wait…” Too late. I got playfully tackled to the ground and was lying on my back with the three fillies on top of me giggling. After they had calmed down, I looked up at them with a happy smile,

“That was fun,” I said at last, “We should do this again sometime,” The fillies wore the biggest grins I had ever seen,

“You’re good player Barnaby,” Alula replied, and the other two nodded in agreement.
We continued to lie in grass until we waved our goodbyes and went our separate ways. I glanced up at the sky to see that the sun was slowly making its decent towards the horizon. I decided to go to the spa and have a massage from my special somepony. I arrived at the Ponyville Day Spa and went inside to see that neither Lotus, nor Aloe were at the reception desk.

That’s odd, where have they both gone? Guessing they were both busy with a customer, I turned my attention to a stack of magazines in the corner of the room. I crossed over and was just reading the title of the first one when I heard movement from somewhere and a pair of hooves embraced me from behind and something warm and loving nuzzled my cheek,

“You came,” said a soft voice.

“Of course I did,” I replied, “How could I say no to an offer like this?” I asked, turning around and to see Aloe smiling at me,

“Because you’re my special somepony and I love you,” she answered, kissing my cheek passionately,

“I love you too Aloe,” I replied, kissing her on lips. We shared another loving embrace and another kiss on the lips before Aloe released me and beckoned me to follow her,

“Come, your massage is waiting for you,” she said. I followed her down the hallway to a private massage room and she opened the door and I looked in to see Lotus standing by the massage table,

“Hello Lotus,” I greeted the beautiful cerulean pony, “What are you doing in here?” I asked amusingly.

Lotus giggled quietly, “I’m here to help my sister,” she replied.

“Help?” I asked, “Help with what?” Aloe smiled at me with her azure eyes,

“We’re both going to give you a massage,” she explained softly.

Later that evening, I left the spa with Aloe by my side. Having massage from both her and Lotus was something I could’ve never asked for. A perfect ending to a perfect day.

Author's Note

There we are then viewers. Quite a tragic history for our Guardian. I'm sure Fluttershy will agree But he did show Trixie that fame and popularity isn't everything.
Song for this chapter: Every Rose has its Thorn by Poison