The Protector: Reignitedby FreakxanderChaptersPrologueChapter 1- The Tick Of A ClockChapter 2- Family ThreatPrologue"Don't test me." "I'm not testing you dipshit, I'm here for my fucking son." "And I'm here because you flushed our careers down the toilet!" "Then kill me, not my son." "Me killing your precious boy will bring more pain to you than anything else, I know you too well Aiden." "Then you should know that killing my kid is also gonna kill your whole entire family, I'll kill you, your mom, your dad, your siblings, your wife, and especially your kids as well." "W-well, I'm gonna kill you too! I already thought ahead asshole." "You're gonna kill me?" "Yup." "You think you can kill The Protector?" "He died years ago, you dug a grave that should've never been dug." "I didn't kill him, he just went into retirement like me. I did dig a grave though, yours." "Dad! Can I borrow the boat over the break?" A teenage colt asked his human father. Aiden looked at him with a puzzled look "Why?" He asked his son with confusion. "W-well... My marefriend is coming back into town from college and I just thou-" His son was cut off by his fathers answer. "Be back by Monday morning and don't mess up anything, got it Tristan?" Aiden told his nineteen year old son. Tristan wore a adorable smile "Thanks dad, your the best!" He said before hugging his father tightly. Aiden patted his son on the back before letting him go "Try not to get into any trouble, if you happen to then you know who to call." He said as he watched his son bolt up the stairs to pack his bags. "Dad, Victoria and Tristan are doing things this winter break but I'm not, all of my friends are going out of town to see family." Aiden turned around to see his only human child standing behind him, he looked much like his father just younger and not as strong. He smiled at his son before patting him on his shoulder "How about me, you and mom take a little trip to Canterlot? We can go and visit all of the historic monuments, we can even visit the royal museums. I know you love historic stuff more than anything." He offered his seventeen year old son. Alex smiled "Really? You and mom don't have any work?" He asked his father. Aiden chuckled "Nope, we get breaks just like you kids. After your mom gets home from the library we can talk more about it, I'm sure she would love to go." He told his son before being surprised with a hug. Alex hugged his dad tight "Thanks dad, I can always count on you to make life better." the boy was the only other human on the planet, that didn't change how ponies treated him though, everypony expects him to be the next protector. Aiden smiled at his son that was about the same size as him now "I try my best to make you guys happy, that's what a dad is for. Besides, I couldn't ask for a better family, you guys all excel in school, especially you. You're only seventeen and you've skipped two grades and went to college early, so why not treat you to a good time?" He said before letting go of Alex. The clacking of hooves could be heard coming down from the steps, what came down was Aiden's first child, his daughter Victoria, she was twenty and was going on her third year of college. Victoria had a few bags in her magical grip, she was a unicorn that shared the same color as her mother, only difference was her hair which was black "Alright dad, I'm about to leave!" She said enthusiastically. Aiden sighed "You better be careful, you know how I feel about big cities. Also, try not to drain the card I gave you, I put a lot of money on it so you can stay in a nice room but don't be ridiculous with it." He said with a parenting tone. Victoria smiled "You don't have to hide the numbers from me dad, mom already told me you put six thousand on my card. I'm so happy I was born with a dad that plays things safe!" She said before hugging him and giving him a kiss on the cheek "bye daddy" she said before heading for the door. Aiden smiled "bye sweetie, have fun!" He said to her as she walked out of the door. Alex chuckled "Can I say I'm not the spoiled one now?" He said with pride. Aiden looked at him and smiled "Well, your mom lied. I actually put ten, I just want you guys to enjoy your young days. By time I was your age I had enlisted into the military, by time I was Tristan's age I was in the military, and by Victoria's age I was in a special forces branch of the military. Just have fun while you can, before to long you'll look back and regret passing up opportunities." He lectured his son "Oh, I put that much on all of y'alls cards." Alex looked at him puzzled "Why did you put that much on mine? It's not like I need it." He said with a tone that reminded Aiden of when he was a child. Aiden shrugged "I can afford it. It's better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it." He said before he looked at the stairs as another set of hooves climbed down the stairs. Tristan descended from the stairs with his bags in his mouth, he was not a unicorn, he was just an earth pony, his coat was tan and his hair was blond, he looked like a pony version of Aiden "I'm all set to leave! My marefriend is gonna be so impressed. Thanks again dad, it means a lot." He said before setting his bags down and giving his old man a hug. Aiden hugged him "Just don't get into trouble, I know you have a hard time avoiding it since you always do something that makes those guards jealous, but I guess that's one good thing about having me as a dad." He said before letting him go. Tristan laughed "Yeah, that's one of the many things. Do you mind putting money on my ca-" "It's already taken care of, just go and have fun and I'll worry about everything else." Aiden cut his son off for a good reason. Tristan smiled "Yeah, we'll probably take the boat out to where we won't be bothered, but we can come back to land for food, we'll probably be somewhere near the Canterlot docks." He informed his dad. Aiden reached into his pocket before pulling out a card "Here, this is a pass to dock the boat there." He told his son. Tristan smiled before taking the pass "Sweet, I gotta get going. I'll see you in a week!" He said before rushing out of the door with his bags. Aiden sighed "Man, it's so weird to think how easy y'all have it." He said before sitting beside his human child on the sofa. Alex looked at him "What do you mean?" "You guys have education beyond the standard thanks to your mom, I give you guys way more money than the average parent should, and we put y'all in a three story manor on private property that's away from the town. When I was a kid I didn't even have a mom or dad for half of my childhood. My mom didn't give me education, for the most part I was self taught asides from school. My dad wasn't rich, I mean he bought me what I needed and some, but I never just got a free vacation and ten grand from him. Let's see... I lived in a one story house in a crowded neighborhood, I had to pay my own insurance and things like that, I had a part-time job throughout high school, I didn't really have friends because I was to mature for my age. You already know that I was in the military up until I came here. It's weird to think your sister is only four years away from being the same age I was when we had her, to be honest we were kind of young, your mom got pregnant when she was twenty two, I was twenty three but I turned twenty four when Victoria was actually born. It's also ironic that your mom wanted you guys to have simple names, she didn't want them to be too complex." Aiden ranted. "He's telling the truth, you guys do have it easy! But that's what we wanted, we didn't want to ever stress you guys out." Twilight surprised the two. Aiden looked behind him "Hey sweetie." He said before receiving a greeting kiss. Alex smiled "Hey mom, so I heard you and dad planned for us to go to Canterlot?" He asked his mother. Twilight smiled "We thought you were gonna have plans but if you don't then yeah we did. If you did have plans then it was gonna be just me and your father." She told Alex. Alex smiled "Awesome! I'm gonna go pack." He said before hurrying up the stairs. Twilight plopped down onto the couch "I'm so happy we get a break! It's been so long since we could be together." She said before holding Aiden's hand. Aiden smiled at her "It's so odd how our careers turned out, I run Protection Inc. and you run the Golden Oaks Library, ponies thought we were gonna continue being bad asses that fought evil. Nope, we became parents and made our kids the number one priority." He said as he caressed her hoof. Twilight gave him a peck on the lips "I'd do it all again in a heart beat, I've never regretted any second I've been married to you." She said with a loving smile. "Me neither, if there's one good choice that I've made then it was proposing to you. I am jealous though, you haven't aged at all, unlike me I've got wrinkles on my face." He said while rubbing his hand on his face. Twilight laughed "You're still good looking, you're in good shape still and besides, I'm a fan of the mature look, I think it's sexy." She before resting her head on his shoulder. "I love you Twi." "Wow, look at that! They put some pictures of you in here!" Alex pointed out a photo of Aiden right after he had defeated Discord "Woah, you were ripped dad!" He pointed out in the picture how all of his veins were popping and his muscles had expanded from the blood being pumped into them. Aiden smiled "I remember that day like it was yesterday, me and your mom were still dating actually." Alex realized "Wait, this whole entire display is a timeline of your career! The next pic is you holding some award... It says you got the award for best hero. Woah, this is when you and mom got married, then this is when Victoria was born... Holy crap I'm on here! That's so cool." He freaked out over the whole display. Twilight giggled "If he weren't your son then I'd say you have a fan." He said while she rested her head on Aiden's side. Alex put some headphones on from the display "Woah, it even has your farewell interview!" He listened to the interview. Twilight perked up when she noticed something on the display "Return? Why do they have a empty slot titled 'return'." She walked over to it and inspected it "I guess they're expecting something to happen." A group of colts mocked Alex behind him. Aiden snapped his view towards them and stared at them "Wanna get your ass whopped by an old guy?" They were taken aback and instantly laid their ears flat "S-sorry! W-we didn't realize who you were." They said before running off. Alex was puzzled "Wow, ponies don't mess with you, do they?" He asked his father. Aiden shook his head "Your mom says I look intimidating, I guess that has something to do with it." Twilight smiled "Your wrinkles don't help." She said with a joking smile. Alex observed the pictures even closer "Wait, did you guys not have phones back then, did you guys even have bit cards?" He asked his parents. Twilight shook her head "Nope, it's amazing how technology advances. The most we had were some computers and maybe a gamecolt." She informed him. Alex pulled out his phone "Wow, I'm happy I was born in this time period!" He said as he looked at the piece of technology. Aiden chuckled "Alright, how about we come back later after we get some food, my appetite is killing me!" "Now this is what I miss the most about Canterlot!" Twilight said before taking a bite into her sandwich. Aiden smiled "I can remember back when me and your mother first had y'all, we lived in Canterlot for about a year while our house was getting built. The library didn't have enough room for three kids so we let your uncle Spike live by himself after we moved here. We stayed in a pretty big apartment but oh my goodness the neighbors were horrible, they wouldn't ever shut up." He reminisced while enjoying his food. Twilight giggled "It was actually in that fancy complex over by the castle, your dad said no to moving somewhere downtown, he said only the best apartment was good enough for his babies and his wife." Alex nodded "So you guys actually made sure to give us a stress free life?" Twilight nodded "When I was a filly I grew up here so I knew a few of the struggles, there were so many ponies that were stuck up and didn't care about others, I almost grew up to be one. I got sent off to Ponyville by Celestia for research and after about a year or so of living there I came across your father, me and your aunts actually searched for him, his identity was hidden before we found him, nopony didn't even know his name, they just called him The Protector. Your father was really the first pony that actually risked his life just so a pony wouldn't get hurt, me and the girls prevented evil but that was because it was essentially our job, but your father didn't have to do any of the things he did, he did it out of the kindness in his heart." She told her son. Alex smiled "Wow, so dad just started helping ponies. I always thought it was his job, it makes it more special to know that you just did it to be the good guy." Aiden zoned out the conversation, he carefully watched as a archaic wolf walked by. Archaic wolves were bipedal creatures, they were typically evil but the ones overseas were civilized, this one was dressed like a civilian so perhaps they had been visiting. "Aiden?" Aiden looked at Twilight "Hmm?" "Are you okay? We were asking you a question." Twilight informed him. Aiden rubbed his neck "Sorry, I let my mind slip. What was the question?" He asked her to repeat it. "What did you and uncle Shining typically do while you two were partners?" She asked him Aiden sighed "We basically were a new team that essentially stopped terrorism, our main targets were archaic wolves, they're weird, the evil ones would do anything to hurt ponies." He informed them. Alex nodded "Why did you guys stop?" He asked. Aiden smiled "Well me and Shining had kids and the archaic wolves became rare in crime so we stopped, there was third wheel to the team that didn't like it, his name was Gleaming Shield, I'm pretty sure he hates us now but whatever, we have families and that's what mattered to us so we ended it. We did it so we could spend more time with our families." Twilight smiled "I think it was good call considering you wouldn't get home until one in the morning sometimes." Alex smiled "What would you do when you caught them?" He asked another question. Twilight gave Aiden a look that essentially told him to lie. "Well, they'd simply go to jail, nothing more, nothing less." Aiden answered his questions. Alex smiled "Wow, that's awesome. Busting criminals and stopping crimes. When do you think you'll start doing more stuff like protecting?" Just then a loud explosion erupted from the side of a neighboring restaurant, it was a busy one so ponies flew outside of the building windows when it occurred. Aiden stood up and looked in shock, he quickly started seeing ponies limbs in the streets, he quickly shielded Alex's eyes "Don't look, don't look, don't look. Twi, get him out of here!" He told her before letting her cover his eyes. Twilight kept her sons eyes closed "Be safe Aiden!" She said before taking Alex away from the scene. Aiden went to the building and saw every single pony in the building was on the floor not moving, he even saw the scattered organs of ponies ranging from a kid to an adult, that was until his eyes laid upon a figure coming out from the back room, it was the archaic wolf. "Oh, it's you. Is this enough to spark the fire Protector?" The wolf said before smiling at him "Mmmm, this looks delicious." He said before picking up a arm and biting a chunk of flesh out of it "Wow, ponies taste good." Aiden was still in shock and stared at the wolf in horror, that was until he was awoken. Aiden sat up quickly, he was drenched in sweat and was breathing rapidly. Twilight stared at him, obviously worried "Are you okay?" She asked him with concern. Aiden looked at her before hugging her tightly "I love you" he said with a shaky voice. Twilight held him "I love you too. It's okay Aiden, it's okay. Whatever is wrong we can leave it be and just enjoy our vacation." She kissed his neck and held onto him. Aiden swallowed "Are we going to the museum tomorrow?" He asked her. "Yes, we're going to show Alex your history, remember?" She reminded him. Aides nodded "Okay, that's fine. Let's just have a good time and try to avoid anything negative." As he said that he held her tighter "I promise I won't ever let anything bad happen to you guys, never." Author's Note Wooohooo! Happy New Years! This is a late Christmas present/on time New Years present. Chapter 1- The Tick Of A ClockTICK 'What did that dream mean?' TICK 'Was that a dream or a vision? No, it couldn't be a vision. Our vacation already ended, that's thanks to me since I ended it early, I just said I didn't feel well but it was really because of the dream.' TICK 'It couldn't be a dream either, I haven't seen anything like that since I was young. Perhaps symbolism?' TICK 'What's worse is that it's been repeating itself, every night I have it now, every time I wake up I feel even more pissed, it's like I'm some shell filled with skills and capabilities, I just won't use them because... I have too much to lose.' TICK Aiden looked at the clock while he had a break through 'I'm not The Protector because I'm chicken shit, when I was younger what did I really have to lose? I have a whole entire family that depends on me to be there for them... Parents always look back and ask what's so different about them that changes who they are, in reality it's because we're scared. That means in order to bring the fire back you would have to fuck with the thing I live for, messing with my family equals The Protectors return... Is that what ponies are waiting for?' TICK A big stack of papers were plopped down onto Aidens desk, this caused him to jolt out of his thoughts, he looked up to see his long time partner, White Light. "You wouldn't believe how amature the new guys are, they can't even surpass ten push ups. This new generation has seriously got me thinking about what's gonna happen after we're gone?" White Light took a seat on the other side of the desk. Aiden rubbed his face to bring himself one hundred percent back to reality "Yeah, I wonder sometimes...." He paused before speaking again "Can I ask you a random question?" White Light smiled "Well, ya kind of already did but yeah, shoot." He said before leaning back into the chair some more. Aiden sighed "I know ponies don't directly ask this each other but are you guys expecting something big to happen?" He asked with slight hesitation. White Light stared at his best friend and boss with slight confusion "That is random." He said before inhaling and exhaling a deep breath "Could you be a little more descriptive, like something big as in good or not so good?" "Something bad, something that you guys think would bring me out of retirement." Aiden went a little more in detail. "You want me to be honest?" White Light received a small nod from Aiden "Yeah, yeah we do. I mean let's be serious, you have a family and families are great and all, that's why I have one myself, but they're weaknesses. Enemies typically go after their main targets families instead of the actual pony because they know it hurts them more, they do this to bring their prey to them instead of them having to waste energy finding the prey." He explained. Aiden bit his cheek while nodding "I see... I agree with you. The real question is am I anyponys enemy?" White Light shrugged "I dunno, it all depends on if you've pissed off anypony that has skills to challenge your own." Aiden tapped the table with his fingers "Huh, in recent memory no. I mean when I was young I was talented at pissing ponies off, now... nopony doesn't really have anything against me, I've got a pretty clean record." "Don't worry about it then, the only time to worry is when something actually does happen, that's when you need to go ahead and sharpen your tools once more Aiden." White Light said before standing up and heading for the door, he stopped before leaving "Also, not to be mean or anything, I definitely think you should consider doing your old training again, it wouldn't hurt and it would definitely appeal to your older self." He said before exiting the room. Aiden exhaled before looking at the clock 'My older self huh? I can't disagree to that, I could definitely use that exercise." Aiden stopped running and leaned onto a tree in the ourskirts of the Everfree Forest, he took in deep breaths to regain his stamina "Holy shit" he looked down at his watch and saw he's only ran three miles so far "How did I do fourteen miles every morning? No wonder why I was ripped, I ran fourteen miles and wasn't even tired, after running I'd even do the push ups and pull ups." He looked up the tree he was currently leaning "The pull ups..." He shook his head after remembering how he used to do things, he took off once more with a small bit of dedication he had left over from the past. After his little exercise Aiden went home to cool off, he was welcomed by the sight of his daughter taking her daily yoga class, Aiden had hired a personal yoga instructor for her. Aiden was currently drenched in his own sweat and he knew he needed a shower. After taking a shower he descended the stairs and saw his daughter doing what he assumed was the downward dog but he was upset to see the instructor leading her back into his pelvis, it looked way to perverted to be just yoga. Aiden was going to leave it be but he remembered what White Light had said, appeal to the older Aiden. "Stop." Aiden all of the sudden blurted out to the two, his daughters smile suddenly dropped and the male instructor all of the sudden had a guilty look on his face "Just fucking stop, I know you're twenty and you're looking into having a good time but do that shit outside of my house and if you don't like that rule then move out." He told his daughter. Victoria looked at him with a surprised look "I-I-I" she wasn't sure what to say since he never talked like in front of her "I mean I'm not a virgin and I've done this stuff before but I didn't know you had a problem with it." Aiden's eye twitched "I didn't want to know that. I honestly couldn't care any less about what you do in your free time but do not disturb my day, do not disturb my house, go disturb his." He said before pointing at the instructor. Victoria stood up, slightly nervous "U-umm... Okay." She said before getting her instructor and leaving the home. Aiden sat down after she left and held his head in his hand "Now I just feel like a dick." He said before sighing "What the hell did the old Aiden do? I mean I spoke my mind when I was younger but I wasn't really an asshole about it. I could've just said stop and left it at that but that sight just pissed me off and... I don't know, lost it? Is that what a normal pony would call it?" Ten at night The front door opened to the silent home, Victoria entered the house quietly and planned to go upstairs until a all to familiar voice caught her attention. "Victoria? Come sit with me." Aiden instructed her. She cursed silently under her breath before sitting beside him, she was caught off guard by her father hugging her close to his chest. "I'm sorry for being so rude to you earlier, it's just that at the end of the day you're still my baby girl, I care about you and I just don't want to see you do dirty things. I know I've let thing slide in the past but recently I've had I guess what you would call a wake up call, I'm trying to be who I once was before, I'm trying to come out of retirement." He explained to her. Victoria nodded "It's okay dad, I figured you were stressed out or something. At the end of the day I can't be mad at you since you've given me a perfect life, most ponies my age have been kicked out by their parents but you still willingly house me, you even give me everything I ask for still. It's okay dad." She said before nuzzling into his chest "I'll always be a daddy's girl." She enjoyed her fathers warmth. Aiden smiled "Go ahead and get some sleep, it's pretty late and way past my bed time." He said before letting her go. Victoria kissed him on the cheek "Goodnight dad, love you!" She said before going up the stairs. Aiden sighed "Okay, now that's out of the way it's time to get down to business, what no pony knows is that The Protector is already back out of retirement." He said before slipping on his jacket and exiting out of the house. Aiden sat on the bench that was still in the middle of Ponyville, it was the same bench he officially met Twilight at, he remembered he sat there because he had a good view of a lot of buildings. It was almost pitch black outside, the only lights were a few street lamps that were scattered across Ponyville, but Aidens clothing was so dark he looked almost invisible. The local bar was busy tonight and Aiden knew it, he was just waiting for something to happen, his predictions were still good but that skill has to be used when you own a business. As Aiden was getting comfy he saw a somewhat skinny stallion get thrown out of the bar doors, a large stallion soon stepped out and picked up the skinny one, he started going to town on the rather young looking stallion "Well, I guess that's my call to action." Aiden stood up and calmly walked up to the two and stood in front of them, he made sure to have a mask on that covered up to his nose "Hey," he got the big stallions attention "stop." He said with a rather calm tone, you would almost think he wasn't serious. The rather buff stallion chuckled before going back to town, a few other stallions walked out and watched, they cheered the stallion on. "If you don't stop then I'm gonna have to beat your ass in front of all your buddies." Aiden warned the stallion. The stallion stopped and let go of the smaller stallion "Who the fuck do you think you're talking to? I'll put you in the ground you mask wearing pussy." He tried to scare the human. Aiden chuckled "I'd like to prove you wrong, throw a swing and I'll show you what I'm made of." He said with confidence. The big stallion huffed before he threw a punch towards Aiden, he dodged it and took ahold of his arm. Aiden quickly threw the stallion off balance when he swept his hooves out from beneath him, the stallion regained balance quickly and managed to land a hit into Aidens gut. The wind was knocked out of him for a second before a familiar rage began to rise "Oh, now I'm not gonna be nice anymore." He felt a few old feelings come back to him before catching a punch, he quickly threw the stallion over his shoulder and onto the ground, this caused the small group of stallions emit a sound of awe. Aiden quickly pinned the stallion to the ground by resting his knee onto his chest, Aiden began pounding punches into his face, he got a few response hits into his torso but Aiden eventually caught the stallions arm, out of pure instinct Aiden wrapped his leg around the arm for leverage, the stallion tried to fight against him but couldn't get his arm free, Aiden now felt no mercy and used momentum to break the stallions arm over his leg, this caused the stallion to start yelling in pain. Aiden still had no mercy for the stallion and started to pound punches into his face once more, each punch packed more power after every swing, the stallion was soon out cold and Aiden finally stopped when he noticed his own knuckles began to ache. Aiden huffed when he stood up and looked at the small crowd "Who's next?" He asked the group. All of the stallions shook their heads after taking a second look at their buddy. Aiden smiled under his mask before having a question be blurted out towards him. "Who are you?" Aiden chuckled "Call me The Protector." He said before walking away from the crowd. 'The fire, I felt it. Everything about that whole situation felt... Right. Yeah, The Protectors back!' He thought this before walking back to his home, he felt extremely tired due to old age and the lack of consistence in his old exercise. 'This old dog happens to already know a few tricks.' Author's Note Wow, so many splits in this chapter... Am I rushing? Please tell me if I'm rushing because that's the problem I'm trying to solve. Chapter 2- Family Threat"You said Alex is a good child? What makes him more obedient than the others?" Aiden perked up when he heard his therapist ask him the question "He's the only one who is really trying to improve doc." He slouched back into the couch he was currently sitting on, his therapist was sitting in front of him in a recliner "Tristan and Victoria are doing college, I thought college would maybe finally get them to... Mature. I was wrong, I hardly get to see Tristan because he's at some frat house drinking forties and Victoria is usually out and about with her 'friends'. Alex stays at home, he's really the only who enjoys hanging out with his dad. Alex really reminds me of his mother, he may look like me but he doesn't behave like me, he is always thirsty for knowledge. Alex is seventeen and already in college, if that's not an accomplishment then I don't know what is." The therapist nodded "Do you think back to when you were their age? Do you feel like you had achievements?" Aiden nodded "I never went to college but I did enlist into the military when I was seventeen, by time I was twenty I had already been accepted into the special forces. I was motivated when I was their age, I didn't have the opportunities they have. I took action on what options I had." He was honest with his therapist. "Special forces, that requires killing does it not? Do you consider the deaths as achievements?" She went deeper into the subject. Aiden sighed "I do, I feel like if I had never done it then worse things would have happened." The therapist stared at Aiden "And when you came here to save ponies, was that you taking advantage of the opportunities you were given?" Aiden shook his head "No, that was my way of getting revenge. After my father died I had so much rage, I had so much hatred for criminals. When I saw a criminal I raged so bad that I would just kill them, I never felt guilt for killing them." "Okay... Let's move on to something more normal. Are you still avoiding your exercise?" The therapist had seemed a little disturbed from what Aiden had said. Aiden smiled "I actually started back last week, I don't know why I stopped because I feel pretty damn good right now." "I can see your muscle memory has taken action, you look healthier." The therapist complimented her client. "You said these sessions are private, correct?" Aiden asked his female therapist. "Yes, you can tell me anything. I cannot reveal anything to the public by law." She confirmed his question. "I'm protecting again, I don't know why but I feel like this urge to do it. You know when I talked about the fire? Well I feel it, I don't know why but I do. I think it may have something to do with everypony missing the old me or maybe everypony talking about the next big disturbance... Or maybe it was the dream." Aiden guessed. "Dream? The one with the archaic wolf?" "Yeah, the one with the wolf. That shit still gives me the creeps." Aiden said as he held his chin in his hand. The therapist sighed "I think this is good. After the birth of your first child you ran from who you really are, now you are coming to terms and trying to learn a way on how to be yourself without changing anything in between you and your family." She explained to him. Aiden exhaled "I guess that could be it." The therapist looked at her watch "Well, that seems to be about all of the time I have for you today, I'll see you next week." She said before getting up and holding the door open for him. Aiden nodded before leaving the room. Aiden walked in the door to his office to be welcomed by the mare working the front desk "Hello Mr. Sparkle, I already set up your work for the day on your desk." She informed him. Aiden nodded "Thanks, I'll get right to it." He said before walking into the elevator. Aiden entered his office and saw a few stacks of papers, the papers ranged from fan mail to bills for the building. He took a seat and began working, it took him several hours to get through just half of the stack, he was interrupted by his office phone ringing. Aiden picked up the phone. "Hello?" "Yes, t-this is front desk, u-umm we have a visitor f-for you. W-white Light is out on a call." She sounded spooked as if something terrifying had just happened. "Okay... I'll be out in a second" Aiden sighed before standing up and exiting the office, as soon as he opened the door an axe came swinging at him. Aiden dodged it at the last second and saw a stallion in a business suit coming at him with the axe. "Sorry bud, we gotta get rid of you first." The stallion said before swinging at Aiden once more. Aiden got on the ground and kicked the handle of the axe, this caused the stallion to lose his grip and drop it. "He warned us that you're smart, just know that Gleam ain't happy with you." He said before whipping out a knife. Aiden jumped up onto his feet and prepared for the stallion to swing. The stallion tried to take a jab at Aiden but he dodged it, the stallion smiled before pretending to swing again, he tricked Aiden and landed a kick into his face. Aiden was caught off guard by the trick as it was one he was familiar with. Aiden regained his balance and looked at the axe, he tried to grab it but the stallion was quick to dead leg him. "Nope, not today buddy, Gleam already taught us all of your moves." He said before wrapping a arm around Aidens throat, he tried to put the knife up to his throat but Aiden had caught his arm and struggled to force it away. Aiden watched as the stallion slowly overpowered him and got the knife closer 'C'mon Aiden, think! What the hell would I do in this situation!?!' He panicked before he remembered. Aiden reached up with his free arm and managed to grab the stallion mane before pulling as hard as he could to flip the stallion over and in front of him, the stallions knife slipped and put a small cut onto Aidens cheek. The stallion was dazed for a few seconds before getting back up "Now you're in for it!" He flipped around to only have an axe go cleanly through his neck and into the wall. Aiden took deep breaths as he saw the stallions head sit perfectly level on the axe blade in the wall as his body fell down to the floor, blood spilled out of the stallions body like a miniature water fall, it stained the hardwood floor in Aidens office. "Holy shit, holy shit!" Aiden walked to his desk and opened a drawer, he pulled out his gun he kept for emergencies. "Gleam, Gleam... Gleaming Shield? I thought me and Shining... I thought we killed him, no way this was him." He said as he rushed out of the office, he stepped into the hallway to see a few dead workers lay lifeless in the floors, these were his workers, there must've been more than one of the enemies. Aiden got down to the first floor and saw a group of his workers being held hostage, there were two other stallions that were dressed similar to the one Aiden already killed. Aiden raised his gun and shot one of them in the head, the other he shot in the lower spine. The group of ponies being held hostage didn't take a second to thank their boss, they ran as fast as they could out of the door. Aiden walked to the one that he assumed was still breathing, he assumed correct. The stallion looked up at Aiden "I guess Gleam wasn't bullshitting us, you are violent." He said this before coughing a few times, he hid his pain fairly well especially for somepony that got shot in the back. Aiden crouched down beside him "I'm gonna assume Gleams full name is Gleaming Shield?" He felt a few traits of his old self start coming back. The stallion coughed and winced from his wound "Yeah. I'm not too sure what you did to him but it must've been something rough, he wants you and some other guy named Shining Armor dead." He tried to reach for his cigarette pack. Aiden handed them to him "One last smoke before death?" The stallion chuckled "I guess you could say that..." He said while opening the pack. "What else does Gleam want? He'd better know not to mess with my family." Aiden asked. The stallion paused "Well, if you want them safe then you'd better go get them." He then pulled a syringe from the box and injected it into Aidens leg. Aiden jumped back "You bitch!" The stallion laughed "Cause you ain't got long hot rod" he said before taking a bullet to the face. Aiden ran as fast as he could out of the door It didn't take Aiden long to run to his home, his business wasn't to far away, he had already felt a slight difference in his body already. Aiden busted through the front door to his home and saw a few overturned tables, that was before he heard Twilight shouting from the kitchen. "Stay away! I will hurt you!" Twilight threatened a rather large stallion, he was dressed like the rest. Twilight had her three children behind her, the stove was on since Twilight had been preparing dinner. The stallion teased the four by taking slow but large steps closer to them, he was unaware of the new guest. Aiden pulled the trigger to his gun but it only clicked, it was out of ammo, this alerted the stallion. Before the stallion could get ahold of Aiden he had a pistol thrown right into his snout. The stallion stumbled but regained balance quickly, he was to slow as Aiden tackled him into the counter. Aidens adrenaline pumped even more as this was his family in danger, the poison was settling in but his family mattered to much to him. He punched the stallion in the gut before kneeing him in the face, while he was disoriented Aiden grabbed his face and forced it onto the hot stove, you could hear the skin sizzle as it cooked. The stallion screamed and tried to force himself off but Aidens dedication overpowered his, he kicked Aiden but got no closer to escape, by time he could do anything else he was already dead. Aiden let go of him and his lifeless corpse fell to the ground, the half of his face that was being cooked stuck to the stove so you could see the charred insides of his head, his eye had fallen out of its socket and was clearly swollen, half of his mouth still had lips, the other half did not and you could se the full length of his teeth. Aiden looked at Twilight while breathing heavily "Are you guys okay?" He asked. Twilight nodded slowly. "Good, because I'm not. I've been poisoned." Aiden tried to take a step closer to them but only found himself passing out, mostly from the poison. A black void, so peaceful, so silent. Nopony can bother you, nothing can bother you but yourself. Aiden opened his eyes to see nothing but a black space, nothing but one door, a door nopony could tell him where it lead, a door only he could open 'Where am I? Am I dead?' He asked himself inside of his head. Aiden sighed before walking to the door 'Well, where else can I go? It's not like I have a choice.' He told himself before opening the door. A blinding light was revealed and a suction like a black hole in space sucked Aiden into it. "No... I thought I finally got past this, no way. I thought I blocked this from my mind, I never wanted to see this again." Aiden stared... At himself, he was looking at his younger self holding his fathers lifeless corpse, crying, mourning. Aiden walked slowly towards himself before reaching a careful hand out to touch his own shoulder, Aiden all of the sudden felt a sudden feeling in his heart, a feeling that hadn't been felt in long time 'The fire... Except it's temporary, it's not long lasting like before.' Aiden got sucked into somewhere else all of the sudden. Aiden opened his eyes to see himself on a hospital bed, his family surrounded him, they all cried like as if he was dying 'N-no... I can't... I can't leave, not yet. I have to see them grow, I can't do the same thing that my dad did, I can't die.' He felt a growing desire in his heart, the desire to be with his family, a desire to not abandon them 'The fire's back, it's back like before... I can't lose them....' He felt a panic start coming into his body. "Then don't" it was Aidens voice "You promised, you promised yourself, you promised me." Aiden turned to see his younger self "you promised your kids the day they were born, you promised Twilight, you promised to never leave them alone." "How do I prevent that?" Aiden asked himself. "It's simple, let me back into your life." "You're younger Aiden, I can't reverse time." Aiden told himself. "I'm not young you... I'm The Protector" The Protector told Aiden. "How do I become you again?" "you'll accept me into your life once more. I am still you, it's just that I'm locked behind a door and you're the one with the key." The Protector told him. Aiden nodded "I want to let you out, how do I do that?" The Protector pointed towards a brown wooden door "It's simple, just walk through that door and come back from death." Aiden cocked his head "Death? Have I already died?" He asked. The Protector shook his head "Not yet, you will if you stay here. You were poisoned by something bought from the black market overseas, the only cure is a potion created using black magic, at least for a pony. What ponies don't know about the human body is that we can overcome this poison quite easily, it's capable of knocking us out and that's how we die, our body isn't as active when we're out and the poison will stop your heart, you have to keep moving and keep your blood flowing. When you were running home and fighting that stallion you felt odd but not necessarily bad. If you keep moving for at least four to eight hours then you'll be fine. You sitting in a hospital bed will kill you, you getting out of that hospital bed will save you. Now, you need to get up and tell your family about the cure and you becoming The Protector again. Take these four to eight hours to exercise and regain some skill." The Protector looked at the door "Now, I must warn you of the rage and dedication you're gonna feel enter your body once you open the door, that's me coming back into your life again. Now go, your heart's slowing down." Aiden nodded and rushed towards the door, he looked back at The Protector once a question raised "How do you know this?" He asked him. The Protector smiled "Your mind really is rusty, you've been through this situation before just minus the family and the whole protectors return stuff. Think back to when you and Shining fought all of those wolves with the hostages, you were poisoned with the same thing and Shining told you how to cure it. Seriously, go." He instructed Aiden. Aiden opened the door and instantly felt all of his old blocked memories come flooding back into his mind, he felt the anger, the desire, the fire, the love, the everything he had before, even his forgotten fighting moves came back. His heart sped up from all of these emotions, his brain sped up its processing power. Aiden felt whole again, he definitely felt the fire now. The Protector was back. Aiden shot awake and instantly jumped out of the hospital bed, this caused the IV's to rip out of him, he quickly covered the wounds and clotted them up "Holy shit, I haven't felt this amazing in years!" He saw his wife staring at him in awe and confusion. Twilight wiped a tear from her eye "Y-you're awake!" She got up and hugged him tightly "They said you were dying!" She nuzzled her head into his shoulder. Aiden hugged her close "About that, I've gotta keep my heart pumping for about eight hours!" He felt like his old self once more, he felt great. Twilight looked at him puzzled "Huh? How do you know this and why are you acting so healthy?" She asked him. Aiden took a deep breath "Well, that's complicated and I'll tell you later. Why I'm acting so healthy is because the fire's back Twi, The Protector is back, shit I even remember all of the memories from my youth!" Twilight stared at him "Back? No way... You and Celestia had those sessions where she treated your mind. Don't you remember her giving you PTSD so you could avoid this?" She reminded him. Aiden let go of her "Look, we can talk later but I need to get going. I don't know when I'll see you again but just call me if you're worried or something, tell the kids daddy's not dying and that he loves them." He rushed out of the door with his clothes that were on a chair, they still had blood stains on them. Aiden heard Twilight call out after him but he knew it was best if he just got to moving. A few doctors tried to stop Aiden but he easily overpowered them, he felt so much stronger, he felt like an unstoppable force 'Man, this is a badass fire!' He thought to himself as he exited the hospital and into the night. Aiden changed out into his old clothes before running off towards the forest, he knew in order to be his old self then he needed to go back to his original roots. The Protector was back, for good.
Prologue"Don't test me." "I'm not testing you dipshit, I'm here for my fucking son." "And I'm here because you flushed our careers down the toilet!" "Then kill me, not my son." "Me killing your precious boy will bring more pain to you than anything else, I know you too well Aiden." "Then you should know that killing my kid is also gonna kill your whole entire family, I'll kill you, your mom, your dad, your siblings, your wife, and especially your kids as well." "W-well, I'm gonna kill you too! I already thought ahead asshole." "You're gonna kill me?" "Yup." "You think you can kill The Protector?" "He died years ago, you dug a grave that should've never been dug." "I didn't kill him, he just went into retirement like me. I did dig a grave though, yours." "Dad! Can I borrow the boat over the break?" A teenage colt asked his human father. Aiden looked at him with a puzzled look "Why?" He asked his son with confusion. "W-well... My marefriend is coming back into town from college and I just thou-" His son was cut off by his fathers answer. "Be back by Monday morning and don't mess up anything, got it Tristan?" Aiden told his nineteen year old son. Tristan wore a adorable smile "Thanks dad, your the best!" He said before hugging his father tightly. Aiden patted his son on the back before letting him go "Try not to get into any trouble, if you happen to then you know who to call." He said as he watched his son bolt up the stairs to pack his bags. "Dad, Victoria and Tristan are doing things this winter break but I'm not, all of my friends are going out of town to see family." Aiden turned around to see his only human child standing behind him, he looked much like his father just younger and not as strong. He smiled at his son before patting him on his shoulder "How about me, you and mom take a little trip to Canterlot? We can go and visit all of the historic monuments, we can even visit the royal museums. I know you love historic stuff more than anything." He offered his seventeen year old son. Alex smiled "Really? You and mom don't have any work?" He asked his father. Aiden chuckled "Nope, we get breaks just like you kids. After your mom gets home from the library we can talk more about it, I'm sure she would love to go." He told his son before being surprised with a hug. Alex hugged his dad tight "Thanks dad, I can always count on you to make life better." the boy was the only other human on the planet, that didn't change how ponies treated him though, everypony expects him to be the next protector. Aiden smiled at his son that was about the same size as him now "I try my best to make you guys happy, that's what a dad is for. Besides, I couldn't ask for a better family, you guys all excel in school, especially you. You're only seventeen and you've skipped two grades and went to college early, so why not treat you to a good time?" He said before letting go of Alex. The clacking of hooves could be heard coming down from the steps, what came down was Aiden's first child, his daughter Victoria, she was twenty and was going on her third year of college. Victoria had a few bags in her magical grip, she was a unicorn that shared the same color as her mother, only difference was her hair which was black "Alright dad, I'm about to leave!" She said enthusiastically. Aiden sighed "You better be careful, you know how I feel about big cities. Also, try not to drain the card I gave you, I put a lot of money on it so you can stay in a nice room but don't be ridiculous with it." He said with a parenting tone. Victoria smiled "You don't have to hide the numbers from me dad, mom already told me you put six thousand on my card. I'm so happy I was born with a dad that plays things safe!" She said before hugging him and giving him a kiss on the cheek "bye daddy" she said before heading for the door. Aiden smiled "bye sweetie, have fun!" He said to her as she walked out of the door. Alex chuckled "Can I say I'm not the spoiled one now?" He said with pride. Aiden looked at him and smiled "Well, your mom lied. I actually put ten, I just want you guys to enjoy your young days. By time I was your age I had enlisted into the military, by time I was Tristan's age I was in the military, and by Victoria's age I was in a special forces branch of the military. Just have fun while you can, before to long you'll look back and regret passing up opportunities." He lectured his son "Oh, I put that much on all of y'alls cards." Alex looked at him puzzled "Why did you put that much on mine? It's not like I need it." He said with a tone that reminded Aiden of when he was a child. Aiden shrugged "I can afford it. It's better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it." He said before he looked at the stairs as another set of hooves climbed down the stairs. Tristan descended from the stairs with his bags in his mouth, he was not a unicorn, he was just an earth pony, his coat was tan and his hair was blond, he looked like a pony version of Aiden "I'm all set to leave! My marefriend is gonna be so impressed. Thanks again dad, it means a lot." He said before setting his bags down and giving his old man a hug. Aiden hugged him "Just don't get into trouble, I know you have a hard time avoiding it since you always do something that makes those guards jealous, but I guess that's one good thing about having me as a dad." He said before letting him go. Tristan laughed "Yeah, that's one of the many things. Do you mind putting money on my ca-" "It's already taken care of, just go and have fun and I'll worry about everything else." Aiden cut his son off for a good reason. Tristan smiled "Yeah, we'll probably take the boat out to where we won't be bothered, but we can come back to land for food, we'll probably be somewhere near the Canterlot docks." He informed his dad. Aiden reached into his pocket before pulling out a card "Here, this is a pass to dock the boat there." He told his son. Tristan smiled before taking the pass "Sweet, I gotta get going. I'll see you in a week!" He said before rushing out of the door with his bags. Aiden sighed "Man, it's so weird to think how easy y'all have it." He said before sitting beside his human child on the sofa. Alex looked at him "What do you mean?" "You guys have education beyond the standard thanks to your mom, I give you guys way more money than the average parent should, and we put y'all in a three story manor on private property that's away from the town. When I was a kid I didn't even have a mom or dad for half of my childhood. My mom didn't give me education, for the most part I was self taught asides from school. My dad wasn't rich, I mean he bought me what I needed and some, but I never just got a free vacation and ten grand from him. Let's see... I lived in a one story house in a crowded neighborhood, I had to pay my own insurance and things like that, I had a part-time job throughout high school, I didn't really have friends because I was to mature for my age. You already know that I was in the military up until I came here. It's weird to think your sister is only four years away from being the same age I was when we had her, to be honest we were kind of young, your mom got pregnant when she was twenty two, I was twenty three but I turned twenty four when Victoria was actually born. It's also ironic that your mom wanted you guys to have simple names, she didn't want them to be too complex." Aiden ranted. "He's telling the truth, you guys do have it easy! But that's what we wanted, we didn't want to ever stress you guys out." Twilight surprised the two. Aiden looked behind him "Hey sweetie." He said before receiving a greeting kiss. Alex smiled "Hey mom, so I heard you and dad planned for us to go to Canterlot?" He asked his mother. Twilight smiled "We thought you were gonna have plans but if you don't then yeah we did. If you did have plans then it was gonna be just me and your father." She told Alex. Alex smiled "Awesome! I'm gonna go pack." He said before hurrying up the stairs. Twilight plopped down onto the couch "I'm so happy we get a break! It's been so long since we could be together." She said before holding Aiden's hand. Aiden smiled at her "It's so odd how our careers turned out, I run Protection Inc. and you run the Golden Oaks Library, ponies thought we were gonna continue being bad asses that fought evil. Nope, we became parents and made our kids the number one priority." He said as he caressed her hoof. Twilight gave him a peck on the lips "I'd do it all again in a heart beat, I've never regretted any second I've been married to you." She said with a loving smile. "Me neither, if there's one good choice that I've made then it was proposing to you. I am jealous though, you haven't aged at all, unlike me I've got wrinkles on my face." He said while rubbing his hand on his face. Twilight laughed "You're still good looking, you're in good shape still and besides, I'm a fan of the mature look, I think it's sexy." She before resting her head on his shoulder. "I love you Twi." "Wow, look at that! They put some pictures of you in here!" Alex pointed out a photo of Aiden right after he had defeated Discord "Woah, you were ripped dad!" He pointed out in the picture how all of his veins were popping and his muscles had expanded from the blood being pumped into them. Aiden smiled "I remember that day like it was yesterday, me and your mom were still dating actually." Alex realized "Wait, this whole entire display is a timeline of your career! The next pic is you holding some award... It says you got the award for best hero. Woah, this is when you and mom got married, then this is when Victoria was born... Holy crap I'm on here! That's so cool." He freaked out over the whole display. Twilight giggled "If he weren't your son then I'd say you have a fan." He said while she rested her head on Aiden's side. Alex put some headphones on from the display "Woah, it even has your farewell interview!" He listened to the interview. Twilight perked up when she noticed something on the display "Return? Why do they have a empty slot titled 'return'." She walked over to it and inspected it "I guess they're expecting something to happen." A group of colts mocked Alex behind him. Aiden snapped his view towards them and stared at them "Wanna get your ass whopped by an old guy?" They were taken aback and instantly laid their ears flat "S-sorry! W-we didn't realize who you were." They said before running off. Alex was puzzled "Wow, ponies don't mess with you, do they?" He asked his father. Aiden shook his head "Your mom says I look intimidating, I guess that has something to do with it." Twilight smiled "Your wrinkles don't help." She said with a joking smile. Alex observed the pictures even closer "Wait, did you guys not have phones back then, did you guys even have bit cards?" He asked his parents. Twilight shook her head "Nope, it's amazing how technology advances. The most we had were some computers and maybe a gamecolt." She informed him. Alex pulled out his phone "Wow, I'm happy I was born in this time period!" He said as he looked at the piece of technology. Aiden chuckled "Alright, how about we come back later after we get some food, my appetite is killing me!" "Now this is what I miss the most about Canterlot!" Twilight said before taking a bite into her sandwich. Aiden smiled "I can remember back when me and your mother first had y'all, we lived in Canterlot for about a year while our house was getting built. The library didn't have enough room for three kids so we let your uncle Spike live by himself after we moved here. We stayed in a pretty big apartment but oh my goodness the neighbors were horrible, they wouldn't ever shut up." He reminisced while enjoying his food. Twilight giggled "It was actually in that fancy complex over by the castle, your dad said no to moving somewhere downtown, he said only the best apartment was good enough for his babies and his wife." Alex nodded "So you guys actually made sure to give us a stress free life?" Twilight nodded "When I was a filly I grew up here so I knew a few of the struggles, there were so many ponies that were stuck up and didn't care about others, I almost grew up to be one. I got sent off to Ponyville by Celestia for research and after about a year or so of living there I came across your father, me and your aunts actually searched for him, his identity was hidden before we found him, nopony didn't even know his name, they just called him The Protector. Your father was really the first pony that actually risked his life just so a pony wouldn't get hurt, me and the girls prevented evil but that was because it was essentially our job, but your father didn't have to do any of the things he did, he did it out of the kindness in his heart." She told her son. Alex smiled "Wow, so dad just started helping ponies. I always thought it was his job, it makes it more special to know that you just did it to be the good guy." Aiden zoned out the conversation, he carefully watched as a archaic wolf walked by. Archaic wolves were bipedal creatures, they were typically evil but the ones overseas were civilized, this one was dressed like a civilian so perhaps they had been visiting. "Aiden?" Aiden looked at Twilight "Hmm?" "Are you okay? We were asking you a question." Twilight informed him. Aiden rubbed his neck "Sorry, I let my mind slip. What was the question?" He asked her to repeat it. "What did you and uncle Shining typically do while you two were partners?" She asked him Aiden sighed "We basically were a new team that essentially stopped terrorism, our main targets were archaic wolves, they're weird, the evil ones would do anything to hurt ponies." He informed them. Alex nodded "Why did you guys stop?" He asked. Aiden smiled "Well me and Shining had kids and the archaic wolves became rare in crime so we stopped, there was third wheel to the team that didn't like it, his name was Gleaming Shield, I'm pretty sure he hates us now but whatever, we have families and that's what mattered to us so we ended it. We did it so we could spend more time with our families." Twilight smiled "I think it was good call considering you wouldn't get home until one in the morning sometimes." Alex smiled "What would you do when you caught them?" He asked another question. Twilight gave Aiden a look that essentially told him to lie. "Well, they'd simply go to jail, nothing more, nothing less." Aiden answered his questions. Alex smiled "Wow, that's awesome. Busting criminals and stopping crimes. When do you think you'll start doing more stuff like protecting?" Just then a loud explosion erupted from the side of a neighboring restaurant, it was a busy one so ponies flew outside of the building windows when it occurred. Aiden stood up and looked in shock, he quickly started seeing ponies limbs in the streets, he quickly shielded Alex's eyes "Don't look, don't look, don't look. Twi, get him out of here!" He told her before letting her cover his eyes. Twilight kept her sons eyes closed "Be safe Aiden!" She said before taking Alex away from the scene. Aiden went to the building and saw every single pony in the building was on the floor not moving, he even saw the scattered organs of ponies ranging from a kid to an adult, that was until his eyes laid upon a figure coming out from the back room, it was the archaic wolf. "Oh, it's you. Is this enough to spark the fire Protector?" The wolf said before smiling at him "Mmmm, this looks delicious." He said before picking up a arm and biting a chunk of flesh out of it "Wow, ponies taste good." Aiden was still in shock and stared at the wolf in horror, that was until he was awoken. Aiden sat up quickly, he was drenched in sweat and was breathing rapidly. Twilight stared at him, obviously worried "Are you okay?" She asked him with concern. Aiden looked at her before hugging her tightly "I love you" he said with a shaky voice. Twilight held him "I love you too. It's okay Aiden, it's okay. Whatever is wrong we can leave it be and just enjoy our vacation." She kissed his neck and held onto him. Aiden swallowed "Are we going to the museum tomorrow?" He asked her. "Yes, we're going to show Alex your history, remember?" She reminded him. Aides nodded "Okay, that's fine. Let's just have a good time and try to avoid anything negative." As he said that he held her tighter "I promise I won't ever let anything bad happen to you guys, never." Author's Note Wooohooo! Happy New Years! This is a late Christmas present/on time New Years present.
Chapter 1- The Tick Of A ClockTICK 'What did that dream mean?' TICK 'Was that a dream or a vision? No, it couldn't be a vision. Our vacation already ended, that's thanks to me since I ended it early, I just said I didn't feel well but it was really because of the dream.' TICK 'It couldn't be a dream either, I haven't seen anything like that since I was young. Perhaps symbolism?' TICK 'What's worse is that it's been repeating itself, every night I have it now, every time I wake up I feel even more pissed, it's like I'm some shell filled with skills and capabilities, I just won't use them because... I have too much to lose.' TICK Aiden looked at the clock while he had a break through 'I'm not The Protector because I'm chicken shit, when I was younger what did I really have to lose? I have a whole entire family that depends on me to be there for them... Parents always look back and ask what's so different about them that changes who they are, in reality it's because we're scared. That means in order to bring the fire back you would have to fuck with the thing I live for, messing with my family equals The Protectors return... Is that what ponies are waiting for?' TICK A big stack of papers were plopped down onto Aidens desk, this caused him to jolt out of his thoughts, he looked up to see his long time partner, White Light. "You wouldn't believe how amature the new guys are, they can't even surpass ten push ups. This new generation has seriously got me thinking about what's gonna happen after we're gone?" White Light took a seat on the other side of the desk. Aiden rubbed his face to bring himself one hundred percent back to reality "Yeah, I wonder sometimes...." He paused before speaking again "Can I ask you a random question?" White Light smiled "Well, ya kind of already did but yeah, shoot." He said before leaning back into the chair some more. Aiden sighed "I know ponies don't directly ask this each other but are you guys expecting something big to happen?" He asked with slight hesitation. White Light stared at his best friend and boss with slight confusion "That is random." He said before inhaling and exhaling a deep breath "Could you be a little more descriptive, like something big as in good or not so good?" "Something bad, something that you guys think would bring me out of retirement." Aiden went a little more in detail. "You want me to be honest?" White Light received a small nod from Aiden "Yeah, yeah we do. I mean let's be serious, you have a family and families are great and all, that's why I have one myself, but they're weaknesses. Enemies typically go after their main targets families instead of the actual pony because they know it hurts them more, they do this to bring their prey to them instead of them having to waste energy finding the prey." He explained. Aiden bit his cheek while nodding "I see... I agree with you. The real question is am I anyponys enemy?" White Light shrugged "I dunno, it all depends on if you've pissed off anypony that has skills to challenge your own." Aiden tapped the table with his fingers "Huh, in recent memory no. I mean when I was young I was talented at pissing ponies off, now... nopony doesn't really have anything against me, I've got a pretty clean record." "Don't worry about it then, the only time to worry is when something actually does happen, that's when you need to go ahead and sharpen your tools once more Aiden." White Light said before standing up and heading for the door, he stopped before leaving "Also, not to be mean or anything, I definitely think you should consider doing your old training again, it wouldn't hurt and it would definitely appeal to your older self." He said before exiting the room. Aiden exhaled before looking at the clock 'My older self huh? I can't disagree to that, I could definitely use that exercise." Aiden stopped running and leaned onto a tree in the ourskirts of the Everfree Forest, he took in deep breaths to regain his stamina "Holy shit" he looked down at his watch and saw he's only ran three miles so far "How did I do fourteen miles every morning? No wonder why I was ripped, I ran fourteen miles and wasn't even tired, after running I'd even do the push ups and pull ups." He looked up the tree he was currently leaning "The pull ups..." He shook his head after remembering how he used to do things, he took off once more with a small bit of dedication he had left over from the past. After his little exercise Aiden went home to cool off, he was welcomed by the sight of his daughter taking her daily yoga class, Aiden had hired a personal yoga instructor for her. Aiden was currently drenched in his own sweat and he knew he needed a shower. After taking a shower he descended the stairs and saw his daughter doing what he assumed was the downward dog but he was upset to see the instructor leading her back into his pelvis, it looked way to perverted to be just yoga. Aiden was going to leave it be but he remembered what White Light had said, appeal to the older Aiden. "Stop." Aiden all of the sudden blurted out to the two, his daughters smile suddenly dropped and the male instructor all of the sudden had a guilty look on his face "Just fucking stop, I know you're twenty and you're looking into having a good time but do that shit outside of my house and if you don't like that rule then move out." He told his daughter. Victoria looked at him with a surprised look "I-I-I" she wasn't sure what to say since he never talked like in front of her "I mean I'm not a virgin and I've done this stuff before but I didn't know you had a problem with it." Aiden's eye twitched "I didn't want to know that. I honestly couldn't care any less about what you do in your free time but do not disturb my day, do not disturb my house, go disturb his." He said before pointing at the instructor. Victoria stood up, slightly nervous "U-umm... Okay." She said before getting her instructor and leaving the home. Aiden sat down after she left and held his head in his hand "Now I just feel like a dick." He said before sighing "What the hell did the old Aiden do? I mean I spoke my mind when I was younger but I wasn't really an asshole about it. I could've just said stop and left it at that but that sight just pissed me off and... I don't know, lost it? Is that what a normal pony would call it?" Ten at night The front door opened to the silent home, Victoria entered the house quietly and planned to go upstairs until a all to familiar voice caught her attention. "Victoria? Come sit with me." Aiden instructed her. She cursed silently under her breath before sitting beside him, she was caught off guard by her father hugging her close to his chest. "I'm sorry for being so rude to you earlier, it's just that at the end of the day you're still my baby girl, I care about you and I just don't want to see you do dirty things. I know I've let thing slide in the past but recently I've had I guess what you would call a wake up call, I'm trying to be who I once was before, I'm trying to come out of retirement." He explained to her. Victoria nodded "It's okay dad, I figured you were stressed out or something. At the end of the day I can't be mad at you since you've given me a perfect life, most ponies my age have been kicked out by their parents but you still willingly house me, you even give me everything I ask for still. It's okay dad." She said before nuzzling into his chest "I'll always be a daddy's girl." She enjoyed her fathers warmth. Aiden smiled "Go ahead and get some sleep, it's pretty late and way past my bed time." He said before letting her go. Victoria kissed him on the cheek "Goodnight dad, love you!" She said before going up the stairs. Aiden sighed "Okay, now that's out of the way it's time to get down to business, what no pony knows is that The Protector is already back out of retirement." He said before slipping on his jacket and exiting out of the house. Aiden sat on the bench that was still in the middle of Ponyville, it was the same bench he officially met Twilight at, he remembered he sat there because he had a good view of a lot of buildings. It was almost pitch black outside, the only lights were a few street lamps that were scattered across Ponyville, but Aidens clothing was so dark he looked almost invisible. The local bar was busy tonight and Aiden knew it, he was just waiting for something to happen, his predictions were still good but that skill has to be used when you own a business. As Aiden was getting comfy he saw a somewhat skinny stallion get thrown out of the bar doors, a large stallion soon stepped out and picked up the skinny one, he started going to town on the rather young looking stallion "Well, I guess that's my call to action." Aiden stood up and calmly walked up to the two and stood in front of them, he made sure to have a mask on that covered up to his nose "Hey," he got the big stallions attention "stop." He said with a rather calm tone, you would almost think he wasn't serious. The rather buff stallion chuckled before going back to town, a few other stallions walked out and watched, they cheered the stallion on. "If you don't stop then I'm gonna have to beat your ass in front of all your buddies." Aiden warned the stallion. The stallion stopped and let go of the smaller stallion "Who the fuck do you think you're talking to? I'll put you in the ground you mask wearing pussy." He tried to scare the human. Aiden chuckled "I'd like to prove you wrong, throw a swing and I'll show you what I'm made of." He said with confidence. The big stallion huffed before he threw a punch towards Aiden, he dodged it and took ahold of his arm. Aiden quickly threw the stallion off balance when he swept his hooves out from beneath him, the stallion regained balance quickly and managed to land a hit into Aidens gut. The wind was knocked out of him for a second before a familiar rage began to rise "Oh, now I'm not gonna be nice anymore." He felt a few old feelings come back to him before catching a punch, he quickly threw the stallion over his shoulder and onto the ground, this caused the small group of stallions emit a sound of awe. Aiden quickly pinned the stallion to the ground by resting his knee onto his chest, Aiden began pounding punches into his face, he got a few response hits into his torso but Aiden eventually caught the stallions arm, out of pure instinct Aiden wrapped his leg around the arm for leverage, the stallion tried to fight against him but couldn't get his arm free, Aiden now felt no mercy and used momentum to break the stallions arm over his leg, this caused the stallion to start yelling in pain. Aiden still had no mercy for the stallion and started to pound punches into his face once more, each punch packed more power after every swing, the stallion was soon out cold and Aiden finally stopped when he noticed his own knuckles began to ache. Aiden huffed when he stood up and looked at the small crowd "Who's next?" He asked the group. All of the stallions shook their heads after taking a second look at their buddy. Aiden smiled under his mask before having a question be blurted out towards him. "Who are you?" Aiden chuckled "Call me The Protector." He said before walking away from the crowd. 'The fire, I felt it. Everything about that whole situation felt... Right. Yeah, The Protectors back!' He thought this before walking back to his home, he felt extremely tired due to old age and the lack of consistence in his old exercise. 'This old dog happens to already know a few tricks.' Author's Note Wow, so many splits in this chapter... Am I rushing? Please tell me if I'm rushing because that's the problem I'm trying to solve.
Chapter 2- Family Threat"You said Alex is a good child? What makes him more obedient than the others?" Aiden perked up when he heard his therapist ask him the question "He's the only one who is really trying to improve doc." He slouched back into the couch he was currently sitting on, his therapist was sitting in front of him in a recliner "Tristan and Victoria are doing college, I thought college would maybe finally get them to... Mature. I was wrong, I hardly get to see Tristan because he's at some frat house drinking forties and Victoria is usually out and about with her 'friends'. Alex stays at home, he's really the only who enjoys hanging out with his dad. Alex really reminds me of his mother, he may look like me but he doesn't behave like me, he is always thirsty for knowledge. Alex is seventeen and already in college, if that's not an accomplishment then I don't know what is." The therapist nodded "Do you think back to when you were their age? Do you feel like you had achievements?" Aiden nodded "I never went to college but I did enlist into the military when I was seventeen, by time I was twenty I had already been accepted into the special forces. I was motivated when I was their age, I didn't have the opportunities they have. I took action on what options I had." He was honest with his therapist. "Special forces, that requires killing does it not? Do you consider the deaths as achievements?" She went deeper into the subject. Aiden sighed "I do, I feel like if I had never done it then worse things would have happened." The therapist stared at Aiden "And when you came here to save ponies, was that you taking advantage of the opportunities you were given?" Aiden shook his head "No, that was my way of getting revenge. After my father died I had so much rage, I had so much hatred for criminals. When I saw a criminal I raged so bad that I would just kill them, I never felt guilt for killing them." "Okay... Let's move on to something more normal. Are you still avoiding your exercise?" The therapist had seemed a little disturbed from what Aiden had said. Aiden smiled "I actually started back last week, I don't know why I stopped because I feel pretty damn good right now." "I can see your muscle memory has taken action, you look healthier." The therapist complimented her client. "You said these sessions are private, correct?" Aiden asked his female therapist. "Yes, you can tell me anything. I cannot reveal anything to the public by law." She confirmed his question. "I'm protecting again, I don't know why but I feel like this urge to do it. You know when I talked about the fire? Well I feel it, I don't know why but I do. I think it may have something to do with everypony missing the old me or maybe everypony talking about the next big disturbance... Or maybe it was the dream." Aiden guessed. "Dream? The one with the archaic wolf?" "Yeah, the one with the wolf. That shit still gives me the creeps." Aiden said as he held his chin in his hand. The therapist sighed "I think this is good. After the birth of your first child you ran from who you really are, now you are coming to terms and trying to learn a way on how to be yourself without changing anything in between you and your family." She explained to him. Aiden exhaled "I guess that could be it." The therapist looked at her watch "Well, that seems to be about all of the time I have for you today, I'll see you next week." She said before getting up and holding the door open for him. Aiden nodded before leaving the room. Aiden walked in the door to his office to be welcomed by the mare working the front desk "Hello Mr. Sparkle, I already set up your work for the day on your desk." She informed him. Aiden nodded "Thanks, I'll get right to it." He said before walking into the elevator. Aiden entered his office and saw a few stacks of papers, the papers ranged from fan mail to bills for the building. He took a seat and began working, it took him several hours to get through just half of the stack, he was interrupted by his office phone ringing. Aiden picked up the phone. "Hello?" "Yes, t-this is front desk, u-umm we have a visitor f-for you. W-white Light is out on a call." She sounded spooked as if something terrifying had just happened. "Okay... I'll be out in a second" Aiden sighed before standing up and exiting the office, as soon as he opened the door an axe came swinging at him. Aiden dodged it at the last second and saw a stallion in a business suit coming at him with the axe. "Sorry bud, we gotta get rid of you first." The stallion said before swinging at Aiden once more. Aiden got on the ground and kicked the handle of the axe, this caused the stallion to lose his grip and drop it. "He warned us that you're smart, just know that Gleam ain't happy with you." He said before whipping out a knife. Aiden jumped up onto his feet and prepared for the stallion to swing. The stallion tried to take a jab at Aiden but he dodged it, the stallion smiled before pretending to swing again, he tricked Aiden and landed a kick into his face. Aiden was caught off guard by the trick as it was one he was familiar with. Aiden regained his balance and looked at the axe, he tried to grab it but the stallion was quick to dead leg him. "Nope, not today buddy, Gleam already taught us all of your moves." He said before wrapping a arm around Aidens throat, he tried to put the knife up to his throat but Aiden had caught his arm and struggled to force it away. Aiden watched as the stallion slowly overpowered him and got the knife closer 'C'mon Aiden, think! What the hell would I do in this situation!?!' He panicked before he remembered. Aiden reached up with his free arm and managed to grab the stallion mane before pulling as hard as he could to flip the stallion over and in front of him, the stallions knife slipped and put a small cut onto Aidens cheek. The stallion was dazed for a few seconds before getting back up "Now you're in for it!" He flipped around to only have an axe go cleanly through his neck and into the wall. Aiden took deep breaths as he saw the stallions head sit perfectly level on the axe blade in the wall as his body fell down to the floor, blood spilled out of the stallions body like a miniature water fall, it stained the hardwood floor in Aidens office. "Holy shit, holy shit!" Aiden walked to his desk and opened a drawer, he pulled out his gun he kept for emergencies. "Gleam, Gleam... Gleaming Shield? I thought me and Shining... I thought we killed him, no way this was him." He said as he rushed out of the office, he stepped into the hallway to see a few dead workers lay lifeless in the floors, these were his workers, there must've been more than one of the enemies. Aiden got down to the first floor and saw a group of his workers being held hostage, there were two other stallions that were dressed similar to the one Aiden already killed. Aiden raised his gun and shot one of them in the head, the other he shot in the lower spine. The group of ponies being held hostage didn't take a second to thank their boss, they ran as fast as they could out of the door. Aiden walked to the one that he assumed was still breathing, he assumed correct. The stallion looked up at Aiden "I guess Gleam wasn't bullshitting us, you are violent." He said this before coughing a few times, he hid his pain fairly well especially for somepony that got shot in the back. Aiden crouched down beside him "I'm gonna assume Gleams full name is Gleaming Shield?" He felt a few traits of his old self start coming back. The stallion coughed and winced from his wound "Yeah. I'm not too sure what you did to him but it must've been something rough, he wants you and some other guy named Shining Armor dead." He tried to reach for his cigarette pack. Aiden handed them to him "One last smoke before death?" The stallion chuckled "I guess you could say that..." He said while opening the pack. "What else does Gleam want? He'd better know not to mess with my family." Aiden asked. The stallion paused "Well, if you want them safe then you'd better go get them." He then pulled a syringe from the box and injected it into Aidens leg. Aiden jumped back "You bitch!" The stallion laughed "Cause you ain't got long hot rod" he said before taking a bullet to the face. Aiden ran as fast as he could out of the door It didn't take Aiden long to run to his home, his business wasn't to far away, he had already felt a slight difference in his body already. Aiden busted through the front door to his home and saw a few overturned tables, that was before he heard Twilight shouting from the kitchen. "Stay away! I will hurt you!" Twilight threatened a rather large stallion, he was dressed like the rest. Twilight had her three children behind her, the stove was on since Twilight had been preparing dinner. The stallion teased the four by taking slow but large steps closer to them, he was unaware of the new guest. Aiden pulled the trigger to his gun but it only clicked, it was out of ammo, this alerted the stallion. Before the stallion could get ahold of Aiden he had a pistol thrown right into his snout. The stallion stumbled but regained balance quickly, he was to slow as Aiden tackled him into the counter. Aidens adrenaline pumped even more as this was his family in danger, the poison was settling in but his family mattered to much to him. He punched the stallion in the gut before kneeing him in the face, while he was disoriented Aiden grabbed his face and forced it onto the hot stove, you could hear the skin sizzle as it cooked. The stallion screamed and tried to force himself off but Aidens dedication overpowered his, he kicked Aiden but got no closer to escape, by time he could do anything else he was already dead. Aiden let go of him and his lifeless corpse fell to the ground, the half of his face that was being cooked stuck to the stove so you could see the charred insides of his head, his eye had fallen out of its socket and was clearly swollen, half of his mouth still had lips, the other half did not and you could se the full length of his teeth. Aiden looked at Twilight while breathing heavily "Are you guys okay?" He asked. Twilight nodded slowly. "Good, because I'm not. I've been poisoned." Aiden tried to take a step closer to them but only found himself passing out, mostly from the poison. A black void, so peaceful, so silent. Nopony can bother you, nothing can bother you but yourself. Aiden opened his eyes to see nothing but a black space, nothing but one door, a door nopony could tell him where it lead, a door only he could open 'Where am I? Am I dead?' He asked himself inside of his head. Aiden sighed before walking to the door 'Well, where else can I go? It's not like I have a choice.' He told himself before opening the door. A blinding light was revealed and a suction like a black hole in space sucked Aiden into it. "No... I thought I finally got past this, no way. I thought I blocked this from my mind, I never wanted to see this again." Aiden stared... At himself, he was looking at his younger self holding his fathers lifeless corpse, crying, mourning. Aiden walked slowly towards himself before reaching a careful hand out to touch his own shoulder, Aiden all of the sudden felt a sudden feeling in his heart, a feeling that hadn't been felt in long time 'The fire... Except it's temporary, it's not long lasting like before.' Aiden got sucked into somewhere else all of the sudden. Aiden opened his eyes to see himself on a hospital bed, his family surrounded him, they all cried like as if he was dying 'N-no... I can't... I can't leave, not yet. I have to see them grow, I can't do the same thing that my dad did, I can't die.' He felt a growing desire in his heart, the desire to be with his family, a desire to not abandon them 'The fire's back, it's back like before... I can't lose them....' He felt a panic start coming into his body. "Then don't" it was Aidens voice "You promised, you promised yourself, you promised me." Aiden turned to see his younger self "you promised your kids the day they were born, you promised Twilight, you promised to never leave them alone." "How do I prevent that?" Aiden asked himself. "It's simple, let me back into your life." "You're younger Aiden, I can't reverse time." Aiden told himself. "I'm not young you... I'm The Protector" The Protector told Aiden. "How do I become you again?" "you'll accept me into your life once more. I am still you, it's just that I'm locked behind a door and you're the one with the key." The Protector told him. Aiden nodded "I want to let you out, how do I do that?" The Protector pointed towards a brown wooden door "It's simple, just walk through that door and come back from death." Aiden cocked his head "Death? Have I already died?" He asked. The Protector shook his head "Not yet, you will if you stay here. You were poisoned by something bought from the black market overseas, the only cure is a potion created using black magic, at least for a pony. What ponies don't know about the human body is that we can overcome this poison quite easily, it's capable of knocking us out and that's how we die, our body isn't as active when we're out and the poison will stop your heart, you have to keep moving and keep your blood flowing. When you were running home and fighting that stallion you felt odd but not necessarily bad. If you keep moving for at least four to eight hours then you'll be fine. You sitting in a hospital bed will kill you, you getting out of that hospital bed will save you. Now, you need to get up and tell your family about the cure and you becoming The Protector again. Take these four to eight hours to exercise and regain some skill." The Protector looked at the door "Now, I must warn you of the rage and dedication you're gonna feel enter your body once you open the door, that's me coming back into your life again. Now go, your heart's slowing down." Aiden nodded and rushed towards the door, he looked back at The Protector once a question raised "How do you know this?" He asked him. The Protector smiled "Your mind really is rusty, you've been through this situation before just minus the family and the whole protectors return stuff. Think back to when you and Shining fought all of those wolves with the hostages, you were poisoned with the same thing and Shining told you how to cure it. Seriously, go." He instructed Aiden. Aiden opened the door and instantly felt all of his old blocked memories come flooding back into his mind, he felt the anger, the desire, the fire, the love, the everything he had before, even his forgotten fighting moves came back. His heart sped up from all of these emotions, his brain sped up its processing power. Aiden felt whole again, he definitely felt the fire now. The Protector was back. Aiden shot awake and instantly jumped out of the hospital bed, this caused the IV's to rip out of him, he quickly covered the wounds and clotted them up "Holy shit, I haven't felt this amazing in years!" He saw his wife staring at him in awe and confusion. Twilight wiped a tear from her eye "Y-you're awake!" She got up and hugged him tightly "They said you were dying!" She nuzzled her head into his shoulder. Aiden hugged her close "About that, I've gotta keep my heart pumping for about eight hours!" He felt like his old self once more, he felt great. Twilight looked at him puzzled "Huh? How do you know this and why are you acting so healthy?" She asked him. Aiden took a deep breath "Well, that's complicated and I'll tell you later. Why I'm acting so healthy is because the fire's back Twi, The Protector is back, shit I even remember all of the memories from my youth!" Twilight stared at him "Back? No way... You and Celestia had those sessions where she treated your mind. Don't you remember her giving you PTSD so you could avoid this?" She reminded him. Aiden let go of her "Look, we can talk later but I need to get going. I don't know when I'll see you again but just call me if you're worried or something, tell the kids daddy's not dying and that he loves them." He rushed out of the door with his clothes that were on a chair, they still had blood stains on them. Aiden heard Twilight call out after him but he knew it was best if he just got to moving. A few doctors tried to stop Aiden but he easily overpowered them, he felt so much stronger, he felt like an unstoppable force 'Man, this is a badass fire!' He thought to himself as he exited the hospital and into the night. Aiden changed out into his old clothes before running off towards the forest, he knew in order to be his old self then he needed to go back to his original roots. The Protector was back, for good.
