Chapter 16

I had just witnessed something both extraordinary and shell shocking. Rokai Stormborne, the previous Equestrian Guardian, was the first human to arrive in this world before me. He had fought alongside the Queen of Eques against a great evil and sacrificed himself for the sake of this entire planet. Just before the last memory Celestia and Luna showed us ended, Queen Faust had told them and the previous leaders of the other races that there will be another Guardian. Which means, she was the one who brought me here…

I continue to stare at Celestia and Luna with a blank expression since I’m still trying to process everything. “Queen Faust said…another Guardian would show up, did she mean…me?” I ask slowly.

There was a brief silence before they both nod slowly making me tense up. I look back up at the statue of Rokai and just stare at it. This man, this great man, helped preserve the peace and light of this world before Drogoth showed up. He kept the balance between all the races and was remembered as a hero all the way until his end. Yet here I am, a nobody, who’s now expected to become his successor.

“This…this has to be some kind of mistake…” I mutter.

“What do you mean?”

I turn back to Celestia and the others who are looking at me with puzzled expressions.

“This guy,” I say while pointing at the statue, “was a hero. He gave everything his all and asked for nothing in return. I can only begin to imagine the incredible things he had done for this world when he was still around, not to mention his fight against Drogoth.” I say emotionlessly. I begin to pace back and forth in front of the statue with my hands on my hips.
“But me? I’m no one…” I say dismissively, “I was no one, back on my world. I was just your average human with no special traits whatsoever. Now, because of a freak accident, I’m ripped from my world and everything and everyone I’ve ever known is now gone, I’ve been revived and reincarnated in a new world and body, and now I’m supposed to be the new Equestrian Guardian?” I stop pacing and look back to the others. “You’ll have to forgive me for sounding extremely skeptical and unconvinced…”

Twilight walks up to me and stares up at me with a sad look. She takes my hand and pulls me into a small hug. “I’m sorry you were taken from your home without warning, William. I can’t imagine the emotions you must be trying to keep suppressed after such a traumatic experience.” She looks up to me with a small smile. “But you’re wrong when you say you’re no one. You have already made yourself well-known in just a matter of days.” She lets go of me and steps back to her friends who are also smiling.

“It’s true,” I hear Apple Bloom speak, “Y’all saved us from tha manticore in Everfree instead of just lettin’ us get eaten.” She praises.

“Yeah!” Rainbow says, “You also saved Dinky from that fire and didn’t even hesitate to jump in despite the danger, and that was seriously awesome! Especially that beam you shot into the sky!”

“They’re right, Will,” Spike says as he steps up to me. He reaches up and places a claw on my shoulder while smiling. “I told you before that you’re a hero and everypony agrees. Especially since you also saved Lyra and Bon Bon from Heavy Step’s crew. You remember what I told you back on the train?” He asks, “I said if you keep doing heroic deeds and helping anypony in need you’re gonna be famous. Guess I was right since you’re gonna be the new Guardian.”

I look down at him with a small frown. “But Spike, I only did those things because it was the right thing to do. I’m sure anypony else would’ve done the same thing even if I wasn’t around.”

“That may be,” I turn to Celestia, “but it was you who acted when nopony else would. It is just as you said, it was the right thing to do and that is the same mindset Rokai had. He also protected those in need and never thought twice about it. Especially as Twilight also said, you helped them all even though you had just arrived here.”

“What does me only just arriving here have to do with anything?” I ask with an arched brow.

“Before Sir Rokai came to our aid,” Luna speaks, “we found out from our mother that he hath been residing in Equestria for quite some time. About a month, if we remember correctly.”

“Seriously? He waited that long to reveal himself?” I ask.

“Verily, we had heard he preferred to remain undetected until he was convinced he wasn’t in any danger.” She says with a small giggle.

Talk about paranoid… I think to myself. Though to be fair, this was almost two thousand years ago so I guess a man of his time couldn’t help but be cautious. Especially in a world filled mythical creatures and magic.

“However,” Luna says, “he still had a noble soul and continued to help keep the peace, even before his reveal he helped ponies in secret.”

I sigh and look up the statue again. “But will I be able to measure up to the kind of man Rokai was? I know I did a few heroic deeds and it’s thanks to these powers I was able to, but I’m still me.” I said.

I feel a hand on my shoulder and see Celestia looking at me with a warm smile. “I can tell you this, William Saber. You have just as much of a noble and heroic soul as Rokai Stormborne had. Nopony expects you to jump into extreme danger so soon and be praised as a hero right away.”

I nod as she takes her hand off my shoulder. “I guess you’re right, I mean I did want to find out why I was sent here anyway. I guess I now know,” I say with a small smile. “So I guess the only question remaining is why specifically me? There were plenty of other humans on my world who probably were a better option yet I was chosen.” I said curiously.

“That is a question even I do not know,” Celestia said, “but perhaps you will discover the answer one day.”

“I guess I will, since I’ve now found my new purpose.” I tell her.

She smiles wider along with the others. “So does this mean…?” she says.

I smile back at her and stand up straight. I bring my right fist up and place it over my heart. “I may not yet be the guardian Rokai Stormborne was but I will surely do my best to honor his title. I will continue to help those in need just as I have been doing.” Unnoticed by me, my body begins to shine, “Whenever there is danger, I will face it,” the shine brightens a bit and the others stare at me wide eyes but I still continue, “where there is darkness, I shall be the light that will always vanquish it,” I still don’t notice the shine around my body and I feel a slight tingling on both my shoulders, “and as long as there’s breath in this body and strength in my soul, I, William Saber, shall serve as this worlds protector. I will become your new Equestrian Guardian!” I proclaim.

Suddenly, I finally notice the light illuminating from my body and the tingling in my shoulders. I start to float a bit in mid air as the shine brightens into a flash of light. The light soon dims and the tingling in my shoulders stop as I’m lowered back on the ground. I look at my hands and the rest of my body with a perplexed expression.

“Ok, that was weird…” I say to myself. I look up to the others and they are starring at me with surprised expressions. “Er, you all alright? That weird wasn’t it?”

“W-William,” Twilight stammers, “was that…?”

I arch a brow at her question, “Was that what? I don’t even know what happened. I just started glowing for some reason and I felt this strange tingling in my shoulders.” My last description made them all gasp while Pinkie Pie and the CMC were smiling up a storm.

“William, can you please remove your jacket and roll up your sleeves?” Twilight asks.

“Uh, ok?” I said confused. I take off my jacket and hand it to Spike and roll up both my sleeves. Again they gasp as they stare at my shoulders. “What’re you all gawking at? I literally took off my shirts back in the throne room so I doubt there’s anything you-“ I cut myself off as I look at my right shoulder and gasp.
On my shoulder was some kind of tattoo. It was a pair of hands facing upwards and in the middle was what looked like a Chinese dragon circling over four stars. Within the stars looked like a mix of the sun on the left side with its rays shining behind the dragon slightly and on the tight was a crescent moon. Each side had two stars over them and the hands looked like they were carrying them in a protective manor. I look to my left shoulder and see the same tattoo.

“What the? When did I have these tattoos?” I dumbly ask.

“William…” Twilight speaks up, “those aren’t, erm, tattoos. Those are cutie marks! That’s your cutie mark!” She shrieks.

“HUH?!?”

I gawk at both the marks on my shoulders. A cutie mark? On my shoulders? “No, no, no, no that’s impossible,” say in disbelief, “this can’t be a cutie mark!”

“But it sure looks like one!” Pinkie chirps, “Congratulations Willy! I’m gonna throw you a Cute-ceañera when we get back to Ponyville!”

“That cutie mark looks so awesome!” Rainbow says, “Is that some kind of dragon?”

“It certainly has a valiant look to it,” Rarity says, “it suits you, darling.”

“Wow,” Fluttershy whispers, “it’s a very nice cutie mark, William. I’m so happy for you.”

“Whoa whoa whoa WHOA!” I yell with my hands raised, “I’m telling you this can’t be a cutie mark because I’m a human!”

“What does that mean?” Twilight asks.

“Well for starters, humans don’t get cutie marks.” I said with my arms crossed.

“They don’t?” She asks. I nod, “but the bright shine from your body, especially from your shoulders, and the tingling sensation you described had all the signs of a cutie mark appearing.”

“Well I don’t what to tell you, humans don’t get cutie marks. Look, cutie marks are symbols that appear when sompony discovers their one special talent right?” I ask. They all nod, “Well we humans are different. We don’t discover what our special talents are until we’re much older. Sometimes it’s not just one specific thing, we can have many special talents and skill sets that dignify what we do for the rest of our lives.” I explain.

“Fascinating…” Twilight whispers as she scribbles on her paper. “But if that’s true, then how do you have one?”

I glance at my mark and shrug, “I have no idea…”

“I have a theory,” Celestia says, “perhaps it is due to your new body?”

“My new body?” I ask.

“You did say mother reincarnated you in this new body, correct?” She asks to which I nod, “Well perhaps along with your abilities and physique, this body of yours was also able to adapt to this worlds biological traditions? Such as you gaining your cutie mark which symbolizes your title as The Equestrian Guardian.” She explains.

“I guess that makes sense, sure wish I could ask the Queen about all this,” I say when I thought pops in, “speaking of which, where did Queen Faust disappear to?”

Celestia and Luna frown at the question and lower their heads slightly. “We have been asking that ourselves ever since she faded away…” she says, “We know she has not passed on for we would have known immediately, but we just do not know where she is. There were times when Luna and I would send ponies on expeditions and hire researchers to discover mothers whereabouts. We even asked our mentor, Starswirl the Bearded, if he knew anything. Unfortunately all trails came back cold…” she explains sadly.

“We hath even attempted to discover ourselves what happened to dear mother, only to be met with the same results…” Luna adds.

“I see,” I said, “seems like that sealing spell she casted on Drogoth did quite the number on her, from what I saw. Wherever she is, even after all these years, she must still be recovering the magic she used.” I ponder.

“Perhaps thee are right.” Luna says.

“Still,” I say while taking another glance at my new cutie mark, “I gotta admit, this does look pretty damn cool. Always wanted a tattoo, just didn’t really know what to get.”

“Um William, it’s not a tattoo,” Twilight corrects.

“Oh you know what I mean, Twilight…” I grumble.

“Well anyway, I think maybe we should return to the throne room,” Celestia says, “after all despite everything we still have an interview to complete.”

“Oh yeah, I completely forgot about that. Guess we all got a little side tracked since somepony decided to start it all off with such a serious question…” I say while deadpanning at Twilight. She blushes and smiles sheepishly while rubbing the back of her head.

We all laugh as we walk back towards the throne room. Before I walk inside I glance back at Rokai’s statue. It’s like he’s starring at me, expecting great things to come with me being here and succeeding here. I smile and give him a determined look.

I swear to you, I’ll be a worthy successor. I think to myself.

We all re enter the throne room and sit back in our seats. Spike hands me back my jacket and sits back down on his seat as I continue to stare at my new cutie marks. It’s definitely gonna take some getting used to, especially since they don’t feel like tattoos and it’s just my skin. Twilight and Luna sit next to me from before and giggle at me starring at my shoulders until Luna nudges me with her elbow.

“We see thou are admiring thy cutie marks quite fondly, Sir William. But may haps it is best to return to the interview at hand, for now.” She tells me.

I smile sheepishly and roll my sleeves down. “You’re right, it’s not like they’re going anywhere,” I say making her giggle. She surprises me yet again by taking my hand with hers and leans her head on my shoulder. I blush and the others start to giggle making me scowl at them slightly only to have them look away “innocently”.

What is it with Luna? First the kisses now the hand holding and head leaning? It’s like she’s got a huge crush on me and is planning to confess to me soon. Like that’ll ever happen, she’s a Princess and well…I’m just me. I think to myself. I glance down at her as she still has her head leaning on my shoulder. Her hand squeezes mine slightly and she sighs contently. Though I will admit, she is very pretty…

“So,” I speak up, “who else has a question for me?”

Twilight shoots her hand in the air and stares at me with a wide smile. I only stare at her with a smirk, “Nice try, Twilight. But you already asked your first question as promised. I think maybe you should wait before you ask something else that’ll get us more sidetracked than before.”

She huffs and looks away with a cute pouty face but still has her quill and paper ready to right. I look back towards the group and see Spike has his claw raised.

“What’s up Spike?”

“Well, I was wondering what else you eat? You seemed to like my pancakes so I wanna know what else I can make for you while you stay with us back at the library.” Spike says.

I frown slightly at his question. Since I’m now living with a bunch of ponies it’s obvious they’re herbivores. I hope they don’t judge me too harshly.

“Well as a human I can eat fruits and vegetables like the rest of you,” I say, “but we humans, myself included, are mostly omnivores.”

I see them all have mixed expressions. “S-so,” Fluttershy whispers, “you eat meat as well?”

I can only nod at her question but quickly speak up before any conclusions are made, “Yes I do, but just so all understand no I do not eat anything that’s sentient. The human diet consists of meats that like beef, chicken, fish, and other animals like that. I do not eat ponies, if that’s what you’re wondering.” I explain. They seem to calm down but are still a little anxious. Can’t be helped since I’m surrounded by ponies. Rainbow Dash raises her hand and I nod to her so she can speak.

“Ok big guy, how’d you do that beam of light thing to blow away the burning building back in Ponyville?” She asks.

Oh jeez, how do I explain this? I look at my free hand, since my other one seems to be “preoccupied”. Well, demonstrating is more effective than just describing it.

I look back up to Rainbow Dash and hold out my hand making her look at me confused. “It’s thanks to my power,” I say. I then focus my Ki to my hand and a faint glow is seen. The others stare with interest and anticipation. The glow starts to form into sphere until it gains its physical form of a small white ball of energy. I hold it in my hand as everypony in the room stares in awe making me smirk.

“This, my rainbow friend, is called Ki.” I say. I then toss the ball of Ki to her making her yelp as she barely manages to catch it. She holds in in her hands and stares at it.

“Whoa…it feels kinda warm and it’s squishy!” She says while gently squeezing it. Pinkie Pie then holds out her hand so she can have a turn with it. As soon as Rainbow gives her the ball, she sniffs it and attempts to lick it.

“Huh, it doesn’t taste like anything,” she says but then shakes slightly before handing it to Applejack, “but WOWIE it sure has a kick!” She chirps.

I chuckle and continue explaining, “Ki is also known as “latent energy” or “fighting power,” which directly translates as “life force.” This force is a tangible energy inside every living being, with its major focus being in the center of the body. By drawing it out, I’m able to manipulate it and use it outside my body. Ki can also be used for many different techniques.” Twilight seems to be writing down all I say since I can hear her scribbling down on her paper. The ball is then passed from Spike to Celestia who observes it.

“Interesting, what techniques can you use?” She asks.

“Well the main kinds are offensive attacks, such as the beam of energy from yesterday. Not only that but I can shape my Ki into a wide variety of attacks that have their own special abilities during battle. I can even use my Ki for defensive properties such as blasting away enemies with a shockwave of Ki and even use it to create barriers and shields to protect myself.” More scribbling from Twilight. “Another skill I recently discovered I can do is heal injuries with my Ki,” I tell them.

“You can heal injuries?” Twilight asks, “How?”

“Back when I saved Lyra and Bon Bon, Lyra had a small cut on her neck from the knife Heavy Step had,” I explain making some of the mares scowl. I snap my fingers making the ball dissipate out of Luna’s hand making her pout a little. I bring my hand up and raise my finger and focus. My finger is then covered in a bright blue aura and slowly covers my whole hand.
“This is my healing Ki. I used it to heal Lyra’s wound and it didn’t even leave a scar. Depending on how much Ki I put into the healing I can probably heal any injury no matter how serious.” Even more scribbling from Twilight.

“Amazing! There are so many abilities you can do with Ki!” Twilight squeaks. I smirk and turn towards her.

“Ki doesn't just let me fight, defend, and heal others. It also helps me get around.” I said.

“Get around? What’s that supposed to mean?” Rainbow Dash asks.

“Well for starters, I can teleport to places I’ve been to in a blink of an eye.” I reply making Twilight and Rainbow Dash stare at me wide eyed. “Not only that,” I pause and smile a shit eating grin, “I can fly with Ki to.”

Now everypony is starring at me with wide eyes. I stand up making Luna let go of my hand, much to her disappointment, and walk to the middle of the circle.

“Y-you can teleport?!” Twilight yelps.

“You can fly?!” Scootaloo surprisingly chirps.

“No way!” Rainbow interjects. Making me look at her at the corner of my eye. “You don’t even have wings! How can you fly without wings?” She accuses.

I smirk and shake my head, “I don’t need wings to fly, Rainbow Dash. And as for teleporting…” I say while I bring two fingers to my forehead.

“I can do it-“ SWISH

“Just-“ SWISH

“Like-“ SWISH

“This.” I say while teleporting with Instant Transmission to different corners of the room and ending standing right in front of Luna and booping the end of her muzzle because, why not? She blushes brightly and smiles dreamily which makes me chuckle. The rest of the mares were all looking around the room as I teleported throughout the room. When I stop they all gawk at my skill in awe and Twilight is furiously scribbling down on her paper.

“Incredible!” She shrieks again, “you teleported faster than any teleportation spell ever known!” I bow slightly at my performance and I see Rainbow smirking.

“I’ll admit, that was pretty cool. But I wanna see if you can actually fly without wings,” She insists.

I arch a brow and shrug my shoulders, “Alright.” I turn to the other side of the room and see a pair of double doors leading out to a balcony. “Can somepony open those doors?” I ask. Celestia obliges by opening them all the way with her magic. Ok, this is it. Time to truly test my powers… I think to myself.
I close my eyes and concentrate. My Ki starts to build up within me and I make it move downwards against the floor. I feel myself getting lighter as my Ki increases. I lift off of the floor earning a string of gasps from all around me. I slowly open my eyes and see I’m now hovering about six feet in the air. I look down to see Rainbow Dash dumbfounded and Twilight with an equally shocked expression as she’s still furiously writing on her paper. I smile and cross my arms.

“You think this is cool? You ain’t seen nothing yet!” I yell. I quickly pull out my EarPods and phone and scroll to a song and put my pods in my ears and hit play.

As soon as I hear the music I glance at the mares and wink. I launch myself out of the room and through the balcony doors. The feeling of the wind blowing in my face was amazing. I look down and see the many buildings pass under me and I see some of the ponies look up at me with shocked expressions. I smile wildly and pick up speed across the city. I’m now flying across the lake below Canterlot and fly close to the water and dip my hand in watch it glide across the water creating a small wake. I raise my Ki a bit and shoot high in the sky. I continue to fly higher and higher until I’m above the clouds. Once I’m high enough I look down and gaze upon the late afternoon sky and the city of Canterlot below. I start laughing out loud because of the pure happiness and excitement I’m feeling. I’m flying, I’m literally flying on my own and it’s the greatest feeling I’ve ever felt!

“THIS IS AMAZING! I LOVE THESE NEW POWERS!!!” I cry out to the world.

I notice that I can see the group at the balcony but can’t see their faces. I chuckle thinking they’re smiling at me with gawking expressions, as usual. I get an idea that’ll probably shock them silly, but will be pretty funny at the same time. I fly up higher in the air until I’m at a reasonable altitude and cancel my Ki. I drift in midair for a moment and start to fall. My falling picks up speed and I turn my body around with my arms and legs spread out. I’ve never gone skydiving before but now that I’m actually doing it I regret never giving it a try back home. My speed as I fall increases and the ground gets closer each passing second. I’m about 500 feet in the air and I feel like I’m close enough so I raise my Ki again. Once my Ki is raised, I launch forward just as I reach the ground and fly at top speeds through the streets. I’m dodging and weaving my way through the buildings and streets effortlessly while leaving a strong gust of tailwind behind me. I fly up to the castle and circle around it until I’m in front of the balcony with the group all slack jawed and wide eyed, unsurprising. I smirk and cross my arms as I hover in mid air.

“You believe me now?” I ask as soon as the song ends.

Nothing was said for a full minute, once again déjà vu sets in since this seems to be an official reoccurring scene. Rainbow Dash flies up to me and stares at me. She circles around me with the same shocked expression until she’s face to face with me. A smile begins to form until it covers her whole face. Rainbow throws herself at me and wraps me in a big hug, catching me off guard.

“THIS IS AWESOME!!! YOU CAN ACTUALLY FLY WITHOUT WINGS!!!” She yells. She pulls back and stares back at me with the same smile, “I’ve got a new flying buddy!”

I’m a little shocked at her actions but smile back as she pulls away. We both touch back down on the balcony and I’m surrounded by all the mares.

“THAT WAS SPECTACULAR!” Twilight shrieks.

“Boy howdy! That was some dang good flyn’, partner!” Applejack says.

“It was really scary when you were falling out of the sky but I thought it was so amazing how you flew in the air like that.” Fluttershy says softly but still loud enough for me to hear.

“THAT WAS SUPER DUPER, WILLY!” Pinkie chirps.

“What a spectacular performance, darling! You certainly know how to “wow” an audience!” Rarity swoons.

“THAT WAS SO COOL!!!” The CMC and Spike scream together.

I smile at all their continuous words of praise and awe. Once everypony calms down, Celestia and Luna walk up to me with wide smiles of their own. Luna has the same bright blush on her muzzle and starring at me with lidded eyes and a dopey smile. I meet them halfway and place a hand on my hip while smirking.

“I take it you two also enjoyed the show?” I ask.

Before Celestia could say anything, nothing and I mean NOTHING could prepare me for what happened in the next two minutes. Time slows down slightly as Luna walks up to me and wraps her arms around me for another hug and leans up to kiss me on the cheek. Or so I thought… Instead of kissing me on the cheek again, SHE PLANTS HER LIPS ON MY OWN KISSING ME FULL ON THE MOUTH!
I’m at a loss for words, thoughts, and air since I can’t breathe due to the utter shock I’m in. I’m being kissed, full on the lips, by the freaking PRINCESS OF THE MOON AND CO-RULER OF EQUESTRIA!
After an unbearable minute of her kissing me, she slowly pulls back and smiles while still adorning that bright blush. My eyes start to dry since I haven’t blinked since this whole scenario began. Luna turns her head slightly and looks at Celestia who has a bit of a shocked expression.

“Sister,” Luna says.

“Y-yes Luna?” Celestia answers.

Luna turns to me and pecks me once more on the lips.

OH COME ON!!! I shout in my head.

“We hath found him,” she says.

“Who?” Celestia wonders.

“Our one true love…” Luna sighs.

WHAT?!?!?!?!?

Author's Note

Well damn! He works fast and he didn’t even realize it. Also, TA DA!!!! I GIVE YOU WILLIAM SABER!!! Courtesy of my friend Taxderado!!! Huge shoutout to him for drawing this. Check out his page if you get a chance! If you’re wondering about the scouter, all will be revealed in due time! Hope you enjoyed! Next chapter, the third and final part of the Interview Ark!