The Runic Protector

Chapter 1

Pain... The soldier in black armor used his left hand to cover the wound on the right side of his stomach. He dropped to one knee and grimaced as the sudden action aggravated the wound. It would have been even more unbearable if he wasn’t wearing his padded knee guard. The mystery warrior whipped the barrel of his Scorpion Evo 3 around to his right. The 3 rounds slammed into the chest of the mercenary to the right that wounded him. He watched the opponent fall to the floor, not moving. He whipped his submachine gun to his front, allowing 9 rounds to fly, dropping 3 more enemies. However, they only grazed his armor with some bullets they fired at him.

The mysterious soldier bolted down the hallway that had the 3 dead mercenaries pressing his left shoulder against the corner, using it as cover in case he entered another firefight. He pulled out a Medi-gel spray from the pouch on the right side of his tactical belt. He sprayed just enough of it into the wound for it to work. He suppressed some grunts from the pain of the bullet being pushed out and felt the wound mended. “God damn! They can make a spray that can heal wounds in seconds, but they can’t stop the damn pain.” He grunted out. He had brushed his forearm against the bullet hole to deposit some nanobots, and they immediately worked on repairing the hole once they finished. They returned to the Nano forge housed in the vambrace of his right arm.

He peeked around the corner, seeing a group of enemies in front of his aim and immediately pulled his head back as he heard rounds whizz past his head; he pulled one corpse closer to him by hooking his right foot underneath the breastplate. He unhooked and freed the grenade bandolier from underneath the corpse, then he looked over it for a few seconds, activating one of the plasma grenades on the belt before he immediately chucked the entire belt with all the plasma grenades down the hall with the group of mercenaries. He felt the heat from the massive blast. He had to wait for a couple of minutes for the plasma and heat to dissipate, before he looked around the corner again.

He noted that the mercenaries and their equipment disappeared. Nothing left, not even ash. The walls, floors, and ceiling slightly melted from the plasma grenades. The mystery warrior didn’t waste any precious time, so he triple checked his surroundings to determine whether anyone was coming after him before bolting toward the room. He practically forced the door off its hinges on impact with his shoulder. It hurt like hell, but it didn’t stop him. He raised his Scorpion Evo 3 at his next target, flipping the select fire switch to the single-shot mode with his thumb. He squeezed the trigger twice, shooting his target in both shoulders, rendering her arms useless.

“Anima Shatter your crimes against all planes of existence are kidnapping, illegal experimentation on minors, the genocide of multiple races, numerous counts of corrupting peoples’ soul, abundant counts of creating weapons of mass destruction, among countless other crimes you have committed. However, the worst crime you have committed was the attempted resurrection of an Evil, Eldritch God that could have destroyed all planes of existence. You will not have a trial, you will not plead your case, you will only receive your punishment right here right now. Your punishment is immediate execution and destruction of your soul.” He was informing her of her crimes and her punishment. He unsheathed his sword activating a few runes on his Chokutō stabbing her in her heart and then stabbed her in where her mind’s eye would be effectively killing and eradicating her soul. He flicked the blood off of his blade and then placed his blade in the crook of his armor, wiping the rest of the blood off before sheathing his sword. He walked over to her holo-computer, then uploaded a virus into the network that destroyed all information and any device connected to it. He readied his submachine gun, noticing he only had 19 armor-piercing rounds left before he had to reload, and put a round in the forehead of each mercenary he saw running toward him.

“Goddess Feronia, Anima has received her punishment according to the laws you have set, please transport me to the next plane of existence because I only have two minutes left before the detonation!” Avarith shouted as he was being fired upon and began thinking about how to even the odds since he was down to his second fifty round magazine for his scorpion Evo.He placed the empty magazine into a pouch and reloaded the gun with his last full magazine of 9mm armor-piercing for the Scorpion Evo and shot a mercenary between the eyes. He continued to shoot until he was down to his last round. He put the last bullet between the eyes of a mercenary that was about to toss a grenade. Once he realized the grenade was a flash-bang he rushed from his cover, also known as Anima’s fucking plasma and laser-resistant glass desk, slamming his armored shoulder against the wall beside the broken doorway and letting his submachine gun slap against his chest. He gripped the newly constructed knife in his right hand and thanks to his closed helmet and closing his eyes; he was unaffected by the flashbang once his eyes were open; he saw a handgun poking into the room; he waited for the mercenary to come further into the room before grabbing the gun and stabbing them in the neck. He spun the dying mercenary around causing the knife to slice both carotid arteries in her neck and allowed him to use her corpse as a meat shield otherwise he would have been riddled with plasma burns, laser wounds, or bullet holes. He began returning fire with the handgun he took from his heat shield; he made sure each shot would hit a carotid artery in his neck so he wouldn’t have to waste bullets. It was fate or the cruel humor of the omniverse, but he was down to the last 10 seconds and the last 10 rounds each time he shot and killed an enemy as he watched the ammo counter on his heads up display… 9… 8... 7... 6... 5... 4... 3... 2...

‘If I am to go out like this, at least I will take these fuckers with me and this will be mission completed, even if I won’t be able to continue to serve Lady Feronia.I’m sorry, my little girls. It looks like I cannot keep my promise, but at least you will have Lady Feronia to watch over you until we can meet each other on the branches of Yggdrasil.’With that last thought going through his mind he fired his last bullet and watched the counter hit zero, with an all mighty roar powerful enough to shake and rip the space station into trillions of pieces he dropped the handgun and closed his eyes waiting for the explosion to disintegrate him into nothing leaving only his sword behind for his little girl to take up once she was ready. He could have retired when she was born and let his second-in-command take over. However, he felt like it would betray his honor and savior if he did, but most of all he felt an indescribable urge and feeling. That if he didn’t push on, he would lose his little girls forever, not because of Feronia but because of THEM! His eyes snapped open with fury. Left eye blood red and ablaze with raw indomitable primordial wrath. His right eye simmered akin to liquid gold; glowed with an indomitable will to protect and watch over the innocent. The only thing this mysterious warrior saw was a void, light could not puncture it.

Meanwhile, in Equus

The third person’s Pov

On the planet Equus

in a certain room in the castle of the Two Sisters

“Hahaha… Even if you got the Elements of Harmony, it means nothing if you can’t hit me!” Nightmare moon cackled as she was dodging attacks from six mares with the elements of harmony before these mares got the elements, she was playing with them. She just occasionally blasted one or two mares out of the circle of their ‘Friendship’ and let them rejoin the group, ‘these foals think they could win with the so-called magic of friendship. I want to see them try, they probably still think I’m using my full power.’

“Stay still, you coward!” Rainbow Dash yelled out of frustration at what Nightmare Moon was doing. She rushed Nightmare moon out of anger, only to be sent flying into a wall with a whack from Nightmare’s tail after it solidified using magic. She got up and rushed Nightmare Moon again, only to receive a punch this time. This was only making her angrier, causing her to continue to rush Nightmare and get beaten back.

“Rainbow Dash!” All five of the mares screamed out their friend’s name. They charged at Nightmare only to get flung back into a wall after receiving an attack from her. How long has Twilight, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie been fighting Nightmare moon minutes, hours, or days? Even they didn’t know. The eternal darkness didn’t help either with trying to tell time. The only one to go unhurt out of the six of them was Fluttershy, which soon changed when a magic bolt from Nightmare Moon hit her.

"Fluttershy!” They called Fluttershy’s name in alarm and immediately stopped their assault on Nightmare moon to be at their fallen comrade’s side

“You just did a big no no Auth…” An unknown entity whacked across the back of her head before she could finish her sentence and then heard a voice.

“Pinkie Pie, you know I don’t like hurting Fluttershy either… Now can we continue with the story?”The mysterious voice informed Pinkie Pie.

“Fine.” Pinkie Pie retorted with some venom in her voice and let out a sigh while others stared at her, including Nightmare Moon. She pulled out her party cannon and began firing pound cakes at Nightmare moon, they don’t let those pound cakes fool you, Pinkie Pie is practically shooting concrete cannonballs at Nightmare with how stale they are. “They are not stale! They just haven’t ripened yet!”

‘Fine, you are correct Pinkie Pie, they are unripen pound cakes, even though cakes aren’t fruits. Also, you are fined four hundred bits and sent to Edge Blackstar for breaking the fourth wall twice. The fourth wall gets harder and harder to fix it each time you break it, you know. It’ll help him with his cuddling rehab.’

“Cuddling is addictive with cute fluffy creatures, I hope he breaks his addiction.” Pinkie pie pulled out a bit bag that held four hundred bits and tossed it into the void, helping pay Blackstar’s rehab payments. This reality-braking action of pulling a massive party cannon from her mane and tossing four hundred bits into the void had stunned Nightmare Moon only long enough for her to launch into the wall after receiving a pound cake to the abdomen. This gave the six mares enough time to regroup and try one last time to blast Nightmare moon with the elements of Harmony.

“Vanyali skölir eka!” The mares heard a stallion yell just before the beam could touch Nightmare, causing it to divert course to a figure in black that rushed past them. The harmonic beam converged on his left arm, condensing into a kite shield with a dragon head as the decoration on the face of the shield with its eyes constantly changing colors.

“Gath iet sverd un iet lam!” The mysterious soldier shouted but this time a sword flew from the scabbard on the left side of his hip into his empty right hand, a few runes lit up along the spine of the blade releasing a powerful surge of mana locking the group of mares in place watching the soldier with curiosity, fear, and concern.

“You! You should be Dead, I killed you a millennium ago!!!” Nightmare roared with surprise and fear as the creature rushed her, which caused the girls to gasp with shock and worry that this man had died and was resurrected.

“You seem to have forgotten that I have two little girls and a granddaughter to look after and I will not die under your naked blade no mater what, so you can just release Luna and FUCK OFF!!!” The girls could feel the warrior’s irritation and sadness flowing off of him, causing even Rainbow dash to cower behind a pillar and to cry but what shocked them was that he had a little girl. He launched himself at Nightmare so fast she barely evaded his attacks, causing a portion of the wall to collapse and blasting him in the back with a powerful beam only for it to be absorbed by his shield. When Nightmare saw this, she summoned her sword and swung for his neck to make sure he died this time. It was slender and the tip of the blade could easily touch the ground; it had six runes on both sides of the blade glowing with a sickly purple with shadows flowing off the blade. Their blades met with a clang, then Nightmare shot a blast of magic from her hand only to be deflected by the shield. The soldier angled his sword and caused Nightmare’s sword to slide up and away from him. The soldier got his opening and bashed Nightmare with his shield using his full force, causing her to crash through a thick wall. He readied himself for Nightmare moon to retaliate.

And retaliate she did, he got sent flying upon receiving a strike from Nightmare; he wasn’t expecting her sword to double as a whip with segmented portions of the sword. He seriously wasn’t expecting that at all, then again he should have expected it. He hit the wall hard until he actually felt the armor protecting him creak and pieces falling off. Damn, she can pack quite a punch with that whip sword?… No, let’s call it a snake sword that sounds better. He thought to himself.

“Damn woman, if I wasn’t able to repair my armor and weapons you would owe quite a few favors or a lot of money because this armor alone cost a lot.” He informed his attacker as he got back up causing more pieces of his armor to fall off, he wasn’t happy that his favorite and only armor was getting damaged and broken but he wasn’t as pissed since he could repair it because he doubted any blacksmith on this world could.

“Why don’t you die, you abomination, you murderer, you DEMON!!!” She screeched and whipped her snake sword once again aiming to remove his head only for it to be repelled with a bash of his shield, the six women watching could see that he was thinking about something only for him to flip the sword around so that he was using the spine of the sword. He wasn’t enraged or even happy; he was mostly sad that it led up to this at all. It hurt him that she called him that and that the words came from Luna’s body even if nightmare moon took it over. He didn’t let it affect him but the pain and sadness showed on his pupils, the six mares saw and could almost feel the torment behind his gaze. It felt as if an indescribable weight lay upon their shoulders threatening to bring them to their knees and rob them of their breath.

He charged Nightmare moon making sure that his shield was in between him and his opponent, he bashed the snake sword out of the way delivered a swift to her side causing her to take a few steps to not get thrown around by the force and before she could recover he followed the attack up with a sweep of his sword knocking her to the ground and slammed his shield into her chest with so much force that it cracked the Oskian stone floor. Oskian is the hardest known stone in all of Equis, sadly it couldn’t be mined anymore for the person who knew how to craft the tools to mine it had disappeared long ago and all the tools left behind had been too badly degraded over time all but one anyway waiting to be reclaimed from the royal treasury vault in Canterlot.

The six girls watched as the veteran soldier was using only his sword and that magic shield to fight, and even pushed Nightmare Moon back in an unfair fight. The two magic users of the group and the alicorn could tell that he had no magic, but him saying those words changed the harmonic magic from hitting nightmare and turned it into a shield that can be physically touched and deflect magic. The soldier was doing his best to not die in the fight; he was still occasionally getting hit by either the spells or the crazy whip sword thing. His opponent was getting sluggish and tired, flung his shield with his full force, causing Nightmare to fly back and hitting the cracked portion of the wall that she slammed him into. “We need to use the elements on her right now while she is weak enough for it to affect and hit her!”

“Yes, sir!” The group eked out and readied their elements once again, Twilight glimpsed at the man pulling out three crystals the other three she didn’t know one was gold-colored, the second one was silver-colored, and the final one was viridian, the crystals swirled around his left hand in a circle and pointed it at Nightmare. Once Nightmare burst through the hole in the wall, the group of mares fired at her. The soldier waited for the attack to connect before activating his elements with a simple word.

“Ethgri!” His beam connected with Nightmare and then merged with the other beam, increasing its power. He even sheathed his sword and then used his right hand to merge the shield into the attack to make it even more powerful. The beam was so powerful that there was no chance for the Mare of the Night to return or even be able to manipulate people. And a trap was set so nothing similar could happen again. Once the beams stopped the misty remains of Nightmare tried to fly out of the castle but with a bright light, the mist was replaced with a crystal sphere and fell into the right hand of the soldier. He walked over to the butter-yellow mare wearing a dress that was inspired by nature with the embroidered flowers and three butterflies on the hem of the dress.

He raised his left hand that still had the three elements of harmony circling it over her wound and simply spoke three words. “Gëuloth un heill.”

“Oh… Um, thank you, sir.” Fluttershy jumped in surprise and whispered her thanks nervously as it healed her and her dress repaired itself from his magic. He returned her thanks with a bow.

“You have done well my little ponies.” Celestia praised her student and friends as she approached them making clicks with her gold high heels and the hem of her white dress with gold embroidery artwork fluttering in the ethereal wind just like her rainbow hair, the solar rays shining on her alabaster skin making her even more pretty and her wings folded against her back.

“Thank you, Princess Celestia, but we couldn’t have done it without him, uh, whoever he is.” She gestured to the man with her left hand. Now that the sun was up, she got a better look at him. He was wearing black armor that was airtight but still-allowed limb movement somehow. His left eye was blood red while his right eye was gold. He was even wearing a black cloak, there was a silver spiderweb embroidered onto it, and the portion of the cloak that was still in the darkness looked like it was oozing shadows. He got down on one knee with both of his hands on the pommel of his sword that was stabbed into the ground.

“He was the statue holding the Elements of Harmony.” Twilight finally recognized him

“Yes, my dear Twilight, but sadly his deeds were lost to the annals of history. He gave up so much, lost so much, and he never asks for anything in return, even if he was he would turn it down saying. ‘I am unworthy of such lavish gifts, I only wish is to make the realms safer for my daughters and granddaughter as atonement for them.’” Celestia said that when she got a look at the soldier, she walked over to him and gave him a kiss on the top of his helmet.

“I thank you for returning me, my sister and the co-ruler of Equestria.” Celestia thanked the soldier, her Student and her friends.

“I am unworthy, and I can’t let go of my sins, for I have yet to atone for them and there are far too many for me to list in a single day.” He curtly responded. He wished she hadn’t released that information at all. He received a glare from the fashionista wearing an elegant white dress that had gems stitched into it, that in his eyes only made her look gaudy, and wearing stilettos that looked tacky. He just shrugged it off and returned his gaze to the floor. She harrumphed as if she could hear what he thought of her outfit.

“SISTER!” All six mares yelled in surprise once it registered what their solar princess had said.

Celestia approached her sister with tears running down her cheeks and wrapped her sister in a hug. “I’m sorry that I have neglected you, I’m sorry that I wasn’t there for you and I’m even more sorry that I had sent you away from your Eldritch Soldier and only friend. Can you ever forgive me, my little sister and rule with me once again?” Celestia cried out while sobbing into her sister’s shoulder.

Luna had beautifully tanned skin and wearing a navy blue dress with silver embroidery artwork and a crescent moon on it, she had on silver high heel stilettos with her navy blue wings wrapped around her sister. Her hair was like that of midnight, but it faded out to white and flowed in the ethereal wind just like her sister.

“I forgive you sister and I’m sorry I pushed you away, I at least wished that my little Eldritch Soldier left me a note before he left on his mission.” Luna retorted and looked at her eldritch soldier.

He released his grip on his sword and slammed his head into the ground with a loud crack, sending a spiderweb crack out from where his head hit the ground while also bowing to the princesses.

“I’m sorry that I didn’t inform you before I left and I shouldn’t have caused you unnecessary worry and angst, I do not deserve forgiveness for the mistakes and sins of delivering a fair, gorgeous, innocent, and divine being into the hands of evil. Since I have failed to protect my charge, I will gladly accept any punishment that you deem worthy of my sins, even if it is my execution.” His action and what he had said shocked everyone, even the princesses. Which caused Princess Luna to cry even more that her long-time friend and trusted soldier of the kingdom would even suggest that they execute him for failing to do his duty.

“But you had no way of knowing that your actions would cause this,” Twilight stated and tried talking the soldier out of wanting the execution as his punishment.

“You do not understand fair lady Twilight, I knew full well of the mental state that Lady Luna was in before I left to complete my mission and since I was her only emotional support, this was the result. So it was my fault that this happened in the first place and before you could say it was your fault Lady Celestia, I had already known of the trouble boiling on the Minotaur front and I was planning on dealing with it before Lady Luna had gotten word of it.” He kept his forehead pressed against the stone floor and continued to wait for his punishment with grim determination.

“Your rank and power has been revoked for failing your mission of protecting the princesses and removed from both the Solar and Lunar guards,” Celestia said with mock fury, and with a wave of her right hand, she used magic to rip off the solar and lunar guard symbols from his armor and teleported them to her dimensional storage.

He stood with a sorrowful sigh and walked to the rulers of Equestria; he used the hem of his shadow spider cloak to wipe away their tears. He rested his head on both their heads like a father comforting his daughters.

“I’m sorry that I have failed the two most divine beings in all Equus, I will travel the world and atone for my sins until I can be your eldritch soldier again. I shall collect my things and leave.” He tried to leave, but the princesses refused to let him go and Luna stood up with his sword appearing in her hands. He was confused about what was happening.

“By my power as the princess of the night and dreams. Co-ruler of Equestria and raiser of the moon. For your brave actions of fighting Nightmare moon off and dying while doing so and waiting a millennium after resurrecting to fight her once again and saving me.” She rested and tapped his sword against both his shoulders with his sword, then rested the sword on his armored head.

“I dub thee Exalted Protector of Realms, protector of the Children of the Stars and their Night Mother and the wielder of Determination, Faith, and Patience the three hidden elements of Harmony. I also reinstated your power and rank in the Lunar guards” Princess Luna placed the Umbral Guardian’s sword in the palms of his hands and watched as he gripped the sword with reverence.

“I humbly accept this position and protect you and your citizens with my life, and I WILL not fail you this time, my fair Quasi Goddess Luna.” He reluctantly accepted but took it seriously. He sheathed his sword as he stood up, his armor liquified, and retreated into his right vambrace revealing that he was six feet ten inches tall with Celestia two inches shorter than him and Luna four inches shorter than him. His silver hair fell to the small of his back in a ponytail, his left eye was blood red and his right eye was golden. He was wearing a skin-tight black shirt that showed off his athletic body and scars that littered his chest, back, and arms. He was wearing black pants that were comfortable but also not too loose, he also had on black leather boots that he could also wear with a tuxedo.

“Do we not have somewhere to be, Lady Celestia?” He asked the solar princess curiously.

“Ah yes, the summer sun celebration, Pinkie Pie, I think we need a party for our victory and the safe return of my sister.” As soon as Celestia finished that sentence, Pinkie pie was already floating in the air, taking in a big gasp. She was wearing a pink skirt with three balloons. A white shirt with a pink heart in the center, and a pair of light blue boots that came halfway up her shins.

“I get to throw a party for the defeat of Nightmare Moon and the return of princess and not just that, I get to throw a party for the legendary soldier that saved all Equus many times, even saved Ennulth and helped the princesses with Discord, Sombra, Grogar, and his recent release from his stone entombment. IGOTAPARTYTOPUTTOGETHERSEEYOUATSURGERCUBECORNERSEEEVERYPONYINTWENTYMINUTES!” The pink party pony took in a deep breath and then disappeared in a blink of an eye, leaving a pink mist of her form as she hurriedly started setting up the party and sending invites out to the entire town of Ponyville.

“Of course, her descendants would be just like her.” He just shook his head and escorted the seven women back to Ponyville for the party. The five younger mares stared at him like he just said something that broke the rules of everything, their minds were still trying to process with what he had just spoken.