A New War, A New Guardian

AJ blinked as he sounded older abruptly. Her eyes narrowed, seeing him swipe two fingers over the bracer on his right forearm which slid apart to expose two sapphire and gold gemstones inset within ivory metal. He spoke two words.

"Suleyk Tum," he invoked hoarsely before his armor dissipated into arcane flames, suffusing into the armored bracer before revealing his very battered and ragged clothes. Unknown to him, it was the Ancient Tongue of Dragonkin.

His shoulders tightened before flexing unconsciously as he shed the battered vest, which hit the ground with a deep thud. Her eyes widened as she swallowed hard, seeing the other mares and a couple of the Pillars gasp in surprise as his back, shoulders, and sides were covered in dozens of scars from blades and multi-lashed whips. More noticeable and fresher were what looked eerily like scars from the claws and fangs of a timber wolf. However, the edges of those were slightly darker, as if inflicted by claws that burned as they tore. He turned, showing his bare back. This simultaneously revealed the fact that he was packed with muscle, including an eight pack of abs and that the red birthmark also crossed his right pectoral and shoulder to the bottom of his ribcage.

"Damn, boy." Rainbow commented wryly. She noticed he didn't look much older than they were.

The Pony of Shadows looked somewhat impressed, a brow arching up. “Nice, but do you plan on killing me, or flexing your abs to the ladies?”

He then stepped in front of the human, leveling a stare at him. “If you’re looking for a fight, I suggest you go after the Wargs or Dragons.”

Curiosity then grasped Twilight as she noticed the letter in her hand, Applejack looking over her shoulder with a worried expression. “Ah’m sorry Sugarcube…”

Twilight fell to her knees, tears welling up as she slowly read the letter again… and again… and again. It was true. Spike had left her.

"Why would I seek out a fight? There's no purpose to it. I do not seek conflict so much as end conflict in a decisive manner. And I have no reason to kill you… if you do not mean harm to innocents. If you do, and I hear about it…" the male deadpanned dryly, squatting to pick up his battered vest. "And crying isn't going to bring him back, girl. Everyone has their own path in life. Rarely can anyone predict their path. Hell, I'd wager that if you encountered yourselves a decade ago, would they believe that they would be here at this moment if told? Hell, a week ago, the most I was focused on was having my gear ready for traversing those Spartan Ruins. Now? I wouldn't have imagined myself being the successor to someone who effectively not only purified but beat the hell out of no less than three major pantheons," he sighed, shifting back to his younger, less-bearded self. "Ugh… I will never get used to that," he said softly, shaking his head slightly as he turned away. He had no idea what he was going to do now, nor did he care, at least for the immediate moment, about forging connections. He didn't take more than a few strides before his stomach grumbled loudly.

“Hungry?” Fluttershy was next to him in an instant, pulling a bag of snacks from her backpack. She then presented a small sack of grapes and peanuts.

“Forget snacks!” Grumbled Rainbow, zipping up next to her friend. “The dome, you know, the thing that kept our lives safe and everypony happy, is gone! We need to get it back!”

“THE DOME IS WHAT?!” Starswirl exclaimed, eyes small as pinpricks.

"What the fuck are you talking about?" he deadpanned bluntly.

“Oh, she’s talking about the big magical bubble that gave all the unicorns their magic, helped the pegasus control the weather and fly fast, and us earth ponies grow loooooots of food.” Pinkie happily explained, smiling all the while as she hopped around the human.

"In other words, you went from controlling everything like a gear in a machine to being pretty much like on Earth. Meh… I've heard stranger things. Hell, my ancestor's uncle thought it funny to train my evasion skills by siccing Hellhounds on me," he sighed with a shake of his head.

“You don’t understand! The dome was more than a magical battery, it protected Equestria from all external threats!” The old wizard stressed, pacing. “If the dome isn’t returned, Equestria will die. Ponies will starve. Our government will crumble. And foals will die of all the diseases spread throughout the larger world.” the elder mage ranted, then turned to Pinkie. “How was it destroyed?”

“Fang-y absorbed it.”

“Fang-y?”

“She means Obsidian Fang, the Warg who swore to protect us.” Rarity put in, dusting her dress off.

"He ain't the only one confused, but… eh? Fuck," the male sighed as he turned, his eyes hardening. There were close to forty Draugr staggering closer.

“So, you’ll help us?” Fluttershy pleaded, her large eyes begging. “Pretty please? My animal friends need food, so many are very hungry…”

Applejack tilted her hat up. “He better, mah family’s crops need all the nurishment they can get, otherwise the town ain’t makin’ it through the summer.”

"I don't see how I can help. I know little about magic and compared to my ancestor, I'm about as skilled as this rock compared to a steel blade," he shrugged, nudging a rock with his sandaled foot before his head tilted. "But I can keep those Draugr off your back," he said as he rolled his shoulders. He suspected it would startle them as the golden bronze wings on his greaves unfurled before they gave two sharp flaps before he shot towards the Restless Dead in a barely visible blur, the only tracer of his movement being a crackling trail of golden white electricity before a good third of the Draugr were either slammed airborne or knocked back into their fellows hard enough to tumble them ass over tea kettle.

“Oh wow! Hazzah!” Rarity clapped with glee, turning to her friends. “Wasn’t that a splendid job?”

“Dude, that was awesome!” Rainbow Dash gushed as her wings fluttered, just barely hovering in front of him.

"Tre" started firing arrows charged with electricity or frost as the other male cocked an eyebrow, tugging free the heavy chopping Leviathan Axe.

"Perhaps, but that was more intended to clear room and give me an opening to," he commented before a head flew past the pale blue furred girl, leaking magma that carbonized into ash, decapitated by the weapon before he grabbed one Draugr by the arm and leg before he twisted, heaving it hard and toppling a dozen more like bowling pins, complete with sound effect, before hitting a standing boulder with a wet crunch before it fell apart into ashes.

"Huh… and here I thought that 'Deadheads' were only fans of the Grateful Dead, and here I am bowling with them," he commented wryly before he kicked one Draugr's leg out from under him before heaving him into a few others. He blinked as he felt something twitching in his grasp before he looked down, not realizing that he'd yanked its leg off.

"Oh, that is wrong," AJ commented, seeing the one legged Draugr being currently head and shoulders through another Draugr's chest.

“Look out! Behind you!” Rainbow shouted, pointing to a large Draugr that was charging him.

He turned just in time to wrap both arms around its chest and fall back into a belly-to-belly release suplex. "Ugh… damn… I'd much rather hug a cute girl than an undead that smells like rotten eggs," he deadpanned as he used an inverted shoulder roll to regain his footing before he set about removing limbs and heads. A few he even split from clavicle to navel vertically.

In a moment of pure panic and adrenaline, Fluttershy gave the nearest body a deathgrip, that body being the human. Tears in her eyes, she repeatedly shouted, “I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I’m sorry!”

"For what, caring? It's something far too overlooked, in my experience. Though hopefully these souls are at peace. Requiescat in Pacè," he sighed. He exhaled softly as he sat heavily, exhausted. Adrenaline was only able to carry him so much… but no longer.

“Oh my,” the shy pegasus gently took hold of him and set him down on the ground, his head in her lap. “Ssshhhhh… rest up…”

"If I'd been told a week ago that I'd meet a deity of War as well as Death, and the Titaness of Love… I'd have called them full of shit," he muttered hoarsely.