Author's Note

I just wanted to thank you for such a great response under the first chapter. I am very pleased and enjoy reading

Guardian of the ancients

The year 2100 - Twenty minutes before Operation Ragnarok

"War is organised madness destroying the best of humans".

I used to think that the words of Eugene B Sledge.... American soldier and World War 2 biologist were exaggerated. Because oh that's me. The commander of one of the last bastions of humanity, who should have no feelings whatsoever, I sit beside my nephew who is barely looking at the wall as the EIR unit tries to clean the wound from his cut hand and prevent infection barely holding back tears. I try to keep my cool but I have failed on so many levels. I have failed as a sister.... an aunt... or just a soldier. Seemingly I should be used to it after such a time of shadow warfare but I'm not able to. Seeing people whose psyche is slowly being destroyed I can deduce that they were once like me. Warriors who thought that war was just a pastime that would end quickly. However, no. It is a nightmare from which one cannot wake up.

I close my eyes having my nephew's only hand at my mouth. I try to calm him down but it's really difficult. "Aunty." The boy finally spoke up. "Is this the end of us?"

"No." I replied quickly. "Certainly not. Remember that you and your mother planned Operation Ragnarok? This is a chance for all of us." He only looked at me with eyes faintly red from crying.

"This is not a rescue. It's the ultimate form of desperation..."

"We live in sheer desperation all the time Sasha. At times like these.... desperation is the only weapon we have." I patted him lightly on the head. "It will work Sasha. It doesn't matter how but it will work. Everything will be fine." I smiled at him falsely because I didn't believe it myself and he picked up on it and at that moment this Kit flew up to us. Sasha's robot with a glass of water. So the robots will be serving a glass of water in their old age... "How's the Kit situation?"

"Well..." He started rather reluctantly as he gave Sasha a drink from his cup. "Totally it's over. We're losing. Some people said they had a plan. I hope they succeed."

"Yes. Hope is also a good weapon." Suddenly we heard a bang. "What was that?"

"The Shadows have broken through the barrier!" Shouted one of the situation monitors. "Exactly ten of them. They're trying to get through the door! If they come in here we will all die. We practically have no weapons!"

I looked at the screen where you can see perfectly how ten rather sizable shadowy monsters are trying to force their way into the base. With trepidation, I could hear the powerful thuds of claws even kilometres underground. A general panic began to set in. I, in this situation, only looked in the mirror. Years spent fighting had taken place on me. My dark brown hair is cut short and always in disarray, as if I haven't had time to groom it in a long time. My face is adorned with scars - two particularly prominent: one runs from my right eyebrow arch diagonally to the middle of my cheek, the other, narrower, cuts across my left lip. My once bright blue eyes have faded slightly. The muscles show that I have trained for years but.... for what I'm about to do physical strength is of no use to me.

I run for a shotgun with technology that is capable of killing shadowy people. Unfortunately this was only recently discovered so the chances of knocking them all out were poor anyway. So I loaded the cartridges with pain in my eyes and approached my nephew, who already knew what I wanted to do. I touched his cheek and kissed his forehead. "I love you Sasha. Create a new better world for us."

"Auntie please. I just lost my dad." His eyes glazed over. "I don't want you too."

I smiled at him lightly stroking his long hair. "You're made for great things darling."

I heard a sudden gasp. I looked in that direction to see Sasha's girlfriend. Zeira is a representative of the Thalven race. Her purple face is slender, with clear, sharp features. She has five eyes. Two aligned vertically on either side of her face and one larger, vertical one on her forehead. They are all of an intense golden colour. Her hair is a luscious green colour, reaching slightly past her shoulders. Zeira does not care for her hairstyle in the traditional sense. Her race is practically all warriors including her. This lifestyle does not allow her such luxuries and especially not in the last few years. Her pointed, distinctly elongated ears stick out from behind her strands, accentuating her exotic figure. Usually she is dressed in armour but now in a plain white shirt, which she had to modify to accommodate the extra two arms, jeans with a tail of fur sticking out the end and some sneakers.

She ran up to us with a fastidious face. Several scars from years of fighting were clear. I have rarely seen this breed worried but now I understand her. She is terrified. "And what happened to you?!" She roared so that half the people were looking at us. "That's how I asked you to be careful! I can't lose you!" He didn't answer me anything just looked at me. Zeira looked back at me. When she noticed Shotgun she understood what I wanted to do. "Ms Novákový. We can't lose any more..."

"There is no other way Zeira." I touched her arm. "Good luck in the new world." Without looking back I ran to the lift where I could already see that this would be my end.

Present times - Canterlot

"To be honest I didn't believe you were right." Said Rainbow Dash to me as we walked towards the castle after exiting the train. I rolled my eyes at this unkind yet honest to goodness comment. Yes I know the concept of an ancient civilisation even before the first pony is madness but apparently I was right. From what the princess wrote in the letter there was a mechanical guard that shut down and the room itself looked dilapidated so it must be old. Unfortunately I couldn't think on it because my friend kept talking. "Like was this supposedly ancient civilisation really that advanced now that it's gone?"

"Gosh Rainbow stop it." Applejack replied to her. "Didn't you listen to what Twilight was saying? This civilisation could have existed millions if not more years ago. And if this is some kind of bunker then they were hiding from something."

"And that worries me." Fluttershy said. "They were probably defending themselves from something bad. What if it comes back?"

"That's scary darling but if that thing was going to attack us it would have already attacked. What do you think Pinkie Pie?"

"What do you think Rarity?!" Shouted our pink friend. She's been so excited ever since she found out about all this. "I'm going to have a welcoming party! If there was a ranger there then there are probably these ancient creatures somewhere! So many new friends!"

Ah. All Pinkie Pie. Always so happy and upbeat, and the chatter about ancient beings had started between them again. I wish I could be as optimistic as Pinkie. I would love to believe that these creatures are alive but since there was a guard and not just one, they must have been defending themselves from something. The princess also said there was an image of monsters they were probably defending themselves against but also possibly their language, which is incomprehensible to us. I'm lucky to have learned the translation spell. Maybe it will come in handy.

However, I still can't pull myself away from one thought. What if Fluttershy is right and what once attacked them may return? We don't even know if the creatures are alive or not. Eh. I don't know what to think about that but luckily I don't have to anymore because we finally arrived at the castle. One of the guards led us to the very bottom of the castle where in a cave the princesses were trying to study something.

I was about to ask them something but my attention was caught by images. One creature in particular. It looks like a monkey in clothes with many medals and the fur is only on its head. There is something written on this painting but I can't decipher it. Will try later. "Twilight." Princess Celestia called back to me. "Hello, how was your journey there?"

"Everything was trouble free only Pinkie and Rainbow kept talking about it and it was a bit noisy. Now they are quiet so I think they like it." Suddenly we heard a shout. "Fluttershy?" The cream pegasus hid behind me showing me a picture which also scared me and I think that's what the princesses were talking about. ‘What is it?’

"We don't know." Princess Luna replied, coming up to us. "We only guess that these Shadows monsters led to the end of this race. Or they were the reason for their hiding."

"So what? A great ancient civilisation lost to.... shadow? That's a bit weak."

"That shadow dear Rainbow Dash must have been powerful" Princess Celestia stated, looking at the image hostilely. "Since this civilisation was so powerful that it created strong guards it couldn't have fallen to a mere opponent or even an invader."

"That's right. The letter mentioned some kind of guard. Where is he?"

The princess wordlessly went to the other wall where some sizable creature of metal lay. Most of my friends refused to approach except Rainbow and Pinkie. Rainbow was flying over it trying to get a closer look and Pinkie was just being Pinkie and jumping around it. I tried to look at it but I completely didn't understand it. There was some writing on the guard but I couldn't decipher it. I also tried to scan with magic but nothing.... nothing but something in his head that pulsed terribly. I climbed on top of it because it was indeed really sizable and I saw a sort of indentation. Wanting to figure out how it worked I started describing possibilities on how I could open it. However, everything was interrupted by Rainbow hitting it with her hoof, this.

"RAINBOW!" I shouted when suddenly its head opened. "Eeee. Thank you."

His head seemed to open showing what looked like a metal brain. Unsure I reached out with my hoof. It was too deep so I tried to grab it with magic which succeeded. But not for long, because as soon as I lifted it slightly the guard suddenly started to move. Strange lights came out from inside it and it started to get up. Oh no. Oh no! I jumped to the ground from a height. I was caught by Rainbow. She put me on the ground and, slightly terrified, we watched the guard come back to life. His eyes flashed red. He leaned on one of his forelegs enough to stand upright. Oh boy, no legs. He must have been struggling with something. The other of his limbs turned into a sort of .... I can't describe it. It became sort of hollow but there was energy inside and he aimed it at us. He started looking at us and after a while a beam of light came out of his eyes. It was not painful and his eyes turned blue and his limb turned normal. After a moment of silence I was the first to come out to greet him.

"Greetings O eternal guardian." I bowed to him as he looked at me wordlessly. "I am Twilight Sparkle. And these are my friends and the Princesses" The Princesses came up and said hello but he still didn't answer anything. "Emmm. Mr. Guardian?"

" --------------- ------ -----"

"He seems to have said something. Maybe it's his language." Applejack approached a little more confidently. "He looks friendly. I have something versatile." She handed him an apple. "Here you go. It's a gift from the Apple family. I hope we can live side by side without any problems." The guard accepted the apple. Wait wait wait. Well, of course. He speaks his language. We have another one.

"Wait a minute. I'll cast a translation spell on us. Then maybe we can communicate with him." They all nodded and I started to charge the horn and concentrate on this one spell. It is quite difficult but after a while I finally managed to cast it on all of us. Slightly tired I had to sit down which didn't escape the attention of my friends. "It's nothing like that. It's just a challenging spell. Princess. Can you come up and see if it worked?"

"Of course. You did a great job." Princess Celestia approached the guard. The guard bowed slightly? This caused us a little consternation. Did he understand what we were saying to her? "Guard. Do you understand us now?"

"Yes Princess Celestia. Thank you for the activation." The guard spoke up as if in a mechanical voice. We all started to rejoice and celebrate but that was only half the story. "Can this unit know where it is? I can't detect any satellite connections." Okay. I completely misunderstood him.

"You're in Canterlot." She replied feeling increasingly confident. "And forgive me but I didn't understand. What is this satellite connection? And more importantly what is your name?"

"I am a Goliath unit numbered 069, and a satellite link is a link that allows me to determine where the unit is located." Pinkie shouted and ran towards him jumping on top of him. I wanted to stop her but the guard didn't react to her. He just stared. "Can the unit ask a question?" He addressed the princess directly, who nodded. "What is your racial ID? There is no intelligent race in my database with your appearance."

"We're Ponies silly!" Squealed Pinkie laying on his shoulder and started to point at us. "With wings they're Pegasuses, with horns they're Unicorns, with nothing they're Earth ponies and with wings and horns they're Alikorns! EEEEEEEEEEE! I'm so happy to throw you a welcome party! Do you have any more friends?!" Before she could start running after him again Rarity took her in magic and put her on the ground. "Rarity!"

"Pinkie darling. I understand you're happy because we have a new friend but he's probably been asleep for so many years. You can't torment him like that" This time the Rarity walked up to him. "Hello guardian. I'm Rarity. I wanted to say hello and welcome to our world." Rainbow Dash flew up to his face. "Rainbow!"

"Well what? I want to say hello too! Hi Guardian. I'm Rainbow Dash! The fastest Pegasus in all of Equestria!"

Although I was very excited that we had woken up a friendly ranger there had to be something else somewhere. I said I'd have a look around. There was a mass of these guards in the walls. They were all asleep or as Goliath said.... not activated. They can probably all be activated somehow but judging by the sophistication of our new friend, his creators must be able to activate them all in one go but I don't know where they are. Maybe behind that locked door. Just how to open them? Maybe Goliath can help. I wanted to go to them already when I felt something completely different from the metal floor under my hoof. I picked it up with magic and saw a strange smaller piece of very dirty metal with something engraved on it. I looked closer and realised it must be a name.

"General Novákový. Born 22 March 2055." This is the immortal of the ancient! My brother has one similar to it. I turned it over because there are usually some quotes on the other side but no. There was nothing. However, something was flashing. Like a little light. I didn't press it. I walked over to my friends where I saw Fluttershy, who was worried about Goliath.

"Are you sure you're okay?" My shy friend asked. "You don't have any legs. Doesn't that hurt you?"

"This unit has no preloaded pain sensation. I'm immune to it." He looked at me. "Princess Twilight. Did you find General Novákový's immortal?"

"Emmm yes. I think. Who was she? Why was her immortal lying here?"

"Unfortunately I am unable to answer this question but with my activation the black box of the immortal has been activated. By pressing on the pulsating light you can see the last moments of the owner."

As he said so I did. Unfortunately I think I pressed in the wrong place because suddenly a light appeared, which formed in the air into a probably ancient one that began to dance. "Never gonna give you up; never gonna let you down! Never gonna run around and desert you! Never gonna make you cry! Never gonna say goodbye! Never gonna tell a lie and hurt you!"

The song continued to fly. Pinkie just started dancing but the rest just stared at the forebear. This is how they looked... Rarity's jaw dropped and she even blushed and Goliath just stared. It might be one of his creatures. I walked up to him and showed him. "Do you recognise him? Is this one of your creators?"

"It's a so-called meme princess. According to my database, you have been rickrolled. It's an event that didn't pass by any human."

"A human. Was that the name of their race?"

‘Yes but the more common form was people.’

"Human." Applejack spoke up. "Human. Ha ha. That's even a cool word. How about we see what was in that.... black box yes?"

Goliath nodded and pressed an even smaller limb from his shoulder with a flashing light. An image appeared before us of a man without an arm lying on a bed and another strange purple creature beside him. It was perhaps some kind of variation like ours. In any case, in this moving image I think this Novákový, who had some kind of weapon in her hands that I cannot describe, ran to a door that closed behind her and began to go upwards. After a moment, another door opened in front of her showing the shadowy creatures from the painting we had seen earlier. Fluttershy hid behind Princess Luna, who herself was terrified but this was not the end. Novákový started shooting at nothing but only managed to kill three of the monsters before they learned to dodge better. Then she pulled out a small oblong thing, and said a very sad thing when she looked at the picture of the man who had been lying on the bed earlier. "Goodbye darling. May the world to come be more kind to you." At that moment everything went dark for a moment. The image reappeared as another creature made of metal with tentacles flew up to her. And this is where it all ends.

To say that most of us were sad is like saying nothing at all. The Princesses, Rarity, Fluttershy and I had tears in our eyes. Applejack was hugging Pinkie with her mane down and Rainbow had flown somewhere far away. If she died somewhere here then there must be something more. I walked over to where I found the immortal and magically tried to find more. At first nothing but after a while something appeared. I went in that direction and saw the same creature made of metal as in that black box. It was sitting in a corner lifelessly overgrown with vegetation. Hm. If we could activate Goliath then maybe we can activate him too. With him we might at least learn more....