Birth of a Guardian

The next morning was greeted not to the usual familiar sight of the rafters but to a sea of beige, the light of the room bleeding through the thin sheet of parchment. Groggily, I reached up and pulled the sheet away, my sleep addled mind still miles behind. Focusing despite the sting of light in my eyes, I saw the ink scratched scribbles before my mind snapped to attention.

Giddy like a child I rode the boost of excitement and flung myself from my bed, despite the lingering stabs of pain in my chest from my injuries, eager to begin my new project.

"Well err... It's certainly an... interestin' idea." Applejack said after inspecting my drawings and notes. I had shown her them over breakfast, barely able to contain my excitement any longer. However my excitement waned before the expression she displayed as she inspected the small stack of papers. Unlike humans, ponies are none too subtle with their inner thoughts and feelings showing on their faces, especially not a pony like Applejack.

"Why exactly are y'all wantin' to do this?" She continued, her scepticism all to clear in her voice.

"It's just a little project to keep me busy while I'm waiting to go home. I've been here for almost a month now and who knows how much longer it will be, I need something to keep me busy. Besides, it might come in handy." While I guessed that was the main reason, I didn't really want to tell her about how I felt like I had a need to do this. Like there was something pulling me to do so. Or how everything Twilight said had clicked with me on some deeper level.

... And especially not how my inner nerd was crying out for adventure...

"So ya'll are gonna occupy yourself by making....this?" Applejack said with a chuckle, looking back at the paper once more. "Or has the other night gone to ya head a little bit?" She shot me a teasing smirk. I could only reply with a small laugh. Had it really just been going to my head? Maybe it had been. Maybe all the things I was feeling and the reasons I was doing this were just a cover for 'I feel awesome, therefore I should dress awesome.'

"Ya know, we ain't really expecting ya'll to become our resident guardian or anything after what ya did the other night." She continued, her face becoming more serious and formal. "Ah hope ya'll ain't thinkin' that we're gonna expect ya to throw yourself into whatever danger comes our way because ya did the other night."

I didn't say anything. I didn't really know what I could say. Her words cutting into my like a knife. Leaning back in my chair and thinking about it, I guess I wasn't really thinking about fighting monsters on a regular basis with this thing. I had been unbelievably lucky the other night in surviving what inhabited this world, the lingering pain from my injuries reminded me of that all too much.

Standing back and looking at it again... it did seem silly I guess. Very silly. Applejack continued to stare silently at me before picking up the paper again, her eyes falling back down to it.

"Well... ah guess... If y'all are really needin' somethin' to do..." She said with no small amount of scepticism oozing from her voice, her face scrunching up.

"Huh?" I mumbled as I snapped back to the conversation.

"Ah guess we can't have ya just sitting around doin' nothin'. If ya'll are need somethin' to do besides apple pickin' then ah guess this is as good as anythin'." Applejack explained with an encouraging smile.

I was too busy trying to contain my giddy squee. I had already ignored Applejack's unspoken doubts and obvious pity, choosing to focus only on her, albeit reluctantly, giving me the green light.

"You humans sure are funny ones..." She continued. I chuckled at how weird this must actually be for her. I admit it is weird to suddenly announce over breakfast that you want to build a suit of armour and go on an adventure. Maybe I shouldn't have played so many video games as a child...

The market square was bustling with the locals as I made my way through Ponyville. Stall vendors shouted their deals and offers to passerbys, myself included. I allowed myself a smile at how I was just offered a discount on perfume by a pony. Although we had both steadily gotten used to the others presence over the weeks, there was still moments when the fact I was living with these creatures still amused me....and occasionally freaked me out...

Especially their eyes that were as big as my hand...

Snapping myself out of my internal ramblings I remembered step one of my project. Carousel Boutique.

"Oh thankyou thankyou thankyou thankyou!" Rarity squealed as she choked the life out of me. I had just stepped into Carousel Boutique, the tiny bell jingled merrily as I managed to utter a small greeting before being tackled to the floor by Rarity and her vice-like hug.

"I... It's no..." I managed to choke out in a wheezy gasp. These ponies were a lot stronger and heavier than I imagined.

"I simply cannot thank you enough for saving my darling little sister!" She replied as she finally relented her death grip. As I hastily caught my breath she stepped back and continued in a regal flair as if she had not almost crushed my ribcage. "Tell me, what has brought you to my boutique today? I sincerely hope its for something to replace those tattered rags you're wearing."

"Well, yes and no." The ivory pony tilted her head at my answer. I had to admit that these cartoon ponies could be adorably cute at times.

"Oh? Whatever do you mean?" She raised an inquisitive and neatly styled eyebrow at me.

"I need some new clothes made. But they need to be kinda specific." As I spoke she levitated a notepad at pencil over to her, smiling with excitement.

"How exciting! Do tell." Rarity readied her pencil and notepad with a sparkling enthusiasm.

"Well, I need a kind of padded robe. Something soft but not too thick, something I can easily move around in and won't get too hot."

"Mhmm, and how do you want them to look?" She inquired in between scribbling notes. An uncomfortable shiver ran through me as a memory of another unicorn and her constant scribbling came to mind.

"Well... I don't really know. Just kinda plain and simple I guess. It won't really matter how they look."

"Won't matter how they look?! Darling appearance is everything!" Rarity gasped as a magically levitating tape measure whizzed around me.

"But they're going to be mostly covered over." I tried to explain to her without really getting into too much detail as to what I was planning. Unlike with Applejack, I was willing to bet that Rarity was more the type to regard the idea as silly and pointless... well a lot more than Applejack regarded it anyway. But the curious blinks she shot me made it clear she wanted to know more, she was going to be making it for me after all.

"It's for a little project I'm doing while I'm here. I need a kind of undersuit for something I'm making."

"And what is this little project you have going?" She inquired with a flap of her styled eyelashes. The tape measure snapping straight at various parts of my body as she scribbled the results.

"Just a little human quirk." I replied in an attempt to brush it off.

"Oh! Well I'm sure Twilight would love to hear all about that!"

...I swear I could already feel her breathing down my neck at those words...

"Well we would love to help you in anyway we can." Rarity continued, flipping her notepad closed and flashing me a kind smile. I wanted to make a joke about how they would disrupt Twilight's field research if they helped me, but decided against it when I realised with a grimace that it was probably true.

"So how much do you think this will cost?" I called to her as she made her way to her work station. It suddenly hit me like a bucket of ice water that I had not even considered how I was going to pay her for this. I didn't even know what money they used here, let alone have any of it myself.

"Oh perish the thought dear. Usually I would charge around 80 Bits for something like this but since you saved my little sister and her friends, you can consider it free of charge. Besides, I'm guessing you don't even have a single Bit to your name."

"Oh... Thanks, thanks a bunch Rarity!" I gave her a genuine smile. I began to think about how my luck finally paid off in that moment before I was crossed with the thought of whether unicorns could read minds or not. I stood there for several minutes as paranoid thoughts ran through my head, chased by more paranoia as to whether she could her those thoughts too.

Until I realised that my immunity to their magic was the whole reason I was stuck here in the first place. Damn I felt stupid...

"Now, I should be able to have this ready for you by the end of the week." Rarity called back to me from across the room, levitating out a roll of fire engine red satin material. I couldn't help but cringe at the garishness of it.

"Err Rarity? I think maybe something like a light grey would be better."

I was walking along the dirt road back to Sweet Apple Acres, little puffs of dust kicked up from my feet as I walked. The road was quiet and peaceful, with only the sounds of my footsteps breaking the silence. It was a beautiful sunny day, the blue sky didn't have a single cloud obscuring it.

Kaboom!

An ear-rupturing clap of thunder shattered the idyllic moment. It felt like the pounding of my heart was going to be enough to start breaking ribs as my knees shook from the equilibrium being smashed like glass with a hammer. I admit that I even let out a loud yelp in shock.

A very manly yelp I assure you. More like the action hero battlecry rather than the high pitched 'oh shit there goes my life' scream they say they heard up in Sweet Apple Acres. What do they know...

My ears finally stopped ringing enough for the side splitting cackles

of laughter to fade into focus. Oh great, its her... Rainbow Dash was rolling on her back, clenching her sides as she cried out in riotous laughter. She had flown a deep black storm cloud up behind me and caused it to explode with a clap of thunder.

"Oh man that was priceless! You should of seen the look on your face! And what was with that scream?!" She wheezed out in between laughing fits. I tried to ignore her immense amusement over how she almost giving me a heart attack and waited for the inevitable words that always followed my encounters with Rainbow Dash over the past few days.

"I bet you humans can't do that!"

I grumbled as she continued rolling on the ground with laughter. Recently Dash had been challenging me to all sorts of silly contests and debates to see what she could beat me in. All in an attempt to not only prove how much more 'awesome' she is than me and, by default, that ponies where better than humans. Of course it didn't help that most of these challenges were often races or stunts. Hell, the only time I had really beaten her was in juggling. Although, luckily, she mostly just tried to outdo whatever human machine or skill that I told her about.

Yeah it occasionally got annoying but at least she was no longer openly antagonistic towards me, and in a way I guess I sometimes enjoyed the little rivalry

she had made with me. Or at least my species.

"So what you up to anyway? I stopped by Rarity's and heard you were making something." Rainbow Dash asked after she finished her merriment and picked herself up off the floor.

"You followed me all the way from Ponyville and almost killed me, just to ask that?"

"Meh, nothing else I've got to do."

"Don't you have a job?" I occurred to me that I had never seen Dash doing any sort of work in all my time here. Hell even Pinkie worked in a bakery. From what I gathered I understood that she did something with weather. But what that was besides using it for jokes was anyone’s guess.

"Pfft please, I can fly through all that boring work stuff in no time. So what’s this thing you're doing? I'm sure its nothing I can't top." She bragged while polishing a hoof on her chest.

Oh great. I hadn't even made the thing and Rainbow Dash had already thrown down a challenge for it. Of course I highly doubted she had any real interest in what I was doing beyond whether or not it was something she could beat.

"Ha! I bet." I taunted back at her. "But you're just gonna have to wait and see." I hoped that saying that would keep her off my back for a while. Or it just meant she was going to be stuck on me like glue... Either way it worked for me in the short run since she flew of with a daring "We'll see about that!". As long as she didn't bug me and I could get on with making it I didn't care.

The sun hung at its zenith in the sky above me as I made my way back to Applejack's. Time for step two of my project.

"So are y'all ready to do this?" Applejack asked as I approached. I had to suppress a giggle at how she was dressed. A pair of thick rimmed tinted goggles covered her eyes while heavy looking pair of iron boots adorned her fore hooves, along with a thick looking kind of apron. Beside her stood her larger and more solemn brother Big Macintosh wearing the same outfit. A pair of the goggles were thrown at me as she noticed my grinning. Needless to say it silenced me. The goggles not only covered my eyes but also most of my face. Not to mention the mini apron that was obviously not intended for a human since it didn't even reach my waist.

"Also put these on." Applejack called over her snickers at my ridiculous appearance with her brother. It was a roll of thick canvas like bandaging. "We ain't got anythin' else to put on over those hands ya got so ya gonna have to wrap em up in that." Not wanting any horrific burns, I relented and quickly wrapped my hands up. It looked like I was wearing a  pair of damn mittens or something. I looked like some kind of clown.

"So are you sure this smelter thing you've got is going to be able to make this?" I asked as her brother lead us around to another section of their farm. Applejack had told me about how the Apple family had their own mini workshop on their farm that I could use to make the armour in. I gladly accepted the offer since she pointed out that the Ponyville blacksmith would probably want a small fortune for making something like this.

"Well, we ain't really tried makin' anythin' this big in it. We really only occasionally use it to fix things like tools for the farm, but I'm sure Big Mac's up for a challenge ain't ya big brother?" The solemn red stallion only nodded once and smiled pleasantly in response.

"I'm really grateful for all the help your both giving me with this. You sure this won't be getting in the way of work on the orchard right?"

"Nope, this season's harvest is pretty much over and done with. Besides ma family would be happy to help ya with your little project, ya did save our kin after all." Applejack surprised me a little bit with that. Yeah I had suspected that it had played a part in her helping me but I didn't much like it. I felt like I already owed Applejack and her family for keeping me all this time. Sure I had worked on their farm a lot but I didn't really feel that covered keeping a complete stranger of an alien species sheltered and fed for a month. I really didn’t want to leave Equestria  without repaying their hospitality and generosity since I was the first, and probably only, human they will meet.

"Helloooo? Ya still with us up there?" Applejack yelled exaggeratedly as she waved a hoof in front of me. I laughed sheepishly and scratched the back of my head as I snapped back into attention.

"Sorry, guess I zoned out a bit there. What did you say?"

"I said that Big Mac and I already got the metal goin' while you were gone so its all ready to go." She repeated as she pointed to a large pot Big Mac was checking on in the small furnace.

"Hey Applejack? Where did you get all the metal for this?" I asked as it hit me that making a full suit of armour was going to take a lot of metal.

"Just some old rusty tools and broken machinery we had layin' around. Glad to finally get rid of it all." She answered as entered the tiny smelting room, the wave of heat smacking into me like a brick wall. "So what part are we doin' first?" She asked from behind her tinted goggles.

"This part I think." I said pulling out the parchment and pointing to the shield. They both stared at the drawing for a while before turning to a large basin with a fine sand like clay filling it. I had drawn each main part showing different angles and rough measurements of the pieces. Since the shield was the biggest and in a way simplest part to make I decided to start with that.

The Apple siblings were scraping a round metre wide circle into the basin, only just fitting it inside its borders. I guessed that this basin must be for pouring the metal into to shape it, the circle to give the rounded shape of the shield to then hammer into a more bowl like shape. Naturally I had no idea as to the art of blacksmithing, much less Equestrian blacksmithing, so I let them take the lead on it.

Big Mac grasped the handle of the furnace pot in his teeth and lifted it out of the fire, the shimmer of molten scrap metal shaking from inside the pot. Ever so slowly he tipped the silver liquid into the basin, the silver river sliding across the dug out shape as it hissed and sizzled. It looked beautiful in a way, the bright silver liquid shining out in the orange and red tinted darkness.

"Now we have to let it cool for a while." Applejack told me, her brother nodding in agreement. After what felt like several long minutes the silver liquid had slightly darkened and dulled. Handing me a long and weird looking set on tongs, Applejack pointed to the metallic circle. "Ya need to pull it out of the mold usin' them and place it into that water basin over there." She called to me as she pointed to another basin filled with water. "Try not to put it in for too long, only about three seconds while we change the mold."

Nodding to her I took the tongs and positioned them at the side of the mold. Sliding them between the mold and the relatively hardened metal, I pulled up the heavy metal disc in the tongs grip and moved it over to the water. The injuries to my chest flared up in pain under the weight of the metal but I took care to handle it carefully, not wanting to add a broken foot and several nasty burns to my list of injuries.

Using their steel booted fore hooves, Applejack and Big Mac quickly began to scrape out a slightly deeper bowl into the circle mold. A load hiss rose from the water basin as it touched the metal disc, forming a small cloud of steam vapour to gush up around it. Counting to three, I pulled it out and swung it back around to the now deepened bowl mold and placed it back into the circle, the bruises to my chest tightening in pain under the weight.

"Best y'all let Big Mac handle this part sugarcube, ya still pretty beat up remember." Applejack offered as her brother took up position beside the mold. Rearing up on his hind legs he slammed his steel booted fore hooves onto the metal, a mighty metallic clank ringing through the small room.

Repeatedly the powerful stallion slammed his steeled hooves into the metal, leaving two noticeable dints in the face of the flaring metal every time he brought his full strength and weight down on it. For such brightly coloured and friendly cartoon ponies it was startling to see them exhibit such strength. Moving around the basin Big Mac soon pounded the entire thing down into the slight bowl shape of the mold. Turning to his sister he gave a blank nod before she turned back to me.

"Ok, now ya need to get it back into the water again." Taking up the tongs once more,

I pulled up the newly pounded metal and placed it back into the water. A slight hiss arose from the water again as it made contact with the still hot metal. The colour quickly darkened and became more reflective as it cooled in the water.

It actually looked like a proper shield! I was expecting the first attempt to be a myriad of serious burns and frantic swearing, resulting in nothing more than a silver puddle. Granted it still needed fastenings and grips bolted into it but I was still surprised at how it actually worked first time. I guessed it was largely due to a mix of it being the easiest part of the armour and it being made by someone with a least some competent experience. If I had done the entire thing I probably would have set myself on fire by now...

Pulling the dripping shield from the water, I placed it back onto the basin before being deafened by a large "Yahoo!" from Applejack.

"Woo! Nice work Big Mac!" She cheered as she shook off the tinted goggles covering her face.

"Yeah, that was awesome." I added, brushing my hand over the cool wet metal. My warped reflection stared back at me from the dinted metal, the orange glow of the furnace cresting around the highlights. "Really awesome..." I noticed a pair of reflections beside my own, smiling contently at their work.

"So what's next?"

A cool night's breeze lapped at my exposed skin, a welcome embrace after the roar of the furnace. Together, the Apple siblings and I had worked through the day into the eaves of night. Although the shield remained the only thing finished I still felt the buzz of it actually being made, so much so that I couldn't keep my head down enough to go to sleep, choosing to talk a walk in the orchard instead. It was a peaceful night. The kind of still night where you can sit and watch the stars dancing in the dark void of the sky, the glow of the towns fade as people end their day. That's exactly what I was doing on that night. I wasn't content to sit in a dusty barn, I wanted to be out under the sky and feel the soft night wind brushing over me. Choosing a peaceful spot under one of the apple trees I sat on the grass and looked out at the view. From under that tree I could see across the whole valley underneath.

Funny how normally at that time I would have been crawling into my bed, waiting until my alarm rose me for work for next morning. But instead there I was, sitting on the grass under a tree and just looking at the sky. Something that I would never have even see the point of back home. I supposed that was a trait of this world that I had come to appreciate. Here there was no alarm to wake me at eight. No work to be at by nine. No need to go to bed at eleven. No routine.

In this world you open your eyes and have no idea what was going to happen. You could wake up and think about what you wanted to do today, not what you needed to do. There was an endless chance to do things that you would never normally do. I guess that was maybe an underlying factor in why I decided to do something like make a suit of armour. That's not to say that I didn't like my life back home though. I felt like I had a reasonably good life but here it was like I was in some kind of dream world. Somewhere where absolutely anything could happen, where every day had different possibilities.

I brushed my hand over the grass beneath it, feeling the cool crisp freshness and the blades between my fingers. My family did play a lot on my mind though. It had been a month since I had last seen them. My thoughts filled wondering what they were doing right now. Maybe they were looking at the night sky too, as cheesy as that sounded. Could I tell them about everything that has happened to me? Equestria and all I had experienced, the inhabitants that I had come to know. I doubt they would believe it. I doubt anyone would. I would probably have to keep it to myself for the rest of my life lest I become some kind of crackpot in the eyes of everyone I know.

'Hi Mom and Dad, sorry I've been gone so long but I got sent to a world of magic and colourful talking ponies and dragons.' I would probably spend the rest of my days in a padded cell...

Grass prickled the palm of my hand as I absent-mindedly stroked my hand over it. The dim glow of Ponyville was waning as the night drew on. Each little twinkle of light blinking out as the anonymous residents turned in for the night. Hanging over the valley on its mountain perch I could see the light speckled city of Canterlot in the distance, watching over the humble Ponyville as it slumbered like some kind of protector. With all the city lights peeking through the darkness it looked like it was made of crystal and was reflecting the moonlight.

It was a truly beautiful sight.

I wondered how many more nights like this I would experience before I would be going home. Hopefully enough so that I can finish the armour at least. A tingle of excitement ran down my spine as I remembered it again. I would probably need to find somewhere to hide it when I got back home though. Damn was that going to be challenge to explain to people...

I would need to find some way of thanking the Apple family and the others for taking care of me while I was here before I left. Although I had no idea what I could possibly give them. What could I give a magic talking pony on a foreign world when I didn’t have a penny, or "Bit", to my name.

Ahh I would think about it later. I thought it best to return to the farm at that point, it probably wasn't a very good idea to go strolling into the woods in the dead of night in the first place, especially on an alien world. Probably best that I hurried back before I got attacked by some evil magic chicken or something...

Besides, I was already eager to get started on the rest of the armour so tomorrow morning couldn't come quick enough as it is. Still. As I reached the barn and cozied myself under the blankets of my makeshift bedding, I couldn't help but think of the time I would be leaving Equestria behind me and going back home.