Guardians

Entering the town, still disguised, I saw all sorts of shops, and all sorts of ponies. Most of the ponies I saw were out on errands, or just sightseeing, not knowing what was soon to come. I continued to walk around, looking in store windows; I saw some interesting things, hay carts, leather works, saddle shops, and a fortuneteller. I didn’t know why, but I felt a strange at the fortuneteller’s shop. I didn’t pay any mind to it. I also passed by a music shop with a beautiful violin in the window, I always loved the violin, it always managed to calm me down, I even learned to play, more than I ever learned on guitar or piano, it was something I always appreciated. I wanted to buy it on the spot. I knew the violin was expertly crafted, but it was distracting me from finding Twilight, and I was broke anyway. Then I heard somepony behind me.

“Hey, I don’t recognize you, are you new here?” I turned around to see who spoke to me and saw a purple unicorn mare. Well, she was more of a bright purple, with a black mane and tail, both had pink highlights, her cutie mark was a six pointed star surrounded by five tiny stars. I felt as if I saw her before. That’s when it hit me; she was one of the dead ponies the two other alicorns and me were looking at, in my vision.

Not thinking about the vision anymore, I erased the look of horror and said, “Yes, I’m looking for a pony named Twilight Sparkle, do you know her?”

She chuckled. “What’s so funny?” I asked. I knew the reason why, I asked just to keep the look of a new pony in town.

“I’m Twilight Sparkle.” The unicorn said.

“Oh, well nice to meet you, I’m Blade.” I stated, using my fake name. I was still worried about that vision. I turned back to Twilight who stood there staring at me, until she finally broke the silence.

“Nice to meet you too, Blade. Why were you looking for me?” She asked.

I panicked at the unexpected question, “Oh, I’m heading to see the princess in a few days after staying here. I heard you could get me a meeting with her.”

She stood there for a moment “Why do you need to see princess Celestia, is she expecting you?” she said confused.

“No, it’s just important that I see her.” I would have told her the truth, but I didn’t want her to worry about the future ahead.

“Oh, ok I’ll ask her.” She said curiously. I could tell it seemed suspicious.

I turned to walk away before I realized something, “Wait, I don’t have anywhere to stay” I wanted her to recommend a hotel or something, then I remembered the fact I was broke, and that I had two swords on my back, nopony would want a pony carrying weapons in their hotel.

She turned towards me, “I have a spare bed if you want it.”

“Really? Thanks Twilight.” I said, grateful that she could help me so much, right now.

“No problem, just think of it as help from a friend.” Friend, a word I thought of never hearing again. Not after I ran from my “friends”. It was odd for her to let me stay in her guest bed, considering that we just met, but I could tell she just wanted to learn more about me.

“Blade? HELLLLLLLO, snap out of it.” I heard Twilight say before realizing that I zoned out.

“Huh, oh, sorry Twilight.” I apologized, realizing I looked stuck in deep thought, “Why don’t we head to your house?”

“Ok, I just need to get some groceries.” she said.

“Alright.” I said.

After leaving the grocery store we headed toward Twilight’s house, on the way, she asked me some questions. “So, Blade, why do you have those swords and that book?”

More unexpected questions, which I lied to the best of my ability to answer, “They are the only items I was able to save from my home, the swords were made by my father, who was the one that taught me how to fight. I am, um... sorry, I was the best fighter in my village, before it got destroyed, and I’m the only survivor.” I know it sounded false, but I had to try to keep my identity a secret.

“Ok, what was your village’s name? “She was on a role with these questions”, I thought to myself.

“I don’t want to talk about it, I came here to meet with Celestia, and start a new life.” “I managed to dodge a bullet there”, I thought. She’s more curious than I anticipated.

“I get it, you lost some ponies you were close to, and that’s why you’re here.” she was right about losing somponies (though they aren’t ponies) close to me, just wrong about everything else.

“Yes, that’s right; you are really good at deduction.” I told her, though if she was any better, I would have been screwed. Not wanting any more questions, I decided to change the topic.

“So Twilight, we’ve seem to have become friends, can you introduce me to some of your other friends?” I forced the word friends to sound normal, since I was still sore after a year away from them.

“I can do that; I’ll introduce you to Spike tonight, then all my other friends tomorrow.” She said excitedly.

“Ok.” was all I had to say. I had a feeling that meeting her and her friends was suppose to happen.

We ended up walking for quite a while before arriving at Twilights house.

“You live in the library?” I asked, noticing the sign.

“Yes, I find it quite comfortable.” she told me as we entered. I guessed she was a bookworm, and very smart.

When we finally got inside, I asked “Twilight, who’s Spike?”

“Spike is my assistant, he’s a dragon.” I had only run into that one huge dragon in the forest, so I didn’t expect one to live in town.

I stood there jaw a drop. “A dragon? Don’t dragons HATE ponies?”

She stared at me dumbstruck. ”Normally, but I happened to hatch Spike, so he is happy with me here.”

“Oh, ok, so where is he?” and as if on cue the little purple dragon ran in.

“Hey Twilight, who is your friend?” Again, using that word, friend.

“His name is Blade.” she told the tiny dragon.

He came over to me and tried to introduce himself, all he did was say, “Hi I’m Spi... Spi…  SAPPHIRES!? I SMELL SAPPHIRES! GIMME PLZ!”

Twilight levitated the dragon away. “I’m sorry about that, Spike gets crazy when he thinks somepony has gems.” “Yeah, think”, I thought.

“Heh, heh, yeah, I don’t know why he thought I would have sapphires” shoot, I didn’t know dragons could smell gemstones. I looked in Spike’s direction, “Why is he staring at me?”

“SPIKE! BED!” Twilight yelled to the small dragon.

“AWWW.” the little dragon said while heading upstairs, head hanging down.

“He’s not as aggressive as the one I ran into a couple of weeks ago.” I said out loud, not meaning to.

“Blade?” Twilight asked confused. “You don’t have any saddlebags, why did he smell some sapphires on you? And what’s this about a couple of weeks ago?”

“I don’t know” I lied, getting more nervous, since she was getting closer to the truth about me.

“Blade, if you’re hiding something, I will prevent you from seeing the princess.” Twilight grinned knowing she found a way to get me to crack.

I needed to see the princess badly, it was a matter of life or death, but I couldn’t tell that to Twilight, so I just said, “Fine, just don’t tell anypony for now, at least until I see the princess.”

“I agree.” the unicorn said, smiling. That smile lasted only a few seconds, turning to complete awe when the light around me started swirling. After the light stopped, Twilights mouth was wide open, “YOUR AN ALICORN!” she yelled “No wonder you need to see the princess.” She noticed my horn and wings, “Your horn is made from sapphire and your wings have sapphires? That explains Spike’s behavior, but why are they like that?” she, apparently, thought it was strange too.

“I don’t know exactly, I never really thought about that.” I said honestly.

“How do you NOT KNOW? Are you from a different world or something?” she said, incredibly sarcastic for somepony living in a library.

“Ding, Ding.” I chuckled.

“Really? I was joking.” She spoke softly.

“Yes, but I haven’t been there in a while.” I said shrugging.

“Oh, I’m sorry; you must miss your friends back home.” She didn’t understand what happened. I decided to explain.

“Not really, you see my friends back home abandoned me; they said I was too good, and they got jealous.”

“Oh, I’m sorry I brought it up then. So how long have you been in Equestria?” she asked, changing the subject, her, being the embarrassed pony this time. I understood why she was embarrassed, but it actually felt good to tell somepony about that part of my past.

“I’ve been in Equestria for about a year now, I’ve been traveling through the forest for two months.”

“Forest? You don’t mean the Everfree Forest on the east side of town, do you?” her voice became alarmed.

“Yes, that’s where I met that dragon I mentioned a moment ago. Why, is it that bad?” I still didn’t get the big deal about the forest.

She hastily answered, “YES, it’s unbelievably dangerous. Dear Celestia, how did you survive TWO MONTHS in there, there are a lot of creatures that could have killed you!” she practically screamed.

“You’re the second pony to tell me how dangerous that forest is, I only ran into some timber wolves plus the dragon.” I told her, about the two times I ran into the dangerous creatures.

“Consider yourself lucky then, I have had much, much worse encounters in there.” She told me, relieved that I hadn’t run into anything too bad.

“Really, like what?” I asked, intrigued about what she had encountered.

“Well, I was almost turned to stone by a cockatrice, and almost eaten by a hydra.” she told me.

“Wow, those are worse” I stated, then asked “How did you get into trouble only two times, out of two brief trips to the forest, while I go two months in there and run into only lower level monsters?”

“I don’t know, it could be luck, or… your one important pony. Did Celestia bring you here?” she asked, but she was right to guess I was important.

“Twilight, you should know, where I found my book.” She levitated the old book over to her.

“I’ve never seen this book before, where did you get it?” she asked, as she began reading.

“I found it in some ruins deep in the Everfree forest; the ruins were by a spring.” I told her about everything that went on, my training, the trip, the portal, and even my real name. The only things I didn’t tell her about were the phoenix, and the visions, but little did I know the phoenix would not stay secret much longer.

“So you can control the natural elements, including SPACE AND TIME?” she asked when finishing the book. She seemed awed at my capability.

“Yes, in theory, but my powers are limited right now; I came here to make friends before going to see the princess. Making friends will help me control my emotions, which will allow me to discover my true power.” She seemed to comprehend everything I just told her.

“So your real name is Steel Stream? And you’re supposed to protect Equestria as a guardian.” the stated, she looked like she has received this information before.

“Yes and yes, but I must also protect Earth. It’s my job.” I stated.

“Now Twilight, I’m trusting you, don’t tell anypony what or who I am.” I told her, a dead serious look in my sapphire blue eyes.

“Sure, just tell me, do you have something important for the princess? Does she know about you?” she asked, a sense of dread washed over her.

“Yes I do, and no she doesn’t.” I answered calmly. She seemed happy with that answer but quickly realized something.

“Wait, you came from Earth?” She asked calmly.

“I’m from Earth, yes.” I told her and she remained calm, I was more surprised when she revealed the fact, SHE ALREADY KNEW, about Earth.

“Does a human become a pony more often than I think? I thought it would be a little more surprising.” I stated. It really should have been more shocking.

“My friend Dan is from Earth” she stated.

“Dan? Who’s he?” I asked, not knowing a Dan from back on Earth.

She understood that I didn’t know him, “You’ll meet him with the others tomorrow, he’ll explain. She suddenly thought of something, “Wait, how did you get here if the princess didn’t bring you, like she did with Dan?”

That was a really good question; my only answer was “I don’t know.”

She sighed, “Well figure it out later.”

After she said that, the window flew open, and in flew a bird that I was extremely tired of seeing now. “What do you want?” I asked the phoenix.

The phoenix opened his beak, “You promised not to tell anypony.” he said.

Twilight cut in, “A TALKING PHEONIX!? Fluttershy would LOVE to meet you. How did you learn to speak? This day keeps getting crazier and crazier.”

Before she started speaking again I said, “Twilight calm down.” She was bouncing up and down excitedly. “Phoenix, I had to tell her, she would have found out sooner or later, she’s too smart. Besides, I’m saving the important stuff for the princess, and I had a feeling this was supposed to happen.” I whispered the last part to the phoenix. It was all true. The phoenix stared.

“I see you made your first new friend, that’s good. I came by to give you these.” Two fires started, and when they disappeared, a bag of coins (bits) and a violin exactly like the one at the store, were in front of me. I stared at the violin, “Why” was my only question, but Twilight had more questions than that.

“How did he do that? Phoenix’s can’t perform magic, can they? What’s the violin for?” I had to stop her before she fainted from overexertion.

The phoenix responded, once Twilight calmed down, “It is a way for you to express your feelings through something you love. Use it to make yourself stronger.” He flew off again, leaving me with a lot of explaining to do.

Twilight spoke up, “You love the violin?” seeming like she was curious.

“I’ll tell you tomorrow, along with everything about the phoenix.” I promised.

“Ok, and maybe use those bits for some saddlebags, it seems like a lot to carry.” She advised before heading off to bed.

“Ok, night Twilight.” I said as she started heading to bed.

“Night Blade.” She said using my fake name.

“Why did she call me by my fake name?” I wondered.

(Meanwhile)

“Luna? Luna!” a female alicorn called.

“Yes sister.” Luna answered.

The female alicorn stared at the setting sun, “I felt a great good and a great darkness arrive in Equestria twelve months ago.” she said seeming confused.

“Why tell me now sister?” Luna asked worried.

“Because it has just entered Ponyville.” the female alicorn stated. She could hear a loud “Gasp.” come from her sister, Luna.

Luna spoke up, “What shall we do sister? Are the elements in danger?” She slightly panicked.

Luna’s sister, Celestia, said “Allow me.” “GUARD!” she yelled. Right away a guard pegasi burst in.

“Princess Celestia, what do you need?” the guard asked, kneeling behind the princesses.

“Go tell Blazing Dawn and Lunar Eclipse that they will be staying here for the night, and send some of the Red Hooves to protect the elements of harmony.” Celestia ordered, not looking away from the sunset.

“Yes, your highness.” the guard quickly left to go tell the two alicorn princes of Celestia’s wish, and tell the Red Hooves of their newest assignment.

“Sister, you really think Lunar Eclipse and Blazing Dawn are in danger if they go back to Ponyville?” Luna asked.

Celestial could only respond, “I’m not quite sure, but we better not chance it.”

Little did the princesses know that the two great sources of power were coming from the same pony. Even though they were the high-ruler alicorns of Equestria, there were even things they did not know about.

Celestia and Luna are sister alicorns that once ruled all of Equestria. They caused each day and night to come. Celestia’s cutie mark was the sun, which she made rise every day, and Luna’s cutie mark was the moon, which rose every night. They no longer ruled over Equestria themselves; a hierarchy of six ponies helps them now. Though, Celestia still has complete command of the Red Hooves, and some control over the royal guard.

The Red Hooves were Celestia’s personal task force. They were among the strongest of pegasi in Equestria, all bearing the same cutie mark, a red hoof.

The hierarchy consisted of six ponies, two of each breed. Of each breed, one was a stallion, the other, a mare. The hierarchy made all of the decisions for Equestria, with help from the princesses, making more and more industrialized cities. Machines took over pony-power, though life was still livable.

The only things that remained more powerful than the princesses or the hierarchy were the elements of harmony, loyalty, laughter, generosity, honesty, kindness, magic, and love.

“We should send somepony else to the border, to Appleloosa. We already sent Ace to Dodge Junction; we need to protect our main food supply.” Luna suggested.

“No, every time we send a troop to the border, they go missing; we should focus on protecting the ponies of Equestria.” Celestia said, making her point very clear. They heard doors open behind them, and two sets of hoof steps could be heard.

“Princesses, why are we staying, Rainbow Dash will get worried if we don’t leave soon.” A black alicorn said.

“Do not worry, Lunar Eclipse, we will send a letter to Rainbow Dash explaining where you will be.” Luna said. Lunar Eclipse was a tall, sleek, black, stallion alicorn with a bright red mane and tail, his cutie mark was a hammer, represent judgment.

“All right Princess Luna, but why are we staying?” Lunar said, growing impatient.

Celestia was the one to speak this time, “I sense two great powers in Ponyville, one is good, one is evil. We will send the Red Hooves to protect the elements of harmony, and I request you stay here, where it’s safest.”

“An evil presence is in Ponyville? What is it?” Blazing Dawn asked. “Is my mom going to be alright?” Blazing Dawn is the son of Rainbow Dash and Blue (Ace) Bass, as well as the youngest alicorn in Equestria. His cutie mark is elemental symbol for fire, in the middle of a large golden circle.

Celestia, unsure of what to say, said “I do not know. We do not know which power is greater.”

She paused, “Please allow me to think.” she said softly.

Luna, Lunar, and Blaze all left Celestia with her thoughts. When they were all gone Celestia began to talk to herself, “Strange these powers feel the same, though they are complete opposites.” She suddenly felt the darkness grow weaker. “What was that, I must know what is happening, I will send a letter first thing tomorrow.” She stated. She looked towards Ponyville, noticing a phoenix flying her way. It came closer and closer, until it landed on her balcony.

“Hello princess.” the phoenix said.

“You talk?” the princess said surprised.

“Yes, and I’ll tell you that the power you feel is going to be the savior of Equestria.” it said before it flew off again.

“WAIT!” Celestia yelled, but the phoenix was already out of sight.

“I wonder who holds this power”, she thought.