Guardians

The ride back to Ponyville was much shorter than one to Canterlot. I had my friends to talk to, as well as a chance to look at the scenery. I saw Applejack and Papyrus staring at the remains of their once lively farm.

“Where are you guys going to stay?” I asked them.

“Well, the house ain’t too badly damaged, Big Macintosh n’ Apple Bloom might be done fixin it. I reckon we can sleep at home tonight.” Applejack said.

“And what about your orchard, do you want help replanting it?” I offered.

“Nah, I’ll just ask mah cousin Braeburn send over some trees.” She said, sounding so calm. “Ah just don’t know why changelings started the fire in da first place.”

“Me neither.” I said, puzzled.

The rest of the ride was quiet, for me at least. “Why did those changelings start the fire, and who were those ponies I saw set off the explosion?” I thought to myself.

The zeppelin landed and all my friends left to go do their own thing. I dropped my things off at Twilight’s and headed into town. It was time for me to see what was up at the fortunetellers.

“Hello? Anypony here?” I asked once inside.

“Who dare disturb the GREAT and POWERFUL TRIXIE!?” a blue unicorn yelled. I couldn’t see her features real well, due to a ridiculous wizards outfit.

“I came for answers.” I stated.

“Oh, it’s you. Trixie does not deal with criminals.” She said obnoxiously. I already couldn’t stand her, but something was odd about her, she seemed normal, but her presence felt… dark.

“I know something’s going on here.” I said.

“And what, pray tell, do you thing is going on?” she asked.

“I saw her appearance shutter. “Why don’t you tell me, CHANGELING!” I yelled, tackling the creature to the ground.

It changed in front of me, “Queen Chrysalis knew you were a danger  to our plans.” It said. “But she had no idea you could tell us from actual ponies.

“Why are you here?” I asked, demanding an answer.

“I was sent to spy on the elements of harmony weeks ago. But I couldn’t do that without a disguise, so I captured the self-obsessed unicorn. I’ve been feeding information to the Queen the entire time.” It said before bursting into flames and disappearing.

“Buck!” I yelled, “He got away.” I heard muffled noises coming from the back. I went to investigate, revealing a chain bound unicorn, which I quickly freed.

“GET AWAY FROM TRIXIE!” the unicorn yelled. She was a deep shade of blue with a silvery mane and tail. Her cutie mark was a crescent moon with a wand in front.

I could tell she was delusional and decided it was best to take her to the hospital. Then I would go talk to Twilight.

(Elsewhere)

“After only a few measly weeks, HE, shows up and runs, YOU, our only spy on the elements of harmony, out of Ponyville!?” Chrysalis yelled, in a twisted women’s voice. “I knew he was powerful when I sensed him a year ago, but to discover he could see our true forms at any time, this is unfortunate.”

“It took him a couple of minutes to realize it, Queen Chrysalis.” The changeling henchman said.

“Still, this is disastrous! Even with the help of the zebra’s, we’re doomed!” she yelled. Another changeling came into the room.

“My queen,” it said bowing, we have just got word from our Canterlot spy that the two zebra scouts you sent have succeeded in weakening the guard force.”

“Excellent.” She said.

“But, they have reinforced the guard force around the princesses.” It said.

“No matter, we’ll crush anypony who gets in our way. Feeding off of the element of love has made me unstoppable.” She said.

“It is that pony who ran our spy out of Ponyville.” It said, it’s voice sounded scared.

Queen Chrysalis outraged, “NO!! HE IS THE ONLY ONE WHO CAN DEFEAT US!” she yelled.

“What should we do?” both changelings asked.

“We’re going to send him a message, by destroying Dodge Junction.” She said, beginning to laugh manically.

(Back in Ponyville)

After taking Trixie to the hospital, I headed for Twilight’s tree.

“Twilight!” I called entering her tree. Nopony answered. “Hello?” I called again.

“In here!” she called, from the other room.

I walked in and saw Applejack, Pinkie, Fluttershy, and of course, Twilight. The rest of our friends were absent. “What’s going on?” I asked.

“We… have lost contact with Dodge Junction.” Twilight said.

“Dear Celestia, were there any survivors?” I asked.

“No, and Dan was in Dodge.” Twilight said. “Please don’t tell Rainbow Dash.”

“I won’t, I swear.” I promised, “I actually came to tell you that I went to the fortunetellers today.”

“Trixie’s?” she asked.

“Yeah, but Trixie wasn’t running it.” I said. “It was a changeling.”

“WHAT!” she yelled, “What was it doing there?”

“Spying on you and your friends, it has been for weeks.” I told them.

“What did ya do?” Applejack asked.

“I got all the information I could from it before it escaped. After that I took Trixie to the hospital, and then I came here.” I explained.

Spike came down, a letter in his hands. “Hey Twi, the princess sent a letter.” He said. He looked at me, trying to control himself, before leaving the room.

Twilight took the letter and read it aloud. “Representative Twilight Sparkle, as you may know, we have lost Dodge Junction. Please send Blade at your earliest convenience. I wish to speak with him privately.”

“I’m on my way.” I said, flying through the door.

The flight was going to be long with the loss of Dodge Junction fresh on my mind. “I can’t believe Ace is gone.” I thought.

(Later)

“Princess, you asked for me?” I asked, not even tired from flying all the way from Ponyville.

“Yes, I need to know all about you, if this situation is to get better.” Celestia said.

“Well, I came from Earth just over a year ago.” I started.

“You came from Earth?” she said, seeming shocked.

“Yes, but why are you so surprised?” I asked.

“I didn’t bring you here.” She said.

“I guessed as much.” I said.

I continued telling her about everything that had occurred not leaving anything out, except for the visions of her and the elements lying dead. I mostly told her about what powers I already discovered, and the recent events in Ponyville.

Once I was done, Celestia said “I see, you still need much training. But that can wait, after our loss of Dodge Junction and… Ace, we need you to head for Appleoosa.” She said.

“But princess, if I leave the changelings could come to end this.” I argued.

“But we cannot let the innocent ponies of Equestria die.” She retaliated.

I couldn’t argue there, all those innocent pony lives, I had to protect them. “I’ll go princess.”

“Thank you Blade.” She said, “But leave after the gala in a couple days, it will give you time to prepare.”

“I will.” I answered.

I rushed back to Ponyville, after speaking to Shield, to tell my friends of Celestia’s wish.

“ONLY TWO DAYS!” Twilight yelled. But what about guarding the princesses?” she asked.

“I already talked to Shield about that. He has it covered.” I said. “But I have to train all day tomorrow and the day after that if I’m going to be ready for this.”

“It seems like you’re going to be quite busy.” She said.

“Speaking of witch, I need to go speak with Lunar and Blaze.” I said, quickly leaving the Library.

Twilight watched me leave, I saw her mouth something like, “Why can’t I just tell you?”

I flew over to Dash’s cloud house, where I was greeted by Dash herself. “Are Lunar and Blaze here?” I asked.

“Yeah, come in.” she said. Once I was inside she asked “So what brings you here?”

“I need to speak with Lunar and Blaze, we have lots to do in such a small amount of time.” I said.

“Like what?” she asked.

“I promised Twi I wouldn’t tell her.” I thought. “Royal business, its top secret. Please tell them to meet me in the park.” I said.

“Fair enough, I’ll do that.” She said as I was flying out.

I flew to the park, which was fairly empty, it was getting close to dusk, Luna’s moon was just over the horizon. I heard two pairs of wings behind me; I knew they belonged to the other stallion alicorns.

Lunar calmly asked me “Why is it so important that you speak with us?”

“Dodge Junction has fallen, and Ace is lost.” I said as calming as I could.

Blaze stared at me. “My dad just got back, and now he’s dead?” he asked. I could tell he was hiding his shock and sorrow.

“I don’t believe so, not yet at least. Anyways, since Ace is gone for now, the princess wants me to head to Appleoosa.” I responded.

“When are you leaving?” Lunar asked me.

“I leave after the gala.” I said. “We have little time to train.” I said

“Actually, I’ve noticed you discover your abilities by becoming closer to your friends, not by training.” Lunar said.

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“What we mean is that there is little we can actually do to train you.” Lunar said.

Blaze followed up Lunar’s statement, “Yeah, training makes you physically stronger, but time makes you mentally and emotionally stronger.”

“I get it, but I didn’t expect you to say that Blaze.” I said.

“Say what?” he asked.

“That time makes you emotionally stronger.” I responded.

“Why not?” he asked

“Well, I heard from Twi that you were pretty mad when your dad showed up, after fifteen years.” I stated.

“Oh... yeah.” He said.

“There is nothing we can help you with, other than the final battle, whenever that happens.” Lunar said.

“Whenever, that’s a funny choice of words.” I said. “But I guess you’re right, my powers I need to discover on my own, although magic is still fairly new to me.”

“Why is that?” Blaze asked.

“Where I’m from, Blaze, magic isn’t so reliable. I’ve always had to do things manually.” I responded.

“Understood, there are plants and minerals that cause magic to mess up. You should get Twilight to show you some basics or lend you a book before you go.” He said.

“I’ve got the basics down, it’s just the advanced stuff I have problems with, but I’ll ask Twilight for some tips.” I asked.

“Glad to hear.” Blaze said.

I said my goodbyes and turned to leave, but remembered the changeling spy. “While I’m out of town, I want you two to protect our friends.” I told them quickly.

“From what?” they asked.

“Just protect them, and don’t tell anypony about Ace not being dead, it will raise their hope. I don’t want to lie to them, and lose their trust.” I said.

“We will, you haven’t been wrong yet.” Lunar promised.

“I don’t want to fail them, I want to save them.”  I thought.

“Good, I’m heading into town.” I said before leaving.

I went home, grabbed my violin and bits, and then began walking to town.

I decided to stop by Rarity’s boutique to see what was going on; I would have seen her at Twi’s house if there wasn’t anything going on. I knocked on the door, “Rarity, what’s going on? I didn’t see you at Twilight’s earlier.” I asked.

She opened the door just a crack. “I went earlier, but I must have left before you got there, I’m terribly sorry.” She responded.

“It’s ok, I just wanted to know what was going on. May I come in and talk.” I said.

“NO!” she yelled rapidly, “I’m quite busy right now, I’ll meet you later.”

“Wait!” I said before she could close the door.

“Yes?” she asked.

“Where do you want to meet?” I asked. I looked inside, trying to catch a glimpse of what she had to get back to. All I could see was a dirty trench coat with what looked like a badge on the table. Luckily Rarity was thinking and didn’t notice my curiosity.

“I’ll meet you at Twilight’s later. Bye.” She answered, before closing the door.

“Bye.” I said quietly.

I ran towards Twilight’s library, only stopping when I heard a cello’s sound. I entered the park, finding only one pony there. She was a gray Earth pony, her mane and tail were black and her eyes were a light purple. She had a pink treble cleft for a cutie mark, which made sense, since she was the one playing the cello.

“Hello?” I said.

“Hello.” She said shyly, her voice containing a subtle British accent.

“My name is Blade.” I said. “That was beautiful, what you just played.”

“Why, thank you, I’m Octavia by the way.” She said.

I went blank, “Octavia?”

“Yes, that’s my name.” she said. Suddenly she got excited, “You play the violin?!” she asked, noticing the instrument on my back.

“Yes, but I don’t usually play classical music.” I said. Still blank, “She has the same name as one of my old friends.” I thought.

“Then what do you play?” she asked.

“I play lots of different types of music, but I like mixing the violin with dub-step.” I said.

“Dub-step? I’ve never thought a violin could be used for any form of music other than classical!” Octavia exclaimed.

“If you know any DJ’s around here, I can show you.” I offered.

“My roommate, Vinyl Scratch, is a DJ. I can take you to her club.” She said.

“Let’s go.” I said.

“Absolutely.” She said.

“And... um, may I call you Tavi?” I asked. Tavi was the nickname I gave my old friend, Octavia, from Earth. I felt I would call this Octavia Tavi too often.

“Umm… sure?” She said.

We headed towards a club down the street, we went around to the back entrance. Octavia said, knocking. “Hey Vinyl! I have somepony here who wants to meet you. He’s a musician, like me.” She called.

A white unicorn mare opened the door. She had some kind of sunglasses on, hiding her violet eyes, her blue mane and tail were messy, and her cutie mark was a musical note. “Alright, let’s see what you got.” She said.

We went into the club, which was closed; it was still late in the afternoon. ”Give me a beat Vinyl.” I said.

“I’ll start when you start.” She responded. I started playing. I played for the next fifteen minutes, showing the two musicians the little musical ability I had. When the music died down, Vinyl said, “Wow, you got mad skills with that violin, brony.”

“That was excellent.” Tavi said, “You are quite gifted. You have opened my eyes all kinds of music.”

“Thanks, though music is just a hobby, I use it to handle my feelings.” I said.

“Well, you can come play here anytime.” Vinyl said.

“I will.” I responded. We said our goodbyes, and I went back to the library. I arrived to see Twilight talking to Rarity.

“Hay, I’m back.” I said.

Twilight quickly glanced in my direction. “Oh, hi Blade.” She said.

I turned to Rarity. “Ok, I know something’s going on. You’re acting strange.” I said.

“Strange? Whatever do you mean?” she asked nervous.

“What I mean is you’re hiding something. I saw the coat on your table.” I said.

Twilight cut in. “What’s the problem with a coat?” she asked confused.

“That’s right. What’s wrong with me working on a coat?” Rarity asked.

I stated “It’s not the coat, but the badge on it.”

“Badge?” Twilight asked.

“I didn’t get a good look, but it looked like a police badge from Earth.” I said.

Rarity stopped trying to hide it “You’re right, Dan’s Brother and his robot friend were outside my house when I left here.”

“Why would you hide that from your friends?” Twilight asked.

“He asked me to, and it’s not many ponies know about Earth. He told me he was looking for Dan, if Rainbow Dash met him, both would be hurt.” Rarity responded. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t apologize; you were protecting your friends feelings. And even though we don’t know where Dan is, I don’t think he’s dead.” I said to the designer.

“Thank you. Don’t tell anypony else.” She said before leaving.

Twilight turned to me, “Why do you think Dan is alive?” she asked.

“I just think so; I don’t really have a reason.” I said.

“Well, I guess it’s good to have hope.” She stated, unconvinced Dan was still alive.

The next day went by and nothing major happened, I went to Canterlot, trained in magic with Lunar and Blaze, went back to Ponyville, and got a suit, made by Rarity, for the gala the next evening. The suit was white, with a small blue sapphire in the front; it also had a place to hide my swords under the wing. I would be guarding the princesses as well as attending as a guest.

On the day of the gala, every one of my friends were getting ready for that evening, after their usual daily activities. I spent the day guarding the princesses, and had lunch with Fluer and Shield, I think they really liked each other. And as it would turn out, Fluer is a model and would be going to the gala as well as me and Shield.

I returned to Ponyville, to prepare for that evening and the immediate departure after. I ran into many of my other friends, who were all going to attend the gala, minus Derpy, and Vinyl said fancy parties weren’t her thing.

I kept getting a feeling that things would not go as planned. As the gala drew nearer, my worries grew larger.