Guardians

A month had gone by, I had a doctor look at my wing, it was healing slower than expected and I had not left Canterlot the entire time. I was worried about how Twilight was doing and how my other friends were. I had only been able to talk to Shield and Fleur.

It was night time, and I was awake, thinking to myself. “I should go see Twilight tomorrow; it’s been a decent amount of time. It would certainly be nice to go to Ponyville again before heading to the border.” I thought, before falling asleep.

I had a strange dream that night, one where I was back in Los Angeles, but no one could see me. I saw a familiar figure wonder into the nearby park. It was Ashley, my violinist friend from earth, but she seemed upset. I followed her, phasing through the crowd, into the park. I found her alone, on a park bench, one where my most unpleasant memory originated from.

“I’m sorry Steel, we never meant to make you so upset. All I want is to make it right, but you’re gone. Where did you go? Are you even alive? I’m so sorry.” She cried.

I was shocked, she was apologizing, but had no idea I was there. “I forgive you, and, I need to thank you. I found out what I was meant to do because of this. I’ve never been happier.” I said, thinking she couldn’t hear me.

She looked around, “Hello? Anyone there? Am I hearing things?” she asked.

“She heard me?” I thought.

“Hello?” she asked again.

“Can you hear me?” I asked, confused.

“Steel? Are you here? Why can’t I see you?” she asked.

I had to answer, “I am not physically there, that’s why you can’t see me.”

“I’m so sorry, we all are. Where have you been?” she said.

“That’s much harder to explain, let’s just say it’s a long story and I’m far away from anyone else right now. And don’t talk about this, the others might think you’re crazy.” I said.

“Right, I won’t say a word.” She said.

“Hey Ashley!” someone called.

We both turned around and saw the rest of our friends. There was Hunter, the jock of the group, Tavi , the model, Cal, who we called Tech due to him being a genius/computer wiz, Scott was the extremist, Marcy, the auto-tech expert, Hutch, the country kid, Eli, the shy giant.

“Hey guys, what are you doing here?” Ashley asked.

“You weren’t in the dorms, so we thought we would find you here.” Marcy said.

“We know you’re upset about Steel, but the police have been searching for over a year now, they said he was probably dead six months ago.” Cal said.

“No one, not even him, could have survived this long alone. You know he hated harming animals. He wouldn’t have hurt a fly intentionally.” Scott said.

“I’ve changed guys. I’m not like that anymore.” I said, even though they couldn’t hear me.

“But he did a taming act with the tiger that escaped from the zoo two years ago.” Tavi said.

“Dat was fer its own good, though. Ya’ll heard what the police said, if dat tiger had killed someone, they would have had ta put it down.” Hutch said.

“It wasn’t really a taming act, more like I distracted it with a jacket and some rope.” I thought.

“That was hardcore, he got it straight in to the cage the animal catchers set up.” Scott said.

“He always loved animals, couldn’t stand to see one killed, even if it meant he would risk his life to save it. He had a big heart.” Marcy said. “Wait, why are we talking about him again?”

“That’s Marcy, always forgetting a reason.” I thought, annoyed.

“Because Ashley is upset.” Cal said.

“Why is she upset, he left us.” Marcy said.

“ONLY BECAUSE YOU GUYS ABANDONED ME!” I yelled at her, even though only Ashley could hear me.

“It’s our fault he left. We, his only friends, left him, just like everyone else.” Ashley sighed.

“Right, I got it.” Marcy said. “I do feel kinda bad about that.” Everyone nodded.

“I could try locating his phone. He always has that thing on him.” Tech said.

“Wait! You didn’t try that yet!” I yelled, shocked.

“That’s cause his dad would kill him if he lost it.”  Marcy joked, the others stared at her.

I snapped out of my shock after hearing this. “Damn! She’s right.” I yelled, realizing that I had my phone on me when I ran away, it disappeared when I entered Equestria.

“Hmm… I can’t find it.” Tech said, looking at his laptop.

“WHAT!” Hunter screamed, “Why not?”

“I don’t know, even if it’s off or out of power, I should be able to locate it anywhere on earth.” Tech said, puzzled.

“I’m not on Earth though, only my subconscious is. Maybe I could try my powers.” I thought.

“Ashley, give me a few minutes and I’ll try to find some way to send them a message.” I said. She nodded.

I flew up to see the surroundings looking for anything I could try. I saw a long, dark figure flying in the distance. I flew behind it and heard it talk, “What chaos should I create next?” it asked itself.

“None, I have friends here.” I said.

The figure turned around. “What do we have here? Did Celestia send you to stop me?” It asked.

“No. I came here on my own.” I answered, lying, I didn’t really want to go there, and I was just so upset.

“Then you cannot stop me. I bend reality, and I will kill you.” It threatened.

“I’ve already been up against the, I’ll kill you threat.” I mocked. This remark seemed to make him angry; he began flying in a circle, creating storm clouds, all of which were shooting lightning right at me.

One bolt hit me; I felt the power surge through me, being absorbed. “How did you hit me, and why can you see me?” I asked, gems beginning to glow, due to the power from the lightning bolt.

“I should ask you why you’re not dead.” It said, before hitting me with several more bolts of lightning, me absorbing each one.

“I am stronger than anypony you may have fought before.” I said.

“If I cannot kill you, I will kill your friends!” it yelled.

“Been up against that one too.” I stated, before it began flying towards the park.

“NO!!” I yelled taking off faster than I’ve ever flown before. I released all the energy from the lightning that hit me. I heard a loud BOOM and the sky grew bright as I flew, tackling the creature. “Leave them alone!”

The creature disappeared when I hit it. I looked around and saw a trail of light behind me. “The Aurora Borealis!” I gasped before flying down to my friends.

As I landed, I heard the creature’s voice. “This isn’t over. You may have won this battle, but the war has just begun.”

I returned to my friends, who were all gasping and staring at the sky.

“This is impossible!” Tech said. “There’s no way the Aurora should be here.” He pulled out his laptop once again. “There are no reports of a solar flare or anything.”

“Is the genius stumped?” Marcy mocked. Tech just stared at the sky. No one noticed a certain violinist.

Ashley walked away from the rest and whispered, “Steel, did you do that?”

“Yes.” I said.

“But how?” she asked, still whispering.

“Again, it’s a long story.” I responded, it was only long because I didn’t know how to explain it.

The dream faded, and I awoke to the room in the castle. “What a realistic dream. Wait, what time is it?”

I heard knocking at the door, “Yes.”

“Blade, its Shield, are you still asleep?” He asked.

“I just got up, why?” I said.

“Princess Celestia wishes to see you in the library.” He said.

“One second.” I said. I grabbed my book and headed for the door. I wondered if all that was really, just a dream, it felt so… real.

We were walking to the library, talking about the past few days. “So… why were you still asleep?” he asked me.

“Well, I had an odd dream. One that seems too important to pass by, but I won’t mention it to the princess until I know if that’s all it was, a dream.” I responded.

“What was it about?” Shield asked.

“You wouldn’t believe it if I told you.” I said.

“Why?” he asked.

“I won’t say. It’s not that I don’t trust you, it’s just that it involves a secret that’s much bigger than Equestria.”  I said.

He ran in front of me, blocking the way,“Well, I’m in charge of the royal guard. If this puts danger to Equestria, I need to know about it.” He said, raising his voice.

“You make a good point, I’ll tell you and the princess, if I find evidence that the dream was not just my imagination.” I agreed.

The rest of the walk was quiet. I had never been to the royal library before, it must be full of knowledge I never got to read at Twi’s or in my book.

We reached the library and found the princess looking through a large history book.

Shield and I bowed. “Hello princess.” He said.

“Hello. Shield you may leave.” She said.

I spoke up, “Actually princess, could he stay here?” I asked.

“If he wishes.” She said.

“I’ll stay.” Shield said before going to the side of the room.

“Princess, why did you want to meet me here?” I asked.

“I sensed the good in you grow stronger last night, but the darkness grew as well.” She explained, flipping through the pages.

I looked at the page she was about to flip, “Wait princess, that page you’re on… I saw that figure last night.” I said, flipping the pages in my book. I found the same figure near the back, “A draconequus, only one has ever existed.”

“Discord. But, where did you see him last night, you weren’t seen leaving the castle.” Celestia said.

“In… my dream.” I answered.

“Dream?” She asked.

“Yes, I had a dream last night. I was back on Earth, but I was invisible to everyone, and… I saw my friends.” I said.

“You saw Twilight and the others? And where’s Earth?” Shield asked.

Celestia looked at me, “Why did you ask Shield to stay, if you were going to mention this?” she asked.

“I promised him that I would, if it endangered Equestria. I think this at least involves Equestria somehow. ” I explained. “And Shield, I’m talking about my friends from Earth, where I’m from. It’s a world that mirrors Equestria.”

“So you’re an alien?” he asked.

“Sort of, and Ace is too. I trust you to not talk about this to anypony.” I said.

“Shield, I know this is hard for you to understand, but believe us, this is no reason for alarm.” Celestia said.

“Ok, I haven’t got a single reason not to trust either of you.” He said. “Go on.”

“Anyways, I saw my friends from Earth. They were upset about me not being there and apologized for abandoning me. That’s probably why my good energy increased.” I explained.

“And what about Discord?” She asked.

“I saw him flying in the air; he’s spreading chaos on Earth.” I said. “I’m worried about my friends.”

“But Discord is dead.” Celestia said.

“How is that possible?” I asked.

“Ace defeated him fifteen years ago, when I brought him from Earth. It took quite a lot of magic to stop time there, and it left some damage to the time rift.” Celestia explained.

“He probably escaped through that damaged time rift. That would explain why he’s on Earth.” I said.

“This is troubling; Discord can bend reality to his whim. And if Earth and Equestria truly mirror each other, if one is destroyed, the other is too.” She said.

“If he can bend reality why didn’t he do that when I showed up? He could see and touch me, but he didn’t bend reality. All he did was created a lightning storm.” I said confused.

Celestia levitated my book to her and flipped through it to the page that described me. “You are the guardian of space and time, it’s possible that your powers to control these things negated or limited Discord’s powers. Can you show us this dream?” She said.

Upon request, I spread my wings and revealed the dream. I didn’t reveal anything my friends said, but I did reveal the whole conversation with Discord.

“This explains so much.” Shield exclaimed.

“I thought it might.” I said.

“Well, your friends are certainly unique, but, Discord may try to target them.” Celestia said

Shield asked, “Was that a sonic rainboom?”

“A rainboom?” I asked.

“It’s when a pony breaks the light barrier, only two, well three now, have ever accomplished such a thing. Rainbow Dash was the first, Ace was the second, and you are the third.” Shield explained.

“And the added power from the lightning seemed to amplify its power, sending Discord somewhere distant, though he will return there in a few hours or so.” Celestia said.

“What’s the Aurora Borealis?” Shield asked when he heard me mention it in my memory.

“On Earth, they’re called the Northern lights, it’s one of the most magical events to happen.” I explained. “You have never had an Aurora happen in Equestria?”

“No.” they both said.

“We’ll call that the Aurora Rainboom. It seems to be full of magical energy, which makes it so strong.” Celestia said. “We will speak later.”

“If you will excuse us princess, Shield and I have much to do.” I said.

“Let me hold on to this book, it is much older than any I’ve ever seen, it may have important information we can use.” Celestia said.

“Please, keep it as long as you would like.” I responded.

We left the princess and carried on our day, which was normal, for the most part. Once the day was over I went back to my room, and went to sleep, I had completely forgotten about heading to Ponyville.

I had another dream that night. It was similar to the last, although this time I was on top of my dad’s penthouse, and I seemed to be back in my human form. I was wearing a white trench coat, black jeans, and a blue T-shirt, my hair remained a spikey blue and black. I looked inside, I could see all my friends through the skylight, except for Ashley, who was on the balcony.

“Steel, it’s been so long since any of us has seen your face.” she said.

I would have said something, before I heard a deep voice. “So you’re his friends?” it said.

“Discord!” I thought.

I saw Ashley look around and heard her ask, “Who said that?” She obviously knew it wasn’t my voice.

The entire building shook. My friends ran to the balcony to get Ashley, yelling for her to get inside. She got up, only to have the balcony collapse, sending her into a free fall.

“ASHLEY!” all my friends yelled.

I couldn’t let her fall to her doom, I had to save her. I jumped after her.

My friends gasped, “Was that Steel?” I heard Hunter ask.

I straightened my form to cut through the air, quickly catching up to the falling violinist.

“Don’t worry Ashley, I got you!” I yelled, grabbing her. I felt her curl up in my arms.

I looked down, seeing the rapidly approaching ground. My body automatically positioned itself feet first. I hit the ground, landing on my feet. Ashley was in my arms, unconscious. The rest of my friends quickly exited the building, stopping a few feet away from me.

  “Steel? Is that really you?” Eli asked.

I nodded, and walked up to them.

“Let’s head upstairs.” I said. We all went up to my dad’s penthouse. I laid Ashley on the sofa.

“Where have you been?” Tech asked.

“Long story.” I answered.

“What has happened to you, since you left?” Marcy asked.

“Even longer story, and I don’t have much time.” I said.

“Where are you going?” the jock Hunter asked.

“I have some unfinished business to take care of, out of town.” I said. “Can we not talk about me anymore?”

“Sure, but you are not the same person we knew before. I mean, that stunt you just pulled, pure awesomeness.” Scott said.

“That’s not speaking about something other than me.” I said.

“You use to like spending time with us, but then you go and disappear. What happened to you?” Eli asked.

“I don’t know, maybe it has something to do with abandonment.” I said sarcastically.

“Don’t be a jerk.” Marcy said, shoving me slightly.

“Why not? You guys didn’t even say [I’m sorry] to my face when I finally came back.” I said annoyed. “I did overhear Ashley and you guys last night though.” I told them.

Marcy was furious, “YOU WERE SPYING ON US!?” she asked, trying to get away from Hunter and Scott, who were holding her back.

“No, I was just in the area. I see you took some anger management classes.” I said.

“Just ignore her, you know how she is.” Tech said, “And we thought you were dead.”

“Trust me, it was like I never left.” I said.

“We truly are sorry, we were wrong to leave you.” Tavi said.

Marcy finally calmed down. “Apologies accepted, group hug.” I said. We all huddled together, embracing our repaired friendship. “Guys, don’t tell my dad that I came back, I may not return for a while.”

“K.” they all said.

Ashley started to awaken, “I just had the weirdest dream. I heard someone speak, then the building shook, the balcony collapsed, and I fell.” She said, holding onto her head.

“It wasn’t a dream.” I said.

She looked at me, disbelieving, “Steel?” she asked. I nodded. She ran up to me, giving me a hug. “You’re back! You’re back!” she chanted. “Were you the one to save me?” she asked.

“Yes. It’s good to be back, even though I need to leave so soon.” I said.

She let go, “You’re leaving? Why?” She asked.

“I have business to take care of. All I will say is that it involves the Aurora from last night.” I said.

“You are investigating?” Tech asked.

“No, I created it.” I said.

“No way, how?” Tech asked, intrigued.

“I don’t know how, it was an accident. I want to figure out though.” I said. “And about that voice you just heard Ashley, don’t look for it, it belongs to a dangerous figure.”

“Who?” all my friends asked at once.

“Let’s call him Discord.” I stated.

Tech spoke up “Discord, meaning lack of harmony, from the Latin word Discordia.” He said.

“You love to show how smart you are, can you translate that?” Marcy asked.

“Chaos.” I said.

“He definitely sounds like a bad dude.” Hunter said.

“I’ll come back if anything crazy happens.” I stated.

“We’ll keep in touch.” Tavi said.

“That’s going to be a challenge. You may not hear from me for a while.” I said. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t leave us again.” Ashley said, starting to cry again.

“I have to.” Was the last thing I said to them before getting up.

I walked over to the balcony and  jumped. My friends ran to the balcony, thinking I was crazy, only to find me gone.  The dream ended on my way down, going back to Equestria, and awoke.

It wasn’t even daylight yet and I was wide awake, figuring out everything I had to do. “Let’s see, I need to save Equestria, stop Discord, find Dan, and clear things up with Twi. Not much I can do at this moment.” I went over that list in my head at least two more times before I heard a knocking at the door. I opened it to find Shield.

“We lost Appleoosa.” He said.

“Changelings strike again?” I asked, rhetorically. He just nodded.

“I’m taking princess Cadence to Ponyville today, want to tag along?” he asked.

“Sure, I need to go see Twilight.” I responded.

“Great, well leave around nine sharp.” He said while leaving.

Once he was gone I began preparing for the day, grabbed my bits, swords, and saddlebags. I began thinking, “Where will the changelings strike next, and where is Ace, I sure could use some help right now.”

I got up and stretched my wings, which was magically fully recovered. I felt stronger, faster, and all around better. “I guess repairing my friendship with the guys on Earth really made me happy.” I said, but then I remembered Discord.

“You may have one this battle, but the war has just begun!” I remembered his words clearly.

“The war has begun Discord, and you are going to lose. This attack on my friends has helped me become stronger. I will stop you.” I said to myself. I thought I heard the creature laugh.

Morning came sooner than I anticipated. “Get ready Chrysalis, I’ve got something new in my arsenal. You’re  next to taste my Aurora rainboom.