Guardian

CHAPTER 10 - CONVERGENCE

“To the controller of the light of day, Princess Celestia, the monarch of the night, Princess Luna, the lord of pandemonium, Discord, and the wielders of the Elements of Harmony; The Crystal Empire hereby cries out for you to come to our defense in this solemn hour. Our leaders, Princess Mi Amore Cadenza and the Commander of the Crystal Army, Shining Armor have both been defeated in battle and taken captive by a shadowy being who decimated the entirety of our defending army. The Crystal Heart has been shattered under his power, the barrier around the lands now runs a virulent mixture of black, blue, and red. I beg to you all to send help immediately.” - Rich Text, Crystal Castle Scribe

Pausing in shock after she finished reading the scroll aloud, Twilight Sparkle suddenly became overcome with grief.

“My brother and Cadance are...”

“Now, nothing's certain yet.” Applejack quickly placed an assuring hoof over Twilight's shoulder, “He just said they were taken captive. Nothin' more. They could be just fine.”

“I sure hope so...”

The group gathered quietly around and sat for a few moments before Rainbow Dash broke the silence.

“Well,” She said with frustration filling her voice, “When are we gonna go kick this guy's butt?”

“Hold on, Rainbow Dash,” Rarity spoke up, “You should at least be kind enough to give Twilight a minute to breathe.”

“No,” Twilight stood up, “She's right. We need to get a move-on. The quicker we take this guy down, the quicker we save my brother and Cadance.”

“So what's the plan?” The rainbow pegasus flew up into the air next to Twilight and hovered anxiously over her, fire in her voice, “We just get the Elements and go Medusa on him, right?”

“I don't think that it's going to be that simple,” Twilight replied, “He shattered the Crystal Heart. That item was practically as powerful as the Elements of Harmony. If this being could overcome that magic, then we can't be so sure that he won't defeat ours as well.”

“Like he'd be able to do that! Discord couldn't even handle them!”

“I know, Rainbow, but whoever this is, he obviously sounds like he has much more knowledge on how to combat powerful artificial magic. He might be capable of things that Discord is not.”

“Then what are we gonna do?”

Twilight thought for a moment. Then looked around at the group and spoke.

“We'll head to Canterlot. We'll speak to the Princesses and Discord directly on the situation and make plans to take back the Empire. We'll need to figure out a way through that barrier, though.”

Twilight continued to gather ideas from the group. Outside, Fluttershy struggled to move the chicken coop back into place. Whereas Rainbow Dash had been able to move the thing with ease, the weaker yellow mare had much more of an issue in manipulating the awkward and heavy object.

“Oh...” She groaned, “I wish she had put it down closer to the pen...” Fluttershy got in front of the coop and pushed with her front legs as hard as she could, the coop moving a few inches before she could not move it further. She sighed and looked around at the chickens. “Don't worry, I'll get it back there sooner or later. I might have to get somepony to help me with it when they finish fixing other things around town.”

She flew around to the back of the coop and attempted to pull by flying backwards with her wings. She managed to move it about a foot before stopping again. She landed on the ground with a thud, her wings exhausted, and looked over her shoulder at the pen that was about twenty feet away before sighing again.

“Excuse me.” An unfamiliar voice from behind caused Fluttershy to jump and dart around to the other side of the coop. Peeking back over, the yellow Pegasus was met by a surprised stare from a silver-haired, white-maned unicorn stallion. She lifted her head slightly over the top of the coop to get a better look at him, taking note of his necklace and the peculiar black flame stripes on his face. “Oh,” the stallion said, “I'm sorry! I didn't mean to scare you like that!”

“It's... It's fine...” Fluttershy shrunk slightly behind the coop. The chickens around the coop looked at the white stallion curiously before slowly making their way towards him and gathering around him in a circle. Paying it no mind, the stallion continued to direct his speaking towards Fluttershy.

“I'm sorry to intrude upon your uh...” He looked around at the chickens, “Farm, here. But you see, I have a bit of a problem and was hoping that maybe you could help me out?”

“Oh... Okay...” Fluttershy looked up from the chickens, back at the stallion's blue eyes.

“Ah, wonderful. You see, I... Uh... You don't have to keep hiding behind that coop, you know.” At this, Fluttershy let out a slight whimper and shrunk back behind the coop. The stallion smiled gently. “I'm not going to do anything bad, I promise you.” The stallion sat down calmly on the grass and looked at Fluttershy with a warm visage. “I'm not a bad guy, I'm just a bit lost.”

“Okay...” Fluttershy moved out from behind the coop slowly and fearful of the stallion before her who seemed to emanate an odd feeling. Not a bad one, not sinister or scary like she had felt before the storm hit earlier, but one that seemed... Off in comparison to other ponies that she had met. That was another question she had in her mind: Who was this pony? She had never seen a pony like this before – a unicorn with a masculine build, a male pony with such lengthy hair, a pony with silver hair other than Lyra... And never had she seen a pony with no other stripes but two in the shape of flames on their face.

“I like your chickens,” the stallion spoke up, snapping Fluttershy out of her thought and stopping her slow steps out from behind the coop, “There were lots of chickens back where I came from. Never this friendly, though.”

“Oh... Yes,” Fluttershy replied with a small smile, “I raised them from eggs, so I suppose I've worn off on them a little...”

“Oh? You like taking care of animals?” Fluttershy nodded her head with a smile at this, “That's very nice of you. I love animals too. They tend to not have a problem with me, either.”

“That's neat. Most ponies have a tendency to scare the poor things away.”

“Haha, yes, I've noticed that others tend to be frightening to the animals. I always thought of myself as something of an oddity when it came to that. The animals never really minded my presence.” The stallion looked back at Fluttershy with a smile, “I'm Brimstone, by the way.”

“I'm Fluttershy.”

“Fluttershy!” Another voice called out from the cottage. The group within began to exit the cottage, filing out quickly, ready to inform the yellow pegasus of their plan to head to Canterlot. “Fluttershy, where did you go-” Rainbow Dash looked out at the pen, the coop now moved back into place with an abundance of animals gathered around an unfamiliar pony in the middle of the pen.

“Huh?” Applejack began as she saw the sight, “Who's that? Never seen him around here before.”

In the pen, Brimstone laughed and played with a large sum of animals as Fluttershy led more of them over to him.

“...And this one's Angel, my bunny.” Fluttershy flew over with a white rabbit in her embrace, the critter looking a bit displeased as she sat him down. He looked up at the white stallion quizzically.

“Well hello, Angel.” Brimstone knelt down before the rabbit with a smile as a blue bird landed on his head. The rabbit, seeming to be pleased by just the stallion's presence, hopped over to the white unicorn and took his hoof into his hand, shaking it with a smile.

“Oh! Wow, you must really have an affinity for animals. I've never seen Angel open up to anyone so fast.”

“I've never seen a rabbit shake my hand, either.”

“Your what?”

“Uh, nothing.” Brimstone looked over and noticed a group of 4 ponies and a wingless dragon. “Huh? Are they friends of yours?”

“Oh!” Fluttershy flew over to the group and hovered in front of them. “Everyone, come over here, this is Brimstone.”

“Who?” Twilight asked as the group stood in place.

“Brimstone! I just met him. He said he was lost and randomly showed up here. He's a nice pony. He even gets along with Angel!” The group looked past Fluttershy at the white stallion, who was lying on his back and tossing the bunny in the air and catching him playfully, all of the animals seeming to laugh with him happily as he did so.

“Uh... Are you sure?” Applejack raised an eyebrow at the sight.

“What do you mean?”

“That rabbit probably only likes him because they're both jerks.” Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes at her yellow friend as she drifted backwards.

“No! He's actually a very kind pony!” Fluttershy, taken aback by Rainbow Dash's statement, looked over at Twilight, who seemed to have been thinking curiously the entire time. “You don't think he looks mean, do you?”

“It seems a little convenient...” Twilight began, rubbing her chin with her hoof, “It's a bit suspicious...”

“What do you mean?” Rarity asked.

“Think about it... First the storm happens that blows away half of Ponyville, then we get those letters about the Crystal Empire, and then this mysterious guy shows up...”

“She does have a point, Fluttershy.” Spike's voice drew the group's attention before Applejack made an observation.

“The critters sure do seem to like him. Animals tend to have a natural way of judgin' ponies for who they are. Ah think that ah might be leanin' towards their judgment on this one.” As Applejack finished saying this, Brimstone caught Angel again, the rabbit laughing a squeaky giggle in his embrace, and looked over at the group with a wave and smile. “He does seem like a right-nice feller.”

“Even so... I'd keep an eye on him.” Twilight continued her suspicious statement, “We don't know anything about him yet. We should still probably talk to him a bit, though.”

As Fluttershy turned to fly back to him, Twilight stopped her.

“Hang on, Fluttershy. You need to stay back for a moment and read these.” She passed over two scrolls to the yellow pegasus before the group moved on to the pen, Fluttershy sitting down on the grass to read.

As they neared the pen, Rainbow Dash shot out ahead and hovered over the white unicorn.

“So, 'Brimstone,' if that's what your name actually is... Who are you working for?” She grabbed the unicorn by the amulet around his neck and pulled him up, coming eye-to-eye with his shocked sight. “Some hired thugs? Are you a mercenary? An assassin? Maybe you're just a diversion for the guy screwing things up up north? That's it, isn't it! You just want us to not aid the Crystal Empire, well I've got news for you, mister, that ain't gonna-”

“Can you let go of my necklace, please?” Brimstone looked down at the firm hold on his necklace with a look of pure displeasure. “You can grab my hair or something.. I just don't like people touching my necklace.”

“Oh, really?” Rainbow Dash tightened her grip, “Now I'm really suspicious. And what's a 'people?'”

“Please let go.”

“And why should I?”

Brimstone's eyes began to shine slightly before a voice behind Rainbow Dash made her lose her grip and drop him on the ground.

“Leave the guy alone! We don't even know if he did anything!” Twilight's irked voice calmed slightly before she walked over to Brimstone, who sat on the ground with a crowd of animals gathering around him. “I'm sorry,” she began, “We're all just a little bit on-edge right now. I'm Twilight Sparkle, the librarian here in Ponyville. You've already met Fluttershy, but these are hers and my friends, Rarity, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Spike.”

“Ah, nice to meet you.” Brimstone smiled at the mulberry unicorn and stood up on all fours. “Fluttershy already told you who I was.”

“Huh? You heard that from way over here?”

“Oh, yeah, I did. I have good hearing.”

Twilight looked at Brimstone in slight confusion. They had been almost whispering to each other with how quiet they were talking, and this stallion heard that from over 40 feet away?

“Yes, well, I'm glad to see a new face here in Ponyville. It's always nice to see someone with an affinity for animals like Fluttershy.”

“Oh, yes. I love animals. Always have.”

“Right, well I'm sorry to say that we cannot stay here for long. There is important business that my friends and I need to tend to, so please feel free to enjoy your stay in the town.”

“Oh, wait!”

“Yes?”

“I got side-tracked by all of these animals. I actually wanted to ask a question.”

“Ask away.”

“Okay, don't laugh at me, here... Is there a... Um... Portal anywhere near here?”

“Huh? Why do you need one?”

“Oh, so there is? Okay good.” Brimstone breathed a sigh of relief. He had expected her to look at him crazy, but figured that there might be some hope since everything in the land seemed to be somewhat magical and inexplicable anyway. “I need it to get somewhere. Somewhere... far away.”

“Uh huh... Exactly how far?”

“Um...” Brimstone rubbed his head for a moment, “Another universe?” Twilight looked at him dumbfoundedly and then snickered before bursting into laughter. “I guess that one's a 'no' then.”

“That's funny, Brimstone. There's no such thing as inter-universal travel. I should know, I've read all of the theories and attempts to perform it. But hey, it's nice to know that I'm not the only pony that knows about it.”

“Okay, then is there anyone who can help me find or make one?”

“You're interesting, you know that?” Twilight cocked an eyebrow, “I think the Princess would like to meet you.”

“What?”

“Uh... Twilight...” Applejack called the unicorn over to whisper something, but Twilight knew it wouldn't work since Brimstone's hearing was so acute.

“Um... One moment, please.” She nodded to Brimstone before turning around and walking to Applejack, creating a raspberry-tinted orb around the group. Brimstone looked at the barrier in confusion, walking up to it and examining it as the group inside chatted.

“Whadya think you're doin' invitin' him to see the Princess?”

“Look, as soon as he mentioned needing a portal, I knew he was up to something. He has to be up to something. Just look at him!” Twilight gestured down to the white unicorn as he tapped the barrier at the ground curiously, “He's trying to eavesdrop on us even right now. He's obviously a spy or something. I had my doubts before, but he's too good to be normal. The Princess will definitely want to see him. She'll know what to do.”

“Alright. Ah hope you know what yer doin'.”

“Yeah,” Rainbow Dash interjected, “'Cause he certainly doesn't sit right with me.”

Twilight dissipated the barrier and Brimstone jumped back.

“We would like it very much if you came with us to Canterlot to see Princess Celestia. She might be able to help you.”

“Oh? Good. I could really use some.”

“I'm sure you could.” The group turned as Fluttershy approached them with the scrolls re-rolled.

“I just read the letters. Oh, it's terrible, what are we going to-” Dash flew behind Fluttershy and covered Fluttershy's mouth quickly before she could speak anymore.

“Um... is something wrong?” Brimstone looked up at Fluttershy with some concern.

“No, no!” Twilight frantically gestured to get Brimstone's attention, “Nothing's wrong, we just need to get a move-on to Canterlot before nightfall.”

“It's not even noon, though.”

“Well.. We still have to get Pinkie Pie! I'm sure she'll love to meet you as well. We have to get her and get on the train to Canterlot. It's going to be quite a trip! Need to go! Let's go!”

“Um... Alright...” Brimstone curiously followed the five ponies and dragon down the road towards Ponyville.