Guardian

CHAPTER 17 – SALVATION

Voices entered the addled mind of the silver-haired stallion. Unable to make out what they were saying for a few seconds, he attempted to gather his thoughts quietly as he continued to rest his pounding head.

“You're saying that he uses magic without using his horn?” A male voice asked.

“Yes. Does that seem like an important detail?” Twilight's voice replied.

“Terror, the being that has attacked Canterlot, has eyes that glow when he uses his powers as well.”

“What are his powers?”

“He summoned a dragon a short while ago.”

“Is that the noise we heard?” A random female voice, probably one of the other passengers.

“He attacked Canterlot directly. We need to get you all to the castle at once if we have any hope of defeating him-” Suddenly, the entire population of ponies within the gorge seemed to scream in shock and fear as the area darkened. Brimstone opened his eyes and looked up and out to the sky.

He had never seen a solar eclipse before, though he had heard of them back on Monaris. What he saw above in the sky seemed to match the description perfectly.

“What's going on?” Twilight shouted.

“I... I don't know!” The male guard replied, “Everything was under control when we left! I don't understand what happened!”

Brimstone continued to look around in a daze, taking in his surroundings. It looked like he had been moved onto the porch section of the caboose of the train. Twilight and six of the seven of the group were all out in the gorge talking to the guards that had arrived with a large chariot. Where is...

“Everyone! Brimstone is awake!” Fluttershy's voice rang out from over Brimstone's head. He looked up and could tell that his head had been resting in her lap. “Are you alright?”

“No...”

“Oh no...” The yellow pegasus redirected her attention back at the guards, “Can you give me a washcloth or something cold, please? He's burning up.”

“You smell nice... Fluttershy...”

“Don't talk yet, you've got a terrible fever.”

“I'm hungry...”

“Oh! Excuse me,” Fluttershy directed her attention to a nearby pony, “Can you go to the dining cabin and get something for Brimstone?”

“Sure thing.” The pony rushed off.

Brimstone smiled as he looked up at Fluttershy. “You... Remind me of someone I know...”

“I do?”

“She was nice... Just like you... Pretty like you too...”

Fluttershy blushed, “I... Um... Thanks...” Brimstone's stomach growled intensely.

“Food...”

“Here's something! It's all I could find in there.” The pony returned and handed an apple over to Fluttershy.

“Oh... I hope this is enough for now...” She held the apple out to Brimstone and allowed him to attempt to bite it, though he was too weak to even make a dent in it. “Oh no... He can't eat this...”

“So chew it up and feed it to him, Fluttershy.” Rainbow Dash's voice shot over, “Birds do it all the time.”

“Um... I...” Fluttershy looked down at Brimstone's face, red with the heat from the fever. She then looked at the apple in her hoof and heard his stomach growl again as he let out a moan. “Okay...” Taking a bite of the apple and chewing it, the yellow pegasus prepped herself for making her lips come into contact with Brimstone's. Okay, Fluttershy. You can do this. He needs to eat... It's just like when you took care of those birds! Come on... She looked down at Brimstone's lips, Just... She bent over him, coming closer to his face, Just do it! She pressed her lips against Brimstone's and dropped the mashed apple into his mouth. The white unicorn chewed and swallowed the apple, then opened his eyes and smiled.

“How about that... You kiss just like her too...” Fluttershy felt her face go red and she looked away. Brimstone's stomach continued to growl.

“Fluttershy, bring him over to the chariot, we need to get to Canterlot.”

“But he... He's still hurt!”

“Keep feeding him when we're on the chariot, then. We've gotta go!”

“Okay...” The idea of practically kissing the white unicorn multiple times in the midst of her friends seemed more than embarrassing to her, but Fluttershy agreed and lifted Brimstone, carrying him over to the chariot and resting his head in her lap again.

“Listen up, everypony!” A guard shouted to the crowd, “We are going to keep a few of our ranks here so that you will be protected! Until further notice, we only have one chariot, so we must use it carefully! We will take the wielders of the Elements with us first, and then come back for the rest of you. Sit tight!”

Brimstone felt six more creatures, five larger than the sixth, enter the chariot and take a place next to him. He then felt Fluttershy's lips press against his again and drop more food in for him to eat. As he began chewing, he began to think about a statement that Mokushiroku told him in his subconscious. “You are not meant to be a horse.” Then why was he a horse? Why did he have this form?

“You haven't figured that out yet?” Eiza opened his eyes inside of his subconscious world, sitting up off of the wooden floor.

“What?”

“You don't get why you're a horse? You're like an open book, and yet you don't understand your own actions?”

Eiza stood up and looked at Mokushiroku. “What are you talking about?”

“All your life, you've wanted to fit in. You wished you were human. You wished, you wished, you wished. You arrive in Equestria, a land full of magical ponies, and you knew, though not consciously, that the land was full of ponies. You weren't in control of your mind due to the confusion, so you subconsciously used Biokinesis to shapeshift into a horse. It's that simple.”

“Why didn't you tell me that sooner?”

“I thought you could figure that out on your own. It was obvious that magic had nothing to do with it. The mulberry pony tried to heal you with magic but your body rejected it. It couldn't have been a magical transformation.”

“But I don't even know Biokinesis... How could I-”

“You copy powers of mine all the time, idiot. Monkey see, monkey do. You just never had a reason to use my Biokinesis powers before.”

“So... So turn me back!”

“No. You did it to yourself.”

“But I have to be in my regular form if I want to use my weapons and armor against Terror!”

“Then fix yourself. It's not my problem whether or not this world dies. It's not yours either. You're involving yourself in matters that don't matter.”

“They matter to me. And I'm gonna fix them. My kind had always striven to be loved by humanity. We always stood for what's right. For this guy to call himself an Emata and then do such unspeakable things to these innocent ponies is... It's disgusting! He's earned a one-way ticket to the edge of Gladius Magnus, and you can bet your soul that he's gonna cash it!”

“Do what you will, Eiza Borealis. I'm nothing more than a voice in the back of your head when you get like this.”

“You're darn right, you are! I'm in charge here, I'm the guy in control, and I say I'm gonna protect this world from that monster! And there's nothing you can do to stop me!”

“Just shut up and fix your body.”

Brimstone's eyes shot open as Fluttershy dropped another piece of apple in his mouth. He sat up, startling the yellow pony greatly. After swallowing the hunk of apple, he moved to the front of the chariot and shouted out to the guards.

“We need to make a detour!”

“What?” Twilight replied, “We don't have time for detours!”

“Trust me, this one is important enough to justify it.”

“Ah think you might be a bit loopy from the fever still,” Applejack stated, “Why don't you go lie down and let Fluttershy feed you some more?”

“As much as I'd like to get kissed by a pretty girl again, no.” At this, Fluttershy blushed again as Rainbow Dash began to laugh, “We need to turn around and go to a clearing in the Everfree Forest. I'll explain myself on the way.”

“What? Why the Everfree Forest?”

“It's where my stuff is.”

“What stuff?”

“My armor and clothes.”

“We can get you some armor in Canterlot.”

“No, you can't. My armor is better and yours isn't going to fit me.”

“What do you mean it isn't going to fit you? They have every size of armor you can imagine! I've seen the armory, I would know!”

“Trust me, it's not going to fit. Turn and head back to Everfree!”

The guards, with a nod, turned and began pulling the chariot through the air back towards the Everfree Forest.

“There. It was right down there.” The pegasi pulling the chariot began to lower their altitude as the chariot neared a clearing in the forest.

“Why did you leave your stuff in such a remote clearing?”

“I encountered a problem that required me to discard it here. It's where I first arrived in your land.”

“What? Where did you come from?”

“I'll tell you in a minute.” The chariot landed in the grassy clearing and Brimstone stepped out of the chariot, followed by the rest of the group on-board. Looking over, he saw the pond from when he arrived earlier. “There. I threw all of my stuff into the pond until I could fix myself.”

“Fix yourself?” Rarity asked, “What do you need to fix?”

“You'll see.” Brimstone dove into the water and waded out into the middle of the pond, feeling his belongings on his hooves. “Okay, I'm going to change back to normal. Promise you won't attack me, please.”

“What?”

“And don't you look at me!” Brimstone faced away and focused, recalling from his memory the period of time that he was arriving in Equestria. He thought hard for a moment, trying to remember single details of what he had running through his mind, then he caught sight of the mapping of his own body that he used to switch to this form.

Taking in a deep breath, Brimstone focused his energy on his cells, mapping out his body atom-by-atom. This was incredibly hard for him to do, so the fact that he did this subconsciously before was amazing to him as he began reforming the structure of the body in his mind.

After coming to a figure that completely matched the figure of his old self that he saw in his mind, Brimstone began molding his body to fit the shape, enveloping himself in blinding yellow light. The ponies nearby watched in awe as the light overtook him and shone for about a minute, then slowly dispersed.

What was left was a creature completely alien to them. Something resembling a taller, thinner gorilla with no hair on his body except for on top of his head. The features they came to know from Brimstone were still there – silver hair, blue eyes, the flame markings and the necklace – but now they were on a figure that was at least two feet taller than the rest of them, bearing no hair and standing upright.

The creature turned and faced them, his body hidden by the murky pond water from the waist-down. He gauged their reaction and then looked at himself in the reflective water. Eiza Borealis was himself again.

“Alright!” He shouted in excitement, “It worked!” He quickly reached into the water and felt his hakama, which he put on before stepping out of the pond with the rest of his clothes and armor in tow. Using his Psi, he cleaned the mud off of them instantly.

“Brimstone?” Fluttershy stepped forward, “What... What are you?”

“Ah...” Eiza smiled at the yellow pegasus, kneeling down to her. “I didn't want to make you all suspicious of me before, but I guess the jig is up. My name isn't Brimstone. Where I come from, we have first and last names. My full name is Eiza Borealis. I'm an Emata.”

“Emata?” Twilight asked, stepping forward and examining Eiza curiously, “What's an Emata?”

“We're like humans.”

“Humans!” Pinkie jumped forward, “I knew it! I knew Lyra wasn't lying!”

“Uh, yeah. We're like humans, except we can use Psychokinesis.”

“Psychokinesis... That's theoretical energy, isn't it?” Twilight queried again.

“Where I come from, it's definitely more than just theoretical. It's real. Just like your magic is.” Eiza put on his kimono and closed it in the front, then opened his blue and white armor. “In fact, where I come from, magic doesn't exist.”

“Doesn't exist?” Rainbow Dash flew forward, hovering over the ground so that she could meet Eiza eye-to-eye, “Whadya mean, 'doesn't exist?' Magic's real! Twilight uses it! You've even seen it!”

“Yeah,” Eiza clamped his armor down around his chest, “But I'm not from this universe. Twilight, you remember how I asked about the inter-universal portal?”

“Yes.”

“That's because I was forcefully thrown into this universe. I'm not meant to be in this one. I'm trying to find a portal so I can get back to the universe I was meant to be sent to.”

“So wait... You just used us to get your stuff back so you could leave us with that monster, didn't you?” Rainbow Dash grabbed the amulet around Eiza's neck and pulled him forward, this time, though, the silver metal oval in the center of the necklace popped open, revealing a picture on the inside of both sides. “What the...”

Eiza pulled away from Rainbow Dash gently and held the amulet in his hand, looking at the pictures inside. He sat down on the grass and the ponies gathered around him to see the necklace.

“The reason I told you before that I don't like people touching my necklace – that's what humans and Emata are referred to in plural, people – is that this is my most prized possession. My sister, this girl here -” Eiza pointed out a girl with red hair in the picture, “She gave me the necklace. It belonged to my mother, this woman here.” Eiza pointed at the lone woman on the opposite side of the amulet.

“Oh, I'm... I'm sorry, I didn't know...”

“It's fine. The reason I carry this around is so that the people in this amulet, my family, will always be with me.”

“Where are they now?” Spike asked. Eiza's silence was enough of an answer. “Oh... I-”

“No, it's fine. What's done is done.” Eiza paused for a moment, then continued, “I told you that I would explain myself, so I'll get started. I was born in another universe on a planet called Monaris. I had my older sister who was my best friend, and an older brother who I never met until I was sixteen years old. My brother and I were the only Emata in our family.”

“Why isn't your brother in the picture?” Twilight asked.

“I never had a picture of him. I only saw him twice.”

“Where is he now?” Eiza's silence once again answered the question. “Oh...”

“Emata on my planet were hated,” he continued, “Because of the energy we give off subconsciously without realizing it, humans disliked us. Everyone could tell who was an Emata or not just by the invisible aura we gave off. It was grating. It's a type of electricity, and humans dislike it. On the other hand, the frequency of the brainwaves we gave off was appealing to animals, so Emata have an affinity towards them.”

“So that's why all of my animal friends liked you!” Fluttershy stated with a smile.

“Yeah. That's also the reason why you're all somewhere in the middle of trusting and being suspicious of me. The animal side of you wants to like me, but since you're intelligent, I'm guessing your brains are at the point where they don't enjoy Emata too much.”

“We're pretty different from animals.” Rarity said with a scoff.

“Yes,” Eiza replied, “But on my planet, horses and ponies like you all are just animals like everything else. You're not sentient. You can't talk. The animals aren't smart enough to do things like the animals here can, either. Like when Angel shook hands, er, hooves with me. Animals on my planet aren't smart enough to do that on their own.”

“Interesting...” Twilight pondered the new information.

“Ah!” Pinkie Pie screamed, “This doesn't make any sense!”

Eiza chuckled and smiled, “It didn't make much sense to me at first either. There's a ton that I had to learn in the past.”

“But wait,” Twilight spoke up, “You said you felt a similar energy to yours when we were on the train.”

“Yes. The guy causing all of the damage, Terror, he's an Emata like me.”

“Why is he so evil, though? You seem so... Well, nice.”

“I don't know.” Eiza looked off in the distance, his eyes seeming to be filled with sadness, “It's a mystery to me too. Emata are typically nice and want to love others. There were a few that I met, though, who had lost hope for finding someone to accept them. I'm thinking that this guy is thinking the same way.”

“Either way,” Rainbow Dash jumped forward, “We need to stop him. Let's get back up to Canterlot to get the Elements-”

“No,” Eiza interjected, “That isn't going to work.”

“What do you mean?” Twilight asked.

“Your Elements of Harmony aren't magical artifacts. I read your mind and saw them, Twilight. They bestow artificial Psychokinesis. They aren't magical at all.”

“So they're like you, then?”

“Yes and no. Magic and Psi can't occupy the same area. They clash with each other. One can overpower the other. The Elements of Harmony might be incredibly powerful against someone that has no clue what Psi is, but Terror is an Emata. He's adept, maybe even masterful, with Psi. Those items aren't going to work.”

“Then... Then we're doomed!” Rainbow Dash shouted.

“Doomed!” Pinkie screamed in despair.

“No, you're not.” Eiza stood up to his full height, towering over the ponies around him. “I need to get to the next universe, but it goes against my conscience to let your innocent world be tainted by a member of my own race. I can't allow it.”

“So... So you're going to help us?” Fluttershy smiled.

“Yes. But first thing's first, I need food. Protein, preferably. I don't care if it's raw or not.”

“You eat meat?” Rarity shouted in surprise, “A carnivore! Do you eat horses where you're from?”

“No... Don't get so scared, I'm not going to eat you guys...” Eiza grabbed his cloak and draped it over his shoulders. “I need some kind of animal meat, though.”

“Uh...” A guard spoke up, “We actually left while a dragon was attacking Canterlot. If you can eat dragon then there's most likely plenty of food for you up there.”

“Never had dragon meat before. Had the chance twice to eat it, but never did. Sounds delicious.” Eiza licked his lips as his stomach let out a ravenous growl, “Alright then, let's get a move-on to Canterlot! I'm starving!” The group jumped back onto the chariot and the pegasi began pulling up towards the capital.