Guardians of Equestria Chapter 1: Love is Magic Part 1

by SpiritD3t3ctiv3

Leaving Arion

The Land of Arion, a land all but forgotten by Equestria. A once beautiful land filled with life and laughter was now a land ravaged by war. Ever since the rise of the Venom Empire in the bordering country of Mamba, the soldier ponies of Arion never had a single moment of peace. The Mamba soldiers were reptilian creatures, with orange scaly skin, Crimson hued eyes, and were twice the size of normal ponies. Their appearance were similar to that of the prehistoric raptors, with the added addition of armor. At the head of the Venom Empire was their leader, General Draco Coatl, a once proud champion of the kingdom of Gringolet, Arion's capital city and head kingdom, now a twisted, sadistic overlord obsessed with seizing complete control over Arion. This is the story of how Arion and the threat of Venom came to Equestria.

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The sun rose high over the land of Arion, as it did every day. The only time there wasn't any sun was when there was rain, and rain was very scarce in the dry, desert like, country known as Arion, as well as the second sparse source of pottable water. At Base-camp Fury, Commanding outpost for the 41st Airborne Division, many soldier ponies, both male and female, were all very busy. Entering and exiting barrack tents, fixing wagons, practicing at the target range, and various other things. Two stallions, with dirt and mud caked on their armor, walked into their barrack tent. As they sat down on their cots, they began taking off their iron helmets and chamfrons and dusting themselves off. One of the stallions, a unicorn with snow white fur, brown eyes, and a light grey mane and tail, poured some water from his leather water skin onto a rag and started cleaning his face. His full name was Jeremiah Amadeus Yolansky, but he answered only to "Jay".

“I'm telling you man, when we get our 3 day pass this evening, we're going straight into town, and partying all NIGHT long, man!”

The other stallion, Finn Lioghais, an earth pony with the same fur, but a jet black mane and tail, and light blue eyes, nodded with a frown plastered on his face.

“Yea”, Finn responded dryly.

Jay could tell something was wrong with his bro. He had known the young stallion long enough to recognize when something is up.

“Hey man, why you acting so moody”?

“I don’t know, I guess it’s just this mundane routine. I mean, every day, we go out, dig a foxhole, eat lunch, pull a three hour shift, wait to get ambushed, possibly fight off some vipers, and then return to base. It gets boring after a while”.

“Yea I know what you mean man, it gets old, doing the same thing, day in day out.”

"I know why we're here, and I know what we're fighting for, but I wish there was some way we could add a little more zest into our lives".

He reached under his cot, and pulled out a red handled Claymore sword. It was a family heirloom, handed down to him from his father, once the king of Arion, defender of the shining kingdom of Gringolet, the shining capitol city of the state of Hengroen. Now a prince of a broken line, his memories reflected off the shining silver blade and passed in front of his eyes like ponies in a crowd. As he wallowed in his memories, his snow white unicorn comrade thought for a moment.

"Well, there's probably somepony we could talk to about that", Jay said.

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Inside a thatched hut, The 2 stallions stood in front of a male Alicorn who sat before them in a makeshift throne. He had the same eyes as Finn and golden brown fur, with a rusty brown mane that almost ran down to his forelegs. As he spoke, his voice dripped with doubt and worry

"I don't know about this, fellows". "Come on, Marko! Look at this face"!

Jay took Finn by the cheeks of his face to emphasize his point, but Finn looked more annoyed than sad.

"Jay, let go of my face before I knock you on your flank".

Jay reluctantly released his grip, leaving Finn to rub at his cheeks from Jay's iron grip.

"Come on, Marko! Whattya say"?

The young prince let out a big sigh.

"I must be crazy to want to go through with this, I'm even crazier to want to join in".

"You’re in"?

"Yeah, I'm in".

The two comrade ponies bumped hoofs with a smile. However, Jay was curious as to where they were going. Before Finn could ask though, Jay beat him to it.

"So where is it we're heading to, LT"?

The young Lieutenant looked at his comrade.

"A place where no pony in Arion has set hoof in ever since our settlers first came here. A place called......Equestria".

A few hours later, on a large, sand covered runway, a bunch of other soldier ponies were loading some cargo into an airship which was tied down by 6 ropes tied in various knots. This airship wasn't like the yachts used by the sophisticated, stuffed shirts in Canterlot, the body was composed entirely of ash and oak wood, and the balloon had no clever design etched across it. Marko, Finn, and Jay stood atop the upper deck, overseeing all the other soldiers march into the cargo hold with crates galore.

"Only 50 minutes until liftoff sir"! Yelled one of the soldiers.

"Very good", Marko replied. "Man, am I anxious to see this "Equestria" you told us about, LT", Jay said eagerly. "At ease, Sergeant", Mark said calmly, "But then again, no pony from Arion has bothered to go back to Equestria ever since we first arrived". "Why's that, Marko"? Finn asked. "Many things got in the way", Marko answered, "Our war with the Xeanans, mostly, but the main reason was the Xeanans had destroyed our ships. After the peace accord had been drafted and signed, we were granted our own territorial rights, including lands with richer soils and pottable water. Guess they didn't really see a need to go back after that, not when all was good". "That makes sense", Jay said, nodding his head.

Just then, a soldier came up from the galley, dragging a young stallion by the foreleg. Finn knew instantly who it was, Corporal William McClaren, his younger adopted brother. He had a dark black messy mane, like Finn's. In fact, he looked an awful lot like Finn, the only difference being Will's dark green eyes. Unlike his brother or any of the other soldiers, Will did not wear a helmet or any armor. Only his uniform and a silver sash.

"Staff Sergeant, I found this stowaway in the galley, trying to hide among the potatoes ", explained the soldier, “shall I dispose of him, sir?" "No need, I'll handle this myself, thank you", Finn answered, "As you were". "Yes sir"!

As the soldier took her leave, the noncommissioned officer stared crossly at his comrade.

"Will, what do you think you're doing here”? He asked sternly. "I wanted to come with you guys", Will answered. "Will, we already went over this", Finn said, we have enough men for this mission, and we need you here looking after things while we're gone". "With all due respect, sir, I'm almost 17", Will said, raising his voice, "I'll have been in the Equalists for 3 years now. If that's not seasoned enough, then you're out of your mind". "Will, please just..."

"Staff Sergeant"!

The two noncoms, including Jay, all turned to Marko, their superior.

"I'll allow him passage", Marko said. "WHAT"?! Finn and Jay both exclaimed in unison. "He's not going to stop unless we give him what wants". "You’re spoiling him! You've always spoiled him!" Finn accused. "Finn! He's right. Ever since you and Jay found him in Nilichy Woods, you've never stopped treating him like a child. He's getting to be his own man now, let the boy grow up and make his own decisions".

As much as it pained him, they were both right. For 5 years, he had watched over Will like a hawk. Good intentions or not though, he may have been a little too presumptuous when it came to Will's safety.

"Alright", Finn said with a sigh, "But if you so much as step out of line more than once, we're shipping your flank back to Fury". "Alright"! Will yelled gleefully, "I won't let you guys down, I promise"! "Corporal! Get below deck with the others, we're about to take off", Marko instructed. "Yes sir"! Will said happily, going back down the stairway leading to the lower level.

"All hooves on deck! Clear the runway"! Ordered a voice over a loudspeaker. "Gentlemen, prepare yourselves", Marko said, placing his chamfron upon his head.

Finn and Jay did the same as the soldier ponies undid the ropes and braced as the ship jerked up off of the ground. As it slowly lifted into the air, the Airship started to sail forward, with the ponies on board feeling the rushing wind in their fur.

"How long until we reach the checkpoint"? Finn asked sternly. "About 5 hours, give or take", Marko replied, "The sun will be going down, so we'll have a little darkness to give us cover".

What they were hoping for cover from were the beasts that guarded the stone wall surrounding the entire bay area of Arion. The creatures, Scylla and Charybidis, were created by Draco to ensure that no pony could escape. The day that the Arion ponies first attempted to evacuate Arion was the same day the wall went up. Many innocents were either gobbled up by the many mouths of Scylla or swallowed to the murky depths by Charybidis. No pony attempted to escape because whether it was by boat or by airship, their fate would be sealed the moment they set sail from the harbor. The crew of the airship had come up with an idea to wait until just before the sun went down. That was when both beasts would be asleep.

As evening crept ever closer, the two noncoms sat on the deck playing Poker, each of them using their own rations in place of chips.

"I'll see you your hot chocolate mix, and raise you my hoof powder", Jay said, placing a small bottle on top of the pile.

With a gleam in his eye, Finn flashed a grin of confidence.

"Queens and Jacks", he said with conviction, "Beat that". "You got it", Jay said assuredly, laying down his cards.

With eyes wide open, Finn stared down at Jay's cards; a full house of Aces!

"You tricked me"! Finn shouted. "And you're surprised by this"? Jay asked sarcastically as he raked in his winnings.

As Jay snickered wickedly, a short high pitched whistle got their attention. Marko was up in the crows nest, surveying the land ahead.

"We're coming up on the wall"! Marko announced, "Finn! Get your men up here and arm yourselves"! "Yes sir"! Finn replied, running down below deck.

Meanwhile, Jay trotted up to the edge of the bow, and surveyed things through his spyglass.

"See anything, Sergeant"?! Marko asked from the helm. "Negative, sir"! Jay replied, "No sign of them". "So far, so good", Marko muttered.

Finn, Will, and 6 other stallions and mares came on deck. Unlike the soldier ponies of Canterlot, they were armed with pole cannons. Some had one barrel and others had three. The three barreled ones were automatic and the single barreled ones that resembled muskets were single shot. They were all operated by a single hair sensitive trigger and fired musket balls, which were cast iron and deadly.
The ammo in the cannon was chambered in a 3 inch long magazine that attached to the base below the rifles’ barrels. Finn and Will both held single shot versions in their forelegs.

"Soldiers! Keep your ammo at hooves' reach, and whatever you do, SHOW.NO.FEAR"! Marko ordered. "YES SIR"! Shouted the soldier ponies.

All of the sudden, the ship hit a bump. Following that, a large green scaled column shot up from the deck, which turned out to be a giant, monstrous snake head, belonging to none other than Scylla. She stared at the armor clad ponies and gave out an ear piercing shriek.

"OPEN FIRE"!

Without haste, every pony on deck fired their rifles. As the small black pellets pierced through the monster's armor scaled exterior, more heads started to appear. Down below, a giant raging whirlpool formed beneath the airship. Slowly, the airship started descending.

"WE'RE BEING PULLED DOWN"!!!! One of the soldier ponies exclaimed, just before being snatched up by one of Scylla's heads.

Many ponies followed, some were both fortunate and unfortunate enough to only get their appendages ripped off. Soon it came down to 7 of them, excluding the pilot: Finn, Jay, Will, Marko, and 3 of Finn's men.

"We're getting slaughtered here, sir"! Observed one of Finn's soldiers. "I can see that, Private", Finn said, as he fired at one of the heads. "What do we do, Finn"? Will asked, trying not to sound afraid.

Finn thought for a second, but with the sound of Scylla's heads screeching non stop, it was fairly difficult. He turned to the pegasus with a radio strapped on his saddle bag.

"Private Quincy, call in some support, tell them to bring some gunships"! He ordered, "I'm getting you out of here"!

Private Quincy nodded and quickly got on the radio.

"What about you"?! Marko asked. "You’re gonna open us up a portal", Finn said. "Us"? Marko said curiously. "Not you", Finn said, "Me and Jay are getting our flanks to Equestria". "Not without me you’re not"! Marko retorted. "You’re the leader of the Equalists, Marko! We can't afford to lose you"! Finn pointed out, "If we're not back in less than 3 days, come after us".

Marko gave a heavy sigh; after watching his brother grow up, he knew Finn had a tendency to charge into situations halfcocked and a glass half full. However, given the current circumstances, he didn't really have a choice.

"Three days", Marko said sternly, "and try not to die". "No promises", Finn said with a smirk.

Marko smiled at his brother as he lead Will and the others to the lifeboat. After they were all in, Marko took a deep breath. His horn glowing bright green, he used his magic to create a small portal at the bow of the ship. The two boys both looked over at the portal, and checked their ammo. Finn, slowly shaking with anticipation, gripped the handle of his sword and slipped it into the strap of his saddlebag. Jay held his rifle close as he stared into the green swirling vortex, set to take them straight to their destination.

“You ready?” He asked Jay. “As ready as I was born to be”, Jay answered sarcastically.

And with a deep breath, the two stallions ran to the portal, and jumped through. Immediately, they were caught in a swirling vortex. As they yelled and screamed, they swirled around, until finally, they vanished.

Author's Note:

I don't own MLP, I do own Finn and Jay, and all other Guardians of Equestria related fanfic and characters.

BTW, in case you were wondering, it's pronounced Nil-ee-kye.

Written By Phantom Prowler

Edited by Dylan Palmer