Relive

Fire and stone fell down around Lightning as he evacuated the collapsing building with the weight of two little fillies on his back. He ran through the fire encased doorway out into the opening. Two pairs of parents ran and took the fillies off his back and ran for their own lives. Lightning looked up into the sky to see a crimson cascade of clouds above him. Flaming rocks fell from the clouds as if it was rain. He made his way to a transparent purple dome that was pulsing with arcane magic. He ran through the dome and the first thing he saw was Twilight, Shining Armor, and twelve unicorns feeding power into the shield. "Lightning!" yelled someone behind him. He turned around to see his daughter Vanilla Swirl approaching him in a wounded state. Half her body was wrapped in medical tape and the tip of her horn was missing. Seeing his only daughter in such a state made his heart feel like it was made of lead. She hugged him with her only good forearm and started to cry "What the hell's happening dad?" asked Vanilla

"I don't know sweetheart. All I know is that Winter is still out there. Your mother's dead," Vanilla hugged him a little harder "And what ever this thing is it's not from this world or hell. What ever it is it came from the void. I don't think we're gonna make it sweetie." There was a bang on the shield and every one looked at the direction of the noise to see Winters demon lord spirit: the Phoenix King, punching the shield. Something was off. Why was Winter trying to jeopardize their safe haven. Lighting looked at his son and saw something that made his heart sink even farther. The demon lord was not him. Half of his face was converted into pitch black color with it going over his eye making it glow a burning bright yellow. He had tentacles amassing from his mouth as his left arm that were as black as his face but was also a mass of thick and slimy tentacles. His wings were no longer ablaze but were pitch black and looked as if chunks of flesh were missing from them. Lightning guessed whatever hit his son must have hit him across his back.

"Winter." whispered Vanilla shakily astounded at what her younger brother has turned into. Lightning laughed very quietly under his breath so no one would here him. 'I heard that the apocalypse has come. Volcanic eruptions in Gryfuss, blizzards in Draconia, tornadoes in Zegrica. Equestria's raining fire and brimstone, and Neighsia is nonexistent. Swallowed whole by the earth. As if it wasn't even there.' thought Lightning. He looked up at the dome and saw as it cracked when the behemoth that was once his son smashed his tentacles into the magic barrier.

"Keep it together!" yelled Twilight to the other unicorns. But still with all their magic concentrated on the shield, it still cracked after another vicious attack from the beast. Lightning knew that the shield wasn't gonna last much longer and he prepped for it. He detached his metal wing from its socket and waited for the corrupt demon to break through. Lightning closed his eyes and started channeling an immense amount of realm magic. A foul wind blew by as he felt in the feathers of both of his wings. Vanilla stared in shock at the sight of her father regrowing his long lost wing. There was a crash as Lightning opened his eyes to see a multitude of tentacles shoot past him and punctured the ponies behind him. Blood spurted from all of their wounds as they fell to the ground dead. With the collapse of the dome Lightning lifted up into the sky and kept flying up. As he flew up, fire coated rocks tried to send him falling back to the ground. As he flew the atmosphere around him started to get brighter. As he made his way higher he saw the monstrosity that plagues his world. The thing was not truly seen but there was a mass of humongous tentacles hanging from the crimson clouds. Lightning embraced the light that surrounded him before piercing the clouds that dare shroud the monster from sight.

Back on the ground Vanilla escaped from her used to be brother and broke down into tears. She may have escaped her brother but she received the horrible wounds such as the loss of her right eye as well as the loss of the rest of her horn. She watched through her remaining eye to watch a little fleck of light which is her father shoot up into the clouds and then disappear. She looked at a leaf as it fell and stopped in midair. Then the leaf slowly faded from existence. A distortion in the balance of the realm is causing it to dissipate. The event of a being leaving existence without the reason of death has unraveled the delicate fabric of the realm. "And so it begins." said Vanilla as she closed her eye as she let the slow and painless death sweep over her.

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"Are you sure that we can't save that realm?" asked Lightning as he watched the golden orb known as Zefrion the guardian of the realms.

"That realm is as good as gone. Irac'tu has already laid waste to it. It would be best to take him down with the realm." Irac'tu is the word Apocalypse in realm tongue.

"Why was there something that dangerous in the void and not destroyed?" asked Lightning as he watched the realm disappear "How much do you know of the void Lightanis?" asked Zefrion.

"I know it's built for the most dangerous beings that would corrupt the realms."

"What if I were to tell you that there was a more powerful place than the void. Would you believe me?" asked Zefrion.

"I would be surprised if that existed."

"Well a place like that does exist. It's called Oblivion. We found it as a crack in the void. The void is a prison that lets you posses a body and mind. Oblivion on the other hand. It strips you of everything. Your mind, your body, even your conscience is stripped from you. You become nothing. We only put those that would be powerful enough to threaten even the realm domain in Oblivion. But Oblivion is not what it seems. It's a living being in a way. Normally it complies with what we place in it. Nothing can escape it. But it doesn't mean that Oblivion spits something out. It almost never happens but it definitely happens."

"So it decided to spit out Irac'tu."

"Exactly. Now for what you came here for Lightanis. The Relive protocol. I'll place you in a realm that was similar to yours. Just tell me the time and date and what your profile should be." said the realm guardian.

Lightning sighed "My name is Lightning Thundarius Stormcloud. I'm a male pegasus with a red coat and dark grey hair. My mark is a lightning bolt going through a dark cloud. My eye color it a lighter grey and I have both wings. I'm an orphan with two sisters an older sister name Sapphire Starlight and a younger sister named Sunspot. I'm a commander of the avian division of the royal army. I'm a friend of Pinky Pie, Rainbow Dash, AppleJack, Jade Feather, Strobe Light, Shining Armor, an acquaintance of Rarity, as well as a farmhand at AppleJacks farm. The date is June 22, 2010 and the time is 4:00 PM. That is my life and I would like it to be that way."

"So be it," said Zefrion "Now this realm is free willed so we can't alter any of its events. Now hold on. You may feel...disoriented when you enter." A wave of realm magic blasted Lightning sending him into his new body in his new life.

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Lightning woke up on the ground in the middle of a pasture surrounded by woodlands. He took in his surroundings and took flight into the sky. He saw ponyvill in the distance and flew towards the small town. On his journey to the town he felt a gale of fresh air course through his right wing. The same wing that was torn off by changeling magic after an encounter with a minor colony years ago. Well actually years from now in that realm. He made his way to his house and noticed a darkish blue pegasus with long green flowing hair tied up in a bun with two strands of hair hanging limply at both sides of her temples. He landed not far from and called out to her. 'Now or never bud.' thought Lightning "Hey Jade!" yelled Lightning. The blue pegasus turned and watched as the crimson stallion catch up to her.

"Hey Lightning. I was just going to your house to find ya."

"Oh, whatcha need?" said Lightning. Jade bit the bottom of her lip for a second.

"Would you mind going out for some coffee or something?" asked Jade almost instantly bitting her lip after asking.

Lightning was astounded that what he was gonna go and ask happened to him. "That's hilarious," responded Lightning. The words struck Jade as he was offended by this. "I was actually gonna ask you if you wanted to go get some coffee or something." Jades eyes started to sparkle at the initial response.

"How dose Friday sound?" asked Lightning.

"Seven o'clock good?" responded Jade "Friday at seven sounds perfect." finalized Lightning.

"Ok. I'll see you then." Jade walked away, leaving Lightning alone as he watched the mare of his dreams walk away but not from his life. But to enter it. A shadow casted over Lightning, causing him to look up and see a golden chariot with two white pegasus guards flying it and a lavender unicorn mare in the chariot. 'Let's make this life count bud' thought Lightning, smiling at the golden chariot.

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A little more than a year has past since the events of the Relive protocol. And the life of Lightning has gone according to history. Except that his right wing wasn't amputated from his body. As well as celebrating their one year anniversary with his lover Jade Feather. Jade sat at the edge of their bed with a pregnancy test in hoof. She stared at the white stick at a red plus symbol appeared 'Shit. What am I gonna tell him?' she looked over at the nightstand on her side of the bed. 'This is what we get for drinking one too many glasses of meadow wine last night.' Her vision started to get clouded as she held the white stick. Her arms slowly started to press on the test harder and harder. "No. No. Dart is not coming out. Not now." She got up and composed herself in the highest of profession and started acting out the scene.

~ ~

Lightning got home from helping on Applejacks farm early that evening, throwing his Stetson hat on the hat rack that's at the entrance of his house. The foyer of the house is nothing more than a rather narrow hallway with two openings a few steps in at both sides of the hallway along with an opening at the end that led to a kitchen and a staircase that led to his bedroom. The opening on the right led to his office where he would work on various things from important military information to basic taxes. As for the other opening, it led to the living room where a large couch sat facing a TV that was in front of a bay window that looked out over the road that his house was. His hooves clacked as they rose and landed on the hardwood floors. He felt a presence in the living room and guessed it was Jade "Jade? Are you here?" asked Lighting. Jade stood up almost instantly.

"Hey Lightning. I need to talk to you."

"Sure babe. What's the problem?" Jade sat back down and motioned for Lightning to do the same. Lightning did as told and sat down and waited for Jade to say what she had to say. Jade drew in a breath and started

"This is gonna be easy to explain and hard for you to comprehend. There's no way to sugar coat it so I'm just gonna come out with it." tears started to form and fall from her eyes "I-I," the words stuck in her throat as her sobbing got stronger causing Lightning to get more and more nervous "I'm. Im. I'm pregnant." Jade instantly hung her head and started to sob uncontrollably. Lightning knew this was gonna happen. He remembers it clearly and yet he didn't expect it. And if he knows the course of this event, he knows who she's pregnant with. Lightning also knew what he had to do, he had to do this to save Jade from the brink of insanity again. He wrapped his powerful arms around her and gave her the most compassionate and reassuring hug he has ever given anyone ever. He even covered her with his wing and whispered calm words to her. "Jade?"

"What." whimpered Jade.

"Remember what I told you last night? I said that no matter what. Whether we don't work out or one of us dies or even if 'this' happens. I will love you till the end of existence. I will always protect you to the end of the world. And now. We are bound by child. A child that is ours. And I'm proud. Proud to have such a strong, beautiful, caring mare that loves her friends as much as she loves life itself." Lightning could still feel Jade crying under him. He wanted to stop the crying and he knew just how. Lightning let go of her and looked into her reddened eyes. "I'm going to reveal something to you that no one in all of existence has seen. It's also the main reason I say existence instead of ever." Lightning placed his hoof on her forehead and her eyes became nothing but pure white, glowing, orbs.

~ ~

The two stood in a empty white room with no floor nor walls. "Lightning. Where are we?" asked the startled Jade Feather.

"We're in a place that not many know about. And this is what it's protecting." explained Lightning as orbs of multiple colors appeared all around them. They moved and danced in the most beautiful and elegant way Lightning and Jade have ever seen. "These are realms. Each one is a alternate universe. An almost unlimited array of lives and possibilities. How many do you think are up there Jade?" asked Lightning

"It would take forever to count them."

"Then you know exactly how long I will love you. I have been to about ten different realms and all but one had you in it and even that one had you in it. And out of all of them. You are the most caring, beautiful, intelligent, funny, social, passionate, determined, honorable, and trustworthy out of them all." said Lightning praying that she wouldn't get bugged by not saying the tenth one. He was wrong.

"That's nine."

'Dammit!' thought Lightning "What?"

"You said nine. I'm guessing you were naming off the characteristics of the other ten. But I only heard nine. Why?"

Lightning sighed "The tenth was my old realm. Where I originally existed. A horrible monstrosity named Irac' tu, Apocalypse if you were to translate guardian tongue into equine. The monster destroyed the entire realm. In the end my bosses, The Guardians, destroyed the realm. Taking down what was left of my old life along with Irac'tu. The reason I didn't die is because I'm one of the Guardians most prized knights. If I were to perish with the realm. Them the rest would most likely follow. I disrupted the balance of the realm to stop Irac'tu. The Guardians just flicked the switch. The reason I'm existent in your realm is because of the Relive protocol. If a esteemed Knight of the Guardians realm is to become overrun with too much of the army of Saralax that it could corrupt their very soul and transform them from beacons of light to beings of shadows then they're allowed to relocate realms with a selection of various edits to their new life. It was sad at first when I swapped. But then I fell in love with you again. I think Zefrion did that just for me. Be nice if he did. Maybe the others helped,"

"Lightning. Your rambling again." "Oops. My bad. Anyways the point I'm getting at is that I will love you for all eternity. I have never revealed this place to anyone ever. You are the first and the only. I Love you Jade. I've already said it hundreds of times and I'll say it a million of times more." Jade didn't need anymore, she leapt at Lightning and wrapped her front hooves around his neck. She laid a powerful kiss on the lips of her mate and he did the same.

~ ~

The two found them in the living room of their house again. Tears were streaming down Jades cheeks but they weren't tears of sadness or anger. They were tears of joy. Lightning lightly kissed her forehead and whispered "I love you."

Jade chuckled slightly "Nine hundred and ninety nine thousand nine hundred and ninety nine times to go." whispered Jade as the laid there, resting their heads on one another.

*11 months later*

Lightning sat in the the emergency room of the local hospital with anxiety slowly getting a tighter grip of his heart. Jades finally going into labor but it wasn't a pretty start. She's a strong mare that can tolerate lots of pain if she has to but this was different. If Lightning wasn't right next to her to catch her when it started, she would have fallen over. It wasn't long till Lightnings older sister Sapphire Sparkle and his younger sister Sun Spot to arrived due to Lightning asking Spike to send a letter to them and Jades mother. An amazing amount of pressure was instantly applied to his back as well as a heartbeat "Hey big bro! Today's the day! You're finally gonna be a dad!" said Sunspot as she nuzzled her big brothers cheek.

"Thanks sunny." said Lightning shakily ruffling up his younger sisters orange and purplish mixed hair. The next mare to approach him was his bigger sister Sapphire

"I still can't believe that my younger brother is becoming a dad. Seems like yesterday we were running from the changelings. That and when Arrow was in that same position you're in. It means that your child's gonna be powerful. It seems to take more energy from a mare to give birth to a powerful foal. I gotta feeling she's going through the same pain I felt when I had Flowery. Wait. Where's Flowery?"

"Uncle Lightning! Uncle Lightning!" a twelve year old filly with a brown coat and even darker brown mane that ran limply to one side of her face dive tackled Lightning.

"How ya doing Little Flower?" asked Lightning. He looked at her long dark brown hair and noticed that there were thin vines growing in her hair with small, vibrant colored flowers in them.

"When did you do that sweetie?" asked Lightning

"A white alicorn stallion made them appear! He also said your child lives!"

"What did this stallion look like?" asked Lightning again.

"I couldn't really see his face but he was alllllllll white. From his mane to his coat! And I knew he was an alicorn because I saw his wings and a horn!"

"Oh my little Flower. I swear your imagination gets more and more wild by the day." commented her mother Sapphire

"No she's telling the truth," said Lightning looking up at the three mares with glowing golden streams pouring from his eyes.

"I believe your daughter has just met the creator of all living things. She just met Zefrion."

"Lightning. What the hell is wrong with your eyes." said Sapphire slowly backing away.

"It's ok mom. Uncle Lightning has always been able to do that." said Flowery.

Lightning sighed "I suppose I owe you to know about what and who I am. I am a Knight of the Guardians. An elite group of fighters that protect the realms from dangerous evils. A realm is a existence. A scenario if you must. Each existence has different events that interact with the place. From something small, like the three of us aren't siblings to something big like the royal sisters are nonexistent. There are trillions of these realms that trillions of Knights guard. I also have powers to help stop evil from conquering the realms and transform them into shadow factories. But these powers allow me to detect immortals and if I have to. Kill them. The reason I say this and reveal my secret is because I can detect a residue of realm magic on her vines. If I don't know any better, he used growth and time elements to make them form."

"Why would he talk to my daughter? Is she destined for something great?" asked Sapphire.

"I would say it has something to do with the vines but I wouldn't stick to that. The Guardians have never left the realm domain in the past few eons. That's why the Knights of the Guardians were created. To help the Guardians with what they're not allowed to do. That's all I'm allowed to tell you. It's your choice to believe me." explained Lightning. Sapphire looked at Sun Spot with concern in her eyes.
"I believe you. It's nice that my daughter is a mate of someone that can protect her and others." the two mares turned around to see a middle aged mare with a green coat and a light brown mane.
"Hi Dragon Lily. Sorry for keeping this secret from you. The reason I did is because Knights need to keep a low profile for the sake to being targeted by shadows."
"Lightning," the older mare walked up and placed a hoof on his shoulder "do you love my daughter?" asked Dragon Lily looking directly into the silver pools that made up his irises.

"More than anything in the entire existence of any realm. I would fight hordes of enemies wether they're foot soldiers of an army or a legion of evil gods to ensure her safety." replied Lightning.

The mare smiled "Then you are forgiven." tears formed in her eyes "I'm so sorry. The fact that I'm a grandmother is pretty amazing. Her father would be proud, bless his soul. Do we know what gender it is?" asked Dragon Lily.

"If I'm correct. It's gonna be a filly. And if it is we're naming her Moongale. And if for some reason it's a colt we're gonna name him Summer Solstice." replied Lightning.

A lightish blue unicorn with a darker blue slicked back mane with a silver line running along the back, wearing a doctors coat came out of the doors that lead to the emergency rooms "Commander Stormcloud? Is there a commander Stormcloud in the ER?" asked the unicorn. Lightning got up from his chair and walked up to the doctor "Good evening. My names Dr. Sindurus. I helped give birth to you child. Your mate's a trooper. But there is a little uncommonness with the child..." The rest of the group tried to make words out of the Inaudible talk. All they could pick out was that Lightning was ecstatic. He nodded and walked up to the four mares.

"Healthiest newborn he's ever delivered and it's a filly," every mare gasped in excitement "Plus we can go see them but we must keep the talking to a bare minimum." said Lightning to the already happy mares.

"Let's go see them! I wanna see my baby cousin!" said Flowerly happily. The five ponies made their way to Jades room to see them both happily sleeping. Jade heard the door open as the others spilled in.

"Hey everyone." whispered Jade. This was the second time he ever saw his daughter as a newly born baby. Her coat was a darker blue than her mother. Her hair was pink but it had cream like colored swirls in it. But what shocked them was that she had a horn instead of the expected wings.

"How does she have a horn?" asked Lily who was looking at her granddaughters horn with curiosity.

"Well her grandfather, your husband, was a kirin, Lily. Not to mention our mother was a unicorn. Just a lucky run in the gene pool." explained Sapphire as the foal opened her eyes for the first time to see five new faces staring at her. Her eyes were a even darker blue than her coat. Lightning walked up to the bed where Jade laid with their foal in her arms.

"Lightning," whispered Jade "I know we were gonna name the filly Moongale but I think Vanilla Swirl would fit her more." Lightning smiled "Sure. But can he middle name be at least Moongale?" asked the crimson stallion.
"Why not." replied Jade "Welcome to your family Vanilla Moongale Swirl." the little filly yawned and closed her little eyes again, falling back into a deep sleep. 'Thank you Zefrion. Thank you for keeping my family in safe hands.' thought Lightning as he nuzzled his mate.

~ ~

"Dr. Sindurus? Really?" asked a floating golden orb to a blue and silver orb.

"Well at least I wasn't a pure white alicorn hiding in an alleyway talking to a young filly while wearing a hood. Come on Zefrion. You know we had to make sure that the child and mother made it. Otherwise we might of had to deal with Thundarius,"

"Yes, yes I know. Darkcloud plus ascension mode. The only being that can pose a threat to us. And if Oblivion accepts him it'll just spit him out and he'll be one with the shadows. Maybe even more powerful Saralax." complained Zefrion.

"Elder brother Zefrion. You must head to Sinduses warnings he talks of," a red orb floated into the area "He's the only one that sees the future and I have watched what Lightanis can do just in Darkcloud. I dread of him in both forms." the gold orb sighed.

"So be it sister Jakolv. I'll over look it this time Sindus. Just don't do it again." "Of course brother." replied the blue and silver orb.

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"Daddy! Daddy! Daddy! Check it out! I can lift tings now with my magic!" Lightning turned around to see a four year old blue unicorn with a pink and cream colored swirly mane.

"Really now?" asked Lightning in a challenging manner "Prove it." the little blue filly closed her eyes and inflated her cheeks, showing that she was concentrating hard on some object. Her horn started to glow and with a puff of smoke, a piece of paper appeared in front of the two "That's a conjuration spell sweetie." commented Lightning.

"Aw. I wanted to lift that book behind you." said the little filly sadly. Lightning kneeled down and patted his daughter on the head "A conjuration spell is some pretty advanced magic. Especially for a unicorn your age."

"REALLY?" said vanilla enthusiastically

Lightning chuckled "Yes really. Now if you excuse me sweetie. Daddy got's some important work to get to. Go show your spell to Strobe Light dear."

"Ok!" said Vanilla as she ran out the door. Lightning sighed 'They grow up so fast.' thought Lightning as he walked into his studies. It was rather cluttered for what it's normally looking like. A sudden surge in deaths around the changeling border has been concerning Lightning a lot recently. He started looking at the papers that were full of casualties. About halfway down the second list there was a sudden feeling of powerful magic coursing through the room. Lightning was starting to get anxious due to fact that he placed a spell neutralization field around the room so his up and coming Starswirl doesn't turn the room upside down. But this wasn't even arcane magic, nor was it celestial magic, or even demon magic. It was a combination of all forms of magic that were relevant on this realm. It was realm magic. Lightning turned around to see a mare that he thought was gone and a lot older then she is now. A translucent Vanilla Swirl stood in front of him with a missing horn and right eye.

Lightning was dumbfounded at the event in front of him. "V-Vanilla?" asked Lightning.

"Hi Dad." said the apparition.

"I-Wha-The realm! It's gone! How?"

"I don't know. But what I do know is that everything went white. Then the beast was gone. Along with you and Winter. Where the hell are you?"

"The more appropriate question is when am I?"

"What?"

"I'm right now in the year is 2016."

"That's impossible. Time travel has never been perfected. Not even by magic."

"I never said I time traveled. There's more to it..." Lightning explained the realms and his association with them.

"I-what,"

"That's the truth. It's up to you to believe me."

"I believe you Dad but why'd you leave?" Lightning then told her about the Knights of the Guardians and the relive protocol. There was a knock at the door as heard the lovely voice of his mate: Jade Feather.

"Lightning babe. I made you some tea to drink while you worked. I know how..." Jade trailed off as she saw the apparition of Vanilla talking to Lightning

"Um, Jade dear. Meet tenth realm Vanilla Swirl. Tenth realm Vanilla, meet eleventh realm Jade Feather." said Lightning.

"So your my daughter?" asked Jade.

"And your my mother." replied Vanilla.

"Well not really. Technically. Yes. But realm wise. No. Tenth realm Jade died when Irac'tu destroyed the realm." explained Lightning.

"What happened to your horn and eye?" asked Jade.

"The Faceless King did this to me." replied Vanilla.

"Faceless king?" said Lightning curiously.

."It's what everyone's been calling Winter ever since he got corrupted by the faceless infester. I miss him dad."

"Faceless king? What the hell is the Faceless King?" asked Jade.

"My son from the tenth realm was named Winter Solstice and he had a powerful demon spirit living inside of him called the Phoenix king. During the final hours of the tenth realm,"

"Is that we're calling it?" asked Jade.

"Yes. During the final hours of the tenth realm. Winter was in Phoenix King mode, helping and rescuing ponies. I lost him when I went into a burning building to save some fillies. I met Tenth Vanilla under a protective dome that was being powered by Tenth realm Twilight. It didn't last long because the 'Faceless King' found his way there and destroyed the dome."

"As well as murder sixteen ponies." added Tenth Vanilla.

"Thanks for reminding me sweetie." said Lightning sarcastically.

"I still would like to know why there's a ghost of an older version of my daughter in you're studies Lighting?" complained Jade.

"Apparition dear." corrected Lightning.

"And the difference is?" sassed Jade.

"Well one is a spectral being that lost it's way to the afterlife and haunt the reason for their untimely deaths. Apparitions can be multiple things form illusions to full upper torso elementals. In this case it's a bit of illusion magic combined with some projection magic and a pinch of realm magic and you got yourself a cross realm projection. The real question is. Why?" said Lightning as he placed his hoof through his daughter.

"Can you not, Dad?" asked tenth Vanilla.

Lightning pulled back his hoof and closed his eyes "You don't have much time here. I can feel the magic dissipate from the area." explained Lightning.

"I guessed that much. I'm pretty sure your 'Guardians' don't like the fact that two realms are interacting out of the blue."

"I have a feeling your right sweetie." replied Lightning.

Just as told, tenth Vanilla started to fade "Good bye Dad." said tenth Vanilla who was smiling as she faded from sight.

"Good bye, my sweet little Vanilla Swirl." said Lightning with tears falling from his eyes. And just like that, she was gone. The two lovers sat in the room alone "That'll most likely will be the last time I'll ever see her." said Lightning through a choked voice. He closed his eyes only to feel a sudden increase of physical pressure on him. He opened his eyes to see blue and a shade of green that matches the color of jade as if it was made of it.

"I know this will sound harsh but you better forget that Vanilla. We have ours right here right now. Now we may not know what will happen to her but we have to be there to protect her and to love her. You got that?" said Jade as she held on to him as if her life depended on it.

"Yea." said Lightning. A faint glow emanated from Lightning for a few seconds before fading away. "Ya know what?" asked Lightning as he separated Jade from him "I'm gonna start teaching. Maybe a collage class. I just learned all there is to ancient history."

"How?" asked Jade curiously.

"Knights are allowed to learn any form of education. I just learned enough that I could take a test and get a Ph.D. If I wanted to I could learn particle physics right now. Thankfully I don't want to. But I'm gonna do my best to help the younger generation." explained Lightning as he walked to the office door. He opened the door to have a blue unicorn filly fall on her face.

"How much did you hear Vanilla?" asked Lightning.

"That your gonna be a teacher." said Vanilla through the floorboards 'Good. She doesn't need to know just yet.' thought Lightning as he picked his daughter up.

"That's right. Your old man is gonna become a collage teacher."

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*14 years later*

Lightning entered the theater sized classroom. He looked into the rising rows of desks that were multiple kinds of ponies, kirin, dragons, and griffons. He smiled at the students he would have for the semester. He grabbed the chalk from the tray under the chalkboard and wrote on it the word: fate in big capital letters. "Good afternoon class," said Lightning "You chose this course for one of two reasons. One, you love ancient history or two, You wanted a blowoff class," the classroom chuckled softly "If you're here for a blowoff class then you're in the wrong class. That class is outside the campus. What we're gonna learn here is gonna vary from ancient battles and culture to all the different forms of hierarchy that has been associated with equestria. But first," he pointed to the word fate on the board "Can anyone tell me what this is?" asked Lightning.

A unicorn stallion with a dark blue coat and a blond mane and golden earring on his left ear raised his hoof. Lightning pointed at him and he spoke "Your destiny." replied the stallion.

Lightning chuckled " I'm guessing you're a blowoff, but yes. The problem with that is it's just another word for fate." explained Lightning.

Another hoof shot up all the way in the back. This time it was a pegasus mare with a pure white coat and a very bright pink mane with light pink streaks in them. "An imaginary force that controls our lives."

Lightning was surprised by her answer "That's closer. Blunt, but closer. Fate is more than a imaginary force that controls our lives. It's a living breathing being that dose not bend to the will of others. You'll live your life almost not even noticing that it's forging your path. Your lives will come to an end at some point be it tomorrow or a hundred years from now. Wether you live your life to the fullest or not, to relive your life. That's truly a gift that few get to receive."

END