What does it mean to be a warrior of one’s land, to be their guardian and shield against threats beyond the populace’s understanding. A guardian must be steadfast and firm beyond all adversities, to be unflinching from the coming maelstrom of destruction that may come from outside their borders... and within.

This story takes place in the furthest settlements of Equestria, far from the hustle and bustle of Manehattan, the pristine and shining capital of Canterlot, or the luxurious and fancy streets of Las Pegasus. It all begins with a lowly guard, a dragon, and the tale of a rising hero.

~

Another day, another patrol on the wall, just me, the wind... and absolutely nothing for miles and miles on end.

PFC Meltdown sighed to himself as his gaze led him staring at the frost-tipped forests and snow-white covered plains outside the walled city of Tall Tale. It was an exaggeration to call Tall Tale a city, rather it was a very, very, very large village with a few modern towers and buildings made of brick, mortar, and occasionally marble like Canterlot. The settlement was located just north-west of the continent that is Equestria, its three notable details is it was a mix of mountains, forests, and grassy hills and plains on all sides. The second detail was that Tall Tale is one of the few oldest settlements when ponies first began settling here in the continent, its slow development compared to other cities is due to its location and nearby settlements, making it not a clear trading route besides it being neighbors with Trottingham.

The third and final detail, was the fact it has the oldest and largest wall built around it, originally built to survive the deadly Wendigo-made snowstorms that would crash against the settlement in the early years of Equestria’s prior founding. This has also become a problem too, limiting development plans and improvements for the early-era city.

Standing on said wall, Meltdown held his guard-standard spear, bored out of his mind and waiting for his replacement to come get him soon. As he stood there, sweeping his gaze across the horizon, he heard steps approaching him; turning to the source, his replacement now arrived.

Another guard of same rank – PFC Silver Arrow – stood beside him, also gazing at the same horizon, before pulling in the wool cape around him for warmth.

“By the freezing skies of ancient Pegasopolis, why do we need to do guard duty on this damn blasted wall, the nearest area to get warm requires us to go down several flight of stairs. Whoever designed this thing didn’t plan to set up stairs or a simple elevator system on the sides of the wall within the city. But noooo, they had to set it up in bloody towers that are only located with the ends of every wall, which is almost two kilometers long!” shouted Silver.

“At least its better than standing out here during the hot summer days, we’re just north enough where we get snow a tad earlier – unlike Trottingham which is almost frost all-year long – but the summer days are particular bad, especially with zero air circulation due to both our location and the wall itself blocking most of the air currents within the city.”

One giant steam cauldron, caused by built heat from all the residents, combined with the intense sun on the peak of summer... Still, home is still home regardless of how it’s like.

“Well, I’m gonna head back now, remember to check walls 4 to 6, then report back for the night-shift to take over,” said Meltdown.

With a nod and simple salute, Meltdown headed off to the nearest tower, as flakes of snow and ice fell off his coat and armor. He didn’t realize it, but after finishing his checks, he spent a quarter of his shift just standing, staring at the horizon. This isn’t the first time he did this, as other guards on duty, would find him just there, at the exact same spot, gazing at the horizon.

At first many other guards and a few of his superiors found this an issue, luckily someone up high didn’t find this an issue seeing Meltdown’s record for top-notch work and there being no issues during audit checks. Nowadays, many just don’t bother him or at least remind him to either warm up, or get a drink of water depending of the time of year so he doesn’t faint suddenly.

Meltdown was an odd case among the guard – a local stallion born and raise right in Tall Tale, not only raise, but his family is one of the few who originally settled and help build Tall Tale as it is now. While not a famous or notable family, they were responsible for setting up several magical enchantments on certain landmark buildings that improved durability, protections against weather, and magical communication lines across the city.

Currently, his family is both well-off, but live a decent life like anypony else, not rich nor poor... something in between. Even though things were fine – both him, his family, and work – deep down he feels a sense of... more, that deep down he wants to do more, for his city and everyone who lives here.

Sighing dejectedly to himself, he entered the tower, the air around him transforming freezing chill to gentle warmth immediately.

Inside was a small room with stairs going up and down, the upper stairs had little to no light, while the one going downstairs had plenty of light. There was also some noise as the echoing laughter and talking of several ponies could be heard.

Heading downstairs, the light soon became brighter and just down some steps was a large space filled with ponies, tables with plates of food and drinks, and much more laughter and boisterous talking.

All the ponies here were guards on duty, but resting right now, or off-duty guards simply finding a place to hang out, eat, and talk. While Tall Tale was an underdeveloped location, it still boasted being one of the few largest locations, requiring an equal large guard force to be stationed here. It’s also known to be one of the locations to recruit and train new guards, so most of the force stationed here are guards in training still, and veterans sent to train and supervise said new recruits.

Many of the ponies here were ponies from other areas, so his interaction with them is limited both personal and work-wise. He didn’t know any of their names and was only familiar with at least seven ponies – minus those who were locals.

Trotting past various tables, he soon approached a door that led to his superior’s office; each tower that connect all the walls each has its own captain and company, then at the end of their training, said companies are split up and sent to various parts of Equestria, while some either are left stationed in Tall Tale for differing reasons.

Six towers, six companies, six captains, with Meltdown being a part of 4^th Company of the Tall Tale Royal Guard – also known as Bronze Brigade, in reference in that guard training armor is bronze in color until the end of their training is over, in which they hare hoofed their gold-tinged armor.

By word of mouth, his company is notorious among the companies... in the bad sense though, as many of the troublemakers are sent to this company to be disciplined for varying problems. In the past, they were a strict company that retrain or consist of demoted veterans that caused issues in their prior posted stations.

Now though... it was being run by a snobby, corrupt captain who could care less besides pedigree and reputation among his social circles. His captain isn’t known for anything illegal or problematic... just morally ambiguous; example, when there was a food crisis a few years back, he denied access to his company’s surplus of food rations to the citizens.

While technically he shouldn’t be hoofing said rations to citizens, this issue would had been easily lifted by just sending a request to high command for more supplies or to send emergency assistance. However, he didn’t do anything for simply finding it a hassle to himself, he went so far to warning the other companies to not do anything either, because he didn’t want any of his social contacts to question why he didn’t do anything to assist unlike the other captains... which was an idiotic reason considering none of the ponies he knows has any history or connections with the guard to give a damn.

He went so far to state it wasn’t even the guard issue to solve but the city council... which was true, but due to that the old city council was getting in age, at the time the city was voting for a new council members. It also had to due to with all of Equestria being hit by a sudden plague that effected food supplies across the land, meaning Tall Tale wasn’t the only city having a food crisis – other locations were just as bad if worse than Tall Tale’s.

The only reason the issue was resolved soon was due to the generous help of their neighboring city of Trottingham. They had enough supplies to share and had recently made a trading deal with the distant lands to the west across the sea, making the problem soon resolved, but nopony in Tall Tale forgot who was responsible for almost the entire populace to starve that day.

Present time, anypony who joins the guard and ends up joining 4^th company, are either given mistrustful gazes, or if you’re a local are avoided and are seen as walking bad luck charms.

I’m just glad nobody sees me in that light considering I was just recently transferred here from my previous company.

Meltdown was originally part of 6^th company, but due to his good work, he was moved up... until he reached 4^th company which led to his current rut. No matter how much he does, he gets zero recommendation to move up... it might have to do with the fact that the captain is a unicorn from Canterlot, but feels threatened by another unicorn from some – in his words – ‘low town, little, mud-horn in the middle of nowhere’, compared to his upbringing.

Meltdown is half earth-pony, as at some point, one of his ancestors married with an earth-pony, resulting into their current descendants being born as unicorns with the physique of an earth-pony... which explains his muscled form, making him quite the unique individual both at home and in the guard.

Standing outside the door in question, he enters inside, a waiting room with a pony sat at a table, looking through some documents carefully. The pony in question is the secretary to the captain of 4^th company, unlike everypony else stationed here, she has zero military history about the guard, but joined due to her direct relation with the current captain – in other words, she was the captain’s literal right-hoof... an actual secretary.

There is however no mistake in her current position as First Lieutenant Posh Hoof was somewhat competent in combat, but what she excels mostly at is her logistical skills and managerial ability instead.

Checking through various papers, she pauses to gaze up at the one who entered inside, before placing down her work to approach the door across the room. With a few firm yet gentle knocks, she waited fro a response from behind the door.

“Yes Posh, what is it?”

“Sir, PFC Meltdown is back from his daily checks, do you wish to see him now?”

“...Yes yes, send him in...”

Afterwards, she stepped aside and pointed to the door, then heading to her desk to continue her work. Given the signal, Meltdown soon approached the door... before he placed his spear aside to lean against the wall and removing his helmet and holding with one of his fore-hooves.

Entering inside and closing the door inside him, the room was gently lit by various candles and the fancy fireplace tuck in the corner of the room. There was no windows in the room, making it both a strategically defensive location... and to keep the room completely snug and warm.

The captain of 4^th company of Tall Tale’s Royal Guard – Captain Attentive Vice – barely gave Meltdown a glance, before continuing to look from some papers in his hooves.

“So, any changes in today’s checks, private?”

“None sir-”

“That’s ‘Captain Vice’ to you, private.”

Meltdown paused a bit, before continuing off what he was about to say. “None... Captain Vice... Everything is in order, the other towers near walls five and six are also clear too. Tower six has reported some slight damage on their tower exterior, but that may be due to some damage from sudden weather we’ve been getting for the past two weeks. They requested some assistance in repairs alongside tower five.”

Vice paused his reading and gave a sneer before standing up, and trotting around his desk to stand in front of Meltdown. While Meltdown was taller than Vice, when it came to rank to Vice, he was above everyone else... even other captains who are of lesser companies than his – in his head that is, even though the six companies are of equal standing regardless of number, they simply represent which parts of Equestria the new recruits are normally sent after the end of their four year tenure stationed in Tall Tale.

“Listen here, private, I don’t care what the other companies’ captains request to us – to me – if it has nothing to do with me, then it’s not my problem. So unless the princess makes a sudden visit, a well known noble visits, or an ACTUAL issue occurs that must come to MY attention... then only then will I give a damn... Is that clear, private?”

Meltdown stayed quiet as he continued to gaze forward unflinchingly, until finally speaking a subtly defeated tone. “Yes... Captain Vice... I’ll respond that assistance won’t be coming-”

“No no no, I’ll just tell them they will receive the help of some of the newer guards, they can think of it as a way for the fresh bodies to learn how to do maintenance for the wall... not like there is anything better to do in this blasted tundra covered city...”

After a few moments, the two stood there not looking at each other, until Vice turned around and with angry stomp and yell, pointed at the door back where Meltdown came from.

“Well what are you standing there, leave and tell Posh to send some of the new guys to help with repairs at tower six! NOW AND LEAVE!” shouted Vice.

With a bow and salute, Meltdown turned around and left, once he was outside – and hearing Vice grumble to himself and throw an insult in the mix to Meltdown – he put his helmet back on and grabbed his spear. Facing Posh who while looking like she was doing her work, gave a side-gaze to Meltdown with pity in her eyes.

“The captain has asked to send some of the newer guards to assist with repairs at tower six, as soon as possible, please,” said Meltdown, his tone flat.

“...I’ll do that after I’m done with my current work.” Posh knew that the ponies that need to be sent should be either the veterans who worked here longer and knew how to maintain the wall and towers, or somepony with construction knowledge at the very least... but she also knew that Vice doesn’t like it when whatever he commands isn’t followed to the letter... She knows she’ll receive some complaints from sixth company’s captain in the future after this. “And Meltdown... have a good evening.”

Nodding back at her, Meltdown soon left, trotting past his fellow guards who were suddenly quiet – possibly having heard Vice’s outburst earlier – before going back to their earlier business, as they all talked to one another in whispers and small-talk.

~

After he put away his armor and weapon back to the armory, signed off with the quarter-master, Meltdown trotted down the cobblestone roads, wearing only a simple wool cape and an old scratchy cap that covered the top of head. The winter wear he wore was old, but it was effective to keep the cold out, and retaining his body heat inside; the bustle of the townsfolk began to slow down as it was approaching night soon, but it was bright out enough so that some businesses were still active.

Just want to head home and help out at home quickly.

Pasting down several stalls, taking some turns, and passing a few homes that were in some disrepair, Meltdown trotted up a slight incline until he came upon a hefty building atop a small hill. This was the ancestral home of his family – the ancestral mansion of House Sigil, built and designed by their founding ancestor, Forge Sigil, famous enchantress and weapon-smith.

Their family was key part into pushing any of the lingering windigos’ magic outside of Equestria after the three tribes united together and the appearance of Princess Celestia & her fallen sister, Princess Luna.

Climbing the steps to the front doors, he reached under the cape he wore and pulled out a metal key, pushing the key into the keyhole and unlocking the entrance doors. Stepping inside, he shook any lingers frost on him before hanging both the cape and cap on a nearby hanger with his magic.

The mansion wasn’t that large having only two floors, the bottom consisting of seven medium sized rooms, and fifteen small sized rooms on the second floor. The basement was mostly a mix of storage, an interior smith, and the family treasury vault, secured with a mix of dense alloys and high-tier enchantment spells.

There was a commotion happening in the dining room, leaning in to see what was happening, inside was Meltdown’s sister and grandfather – Mold Shape Sigil and Sturdy Heart Sigil. His grandfather was eating dinner right now, while his sister was reading today’s newspaper, a small bowl of various fruits half-finished.

The first person to greet him is Mold who waved before gazing back at her newspaper. “Hey Core! You won’t believe what happened yesterday; apparently, beyond the eastern mountains from Tall Tale, sudden forest fires have been happening left and right, some nearly burning down nearby farming communities. The guard stationed in the area are still doing on-going investigations... but I don’t like how close these fires are happening near Tall Tale, the cause could be anything.”

“Don’t fret over what’s happening elsewhere, let the guard do their job and ours do what needs be doing,” said Sturdy, biting into his plate of toasted veggies.

Meltdown or rather, Core Meltdown Sigil is his full name, by his family, but within the guard he only requested he be referred to as Meltdown instead, which wasn’t an issue.

Soon more members of their family entered the dining room, carrying more plates and bowls of food, Meltdown’s cousins and aunt – the twins, Glint and Shine Sigil, and their mother, Coal Brush Sigil. The twins sat near grandfather, eating bowls of oatmeal, each twin eating in sync with each other; auntie Coal sat by Mold, who brought up her own reading material – a magazine on fashion, art, and the latest news for current celebrities.

Every member in Meltdown’s family was famous for something from his aunt and her children to his parents and sister and so on.

Sturdy Heart was – well he insists he’s still famous – a famous enchanter and magi-smith, creating both weapons, tools, and various items both enchanted and built by him through hoof and magic. He is also known during his younger years to be an explorer of rare and new materials he brought and introduced to Equestria for the past several decades.

Mold Shape while not a unicorn, is an up-and-coming builder and construction planner, helping to renovate and rebuild the old and decaying streets and buildings of Tall Tale. She plans to update the great wall around Tall Tale in the future, but for now is sticking to simple reconstruction work around the city with other rising new construction ponies and veteran builders.

The twins while still in school, are known for genius-level intellect when it comes to trading, which the two both have received scholarships to study as merchants in the future, but due to the insistence of their mother, they are still studying at home till they come of age.

Speaking of their mother, Coal Brush is an art critic during her daytime work hours... and an amateur artist during the late hours. Having a great interest in the arts and fashion sometimes, she sometimes make art herself... and occasionally – with the help of her children – sell her more better made art pieces.

As for Meltdown and Mold’s parents, they are a duo pair of traveling archaeologists, specifically, Meltdown’s mother, Fine Brush Sigil, a researcher on ancient civilizations and a treasure hunter as plus – not as famous for a certain tomb raider masquerading writer, but still well known.

Meltdown’s father on the other hoof – Map Tracker – is cartographer and geologist, studying the environment around him and recording the various routes he and his wife take on their travels.

The final member of their family is the late husband of aunt Coal – Detail Check – who used to work as a banker and accountant before his death just a few months before the twins were born.

Meltdown’s family was made of varying talents of differing degrees... but to this day, he hasn’t found his true calling, sure he has skills and cutie-mark to prove his own worth. Meltdown’s ability is close to being jack-of-all-trade, yet master of none.

Coal noticed Meltdown sighing and paused her reading to talk to her nephew. “Core dear, is something wrong?” asked Coal.

“Nothing auntie, I just been feeling a bit lost in my thoughts lately.”

“You mean for the past few months, you’ve been doing nothing but staring off in the distance whenever you’re home,” said Mold, flipping to the next page on the newspaper.

Meltdown stood up and soon left the dining room, pausing for a bit to face his family. “I’ll eat later, if anypony needs me, I’ll be at my shed in the back.”

As he soon left, everypony else returned to what they were doing, while Coal held a worried look for her nephew’s melancholy attitude.

~

Meltdown spent in his free time in his personal work shed in the backyard, inside was the basic set-up for any craftspony – a worktable, a forge, various shelves filled with resources, tools, and varying other knick-knacks.

Inside, he worked on repairing, making, or modifying various items – whether it be things from home, or commissions sent to him from locals within Tall Tale. The income from such activities aren’t much, but this wasn’t a full-time job decision, so it wasn’t a large issue for him. He was currently working on long project of his – an enchanted weapon, his personal weapon in the future, a silver lance called Flare.

The reason Meltdown chose silver as a medium material for the weapon was due to its effectiveness against creatures influenced by dark magic, it also a plentiful resource here in Tall Tale. Currently, Meltdown was implementing various enchantments from physical to elemental resistances, to ones that can improve piercing through tough surfaces. Right now, he was adding a unique enchantment that he made called, decaying – a dangerous enchantment that causes long-lasting damage to a target over time.

This ability was unique to only him and would only activate by his command only, he doesn’t plan to share this enchantment to the public due to its deadliness... that and it was an enchantment hard to make and set-up without proper understanding of the base principles behind it.

“Knock knock, anyone home?”

Pausing his work, Meltdown approached the door to see who it was, only to face his sister Mold; taking a look outside, Meltdown realized it was way past midnight and he lost track of time again.

“Guess you were deep on working on that project of yours, here, I got you some food from fridge so you wouldn’t starve yourself again,” said Mold, cheekily.

“Thanks sis... say, about earlier at the dining room, what was about strange fires occurring out east, past the mountains?” asked Meltdown.

“Oh that, well varying farming communities in the area were nearly torched when a crazy fire occurred in the nearby woods there... why?”

“Well, a week ago, our guard got reports of strange robberies happening in Canterlot from both the bank and various vaults of different nobles. No clear evidence was found beside scales littering all attacked areas and sightings of several flying silhouettes heading to the exact direction those fires happened yesterday.”

“Wait a minute... you aren’t suggesting-”

“Yes, dragons, but its unlikely for them to come here,” said Meltdown.

Mold gave a doubtful look, before Meltdown sighs, explaining why the encounter with dragons is near impossible.

The migration route for dragons is nowhere near Tall Tall both due to chill temperatures being extremely uncomfortable and detrimental to dragons. The second reason is there being zero interest for a dragon to come to Tall Tall; sure we gotten the occasional dragon flying by or over the city, but most cases they ignore and don’t bother stopping anywhere near the city.

“Anyway, I had tried requesting to keep watch towards that direction just in case... but-”

“That captain of yours ignored you didn’t he, I swear that idiot is going to get us killed with his self-centered ego of his one day!”

Meltdown didn’t like it when his sister would get angry to this level, but he couldn’t disagree that his captain’s lenient attitude to recent news isn’t a good outlook for the other captains and guards. All Meltdown could do was his daily checks and sometimes, go up the mountains to spot any changes to the surrounding area – anything from clues of a dragon appearance, to the actions of the local fauna.

“Again, thank you for bringing me the food, you should head to sleep soon,” said Meltdown, giving his thanks as he took the plate from Mold.

“Same to you... well, have a good night and please take better care of yourself.”

Saying his farewells, he closed the door and placed the plate of food on the workbench, going back to his earlier work on his enchanted lance. Some time soon went by, Meltdown ate half of the food on the plate until exhaustion came upon him; with one final exhale, Meltdown blew the candle in his shed and trotted to the simple bundle-wrapped cloth of hay in the corner of the shed.

Slumping over the makeshift sleeping area, Meltdown slowly descent into the land of dreams... unaware of the approaching danger coming.