//------------------------------// // Chapter the Eleventh // Story: Guide You Home // by Magical Trevor //------------------------------// Spike sat in the attic of the library, his new room ever since the dragon migration fiasco. Hoping to distract his brain from the traumatizing information he had received not an hour prior, he turned his attention back to the tiny phoenix fluttering around his head, before landing on his paw, chirping happily. However, when it noticed how out of it Spike was, it tilted its head to the side, cooing once in confusion. “I... Y-yeah, I’ll be fine,” Spike reassured the avion, smiling nervously. At least, I hope I will... Note to self, listen to Twi the next time she says I’m not ready for something. Interrupted by the bird’s chirp yet again, he allowed himself a smile as his companion rubbed a smooth beak against the palm of his claw. Laughing, Spike tried to grin and bear the tickling sensation as he continued his thoughts out loud. “What am I going to name you, anyways? Why did you have to go and mess everything up by being a girl? Gah! Sorry, sorry!” Spike added, nursing a bitten thumb. As he stuck said appendage into his mouth, he watched as the small chick fluffed its feathers in indignation, turning its back to him. Spike thought back to when they had first found out, not a week prior. Princess Celestia had surprised everyone yet again with one of her sudden appearances, right as he was about to start writing the most recent friendship report. Fluttershy had been so excited that Celestia had decided to bring along Philomena with her, and Spike was as well. He rushed to show Princess Celestia his pet, Peewee, hoping to get some tips on how to raise the baby Phoenix. He, as well as Twilight and the rest of their friends, were surprised when Celestia laughed at them, informing them that ‘Mr. Peewee’ was a female! ‘Peewee’ spent a good deal of time chirping to the adult phoenix while Celestia instructed Spike and Twilight as to the proper care of raising a phoenix from a hatching, warning them of the fire dangers it would create, especially inside a tree. Then- Spike was jarred from his thoughts when he heard the girls downstairs shout out. Worried, he rushed down the stairs to join them on the balcony, his jaw dropping at what he saw. .o.O.o. For some ponies, waking was a blissful occurrence. Waking up bristling with energy, bright and happy to face the coming day with joy was the curse of being a ‘morning pony’. Others, however, wake up slowly, groggily refusing to leave the warm, loving embrace that are bed-sheets and comforters. And then there are those poor, unfortunate souls that have consciousness thrust upon them. Like a punch to the face, Twilight was forced awake with a start, adrenaline pumping through her system as her body attempted to keep itself alive from what it believed to be danger. However, the ‘danger’ was merely some water dumped upon her, courtesy of one Rainbow Dash. As the cloud finished pouring out its contents, fading from a dark, stormy grey to a light, fluffy white, Rainbow Dash rolled on the floor, laughing uproariously, like it was the best prank in the world. “Rainbow Dash!” Twilight yelled, pulling her mane out of the way, starting to shiver from the water trickling down her mane and back. “Just what do you-” “It was my suggestion, darling,” Rarity interrupted primly, levitating some towels to Twilight, aiding her in drying herself. “Although I would like to point out that I meant a glass of water, not a cloud,” she frowned primly, staring at Rainbow Dash. “Psh, are you kidding me? What fun is that?” Dash retorted, brushing her coat off as she stood back up, grinning. “Like I always say, if it’s worth doing, it’s worth over-doing it! You wanted water, and I got water! Besides, if you had asked Pinkie Pie, she would have just used, like, some sort of water gun or cannon or something! Right?” she asked, looking over at Pinkie. Pinkie shoved something back behind one of the potted plants in the room, smiling widely. “What? Don’t be silly, Dashie! I wouldn’t use a gun on Twilight! That would hurt! I would wake her up the best way!” “And, um, what would that be,” Fluttershy asked timidly, before shrinking behind her mane just a tad. “Um, that is, if you could...” Pinkie looked at all of them slowly, before grinning madly, pulling out a large tub filled to bursting with- “Water balloon fight!” Pinkie shouted, throwing water balloons with deadly accuracy, even though she wasn’t throwing them all that hard. Squealing in varying degrees of shock and annoyance, the other five mares ran out of the room, heading towards Twilight’s balcony, using the double doors to keep the mad-mare out. “Surprise!” she shouted, popping out from behind them, pulling on a long, dangling rope. Everypony looked up in horror as they saw dozens of gallons of water falling down, crashing over all six of them, drenching them to their very cores. As they sat there, gasping for breath and shivering from the cold, Pinkie Pie started giggling once more, producing blankets from behind Twilight’s telescope, doling them out to all present. “There, all better, Twilight? Now we’re all wet! Oh, and sorry for interrupting earlier!” “Interrupting what earlier?” Twilight asked, confused. “There wasn’t anyone speaking earlier, Pinkie.” “Well there kinda was, if you think ab-wo-o-o-ah! Twitcha-twitch! Twitcha-twich!” Pinkie shouted, starting to vibrate slightly, her eyes wide open. “K-knee twitch, scratchy nose, gurgling stomach!” “What does that mean?!” Twilight asked worriedly, surging to her hooves. “Is Equestria in danger? Is a comet going to crash into Canterlot?! Does it mean... Zombie ponies?!” “Huh-wha? No, don’t be silly, Twilight!” Pinkie Pie giggled. “It just means that a bunch of ponies lives were saved! Worrying is exactly the opposite thing we have to worry about! It’s not like- Woah! I-i-i-i-it-tit-tit’s-s-s a-a-a d-do-oo-oo-ozz-zz-zy!” Pinkie exclaimed, her voice vibrating as quickly as her body was. “Well, do ya know what it is, sugarcube?!” AJ asked worriedly, shaking her hat out to get rid of the excess water. “I-I don’t... Canterlot!” Pinkie suddenly shouted, pointing to the distant capital. “Quick, everypony, we have to get to the train stat...” Twilight’s voice died out as they all saw what was happening. Though it was far off in the distance, they could clearly see a pillar of light shoot straight up from the castle, piercing the sky and into space. For several minutes, nopony dared to breathe. They all sat there, stunned, waiting for some sort of sign, some sort of explosion, something that would explain to them what had just happened. “T-Twilight? W-what just happened?” Spike stammered, his eyes wide open. The normally vocal baby phoenix was also stunned into silence, moving from Spike’s claw to his shoulder, where she would be able to huddle against Spike’s head for comfort. “We... we don’t know, Spike,” Twilight admitted softly, still mostly terrorized, wondering what happened. Silence reigned for another moment, before Spike belched loudly. He looked at everyone else, mortified. “T-that wasn’t me! I couldn’t-urp! Help it,” he groaned, hunching over. Before anypony could offer assistance, Spike belched loudly once more, a large plume of green fire flowing from his maw. A letter coalesced, and was quickly snatched from the air by Twilight’s magic. Everypony quickly gathered around Twilight as she began to read the letter swiftly, her eyes practically dancing as she sped-read the letter twice, before declaring, “Girls, get your things together! We have to get to Canterlot post-haste!” “Post what now?” Rainbow Dash inquired, confused. “It means that after we cast the level 3 Mage spell Haste to make us move faster, we have to send something via mail!” Pinkie explained, nodding wisely. There was silence for just a moment, as nopony was stupid enough to even try to understand what Pinkie had just said, before they all split up, rushing to their respective houses to grab everything they would need to potentially save the world once more. .o.O.o. One mild sedation spell later, and Luna finally found herself to be in relative peace. Moonstone and Starlight had been taken care of, true, but the small filly had been in hysterics about her sister being hurt, and she knew of no other way to calm her. Currently, she was riding on the princess’ back, curled up into a tight ball, snoring cutely. Well, despite using up so much magic, We are feeling simply magnificent! We have vanquished those who openly confess to treasonous acts, and saved our most faithful subjects! Can this night get any better? “LUNA! We would have words with you!” Celestia seethed, her eyes glaring daggers at her sister as she stomped forward, her guards nowhere in sight. Luna, however, was still feeling too jubilant to notice the obvious signs of her sister’s aggravation, and greeted her with great cheer. “Celes! What bringest thou so far out of the palace? Is this not thine normal relaxation time? What hath occurred that thou hast-” ”You frelling banished ponies to the sun without talking to me, that’s what happened, Luna!” Celestia hissed, her body tense. Luna paused, frowning in thought as she tried to remember what had happened, still oblivious to her sister’s tone and word choice. “Oh... So? What’s the pr-” “You didn’t ask! You don’t just use my power without permission, Luna! I don’t go banishing ponies to the moon all willy-nilly! Despite the movie I played in, I do NOT have a Banana Cannon! At least, as far as they know of...” “But they deserved it!” Luna protested, trying to puzzle out why her sister was so upset with her. “Because I’ve been waiting for decades to be able to banish somepony to the sun again! Do you have any idea how hard it is to find a pony who has done something horrible enough to deserve that kind of punishment?! I’ve been waiting for forever to be able to do it again, and now, you’re saying that not only did you find said pony worthy of being banished, but then, then you had the audacity to send them to the sun... WITHOUT ME PRESENT!” “It was not just one pony, though, it was an entire gang! If I had not hurried, then they would h-” ”What?!” Celestia gasped, her jaw dropping. “There was more than one of them?!” “Well, yes, there were about fiv-” “Shut up! That’s it! I’ve been trying to be patient with you, Luna, but this time, you have gone too far! Luna, consider yourself at war!” Celestia declared angrily, stomping a forehoof. “W-what?! B-but We haven’t-” “I don’t care! You’ve had plenty of time to catch up, and now it’s time for the war to begin anew! Prepare theyself, Lune, for on the morrow, you shall find yourself in such a world of pain in which you are not yet familiar!” Luna gaped at her sister’s retreating form, stunned. “But... Last time, you...” Luna snapped out of her musings when she felt small hooves on her back, shifting, before getting a hug. “Your coat is really soft and warm and pretty, Miss Princess Pony Lady! Thank you whole big bunches lots for letting me take a nap on you! Yous is so nice and soft, I’ll bet that you gets whole lots of ponies wanting to take naps on you! Did you want me to get off of you now, Miss Princess Pony?” Luna just looked over her back, staring at the little filly, who was treating her like she would anypony else, and that thought... Luna smiled widely, nodding gently at the filly. “Thou may stayest as long as thou likest, little one.” “Yush! Thankyou, Miss Best Pretty Princess Pony! You’ve, like, gotta be the bestest princess pony in the whole wide world, because your mane is all sprinkly and shiny, and it goes ‘woosh!’ in the wind, just like that, and you’re really pretty, but you’re not a meanie head Mcmeanieson like most of dose nobleses are, cause they can be really bad, but you’re not like them, because you let me sleep on you, and if I tried to do that with them then they would just yell at me to leave them all alone, but I don’t understand why they do that, because I get all saddened when I’m all aloneded, so why would they want to be left all alone, because that makes no sense, because everypony has lots moar fun when they’re with other ponies, which is why I’m liking to play with you, because you know that you don’t wanna be all alone, so will you like to be my friend?Pwease?! Me promises to be good! Frost my harp and poke two dies!” Luna just watched as the filly made a couple of strange motions, before collapsing, gasping for breath. Luna was filled with a strange warmth as she watched the little filly look up at her, expectantly, her eyes growing wider and wider as she worried that the Princess wouldn’t want to be her friend. “Little one,” Luna started gently, making sure to keep her voice even. “I would... love to be your friend. So what’s your name?” “Yush! ~I’m friends wivva princess! I’m friends wivva princess!~” the creame-coated filly chanted excitedly, jumping up and down on Luna’s back. “I’m Milky Way, but everypony calls me Milly!” “M-Milky Way?! As in the galaxy that...” Oh my... Ponies... actually care about my night now? There are certainly enough names to suggest that, but... She was jarred from her thoughts as Milly snuggled against the alicorn, cooing, “Yous is the bestest princess ever...” Luna found her eyes starting to water a little as she watched the little filly snuggle against her, getting ready to fall back asleep. No wonder Celes... That’s why she tries so hard to make... She wants everypony to be able to feel as safe as Milly does... When a scream pierced the tranquility of the night, Luna jumped, looking around to discern where it came from, only to see Milly streaking across the ground towards the tall white building much faster than she should have been able to, screaming, “Sissy!” .o.O.o. Darkness. Moonstone laid still, trying to force himself awake. He felt odd, heavy. Forcing himself to remain quiet, he focused, slowly forcing his eyelids open. It was oppressively dark in the room, though his ears were the next to recover their use. A slow, steady beep could be heard to his right. He blinked, then winced as he felt a sharp pain in his foreleg. Lifting it, he made out a small, metal stick poking into his leg. Using a short burst of magic, he gripped it and slowly dragged it out, a sigh of relief escaping his lips as it fell to the floor. He looked back down when his other foreleg started to throb in dull pain. He was aghast at what he saw, struggling not to panic. There was this strange, hard, white... Thing covering his entire lower leg! It was a little heavy, too, he noted. He looked around the room quickly, discovering that he was, indeed, alone. There was a wide window to his right, a possible means of escape. He took a few, hobbled steps forward, not noticing the heart monitor cease its beeping, when he noticed something horribly wrong. My cape! Those bastards stole my cape! Those stupid... My earring! Panicking, he sat on his haunches, lifting his uninjured hoof to his ear, melting in relief that it was still in place. Oh thank Luna... I can replace the cape, but... Wait, why do I get the feeling I’m forgetting... He frowned in thought, stopping his advance towards the window. What happened before I... Starlight! He whirled around, heading straight for the door with a new-found purpose. I have no idea where the hell I am, but if they’ve got me here, then they must have taken Lady Starlight here, and maybe even... No, they wouldn’t dare to capture a filly and stick things in her! If they hurt either of them, I swear they’ll wish they were never born! He crept to the door, peeking out of the blinds covering it to look outside. It appeared that it was empty, but Moonstone wasn’t about to take any chances. He cracked open the door, ready to start sneaking his way down the hall, when he heard a high-pitched scream. Starlight! He broke out into a fast gallop, wincing whenever his front foreleg hit the ground, but he pushed through the pain. It was only dull, so it wasn’t important. At least, it wasn’t important to him yet. He only made it a few yards when he heard the scream again, panicked, coming from the next room. Pushing himself faster, he burst into the room, seeing several ponies in white capes trying to hold Starlight down, and one of them had another one of those metal sticks, with some liquid in it! They’re trying to poison her! Adrenaline aiding him, he used a burst of magic to push the evil captors away from Starlight. She quickly scrambled off of the bed and into the corner, her eyes wild. Moonstone ran between them, coming to a halt in front of Starlight, quickly erecting a barrier between themselves and their captors. Moonstone also noted that they had put a white restraint on Starlight’s wing, presumably to prevent her from flying away to escape. “Lady Starlight, are you okay?!” “No!” she yelled hysterically, clutching him tightly. “T-they won’t tell me what’s going on, or where we are, or where Milly is!” Turning to face the ponies on the other side of the barrier, she screeched, “Where’s Milly?! Give her back to me!” “M-ma’am, Sir, I need you both to calm down for just a moment-” the first captor said in a slow, condescending voice, before Starlight shouted at him again. “I will not just calm down until you give me Milly back! What have you done to my sister?!” “Miss, if you would just-” “SISSY!” Moonstone dropped the barrier mere inches before Milky Way would have impacted with it, creating a new barrier just for the captors, making it so that they wouldn’t be able to leave. “MILLY!” Milky Way crashed headlong into Starlight, who caught her with her unbound wing. Starlight crushed Milly to herself, holding her tight with a foreleg and a wing, while the other stroked Milly’s mane swiftly. While her sister sobbed into her coat, Starlight murmured into her sister’s ear, trying to comfort her. “Shh, it’s okay now, it’s alright. We’re together again, and Moonstone is going to get us out of here, and then we’ll go home and have our popcorn, okay? We’re going to be just fine.” “Y-y-you’re not betterer yet, though! T-the docers said that you need to rest, or your wing will, will never get betterer! Why are you fighting the docers? Did-did they wanna give you a shot?” “D-doctors?” Starlight asked with a gasp, pulling her head up sharply to look at the ponies once more, just in time to see Luna walk into the room. “P-Princess Luna!” Everypony but Moonstone bowed, staying low to the ground. Moonstone, however, felt his head throb when he looked at Princess Luna. His body throbbed next, sending him to his knees. His vision faded as he heard voices echoing in his head. Vaguely, he saw Starlight trying to speak to him, but no words came from her mouth. He turned his head towards Luna, his breathing labored. “Moonstone, are you alright? Thou shouldst not worry, thou art safe.” ’Are you alright? Don’t worry, kid, I’ll keep you safe,’ an elderly stallion said weakly, lying on the dirt road. Moonstone’s vision continued to waver, no longer able to tell the difference between reality and memories. He was only vaguely aware of what Luna was saying, only catching the ending phrase. “... and then you shall be able to return home. Moonstone? Art thou alright?” “H-home?” Moonstone mumbled. “W-where’s home?” As Luna answered, her voice and the stallion’s voice he was hearing began overlapping and intermingling. “Home is-” ’where the heart is. Home is wherever-’ “thou wantest is to be.” Moonstone, his senses overwhelmed, collapsed, his mind being blissfully sent to the realm of unconsciousness. .o.O.o. “Moonstone!” Starlight called out, watching in horror as he passed out against her. She scrambled to check his pulse, but calmed down ever so slightly when she saw his chest still moving. “What’s wrong with him?! Luna, tell me what’s wrong with him!” Luna lifted Moonstone onto one of the available beds in the room, dragging the second bed over as well, motioning for Starlight to take the other bed, dismissing the doctors when they tried to protest. “Leave Us! If We have need of you, We will call. We thank you for your time, but We will take care of Mr. Moonstone now. And yes, the animal stays! We will send little Galexia for you if we need something.” The doctors were upset about being dismissed, but could say nothing to contradict the princess of the night. Once they were alone, Luna turned back to Moonstone, her horn glowing as she started to examine Moonstone’s body. “P-Princess? Wh-what’s wrong with Moonstone? H-he’s going to be okay, right? W-what happened to him? Why are we here?” Luna glanced over to the pegasus clutching Milly in fear, still stroking her mane soothingly. “We will do Our best to explain, but please, calm thyself. Thou art worrying thine sister.” Starlight eased up on her hug, her heart breaking slightly when she saw the fear and uncertainty in Milky Way’s eyes. “I-it’s okay, Milly, I’ll be fine. I’m just a little... Shook up and disoriented. Can you give me a smile?” Milly slowly gave a tentative smile, and Starlight felt a large weight lifted from her stomach, allowing herself to smile as well. After the two sisters shared a loving nuzzle, Luna started speaking quietly while she kept examining Moonstone. “We only know what Moonstone told us, so there may be more to the story than what he told Us. Moonstone was watching out for you, because you were giving Milky Way a- now what did he call it?” “A Griffin-back ride!” Milly cheered, her eyes going wide. “Those are like the bestest things ever! If I was a pegasus, I would never ever ever ever ever come down!” “Yes...” Luna nodded, agreeing with the filly. Luna continued to explain what happened while Starlight was unconscious, leaving Starlight shocked as to what Moonstone had done trying to protect her. “H-he did what?! H-he tried to kill them?” “Oh, there’s no ‘try’ about it. I saw his eyes when he cut the spell. Then again, maybe it would have been better if I had allowed him to kill them. Even if the spell didn’t keep them trapped there forever, being banished to my sister’s sun is more than punishment enough. Although, it is impossible to know what exactly they were going to do to you. They could have ra-” Luna paused in mid-sentence, her eyes having caught Milky Way’s. It occurred to her, almost belatedly, that she couldn’t say whatever she wanted to, not with such young ears listening. The little filly was clearly already traumatized enough just having her sister’s wing broken. To even suggest anything worse might send the little filly over the edge. And then there were Starlight’s eyes as well, her eyes wide open in fright and shock. It was clear she knew what Luna was about to say. Luna could see the panic starting to well inside, and tried to think quickly what she could say to calm the pegasus back down, but luckily, she didn’t have to do anything. “Star!” A sleek, elegant pegasus stood at the door, panting heavily, before jumping forward, spreading her wings for an additional boost to her height as she dove down on Starlight and Milky Way, wrapping them both tightly in a hug. Tears leaked from her eyes as she held them close, wings wrapped around them. “Mum! Oh mom, I-” “Are you alright?! What happened?!” the deep violet pegasus mare asked, her eyes shimmering with both shed and unshed tears. “W-we... I’ll explain later... Right now, I just...” Starlight stopped talking, hugging her mother back as she and her sister were wrapped in their mother’s embrace. As she felt another pair of forelegs wrap around her, she knew that her father had joined them as well. She closed her eyes, allowing herself to start dozing in the safety of her family’s embrace, until Milky Way piped up with a question. “Sissy? Why is Moony shivering? Is he afraid of something? Is he cold?” Her mother took Milky into her forelegs, holding her away from the strange stallion that was unconscious in the next bed, connected to Starlight’s. “W-who’s that?” Starlight stretched her good wing over Moonstone, flinching for just a moment as she felt how cold he was. “T-this is Moonstone,” she stammered from both cold and nerves, knowing what it looked like. “He’s the one who saved us. He had agreed just this morning to help teach Milly how to use magic.” Starlight’s mother just laid on the other side of her daughter, struggling to process why her daughter was lying next to a stallion she had only just met that day, when Luna jarred her from her thoughts, declaring, “We can find nothing wrong. We can only surmise that he passed out from shock or exhaustion. Sir... Digit, was it? We have needs to speak with you outside. If thou wouldst follow Us...” Nodding, Pi followed Luna out of the room, leaving Starlight alone with her mother, sister, and Moonstone. Milky was, by then, asleep, curled under her mother’s wing, snuggled as close as she could, smiling happily in her sleep. Her mother, Serene Breeze, watched her daughters for a moment, trying to be content in the knowledge that they were both safe. Noticing her daughter’s cast again, though, she started to frown, wondering aloud, “What happened?” Starlight jumped in surprise, turning to her mother, before glancing away guiltily, her face downcast. “I... That’s a long story, mom. You don’t want to-” “Star,” her mother said quietly, cutting her off. “I need to know what happened. I’m not upset, I’m just...” “I... I can’t,” Starlight said quietly, looking away. “You’d be so disappointed...” She turned back to her mother when she felt Breeze nuzzling her. Starlight, trying to hold back tears, sighed heavily, leaning against her mother as she gave in to her request, her eyes watering. “D-don’t hate me,” she whispered, before starting to explain. .o.O.o. “Then you did what?!” Serene gasped, her eyes wide in shock. Starlight couldn’t bring herself to answer, instead just burying her face in her mother’s coat, ashamed. Serene opened her mouth to lecture her daughter, hoping to get her to understand just how disappointed she was in her actions, when she paused for a moment to listen to Starlight’s sobbing. Her daughter wasn’t one to overly cry to get out of getting in trouble, but she couldn’t be sure. Well, in the past, if she was trying to get out of it... Well, first of all, she would be downplaying what she said and how he reacted. And if she’s just trying to avoid punishment, then a simple... “How...” Starlight started to ask, pausing to try to regain her composure as her voice cracked. “How am I supposed to make it up to him? How am I supposed to help him, show him I’m sorry if-” "If you’re only going to help him because you owe him, then stop right there,” Serene snapped, interrupting. “W-what?” Starlight gasped, jerking her head back, allowing her mother a good look at her eyes. Well, at least she isn’t faking it. Her eyes never got puffy like that when she faked it. Oh honey, what have you done... Taking a second to think, Serene leaned forward, nuzzling her distraught daughter, wiping away her tears before sighing, “Oh my eldest... What am I going to do with you?” she cooed, her voice laden with concern. “I raised you better than that. You help others because it’s the right thing to do, not because you feel guilty for what you did or said. Help in that manner is not done for their sake, but for your own, to soothe your own guilt. All that does it make it worse, not better, can’t you see?” Her daughter nodded wordlessly, closing her eyes as she tried not to cry anymore. “B-but then...” Serene shushed her, noticing that at the same time her daughter hugged her tighter, she also used her wing to pull Moonstone slightly closer to her as well. Serene opened her mouth, debating if she should say anything, before asking slowly, “Star, I... I don’t want to assume about something that might not be, or to embarrass you, but... Do you... like Moonstone?” “Wh-I... Uh...” Starlight looked down, blushing slightly. “I don’t know,” she admitted in a whisper, feeling her face heat up. “I mean, he... I...” “Shh,” Serene hushed, calming her daughter. “No need to get riled up! I shouldn’t have pried, and if you don’t know, that’s fine. I just saw your wing and jumped to conclusions.” Soothed by her mother’s soft voice, she relaxed, suddenly feeling very much exhausted. Struggling to stay awake, she mumbled, “So what’s going to happen now? Are you going home to sleep?” Serene pulled up the blankets, tucking her daughters and Moonstone in as best as she could. She leaned forward over the bed, kissing Starlight on the forehead, whispering, “Never. I’ll be here when you wake up, don’t worry. Sweet dreams, my shining Star.” Thus encouraged, Starlight surrendered to dreamland, falling asleep, while her mother watched over them, protecting them from whatever might come their way. .o.O.o.