Guardian
Chapter 1: Nothing Rhymes With Silver
Deep in a dark, discomforting forest lay a small meadow. It was open to both sunlight and fresh air which made it a great spot to rest when journeying through the forest. The trees were green and bright while the little river that ran through the meadow was clear and cool. In the middle of said meadow lay a pony. His mane and tail were colored gold while his fur was a dark silver. His wings lay lazily at his sides and his horn shined in the light. His eyes were closed and his hooves were twitching. A nightmare of which he couldn’t escape from tormented his thoughts.
Around midday, the pony’s eyes flew open. His eyes were like a golden fire that burned fiercely. He closed his eyes again and groaned, his head hurt like it was smashed open on a boulder. He heard the gurgling of a stream nearby. He slowly stood up. His hooves were unsteady and his head swam. Slowly but surely, he made his way to the water. Once there he bent down and took a drink. It was cold and refreshing. Soon his mind cleared up and he was more sure on his hooves. He peered into the water to look at himself. He had no idea who he was or where he came from. He sat down in the soft, green grass and thought long and hard about what happened to him. Nothing came to mind so he shrugged and stood back up.
To choose a direction he closed his eyes and spun in a circle for a moment. When he stopped he opened his eyes and walked in that direction. The trees seemed to absorb him as he entered the ominous forest. Dark grass and roots were strewn everywhere, making it hard to hike through. The silver and gold pony sighed and walked in a straight line as best he could. The forest seemed menacing and somewhat evil. Silver found himself looking over his shoulder several times and looking side to side. Whenever he blinked, he saw images of dark ponies sneaking around. The pony stepped on a stick and it snapped. He paused and listened. Everything was quiet and still. No bird calls or running water. He wished he never left that meadow.
After some time of walking and spooking himself, the pony stumbled out of the forest into fresh air and light. He smiled at the sunlight and threw himself onto the grass. He lay there for a while and laughed at himself for being such a foal. The grass felt so soft and warm. His eyes became heavy and they stung. Soon, the pony fell asleep in the warm sunlight.
After a while, the pony woke up to see another pony standing over him. When his eyes opened, she jumped back with a squeak. The yellow pegasus hid behind a medium sized rock. After a moment, the pegasus poked her head out to find the silver pony staring at her confused with his head cocked.
“Uh... Hello?” The strange pony said. He was surprised at his own voice. He swore it was a bit deeper than it was. The yellow pony just squeaked out some words and hid behind the rock again. “Excuse me? I didn’t catch that,” the silver pony said. When she didn’t come out of hiding, he sighed and thought of something else to say. He tried to think of his name, but nothing came to mind. After a moment of thinking, a word came to mind. He didn’t know if it was his name or not but he decided to say it anyway to break the ice.
“My name’s Silver,” he said, “Um... what’s yours?” Silver asked. No response came. Silver looked behind the rock. The yellow pegasus squeaked again and backed away. Silver cocked his head again and sat down. “I’m not going to hurt you or anything,” he said. She still didn’t answer so he sighed explosively and got up. He sat a little ways away, looking in the opposite direction. He saw a small town a little ways away. He could see shaped of ponies moving about, going to shops and such. He knew where he was heading next. He stood up once more and prepared to leave when he heard a noise behind him. He looked behind him to see the pegasus. She was talking, but he could barely hear her. He caught the word “Fluttershy” and assumed that was her name.
“Fluttershy is it? Nice to meet you,” he said cheerfully. She smiled a bit and looked at the ground. Silver grinned. He was proud to make some progress with this pegasus.
“Well, I’m going to that town over there. Have a nice day!” Silver said as he walked away. He swore he heard a goodbye, but believed it to be too good to be true.
It didn’t take him long to make it to the town. It was a pretty busy place for it being so small. There were all sorts of ponies. Pegasi flew from one place to another. A crossed eyed pegasus was actually delivering mail. Earth ponies carried bags and supplies around with them. Unicorns were trotting around. One white unicorn with a purple mane was helping a pony stitch up a dress.
During his stroll, he was getting weird looks. Some were of curiosity, some wonder, but the most disturbing were the ones with suspicion and distaste. Silver arched an eyebrow and kept walking. He soon noticed what made him stand out. Well, two things. One was that he was the only pony with both a horn and wings. The other thing was that there were marks on all of the ponies’ flanks. Silver knew he didn’t have one. He didn’t need to check for that.
“Look out!” Silver heard. Suddenly, what felt like a rocket hit him in the side and bowled him end over end. Silver found himself in a heap with a blue pegasus with a rainbow colored mane.
“Ow...” Silver groaned as he got up. He shook the dust off his fur and sighed. “You all right?” he asked as he helped the other pony up.
“Yea, yea. Sorry about-” she ended suddenly and gave him a look that would melt mountains. Silver took a step back. He didn’t know what to do. The pegasus suddenly took off like a bullet. She ran to the library and slammed the door shut. Silver was speechless. He noticed that everypony was staring at him. He became self-conscious and looked around for a place to hide. He couldn’t think straight with all of the eyes looking at him.
“Hi!” Silver heard from outside of the crowd. A pink earth pony was bouncing up and down excitedly through the crowd until she reached him. She sat down and started shaking his hoof violently. “My name’s Pinkie Pie! My friends call me Pinkie. I could also be called Pie, but that sounds a bit weird. I throw the best parties in all of Equestria and I work at Sugar Cube Corner! It is a nice bakery! He sell muffins, cupcakes, cake cakes, pastries, doughnuts, cupcakes, muffins, cupcakes, not oatmeal though,” Pinkie Pie exclaimed while still shaking Silver’s hoof. He thought his whole leg was about to be torn off.
“Nice to meet you, Pinkie. My name is Silver,” Silver said when she finally let go of his hoof.
“Oooooh, so you’re named after your coat color? That’s neat! Some ponies think I was named after my coat color, but my full name is Pinkameana. I just shortened it to Pinkie. I have a toothless alligator named Gummy. I named him that because he doesn’t have any teeth. Wanna meet him?” she asked. Silver nodded slowly. Suddenly, out of no where, she revealed a small alligator. Its eyes looked in two different directions and it had no teeth as Pinkie stated. It tried to bite Silver’s muzzle, but he could only feel the gums. Silver felt his pupils dilate.
“Aw! That means he likes you!” Pinkie shouted. Silver noticed the staring ponies had moved on with their day. In some way, this energetic pink pony saved him from embarrassment.
“Wanna be my best friend? I have some other best friends you might like. They are great and nice and funny! I know you will get along with them!”
“Sure, I’d love to meet them,” Silver said. Truthfully, he didn’t want to be left alone again, but he also wanted to meet some more ponies. Pinkie bounced along the road while Silver followed behind. In the corner of his eye, he swore he caught a hint of a rainbow mane.
Soon, the two ponies reached a store called Carousel Boutique. Silver didn’t know if that he would visit this store much, but followed Pinkie Pie nonetheless. Before they could get to the door, it swung open to reveal the same white pony Silver had seen when he first arrived.
“Hello, Pinkie Pie! What brings you to my humble store?” the pony asked.
“Hi, Rarity! I made a new friend! His name is Silver! I think it’s because of his coat color, but he doesn’t know. Isn’t that silly?” Pinkie asked excitedly. Silver grinned awkwardly when Rarity looked at him.
“Hi there darling! My name is Rarity, as you may know. I’m terribly sorry about the way Rainbow Dash greeted you, it was quite rude of her,” Rarity apologized.
“That’s no problem, I’m sure there’s a good reason for it,” Silver said kindly. Rarity frowned.
“Unfortunately, there is. Some strange ponies have been visiting as of late. They cause a lot of trouble and are unwanted. The way we recognize them is by the lack of a Cutie Mark. It seems you don’t have one either, but you don’t seem the brutish type. Tell me, what town did you come from?” Rarity asked. Silver thought for a moment. He expected the name of the town to come to him like his name, but it seemed it wasn’t the case. His mind just went blank. Rarity seemed concerned by the lack on answer. She pressed a hoof against his forehead.
“Are you all right, my dear?” she asked. Silver shrugged.
“Never better, just a bit of amnesia I guess,” Silver explained, “So tell me more about these Cutie Marks. What do they do exactly?” Silver asked.
“Cutie Marks show what our special talents or what our destiny is. It seems you have not found yours yet,” Rarity examined. Silver shrugged.
“I knew you guys would get along!” Pinkie Pie shouted happily. Obviously her pent up energy couldn’t be held in any longer. She bounced up and down erratically. Silver had to take a step back to avoid being jumped on. Rarity giggled and bid them farewell. Silver smiled and walked alongside Pinkie as she bounced up and down.
After a few minutes of walking along the road, they turned onto a dirt path that led away from the city. Trees started to become more common as they went along. Silver noticed that they bore apples of many different shapes, sizes, and colors. It hadn’t been long before Silver could see a farm in the distance. He saw a large red stallion hauling a plow back into the red barn. A small yellow earth pony with a pinkish red bow followed the red stallion. Pinkie bounced ahead of Silver and disappeared into the trees. Silver just kept slowly walking to the barn. He could hear Pinkie’s excited voice talking to another pony. Silver arched an eyebrow, but he still kept going. After a minute, Pinkie bounced back to him.
“Who were you talking to?” Silver asked. Pinkie didn’t answer. She giggled and kept bouncing along. Silver laughed nervously. They made it to the middle of the farm. From a distance, he could see many acres of apple trees. He was amazed by what he saw.
“Beautiful, ain’t it?” said a pony behind Silver. Silver jumped and turned around. Behind him stood an orange earth pony wearing a cowpony hat. She seemed proud of all of the apple trees that grew in her fields. Silver didn’t disagree.
“It is quite stunning,” Silver said, “The name’s Silver,” he said and held out a hoof.
“Th’ name’s Applejack, nice to meet ya’!” Applejack shook his hoof almost as violently as Pinkie Pie, but it lasted a shorter amount of time. Silver laughed uncomfortably as his hoof felt numb. “So, what brings ya’ around here, sugar cube?” Applejack asked.
“Pinkie Pie here is introducing me to all of her friends. So far, I have met Rarity and you,” Silver said.
“That’s nice of Pinkie. I heard from Applebloom of that run in you had with Rainbow Dash. I guess that didn’t go so hot?” Applejack asked.
“I guess not. Rarity already explained, though. I understand. I think I’ve been in the same situation,” Silver said.
“You think?” Applejack asked, “It’s not something you can easily forget,”
“I think I have a bit of amnesia. It took me a few minutes this morning to tell this pegasus named Fluttershy my name. Though, it took a little longer to get hers,” Silver said.
“You’ve met Fluttershy? Then it goes without saying she is a bit shy,” Applejack chuckled, “After a time she’ll warm up to ya’,”
Silver chuckled too then shrugged.
“Hey, I just got finished picking some apples, want one?” Applejack asked. Silver nodded eagerly. He couldn’t remember the last time he ate. Applejack picked out an apple from one of her baskets and tossed it at Silver. Silver flinched, but when he didn’t feel impact, he opened his eyes to see it floating right in front of him. His horn was glowing a light golden color. The apple was also outlined with the same color.
“You can use magic, too?” Pinkie asked excitedly.
“I guess I can,” Silver said. He was amazed at his own skill.
“Then you would like Twilight! She also practices magic!” Pinkie shouted enthusiastically.
“It’s true. She sometimes stays couped up in the library for days studying that magic of hers,” Applejack said. Silver cocked his head. Applejack chuckled, “Don’t worry, she’s nice and all as long as you let her read those books,” Applejack explained. Pinkie started bouncing off again. Silver quickly took a bite of the apple. It was the juiciest apple he ever had. Applejack smiled like she could read his mind. Silver nodded his thanks and took off after Pinkie. Silver heard Applejack ask something about a “Granny Smith” to that red stallion he saw earlier. He shook his head and tried to keep pace with Pinkie.
The two ponies got back into town. Everything was going business as usual it seemed. They quickly found the library in the middle of town. It seemed to be just a huge tree with a few windows, a door, and a balcony.Silver was hesitant to go in though, he remembered that rainbow maned pony, Rainbow Dash if he recalled correctly, went in there after she slammed into him. Pinkie didn’t notice the hesitation and almost literally kicked in the door.
“Twilight! I got a visitor for you!” Pinkie shouted. Silver heard a voice reply, but he couldn’t make out any words. “Don’t be like that, silly filly! Your books can wait!” Pinkie said jouyously and bounced inside.
“I don’t want to impose...” Silver started.
“Don’t be silly! Twilight needs to get out of the library anyway! She’s been in there for almost a week!” Pinkie said over her shoulder. A week?! Silver thought, how is that possible? He took a nervous step in. He could hear three voices talking at once. One, that rose above the rest in an excited manner, was definitely Pinkie Pie’s. The other two was not familiar to him. Suddenly, everything became quiet. He heard somepony coming down the stairs. What he saw, he did not expect. It was a purple and green baby dragon. Silver cocked his head.
“Um... hello,” the dragon said nervously, “Um... would you like something to drink?”
“No thanks, but thank you for offering,” Silver said politely. The baby dragon seemed to grow a little more comfortable at the politeness.
“I-I’m Spike,” the baby dragon said.
“Silver, nice to meet you,” Silver said with a smile, “and might I add that I have never seen a dragon before. Fascinating creatures if I’m not mistaken. Tell me, where did you come from?” Silver asked.
“Canterlot. I was hatched by Twilight during her exam to get into Princess Celestia’s school of magic,” Spike said. He seemed to lose his nervousness all at once.
“I have never heard of Canterlot before... or this Princess Celestia for that matter,” Silver said. These sounded familiar, but he couldn’t put a hoof down on it. He heard a gasp come from upstairs, then the three voices started to talk again. Silver looked at Spike confused. Spike shrugged and turned around to go upstairs. His voice was added to the others. Suddenly, one voice shouted out the words, “He could be a spy!” another voice said calmly, “You accused me of being a spy when I first got here,” the first voice groaned, “That was an honest mistake,” the second voice sighed. Silver heard hoofsteps coming down the stairs.
Silver did not expect to see a beautiful lavender unicorn to come down the stairs and smile at him.
“Sorry about that,” she said.
“I-It’s ok,” Silver stuttered. He was overcome with sudden shyness, “I hope I’m not causing any trouble...”
“No, no, it’s fine,” the lavender unicorn reassured, “Just some stubbornness from my friend. My name is Twilight Sparkle,”
“Nice to meet you, I’m Silver,” Silver said. Before he could say something else, he heard a rabble outside. It sounded like there was a fight or something going on. Silver opened the door and poked his head around the corner. There were four ponies outside Sugar Cube Corner. One was Applebloom standing next to an old, green mare. The other two were large and strong stallions. One was a unicorn and the other a earth pony. The unicorn and pegasus didn’t have Cutie Marks.
“Leave my Granny alone, she didn’t do anything to ya’,” Applebloom pleaded. The two stallions laughed.
“Sure we will, after she says sorry for tripping over my friend’s hoof,” the unicorn said.
“She can’t help it, she’s got a bad hip,” Applebloom argued. The unicorn picked up Applebloom with his magic and laughed.
“Check it out, Crusher, this little one here wants to fight,” the unicorn said. Applebloom struggled to get down, but she was held in the air.
“I see that, Smasher, let’s teach her a lesson,” the earth pony, who Silver presumed was Crusher, said. Crusher’s hoof came up and went for Applebloom, but it was stopped in its tracks. It was outlined in a light golden color. Silver slowly walked over, his horn was glowing brightly.
“I say let’s not. Put the filly down and fight somepony your own size,” Silver said sternly. Smasher put the pony down and turned around. Silver kept a neutral expression. He was not going to back down from this one.
“Well, well, well. What do we have here? An alicorn outside of Canterlot? What business do you have here? Meddling in affairs of others?” Smasher sneered. Silver didn’t seem moved. The only change was the slight narrowing of his eyes. Crusher’s hoof was released. Crusher shook his hoof to test it out then snorted.
Suddenly, Silver felt his throat tighten to the point where he couldn’t breathe. He was lifted into the air and thrashed about from side to side. Smasher’s horn was glowing a dull black.
“We don’t like it when ponies mess in our affairs,” Smasher said menacingly. Silver was thrown up into the air and he landed with a dull thump on the ground. Silver slowly got up and stumbled a bit from the lack of oxygen. Before he knew it, something that felt like a freight train rammed right into him and sent him flying head over hooves. He hit the ground and skidded a few feet. Crusher bit into Silver’s mane and lifted his head up. Silver was not about to be thrown again. His hoof shot out and hit Crusher in the face. When Crusher reeled back, Silver kicked him in the chin with his back legs. Crusher’s head snapped back and blood flowed out of the corner of his mouth.
Silver felt himself being picked up again. He was thrown up into the air, but this time, before he hit the ground, his stretched his wings out to land softer. Crusher grabbed Silver from behind. Silver bit into Crusher’s front leg. Crusher grunted in pain and let go. Silver bucked him again and charged at Smasher. Silver’s hooves were swept out from under him by an unseen force and he hit the ground. Pain shot up his front right leg.
As Silver stood up he heard somepony call his name. It was Pinkie Pie and she was bouncing up and down with a tray full of muffins.
“Throw these, Silver! Throw these!” Pinkie shouted. Silver smiled. He imitated what he did to pick up the apple and picked up one of the muffins. One hit Smasher in the eye. Another one flew and hit him in the face. Five more flew and hit his horn and face at the same time. Silver then charged up and bucked Smasher in the chest. Smasher flew a few feet and hit a mailbox. Crusher tried to get up, but Silver held him down with one hoof.
“You two will never come to this town again, got it?” Silver said sternly, “If you do, I will know of it,”
Crusher just grunted in answer. Silver got his hoof off of him. Almost at once, Crusher sprang up, grabbed Smasher, and ran out of town. For a few moments, everypony was silent, looking after the two ruffians. Then Silver heard Pinkie Pie shout, “This calls for a party!” Then, everypony cheered and congratulated Silver all at once. Once everypony had said their congratulations, they rushed over to an empty field just outside of Ponyville to a party that had been set up in record time.
Silver stood in the middle of Ponyville amazed. He felt a bit weak from the beating he took, but he managed to stumble over to the party. When he got there, his breath was taken away. Bright and colorful lights had been set up. Several tables with a purple cloth had been set out with trays of food on them. Everypony was either dancing to the music or talking with each other. Silver had to hand it to Pinkie, she could throw a great party really quickly. He went around the many ponies and took a couple of cupcakes and quickly devoured them. Once he was done he found a place to lie down and think. He sat a little ways away from the party. His eyes were getting heavy. He put his head into his hooves and slept.
“Silver, wake up, sugar cube,” Applejack said as she prodded him awake. Silver woke up slowly. He noticed the field had been cleaned up of everything. It was like a party never happened.
“Huh, what? Did I fall asleep?” Silver asked sleepily.
“Yea, you fell asleep about two hours ago. No pony blamed you. It was a rough day you had,” Applejack said as she helped him up, “Thank you for helping out my sister and Granny Smith,”
“It was nothing,” Silver said with a yawn, “I was just doing what I thought best,”
“Then you must have been the best apple in the orchard at your home town,” Applejack said. Silver shrugged. “Do you have anywhere to stay?” Applejack asked. Silver shook his head sadly. “I owe you one, so how about you stay at Sweet Apple Acres for as long as you need to,” Applejack said as she led Silver to the farm.
“I couldn’t do that...” Silver started to trail off. He was too tired to argue.
“Nonsense, come on, let’s get you into a bed,” Applejack said. They walked along for only a few minutes until the large barn loomed in front of them. Silver was led into a small house near the barn and up some stairs. “We have a guest room so you can use that, if it’s ok?” Applejack asked. Silver nodded and walked into the room. Immediately he went for the bed and fell right asleep onto of the covers.
Silver woke up late at night. He had been dreaming of a memory he once had. It was a birthday party for his friend. It must have happened when he was a colt. He sighed and turned over in his bed. It was still dark out so he slowly closed his eyes and fell back asleep. He didn’t know what tomorrow would bring, but he felt like he needed a good night’s sleep.