//------------------------------// // Introduction to Ponyville // Story: Guardian of Equestria // by Armyidiot //------------------------------// The next few weeks passed both quickly and slowly for Heaross. He secured a land permit from Mayor Mare after a discussion and paying a small amount of bits, located only a small ways away from Ponyville. What really drained his wealth was hiring workers and buying supplies to build the house. He mostly had to hire pegasi and unicorns for building, due to his extra height compared to most ponies. The only one even at his size was Celestia, and she was still in Canterlot. Along with building a new house, Heaross met many more of Ponyville's residents, including the Cake family, "Hello, dearie!" Mrs. Cake called out from behind the counter when Heaross walked into Sugarcube Corner, which he had heard was Pinkie Pie's place of residence and employment. Taking notice of the strange shape of the newcomer, "Oh, you must be Heaross!" She called out. "I'm Cup Cake. My husband, Carrot Cake is upstairs tending to the twins. Pinkie is over at Rarity's from what I heard." Flashing a warmhearted smile, "Is there anything I can get you dearie?" "Hello, Mrs. Cake." Heaross greeted. "I'm here due to recommendations from both Twilight and Pinkie. From what I've heard, your cupcakes are to die for. Mind if I test that theory?" "Sure, dearie. Cupcakes are two bits each." She handed him a cupcake while he paid her a couple bits. Heaross took a bite of the cupcake, savoring the flavor when he went stock still. Mrs. Cake hadn't noticed and rambled about how Pinkie normally makes the cupcakes, even altering the recipe, while she and her husband bake other things and on and on she went, until she noticed Heaross wasn't speaking, or for that matter even breathing. "Heaross? Dearie, are you alright?" Heaross broke out of his stupor and turned to the Cake. His eyes spoke of knowledge of the universe and its mechanization. He asked her, "How much?" "I-I'm sorry, what?" "How much would it take for you to give me the recipe?" "I'm sorry, Heaross, I don't quite follow." Mrs. Cake was very confused, especially since Pinkie's cupcakes never caused this much of a reaction from her patrons. "I don't care the price. I don't care what I have to do. What will it take for me to get the recipe of these cupcakes from you?" Heaross was completely sincere. "Oh, the recipe isn't for sale." "Not even for 20 million bits?" "It wou- say that again?" "Mrs. Cake, I am willing to make a deal with you and your husband for the recipe of these cupcakes. I will start off with 20 million bits, and I can go even higher if necessary." Heaross had pulled out a pen and grabbed a napkin to write on. Mrs. Cake was stunned. Of all the offers for her cupcakes, this was the most outrageous, and she couldn't handle it alone. "I'm sorry, let me go get my husband. He won't believe this." True to her word, when she returned with Mr. Cake, he couldn't believe it either. "20 mi-million?" "Yes, sir. I can have it delivered in cash or by check, how would you prefer?" Heaross was at a table now, sitting cross-legged. The Cakes were both speechless. The recipe wasn't even theirs to sell off, but they were being offered 20 million bits in exchange. The pair turned to themselves and came to the unanimous decision of, "We can't." When Heaross asked why, Mrs. Cake responded, "The recipe isn't even ours. Pinkie's the one who made it." "So, I would have to speak with Pinkie Pie to get the recipe?" At their nods, Heaross threw his pen out the window in anger, causing it to whistle as it flew, before a loud crash sounded of glass breaking. He cursed under his breath, before bidding the Cakes good day. But not without ordering a few more cupcakes. a unicorn named Vinyl Scratch, Heaross was wandering the streets at night, trying to nurse away a sleepless night. As he walked, he came across an apparent white unicorn with an electric blue mane and tail, with a cutie mark showing a bridged double eighth-note. What alarmed Heaross about her was the magical aura she had. It was only reinforced by the blood red eyes and long fangs poking from her cheek as she grinned maliciously at him. A vampire, and one who hasn't fed for some time at that. Just as she launched at Heaross, he casually raised an arm, which the vampire slammed her head into, just under her horn. In one quick motion, Heaross flipped her over his hand and grabbed the nerve at her spine. Now motionless, she was forced to watch as Heaross studied her, scrutinizing every minute detail he could find. Reaching for a health potion, Heaross uncorked it before draining it in the vampire's mouth. Seeing her eyes dull to a moderate cerise, he let her down slowly, attempting to appear less intimidating. As the unicorn reached the ground, he released the nerve as she staggered to maintain her balance. "Ho-how did you-" Her tirade was cut short as Heaross put a finger to her lips and stared her in the eyes. She gasped in surprise before smiling very wide. "Heaross." He said. "Vinyl Scratch." She said. They shared a grin, one full of unspoken promises and kept secrets, before they separated, going different directions. Vinyl kept her smile all the way home, not for the fact that Heaross had saved her from doing something unspeakable, but because when he locked eyes with her, his eyes flashed a deep, blood red. 3 very adventurous fillies, Heaross was currently inspecting the build site for his house while reviewing the finances of the construction, when he heard a loud clatter and a few yelps. Fearing a construction accident, he raced over to the peculiar site of three little fillies in the holes of a support beam that had fallen over. On quick inspection, they appeared to be unhurt, if greatly startled. He sighed in relief, glad nopony was hurt. The three fillies were familiar to him, though he couldn't find out why until the orange filly with a purple mane shakily said, "I guess we're not architects then..." Heaross gasped rather loudly upon realizing who the trio were. The Cutie Mark Crusaders, a group of fillies dedicated to earning their cutie marks through increasingly outlandish ways. The girls had spoken warmly of them, if with a small amount of annoyance due to their... attempts. The main three of the Crusaders, Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo, were staring at Heaross with surprise and some guilt. "Sorry, mister." Apple Bloom said. "We were just trying to get our marks in building things by helping out the construction crew." Sweetie Belle continued. "Yeah, we're really sorry sir. We can help clean up the mess." Scootaloo said. Interestingly enough, she was cowering under Heaross' gaze the most, almost touching the foundation. Heaross looked at the trio with some small curiosity before bellowing out a great laugh. He kept the laugh going for close to a full minute before calming down enough to keep a semi-straight face. "Oh, the Cutie Mark Crusaders. I've heard many things about you 3. I am Heaross, Guardian of Battleon, as I'm sure you've heard." The 3 fillies brightened up at his introduction, not feeling quite so intimidated. "Yeah, the guy who arrived with Twilight on dragons, right?" Scootaloo asked. "The very same." Heaross gave a warm smile, kneeling down closer to the fillies eye level. "Now, could you 3 tell me why you thought trying to help build a house was a good idea? And for that matter," He looked around for a moment before turning back to the Crusaders, "Where are all my workers? I know it's not their lunch break yet, that's in another hour." "We maaay have sent them to Sweet Apple Acres for an early lunch..." Apple Bloom shyly answered. Heaross sighed in disappointment, upset that construction had come to a complete halt because of 3 little kids. "Alright, well, while my workers finish their lunch, you 3 can make up for the difference as punishment." Heaross declared. Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle all agreed to this without argument. The group of four set to work, continuing the framework and fixing the fallen support beam. When Heaross' workers returned, they were met by a rather peeved Guardian, who demanded an explanation of why they let fillies run rampant over a construction site while the workers went to enjoy an early lunch. Apparently, the explanation of, "You just don't argue with the Crusaders," wasn't quite good enough for Heaross. The warrior's response to this was, "I hope everyone enjoyed their lunch break, because I'm going to extend it to the rest of the day. Show up bright and early tomorrow, or you're fired." a zebra shaman, A/N: I can't rhyme at all, so Zecora won't be rhyming here either. If someone could leave lines for her rhyming, I'd be happy to replace them and credit you for them. Heaross ventured into the Everfree Forest, planning to explore the rampant region and potentially enjoy a spar with some of the local creatures, though Twilight insisted on coming with him, explaining that the forest grew without pony control and held many dangerous beings inside. Heaross reluctantly agreed to this, though not without his own complaints. As he and Twilight ventured deeper into the forest, having left Spike in charge of the library while they were gone, Heaross saw many things not quite unlike the forest near Battleon, though with a much darker tinge to everything considering the trees were much more closely packed, blocking the sunlight. As they continued walking, Heaross noticed a strange blue flower, which he paused and bent down to pick up, though holding on Twilight's exclamation of "Stop!" Still kneeling, "Is there any reason why I shouldn't pick this flower?" Heaross looked at Twilight curiously while asking. "That's poison joke!" She said, frightened. "If you touch it, it causes strange effects to happen, like becoming tiny, losing your magic, your voice changing, or some other weird thing!" Heaross looked at the flower with renewed curiosity, inspecting every part of it he could see. Then, he picked one of the flowers, holding it at arm's length. "I would be wary of this flower," He spoke, "If it wasn't for the fact that I wear gloves." Twilight was dumbfounded, stumped at the possibility of simply wearing gloves to pick up the dangerous plant. "Heaross, could you put into words how stupid I feel right now?" "Ponies are extremely oblivious and have almost no foresight." "That is so true, I can't get angry over it." Heaross threw the flower at Twilight, who panicked and caught it with her magic. "We could have used telekinesis to pick them up..." Heaross was having trouble keeping a straight face at Twilight's realizations. Picking her up, still stunned, Heaross carried her into the patch of poison joke before letting himself fall backwards into it. Pollen and dust flew up around them, covering them in a layer of poison joke and dust. Her shocked expression was answered when Heaross said, "What's life without adventure? Boring, I say." He booped Twilight on the nose. Twilight sighed, laying her head on Heaross' breastplate. This warrior would be the death of her someday. As she heard hoofsteps coming from somewhere ahead of them, she looked up to see Zecora balefully watching the couple. "Twilight," she said, "Have you not learned your lesson of poison joke?" Twilight groaned, not feeling up to being scorned by the zebra. As she sat up, she explained, "Zecora, this is Heaross. Heaross, this is Zecora." The two exchanged greetings before Twilight resumed. "Heaross carried me and threw himself onto the poison joke. I warned him," At this, Twilight booped Heaross' nose back, "about what it does." "I will admit, this is my fault." Heaross said. "Is there a cure for poison joke's symptoms?" "There is," Zecora explained, "though the ingredients are rare and hard to come by. I do hope you will have learned your lesson, Heaross." "I can pay for the herbs and ingredients, Zecora." Heaross asked, "Would 200 bits satisfy the needs?" A couple of hours later, Heaross and Twilight were enjoying a warm bath in the Ponyville Spa, filled with the herbs needed to counteract the effects of poison joke, while Zecora sat nearby on a stool, inspecting Heaross' potions. "Can they heal diseases?" She asked. "No, drinking a potion would only make the symptoms worse." For once, Heaross was completely armorless in the bath. He had a very rugged physique, even eliciting the humorous response of, "Sweet Faust, you could grind wheat on those," when Twilight saw Heaross' abs. Some scars decorated his torso and legs, adding a very experienced look to Heaross. Twilight was currently running a hoof over a particularly long one across his chest when she asked, "What happened here, Heaross?" Twilight appeared fairly awed by the injury. "That," Heaross pointed the scar, "is from when I was a teenager, and exceedingly cocky." Twilight listened with rapt attention. "When I was young, I grew up on a modest farm with my parents and two siblings. As the oldest of the children, I was tasked with keeping pests away from the crops and the house. Generally, they were frogzards and BURPS, though on occasion, something a bit stronger may wander onto the farm. That," he exclaimed, "is when I met Gust, as a baby drake, abandoned by her mother. Well, one day when I was checking the crops and if we would have a good harvest that year, I heard a roar sound out from over the eastern side of the field. When I finally met the source, I happened upon a manticore eating our cabbages. Of course, at the time I didn't even know what a manticore was. Being the cocky teenager I was, I thought that I could fight it and emerge victorious." Heaross looked away for a moment, embarrassed. "I am sad to say that did not happen. With a huge claw, it tore across my chest, flinging me back. I'm lucky that my father heard the roar from the house and came right when I was flung back, knocking into him on the way. If it wasn't for him, I would be dead and we would have lost the cabbages." "Wow..." Twilight breathed out. She continued exploring Heaross' body and scars until she found a long, dangly thing situated between his thighs. With a tentative hoof, she started poking and prodding the mysterious appendage, wondering just what it was. Finally, she asked Heaross, "What is this thing?" Heaross responded, "Twilight, that is my penis." "Heaross, how many of these potions do you have?" Zecora asked, oblivious to Twilight's growing blush. and the Apple family. Heaross walked from Ponyville to Sweet Apple Acres, being led by Applejack along the way. The pair enjoyed pleasant small talk, Applejack going on about how her family has grown apple orchards for generations while Heaross intently listened. At long last, they arrived at the farm. Heaross was quite astounded by the size of the land sectioned purely for growing apples. His family farm certainly wasn't small by any means, but this completely outclassed it. "Welcome to Sweet Apple Acres, Heaross." Applejack announced. "This is quite the farmland you have, Applejack." Heaross complimented. "Yup! All dedicated to growing apples, every single one of the trees." She beamed with pride. "I admit my favorite variety is the red delicious kind." Eyeing a finely ripened apple hanging off a of a low branch, "Hey Applejack, you wouldn't mind if I tried one of them, would you?" "Go ahead, partner!" She allowed. "Apple bucking season is about to start anyways, so we'll have plenty to go around." "Thanks." As he was picking the apple, Heaross asked, "Apple bucking season?" "Oh, that's when we buck all the apples off the trees. Happens about every 3 months, and if things keep going this way, we're gonna have the greatest harvest in years!" AJ excitedly exclaimed. "That's certainly good news." Heaross said, before taking a bite of the apple. Heaross almost moaned at the sweetness of the apple, and how it was perfectly ripe. "Wow, AJ, these are fantastic apples! How much would it cost me to get a barrel all to myself?" "We sell our apples at about a bit per. Come on by when we start selling them in the town market, I'll cut you a deal." "Thanks." The pair continued towards the farm house, a modest dwelling built into the side of large red barn. Heaross couldn't critique the home, considering the one he grew up in was even smaller. The shade of red was a bit hard on the eyes, though. "Welcome to the Apple family home, Heaross!" Applejack said. Heaross could see Apple Bloom playing outside of the barn with the other Crusaders. "You've already met Apple Bloom, my little sister. That there's Granny Smith, my grandma." She pointed to the green elder pony watching the Crusaders play. "My brother, Big Mac, is probably in the house right now, taking a nap." Right as she said that, a large red colt walked out of the barn house, stretching his limbs. "Well, there he is in the flesh! Let's go meet them, Heaross." The Guardian followed AJ, raising a hoof in greeting. "Hey, folks! Come on ya'll and meet Equestria's newest visitor!" Applejack shouted to her family. The Cutie Mark Crusaders ran towards the pair after hearing the farm mare's shout. They crowded around Heaross, climbing and playing on him while he let them, chuckling. Big Mac was helping Granny Smith out of her chair and to AJ and Heaross. As they reached them, the Crusaders finally stopped playing on Heaross and sat intently beside Big Mac and Granny Smith. "Howdy, Heaross. I'm Big Macintosh, Big Mac for short." "Well howdy, sonny. I'm Granny Smith." "Hello, Big Mac, Granny Smith. I am Heaross, Guardian of Battleon." The warrior greeted, warmly. "As I've already told Applejack, this is quite the marvelous farm you all have." "Eeyup." Big Mac agreed. "Big Mac and I normally take care of the chores for the farm while Granny Smith takes care of cooking and finances." Applejack explained. "Yup." Granny Smith said. "I make some of the best darn apple fritters you'll ever taste, sonny!" "They're really good." Apple Bloom spoke up to. "Well, I'll have to try some of them, won't I?" Heaross jibed. "I grew up on a farm when I was young, actually. Nothing quite as big as this though, I'm actually a little jealous." He said with a chuckle. "Really?" Asked the Crusaders. "What did you guys farm?" "Let's see... There were cabbages, carrots, onions, corn," Heaross started, counting on his fingers, "wheat, beets, cucumbers, potatos... I'm certain there were more, but I can't remember them right now." Heaross stroked his chin in thought before shrugging his shoulders. "There were quite a few we farmed, but even all our crops combined couldn't compare to this." He gestured to the huge orchard. "The harvests here must be legendary." "That they are, sonny." Granny Smith said. "We're the main export of apples to all of Equestria." Heaross showed an expression of surprise, saying, "That's quite impressive." The Apple family beamed in pride, reveling in Heaross' praise. "Say sonny," Granny Smith started to ask, "Would you be doing anything later on? We'd love for you to come over for some dinner." Apple Bloom started swarming Heaross' legs, almost like a puppy constantly saying "Please?" "Well, I'm not doing much later on today. Why not?" Heaross agreed. After the dinner, which Heaross had decided was absolutely fantastic, instead of heading towards the library, he opened the portal to the Petverse. Stepping in, he made his way past Sunset Shimmer, who was sleeping, and all the other companions for his journeys until he happened upon Gust. Without a word from either, Gust opened up her wing and allowed Heaross in, who changed out of his armor into more sleep oriented clothing. Heaross started to cry while Gust keened softly, a lullaby his mother used to sing. Slowly, Heaross quieted until he was almost to the realm of sleep. "You know none of them would blame you for what happened." Gust stated in a motherly tone. "It doesn't help that I still blame myself." Heaross countered. The weeks passed. Rainbow Dash regrew her feathers, Heaross made more friends and deepened relations he already had, and progress on his house continued until finally, it was finished. Stepping inside, Heaross welcomed the scent of his new home, provided by a honeydew scented candle. Rarity was right, those drapes do brighten up the room. Stepping past the chimney and the opposite sofa, Heaross continued to explore the house, despite how familiar he already was with it. Past the living room was the kitchen, with a window facing towards Ponyville, currently open. As it turns out, ponies have made some considerable progress with imbuing magic into items, and with those advancements, Heaross had a stove that lit a burner, pipes under the house that ran, heated, and cooled water, and a refrigerator, a new device he hadn't even seen in his world. Continuing on, Heaross stepped back into the living room to a hallway with four rooms along the length. Two guest bedrooms on one side, the master bedroom and the bathroom beside that. Taking a look into the guest rooms, Heaross took notice of a simple twin bed, a small bedside table with a candle resting a raised stand. There was a window on the opposite wall facing the Everfree Forest, with a bookshelf on the wall aside it. The other guest room was a carbon copy, though mirrored. The bathroom had a simple sink and toilet, custom ordered just so Heaross could use it, and a large tub. Though certainly not modest, Heaross didn't want to extend over boundary lines, so the tub was six feet in all directions. On second thought, it seemed more like a small pool than a tub. Heaross turned to the master bedroom, his own room of rest. A queen sized canopy bed set at the back end of the room, two large bookshelfs occupying one wall, with a large desk and chair occupying the other. Off to the end of the room sat a large closet, built into the wall and capable of holding more than just clothes. Heaross returned to the living room, took a deep breath and exhaled in comfort. Then he let his smile fall. By the elements, it's lonely in here! "Oh, ho ho ho... Someone appears new to my eye... I know everyone here. Everyone, that is, except for you..." A strange creature appeared before Heaross then, a weird beast composed of several others. "Ah, where are my manners! I am Discord, spirit of chaos and disharmony." The strange creature offered a bow to Heaross then. "Rise, Discord. I've little patience for chaos beings. Explain your reasoning for being here, lest I wrest it from you." "Please," Discord said in a suave tone, "Hold the hostilities. I come in peace. Fluttershy said I should meet you, that we would be good friends." Heaross sighed, not quite believing Discord but trusting Fluttershy. "Alright then Discord. I'll give you the benefit of the doubt for now. But," Heaross warned, "If I ever see you hurt my friends, I will not hesitate to strike you down." "May I say the same to you, 'Guardian.'" Discord returned. "In any case, I have something you might be interested in." Discord pulled out a strange spherical object, shaped as a marble would. Inside of the sphere, five separate traces of energy flowed, which Heaross recognized as elemental energies, though not all of them. "What is it?" Heaross curiously asked. "Frankly, I'm not sure myself." Discord responded. "I was hoping you had some clue." "Well, I can recognize five of the eight elements inside of it. Leave it with me, I'll do some experiments with it." Heaross held out his hand, to which Discord dropped the strange orb without complaint. As Heaross held the glowing multicolored object, a message played in his ears, though without a source. I am the Elementalist, fighter of the just and weak. If you need my help and your intentions are pure, hold the sphere and call for Mike Elemental, telling your need. And if not for support on a fight, then for a talk or a spar. Heaross held the orb for just a moment longer, then heard, If you're holding this sphere 15 seconds after my initial introduction, then here's an extra: I possess the title of Holy Hands. So if you need some stress relief, I can give you a treatment that'll put you in heaven. Well... That was certainly interesting. Discord had taken notice of the pause and was looking curiously on Heaross. The warrior took notice of how he had been blankly staring the orb for the past 30 seconds. He shook off the effect of the orb, and dismissed Discord from his house. Heaross returned to the master bedroom and sat at the desk. As he placed the sphere down, he took a pen and wrote down what the orb had said. As he pondered what all the orb had said and what it could entail, Heaross couldn't help but feel excited about a potential rival. One that could match his skills? Of course he felt ecstatic. Choosing to leave the orb for another time, Heaross decided to throw a small housewarming party. Pinkie would know what to have for a good punch...