//------------------------------// // Mogloween // Story: Guardian of Equestria // by Armyidiot //------------------------------// The Cutie Mark Crusaders, shepherded by Rainbow Dash, made the small trek from Ponyville to Heaross' house, planning on collecting the Guardian to have some fun and mischief this wonderful Nightmare Night. Princess Luna had already arrived in town and made her way to Heaross' as well, greeting the residents of Ponyville warmly. She hadn't said much when they asked her about what she was doing, just that she and Heaross "had a plan." The Crusaders made it to the warrior's house and knocked on the door. They waited for a moment but nopony answered. Rainbow Dash knocked a bit harder, almost making the door shake. Then, without source, the door glided open, making no noise on its hinges. The group made their way inside, to which Scootaloo called out in a loud voice, "Hello? Heaross, are you here?" Silence is the only thing that greeted her. "Maybe he and Luna already left, Scoots." Rainbow Dash advised her adoptive younger sibling. "Everypony, look!" Apple Bloom shouted to the others. "There's a paper on the couch!" Rainbow Dash grabbed the paper and held it aloft, reading aloud what it said. "The night of Mogloween, a rider comes out of the forest. Do not speak to him. Do not try to gather his attention. Run. It is the only thing that may save you from him. Pray he doesn't follow you home. Pray he loses interest in the chase. Pray that it's not your head he is after." Rainbow stopped reading for a moment to gather both her breath and courage. "He is the Headless Horseman, an unknown rider of an age long past. In one hand, he carries a wicked sword, forged of the hellish fires of the Underworld. In the other, he carries the Jack-O'-Lantern, a laughing pumpkin carved to resemble his own skull, alive with his soul, but not his mind. Forever he roams the night, looking for the one who's head he could take to replace his own lost masque." The Cutie Mark Crusaders and the fearless Element of Loyalty were shaking by this point. None of them wanted to lose their heads. With not even a word said between them, they all left Heaross' house, heading towards Ponyville. Just as they left the house and got a few paces away from it, a haunting, echoing laughter sounded out of the Everfree Forest. None of them would admit it, but rumors say that Rainbow Dash performed a Sonic Rainboom from a standstill then. Twilight was wandering Ponyville, enjoying Nightmare Night, a wondrous night filled with scares, haunts, candy, and laughing children. Spike sat on her back, munching on a few gems that Heaross had bought him the night before. As the duo made it to town center, Twilight heard a loud boom sound out from the direction of Heaross' residence. As she watched, Rainbow Dash, carrying Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo, dashed past her and Spike, buffeting them with her strong headwind. The pair laughed at Heaross' antics. All night long, she heard the screams of ponies, shouting sayings of "It's the Headless Horseman! Everypony run!" Twilight just laughed when they ran past, as did Spike. Eventually, said "Horseman" came into Ponyville on his wicked mount, a pure black stallion with glowing green eyes, flowing mane, and larger than Celestia herself. Wherever the horse stepped, the ground behind would be completely black, almost like pooled darkness, misting in the cold night. The rider atop the horse struck a more imposing figure, dressed in navy blue armor plates, borders of a dark tan. A brownish-red cape hung behind him, fluttering slightly in the breeze, while above his neck sat no head, simply a dark abyss glowing green in the moonlight. In his left hand, he carried a Jack-O'-Lantern, cut to show a wicked jagged grin, cackling in madness. In his right hand, hanging low beside his mount, sat a massive blade, glowing red and ornately carved. A screaming skull sat as the centerpiece, with lines of glowing red energy flowing outwards and to the rest of the blade. Several hooks adorned the sides of the blade, designed for ripping and tearing of flesh and armor, leading to a large point at the end of the blade. Overall, Heaross pulled off the look very nicely, though the sword may be a bit overkill. Instead of unleashing some form of fear attack around him, the Headless Horseman sat, waiting for something unseen, that is, until Nightmare Moon descended to land in front of him. As the pair faced each other, the laughing lantern slowly quieted until it seemed more like the chuckles of a madman. Without bid from either, the rider descended from his horse, and bowed to Nightmare Moon, sinking to one knee on the grass. Wow, Twilight thought, he must really be getting into the spirit of things. Heaross normally doesn't bow to royalty! Nightmare Moon, in her 'Traditional Canterlot Voice,' almost shouts out, "Ah, Horseman, one of my most loyal servants. Still without a head I see. No matter, we will find one for you eventually." The Horseman almost tensed up at this part. "Do not fear, my servant. Without my rule for the past thousand years, Equestria hasn't known true fear for quite some time now. Together," At this, the mare nuzzled her head near where his neck would be, "We can fix this... 'problem.'" Twilight was shocked at how well choreographed the entire scene was. It almost seemed like it all was real. Then it became very real when Heaross and Luna showed up at that moment, looking a bit panicked. "Everybody, evacuate from here!" Heaross shouted, wearing the same armor that the Headless Horseman was. "This is an emergency!" Luna shouted as well. "Clear the area!" Twilight, understandably confused, ran over to the pair with Spike hanging on for dear life while the ponies in the area screamed and ran in different directions. "What happened?! I thought this was supposed to be a prank you two orchestrated!" "It was!" Heaross responded. "Luna was going to cast some illusion magic and make us appear as that." He gestured to Nightmare Moon and the Headless Horseman. "Unfortunately," He looked at Luna, "Someone sneezed and accidentally created copies of us instead of masking us." "So that means-" Spike started. "We literally created evil versions of ourselves." Luna finished for the dragon. Nightmare Moon and the Headless Horseman took notice of the chatting group, and blew a blast of magic into the center of it. Heaross saw her charging the magic blast and rushed forward, taking the blast full on. A small explosion appeared where Heaross stood, smoking the area out. When the smoke cleared, a small crater stood where he did, yet no sign Heaross ever stood there remained. Twilight had tunnel vision in that moment, only seeing the area where her Guardian once stood. Her vision shifted over to the mare that had caused the explosion and disappearance of Heaross. Everything seemed slowed down, colored in a red tinge. Faintly, she heard Spike yelling in her ear to start moving and get away from the area. She blocked him out. Twilight felt something building in the base of her horn. She let it grow, let her emotions go, let everything she knew of the world go, and only focused on that one moment. Heaross getting hit with a beam of magic fired from Nightmare Moon. It replayed in her mind, over and over, while the sensation in her horn kept building. Finally, when it seemed as if the feeling couldn't grow any more, Twilight unleashed a scream of rage, a scream of defiance, a scream that reached Nightmare Moon and made her afraid. Guiding whatever magic was flowing through her, Twilight shot the magic beam at the mare, colored in a rainbow of magic, blue, green, red, yellow, purple, a scale of flowing colors shooting directly for Nightmare Moon. Again, in slow motion, Twilight saw Heaross dropping from the sky, sword pointed in a plunge that connected directly through the Mare in the Moon, dissipating whatever magic had caused her creation. When Heaross looked up, he noticed the rainbow of magic flowing straight towards him, and knew there was no moving away from this blast. Heaross grit his teeth, and took the blast full on in the breastplate, causing a shock wave of pure magic flowing through him. While this wasn't the first time that Heaross had experienced magic structured like that before, it was the strongest spell he had ever felt, and he had seen Warlic cast some pretty intense spells. The blast threw the Guardian through the air and several houses, crashing into many homes and businesses. Finally, he stopped at Sugarcube Corner, breaking the doors down and sliding to lie reclined on the front of the counter. He coughed a bit. Blood came out. Twilight came down from her fury and stared in horror at what she had done. Whatever magic she had used had hit Heaross directly and threw him so far that there was a straight line through several houses. She saw Sugarcube Corner at the end, though it didn't have a hole in it like the other places. Luna just stared, jaw dropped in awe. Twilight, without thinking, ran and teleported in combination (also completely leaving Spike behind) until she had burst into the confectionery. She saw Heaross, reclined on the front surface of the counter, with a massive dent inwards in his breastplate. Every few seconds or so, he would cough up some blood onto the floor, leaving a small puddle in front of him. Heaross, in his dazed and wounded world, noticed Twilight in front of him. "Hey," he said weakly, "You're pretty strong. I knew you could take on Celestia or Luna, but wow, I think you broke all of my ribs." He was barely breathing, his chest rattling with every intake of air. Twilight crowded around him, inspecting his injury with tear filled eyes. "I need you to do something for me, alright Twilight?" Heaross asked the alicorn. "Heaross, no, no, please no! Please don't die!" Twilight stood near the Guardian, though she didn't approach any closer for fear of hurting him. "Twilight, calm down. I've been hit with worse." This wasn't quite true, the closest he had felt to something like this was the manticore from his teenage years. To be fair, the manticore didn't break his all of his ribs though. With a shaky arm, Heaross managed to open a portal. "Twilight, I need you to go in there, and under the bed you and I stayed in, there's a box." The mare nodded her head, eyes flowing with tears. "Bring it to me, please." Twilight ran in, revealing the same place she had slept with Heaross on that wonderful first night. She found the bed easily, and thus the box. It was light, though something within it jangled a bit. Rushing back out, Twilight brought it to Heaross. He opened the box with a barely stable hand, revealing two items. One, a long vial, sloshing with a thick red liquid, not unlike his potions, though this one glowed a bit. The other, a small bell that glowed silver in the moonlight. "Twilight," Heaross rasped out, "Unbuckle my armor, and remove it slowly." Twilight did so, carefully pulling off the large blue plate, revealing a massive amount of blood and some bones poking through his chest. Heaross winced the entire time she removed his breastplate, and whistled upon seeing his mangled chest. "Wow, that hurts." Heaross fumbled with the cork on the vial for a moment before Twilight removed it for him. After giving a thoughtful look at it, he said , "I never thought that I would have to use this." Heaross drained the vial, swallowing it with a grimace. He took the bell and shook it for a moment before setting it back in the box. After mere moments of ingesting the liquid and ringing the bell, Twilight saw his chest writhing with movement, skin patching itself and bone reconnecting. It was a gruesome sight, watching his blood creep back in while tears in the skin fleshed together seamlessly. After the process had stopped entirely, Heaross gasped greatly, before taking the bell and shaking it much more vigorously than the first time. The ring echoed through the building, filling the alicorn's ears with its chime. After finishing with it, Heaross set the bell back in its case before closing it and setting it off to the side. He removed one of his gloves and patted his chest, feeling how smooth it was, completely scarless. The Guardian sat up a bit straighter, wincing at the movement. Twilight, after seeing the entire spectacle, finally broke down on the floor, sobbing. Heaross took her by both forelegs, and pulled her onto his now healed chest, where he hugged her tightly. Twilight continued to cry for several more minutes, even when Luna came into the shop, a bit worse for wear, and inspected the scene. The princess just took a seat at a nearby table and waited patiently. When Twilight had finally calmed down enough to speak in semi-coherent words, she managed to choke out, "I-I'm so sorry, He-Heaross! I j-just lost control, I don't even kn-know what came over me!" The Guardian held her tighter, humming. "Twilight," he started, his voice low and weak from the ordeal, "I'm fine. You don't have to worry, I'm here and I won't let go of you." "B-but I-" "No." Heaross cut her off. "None of that. This isn't your fault. You just did what came to you naturally." The night went on, and after Twilight was able to come to her senses without sobbing even louder, she quietly asked Heaross, "Do you hate me now?" "No, I don't." Was his response. "Why? I ruined your armor and almost killed you..." "Because, at times, we all revert to instincts." Heaross still hadn't let her go, just hugging her. "Though," he looked at Luna then, "We will be starting lessons for you." Luna nodded at him, though Twilight didn't see it. "Lessons?" Twilight questioned. "To learn to control and use that massive amount of magic you have. With all of it at your disposal, you could do much more than what you did to me." When Twilight winced in fear at what she did to him, Heaross said, "Don't be afraid of your power. Learn to control it. If you're frightened by it, just think of Celestia, or Luna, or even... Oh, what's his name, that famous unicorn who lived a thousand years ago?" "Star Swirl the Bearded?" Twilight offered. "Yeah, him. Imagine what Equestria would be like if they hadn't learned to control and use their magic." Heaross smiled down at Twilight then. "Imagine what you could do for Equestria." Twilight smiled at the thought. "Yeah." She said, sitting up a bit straighter. "Thank you, Heaross." Thank you so much. Heaross just smiled in that stupid, shit-eating grin Twilight had come to love. He pulled her into a kiss, holding it for a few seconds. Releasing it, Heaross whispered to her, "I love you." "I love you, too." Twilight returned. A tear made its way down her muzzle, only to be wiped away by Heaross.