The Guardian

by InsaneBatPony


Reflections

Celestia wandered through the forest. Its large trees covering the mountain top. She stopped at her self-made hovel and undid the bandages from her side. The wounds from her latest encounter had nearly healed but it left scars on her body and her mind. When she thought back to that time her heart did not sink nor did she feel sadness, only disappointment. Her mind constantly went back to the days when Luna entered the family and she finally had a sister by her side, only back then, both she and Luna were ignorant of the conditions of Luna’s birth. She was only happy to have had a sibling. Growing up Celestia and Luna were quite different. Luna excelled in combative magic while she excelled in defensive. An interesting occurrence that only deepened Celestia’s belief that they were indeed related and were two sides of the same coin, as a family friend once put it. Though, curiously, Luna was born with her cutie mark while Celestia had discovered hers one day while playing with her mother in the gardens in the afternoon.

Celestia panted lightly as the quick burst of needle like pain crawled through her body. She finished fastening the bandages and sat in the sun. The warmth felt good on her skin, though the sun was somewhat intense today. As it had been for some time. Though effectively ousted from power she continued to raise and lower the sun each day more from force of habit than concern for the ponies she once ruled. Equestria had an artificial system to help raise and lower the sun and moon should a crisis come. However, the magic power required to do so was immense. Celestia helped relieve that requirement, though only a little. Just enough to keep things stable, but not enough to give off a visible magic trail. She looked around with a neutral smile and caught her reflection in a small puddle to her side.

Her face was littered with small scars and scratches. The majority of the damage had healed, but she was left with a rather sizeable reminder of what had occurred. Her left eye was nearly blind. Her once vibrant iris had faded into a pale pink. She sighed heavily and leaned back against the wall of her forest hovel.

“I will have to face him again. And Luna.”

She thought back to her fight with Volos and Luna. Volos’ strength was as she remembered and his immense physical strength outclassed hers in many ways, but he had no magic capabilities. Luna had strength in magic but her physical strength was lacking when compared to hers. All of her strategies and planning had all ended in abject failure. With what limited help she had received from her unknown allies that communicated through the obelisk in the castle basement had not been enough to topple Volos. She did not know why Luna and Volos were attracted to each other. They became close very quickly and Luna had in some recognized him as her father figure in some ways.

Celestia’s thoughts quickly turned to her father. The Alicorn of chaos. He was harsh and demanding and showed very little in the ways of affection, even to their mother. Celestia remembered him as very stern, yet he was never cruel to her, just tough. He would even tell her when she did something good or when he felt proud of her. Rare as it was. His magic training was rigorous and highly challenging as he taught her the basics but had her move to highly complex spells very quickly. She excelled under his stern tutelage and when she had completely mastered magic he actually smiled and said he was proud. Celestia grinned slightly at the memory of her stern stone-faced father actually expressing happiness. Her grin faded when she recalled her parents discussing Luna one night when she was little more than a teenager.

Her parents were in their room and Luna had been part of the family for only seven years at this time. Celestia was around fifteen years old and Luna had only just turned eight. Luna was out playing in the surrounding woods as she often did just after the lunch hour. Celestia, holding to her routine, was practicing her advanced spells in the arcaneum library. Celestia had taken a break to get a drink of water when she past by her parent’s room and through the door heard her father yelling. This was nothing new as he was usually yelling about something, primarily to their mother, but this time something was different. Their mother, the Alicorn of Order, was arguing back and was matching his volume. Normally, this would never happen. Their mother would simply nod and then rebut as necessary often times overruling him. Though she was disagreeing with her husband, she was screaming in defense of Luna.

“She is a part of this family! I will not reject her!”

“Luna must go! She is not a normal alicorn!”

“Who else would raise her?”

“You mean raise IT!”

“I mean raise her! Luna is a part of this family! End of Discussion!”

Celestia avoided discovery by hiding behind a corner when her mother stormed out of the room. She did not understand why her father referred to her sister as an “it”, but she saw her father begin to treat Luna differently.

Luna was constantly pushed by her father and he was even abusive in some instances. Luna collapsed one day during magic training and her father lifted by the mane and forced her to continue training. Eventually, Luna fell into unconsciousness and she was left there by her father. From then on, their relationship was never the same. Luna had to be defended by their mother in many instances as his behavior toward Luna had become increasingly cruel and he became emotionally distant from Luna to the point of never even saying her name, instead calling her “it” and “other.” Overtime, Celestia came to blame their father for Luna’s turning into Nightmare Moon due to the resentment she felt toward him and his favorable treatment of Celestia.

Celestia was brought out of her remembrance and thought to recent events once more. It all made sense as to why their father was so cruel to Luna all those years ago. He knew she was not a natural born alicorn. Their mother was aware too.

“Why would you keep this from me, Mother, Father?”

Somewhere along the way Celestia had begun to resent Luna for her not being an Alicorn. Somewhere deep in her heart she knew Luna was different, but she did not realize just how different they were. Luna appeared be an alien lifeform similar to Volos.

“What are Luna and Volos? I need answers.”

Celestia stood up again and looked to the now waning sun.

“By the sun, I will get to the bottom of this and end Volos’ meddling.”

2

Volos stood at Luna’s bedside once more. He had done the same for the past several weeks. Luna’s recovery was slow, but she was making progress. More and more, though, her equine exterior was being removed and she began to look more and more as he did before he received his upgrades from Athena. Underneath the fur, Luna was a mishmash of wires, actuators, steel, and motors. Volos looked at her. He felt sadness at her sorry state, but he did not blame Celestia for this. He blamed himself and himself only. When he met Luna he felt the need to protect her, but he did not know why. Even so, he was determined to keep Luna safe until she could not only protect herself, but also until he understood why he felt so strongly about keeping her safe.

“Still at this big guy?”

Volos looked behind him.

“Dark Heart.”

“She’s recovering…Slow as it is,” Dark Heart said quietly.

Volos nodded silently.

“I know it’s hard. I’m supposed to be her Captain of the Guard.”

“You still believe her to be a Princess of Equestria?” Volos asked. “Even with what you see before you?”

Dark Heart looked at Luna’s body. Dark Heart winced internally at the sight of Luna’s now further exposed mechanical form. She was silent for a time and simply stared at the floor after becoming fixated on Luna longer than she should have been.

“She’s been a Princess for as long as I have been alive and before.” She finally spoke. “So, I will consider her a Princess of Equestria until she says otherwise.”

Volos nodded once more.

“The Night court will begin soon. We need to be going,” Dark Heart whispered. “You’re the new Regent of Equestria. Strange at is.”

“It’s been a few months.”

“Even so, I don’t think I’ll ever get used to it.”

Volos looked at Luna’s unconscious body once more and grabbed her metal hoof lightly. He gave it a quick squeeze and put it back to Luna’s side. He breathed in sharply and lumbered away from the bed and out of the room.

Dark Heart wanted to follow him immediately but she remained. She looked at Luna’s mechanical form. Burns and charred spots on her fur met with metal. She still had a hole in her chest from where Celestia had attacked her. All in all, Luna’s body had been devastated. Dark Heart slammed a hoof to her chest and repeated the oath of Luna’s Guard.

“I Dark Heart, now and forever, pledge my loyalty and service to her majesty Princess Luna of the Night.”

She then followed Volos.