//------------------------------//
// 5. Guardian 
// Story: Guardians of the Elements of Harmony 
// by mcb893 
//------------------------------//

Morning...

Moore calmly walked beside the two strange ponies, gun in hand. He looked down at the unicorn who was still talking quietly to the other. Despite being curious as to what these mythical creatures could be talking about, he managed to prevent himself from eavesdropping on their conversation. He checked his watch again, only to see that it was still ferociously blinking numbers like it was the day before. He sighed. The ponies had better know where they were going.

"Excuse me, Staff Sergeant?" Twilight called. He turned his head and looked at the small unicorn. "Yes?" "Why did humans start killing one another? I mean, it's just such a cruel act, not even the most evil ponies did such a thing here." She asked. Moore frowned. This was terrible. Why did these ponies care so much? It was his species that did it, not theirs. "What do you care? If you hate it why ask?" He shot back with a harsh tone. Twilight withdrew, but still used her eyes to plead for an answer. He turned away and ignored her. "The less you know about killing and war the better. It's..." The unicorn stepped closer. "It's what?" She asked with a kind tone. He looked into her eyes.

The deep colors of purple stared into his soul, as though she could tell it hurt him to think about the scenes that he had observed. "It... It's horrible... You get so many hard feelings from it... The pictures are enough to wannna make you vomit..." He said as he shook his head. The orange one, Applejack, walked up to him. "If y'all hate it so much, why do you keep doin' it?" She asked. Moore looked at the mare with sadness in his eyes, wishing that they didn't care so much.

"Because we have to. There are bad men in our world, who get pleasure out of seeing people suffer. They fight to please their dark interests, and just kill. We fight to stop them, and save those that would die if we hadn't. But even killing them makes you feel bad." He explained. "Why?" The earth pony asked. "Because even bad people fall in love and get married. You don't know if they had a wife who was hoping they would come back, a son who he had promised to spend time with when he got back... Some don't even want to fight, they're just forced to so they can save their families from being killed. The only thing that makes it easier is knowing that you're fighting for a good cause. But even that fails to calm you sometimes."

Twilight looked at the man with sad eyes. Moore just continued to walk. "Come on. I gotta get you home." He said. Trying to ignore his anger and frustration. Twilight walked along side him. "So you know which way to go?" He asked. The unicorn nodded. "Now that I can use my magic to retrace our steps, getting to Ponyville in a snap." She said with a smile. Moore raised an eyebrow. "A bunch of unicorns, ponies, and pegasai... live in a town called Ponyville?" He asked with confusion. Twilight nodded. "Of course they do." Moore said as he rolled his eyes. Twilight chuckled.

Suddenly, there was a growling from behind the trees. Moore threw his hand down into a halting position. "Wait a second..." He said. The growl turned into a gurgle, followed by a quiet screeching. Twilight backed away, frightened by the noise. AJ came up to her side just as frightened as she was. More of these noises sounded, as if there was more than one source. Moore aimed his rifle in the direction of one of the sounds. "If there's anything you could tell me about this... It would really help out." He said as he turned from noise to noise. Twilight looked up to the soldier with fearful eyes. "It's what we call Chaos Bringers..." She said nervously. "Ok, that doesn't help me." The Staff Sergeant said as he continued to hunt for the source.

"They arrived in Equestria about two weeks ago. We don't know why, but they kill innocent ponies and always attack in a horde. They're fast, have razor sharp claws, and seem to made completely out of darkness. What's worse whenever they show up, a bunch of chaotic stuff starts to happen. Fires, disappearances, collapsing buildings, that sort of thing. Several cities have fallen to them, the few ones that remain are protected by the Royal Guards." Twilight explained as she turned side to side searching for the assailants. "Do regular weapons work on them?" Moore asked. "Yeah, they vanish into a puff of black smoke when they die." The frightened unicorn said. "They seem to always know where ponies are... I'm scared..." She said as tears began to form in her eyes. Moore rotated his head so he could look down at her, still aiming his rifle at the trees. "Don't worry, I told you, I'm making sure you get home safely. I protect the innocent from these kinds of monsters remember?" Twilight nodded and stood behind him.

A black creature leaped from the branches of the trees, shrieking like a banshee. Moore place three rounds into it's chest and watched as it fell to the gorund. More charged out running on arms and legs, roaring in a high pitched whine. He fires and eliminates two more creatures as a third leaps onto him he manages to keep the claws away from him and stabs the creature with his knife. "Get out of here! Run!" He shouts as he dives on another creature and stabs it. Twilight and Applejack panic and run. Moore pulls out his berretta and fires two rounds into another creature. Leaping up, he slashes another creature coming at him and chases after the ponies.

Twilight ran as several of the creatures chased her. panting she tries to use magic to slow them down, but they climb up in the trees and avoid her. She hears loud noises and turns around. John is firing his "M4A1" and the creatures drop. She hears a clicking noise and watches as he checks his clip. He looks up and looks at her like she's an idiot. "What are you doing? Don't stop! Keep moving!" He shouts as a Chaos Bringer leaps onto his back. He flips it onto the ground and brings out his "pistol" and shoots it in it's head. Twilight again tries to run, but trips. AJ quickly picks her up and gets her back on her hooves. "Hurry Twi!" She shouts. Moore turns and gets piled on by six Chaos Bringers, shouting for them to move. Twilight hesitates, but listens to his orders.

The frightened unicorn ran as fast as she could, only to be stopped by another horde of Chaos Bringers. Next to her, and explosion rings out, disorienting her. The creatures tackle her to the ground, knocking her breath out of her. "No you don't you monsters!" She hears Applejack shout as she bucks the creatures off of her. She helps her up to her hooves, and Twilight quickly casts a spell to launch the creatures into the air. Applejack checks on her friend and steadies her. "You alright?" She asks with concern. Twilight nods and the two friends take off, or at least try to.

In no time at all, the Chaos Bringers are once again upon them. Applejack tries to lead the creatures away from Twilight so she can escape, but they don't take the bait. A majority are still after her. "Applejack it didn't work! Help me!" She shouts. Sweating out a waterfall from her glands she runs deep into the forest. "Hold on! I'm coming!" She hears he friend shouts. More creatures surround Twilight, and she uses a spell launches them into the air. With haste, she turns and runs, only to be pounced on by another creature. The creature hisses and slowly raises it's claw into the air. "Twilight!" She hears her friend shout. She's too far away, Applejack won't be able to save her. Twilight closes her eyes and waits for the end...

Suddenly, she felt the creature raised off of her, and opens her eyes. "You leave her alone you demon!" John shouts as he wrestles it to the gorund. It slashes his right arm and he groans in pain. Recuperating, he takes the creature and slams his head into a tree. In an instant, he's surrounded, and is attacked by twelve beasts."John!" Twilight shouts. summoning her courage uses a spell to send the creatures into the air. "Twilight!" Applejack shouts as she embraces her friend. Twilight returns it and looks around, the creatures are gone.

She sighs in relief, until she sees John. His arm is bloodied, and has several slashing wounds. He's panting like he cant breathe, and is steadily getting worse. Despite all this, his first thought is them. "Are... Are... You Two... Okay?" He asks out of breath. he rushes over to him and checks his arm. "Ok hold on, I can fix this." She said. She closes her eyes as her horn begins to glow a white glow.

Moore feels a cooling sensation, and looks down to his arm. Instantly, he gasps. His arm has been healed. No sign of the wounds. He stares at the unicorn, who is smiling happily, breathing heavily. "How... How did you do that?" He asks. She stands and checks his arm one last time. "Magic, I can heal ponies as long as it's not to severe." He smiles back and rubs the top of her head. "Thanks. I guess you are better than humans in some ways." He says. Twilight chuckles. "Don't understate yerself now here, you must have killed nearly all of them! We owe you our lives mister." Applejack said with a smile. Moore chuckles as he stands. "Com on. Let's get you home." He says as he rubs Twilight's mane again. She chuckles again. She smiles. "Thank you for saving me." She says. He smiles back. "You're welcome."