//------------------------------//
// Rage 
// Story: Guardian 
// by Zodiacthehedgehog 
//------------------------------//

Guardian
Chapter 4: Rage

Silver awoke in a small room. In front of him was a gate with square holes emitting light. The floor was just sand in in the corner was a skeleton. Silver inched away from the skeleton. Outside he could hear murmuring. The back of his head hurt like a boulder had been smashed upon it. Silver coughed as he got up and tried to peer out of the gate. He could see what looked like an arena and all around it where seats filled with buffalo.
“Looks like our challenger is awake!” a voice shouted. It seemed to be magnified somehow. A second later, the gate slowly opened, creaking as it disappeared into the roof. Silver took a step back, but then walked forward, trying to breathe evenly as he exited. When he came out, the bright sun blinded him for a second. When the glare disappeared, everywhere he looked there were buffalo. For a second, he thought he was about to be in the fight of his life, but the hushed silence told him different. In the “front” of the arena, he could see a pony dressed in black robes. A horn stuck out from under his hood. Next to the pony was an old decrepit buffalo with a large crown looking headdress upon his head. Silver assumed that was the chief. Next to the chief, he saw a small female buffalo. She seemed sad and apathetic. “Announce yourself, challenger,” the pony in the black robes said. Again, it seemed his voice was magnified. Silver then saw that the pony’s horn was glowing slightly.
“I am Silver of the Guardian Guild,” Silver shouted. His voice seemed weak compared to the black robed pony, “and I would like it if you announced yourself too,”
“Hahaha,” the pony laughed, “since it might be the only chance you would ever hear it, I will humor your demand, though very rude. I am Nighthawke, Chief Thunderhoof’s assistant, isn’t that right, sir?” The Chief just gave a groan. He seemed weak, tired, and the quality of life had left him. The small female buffalo looked at Nighthawke angrily. Silver’s eyes descended to below Nighthawke. His eyes widened when he saw Onyx and the other Guardian in one cage, and Applejack, Twilight, and Rainbow Dash in the other.
“What have you done with my friends?!” Silver shouted at Nighthawke.
“What have I done with them? Nothing, my good stallion. I just made sure they didn’t miss the show,” Nighthawke said mockingly. He brought out a cane and tapped it against the bell to his right. The other gate opened. Nothing came out of it though. “Sorry, Silver, he is a little shy. He’s coming though,” Nighthawke apologized. After he said that, there was a roar from inside the gate. After a moment, out stepped something Silver didn’t guess he would ever see. It seemed like a buffalo, but it was a dark purple with black stripes along its back. After it got out of the gate, it seemed to grow until it was three times Silver’s size. Silver took a step back as the big hulking creature stepped towards him.
“Watch out, Silver! Nighthawke is a Shadowshaper!” Silver heard Onyx shout.
“A what now?!” Silver asked. Sapphire told him about a war between these Lightbringers and Shadowshapers. Was Nighthawke connected somehow.
“A Shadowshaper my dear stallion,” Nighthawke said, “when I found out you still lived, I just couldn’t pass up the chance to kill you myself,”
“When I still lived?! What are you talking about?!” Silver shouted back, conscious of the monster across the arena.
“Oh ho ho,” Nighthawke laughed, “Seems like the little Lightbringer has some amnesia. You don’t remember anything, do you General?”
“What?!” Silver was getting frustrated. He didn’t know what anypony was talking about.
“When I felt your presence in Equestria, I wanted to make sure you would end up somewhere Celestia wouldn’t meddle with my affairs. I then told your little rainbow maned friend you were a danger to Equestria and that she should bring you to me. That’s when I cause a little trouble out here to make sure you came. This morning, when Rainbow Dash came over to tell me you were right outside the camp, I told her to bring you into my wonderfully made trap. Of course I lied to her, gullible foal,” Nighthawke sneered. Rainbow Dash looked at the ground, sorrowfully. “Now it’s time to get rid of the pest that stands between me and ruling Equestria,” he turned to the giant buffalo in the arena, “Excuse me, Clyde, can you kill that pony over there, if you could be a geantlecolt.” The monster snorted and roared again. Silver was nearly thrown back from just the sound. He used his wings to balance himself. The monster started to charge.
“What do I do?” Silver asked himself as he slowly backed up. His tail between his legs and his ears flat on his head.
“Like you used to, fight,” He heard Sapphire say. There was a blue flash and suddenly, a memory flooded his mind. It was a couple of attack and defence spells. He remembered learning them at a school of magic. The buffalo, the one Nighthawke called Clyde, charged Silver. Silver nimbly jumped to the side and fired a golden beam of magic. It struck the large monster in the side. It roared angrily and tore off a piece of the arena wall. It tossed it at Silver. He rolled out of the way just in time. He fired another beam and hit the monster right between the eyes it roared again and charged. Silver couldn’t get out of the way in time and was headbutted across the arena. He hit the far wall and fell to the ground. He shakily got up and saw it charging again. This time, he did a spell that caused a golden shield to appear in front of him. When the buffalo hit it, it held the monster back. The buffalo hit it several times until it shattered like glass. The buffalo in the stands cheered. Silver’s concentration was broken so he was dazed for a second. He was picked up by his tail and thrown into the stands. 
“Get off me!” He heard a buffalo cry and then Silver was thrown back into the arena. Silver rolled onto his back. Above him, he saw the giant skull of a creature of some kind. It was triangle shaped and it had two horns coming off of it.
“Time to use my wings,” Silver said to himself. The monster charged him again, but this time Silver was ready. He rolled onto his hooves, leaped into the air, and ran along the beast’s back. Then Silver jumped into the air and started to flap his wings furiously. Soon, eh started to rise towards the skull.
“Hey, that’s cheating,” he heard Nighthawke say calmly. Several dark purple bolts of magic were shot at Silver. Some spears were also hurdled into the air, but Silver was just out of range even for the best throwers. Silver landed on top of the skull and looked for the ropes holding it up. Sure enough, he found them on the sides of the top of the skull. He used his magic to cut through one. It snapped instantly and the skull shook and fell a little bit. He cut another, than another. The last one was barely holding the skull up.
“This is going to hurt so, so bad...” Silver muttered. He took a deep breath and cut the last one. It snapped and the whole thing came crashing down. Fortunately, the giant buffalo was under it the whole time, trying to jump and get Silver. Before the skull hit the ground, he heard cries from the buffalo and Nighthawke shouting orders. When the skull hit the ground, dust erupted into the air and clouded the whole arena. When it cleared, the buffalo peeked out from their cover to see the remains of the skull. For a second, the giant buffalo lay twitching under it, then it burst into purple and black smoke. On the side where Nighthawke was, Silver lay under some of the debris.
“Get that little trouble maker and bring him to my hall, err, Chief Thunderhoof’s hall,” Nighthawke ordered. Four buffalo went warily to Silver, but the caution wasn’t necessary. Silver had gone unconscious as soon as the first of the debris landed on him.

Silver was floating in a dark void. He flipped through the “air” not knowing what to do. There was a blue flash, then Sapphire was floating beside him.
“Good afternoon,” Sapphire said.
“Where am I?” Silver asked as he looked around.
“In what your sub-conscious constructed to make it look like your sub-conscious,” Sapphire explained. Silver found no words no express his confusion.
“Anyway... What was that pony... Nighthawke, what was Nighthawke talking about me being a Lightbringer and a General all about,” Silver asked.
“You will learn soon enough,” Sapphire said.
“Why not now?” Silver asked.
“Because some things are better learned later than sooner. You have to learn how to walk before you run. If I told you everything now, history would most likely repeat itself and we would soon be in the same problem,” Sapphire said sternly.
“Well then... What now?” Silver asked.
“I think it’s about time for you to wake up,” Sapphire said.
“Wait... about what you said in my dream... about you loving me?” Silver asked.
“In due time,” Sapphire said. She smiled and waved. Silver groaned and waited to wake up.

Silver was being dragged by his tail across the sand. He opened his eyes and started to struggled out of the grip of his captor.
“Look who’s awake,” the buffalo said as they dropped him. Silver stood up and pushed them out of his way. He stepped into the tepee they had stopped at. Inside was furnished with a nice carpet, a bed, and two chairs. Upon the chairs sat Nighthawke and Chief Thunderhoof. Next to the chief was the same female buffalo. The chief seemed decrepit as always. Nighthawke had a smug look about him. The little buffalo seemed to be sulky. 
After a moment, Nighthawke cleared his throat, “You managed to defeat Clyde and destroy the arena’s most prized trophy. The skull of a chaos dragon,”
“Chaos dragon?” Silver asked.
“Yes, a chaos dragon is part demon and part dragon. No need to delve into specifics right now,” Nighthawke waved his hoof. Soon, Onyx and Twilight were pushed into the tepee. Onyx stepped up in front of Silver as Twilight stood beside him.
“Nighthawke. It seems you have taken hold of the proud Chief Thunderhoof. How’d you do it? Or was it your master?” Onyx asked. Nighthawke slowly stood up out of his chair.
“How dare you, traitor. I should have you killed and be done with you,” Nighthawke said quietly. Silver’s muscles tensed up. He knew something was about to happen and Onyx would need his help. Onyx’s horn started to glow. He turned to the chief and suddenly, the chief started to laugh a maniacal laugh.
“This one is mine,” the Chief said. His voice was strangely distorted and the sound sent chills up Silver’s spine. “He will die before I release him, and you shall go with him,”
“You will not kill me, and you will not kill Chief Thunderhoof,” Onyx commanded. Suddenly, a purple and black beam shot out of his horn and slammed the chief back into his chair. Nighthawke leaped at Onyx, but Silver was there to intercept him. They rolled on the ground and tore a hole in the side of the tepee. The sprawled out on the ground outside. Nighthawke jumped to his hooves and shot several lances of magic at Silver. Silver rolled out of the way and shot a beam. It knocked Nighthawke back several feet. He put a hoof on Nighthawke’s chest.
“You aren’t going anywhere,” Silver said. Nighthawke glared at him. Silver smiled triumphantly back. Nighthawke started to laugh crazily. Silver’s grin faded into a look of suspicion. “What are you u-” Silver was interrupted by a beam of magic Nighthawke shot at him. Silver flew back onto the ground. Nighthawke jumped up and ran out of the camp, leaving a trail of dust behind him.
“Silver! You ok?” Twilight asked as she ran to him. Silver groaned as he got up.
“That was a cheap shot,” Silver said angrily.
“Well, your friend, Onyx, broke Chief Thunderhoof free from some spell. Already the Chief is turning back to normal,” Twilight explained.
“That’s good. Now about that altar...” Silver trailed off as he spotted it just a few feet away. He went over to it and examined it. On it were faded markings that Silver couldn’t make out. He saw the red crystal floating right over it.
“Uh... Silver?” Twilight asked nervously.
“What’s up?” Silver asked. He looked around to see the buffalo slowly surrounding them. Silver’s eyes widened. He looked around frantically for something, anything, that would calm these buffalo. He spotted the crystal and spied waves of red firing off of it. He shrugged. He had nothing to lose by doing this. He stood back and charged up a beam. Twilight had been backing up and now she was against the altar. The buffalo drew in close. Silver unleashed the charged beam right at the crystal. Suddenly, there was a sound of an unnatural screech that filled the air, then the crystal shuddered and exploded. Silver covered his face and Twilight covered hers. They were swept off their hooves and thrown back.
When Silver came to, buffalo stood over him looking at him quizzically.
“Need some help there?” One of them asked. When Silver didn’t answer them, the helped him up and walked him over to the tepee. When Silver stepped inside, he was greeted by the Chief himself. This time, though, his fur was a dark brown and he was no longer sick or bent over. The female buffalo seemed happier to and she sat proudly in the chair next to Chief Thunderhoof.
“Ah, Silver. My people told me of what happened and I am sorry. While I was under that... spell. I didn’t recall much. When I heard what you did in the arena, I was surprised. And for also destroying that blasted altar, you have my thanks. You too, Onyx,” he said turning to Onyx who had been standing off to the side, “You freed me of the spell and gave me back my youth. I have a great debt to you two that I might never be able to repay,” The Chief bowed low. Silver and Onyx both bowed back.
“Now,” the Chief said, “I think the rest of your friends are back in Appleloosa. We also freed the Appleloosians that Nighthawke had captured and they were sent back to their town. Now I must tend to business that cannot be delayed, thank you once again,”
“Anytime, Chief Thunderhoof,” Silver said. He and Onyx were shown out of the tepee and soon found themselves in Appleloosa. When they got to the train station, they found the tracks had already been cleared of the wreck and another train was waiting to take them back home. When they got on, it seemed the trains didn’t differ much. Everything was the same, except for the red coloring instead of the green. 
“Hey, um, Silver,” Somepony said. Silver turned around to see Rainbow Dash standing behind him. Onyx nodded and kept moving back as Silver walked over to Rainbow Dash.
“Hey, Dash,” Silver said.
“I’m sorry... for everything. Nighthawke lied to me and somehow I believed him. Even when i saw you do things that contradicted every thing he said, I was still willing to believe him. When I learned that he had lied to me, I couldn’t forgive myself. I... I hope you can,” Rainbow Dash looked at the ground. She seemed miserable and sincere. The usual proud pony at her lowest. Silver was tempted to go off on her for getting him attacked, but then, something came over him. He felt lightheaded for a moment, then a cool understanding took place over the rage. “Silver?” Rainbow Dash asked as he swayed a bit.
“I’m ok,” Silver said. He smiled, “There is nothing to forgive. If I thought my town, friends, anything I held dear was in danger, I would do anything to prevent anything bad from happening. But I’m in need of a favor when we get home,” Silver said.
“What do you need?” Dash asked.
“I heard you were the fastest and best flyer in all of Equestria. I was hoping for some lessons. It seems my skill in flying is lacking and I need a pro to help me better it,” Silver said with a grin. Rainbow Dash’s expression changed as fast as lightning from sad to boastful.
“I guess I am the best flyer in Equestria,” She said proudly, “I’ll consider it...” she trailed off as Silver arched an eyebrow, “I mean, consider it done. I’m available anytime I’m not on weather duty,” she finished as she quickly walked to the back of the train. Silver chuckled and shook his head.
“Thanks, Sapphire. I might have said something I would have regretted,” Silver said to himself. 

During the train ride home, Silver and Onyx discussed what had just happened.
“...the Chief told me the altar just appeared out of no where late at night. They started messing with it, and of course, activated it and made the whole tribe hostile. These altars have a weird effect on creatures. I’m surprise it didn’t effect you at all,” Onyx finished. Silver wondered why, then he remembered the desire of shouting at Rainbow Dash after she apologized to him. He wasn’t one to let loose his temper. He shrugged.
“I guess, so now Dash is no longer hostile towards me which is a good thing,” Silver said, “This is probably the start of a glorious friendship,”
“Most likely,” Onyx said. He rolled over in his bunk and went to bed. Silver turned off the light and rolled over in his bed. Night seemed to soothe him. He wished he was nocturnal. Weariness soon came over him and he closed his eyes to sleep.

Silver stood on a giant cliff over looking a dark blue ocean. The sky was grey and the rock was charred. Silver turned around to behold a weird sight. An alicorn that looked just like him stood off to the left. The pony had barred teeth and anger in his eyes. His fur and mane were a dark red.
“I’ll get them. I’ll get them soon. I don’t know who ‘they’ are but I’ll get them for what they did,” the pony muttered. Silver stared at him until the pony noticed his presence. “So, you’re finally here,” the pony said. He then laughed at Silver’s confused expression, “You still don’t get it yet?! I’m you and you’re me. I’m the anger the resides inside of you and every day I’m tormented by all of your bottled up hate and anger and rage! Let it out, it will make you feel better. We can bring justice and peace with the raw power of rage!”
“I highly doubt it,” Silver said as he slowly started backing up. He noticed five other shadows around the rage infested copy of him.
“Those guys will come along soon. After each and every altar,” the pony, which Silver dubbed as Rage, said. Rage then went back muttering hateful things to himself as he looked around. 
“What is going on here?” Silver asked himself.

Silver woke up in the morning. Cold sweat poured down his back. The train had just arrived back in Ponyville and almost everypony was off. Silver jumped out of his bunk and ran outside to see Onyx talking with Dark. When Silver came up, Dark snorted and left. 
“He seems in a good mood,” Silver said to Onyx, “Anyway, why didn’t anypony wake me up?”
“You didn’t want to be,” Onyx said, “When we got close to Ponyville, I tried waking you up, but you groaned and hit me in the nose,”
“Sorry about that,” Silver said. Just then, Marshall walked over to them. He seemed deeply disturbed in some way.
“Is it done?” Marshall asked.
“Yea... but there are five more, aren’t there?” Silver asked.
“Yes, we just needed to figure out how to destroy the one before the others to see how to do it,” Marshall said.
“But won’t the other one’s be different or harder to get close to?” Silver asked.
“We don’t know that yet, I’m sending special teams to each one to find out,” Marshall said.
“No, I mean, why can’t Onyx and I do it?” Silver asked. He was surprised he was even saying this, “we have the most experience with these things and having both a Lightbringer and a Shadowshaper working on it will go faster than teams of Guardians,”
“What are you talking about, Silver?” Marshall asked.
“We have some things to discuss,” Onyx said.

After Silver and Onyx told Marshall of their adventure, he went to the map of Equestria and stared intently at it. Silver thought he detected a hint of what? Sorrow? The moment passed and Marshall came back to the table.
“Why didn’t you tell us you were a...”
“Lightbringer? Well gee if I knew I would have told you. But I didn’t much less of who or what one is,” Silver said. He was getting frustrated from his lack of memory. He was also getting frustrated with Sapphire who refused to tell him anything.
“Don’t get short with me. You got your wish, you and Onyx will go to each altar and destroy the crystal powering them. Since it didn’t seem to effect you, you will get close and destroy the crystals, Silver.” Marshall ordered.
“Can we at least have a few days to rest, sir?” Onyx asked, “I would like to be in Ponyville for a few days before we have to leave again,”
“Sure, five days from now you will set out to...” Marshall looked at the map Silver had stolen, “Manehatten. There the altar should be in one of the hotels called ‘The Lotus Flower’,”
“Got it, see you in a few days,” Onyx said getting up. Silver got up and left with Onyx. When they left, Marshall sighed and went through one of the many doors in the HQ. Bluemane was sitting with her back to the door, looking out of the window to the forest beyond. She wrote something down.
“You got that?” Marshall asked.
“Yes, and what I think you’re doing to him is wrong,” Bluemane said with a hint of anger.
“What I’m doing to him is what his ancestor did to bring peace to Equestria for centuries. He is the last of his line and if we don’t do this right we shouldn’t even be doing it at all,” Marshall said sternly as he opened the window to let in the cool breeze.
“We might be pushing him a bit too hard. It took Silverwing the Lightbringer decades to master the gems of Destruction to use their rightful power, contradictory to their name. You want Silver to master them in months. We might break him and kill him, or worse. Where will we be then?” Bluemane asked as she got up from the chair.
“Where will we be if he doesn’t master them in time? Nafarious will do what the gems didn’t if Silver didn’t master them. Nafarious is what makes me want to rush this,” Marshall explained quietly.
“Nafarious can be defeated by Silver even if he doesn’t use the gems’ power. Nafarious will not rule this world as long as a Lightbringer yet lives,” Bluemane reassured.
“I’m afraid that She would try to fix that,” Marshall said sadly.
“Don’t worry, we will look after him. He is family after all,” Bluemane said.