//------------------------------// // Chapter 1 - Return // Story: Guardian // by Xrevias //------------------------------// It was a normal day in the city of Canterlot. High-strung ponies walking about with their heads held high, tourists who want to see what the capital of Equestria has to offer. And of course, a pair of Royal Guards standing in front of the castle’s throne room doors. The hall was quite empty at the time. Orchids hung up on the sides of the tall pillars, clear glass windows making way for the sun’s light and an excellent view. The chandeliers provided an extra amount of light for the guards as they stood still… waiting for something to happen. Unfortunately for them, something did happen. A unicorn wearing broken and cracked black armor walked into the hall, looking severely tired. Their armor seemed to have had yellow accents, but they were all but feint. Its helmet had a missing chunk that would normally cover the pony’s muzzle, and one eye was almost completely revealed. They stomped their hooves much harder than a pony would while walking towards them. The guards pointed their spears at the unicorn, signaling them to halt. “Stop, by the name of the princess!” one of them shouted. The unicorn groaned excessively loudly. “Of all the times that they had to replace ‘Tia’s throne room guards, it had to be today,” he muttered with a hoof rubbing his temple. The unicorn walked closer, and the two guards tensed slightly as they saw a gold glow emanate through the eyes of his helmet. “Okay, listen here, greenies.” The two guards faltered slightly in their stance. “I have absolutely zero patience left to entertain your usual ‘what’s your business here’ charade.”  The black-armored stallion stepped closer. “So I suggest moving out of the way, or I’ll get Shining Armor himself to smite you.” The two guards were now backed onto the front door. Both of them trembled with fear and the spears they had wielded proudly were dropped onto the ground. Suddenly, a white-coated unicorn stallion with a blue mane ran into the hall. When he saw what had caused a small but sudden surge of magic, he wore a look of surprise. “Golden Dusk, you’re back?!” he bellowed. He then took a look at what was happening in front of him. “If you would be so kind as to not terrify your comrades?” he deadpanned. The black armored pony turned around to face the new voice. A small, yet dangerous, smile could be seen coming from a hole his helmet. “Ah, Captain Shining Armor… or is it Prince now? Yes, I am back. Though, If you would be so kind as to tell these two to let me in to see the princess before I make them… it would be much appreciated.” Golden Dusk raised his left foreleg and flashed a silver and gold band on it. What then happened next was something the two guards didn’t expect. Their Captain… shuddered. Their usual, proud, and confident captain, showed a sign of fear! “Alright, alright, and by the way, either title is fine.” Shining Armor sighed. “You two!” he barked at the pair of guards. “Sir!” They stood at attnetion. “Permit our Specialist over here to enter,” he stated. The guards’ eyes widened before they nodded slowly. They pushed open the doors without second-guessing, the Specialist walked in indignantly, and the doors closed. “P-permission to speak freely, sir?” one of the guards asked. Facing them, he replied, “Granted.” “W-was that pony… really a Specialist?” they stuttered. Shining Armor sighed. “Yes, yes, he was.” He looked back at them. “And he is the Hunter.” The two guards felt feints. The Hunter?! A member of the Guardians and one of the most deadly Specialists?! By Celestia… if they hadn’t let them in… He would have made good on his threats. “Yeah… usually he’s much more amicable,” Shining said. “He rarely gets this mad either. I swear, he has so many buttons for you to press, but if you find the right ones…” A chill crawled up his spine as he imagined the implications of angering Golden Dusk. “As you were,” he said to the guards. The two stood there… silently praying for their life to be spared. Inside the throne room, Golden Dusk walked in, and his irritation increased tenfold when he saw Prince Blueblood inside the throne room. Princess Celestia seemed surprised at his appearance, while the ‘prince’ just scoffed. “I see that one of your guards must’ve failed terribly on their mission, Aunt Celestia,” he said to the princess. Golden Dusk’s eye twitched again. He opened his mouth to retort but was beaten by Princess Celestia. “Blueblood, if you would be so kind as to put our discussion on hold… I believe I have much to discuss with my guard,” she said. Blueblood was about to refuse but was stopped by the glare Celestia gave him. He got up from his haunches and left the room indignantly. The two guards standing outside prayed for the safety of the prince. Celestia’s glare dropped and was replaced with a sweet smile. “Specialist Golden Dusk… we had thought that we’d lost you.” She stepped down from her throne to sit in front of him. Dusk sat down, and his mood got slightly better. “Yeah… well when you have to track down a case of ponynappings that led to Klugetown,that tends to happen,” he snarked. The princess’ eyes widened. “You… had to go beyond the badlands?” she asked in a hush whisper. Dusk sighed and pulled off a piece of his now loose armor. “Klugetowners have been kidnapping ponies to sell,” he explained. “I had to gather up as many ponies as possible, and find a way to get them all out of there.” “I see,” Celestia smiled darkly, “so Klugetown has been taking advantage of my little ponies?” “Yes, princess.” She sighed. “Very well, a matter for a different time I suppose.” She looked back at Golden Dusk. “So, how did you handle the situation?” “Well when I first saw the ponies I made a safe house,” he said. “I broke out a few of them and made them stay there. Brought them food, and water to drink.” He pulled off his chest piece, revealing... a black hoodie. “Anyway, I repeated the cycle until I got all the ponies out. It was made harder since some of them snuffed out the safe house I made, so we migrated from one safe house to another.” Celestia nodded. “How about your escape?” “Well if you look out to the front gates, there should be an airship filled with over a dozen ponies.” She took a peek outside, and there was an airship parked with ponies inside. “I swear, two months of hiding and running…” Dusk muttered. “It would‘ve been so easy to just blow the town right off the map… don’t think my conscience is ready for that though.” He then pulled off his broken helmet and revealed a stallion’s face… that looked more like a mare’s. A pair of yellow eyes that shined like gold was one of his most defining features. His white mane and light grey coat were mostly dirty as he finally took in a breath of fresh, Equestrian air. “A question, dear Golden Dusk,” Celestia started, “would you be the cause of a small surge of magic from outside my throne room?” “Ah… yeah, that was me,” he said sheepishly. “I wasn’t in the best of moods. I’m much more… irritable when I’m tired.” “Very well, I was just making sure,” she nodded. “You should report to your team, they have been very worried about you… as was I.” Celestia hugged him with one of her legs. That was all she needed to embrace a regular-sized pony anyway. Dusk leaned into the hug. “Yeah, I will.” Celestia let go of him and smiled. He put on his chest piece and helmet once more as he left the room and waved goodbye to the princess. To his dismay, Prince Blueblood was standing right outside the door. “It took you long enough,” he scoffed. “Lowly servants should not be allowed anywhere near my dear aunt.” One of Golden Dusk’s eyes twitched. The two Royal Guards he had threatened earlier were now hiding behind one of the support pillars. He emitted magic strong enough to make the three ponies near him fall back onto their haunches. Prince Blueblood tried speaking, but it felt like he was being gagged as barely any air went through his throat. Dusk turned around and flashed him a dangerous grin.  “I take issue with everything you just said.” He stalked closer. “Don’t you remember me?” He leaned extremely close to his muzzle. Prince Blueblood leaned backward as he saw his eyes… they looked just like a batpony’s now! Though he could only see half of his muzzle, one of his fangs was showing. “H-hah!” he snorted. “So, the freak actually made it into the guard!” he managed to get out. “Serves you right, you might as well die like your—” Prince Blueblood was cut off by an extremely hard stomp to the ground. The floor shook slightly as a newly formed crack appeared. In the center was Dusk’s hoof, inches away from his hind leg.  Shining Armor, for the second time that day, ran into the hallway to see two cowering royal guards, a now fainted Prince Blueblood, with Golden Dusk in the middle of it all. “Dusk,” he deadpanned, “Do I want to know?” Golden Dusk turned back to face him, and his eyes and teeth were back to normal. “No, I don’t think you do,” he said sweetly and walked away. The two Royal Guards finally got back up and only quivered slightly now. “I swear, everypony should stop ticking off Dusk today or Equestria will end.” Shining Armor muttered. The two Royal Guards tensed again. “Sir… you must be exaggerating.” One of them nervously said. “Yes, I was…” The guards relaxed. “Probably just Canterlot. Equestria would take him a week at most.” The two guards stared at him before they promptly fainted onto the cold, hard, castle floor. Shining Armor sighed; he had to carry three unconscious ponies to the infirmary now. ~~~ Golden Dusk walked through the halls of the castle. His destination? The Royal Researchers’ Dorms. The ponies he had saved from Klugetown were going to be questioned by Royal Guard detectives to find out where they live and find out whatever information they could on the Klugetowners.  Dusk made a left turn and he readjusted a loose piece of his armor so it wouldn’t come off. He sighed, thinking of what his teammate was going to say about the state of the armor she had made.  Royal Guards stationed by the sides of the halls eyed Dusk with a small amount of tension. He paid no mind to them and just kept walking. Maids and butlers were busy making sure the castle was in tip-top condition. Eventually, he had reached his destination. He entered a hall with doors lining the sides. Each door had a carving of a pony’s cutie mark. At the end of the hall, a large circular clock made of crystal hung on the wall. Below it, a double door which led to the Royal Research Facility. Here, Royal Researchers study different things according to their interests. Be it metals, chemicals, potions, or magic, they would work on different things at the same time to further improve the technology of Equestria. Golden Dusk walked towards a door that had a crescent moon with stars surrounding it carved onto it. He knocked thrice, and once he did, the clamoring of a multitude of different objects being dropped or knocked over could be heard. A surprised yelp accompanying the sounds. “Coming, coming!” A mare’s voice called out. The door opened slightly, and a unicorn with a blue coat and white mane fixed her glasses with a weary look on her face appeared beyond it. “Who is it?” Her eyes widened slightly as she saw a pony wearing black armor in front of her door. Only, her eyes didn’t show any signs of surprise or horror… it was of anger. “What did I say about breaking your armor?!” she bellowed, and her white eyes glowed immensely. Dusk winced. “Sorry, Aunt Moonie,” he said, bowing his head slightly. After a few moments, Dusk found himself in a hug for the second time that day. His broken armor now had little droplets of water running down the back of it. “Y-you’re alive!” his aunt said in joy. “I thought… I thought…” Dusk hugged her back even tighter. “Like I’d leave you behind.” The two shared a few extra moments of reuniting before his aunt pulled back. “You better have a good excuse about your armor…” she left her threat hanging. Instead of telling, she showed. Her eyes and horn glowed white, and Dusk could feel a tingling sensation crawling up his spine. Mythic Moon, Specialist of the Royal Guard, member of team Guardian, with the title of ‘Warlock.’ She specializes in magic, and created the unique equipment of her team. Her magic prowess can rival even that of Twilight Sparkle’s. When off duty, she works as a Royal Researcher, and keeps her Specialist rank and title hidden from colleagues. Only her team, and the Royal Sisters know of her true line of work. But most importantly, she is Golden Dusk’s aunt… so she has all the right to punish him. “How about ‘I had to go the the badlands and save ponies from being sold and we had to run and go into hiding for two months, and I had to fight off crowds of Klugetowners to keep us safe?’” he said hopefully. Mythic Moon stared at him flatly before sighing. The glow from her horn and eyes disappeared. “Alright, that’s fine.” She narrowed her stare once more. “Don’t expect to have your armor back within the next few days.” “Yes, Auntie.” Dusk felt so small under her stare. “Good.” Moon unsnapped all the pieces of his armor with her magic and pulled them inside her room. “I’ll take these for now… maybe an upgrade or two?” she said to herself with a twinkle in her eyes. “Seems like you missed my armor more than me,” Dusk said with fake hurt in his voice. Now, he was a silver unicorn with a white mane wearing a plain black hoodie. His gold eyes stood out from his entire body and they shimmered everytime light would hit them. “Oh please, I missed you more… this one needs just as much attention as you,” she cooed and caressed the black plates. “How about your Gold Fury?” she asked. Golden Dusk pulled up his left sleeve and revealed the same silver and gold band. “Don’t worry, I can take care of her,” he said. “She just needs some sharpening. I can do it myself,” he smiled. “Aw, my Goldie’s learning!” She ruffled his mane. “So, how many of the ponies that you saved thought you were a mare.” “None,” he deadpanned, “I didn’t take off my helmet even once.” He didn’t fight the ruffling… he liked the attention. “Ah, right. Safety and all that,” she said with slight disappointment. “Well, good to know you won’t be rebellious.” “Y’know I’m 27, right?” He hadn’t noticed that they were inside her room now. It was pretty messy. Books were scattered on the floor, and a dimly lit desk with tools on top of it. “Yes, but you’ll always be that cute little colt-filly to me!” She hugged him again. “I don’t hear you complaining.” “Okay fine, I kind of like this— I did not just admit that.” He covered his face with his hoof as he blushed slightly. Mythic Moon squealed but let him go. “Should I tell the others?” “Tell them what?” Dusk smoothened out his hoodie. She rolled her eyes. “That you’re alive and well.” “Ah… right. Yeah, sure.” “Why do you sound so apprehensive about it?” “Well, for one, Titan and Berserker are probably gonna ask me to fight them to check ‘how much I’ve grown.’ Maestro and Valkyrie will probably chew me out for not contacting them,” he explained. She thought about it for a moment before nodding. “Sounds about right.” Moon then proceeded to light her horn as she checked on his health. Some bruises on his body, a small cut on his left cheek, and… severe physical exhaustion. “Mind shifting back to normal for a moment?” Dusk nodded, and he closed his eyes. When he opened them again, his pupils changed akin to a cat’s, and he had grown fangs and fuzzier ears. His dad had been a carrier for thestral genes. He’d suddenly grown fangs, and his eyes changed when he was a colt. His mom and aunt had to look up books on thestrals and what would happen if they had a child with a pony. However, due the little information the Canterlot Library had to offer, it took them quite a while to find a proper book on thestrals. Enventually, they found that half-thestrals could hide their bat-like features through magic manipulation. Aside from that, they’d also learned that thestral-unicorn Hybrids often had a low amount of magic to start with. It explained why Dusk couldn’t cast too many spells consecutively. After a painful process of teaching Dusk how it worked, he learned how to hide his batpony features. She continued her examinations on Dusk to make sure he was healthy. “Levitate this, please.” She pointed to a small book. Dusk's horn glowed gold, and the book floated in front of her. She looked at it for a few moments, her horn glowing as well. “Alright, your magic seems normal.” The book floated back to the spot it was on. “Aside from apparent physical exhaustion, you seem perfectly fine.” She nodded. “You do know what happens when you stop flowing magic to your muscles to keep you going, right?” “I’ll probably pass out when I get home.” He sighed. “Which is why you should get some rest.” She got up and showed him out the door. Golden Dusk shifted back to ‘normal,' and with one final hug goodbye, he left Mythic Moon to whatever she was up to. He walked out the dorms, and back into the ever gigantic halls of the castle. The guards didn’t stare this time, they didn’t feel threatened at all with his armor off. As he walked down the halls, he lost himself in thought of what he would do when he got home. His house would probably be dusty, and be in need of extreme cleaning. Dusk sighed at the thought as he shifted his hoodie slightly and made a left turn. He remembered his encounter with the faux prince earlier that day and scowled slightly. He’d been bothering him for basically his entire life! Then, he was struck with realization. Shining Armor had mentioned his name out loud and he had revealed himself to Blueblood! Specialists, usually, are allowed to state their rank and name, it really isn’t that much of a scent. However, his leader, the Maestro, wanted to keep team Guardians extremely enigmatic. Not to mention, his face was slightly visible through the broken helmet.  Dusk immediately changed his destination to the infirmary. He’d remembered the pair of guards fainting and thought they’d be there. As he ran through the castle, guards and work eyed him curiously but continued their respective duties. He made a right turn, and saw Shining Armor down the end of the hall. “Captain!” he called out, running towards him. Shining Armor turned to see Golden Dusk frantically approaching him at high speeds. “Yes?” he asked, bemused. “About the two guards and the prince…” he said after he’d stopped in front of him. “If you’re worried about your name, I’ve already wiped them from remembering. All they’ll remember is ‘Hunter’ and ‘batpony,’” he reassured him with a smirk.  Dusk sighed in relief. “Thanks. Saved me from Maestro.” “Ah right… your team and being enigmatic and all that,” he said with a shrug. “What’s up with that anyway?” Dusk fixed his mane. “Something about safety. She thinks having our identities publicized risks our daily lives.” “I get it,” Shining smiled. “Though, you should probably head home. We’ll take care of the ones you saved.”  “Alright, thanks. Tell Cadance I said hi!” He called out as he turned back to the path he was supposed to take. Shining smiled and walked the opposite direction. ~~~ Golden Dusk stood outside a two-story home. A small garden decorated its front, and the windows seemed to be in severe need of cleaning. He sighed and pulled out a small key from a bush and used it to open the door with a click. He nudged it open and walked inside, the sun’s light being enough to see within... mostly. Thankfully, he had exaggerated his thoughts on how much he had to clean. An arc opening to the left led straight into the living room, while a similar opening to his right led to the kitchen. The living room had a sofa in the middle with a small shelf of books to its left. A coffee table in front of the sofa looked like it needed a wipe down. He flicked the light switch by the door frame, but nothing turned on. “Welp, add that to the list of things to do,” he muttered. He shifted back to his thestral form to be able to see better. His now-slitted eyes glew slightly. He then walked into the kitchen which had an L-shaped counter with a table in the center. Cupboards adorned the walls and were filled with dishes and culinary tools. A small chandelier was supposed to light up the environment. He walked over to the sink and let the water run. He splashed his face with water to at least clean it slightly.  Dusk walked back to the shelf of books and held a picture frame with one hoof, a wistful smile across his face. A unicorn mare with a purple coat and pink mane stood to the left, a pegasus stallion with a gray coat and blonde mane stood to the right, and a foal version of Golden Dusk stood in the middle with a wide smile on his face. He wore the exact same hoodie he is today. The two older ponies each had a leg wrapped around him and smiled for the photo. The moment was cut short when he felt hostile magic aimed at him. He quickly let go of the photo and turned around. He fired a minor blast of magic that would stun the attacker. The silhouette of a pony got hit but they weren’t fazed at all. A pair of emerald eyes glowed slightly in the shadows of the kitchen, and so did Golden Dusk’s gold ones. He sighed, and powered down his magic when he recognized the magic signature. “Mel, have you got something better to do than test my reflexes?” he deadpanned. The pony in the shadows laughed but walked forward and let the light of the sun reveal them. In front of him was a light green earth pony with a dual-toned black and gray mane, and she wore a bracer with green accents flowing from an emerald on her right front leg. She smiled at him warmly, her emerald eyes showing nothing but relief. “Glad to see you’re alive, Hunter,” she said. “Y’know we probably shouldn’t be using our titles here right?”  “Right, right.” She shook her head. “Welcome back, Golden Dusk,” she said as she walked closer to him. The mare in front of him was his team’s leader, Emerald Melody. Her Specialist Title is the Maestro. For an earth pony, she has a high affinity for magic, and wields it in the battlefield. She devastates enemies with deadly spells, and can offer support for her teammates as well. Her title originated from her capability to lead, akin to a music maestro. She is a quick thinker and helps her team adapt depending on the situation. She works with the Royal Canterlot Orchestra as a downtime job. Emerald Melody was now in front of Dusk. She looked at the floor reluctantly before giving Dusk a quick hug. “Don’t worry us next time, okay?” she chided softly and let go of him. That was one for the history books. ‘The Maestro had hugged somepony!’ He giggled to himself. “Yeah, I won’t.” She nodded and another figure entered the house, this time a pegasus. Said pony immediately tackled Golden Dusk in a hug. “Goldie!” They shouted while Emerald chuckled softly. He groaned but replied, “Yes, Gem?” Golden Dusk returned the embrace. Scarlet Gem is his other teammate with the title ‘Valkyrie.’ She is a tan colored pegasus with a wheat colored mane. Her scarlet eyes stood out from the rest of her form, and so did her dual toned wings. Around her neck, she wore a necklace with a gem that was colored similarly to her eye. She’s the aerial fighter of the Guardians and can fly at altitudes much higher than pegasi should be able to. She works at a restaurant during her downtime. “Don’t worry us like that!” she cried, her eyes showed signs of excessive moisture. Dusk wiped her eyes with his hoodie’s sleeve. “Won’t happen again.” The two hugged a little longer before Emerald butt in, “If you two are quite done flirting in front of me, I think we should leave Dusk to rest?” Both ponies blushed and quickly let go of each other. Emerald let out a hearty laugh and shook her head. “Hm, I do remember our dearest captain hugging somepony…” Gem teased with a smirk. “Hey, I care about my teammates and friends, you know?” she huffed. “We barely see you do stuff like that,” Dusk added. Emerald suddenly found the door frame interesting. Her two teammates laughed before pulling her into another embrace. “Everypony’s been so huggy today,” Dusk commented. “Like you don’t like it,” Gem snarked. “I didn’t say anything.” Then they both were cut off when they were squeezed a bit tighter than expected. Emerald Melody was hugging them tighter than she would normally. “I really do care about you guys, you know…” she muttered.  The two ponies looked at each other before they too tightened their grip. She yelped but didn’t fight it. “Aw, cap’s so sweet!” Gem cooed. Emerald blushed lightly while her two underlings cooed again. She cleared her throat, cursing the blood that’d gone to her face. “Scarlet, I think we should let Goldie rest. I can tell he’s running on his magic at this point.” Scarlet nodded and sighed. She and Emerald let go and walked to the door to see themselves out. The two stopped in front of the door with Dusk beside them. “I’d warn you about Titan and Berserker, but you already know that don’t you?” Emerald asked. Dusk rubbed his temple. “Yeah, that’s gonna be a headache.” “We’ll keep them off of you for a while. They’re out of town anyway,” Gem offered. “That’d be great,” he smiled. The two mares nodded and left him to his own devices. Golden Dusk closed the door and the sun began to set. He flicked a light switch and the living room and kitchen... stayed dimly lit. Dusk groaned and made his way towards the stairs, his room was on the second floor after all. He took one more glance at the picture on the shelf before sighing and making his way up. “Time to pass out I guess…” ~~~ It was only a matter of time now. The steady increase in their number, the scientist’s potions… maybe they could finally get what they wanted. A dark, concealed figure stood up from a desk. A black raincoat’s hood covered their face. They looked out over a window and saw other hooded ponies gathered about a room filled with crates. They held, swords, knives, or whatever weapons they could find. The pony nodded before there was a knock on the door. Her purple eyes shifted their gaze. “Come in,” a mare’s voice answered. A pony in the same raincoat opened the door slowly. “Members need briefing.” She smiled and walked outside the room, going down a flight of stairs. She saw two ponies anxiously waiting for her. Giving them a soft smile, she approached them. “H-hello?” one of the ponies greeted. “Are you the leader?” She nodded and responded, “Indeed, but names can come later. For now, we will have to confirm that we all want the same thing.” What she said next brought a grin to the ponies’ muzzles. “The nobles’ demise.”