//------------------------------//
// Chapter One 
// Story: The Gates of Equestria 
// by SapphireRose87 
//------------------------------//

The year of choosing guardians had come.

Sapphire sat in her office in Canterlot Palace, going over the lineup before she officially appointed the guardians, there was a knock at the door. Her assistant, Tumble, a very energetic young unicorn, bounced over to the door and answered it.

Sapphire smiled when she saw it was Princess Twilight and her humble yet buff assistant Spike at the door.

“Sapphire!” Princess Twilight exclaimed. She gave Sapphire a hug, although Sapphire was older than her. Princess Twilight didn't expect Sapphire to bow to her, they had become close friends when Sapphire visited for the first time.

“To what do I owe the honor of a visit from our glorious Princess Twilight before the official appointing of the Guardians today?” Sapphire smiled.

“Oh, nothing major,” Princess Twilight waved a hoof almost dismissively. “I wanted to see if you read over the files I’d given you and the backgrounds for everypony. Oh, and this year a dragon is going to be appointed this year, and I want everything to be perfect for the ceremony because this is so obviously important to you and-”

Sapphire chuckled, “Yes, yes, I have gone over everything and everything is in order. You do know speeches aren’t given during the ceremony, right?”

Princess Twilight looked down at the floor as if Sapphire had embarrassed her. She gave a nervous laugh, “Um, no, I wasn’t informed of that. Princess Celestia didn’t tell me how this works before I took the throne. I just thought-”

“Oh, it’s no problem, Princess,” Sapphire smiled. “Not even Celestia knew how this was done until the last meeting I had with the founders of each tribe. That was when we decided that since the gates are set up to protect Equestria, the rulers should know of this. So when Celestia took the throne along with Luna, we briefed them on everything involved in the ceremony. But this year’s selection of guardians is very different indeed. While the tradition is that only ponies are guardians now we have a dragon. He’s the strongest guardian we will have.”

Spike laughed, “Well, what do you expect? Dragons are powerful! I don’t know why a dragon wasn’t selected before to guard the gates.”

Sapphire smiled. “Well, that’s probably because dragons weren’t getting along with ponies at the time. And Equestria had its own set of problems. You know, wendigos and stuff like that.”

“We do have a very diverse selection of guardians this year...” Princess Twilight smiled.

"I know, right?" said Sapphire. "Let's see here, I guess we should start by looking at the North gate's guardians selected this year."

Sapphire gripped in her magic a stack of papers sitting on a nearby desk. On the top of the papers was a thick paper with a large label on it that read: NORTH GATE GUARDIAN. On the top of the file was a picture of a young pegasus. His fur was a light blue color and his wings that colors on them looked like rays of the sun. His mane and tail were a shade of yellow that seemed to blaze brightly. His cutie mark was a dragon with a tuft of fire sprouting from its open hinged maw.

"This guardian is a pegasus named Firewing. We've paired him up with the Element of Honesty, Applejack, of course. His medallion, or the power from it, seems to be favoring Applejack's element. The Guardian Council is as flabbergasted by it as I am. But, pairing the guardians with the elements of harmony has been a tradition for over two centuries now."

Princess Twilight nodded. "The elements didn't come on the scene until Princess Celestia took the throne. She used them against Nightmare Moon."

"Uh-huh," Sapphire nodded, "let's see, uh, the next guardian, is the one in the south gate."

Sapphire put the NORTH GATE GUARDIAN file aside. She picked up another file that had a label like the first, reading: SOUTH GATE GUARDIAN. On top of the file was a picture of a unicorn. His fur was white as freshly fallen snow and his mane and tail were a purplish-blue color such as the cosmos.  His cutie mark was a treble clef note with wings. "Okay, the guardian for the south gate is a unicorn named Aetherlight Melody. He loves helping ponies in need. The Elements seem to think Rarity, the Element of Generosity is a good match for him."

"Well if he's a pony that helps those in need, like Rarity, does," said Princess Twilight. "Then pairing would make sense but, as long as he's not evil I guess that should work."

Sapphire snorted. "Well, the Elements of Harmony wouldn't work with anypony that's evil, dear."

Princess Twilight chuckled, "Yeah, you're right, nothing to be worried about..." Princess Twilight’s smile was one of slight worry.

Sapphire ignored Princess Twilight's concern. She knew that the princess would voice them again. She then put the file that said SOUTH GATE GUARDIAN on it and gripped in her magic the next one in line. This time the file said: WEST GATE GUARDIAN. On top of the file, the. But it didn't matter considering the fact Sapphire already knew of this guardian's background. "Okay, the guardian for the west gate is an earth pony named Fancy Mark. He's been paired up with Pinkie Pie, the Element of Laughter. I can understand that one. He's got issues like Pinkie Pie does."

Spike and Princess Twilight laughed at that because they knew Sapphire was right. Sapphire nodded, ignored their reactions, and continued. "It says here that Fancy Mark has two different personalities inside him. The original one, which is the real Fancy Mark, is kind and reasonable. Taking into consideration his heart-wrenching life story. The other personality he has is called Fancy Dark. Fancy Dark is corrupted, mischievous. But the two personalities balance each other out. With that in mind, we will keep sending him to therapy. So long as there are no problems, then things should be fine. Anyway, moving on."

Sapphire the file with the details for the west gate guardian on it aside and moved on to the next one. This file read: EAST GATE GUARDIAN. On top of the file was a picture of a young earth pony mare. Her fur was purple and her eyes were two different colors, one eye was red and the other eye was yellow. Her cutie mark was a treble clef note, with a regular note beside it. On top of the treble clef note was a white feather with a black bowtie.

"Okay, well, the east gate guardian is a very interesting pony indeed. Her name is Melody, she's a singer and she's blind, but when she sings the notes gives her the ability to see. But only when she sings. So, I can only assume she doesn't sing all the time. She's also an earth pony. She's paired up with the Element of Kindness, Fluttershy. That one makes sense to me also, because Fluttershy can be Melody's ears and eyes when she's not singing." Sapphire said.

Princess Twilight smiled and nodded. "Uh-huh, Fluttershy is so kind when she sees somepony like that who needs help, so she'll be more than happy to do it."

"That's probably why that Element responded so favorably to Melody being paired up with her," Sapphire said. "There is one more gate that needs to be discussed which is the one that will be working the hardest, and that's the center gate. It's the gate that connects all of the other gates."

Sapphire put the EAST GATE GUARDIAN file aside and picked up the file that said: THE CENTER GUARDIAN. On top of this file was a picture of a dragon that had green scales and horns. His wings were green and had yellow color underneath them. He wore a black hooded cloak with a lighting bolt symbol on it.

Spike smiled and laughed when he saw the file, "Ha! Now, this is the file I've been hoping you would go over with us today."

"Yes, yes, I know Spike," Sapphire chuckled, "the center gate guardian. He's a dragon named Lord Thunder. He can produce a high voltage of electricity and summon lightning bolts. This is perfect for the center gate considering it's the one that unites the gates. He's paired up with Rainbow Dash, the Element of Loyalty. Now that one was an interesting pairing. But since Rainbow Dash's Element reacts favorably to him, we rolled with it."

"Actually," said Princess Twilight. "His lightning bolts combined with Rainbow Dash's speed will make a good combination. They’ll be a strong pair, those two."

"Okay, and then there's you, Princess. Even though you don't have a gate to guard over, you'll be working with me to make sure the gates’ magic is flowing through them correctly," Sapphire said. 

Princess Twilight nodded, "That's a huge honor to have. Unfortunately, it's not known to the public that this is going on.  Why is that?"

"Ah, good question," said Sapphire. "It's because, if everyone knew about this, they would try to use the power of the gates for their own agendas. The ceremony is only seen by the guardian community. Those guardians represent every city in Equestria. Also, every country all around the planet Equus. The ones that have been picked by this are the descents of the founders of Equestria."

"Oh, I see." Princess Twilight said. "But I do wonder why there are mostly stallions that have been picked to be guardians this year."

Sapphire smiled, "Well every time new guardians are chosen, it's always different. The last time, when Princess Celestia and Princess Luna were rulers the guardians were all mares."

"Huh, interesting," Princess Twilight said.

"So," said Sapphire. "Everything's in order, the guardians will be appointed and given their medallions to help channel their magic into the gates."

Princess Twilight looked satisfied with Sapphire's readiness for the ceremony. "Well then, it seems everything is going to be perfect for that day. I can't wait!"

Sapphire nodded in agreement. "That makes two of us!"

Sapphire and Princess Twilight parted ways and held a heart of excitement for the ceremony. Little did they know trouble was already brewing in Equestria. The guardians already at the gates were getting old and dying off one by one.


*	 * 	*


Phantasia smiled as he peeked out of the curtains at the audience gathered around the stage. He had been waiting for months for this opportunity. He had already picked this location months in advance. It was a secret location, deep within the caves underneath Canterlot. 

Man, this is what I live for! Manipulating ponies so they will bend to my will. I can't wait to feed them some more bad ideas about Equestria. Phantasia thought. I can't wait until I take my rightful place as ruler of Equestria. They should've given the throne to me.  But no, they want a princess to rule over them! These stupid ponies of Equestria have no idea that they need a strong stallion to over them. Not some stupid princess!

Phantasia snapped out of his thoughts when he felt somepony tap him on the shoulder. He turned to see it was his assistant, a young mare named Little Snack with a stack of papers on her back. He was very amused at the way Little Snack would carry things and without saddlebags.

"Yes," said Phantasia, "what is it Little Snack?"

"Um, sir," said Little Snack. "Here are the papers for your speech, sir. If you want to go over it one last time sir."

The one thing Phantasia did hate about Little Snack is she was way too quiet. she didn't know how to show confidence. "Little Snack, stand up straight and hold your head up! If you want what's best for Equestria, then you need to show ponies that you mean that."

"Oh, I wasn't doing that?" Little Snack asked dejectedly. "Golly damn it! I messed up again! I'm sorry…"

Phantasia paused when Little Snack said the words 'golly damn it. Those were the first cuss words he ever heard the shy and mild-tempered mare say. Phantasia smiled, "Did you utter a curse in front of me, Little Snack?"

"I...Uh…I don't think so…" Little Snack said with an apologetic look on her face. "If I golly damn did it, I'm sorry…"

Phantasia let out a belly laugh and then said, "The words 'golly damn it' are cuss words, my dear. I didn't know you had that in you! Good job, kid!"

"Um," Little Snack tilted her head slightly out of confusion. "Cuss words are a good thing?"

"Well, it depends on who you're talking to," explained Phantasia, "but since you're working for me, I don't mind it a bit. I'm pretty sure that if you said that in front of the others and maybe on stage one day, no one would mind at all. You just surprised me, that was the first cuss words you uttered around me since you started working for me! Wait until I tell the others, I bet you they're not going to believe me not one little bit."

"Tell us what?" A mare said who was standing behind Phantasia.

Phantasia turned around and smiled. "Ah, Rapid Chaser, you're not going to believe this, but Little Snack said a cuss word!"

Rapid Chaser gave Phantasia a look of disbelief and raised her eyebrow. "Uh-huh. Are you pulling my hoof, Phantasia?"

Phantasia grinned and said, "Nope! I'm not kidding, here, Little Snack, go ahead and say what you said to me."

Little Snack, seeing that her boss was proud of what she said, puffed her chest and said, "Yes sir, golly damn it, sir!"

At that, Rapid Chaser's jaw dropped. Once she got over her entailed shock, she laughed so hard, she was rolling on her back laughing, like a baby. "What, did you coach her on how to do that, Phantasia? Or is it because you've been swearing like a sailor every time you're around?" She wiped the tears from her eyes and stood back up with a chuckle.

Phantasia shook his head, "Oh no no no, that's not the way I say those words. Nope, she didn't get it from me."

"Alright, fine, but you know you don't need that written copy of your speech right? You probably have it memorized like the back of your hoof." Rapid Chaser said, "You'll have the teleprompter right by the stage. But I doubt you'll need it."

Phantasia nodded, "Uh-huh."

Once the crowd quieted down outside, Phantasia knew that was his cue to go address the audience. When he walked on stage, the crowd cheered at his presence.

He cleared his throat and began to speak. "Ponies, the nation of Equestria has been ruled for far too long with leaders that are weak and spineless. These stupid princesses, rule with kindness and friendship. That is not the type of ruler that Equestria needs! Equestria needs is somepony to rule that has a spine and takes down whatever threats that come it. There have been legends told about those stupid princesses stopping wars before they begin.

"I say how is that even possible, ponies? By some stupid trinkets called the Elements of Harmony? I think not! I mean, seriously? Is it that easy to take down a foe or turn them to stone? Again, I think not! What Equestria needs is for somepony to go out there and actually fight for them. Not just stand there with the light of a horn and take care of enemies just like that! Those stories are old pony tales and should not be believed. Do not let what you hear from a pony that are loyal to the rulers tell you. They are blind and they are brainwashed. Soon, ponies, very soon, we will have Equestria! I will rule over it the right way. Who's with me?"

The ponies in the crowd cheered and stomped their hooves. Phantasia smiled at their reactions. He was eager to have the ponies that are at his side to spread as much doubt and distrust as possible. Equestria would be his for the taking, and that is exactly what he wants.

When Phantasia got off the stage and went to the back. He saw Rapid Chaser clapping and rolling her eyes at him. 

"Oh, what is it this time, Rapid?" Phantasia groaned.

"When the hell are you going to give us the go-ahead to build an army and declare war on Equestria?" Rapid Chaser said.

"Rapid," Phantasia glared, "how long have you known me?"

Rapid groaned, she always hated it when Phantasia asked that question. "Since we were foals."

"And do you know how I do things?" Phantasia asked.

Rapid Chaser groaned, "Slow and steady wins the race."

"Good, you do remember. I was beginning to think you had forgotten. That's exactly what I'm doing here now," said Phantasia. "That's the way I've always done this and I'm not about to change course now, my love."

Phantasia went to go kiss Rapid Chaser, but she backed away from him. He knew that when she did that she was not happy at the moment.

He knew that what he said to her was correct but she wanted things to go much faster. In order for Phantasia's plan to work it had to go as slow as possible. 


*	 * 	*


Finally, the day came for the Guardian Appointment Ceremony.  The Appointment Ceremony always took place on the outskirts of Equestria. In a village, this is where the representatives of the guardian community lived. The ceremony underground, far underneath the village. 

While Sapphire Rose was cool as a cucumber backstage, she could tell Princess Twilight was super nervous because of the look on her face. The poor ruler looked like she was about ready to pass out.

Sapphire put a hoof on Princess Twilight's shoulder. "Breathe princess, breathe before you pass out on me."

"I am breathing! See, look, in and out, in and out!" Princess Twilight panicked.

"Twilight," said Spike, "you need to calm down. We don't need our Head Guardian passing out before the ceremony."

Spike took a deep breath and let it out and motioned for Princess Twilight to do the same. After a while of doing this, that seemed to work.

"Thank you, Spike," Princess Twilight said.

Spike chuckled, "No problem, Twilight."

When they heard the sound of drums, Sapphire and Princess Twilight knew that was their cue to go out to the stage.

The guardians, along with the rest of the Elements of Harmony, standing on the right side of the stage. They stood in a line and had looks on their faces as if they were soldiers. They took on this look because of the Appointment Ceremony. They needed to take this seriously.

Sapphire went up the podium and smiled as she began to speak.  "For thousands and thousands of years, the gates that have been set up by me and the founders of Equestria. The gates have always worked to combat threats. This year the gates are being protected not just by guardians but the elements of harmony as well."

Sapphire turned to the guardians and took out a box that held the Guardian's medallions in them. The box also held the elements of harmony in them. Sapphire took out of the box the Northern Guardian's medallion and the Element of Honesty.

"Northern Gate Guardian, Element of Honesty, please step forward."

Applejack walked toward Sapphire, Firewing falling in behind. As they came forward, Sapphire had to keep her laughter in the best she could. Firewing was busy ogling and drooling over Applejack’s plot, stumbling up to the front. It surprised Sapphire that they were able to make it up to her in one piece. When they had made their way, they bowed. As they bowed, Sapphire put the medallions around their necks. Sapphire closed her eyes and uttered two words in the ancient Ponish tongue: “HARMONIA AETERNAM.” Her voice boomed as a bright flash of light emanated from the medallions and a whoosh sounded from the two. The light dimmed, and the two bowing ponies now seemed to shine with magic.

Sapphire smiled and nodded. "The pairing of the North Gate is complete. Stand and return to your position.” Firewing and Applejack stood and went back to the others, Firewing once more eying Applejack’s muscle-toned flank.

Sapphire pulled out the medallions that were for guardians of the South Gate. "Southern Gate Guardian, Element of Generosity, please step forward."

Aetherlight Melody and Rarity stepped forward and bowed gracefully. Sapphire smiled slightly; they seemed to be taking this honor as serious as the first South Guardians. As their heads lowered, Sapphire placed the medallions around their necks, and uttered more Ponish words: “PACEM AETERNAM.” Sapphire nodded, “The pairing for the South Gate is complete, please stand and return to your positions."

Aetherlight Melody and Rarity stood up straight and went back to the others. Sapphire pulled out the medallions for the East Gate. "Would the guardian for the East Gate and the Element of Kindness please step forward to be appointed please?"

A young earth pony named Melody and the yellow-coated Fluttershy walked up slowly to Sapphire. 

Melody, being blind, was humming, which guided her up to Sapphire. Melody didn’t want any help from Fluttershy, but because of her personality, the yellow pegasus was determined to help. When they finally reached Sapphire, they bowed softly. Sapphire put the medallions around their necks. When she did so, she uttered some Ancient Griffish: “LIVETS EVIGE.” A bright light shone and quickly disappeared. Sapphire smiled and nodded, "The pairing for the East Gate is complete. Stand and return to your places."

Melody and Fluttershy stood and Fluttershy guided Melody back over to the others with some difficulty from Melody’s distaste.

Sapphire then pulled out another set of medallions for the West Gate. "West Gate Guardian, Element of Laughter, step forward."

Fancy Mark, along with Pinkie Pie stepped forward and bowed. Sapphire knew this one was going to be the hardest one to try and bond. When they bowed, Sapphire put their medallions around their necks. She uttered some Draconic: “EEUWIGE KRACHT.” The air around the two bowing ponies grew thick and dark black, as a soft glow of purple emanated from it. A dark laugh seemed to echo around the room, and the audience of ambassadors began to stir worriedly.

A glitchy voice chuckled, “This is going to be fun…” All the ponies there quickly forgot what happened and had their memories replaced with the happenings of the previous bondings.

Sapphire seemed dazed from the memory replacement, but then quickly remembered what she was doing and said, "The pairing of the West Gate is complete. Stand and return to your places."

Sapphire thought she saw Fancy’s medallion seem to glitch, turning black and white with red and blue haze surrounding it, but quickly forgot as a dark voice whispered into her ear, “You saw nothing.”

Fancy Mark and Pinkie Pie stood up and went over to join the others. Pinkie Pie being her energetic self bounced back over to the others as if she were a bouncy ball. Fancy Mark looked embarrassed by how Pinkie Pie was acting. The audience got a real kick out of it and there were snickers among them because of it.

Sapphire cleared her throat to get everypony's attention. She pulled out of the box the last set of medallions for the guardians of the center gate. "Center Gate Guardian, Element of Loyalty, step forward."

Lord Thunder’s small frame stood and approached Sapphire, Rainbow Dash not far behind. The two bowed, the dragon taking a knee. Lord Thunder looked like he was trying to make himself look as tall and big as he could. What he didn't realize was that it wasn't necessary to do so. He was the strongest guardian that had been picked, although he looked weak and frail. Sapphire put the medallions around their necks. Like the others, a bright light appeared and quickly dimmed. Sapphire nodded once more. “The pairing for the Center Gate is complete. Stand and return to the others."

Now that the Center Gate was taken care of, everypony there was on the edges of their seats. They knew that there was one more pairing left to take place. That would be the pairing of the new Head Guardian that would be working with Sapphire. The previous Head Guardian had already died and a new one was needed.

Sapphire nodded and motioned for Princess Twilight to come near her and join her at the podium. What happened next was something truly amazing. The podium lowered itself and a huge gold disc raised up in place of it. Princess Twilight gazed at it in wonder, gasping softly as she felt the magic radiating off of it. Sapphire smiled. She had seen this reaction every single time somepony new got paired up to work with her.

"This is the Head Guardian paring disc. It links up to our magic along with the magic of the Guardians and makes sure that everypony can do their jobs. It is used only for this reason. Sorry, Princess, but you won't be able to examine and do research on it. It would throw off the magic balance in it." Sapphire explained.

Princess Twilight blushed lightly and looked away. Sapphire chuckled, "It's okay, princess, I know how eager you are to study new things."

"So, how does this work?" Princess Twilight said, tilting her head.

"Step onto the disc with me and you'll find out," Sapphire smiled.

As everypony watched Sapphire and Princess Twilight stepped onto the disc. As soon as they stepped on the disc, a bright blue light shined. This time, it was brighter than all of the other pairings of the gates. The light shined for a minute or two and when it was done, while Princess Twilight stood on the disc in a daze. Sapphire seemed unphased by it. Sapphire tapped Princess Twilight on the shoulder. Princess Twilight shook her and looked like she snapped back to reality.

"Well now," said Sapphire. "The Appointing of the Guardians and Head Guardians is complete. The ceremony is over with. Everypony that is here, please make your way to the dining hall. We shall have a big feast to celebrate!"

As everypony and the two dragons made their way to the dining hall. Everypony felt relief that new Guardians for the Gates have been chosen. It was sorely needed because soon, the guardians would have a huge problem on their hooves to deal with.