//------------------------------// // Dreams, Nightmares and Warnings // Story: The Guardian // by InsaneBatPony //------------------------------// Note- Sections 5 and 6 happen side by side. I don't know if that would have been clear from the text so I thought I would let you know now. ___________________________________________________________________________ 1 “Has there been any change, Doctor?” Celestia asked while inside Luna’s bed chamber. “No, Princess. She is still stable but…” The black stallion said. “But?” “Well, she’s been mumbling in her sleep. It’s mostly gibberish. I don’t think it’s anything to be worried about.” “I see. Anything else?” “No, Princess. I don’t know where these dreams of hers are coming from. Perhaps it’s just the fascinations of an overactive imagination.” “Perhaps. Thank you, Doctor.” Celestia said with a smile. “It was my pleasure Princess, and please, feel free to call on me again should you need my assistance.” “I will.” The black stallion left the bed chamber and Princess Celestia stayed behind for minute more looking at her sleeping sister. “Luna, what’s happening to you? First you sensed a being not from this planet then Starswirl gives me an obscure prophesy and now your dreams. Why you of all Ponies?” She mumbled as she left. 2 Luna stirred and woke up just as Celestia was lowering the sun. She stretched and got out of her bed. She slipped on her shoes and put her crown on her head and headed out to the balcony to raise the moon. She walked along through the castle humming a tune and saying hello to any passerby’s. She reached the balcony a short time later. “Hello, sister.” Luna said cheerfully. “Hm. Oh!” Celestia stammered. “Hello, Luna. Sleep comfortably?” she said regaining herself. “Yes, I did. Are you alright? You were staring off into space.” Luna said, concerned. “I’m fine. Don’t worry. Have you been having strange dreams recently?” “Before I answer, um, can I raise the moon now?” “What? Oh yes, of course, sorry.” Luna nodded slowly, a quizzical look in her eye. Her horn glowed blue and the moon rose steadily into the sky washing the land below in its faint glow. Luna’s horn dimmed and she rested for a moment. “You would think that this would get easier after a while.” Luna panted. “It does, but your being gone a thousand years didn’t help.” Celestia stated playfully. Luna’s face became downtrodden not wanting to remember everything that happened in their past. “I’m sorry Luna; I did not mean to make you sad.” “It’s okay.” “You didn’t answer my question yet about any strange dreams.” “Why do you want to know what I dream about?” “Some things have come to my attention and they involve you.” “Did I do something wrong?” Luna questioned, her eyes full of sadness. “If I did, I’m sorry.” “Oh, Luna.” Celestia said softly while embracing her. “You did nothing wrong, but I must know. What have you dreamt about?” “Well, I dreamt that I was running through some of the nocturnal flowers that bloom in Equestria, and about how life has been so much better with you than when I was Nightmare Moon.” “Is that all?” Celestia asked suspiciously. “Y…Yes.” “You’re not telling me everything.” Celestia said sternly. Luna shied away from Celestia, trying to hide her face. “Luna?” she said inching closer to her younger sister. “Luna!” Luna looked at her elder sister, her eyes screaming at Celestia to not make her say anything. “Luna, please tell me.” Luna hesitated and tried to speak but no words would come out of her mouth. Celestia sighed and walked to her sister’s side. “I’m going to bed. Tell me when you’re ready then, I will be waiting for you.” Celestia said before storming off to her bed chambers. Luna did not turn to watch her sister storm off but she could not tell her about her nightmare, not yet. 3 Volos lay in a clearing in the Everfree looking at the stars and the giant round moon that took up most of the sky. He sighed contently and watched as the stars twinkled in the darkness of the sky. His mind wandered and he put his clawed hands behind his metal skull and leaned his head against the ground. He lifted a finger and started pointing at each star trying to guess what they might be called and every time he tried he only groaned and whined. He put his hand behind his head again wishing he could speak once more. Instead he contented himself with just admiring the view of the stars and the moon. They were his silent protectors of the night, the moon the overseer, watching over those who slept and occasionally sending one of their messengers to bless lucky souls with a wish to be granted. His eyes began to dim and he started to fall into a slumber that he could only wish for. His mind would not rest however, and began to play a movie of a time long in the past. 4 Volos walked around his home in one of Earths remaining forests. His claws were retracted leaving blunt fingers. He was wearing a large jacket that covered his entire torso keeping his organs out of sight and a scarf around his mouth and nose to hide the features of his metal skull. A small two story house stood tall and proud in the center of a small clearing with trees on every side. In the backyard was a small swing set and slide. In the front a gravel driveway with a small blue Honda without wheels and floated lightly about a foot off of the ground. He stopped and looked at the house from the front. This was the home of his savior, his refuge and his love. This place was a refuge where he did not have to worry about being judged by the populace for his ungodly appearance of metal with living pieces, parts and organs. “Four years, four years I’ve lived here with this woman and her child. It seems as though I’ve only been here a short time but…” he said as quietly as he could to himself in a deep resounding voice. “Volos!” A female’s voice called form the door. “Dinner’s ready and Lydia said that she won’t eat with you outside!” She yelled while waving at him to come inside. Volos walked closer to the woman his height easily topping hers. “She knows I can barely fit in there. I have to duck to get through doorways and there is all but maybe a half inch of clearance between my head and the ceiling. Besides I don’t need to eat anymore.” He said trying to sound playful. “She’s five dear.” The woman said sarcastically. “I know, Alyssa, I know.” He said following her inside while bending over and almost falling over multiple times on the way inside, the floor creaking as though it was going to give way at any moment. The meal had ended and the sun had set, the stars began to shine in the sky and Lydia was already outside running around and staring into space. She was a small for her tender age of five. She had short brown hair and a bright red dress on and no shoes. She stopped and fell down to the ground and laid there gazing at the lights in the sky while Alyssa and Volos sat on the grass nearby. “Daddy?” Lydia’s small voice called. “What is it Lydia?” Volos responded. “What are those?” she asked pointing to the sky. “Those are stars.” “Why are they called stars?” “I don’t know? They just always have been called stars.” “What are they for?” Volos sighed and stood up. He walked over to Lydia and picked up off of the ground and brought her back to where he was sitting moments ago. He sat down and placed her on his lap. He pointed up to the sky instantly getting her attention. “Those are the guardians of the night. They protect people while they sleep and sometimes one of them will start to move very fast across the sky at night. People who see them running get to make a wish and they grant that person their wish.” “Really?” Lydia asked excitedly. “Yes, really.” He said looking down at his adopted daughter. “Then.” she thought for a moment. “I wish that we would stay together. You, me and mommy.” Volos let out a loud chuckle and Alyssa was smiling. “I think that wish is perfect.” Alyssa said to the two of them. “I agree.” Volos responded to her. Lydia yawned and rubbed her eyes. “I think someone’s tired” Alyssa said playfully. “No I’m not.” Lydia said trying to hide her face. “Come on, it’s time for bed.” Alyssa said picking Lydia up off of Volos’ lap. She walked inside holding Lydia while Volos sat and waited for her to return. Sometime later Alyssa came back out of the house and sat down by Volos and leaned against his arm before recoiling back. “Your arm is cold.” She said flatly. “Can’t help that, seeing as my arm is made of metal.” Volos laughed. Alyssa grunted and leaned back against it anyway ignoring the coldness of his metal arm. “That story about the stars…” “What about it?” “Where did you hear it?” “I don’t remember. Most, if not all, of my memories were taken from me at that facility.” “Too bad. It was beautiful.” “The story or the facility?” “You know which you oaf.” She said, smiling and half-laughing. “Do you remember anything about what you looked like before all of this happened to you?” “I get flashes sometimes. Tanned white skin, brown hair and dark brown eyes.” “How long did it take you to remember that?” “Four years.” Volos said bluntly. Alyssa made a noise and she shifted and moved her hips closer to Volos’ hand making her posture straighter. “I never would have thought that in a million years my daughter would have a seven foot tall cyborg as her father figure.” “Would you rather I left and let her live a normal life with a normal mother?” “I wouldn’t want you leave and a ‘normal’ life is overrated.” “That’s what I thought. Tell me if you want to but what happened to Lydia’s real father?” Alyssa hesitated and spoke after a few minutes. “When he found out I was pregnant he up and left. He didn’t leave a note or anything. We weren’t married at the time and we both worked at the facility that designed and made you but we didn’t know that at the time.” “You know now.” “HM!” she grunted loudly. “Anyway, he quit and disappeared off the face of the planet. I never saw him again.” “That’s too bad. He didn’t know what he was missing. If you could have him back would you do it?” Alyssa put her arms as far around Volos torso as she could and laid her head on his metal sternum. “Never.” “Good. Because I don’t want to leave you.” “I fell in love with a cyborg weapon engineered by mankind to destroy cities and topple governments. Who would have thought?” “Love is an interesting thing that way but it doesn't matter.” Volos said, placing his arm around her and pulling her close. “No, I guess it doesn’t.” 5 Volos shot up, his eyes lighting up quickly and he sat there while he breathed quickly and shallow. He lay back on the grass and tapped his thigh opening up the small compartment. He pulled the box out and held it in his fingers turned claws. Volos sat up and held the box at chest level. He tapped the center of the box with one of his claws. The box illuminated with blue lights, making some strange patterns on the jet black surface. The box opened with a small hiss and Volos looked down into its contents. Inside were a small golden ring and a picture. He poured the ring and picture into his free palm. As the contents fell into his palm another small object fell with them and landed on the back of the photo. Volos looked at the small square suspiciously. It had a very small orange glow to it, easily noticeable in the darkness of the forest. He gently trapped it between two of the flat blades coming from his fingers and lifted it to the side of his head. A tiny section opened, just big enough to fit the chip. Volos slipped it in. …New Object Discovered… …New Program Found… …Initiate?... ‘Initiate’ …Initiating… Warning…Warning…Warning… …Programming for Medical Nano-Bots being overridden… ‘Terminate Program’ …Unable to Terminate… Volos roared as this new program took hold. He flipped over and was on his hands and knees as blood poured from his mouth. He felt immense pain in his exposed organs. His heart raced and almost ruptured from the strain. His lungs inflated and deflated until they seized. With his ability to breath gone he slowly faded into unconsciousness. The last thing he saw was his in-system AI putting two phrases on his Heads Up Display inside his eyes. …New Program Initiated… …Beginning Restructuring… 6 Luna Flew through the sky admiring her work for the night. The stars shined bright and the moon brighter. She smiled as she looked at her work. She slowly descended onto the balcony where she raised the moon a few hours earlier. She sat down and sighed with relief that she could finally take it easy for a while. She again looked the sky looking at the stars and moon. She scanned the skies looking for her favorite star, a small red one that would not shine as brightly as the others. She looked to the one spot that it would appear. This one star was her favorite because it did not move like the rest. The stars seemed to rotate and move around it while this star remained still as though it were nailed to the one spot in the sky. She kept searching but this star could not be found. It had been there for as long she could remember, since she was but a filly. When she was young and she got scarred she would look up at the sky and when she saw this star it always comforted her, she did not know why, but it always had. “Where is it?” Luna asked herself. “It should be right between Argus and Beralto tonight.” She closed her eyes and concentrated her magic to aid in her search for her, all of the sudden, elusive star. Her horn glowed in its deep blue color and she cast her locator spell. Her vision was guided away from the sky and along the streets of Ponyville to the Everfree. She saw a creature writhing and roaring on the ground. She watched in horror as blood drained from its body and then she saw them, the creatures glowing red eyes. Luna’s spell ended and she ran into the castle yelling for her sister. 7 Celestia was sleeping peacefully in her large bed and was snoring lightly. Her door flung open and was nearly pushed off the hinges. Luna ran inside jumped into bed with Celestia. Celestia, being woken up by the disturbance, was none too pleased to be awake at this hour. “Luna! Dam…” Celestia began to yell. “Tia! It was horrible!” Luna cried into Celestia’s shoulder. “Get… a… hold…of yourself Luna!” Celestia struggled to escape her sisters vice grip hug. Celestia managed to push Luna off of her after sometime. “Calm down Lulu. What happened?” “I saw it again but this time it was worse.” “Wait, wait, saw what?” Luna stopped and rubbed the tears off of her eyes. She breathed for a few seconds to compose herself. “I saw my nightmare again.” “What nightmare?” “I don’t know what it is but it was some kind of hideous thing with claws and two feet.” “Claws and two feet?” “MHM.” “Anything else?” “It had no skin and all of its organs were showing and it had no face.” Celestia had never heard of such a monster in her many years of life even amongst the ones that she fought such as Discord and Nightmare Moon. She thought for a while. “When did you see it before?” “In a dream. He wasn’t alone either. He had this other strange creature looked like a pale hairless ape.” “I see. Did you see it tonight?” “Yes, it was real. This creature is not just a dream. I saw it in the Everfree when I cast my locator spell to find my favorite star.” “Your little red one?” Celestia asked to confirm. Luna nodded her head. “Oh my. Luna, you’ve done enough for the night. Go get some sleep and I’ll lower the Moon for you.” “But I’m not…” Luna started. “Fine.” She conceded. Luna hugged Celestia and went down to her bed chambers while Celestia got up and put one her crown and shoes. As she walked toward the door she stumbled and bumped into her dresser. “OW! Must not be awake yet.” She mumbled. She looked at the floor and things were strewn everywhere after she bumped it. A scroll lay on the ground wrapped up and sealed. She stared at it for a moment as realization dawned on her. “I forgot all about this letter Twilight sent me. With all of this going on I forgot to read it. Might as well do it now.” She said to herself. She opened the parchment and bean to read it. Celestia dropped the parchment from her magic and scrambled to find her quill and parchment to send a letter back. When she had gathered all of the necessary materials she began to write furiously. My Faithful student Twilight Sparkle, This creature you describe is not unheard of to me. I fear Luna shares a connection with this creature. What kind of connection I do not know but recent events here in the castle have led me to such a conclusion. I will visit you when I can but it may not be for some time. In the mean time you must stay away from this creature! Do not go near it and do not make contact with it if you have not already. I will see you as soon as I can but I will need to wait until things here have settled down. Celestia. Celestia set down her quill and rolled up the parchment and sent it off to Twilight in Ponyville. “Please be safe, my most faithful student.” Celestia murmured as she went down to the throne room to await the time to lower the moon.