//------------------------------// // The Guardians // Story: A Golden Afternoon // by Gallifrey //------------------------------// A Golden Afternoon by Gallifrey Chapter Four The Guardians "Where are we going?" asked Twilight for the seventh time, as she stumbled blindly over another tree's winding roots. "Just follow me and you'll find out," said the Cat, floating ahead of her, indifferent to Twilight's struggle through the densely knotted trees. The purple unicorn could barely see a thing; night had fallen and the only source of light she had were those of the sparkling stars above her head, but try as they might to shine brightly through eternity, they could not shine bright enough for Twilight to see the ground before her. The only thing that kept her going was the vague promise of some answers to her current predicament, promises that waved enticingly before her like a carrot on a string that was just out of reach. "Almost there," said the Cat in a teasing manner, giving Twilight added purpose to her hooves, even if they still floundered here, there, and everywhere. Soon the bookish pony saw a faint sapphire blue light glowing in front of her, at first she thought it was a trick of her eyes, the light looked so alien and odd. But it grew in its intensity as they approached the source. A curtain of enormous leaves surrounded the entrance to what appeared to be a clearing in the trees, and the Cat stopped her here, grinning broadly. "Well here we are, are you ready to meet one of the Guardians?" "I would be if I knew who they were!" complained Twilight. "You shouldn't worry yourself too much," said the Cat placidly, "I have a feeling you have met before." "In that case I think I should be fine." "Very well." And with that, the Cat glided to the curtain, and drew it back, allowing Twilight entry. The mare's jaw dropped. It was beautiful. All the trees around the perimeter of the clearing were pearlescent in their hues, bouncing ethereal light off one another in myriad complexity.The source of such light was unmistakable, the centre of the clearing housed a huge vat, a vat that was overflowing with what appeared to be liquid light. Rivulets of it ran in small streams all around, shimmering a clear blue-silver. It looked so familiar, yet so distant. On either side of the vat grew two large trees, one of gold, the other silver, and Twilight could feel a strong and ancient magical presence emanating from them. Flittering around the vat and trees were dozens of tiny blue butterflies speckled with white dots, and they looked just like the one that had landed on Twilight's hoof under the tree that very morning. She was so enraptured that she didn't even notice that she wasn't alone. "Twi?" Twilight nearly jumped out of her coat. With wild eyes, she looked around for who had said her name. Next to the shining vat stood Applejack. "A-AJ?" said an astonished Twilight, "Y-you recognise me?" "'Course ah do sugar cube," she said, approaching the unicorn, "though I'll wager no-one else does, right?" "Right. I don't get it, everything's just too weird for me today." "Don't worry, we're workin' on it." "We?" "Me and Chessie," she said as the Cat materialised on top of her head. "He may be as crazy as the rest of the folks around here, but he's a clever one." Twilight sat down on her haunches. Questions exploded to the forefront of her mind with such intensity she almost felt dizzy. "You alright Twilight?" Twilight gave her head a little shake. "Yeah, I'm fine," she said distractedly, "I just have a lot of questions. "Begin at the beginnin'," said Applejack, sitting down opposite her, "and go on until you come to the end: then stop." "Right," said Twilight, tracing a hoof in circles on the ground. "Where am I?" "You're neither here nor there, you're somewhere in between," explained Applejack. "What does that mean though?" Applejack shrugged. "Beats me, but that's the answer- apparently." Twilight sighed in disappointment. "What about the King of Hearts? Is there anything you can tell me about him?" Applejack's expression went from one of caring concern to fear in less than a heartbeat. "The King... I uh, yes, ah do know about him." Twilight awaited information, but was distracted by the Cat, who began murmuring darkly into her ears. "'Twas brillig, and the slithy toves Did gyre and gimble in the wabe; All mimsy were the borogoves, And the mome raths outgrabe." Twilight shuddered at the nonsense words. "What does that mean?" implored Twilight, "None of it makes any sense!" "Let it continue," said Applejack meekly. With flashing eyes, the Cat went on. "Beware the King of Hearts, my girl! The jaws that bite, the claws that catch! Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun The frumious Bandersnatch!" The grin of the Cheshire Cat now seemed to be one of passive malevolence to Twilight, who felt like bolting from this ominous rendition. But still it continued. "She took her vorpal sword in hoof: Long time the manxome foe she sought– So rested she by the Tumtum tree, And lay awhile in thought. And as in uffish thought he stood, The King of Hearts, with eyes of flame, Came whiffling through the tulgey wood, And burbled as it came! "Do you like it?" asked the Cat impassively. "As a piece of poetry, yes, it's wonderful!" said Twilight honestly, "But it does sound very foreboding, is there any more to it?" "Probably, when I get round to writing it." "Twilight turned to Applejack. "Is that all you know about him?" "Yes and no," said Applejack, "I've never met him, but Cheshire says he has but won't tell me none about it." "It is not my place," said the Cat simply, "if you wish to know more, you must visit him yourself." "Which way do I go to find him?" "You can go any way you wish," said the Cat, hovering over her. "You do know that all ways are his ways yes? So follow any path and it will take you there eventually." "Though the quickest way is that way," said Applejack, jabbing a hoof over her shoulder. "Thanks, I guess that answers those questions for me." "You have more though ah reckon, knowing you." "That's a thing, why do you know me, but nopony else does?" Applejack tapped a hoof to her chin. "Ah don't rightly know, but I have a hunch. It may be because I've gone and become a temporary Guardian." "Guardian? What's a Guardian?" asked Twilight. "Without going too far into it, a Guardian is what it suggests in the name. But there only used ta be two of 'em, the Guardians of the Sun and Moon. You see these here trees?" She gestured to the gold and silver trees. "As ah understand it, these trees hold the souls of the Sun and Moon themselves." "B-but-" Twilight began to protest, even by today's standards this was outlandish. Applejack held up a hoof. "You may have noticed there is no Sun or Moon here... the two Guardians are either abroad, or they've in the court of the King, most likely against their will. I was drafted up to attempt to pick up the slack by becoming an unofficial Guardian of the Stars, which nicely explains that big tub in the centre there, liquid starlight that is. So mah job is to paint the stars at night, and when I stop, the 'dawn' comes." Twilight, processing the deluge of information waltzed up to the starlight and looked at it closely; it was entrancing stuff. "Is it safe to touch?" asked Twilight. "Sure is, it's nippy though." Cautiously, Twilight lightly prodded the surface of the insubstantial liquid; her hoof quickly recoiled in shock, it felt as though a thousand sharp fingers of ice had struck her in an instant. "Ah told you it were cold," said Applejack, shaking her head. "Not that cold though! How do you handle such a fluid?!" "With great care," said Applejack simply. "Now, you're gonna want ta get some rest ah reckon, it's mighty dangerous out there at night." "Only if it's no trouble, AJ," said Twilight humbly. "Of course it ain't sugar cube, come on, mah house is just behind this group o' trees." Applejack's house had been nothing like Twilight had anticipated. By now, the unicorn had expected it to be bigger on the inside, or entirely monochromatic, or there to be no gravity or something similarly ridiculous. But she was pleasantly surprised upon entering; it was almost exactly the same as her usual home, only with a lack of Granny Smith, Big Macintosh, or Applebloom. After she spent a few minutes absorbing the glorious familiarity around her, until Applejack snapped her out of it. "Uh, Twi? You okay?" "Huh? Sure, it's just... nice to be here." She smiled genuinely at the cowpony. "That's mighty kind of ya to say," said Applejack, smiling in turn, and making for her kitchen. "By the way, you hungry?" At the word 'hungry,' Twilight's tummy rumbled audibly, and she realised just how hungry she was. "Ah'll take that as a 'yes'?" she chucked. "Yes," returned Twilight, blushing slightly. Twilight retired to Applejack's living room for some peace and quiet while Applejack cooked. The purple pony perused the bookshelf and chose to read a title that interested her, though not before she had smelt it. In what felt like no time at all, Applejack was presenting Twilight with a hot, steaming bowl of very tasty looking vegetable soup. Twilight pulled her head out of the book she had been reading and gratefully received the bowl. Applejack sat in the chair opposite her with her own bowl, sighing in content as she did so. "It's nice to have company," said Applejack, plonking a spoon of soup into her mouth. "What about the Cheshire Cat?" asked Twilight, stirring her dinner and blowing on it to cool it down. "He visits occasionally, but he never stays long." "I see," said Twilight, eating a mouthful of soup, it was delicious; rich and filling. "Yeah, it gets awfully lonely out here sometimes." "How long have you been doing this?" asked Twilight, taking a drink of water. Applejack looked perplexed at the question, she lowered her spoon. "I don't rightly know to tell ya the truth, Twi... sometimes it feels like years, other times it feel like it was just this mornin'." This statement struck Twilight hard and she spluttered on her soup. Applejack was clearly unsure how long she'd been there, she might only have been here since this morning but that could mean... this was real? But how? Calm down Twi, it doesn't lead to any concrete conclusions, you just don't know whether this is a dream or reality anymore! Twilight let out an involuntary bark of humourless laughter, and threw a hoof over her mouth. "You sure you're alright?" "I-I'm fine, just real tired," she said, as a cover-up so as not to appear utterly insane, though it was more of a half lie, she was very tired. Applejack cast a caring eye over her guest. "Eat up your soup, and ah'll go get your bed ready in one of the spare bedrooms, got three of them for some reason." Twilight found herself in what should have been Big Macintosh's bedroom, staring intently at his ceiling, as though willing it to tell her everything that didn't make sense anymore. Twisting to the side, and looking out of the window, she saw Applejack high up in the air, with a starry brush in her muzzle, painting the night venetian blue, suspended from skyhooks. Obviously... grumbled Twilight's mind. Turning back to the ceiling, flumping her head on the pillow, causing several downy feathers to puff up around her and kiss her face. Maybe, if I fall asleep now, I'll wake up under that tree, and everything will be normal again, said a more hopeful sector of her conciousness. "Only one way to find out," she whispered, closing her eyes and letting the world be swept away as she traversed the bridges of the mind to the land of her dreams.