The Guardian

by InsaneBatPony


Revenge of the Rainbow and The Unforgiving Mage

I had a hard time coming up with this one. Some follow-ups are hard to do I guess. Ah well. Enjoy.

1

The next morning was all a blur to the Princess of the Sun. The guards were running around the facility, carriages were being packed to the point of near breakage, and the small team of Scientists were yelling and raging at each other to be careful with all of the equipment. On top of all that Celestia was dealing with already, Luna and Volos were nowhere to be found. Celestia trotted down the many pathways and corridors inside the massive crystal structure, hoping to find her sister and Volos together.

"Luna!" No response. "LUNA!"

"I'm in here!" Celestia heard coming from one of the rooms in the hallway she was travelling in.

Celestia neared the door and threw it open with no regard as to who could be on the other side of it. She rushed inside the room and found Luna sitting across from Volos, with a chess board in between them. Luna moved one of the pieces with her magic before speaking.

"What do you need?" she asked.

"We're going back to Canterlot in less than thirty minutes! Get ready!"

"WHAT?! Why!?"

"Fluttershy is awake and I want to get out of this place. Now move!" Celestia ordered.

Luna shot up almost hitting Volos' face with her tail. Her horn lit up and she levitated all of the possessions that she had into a couple suitcases and teleported them to the waiting carriages.

"Done", she told Celestia.

"Good, now follow me to the carriages."

"Volos, please come with me", Luna commanded with a soft tone, prompting the giant alien to stand and walk to Luna's side.

"Were you teaching him to play Chess?" Celestia whispered.

"I needed something to pass the time and I chose to teach him to play a board game."

Celestia let the strange occurrence pass and they continued to the carriages at the front of the facility. When they arrived, guards were standing at attention and the scientists were aboard their own carriage and waiting for departure. Celestia and Luna clambered onto their carriage as well and waited for Volos to walk up as well.

"I don't think he'll fit on here with us", Celestia whispered to Luna.

"Nonsense, there is plenty of room." She turned her attention to Volos. She waved a hoof at Volos to come on board the carriage. Volos placed one of his feet onto the floor of the carriage, making it bend under its weight. He stepped up onto the carriage completely which began to sink under his weight. Luna quickly cast a weight modification spell to lessen Volos' massive weight, making the carriage regain its shape and was straight once again. "See, I told you he would fit", Luna chuckled nervously.

"It appears we are ready to depart. Set a course for Canterlot Castle. I want to get back as quickly as possible!"

The guards that were latched to the front of the carriage began running and flapping their wings. With time they were in the air going back to Canterlot, without seeing Shining Armour or Cadance before their departure.

2

Fluttershy lay in her bed, attached to a multitude of monitors and other devices. She was surrounded by the others, who after hearing that she had awoken, all came running to her side. Fluttershy was sleeping and looked peaceful through all of the bandages and wires. Rainbow Dash was holding Fluttershy's hoof in her own and hadn't left the room after the others had left to get something for all of them to eat. Rainbow's azure eyes kept staring at the immobilized Fluttershy, the fur underneath matted down with tears of sadness.

"Hey Flutters", she began, "You got to wake up again okay? We've been through a lot together you and me. From the first time we met at Flight Camp to now, we've been friends. So please just wake up, for me." She began to silently cry, pulling Fluttershy's hoof closer.

She didn't know how long she had been sitting there but the sun was beginning to set. She stood up and walked to the window. She stared out into the distance, wishing that she could have stopped Fluttershy's pain before it happened. She pulled the curtain shut and took her place once again by Fluttershy's side hoping that she would wake up again in the morning. Rainbow Dash tilted her head forward and slowly closed her eyes, dreaming of the vengeance that she would reap upon the alien monster as recompense for the injuring of her closest friend.

Rainbow Dash's eyes fluttered open as she yawned herself awake. She scanned the room quickly and found that she was not alone in the hospital room. Twilight, Applejack, Pinkie Pie and Rarity were all sleeping on a wall-long bench inside the room. She rubbed the grogginess out of her eyes and stretched. She looked down at the still sleeping Fluttershy, who still resembled a small child sleeping peacefully. The heart monitor released a steady stream of beeps, but began to become more rapid. Rainbow Dash snapped to attention and noticed that Fluttershy's heart rate had increased almost exponentially. She screamed for the doctor, waking the others.

A short time later one of the Nurses came through the door in a hurry, her ears filling with the rapid beeps of the monitor. She looked at the monitor and began to work immediately, pushing Rainbow Dash to the side. She pulled out a needle and stuck into Fluttershy's leg and injected its contents. The heart monitor began to let out slower beeps and she threw the needle into the Bio-hazard container on the wall. "Alert me if it happens again", she said leaving the room, before Rainbow Dash could ask any questions.

The others came up to Rainbow Dash and gently began to tug on her shoulder and urging her to come and eat. "No thanks guys, I'm good", she whispered.

"You need to eat sugarcube. You aren't helping Fluttershy by starving yourself", Applejack said quietly. Rainbow Dash nodded after thinking for a time and joined her friends over at the large bench to eat the food that was gathered. They all ate together in silence wishing for the same thing, that Fluttershy would wake again.

When they had all finished eating and gathered up all of the trash that was accumulated they all sat in silence once more. The door opened slowly and in walked Princess Celestia, a somber look on her face. Twilight rushed over and hugged her mentor at her returning.

"I missed you Princess", she said into Celestia's shoulder.

"I missed you too, my ever faithful student", Celestia responded. She turned her gaze to the bed inside the large room. "Has she awoken at all?"

"Once, but it was only for a short time", Rainbow Dash informed the Princess.

Celestia nodded and walked over to the sleeping Fluttershy. She began to smile, knowing that she was healing from the ordeal. Fluttershy stirred slightly and moaned. Every eye in the room flew to where Fluttershy was lying. Her eyes slowly opened, but not completely. She could see shadows and the faint coloration of her friends.

"H...Hi everypony", she greeted. Her voice was quiet and raspy, but loud enough for all to hear. The group had to do their best to refrain from crowding the poor Pegasus on the bed. Her head slowly rolled across her pillow so she could see all of them. "It's good to see all of you", she whispered, "You too Princess." Celestia nodded slowly.

"We're all very glad to see that you're recovering Fluttershy", Celestia told the Pegasus.

Fluttershy's eyes were still half-closed when her fragile gaze fell onto Rainbow Dash. "Rainbow?" She came forward. "I heard everything you said to me yesterday," she tried to smile but instead began coughing. After a short coughing fit she calmed down and laid her head back on the pillow, still facing Rainbow Dash. "I'll be fine and we'll be able to fly together again and go to our pet play dates and live life like we used to. Look forward to it okay? Because I am." She laid her head evenly on the pillow again and sighed contently. She turned her head to where she remembered the Princess standing. "Princess where is Princess Luna?" she asked weakly.

"She is...", her thoughts raced to come up with an answer, "away at the moment but she will visit as soon as she can. I promise", she said, trying to convince Fluttershy. Celesta had a worried look on her face and turned to leave, "I'm sorry but I must go now. I have some unfinished duties to attend to", the door opened as she spoke and she walked out with a brisk pace. Fluttershy had closed her eyes again a small smile on her lips.

Applejack went over to Twilight and spoke to her in her iconic southern accent. "Twilight, I need to speak with you in private."

Twilight looked at Applejack with a quizzical look, but followed her outside the room. "What is it A.J?"

"The Princess was lying about something", she told the befuddled student.

"Are you crazy? The Princess would never lie about anything!" she rebutted, using a louder voice.

"I am not crazy. I'm the Element of Honesty remember? It was subtle but she was definitely lying about something."

Twilight thought for a while before saying anything, "Applejack if you really are right, I don't think the Princess would lie about anything, but what would she lie about?"

"I don't know Twi, but it must be something big."

3

Luna waited on the balcony attached to her large bedroom, painting the sky with stars and constellations. Volos, as was his new place, stood by her side. He watched the sky burst with the small dots of light that were the stars. He whistled in amazement at the display. Luna smiled after hearing him appreciate her work. She continued on, placing stars throughout the sky with expert accuracy. The glow around her horn intensified as she placed stars into a pattern she had remembered from his wall carving in the Crystal Empire.

Volos watched as the stars aligned into the shape of a circle with lines crisscrossing, making the outlines of land masses and oceans. He began to tense until he was stone solid. Luna stopped and turned to look at her new companion's reaction. Her eyes grew when she noticed that he was as still as the statues in the gardens. Volos' mouth opened and began to emit a sound that made all who could hear it cringe in fear. He roared again, a mix of anger and utmost sadness could be heard. Luna tried to calm him down but to no avail.

Luna ignited her horn and removed the unusual constellation from the sky, obliterating it in a matter of seconds. Volos continued roaring, blood began to escape his mouth from the intensity of the sound. Luna became frantic. She tried to calm him down again by talking to him instead.

"Volos, calm down. Please, I'm sorry. I'm sorry! I didn't mean to make you angry! Please stop!" she yelled, worried about him and the others inside the castle. Luna blasted a restraint spell at Volos, encasing his limbs in the blue chains. He struggled and thrashed in anger. Luna lit her horn again and felt the familiar pang of pain in her forehead. Blue lines once again traced her horn and eyes, emitting their low blue hue. "SILENCE!" she hollered, the lines and dim light fading away.

Volos began to quiet down and relax. Luna released the chains around his limbs and he drew ragged breaths. Volos had returned to his normal breathing pattern but blood still dripped from his jaw. Luna cleaned off the blood and ushered him inside. She lay down on her bed and sighed heavily. Luna heard quick and loud knocks on her door. "Come in", she groaned. She looked over to see a furious Celestia standing in the doorway. Luna could tell that her white coat was already beginning to singe in some spots, signifying that she was on the verge of an all-out rage.

"What was that!?" she half asked, yelling.

"I tried to make him a special constellation and he freaked out," Luna tried to explain calmly.

"Of what?"

"I don't know what it was. It was just something I remembered seeing on the wall back in the Crystal Empire."

"Because of that little outburst, I have guards running all over the place yelling 'It's going to eat me' and ponies are becoming curious, Twilight especially. That could pose a problem", she stated, becoming more serious with every sentence.

"I understand, I'll try to keep him quiet as best I can", she replied somberly.

"Good. Now, not only is Twilight curious as to what that noise was, Rainbow Dash flew off in a rage looking for the source of it." Luna cocked an eyebrow. "She's taking this whole thing with Fluttershy extremely hard. Should they meet, I fear for the safety of both of them."

"I'd be more worried for Rainbow Dash's safety", Luna said, trying to lighten the mood a little bit.

Celestia huffed. "I don't even want to think about what would happen if she saw him", she sighed. Luna was becoming concerned. "I'm concerned for Fluttershy but I don't want to end up with two ponies in the hospital with grievous injuries."

Celestia and Luna stayed in silence for a time. The only sound in the room was Volos' heavy breathing. "Should we have come back?" Luna asked, breaking the silence.

"I felt that it was the right time to return, regardless of Fluttershy's condition when we left. Although the fact that she had woken up for a short time did contribute significantly to the decision."

"Liar, that's the only reason we came back. I know your story with her. You were overjoyed", Luna quipped, smirking.

Celestia sighed and smiled. "Yes, I guess that is the only reason why we came back", she chuckled. Her face became serious once again. "But, you need to keep him from causing trouble", she stated, pointing a hoof in Volos' direction.

A knock on the door was heard again. "Yes?" Luna called. The door flew open and there stood Rainbow Dash looking angrily at the guards who were now on the rumps. "What is the meaning of this Rainbow Dash?" she asked, becoming angry at the interruption.

"Princess, I need to talk to...", her voice trailed off when she saw the creature standing by Luna's bed. Her eyes narrowed, and were radiating hatred and rage. "YOU!"

4

Rainbow Dash stared down the creature by Luna's side. "That...That's the thing that hurt Fluttershy! Why is it here?!" she roared.

"Rainbow Dash, I understand that you are angry but I assure you he will not cause any more harm", Celestia tried to reassure the angry Pegasus.

Rainbow Dash's gaze flew between the Princess and Volos. Her stare did not soften and she only grew angrier at the Princess' words. "Not cause harm?", she began, "NOT CAUSE HARM! You know what it did to that town and Fluttershy! Have you lost your mind?!" she roared. Rainbow grazed the tile with the bottom of her hoof and lowered herself into an attack position. She screamed as she took off flying at Volos. Celestia and Luna were dumbstruck as she charged.

Volos did not move and watched the Pegasus charge. Rainbow Dash neared her target, still bent on his destruction. Volos quickly raised his arms to his chest. Rainbow Dash pulled up quickly, but felt something squeeze her midsection, making her wings fold across her back. Her momentum kept her arcing upwards but was pulled down by an extremely heavy object. She felt her momentum be redirected downwards and watched the tile floor come ever closer before she smashed into it head first, making a sickening cracking sound. The tile was now cracked and shattered at the impact zone. Volos was bent backwards to the floor, still holding Rainbow Dash's midsection. His feet had not moved during the entire ordeal. Volos let go of Rainbow Dash and spun on his hands, going into position that looked like a bear about to attack its prey. He stood up and looked at the Princess on the bed.

Celestia ran over and pulled Rainbow Dash out of the tiles in the floor. She checked her over using her magic. Her face had a questioning look on it as she tended to Rainbow Dash.

"Is she alright?" Luna finally managed to ask, breaking from her initial shock.

"Yes she will fine", Celestia started, "Surprisingly, there's no concussion and no internal injuries." A moan escaped Rainbow Dash's lips. "See, she'll be alright. She has an uncanny ability to stave off damage to herself. All she needs is a bed and some rest. And maybe an ice pack", she mused.

"That's good, but her outburst still confuses me", Luna said.

Celestia waved a hoof dismissively and picked up Rainbow Dash in her magic. "I'll take her back to her friends and reassure them of her condition", she stated, walking out of the room.

Luna hopped up and went to follow Celestia to the room where Fluttershy was lying. Volos took a heavy step behind the Princess of the Moon. She raised a hoof and shook her head from side to side. Volos stopped and watched the Princess' leave the room. He turned and looked at the head sized hole in the floor. He let out a deep growl.

5

Celestia entered the room that Fluttershy was in, levitating the unconscious Rainbow Dash inside as well. The group of four uninjured ponies jumped up when they saw both the Princess and Rainbow Dash enter. They came running up to Celestia.

"What happened?" Twilight asked with alarm.

"Relax, she is just unconscious. She had a...falling out of sorts with one of the guards. She will be alright", she said, comforting those inside.

Celestia placed Rainbow Dash on the large bench and looked at Fluttershy, smiling. Luna opened the door and slowly entered the room, catching everyone's attention. She gingerly waved and closed the door behind her. Luna glanced over to the bed and tangled mess of wires and tubes, her heart sinking. She went over to the others and stood among the group of ponies. Twilight had filled in Princess Luna on how Fluttershy was holding up and what the doctors believed would happen in the future.

"Oh, my. I do hope that she can live as normal a life as possible", Luna said, clearly concerned.

"We all do Princess", Applejack said.

"Especially Rainbow Dash. She hasn't been holding up very well lately", Twilight inputted.

"We know", Luna deadpanned, eliciting strange looks from the group.

"The guard thing?" Luna lied. The group nodded, understanding.

The floor began to vibrate lightly, none felt it at first. The floor shook with an increased intensity. "Does anypony feel that?" Rarity asked.

Celestia and Luna exchanged a worried glance. The door was smashed open, barely hanging from its hinges. A black metal fist was all that could be seen in the door, before a large mass ducked inside. Volos' head swiveled and fell onto the mass of Cyan and Rainbow colors on the bench. He stomped inside, only to have Luna block his path. Volos looked down at the blue Alicorn and growled. Luna stood her ground and stared daggers at Volos.

"Leave", Luna demanded. Volos growled again, increasing the volume. Volos ignored her demand and turned his head away and his eyes went to the bed at the other side of the room. He walked over to the bed and examined the body on it.

"It's the monster that did this", the realization dawning. "Volos", Rarity whispered, unable to contain her disbelief at the situation and remembering everything that had happened between her sister and the creature. Twilight and the rest of the group glared daggers at the alien by Fluttershy's bed.

Volos whined and moved a hand over to Fluttershy's form. "Stop him...", Twilight whispered. “STOP HIM!"

She grabbed Volos' hand in her magic and threw it away from Fluttershy, surprising Volos. He growled and released the blade from his forearm. Twilight's eyes didn't soften but she was afraid. Volos' growled again raising the blade. Twilight began to shy away from Volos' unforgiving gaze, but steeled herself again. He sheathed the blade and turned away. Twilight blasted him in the side, making Volos roar. Twilight ran up close to Volos and teleported them both into the gardens outside of the castle.

6

Twilight stared at the thing she was once so eager to study and, now, all she wanted to do was destroy it. Volos recovered from the teleportation quickly and faced Twilight, both blades coming from his forearms. Twilight's horn glowed again and she blasted Volos with a large stream of purple magic. Volos' blades were in front of his face, crossed. The beam was impacting the blades, making them begin to heat up. Volos' arms strained at the brute force that the magic was hitting with. He planted his feet and began to push back. Twilight also started straining to maintain the attack, and was beginning to sweat.

Volos pushed again and swung his swords outwards, causing the magic to burst into a cloud of shimmering particles. Twilight recoiled and stumbled. Volos put his arms out, one pointing directly at Twilight while the other pointed directly behind him. Volos stepped quickly and swung his body around in a circle and moved his arms in twisting motions, turning them into bladed whips. Twilight yelped and started to back-step. The blades came close to her body as she used a mix of magic and luck to dodge the attacks.

Volos spun and spun, his arms appearing to swing wildly, when, in reality, they were moving with sickening skill and professionalism behind them. He raised one of his feet and stomped down on the ground as he rounded himself again. Twilight stumbled, the earth below her shaking. Volos' blades came down on Twilight, but she managed to cast a small shield spell before impact. The blades smashed into the small magic disk and she was pushed away by the momentum of the swinging blades. Twilight slid on the grass a good distance before managing to right herself completely.

Twilight charged her horn and cast a large blast of ice at Volos. Volos swung at the ice with his blades, but they froze on impact with the large ball. His arms and body slumped over, trying to break the hard-as-steel ice. Twilight galloped up to Volos, her horn once again ablaze. She placed it in his waist and fired off a beam of magical energy, making her large enemy stumble backwards. His arms raised into the air as he tried to catch himself, but before he could, Twilight was on the attack again. She fired off a small cone of magic that had sharp point on the tip.

The blast impacted Volos' lung, cutting it across the side; leaving a cut in the modified organ. Volos fell over onto his back, his arms trapped in ice above his head. His breaths were becoming labored very rapidly and trickles of blood seeped from the cut as he struggled to breath. Twilight walked up to her fallen opponent ready to deliver what would be the final blow. Her eyes studied the creature upon the ground and watched as his modified lung was repairing itself. She looked on with a look of inquisitiveness and shock together. There was so much she did not know about this creature. Volos' began to growl, his volume increasing every passing second. He pulled his arms apart while they were encased in the ice. The ice started to crack and drop small shards on the ground. Twilight heard the cracking and was unable to move.

"There's no way he can be doing that. That ice is almost at Absolute Zero on the Scientific Scale", she muttered.

The ice shattered as Volos' arms swung around and nearly cut Twilight into pieces. She jumped back as Volos sheathed one blade and swung his hand around to her. Twilight was smacked in the neck Volos' hand, giving her a case of whiplash. He squeezed on it and lifted her high before throwing her into the dirt with a thud. He raised his other blade and plunged it down onto Twilight.

Twilight was on the ground, her head looking up at the metal demon before her. She began to cry as she looked behind her. Volos' blade had cut deeply into her flesh, the blood was seeping out around the point of the blade. Volos' growls and enraged breaths became quieter as he calmed himself from the heat of battle. He knelt down and placed himself over the sword embedded in Twilight. He placed his free hand by the wound and quickly pulled out the blade, covering the bleeding gash with his other hand. Twilight was too scared to move.

The Princesses landed with a loud thud on the grass and looked at the crying Twilight and kneeling Volos. Celestia jumped into action and began to heal Twilight's wound using her magic. Volos slowly removed his hand and watched as the wound closed and the bleeding stopped. He stood up again and looked at Luna, who only looked at him with disbelief.

"Luna, I expected better than this", Celestia scolded while standing over Twilight. Luna looked at the ground. "If you cannot keep him under control I will need to send you both away until I can sort this all out. Against my better judgment in this matter I will give you one more chance to keep him from attacking any other ponies on the premises. This includes guards. Do I make myself clear?" Luna nodded slowly. "I understand that they attacked first and he was only defending himself but even so, the magnitude of what he did to defend himself was highly excessive. Don't let this happen again!" Celestia stormed off with Twilight lying on her back, who, she had levitated onto it during her scolding of Luna.

Luna sighed and turned to Volos. "Come on let's go", she said sadly. Volos whined. "I'm fine but that was too much! You could have killed them! From now on don't attack unless I tell you to", she commanded. "Now come on, let's go back to the castle." Luna plodded through the lawn with Volos behind her until they were back inside the castle. They had walked up to Princess Luna's room and she threw herself onto her bed. "Tomorrow I'm going to take you to see Twilight and the rest and I want you to apologize. I don't care how just do it. And...Try not to do any more harm from now on", she sighed, "I hope you didn't break Fluttershy's eardrums with those roars of yours." She sat up, looking at Volos again. "Speaking of which, I don't know why I'm saying this, but, I hope you can do something to help her recover despite your history with her. You seem to know how to keep ponies alive", she said, lying back down and pulling the covers close to her and cosing her eyes for a nap.

Volos stood by Luna's bedside, unmoving. He turned and went over to the corner closest to the bed after a while and sat down, leaning against the wall. His eyes dimmed. It was time for him to rest as well.