//------------------------------//
// Intervention Part 2 
// Story: The Guardian 
// by shadeofthenight 
//------------------------------//

Avalanche

Avalanche smiled, increasing the velocity of the whirlwind defense around him, but made no attempt to attack. His ice hurricane was still only a few meters tall, which paled in comparison to what would happen if he was at full power. Avalanche gave an involuntary shudder, remembering the raging chaotic winds and the unrestrained power that had caused it to go out of control. He had agreed with his mentor after that catastrophe: he wasn’t ready for that kind of power yet. 

Avalanche was brought out of his thoughts by another heated energy beam that dissipated when it hit his defenses. He turned his thoughts back to the tall white equine hybrid. Right now it was glaring at him, but held a curious look in its eyes as it circled him, looking for a weak spot. It fired another beam at him again, this time it sliced through his whirlwind before being intercepted by one of the many numerous ice shards that circled around him. Again, he made no attempt at a counter attack, instead focusing all his powers into his defenses. His plan was a risky one, but one he was willing to take as he had no intention of being thrown back into a cell or killed by a bunch of strange horses. Of course another option would be to summon his full power, but since he had absolutely no idea where he was, angering the locals with a raging winter filled with dangerous creatures was probably not the best way to solve it. Another beam hit his defenses. You’re probing my whirlwinds. He mused, keeping the breach open a little longer to see what the hybrid would do. He smiled, as it fired a bigger discharge of energy that punched all the way through its defenses, and dove towards him. Then he took a deep breath and with his remaining energy, exhaled….

Twilight

Twilight noticed the abrupt silence around her, well other than the fact that Luna was yelling at her in full Canterlot Royal Tone. 

“YOU ARE BLINDED BY THE SHOCK OF HAVING AN ATTEMPT On… your…” Luna faltered, hearing nothing else in the background, no howling winds, no magic being fired. Twilight and Luna both turned towards where the fight had been taking place and gasped. 

The biped and Celestia both stood a few inches for each other. The difference between the two was that the biped was on its knees and panting heavily, while Celestia remained motionless in a block of thick ice.  The ground between the two and several yards behind Celestia was covered in thick ice as well, glowing in the dim moonlight. The biped staggered upright, balancing itself. It looked at Celestia then tapped the ice. After a few taps, it began walking away.

“WAIT!” Twilight shouted, running after it. It turned around, a cold wind blowing through, penetrating her purple fur and freezing her. “Can you at least unfreeze her? I know it was wrong of her to attack you without looking at the facts first, but she’s my mentor and friend, so can you please?” She asked, giving it her cutest face. The creature simply stared at her blankly, then said something with a series of growls, roars and hisses. Now it was her turn to look confused. It repeated its strange language, then sighed. 

“You can’t understand me can you?” Twilight sighed. Then she thought of an idea. She gestured with a hoof towards the ice covered Celestia, then stomped her hoof on the ground, crushing a couple rocks. Luna trotted up, curious about the biped, and wondering about its powers. At first the biped just gave her that blank look, but Twilight repeated it multiple times until it finally got the message. 

The biped walked over to the Celestia cube and gripped the ice with its weird appendages. Then, with a downward motion, It melted the ice into a very large puddle of water, spilling a wet, cross Celestia out onto the ground. She glared at it, then her horn began to glow.

“Celestia wait!” Twilight called, getting between her and the biped. Celestia looked startled and her horn ceased glowing.

“Twilight what are you doing? That thing is dangerous!” There was a firm undertone, but yet softness in her voice showed she did not want to hurt her.
. 
“No it’s not!” Twilight protested, keeping herself between the two. “He had just saved me from a group of changelings!” She continued, gesturing over near the facility entrance. Celestia glanced over, noting the green ooze plastered all over ground, mingled with ice. 

“Why would you need to be saved from changelings? Wouldn’t your magic have been able to protect you?” Celestia inquired, getting up. 

“Remember the frost on the door?” Celestia nodded,” Well I kinda tried to analyze it with my magic, so I tapped my horn against it. I don’t know how, but it seems to be preventing me from using my magic at all.” To prove her point, she attempted to cast a healing spell on herself. Her horn flashed once before the frozen agony ripped through her body, causing the spell to cease. Twilight shivered as the pain left her, but not the cold. Then she felt something on her horn. The biped was holding her horn. She at first attempted to jerk her head away, but stopped when she felt the coldness on her horn recede. Both Celestia and Luna watched as Twilight cast her previous spell when it withdrew its hand, and this time it worked. The biped took a few steps back, averting its eyes as the spell washed over her, the magic searching for any wound on her body. The magic died down, leaving Twilight curious and yet pleased at the same time. Twilight turned towards the biped, looking at its dark blue eyes. 

“Thank you.” She told it, hoping the gratitude she was expressing would get through. A few seconds later, the creature nodded its head, a smile adorned on its face. Then it immediately turned sour as Celestia and Luna came up besides Twilight. 

Celestia hesitated, then asked,” Did you save my precious student?” The creature gave her a blank stare. 

“Um, princess?” Twilight waved her hoof to get her attention. “I don’t think he can understand you either.” Celestia raised an eyebrow, then turned back to the creature. A small smile shown on her lips. Twilight knew that look. It was one she saw whenever Celestia had gotten an idea. 

“What is it Celestia?” She asked. 

Celestia shook her head,” I’ll tell you later Twilight, but for right now, let’s see if we can get our strange guest to follow us to the Royal Carriage.” Twilight nodded, waving a hoof it what she hoped would be an implication for the biped to follow her. As usual, she had to repeat the motions a couple times before the biped took a couple steps forward. Twilight nodded then, with Celestia and Luna on either side of her, began to walk down the ruins of the bottom layer of the castle towards the entrance to the city. 

Luna

On the way back from the facility, Luna had some time to wrap her head around what was going on. According to Twilight, the changelings had showed up a few minutes after Luna and Celestia had entered the facility. Luna and Celestia had both found the creature’s cell door frozen shut with an unconscious bloody guard inside. After that was when they both heard Twilight scream for help, and the raging winds that came with it. The next thing Luna knew was that the biped and her sister were engaged in a fight to the death. Now she was walking alongside Twilight with the biped following behind. The creature was very interesting to her. It had no wings, yet could fly and move faster than possible. It had no horn, but could summon ice and harsh winds. It also had an aura of cold constantly around it, which made frost start to appear on the ground. The armor was also fascinating. The armor was compromised of several sections, with what appeared to be crystalline structures on its arms and legs. Its eyes were a deep blue, but they portrayed no emotion what so ever. Luna turned her attention back towards the rapidly approaching Royal Carriage. 

This particular carriage was used only whenever the sisters traveled together, though now a new one was being made for Twilight. This one was painted gold on one side, with dark blue on the other. A sun was on the gold, with a crescent moon on the other. This carriage was supposed to symbolize the sisters being of equal importance, but lately it was hard to see that due to some other ponies who harbored resentment towards her. Luna sighed, knowing that she would find ponies like them everywhere. The guards outside were both Solar and Lunar Guards, and they all grasped their weapons when they caught sight of the biped. 

“Stand down.” Celestia ordered, flaring her wings a bit. The Solar Guards immediately went back to their normal poses. The Lunar Guards followed, but only after a gentle nod from Luna. The doors of the carriage swung open, allowing the three princess access inside. 

The inside of the carriage was large enough for the princesses to be reasonably comfortable, even though one would have to be squished in between the two of them. Luna noticed that the creature wasn’t following them inside. She turned towards the biped, who was standing awkwardly outside. Twilight beckoned him forward with a hoof, and it climbed in, Luna moving over a bit to make room for it. It still had to hunch down, tucking its knees towards its armored chest. Luna was regretting being next to the biped, as the cold aura washed over her, managing to chill even herself. Frost began to collect inside the carriage as it took off, heading to Ponyville with its four occupants in tow. The carriage shuddered under the additional weight, but other than that the flight went alright. The pegasi driving were apparently strong enough for the extra weight, but that didn’t exactly comfort the occupants. The biped shivered, obviously uncomfortable in that restricted position. Everypony else began to notice it to, as the temperature kept dropping, icicles starting to form on the ceiling. Celestia raised an eyebrow, while Twilight began shivering from it. 

Interesting, She thought, It appears that the aura reacts to how its feeling. The negative emotions appear to cause a drop in the temperature. Hm, then do positive emotions raise it? 

This raised other questions, but there was one that bugged Luna. Why had it saved Twilight? And where did those changelings come from? The carriage shuddered again, the weight of the biped and the ice starting to have an effect on the pegasi pulling the carriage. 

“Um…can you..?” Luna asked, gesturing with a hoof towards the rapidly growing ice. The biped looked at her, then closed its eyes. The ice immediately began to collect around its body, then it vanished like it had been absorbed. Luna smiled and nodded her thanks. It returned her smile with an uneasy one, like it wasn’t sure about something. 

The rest of the trip past in silence. Twilight was staring at the biped, Celestia was looking outside the window, while Luna preferred to use the time to meditate. The carriage landed with a few bumps, the pegasi pulling having to compensate the additional weight. Then the door opened up and the night greeted them, though Luna would have to lower the moon soon, as it was only a couple hours to dawn. Celestia went out first, then Twilight, then Luna, with the biped squeezing out last It stretched, cracking noises coming from it as it moved around unrestricted again. They were just outside of Ponyville, only a couple blocks away from Twilight’s house. Luna noticed the biped taking in the scenery with some interest. She smiled as the four began to walk to Twilight’s house.