//------------------------------//
// "I pledge my sword by your side." 
// Story: Guardian 
// by Oro_tharr 
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"And then he said... 'I'm not that old!" She told in a old and scrawny voice.

Twilight Sparkle laughed at Pinkie Pie's latest joke, these were the moments she truly enjoyed where she and her friends would just joke about life, despite the fact that Pinkie looked a lot grayer then she did a few years ago, her mane was a bit straighter and she wasn't skipping nearly as much, Rainbow Dash had joined the Wonderbolts until she got severely injured during a flight math, the mechanical parts of her new wing still malfunctioned from time to time.

Rarity, out of all her friends, had changed the least. Her mane were still styled in a perfect manner, her coat had lost a little of it's shine, but she had barely changed above that, at least physically, Rarity whined a lot less and were much more capable when it came to dealing with danger than she were just a few years back, then there was Fluttershy, she had dropped her job as a small time vet and instead opened a large animal care center, where thousands upon thousands of animals were treated every day, she had it built using wood from the Everfree Forest, so the more feral animals would feel at home.

Spike had grown a lot, he were nearly twice as tall as a pony and he had a pair of majestic wings coming out his back, he seemed healthier than ever and had a shine that reminded her of Celestia's mane, and he had picked up a hobby that slightly worried Twilight, blacksmithing, and not just pretty things either, lately he had started to create swords for the town guard, repaired armor and even started training himself, for some reason his preferred weapon were a greatax, Twilight had asked where he had found it, and apparently Spike told her that he and a few smiths from Canterlot decided to craft him a weapon, using Dragonfire to form it, Twilight couldn't help but feel slightly uneasy around it.

Applejack had won the top athlete competition for eight years in a row now, she was practically rolling in bits, but she would always give away over eighty percentage of her victory money every time she won, and when asked why she didn't lay of apple bucking and just live a life in luxury, she would respond with "Work's good for the soul, partner, and ah won't quit 'til I die." Bit crude and a little bit dark, but it gets her message across.

Then there is, of course, Twilight Sparkle, being an Alicorn didn't mean she were going to live forever, for this she was grateful, but she still didn't look a day over twenty two, the age she had entered the ranks of Alicorns, she remember Celestia's words clearly. "Alicorns are not immortal, Twilight, we live until we lose our connection to whatever keeps us alive, for you have not found yours, I can not tell how long you have to live." It was a scary kind of relief, knowing she wouldn't have to watch the world burn. She shook such dark thoughts away from her mind and went back to enjoying the day with her friends, when the twilight approached Twilight swore she could see a figure in the distance, it was tall, it looked taller than Spike, and some kind of item was attached to her back.

"Girls, are you seeing this?" She asked, pointing towards the figure in the distance. No answer came however, and as she looked around she noticed all of her looked frozen in time, she realized, with a shock, that she were in the Twilight Zone, if the situation didn't have her slightly scared she would laugh at the irony of the name.

The figure stalked forward, and now she noticed what the item on it's back were, it was a short but menacing sword  that seemingly shined in the twilight.

She studied the creature closer, her mind almost drawing a blank as she tried to understand the situation.
"Okay, here's what I know, i'm in the Twilight Zone, that isn't a first time so no worries, I know it passes, but no other creature should be able to enter the Twilight Zone than me! And my friends seem frozen, which means that time has stopped too..." Her mind was going in circles, before in the end the creature were just ten meters away from her, it was now she noticed where she had seem it before.

'The Equestrian Wanted Poster' is a very short list, but on each one there was always something unique, and this was The Phantoms Shade, some call him the Spawn of Tartarus, and he was coming right at Twilight.

Using the small part of rationality her mind still had she attempted to summon her magic, twilight were her zone after all, it was her magic pool.

But to her shock the magic she had been charging just died out with a fizzle, she looked cross eyed at her horn and tried to charge a teleportation spell, again the magic just fizzled out.

The creature, surely two meters tall was in front of her, and went down on one knee.
If Twilight's brain had been working properly, she would have noticed the friendly smile he wore.
"My Lady, Twilight Sparkle." He chuckled a little, eye's falling on her.

"I couldn't think of a better time to introduce myself, to some, I am just the criminal 'The Phantoms Shade', to other's, i'm a emotion. 'Despair.' to my friends, i'm just the plain and ordinary 'Victor.' But to you, My Queen? I am The Twilight, everything you see around you is my very being, and thus, I pledge my sword to you." He unsheathed his sword and stuck in the ground.
"My Queen, Twilight Velvia."