//------------------------------//
// 2 - Old Friend 
// Story: Guardian of Equestria 
// by Wanderer_Mike 
//------------------------------//

Canterlot Royal Gardens, a week later – 3rd POV

“Well Celestia, it’s nice of you to invite me for a stroll.”
Standing side-by-side along a stone path, Princess Celestia walked, enjoying the scenery. Not everyday she enjoys a small time to herself after ending Day Court early. Reason for that was because of Discord, who floated besides her over a balloon.
“Considering how you managed to scare the nobles that came with petitions that would take me all day to read, it’s the least I could do.” The Sun Princess replied, a small bird passing by with a cheerful chirp. “I’ve heard from Fluttershy that you’ve been helping around quite a lot.”
“Oh, it’s not that much.” Discord replied, making a cookie appear out of thin air and munching it. “Helping some of her critters to behave when they start acting rebellious is quite useful, especially when we can put a good scare on them.” He ate the whole cookie in a single bite. “Helping Pinkie Pie can be even more fun, especially when she’s on a pranking streak with Rainbow Dash.”
Celestia glanced at him. “Discord…” she started.
“Oh don’t ruffle your feathers, Princess.” Discord cut her off. “I Pinkie Promised not to overdid any pranks with my powers.” He looked aside. “I’ve learned my lesson.”
Celestia nodded. “Very well then.”
Both continued to walk until they reached a row of statues. “Ah, memories.” Discord sighed as he looked at the statues. He landed near a pedestal, where one was missing. “You kept my old place intact.”
“Do not worry, though.” Celestia assured him. “Sooner or later, there might be another statue to go there.”
Discord sighed. “Yeah. I must thank you though, Celestia.”
Celestia raised an eyebrow. “Why is that?”
“For giving me a second chance at redeeming myself.” He looked at the Sun Princess. “And for not turning me into a stone statue again after Tirek was handled with.”
Celestia shook her head. “Tirek tricked you, and took away your powers. I believe that was punishment enough.”
Discord smiled. “And I’m thankful for it.” he started walking again, but stopped. He looked around, a small frown on his face. “That’s strange…”
“What is?” Celestia asked.
Discord took off, gaining some height, and looked around. After a full minute, he landed down next to Celestia, rubbing his chin.
“Discord?” Celestia called, worried.
“He’s not here…” the draconequus muttered.
“Who’s not here?”
Discord turned towards the Sun Princess. “Celestia, before I rose to power and you two had to use the Elements of Harmony against me, there was another creature.” Celestia’s eyes gave a slight twitch, but Discord didn’t noticed it. “I know he was turned to stone, but I never saw him in the garden.”
Celestia didn’t say anything. She looked at Discord in silence, as he spoke about another entity she faced a long time ago.
An entity she would rather keep in stone than letting go free.
“He’s…” Celestia started. “…in a well-kept place, isolated from any force of nature. Why?”
At this, Discord looked at her with a raised eyebrow. “Well, I was about to suggest him to join the reform program and-”
"ABSOLUTELY NOT!!!!"
Celestia’s Royal Canterlot Voice threw Discord back towards a bush wall, leaving his own shaped hole. When he came out of the hole, he noticed the Sun Princess panting.
“Okay, didn’t see that one coming.” The draconequus muttered, hitting his head to clear the deafness. “Why the sudden outburst?”
Celestia blinked, before regaining her composure. “I’m sorry, Discord. It’s just… he shouldn’t be free.” She turned away.
Discord raised an eyebrow. “Is there something wrong between you two?” he asked.
Celestia didn’t look at him. “No, but…” she looked at a sun clock near the statues. “…I’m afraid our conversation will have to wait for another day. Duty calls.”
Discord watched Celestia walk away towards the palace in silence, before sighing. “It’s been so long since he was turned to stone. And he wasn’t that evil to begin with.” He sat down on a bench that materialized, a frown on his face. “What just happened for her to react like that?” he thought for a moment, before smiling. “This requires some detective investigation.”
He stood up, snapping his fingers. The bench disappeared in a flash, as a Sherlock Holmes costume appeared with another on him. “Now, let’s dig some backstory.” He said, holding a shovel, before disappearing in a flash.

***

Celestia sat on her throne, resuming the Day Court Discord managed to disrupt. Unfortunately, the only subjects she was receiving were only nobles, some with petitions, others with claims. She mentally sighed at how monotonous life has become. Since Twilight got herself a castle, it seemed most of the adventures were going towards her and her friends.
That talk with Discord somehow managed to bother her. And even though she managed to avoid it before it got complicated, his question lingered.
It was true, there was nothing wrong between her and the one imprisoned. But she knew how powerful he was and keeping him in an open space would be too dangerous. Especially if his powers decided to return to him.
After two hours of hearing the petitioners, she excused herself for a short break and moved to a small room behind the throne. There, she took the opportunity to stretch her legs a little and flex her wings. Having to keep appearances was something she managed to held for two millennia, but after so long, keeping herself regal at all times gave her several cramps. Cramps that even the royal massagers can’t get her rid off.
Another thought came into her head. There was another thing the creature Discord mentioned was capable off. And only two knew of it.
Her and Luna.
A shiver ran down her spine. Celestia immediately shook that thought off her head. There was no way she would free him. Not her, not Luna, not anypony. It was too dangerous.
And she honestly hope that Discord won’t try anything to free him.
She turned towards the door to resume Day Court, when another shiver ran down her spine. She blinked, looking around. The thought of what that creature could do to her somehow managed to give her chills. Good thing he was imprisoned in stone and sealed inside a chamber. There was no way he would get out without alerting everypony.
She couldn’t be more wrong in her whole life.
As Celestia re-entered the throne room and prepared to resume Day Court, a voice greeted her.
“Hello Celestia. Did you miss me?"
The expression of the Sun Princess did a complete one-eighty. From calm and composed, it became pure shock and fear. She scanned the throne room, trying to find the source of the voice as the Royal Guard looked around in confusion.
Celestia regained her composure, getting up. “Show yourself!” she demanded, opening her wings for intimidation.
“I will, but not in public.” the voice replied.
Celestia frowned, but complied. She looked to the guards, signaling them to leave the throne room. As the last one exited and closed the doors, she magically locked them. “Alright, we’re alone now. Reveal yourself.”
“After two thousand years, that’s how you treat me?” the voice spoke right behind her.
Celestia jolted and teleported away from her seat, appearing right in the middle of the throne room. Coming out from the back of the seat was a young human male with black hair and dark brown eyes. He was wearing a full body black suit with white stripes, and a light armor protecting his legs, arms and chest.

~~~

‘Oh god, her face when she heard my voice!’ I thought after giving her the fright. The poor girl still has some problems from the past. I couldn’t blame her from that though, since I was the one who created them.
Even so, it was still funny.
I looked at her with a smile. “Honestly Celly, I expected at least a visit from you or Luna.” My smile faded, looking at her in sadness. “And you even put me inside a sealed chamber, without any light or means to see the outside world! I’m deeply hurt.”
“How did you manage to get free, Mike?” Celestia growled, keeping her horn pointing at me, ready to strike.
“And then, after I’m finally free and decide to pay you a visit, this is the treatment I get! I expected a warm welcome, at least a-” I stopped myself. Considering the current timeline, I bet Pinkie Pie would suddenly teleport here at the word ‘party’. “-a nice reception, after not seeing you or your sister for so long.” I corrected myself.
Celestia didn’t move from her place, but I could feel her glare towards me. “You didn’t answer my question.” She spoke up.
I leaned to the throne chair, crossing my arms. “Right to the point with you, isn’t it.” I sighed. “Fine, to be honest, I have to thank you, Twilight and Tirek.”
Celestia raised an eyebrow, confused. “What?”
“It’s a chain event.” I replied. “As I believe that you know, my stone prison was fed by yours and Luna’s magic.” She nodded. “And when Tirek escaped from Tartarus, fearing that he might take both of your magic, you both plus your niece gave them to Twilight in order to keep it safe.” She nodded again. “Which in turn ended in dispelling the seal that kept me from escaping.” I looked at the Sun Princess. “Is that explanation simple enough?”
Celestia blinked as the information I provided raced through her head. But before she could speak, I threw a wrench in that brain of hers. “So, ever found anypony who could give you a massage like I did?” I asked with a grin.
Celestia sputtered, surprised. “Wha?”
That was more than an answer for me. “Guess not.” I replied.
“Where did that even come from?” she asked, looking at me in shock.
“I’m not blind, Celly.” I replied, looking at her with a raised eyebrow. “Two thousand years on only having hooves massaging your body may relief you of some pent up stress, but not all.” Celestia wings twitched. I smirked. “And you’re really needing one right now.”
Celestia braced herself, her horn glowing. “There is no way I am allowing you to roam Equestria again.” She declared, looking at me menacingly. “And I won’t allow you to touch me or anypony with those hands of yours!”
I jumped to the side, right before she shot her spell. The beam hit the throne chair, turning it to stone. I looked at the petrified chair, then turned my head towards the sun princess.
“Alright then.” I spoke, getting myself in position. “Let’s get rid of some of your stress.” I noticed her horn charging for another spell. “Starting with some exercise.”
Celestia fired her petrification spell, this time hitting an armor behind me as I dodged. I started running across the throne room dodging spell after spell, as Celestia started firing with more speed, trying to slow me down.
“C’mon Celly, is throwing spell after spell all you’re good at?!” I yelled, dodging another spell.
As a response, Celestia screamed in rage, throwing a large blast. I screeched to a halt, inches from the heat of the blast right in front of me, leaving a hole in the wall with a perfect view to Equestria. I glanced towards the alicorn, who was charging for another spell. “Okay… change of plans.” I muttered.
Celestia was preparing to shoot another volley of freezing spells, in order to put me under the petrification spell. The last time we fought, she and Luna had great trouble trying to take me down. And that was when I was at full power.
But now I didn’t have any of my powers. I was at my weakest, so she could handle me head on, without any surprises. All she had to do was keep her distance.
Eh. She didn’t expect me to start charging towards her, though.
Surprised, Celestia took off, trying to gain some height, but I jumped with all my strength towards her. Celestia smiled, as I suddenly realized that I put himself in midair, without any way of dodging.
“Gotcha!” She declared triumphantly, charging the petrification spell and firing at full power.
I stared in shock at the incoming spell, but before it hit me, the stripes on my body shone. Next thing I know, I was suddenly pulled towards the ground at the last second, as the spell barely grazed my hair, ending up hitting the carpet.
“Thank goodness they work.” I sighed in relief, laying on the ground. Getting up quickly, I looked at the Sun Princess. “Missed me!” I yelled mockingly. Celestia grinded her teeth, glaring, as I took a defensive stance. “C’mon, Celly!” I taunted. “That all you got? You’re not even giving me a challenge!” I jumped to the side to avoid a beam. “Don’t you wanna play like the good old times?”
"NO!" Celestia replied with the Royal Canterlot Voice at full blast. I winced at the volume of the answer, before noticing her firing another beam.
“Same old, same old.” I muttered, jumping to avoid the beam and starting to run again, when I noticed something different.
The beam never hit the ground. Instead, it started following me.
“Okay, that’s new.” I admitted, until the beam split into several. “And that’s unexpected!” I added, surprised.
Twenty-four smaller beams scattered and started cornering me, in the hopes of getting a clean hit. All I could do was run and dodge every small beam, while keeping a constant eye on the sun princess, in case she decided to shoot another round.
Which she did.
Forty-eight beams. I kept moving, but was now busier with acrobatics than running. Mortals, flip-flops, jumps, spins, I made moves that would make any circus and street performer cry in envy.
“This is getting ridiculous!” I yelled, making a ballerina pose to avoid half of the beams. To my bad luck, Celestia fired another beam towards me. My mind raced, trying to find a way to avoid the spell in time, but only one solution came to mind.
“This is going to hurt.” I muttered, grimacing. Twisting myself, I managed to avoid the hit of the larger blast, hitting a painting and turning it to stone. The mistake of avoiding that blast was that I got myself off balance, ending up being the target of all the beams that were coming. And as if they knew the opportunity, all strands focused into a massive beam, hitting me dead on in the chest, sending me flying towards the end of the throne room.
I groaned in pain as I slowly tried to get up. Damn, that guiding beam spell really packed a punch if focused. If it wasn’t for my armor and the sturdiness I obtained when I arrived here, that beam would have left a nice hole on my chest. But that spell was somehow familiar.
And by familiar, I mean that I used to do it.
I got myself in a sitting position, thankful that the spell was more to hit me than to slow me down, as I heard hoofsteps approaching. I looked up to see Celestia approaching, keeping her horn lowered towards me.
“That spell looked familiar, Celly.” I spoke calmly, keeping my position.
“One of the few I learned, in case I ever had to fight against elusive opponents.” Celestia replied, keeping her glare on me.
“So you’ve learned a few of my skills?” I asked with a raised eyebrow.
She squinted. “So what if I learned?”
I looked at her for a moment, then applauded, surprising her. “Imitating my skills in order to take me down. I must applaud you for that, Celly.” I commented, getting in a more comfortable sitting position. “Being able to combine a heat beam spell with a dispersion spell and a guiding spell isn’t easy, considering the amount of focus you have to do and timing to shoot all of them at the same time.”
Celestia kept her stare on me, recovering from the initial surprise. “Is that all you have to say?” she asked, her horn glowing.
A quick plan formed in my head. It was a gamble, and I had to play low. “No. In fact, I have something else to say.” Never taking my eyes off Celestia, I searched for a small pebble on the ground around me. It wasn’t hard to find one, thanks to that blast I took. “After two thousand years” my hand closed on a decent sized one. I sure hope this works. “are you still hogging cakes like there’s no tomorrow? Because I can see some pounds around your flank, despite your regal appearance.”
Basic lesson on how to deal with females: never talk about their weight. And in Celestia’s case, that was taboo.
How do I know? Her calm serious expression changing to one of pure rage, as her colorful mane changed to several shades of red. It was a dead giveaway.
“How dare you…” she growled, the glow of her horn changing from gold to red. “How DARE YOU!!!” she screamed, her tone almost reaching the Royal Canterlot voice.
I folded my legs, getting me into a crouched position. This is going to cut close. “With all due respect, I speak what I see. And for good reason.” It was true. Nopony dared to tell their Princess that she was getting fat. “At least when I was around in the past, I managed to keep you in top shape.”
Damn, good thing she doesn’t shoot lasers out of her eyes. They were blazing white with rage. One last push.
“But since you barely move around, only for royalty duty or private matters, you only rely on your magic, so I’m not surprised.” I smirked, getting ready to jump. “Should I call you by your old nickname, Princess…”
“Don’t you dare.” Celestia spoke in a low, menacing tone.
I grinned. “Marshmallow?” I ended in a squeak.
A large scream of rage was heard, and the next thing I saw was a beam of red coming at me, before I jumped to the side, barely dodging it. The beam went through another wall, disappearing from sight before hitting a mountain in the distance, blowing it to smithereens. I looked at the princess, noticing her charging another red beam, but this time, I was prepared.
The bad side of the spell Celestia shot was the casting time it took. But considering she was blind with rage, it was the only spell she was only focused in hitting me. That was the only time I had, and it was enough. Holding the small pebble, I threw it with exact precision, hitting right in the center of her horn. Celestia gasped at the sudden disruption of her magic, stumbling back has she felt the vibrations going through her head. I took the opportunity and dashed towards her. With a slight jump, a spin and a mortal, I landed right on her back, surprising her.
“Now let’s take care of those extra pounds.” I whispered to her ear, making her shiver, before straightening myself and raising my right hand. I grinned when she turned her head to look at me.
“Giddy up, Celly!” I yelled, swinging my right hand and slapping her flank.

~~~

Outside the throne room, a Unicorn and a Pegasus Guard stood there, watching the doors with a serious expression, although worried. It’s been a while since their Princess dismissed them to speak alone with the mysterious voice, and after five minutes, the sound of fighting was heard, together with some yelling and screaming between blasts. After a large explosion, there was silence again.
Since they were in the middle of Day Court, all the other guards were instantly dispatched to clear the entrance and suspend any petitioners that were coming in. This way, they could prevent a mass panic or rumors to spread across Canterlot.
Even so, for the two guards, the silence after the fight was putting them on edge.
“It’s too quiet. Do you think the Princess caught him?” the Pegasus asked.
“Do you doubt the Princess’s power?” the Unicorn replied.
“No, not that. It’s just…” the Pegasus glanced at the unicorn “…her expression when she heard that voice. She seemed… I don’t know…”
“Shocked and scared.” The Unicorn ended, looking at the Pegasus. “Princess Celestia knew that voice, so she told us to leave the throne room. She must know that the source is too powerful for us to face.”
“Even so, it’s our duty to protect the Princesses!” the Pegasus spoke, advancing towards the door. “We should get in there and help her!”
The Unicorn stopped him by raising a hoof. “We don’t know what kind of enemy Princess Celestia is facing. And if it turns out that it’s a powerful enemy like Discord or Tirek, then we would become hostages to force the Princess to surrender.” He explained, keeping his composure.
“Then what, should we stand here waiting for something awful to happen to Princess Celestia?” the Pegasus asked.
Before the Unicorn guard could answer, a scream of rage was heard inside the throne room, just before a large explosion followed it. Both guards looked at the doors. They recognized that the scream came from the Princess, and that worried both of them.
“I think we should wake up Princess Luna.” The Unicorn guard suggested.
Both changed glances, but the next thing they heard from the throne room decided it.
“Giddy up, Celly!” yelled a voice.
The next thing they heard was a strong neigh, followed by crashing noises.
“I’ll go. You stay here.” The Pegasus spoke, flying as fast as he could muster towards Luna’s chambers. The Unicorn just stared at the doors, worried.
“Please hurry.” He muttered as the sounds persisted.

~~~

“GET OFF OF ME!”
“HeeeeHaaawwww!!!”
“I AM NOT A RODEO HORSE!!!!!!”
“Hey yooo, Cellyyyy!!!”
“GET OFF RIGHT THIS INSTANT!!!!”
“Woohooo!!!!”
I’m not gonna lie, it’s been a long while since I had this much fun! And although Celestia yelled to me, I was helping her. Well, kinda.
True, most ponies don’t like to be mounted without permission. But as long as there’s a reason behind it, it can be explained. In Celestia’s case, I was helping her losing the few extra pounds she had.
She’ll thank me one day, I just know it. Until then, she has to endure it. It’s for her own good.
“Get… off… me.” Celestia panted, slowing down.
I blinked. You have got to be kidding.
“Don’t tell me you’re already out of breath.” I spoke up, keeping my grip around her waist with my legs. Not taking any chances by lowering my guard.
Celestia stopped lashing and turned her head, giving me a deadly glare.
“You’re joking.” I said in disbelief. “You’re joking, right? You used to hold out for an hour with me in the past, now you can’t hold five minutes!?” I frowned. “You really need me right now.” I positioned myself. “And until you manage to shake me off, we’re going to keep this up! Let’s go, Marshmallow!” I yelled.
“Don’t… call me that!” Celestia yelled, starting to lash out. Here it is, so she still had some fight in her. Even so, I could feel her sweat all across the body, and I knew she wouldn’t hold out for long. I sighed as she started to slow down again, panting hard.
“Okay, seriously. Is that all you got now?” I asked, disappointed.
Celestia didn’t answer. She took a deep breath and exhaled slowly.
“What are yo-EEEEOUCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” I suddenly screamed as I jumped off her back from the sudden heat, landing on the ground. “That was uncalled for!” I yelled at her, as I fanned some air between my legs with my hands.
Celestia chuckled, looking at me with a smug look. “At least… you are off my back.” She retorted.
I glared at her. “Oh, so you wanna play rough, do you?” I growled at her, getting up. Damn, I can’t close my legs because of the heat between them. “Okay then… let’s play.”
I charged at her, not giving her a chance to gather her magic. She opened her wings, trying to take off to get out of reach, but I never gave her that chance.
With deadly precision, I hit her wings with two fingers, right where the joints connected to the body. The result was Celestia’s wings falling limp to the ground, unable to move. But I didn’t stop there.
Before she could cast, I flicked her horn, disrupting her magic, then moved to hit the joints on her hinder legs, forcing her to sit. She tried to hit me with her forelegs, just to have them render on the ground useless with a few well-placed hits. She tried to focus on casting magic again, but this time, instead of flicking her horn, I grabbed it and gave a tight squeeze. The result was a small gasp from her, before her head fell. I carefully held it before hitting the floor and lay it down gently.
“Alright then, now that we can talk calmly, let’s go for the verdict.” I finally spoke up, as she glared at me, incapable of moving or casting magic. I sat down right in front of her. “You’re five pounds overweight, lacking stamina and physical endurance. Your only strong point is your supply of magic that seems near endless, probably from the two thousand year buildup and controlling the sun and moon for a thousand years.” I reported, never missing a beat, as she stared at me, surprised.
“How… do you…” she started, but I cut her off.
“Let me finish. While I was hitting you, I could feel a lot of tension in some of the joints, meaning that the royal massagers either don’t know all the right spots, or are simply ignorant that alicorns have a different anatomy than anypony else. So…” I clapped my hands “…my advice to get some of that stamina back, together with some endurance would be to make a light gallop around Canterlot every morning, either before or after sunrise, your choice. And try to avoid using your wings, because that would be cheating. Oh, and your question from before? I managed to feel Luna’s magic disappear when I was imprisoned. One of the perks when trapped inside a statue that sustains its power by feeding on your magic. So yeah, I know about her.”
Celestia glared at me. “I… hate… you.” She managed to growl.
I stared at her. “I try to help you, and that’s how you thank me?”
“You… come in here… call me fat… mount me like a rodeo horse… disable me… and then tell me… what I should do… to keep myself in shape. And you expect me… to thank you after all this?” she retorted.
I blinked. “Okay, point for you there. But in my defense, you attacked first, and that was a well needed exercise. You must have lost at least half a pound with all that thrashing and lashing around.”
Celestia snorted. “You shouldn’t… have escaped… from your stone prison.”
I sighed, shaking my head. “Celly, I believe I did my time. And two thousand years is too much for me. My race has an age limit, and I already passed it by two thousand, four hundred and ten years, give or take.”
Celestia looked at me. “What… are you going… to do?” she asked.
I stretched myself, cracking some bones from my back. “First things first, I’m gonna reunite with some old friends of mine. We have a lot to catch up. After that, I might go on a tour through the lands, to see how much things changed. But first…” I cracked my fingers “…I’m giving you something you need right now. It’s been a long time since you got it.”
Celestia stared at me, her eyes focusing on my hands as I flexed my fingers. “You wouldn’t…”
I looked at her and couldn’t hide a grin. “Aw come on, Celly. For the old times?” I said, slowly approaching her. Her eyes were wide as dinner plates, as she tried to crawl away from me.
I held her down by sitting on her back. “Nuh-uh, Celly.” I said, the grin never leaving my face. “No running away while I’m doing my magic. You know that wouldn’t be healthy.”
“No…” Celestia breathed out, as I approached my hands on her neck. “No.” she repeated, as my hands were almost touching her coat.
“Aw, come on. It’s not like I’m gonna hurt you.” The grin never left my face as I kept talking. “Though, it’s been two thousand years, so I may be a little rusty. But don’t worry.” Celestia shuddered when I lowered my voice. “I’ll be gentle.”
Dang, even my voice gave me chills when I said that. But what I said was true.
I clapped my hands and rubbed them, until the friction heated them up. Then without hesitation, I put them on her neck, at the same time the Sun Princess screamed.