~???’s PoV~
He Is back.
Things are going well.
Soon it shall be here.
Much like it has been before, long ago.
Things have only just started for Equestria’s Guarding Light.
But as always, every beginning is also an end, much like how every end is a beginning.
They are coming, and they are going.
Will he do it this time?
Will he survive this iteration?
Only Time could tell.
And he was running out of it.
~Ian’s PoV~
The Archon’s head rolled down the street.
I turned to leave, my job done, the innocent protected.
I looked off to the side, wincing at the charred remains of a pegasus.
Ponykind got off with only a single death on this day.
But at what cost? How many family members would mourn this pegasus? How many foals were left fatherless or motherless?
Every loss pained me, but I could not sit and mourn, I had a duty to fulfil.
With a sigh I started to walk back towards the Everfree.
But a voice stopped me in my tracks.
“Th-Thank you Mister. For saving my life” came a voice from behind me. It was the mare that I had saved, a grey coated pegasus with a golden mane and a pair of gleaming gold eyes, one of which evaded command and pointed in the wrong direction, her cutie mark, at a glance, appeared to be a series of bubbles.
“T’was no problem Ma’am, It is my duty to protect the innocent, and I was merely fulfilling it” I stated, a small nod of thanks to the mare. She giggled a bubbly laugh, before curiously tilting her head again.
“What are you? If you don’t mind me asking” she said, her head tilted slightly to the left in curiosity. I smiled under my helmet, before reaching up to unlatch it.
“I’m just a humble Human. But you, my bubbly friend, may call me The Guardian. And I am Equestria’s Guarding Light.” I stated, with a smile before turning around and replacing my helmet once more, with a click and a hiss as the atmospheric systems started filtering the air once more.
The sun was setting off in the distance, I smiled inwardly, remembering a promise I made to Celestia long ago. I raised my hand high in the air, pointing straight up, my thumb pointing outwards and the rest of the fingers curled up.
I knew that nopony would get the reference I was making, but that was beside the point. The gesture meant, that no matter where she was, I would always be watching her, making sure that she and Luna were always protected. I simply continued to walk into the sunset, placing my hand back at my side.
I tapped into my innate Void Magicks, wrapping a cloak of pure nothingness around me.
~Ditzy’s PoV~
The Guardian vanished.
He simply disappeared, almost as if he was never there to begin with.
I pondered on what the gesture with his hand meant.
However, I was broken out of my thoughts by a Twilight Guard tapping me on my withers.
“Excuse me Ma’am, but do you know what happened?” he asked me, I smiled.
“The Guardian… He’s real” I whispered, recalling the myths of the great protector of Equestria from the days of old.
~Prince Metamorphosis’ PoV - The Guardian’s home~
“And that is everything that has been explained so far Princess. May I remove you from that wall now? I do not think that it is quite the comfortable perch” I said to the alicorn princess currently stuck to a wall for trying to attack me. with a sigh, her demeanor changed in an instant.
“What is it like living in hives?! Can Changelings turn into full grown Dragons!? Do you have to use the bathroom!? What does Love taste like!? What was Star Swirl the Bearded like!?” she rattled off, trying ts ask as many questions as possible in the shortest amount of time.
“One, like a giant house. Two, only really powerful ones. Three, what does that have to do with anything!? Four, like Love would feel like I guess, warm and fuzzy. And five, I never met him” I replied, answering each question in turn.
A giant creepy grin started spreading across Twilight’s face, making me grimace, hoping for some sort of distraction to prevent more questions.
It did not work.
She rattled off approximately another thirty questions.
“Wow Twilight… You’re starting to sound a bit like me… That… Is really fudging creepy” Pinkie said, a scared look on her face. Everypony in the room looked between Pinkie and Twilight, horrified looks on their faces.
It was this moment that my Uncle walked back in.
~Ian’s PoV~
I walked inside to a really creepy scene.
Twilight, the purple alicorn that fainted earlier, had an incredibly creepy smile on her face. Pinkie was staring at her, horrified. And everypony else was looking between the two, horrified looks on their faces, even Discord.
“Um… What did I miss?”
------------------
Not too long later, after informing the six mares of what had happened in town, they rushed out, to go make sure that everything was all right back in ‘Ponyville’ as they called it. Although, Twilight seemed a bit disheartened that she had to go without having more questions about the Changelings answered. Metamorphosis assured her that he would be happy to answer more at a later date.
However, not too much longer after that, Metamorphosis informed me that he was leaving for his mother’s hive, to inform her of my return, and told me to watch out for her visit in approximately another fortnight. One week for him to reach home, another for Chrysalis to return.
Afterwards, it was simply myself and Discord left. Of course, my good friend gave me the short version of what had happened in my absence.
Things had really gone to shit after I disappeared.
Discord went insane, Sombra became evil, Luna was corrupted by the Darkness before being sealed away on the moon for a thousand years, and during a period of Celestia’s grief, the Changelings were ousted from Canterlot and struck from the records. Along with all mention of myself, Discord, Sombra and Luna being Celestia’s sister. (whom was known from that point on as the persona the Darkness took on while controlling her)
He even told me of more recent events.
Luna’s return and subsequent purification. His own return and subsequent defeat. Chrysalis’ last ditch effort invasion. Sombra’s return after being sealed away and subsequent defeat. Himself being saved from his insanity and the return of an ancient evil, Tirek himself, a centaur that sided with the Vex, believing that he was helping them bring about ‘perfection.’
What surprised me the most however, was that each of these returning ‘evils’ were conquered by the same six mares that I had met earlier and a few others related to them.
He recounted these tales, and a few other, more slice-of-life tales to me.
I was surprised.
Not only were those six mares able to cleanse, or defeat almost all of my old friends. But they were able to seal away Tirek, a monster that took all my, and my friend’s strength to seal away in Tartarus, using a long forgotten tool.
They had achieved Mastery over Harmony, the only type of Magick that required more than one to use, and, more importantly, had no active Avatar for, other than the Tree of Harmony of course, the most primal form of Harmony itself.
What I had neglected to inform the mares of concerning Avatars, were the Aspect Trees. Each Aspect had a primal force, awaiting prospective Avatars if there were no active Avatars for their respective Aspect of Magick.
The few that I knew of that had no active Avatars tending to them were the Tree of Harmony, the Tree of Life and the Tree of the Void. And it seems like there may be a group taking the title of Avatar of Harmony in the near future, especially seeing as Discord said that they had used pure Harmony against Tirek.
After recounting these tales to me, Discord said that he had to go, as it was nearing night, and he had plans for this night. I did not begrudge my old friend, simply telling him not to be a stranger, and visit somewhat often.
-----------------
I was alone again, in my home. I walked downstairs, to where my armory was placed. Ghost had found a way to remotely access any of my weapons stored here, so I used this as a place to remember the past, a place to recount my own tales.
I approached one of my collection, an odd weapon of Vex make.
The Vex Mythoclast.
A powerful Fusion Rifle with the ability to be fired like a Scout Rifle.
I was the one weapon that I owned that sickened me the most.
It was the one weapon that made me hurt an innocent.
I left my collection, sighing.
I wish we never found that thing. Amethyst would have survived otherwise. Ghost said, breaking me out of my thoughts. I smiled at my constant companion.
“You were awfully quiet today Ghost, what were you up to?” I asked, smirking at the construct of pure Light. He looked away a bit.
I was looking at something we received a long time ago, one that we never bothered looking at. It mentions a Void-Dweller, called ‘The Merchant’, and how he brought people from their world to one not their own, and how that those whom received the article are referred to as ‘Displaced’. It seems there may be others like us amongst the Void, in their own worlds in the great expanse Ghost said, I frowned, thinking.
“I wonder if some of them would require help? While, for the moment, we are in a lull ourselves, there can be no telling what is out there, and who needs our help.” I asked, I pondered something, before coming to a conclusion.
I would send an item out into the Void, a message attached to it, to inform others that they are not alone, and that I would arrive to help at a moments notice.
Ghost replicated my Titan Mark for me, using a substance that we found from the Vex called ‘Glimmer’, a substance that could be bent into any shape.
I would bind a simple message into the cloth, a pure white Mark symbolizing four orders of soldiers that I had lead, named Titans in my honor, whom defended Canterlot on Six fronts, without a single one faltering.
It was emblazoned with a hexagon, divided into quarters, stained with the blood, sweat and tears of those that fought to defend ponykind from the Vex. Above it, was the year of the battle in Griffonian numerals. XXVIII, or 28PD, Post Diarchy.
“Those in dire need, and under siege from the Darkness, heed my words. The Light shall shine again. Call on me to aid in your plight, and a gleaming Light shall arrive. A Titan, a Defender of the innocent am I. With a Ghost by my side, I arrive to protect the innocent from those whom wish them harm, Defending you with the power of the Void. I am the Guardian, the Guarding Light of Equestria.”
Proud of my message, I focused on my Void Magick, flinging it throughout the Void, ready to arrive to anyone in need.