//------------------------------// // Years in passing // Story: The Guardian's story // by Lon35hadow //------------------------------// So, Golden showed us to the barn, saying, "This is where you guys will be staying until we get a room for you. Sorry." Cybis replied with, "It is no issue, Golden. We understand. If I may ask, where is Ace and Applejack?" "They're back in town with our son, Big Macintosh, selling apples. I came back here to look after my mom," she said. "They're supposed to get back in an hour." "Well, we hope to meet your son, as well as see Ace and Applejack again," I said with a smile. "I even think Applejack's already a little fond of us," I added, recalling the smile she had looking at us and reached for us before we had left for Canterlot. "I'm sure they'd be happy to see you three again, too," Golden said. "You can come back to the house, by the way. I'm sure Granny Smith would like to actually meet you three." "And we'd be grateful to meet her," Rhino said. "And have her actually be awake." With that, the four of us made our way from the barn to the house, where Granny Smith was awake. When she saw the three of us, she tried to, I don't know, kill us with a pan, I don't know. Golden calmed her down, and then introduced us to her, as well as told her of what had happened in Ponyville. Needless to say, like every other pony, upon hearing we did something good, she warmed up to us, and offered us an apple pie, which I happily took, as did Cybis, as we hadn't eaten anything at all, or at least not if the last meal I had before coming to Equestria was also split up. Dimensional travel and being spit into three different personalities sure is confusing. Any way, the two of us each ate a slice of our apple pies with the knife from my gauntlets being used to cut the slices, and we waited for Ace and the others to get back, discussing what the three of us would be doing around the farm to help, and, to my surprise, Granny Smith went with it. Oh, I can't wait for Cybis to get involved when Flim and Flam get here. That is gonna be good. But getting back to the present, it was an hour before Ace got back, and boy was he surprised to see us. Big Mac, understandably, was a little frightened. I should point out he was the same size as the CMC, and didn't have his cutie mark. Applejack simply squealed in happiness and smiled, reaching out to the three of us. "Hey, Ace," I said. "Surprised to see us?" "Uh, yeah," he said. "We thought you'd be in Canterlot." "They asked to be stationed here," Golden said as she took Applejack in her hooves. "Uh, pa, who are they?" Big Mac asked, and both Ace and Golden told him of earlier, as had had been here during that time. After that, the shine in his eyes showed he saw us as heroes, which I guess we were. From there, we asked if we could help with anything, and they replied that applebucking season was in a few weeks, so there wasn't a lot we could do. About two weeks after that, a week before applebucking season, we got a letter. I was in the barn, as we had decided to sleep there so we didn't take up any rooms should any of their family visit, setting space aside for apple storage. I held my hand in front of my face and put my fingers into that movie screen thing, picturing the space on the back wall, when I heard Ace yell, "JOSH! LETTER FOR YA!!" "Be right there!" I replied, and left the barn. I saw Ace, Cybis, and Rhino standing at the entrance to the place, a letter in Rhino's hands. I recognized Celestia's seal, her cutie mark, on the top of it. "What's it say," I asked. "In short," Rhino said, "Celestia wants to meet the three of us in the area between Ponyville and Canterlot so she and a few high ranking members of the guard can see our powers, and offer us a place in the guard." "Nolandroid, how's Project: Convergence coming along?" I asked my Ghost, who materialized. "Good," he said. "Really, we just need a building of our own, and we get it going, much as I don't like it." I just rolled my eyes. "Look, if we want to make sure Equestria's safe, we need it," I said. "We have protocols in place." "What are you guys talking about?" Ace said. "Long story," Cybis said. "So, should we get our jumpjets?" "Go for it," Rhino said, not to Cybis, but our Ghosts, who called the jumpjets, which we had put in a clearing of the orchard so they were nearby. They arrived in the air a minute later, and he three of us transmatted into them, then flew off to the field. "So," I said over the radio, "should we go with what we have going now, or go for out other light abilities?" "I'd say our current ones," Cybis said. "Simply because those we know the best." Before I could respond, we heard Rhino say, "Oh-how the heck did you get in here?!" His wordage told us somepony young had snuck on board, somehow. "What is it," Rhino," Nolandroid asked. "Applejack's on my ship! How'd she even get on!?" "No idea," Cybis said. "Agreed," Dinklebot said, "and we're already in view of Celestia and the others, so we can't take her back." "So she stays with us while we're using our deadliest abilities?" Rhino asked. "Much as I hate to say it," Tara Ghost said, "they're right. Besides, I'm certain Celestia or the guards will make sure she doesn't get in the way." "Ace and Golden are going to be so pissed off," Cybis said. "Oh yeah," I said as we arrived over the area and transmatted down. "Hello, Celestia." "Hello, Josh," Celestia replied before she saw Applejack. "Why did you three bring a filly with you." "Yeah, um, she somehow got on my ship, and we didn't find out until we got here," Rhino said. "We were honestly hoping you or one of the guards could make sure she doesn't get hurt during the demonstration." Celestia smiled. "Of course," she said, nodding to a nearby guard, who took a hold of the young filly. "So, which one of you will demonstrate their abilities first?" "I guess I'll go first," Cybis said, raising his hand as Dinklebot transmatted his helmet on. "I'll need some target dummies first, though." "I can handle that," Celestia said, using her magic to summon what I could only guess were holo-projections of timberwolves. "Are those what you need?" "They'll do," Cybis said as he cracked his knuckles. He backed away a good twenty, large paces, got into a ready stance, and ran at the projections, with them doing the same. Just as they were about to hit one another, Cybis jumped, crossed his arms, and then quickly thrust them straight, and blinked behind the projections. He turned to face them, brought his left hand, clenched into a fist, across his chest, then brought it back around, releasing the fist and three Nova bombs being released. They hit in the center of the projections, and, with bloom, pretty much took them all out. Now, I'm not a huge Warlock guy, but it's moves like shatter bomb that is useful in most situations. Not to mention damn fun. "That was impressive," Celestia said. "If I may ask, what was it?" "That was a nova bomb," Cybis said. "It's a concentration Warlocks can generate from the energy around us, and can also split into three projectiles, just like you saw." "I'm next," Rhino said as his helmet was transmatted on, this, instead of the spearhead helmet, was the Helm of inmost light. "And summon more of those things." Celestia did so, and Rhino took a few steps back, and used his lift to get in the air, then activated his super, and took a superman like pose as he crashed into the ground, destroying most of the projections, and the shock wave taking care of the rest. "Ah, I missed using that. And 'that' was a little something I call the fist of havoc-" "And we call it the fist of panic," I added. "Yeah, regardless," Rhino said, "I use the kinetic energy from my fall to create a huge pressure wave that dispels quickly. I just inject some of my energy into it, and we get the lightning." "Alright, I'm next," I said, my Celestial Nighthawk helmet coming on. "Give me something that would take a few dozen guards to take down." Celestia, the guards, and even filly Applejack looked concerned, but the alicorn did so, summoning an-ugly-as fuck Ursa Major. "I was thinking a dragon, but okay," I said as I reached up into the air, a loud crack resounding as my golden gun was brought into existence. "I aimed it, standing with my side facing it, a single arm holding my flaming pistol. "Boom," I said as I fired my Celestial gun, which was so powerful, it looked like some of the power went to Celestia, causing her to wince as the projection exploded from the combustion effect. "Before you ask," I said, my gun disappearing, "all Hunters can do that, which is to say, we can summon a gun that can make the targets explode upon death, and the helmet I'm wearing, it does even more damage." "Well, I must admit," Celestia said, "that was impressive." "Well, thank you, Celestia," Cybis said, bowing "but those are only half of our abilities, and we won't be able to show you the others for some time." "I understand," Celestia said, "and, with knowing just what you three can do, I'd like to ask you to join the guard." I looked at Rhino and Cybis, then said, "Let us talk about it first," I said, and we huddled. "I say no," I whispered. "I don't want any of our plans stopped because of her." "Yeah, but if we do decide to beome royal guards, shitty as they are," Rhino said, "we'd get the land we need for Convergence." "Please, we both know sun-ass won't go with anything that has even a chance of harming her subjects unless she's certain they'll be alright," I retorted. "How about this," Cybis said before leaving the huddle and walking to Celestia. "I have a different proposal, Princess," Cybis said. "Instead of us becoming part of your guard, we start our own, recruiting from both the guard already existing and civilians who wish to be a part of the guard. We don't have any authority over your guard, and you have none over ours. We will, in essence, become our own little country that shares land with Equestria. This will allow both parties to accomplish tier own goals with out the other unnecessarily getting in the way." Okay, even I can tell he's using Celestia's inherent trust of others, and I say it's going to work. "Hm," Celestia said. "How can I be certain you won't do something incredibly rash?" "Because we fight smart, as a team, and plan everything out," Rhino said, coming into the conversation. "Alright, then," Celestia said, "but you three do realize you will become princes, right?" "We prefer the term, 'Vanguard'," I said. "Then what would your insignia be?" I smirked under my helmet. "Nolandroid?" Said Ghost appeared, and projected a hologram every Destiny fan knew. "And we decide what our castle looks like," I said, "which will be in Ponyville, and, becasue of how our tech was made, we'll need a few mages from Canterlot, preferably the best ones, to make a spell to help with that issue." "So long as it doesn't harm any of those that are my subjects, that is agreeable," Celestia said. "Don't worry," I said as I picked Applejack up and put her on my shoulder, which made her squeal in happiness. "It won't." With that, our jumpjets arrived, and we transmatted up. We left a micro-probe there, though, that attache to Celestia so we could hear any of her conversations. Can't be too careful. We made our way back to the farm, where Applejack's family was searching for her. We transmatted down, and explained everything to Golden, who was the first to spot us. After that, and after everything had been told as to what had transpired, we told them of the fact the three of us would soon be, simply so they'd know what we were basically, princes, and we told them that, since they had let us stay, they didn't have to do any special formalities with us. The rest of the week passed by without event, except for the mages from Cantrlot arriving, who Cybis greeted and brought to the farm. Construction on our castle, a mix of the Tower, Twilight gap, and The Anomaly, also began, and it wouldn't be done for a few months. Applebucking season passed by, and, with us helping, it had been done in record time. It was the conclusion of gathering the apples that, as a surprise, Granny Smith, Ace, and Golden had, unanimously, decided to make us honorary family members. Out of all of us, I think Applejack was the happiest. Two years passed by, and Cybis, Rhino, and I were in our castle. The project we had begun working on before we even got the castle was done, and the spell the mages had made, was ready, and, fortunately, we had our first graduate recruits. First, though, we'd need to test Convergence, which, really, just needed testing. A part of the castle that wasn't on the design plans was what we had used to house Convergence, a single Vex warp gate constructed using Ghost data and a bit of unicorn magic. "So, there's a few ways this could end," I said, looking over the gate. "Let's just hope it's a good way that will end," Rhino said, standing at the activation console. "Not for everyone," Cybis said, doing the last calculations. "Remember the multiple worlds theory?"(1) "Yeah, but I meant for us," Rhino retorted. "Guys, that's enough," I said. "Are the calculations done, Cybis?" "Just finished," he said, handing the clipboard he had somehow done all of his work on, to Rhino, who keyed in the dimensional coordinates, as well as the item name. Now, before you go and say, "This is a bad idea," we are aware of the Vex possibly finding out about this gate, which was why we would keep it active for as long as needed, then shut it off. Plus, we were staring simple, weapons and armor, as well as armor materials. "Hit it," I said, and the gate activated. Through it, six pieces of Guardian armor, three Titan, one Hunter, and two Warlock armor sets appeared. Along with them, a dozen of every weapon type from Destiny came in, as well as what I guessed were a hundred units of each armor material. Rhino shut the gate off, and the light from the gate faded quickly. "So, I guess now would be a good time to finalize the graduates graduation," I said as Nolandroid transmatted the Hunter armor, Tara Ghost did the same for the Titan armor, and Dinklebot did the same for the Warlock robes. "Wait, what about Ghosts?" Cybis said. "That, I handled with Celestia," I said. "She should be sending them over any time now." Just as I said that, a flash of light appeared, and, from it, six Ghosts, all with the generalist shell, appeared. "Uh, are we in the right place," one said with a distinctly female voice. "Yeah, you are," Nolandroid said. "I'm Josh's Ghost, Nolandroid. You six were created for the six new Guardians we trained, and they'll be the ones to name you. All you need to do is follow us." "Well, let's go, then," the same Ghost said, and the six of them followed us out of the Convergence room, and up to what was our equivalent to the Hall of Vanguard, where the six new Guardians, which had broke even with two of each race. "GUARDIANS," I yelled, which caused the six of them to turn and face us, standing at attention. "Today, you graduate to the full rank of Guardian. With it will be changes to how you live. Nothing major, but it may effect how others see you. We understand that, with this information, you don't want to be Guardians anymore, which is why we give each of you the chance to walk away." "Sir," a gray earth pony mare said, "if that were the case, we would have remained citizens of Equestria." Guess I should point out that, right now, all of the pony Guardians were citizens of Equestria that had become a part of our pseudo-nation. Some of those who hadn't passed the last test, which was to create a super, still became our subjects, and the change for those that became Guardians would go to them as well. I smiled, then nodded to the two mages, who lit their horns, and blue and golden streams of magic surrounded the six ponies. When they faded ten seconds later, the ponies were still there, but, for one, they had their Guardian armor on, the mare who spoke up being the one Hunter in the Jackknife armor set. The two Warlocks, one a unicorn, the other a pegasus, had Unity Clade and the Iron Regalia armor sets, and the Titans had the Commando, Knight, and Molina(one of the Dark below armors). The second change was the one brought on by the spell, and that it was they were anthro. This was because of the necessity of it. We had no way to change the armor build, but we had a spell to do the same with ponies, leaving no harm, and we went with it. "And these are your Ghosts," I said. "You'll be the one to name them." With that, the six of them floated to those that they chose while They changed, the female Ghost joining with the mare. "And you, Steel Forge," I said to the mare, "will be the fireteam leader, unless the rest of you have another idea." None spoke up. "In that case, it is the Fire team's leader who decides what the Fire team will be called. Any ideas, Forge?" "Fire team Disciple," she said immediately. "In that case, take your pick of weapons, Fire team Disciple," I said as Nolandroid transmatted he weapons from the portals, and the six went to choose. Forge was the first to get her loadout, which consisted of a weapon I myself am fond of, the Another Nitc, an LDR 5001, and a One Way Ticket. After the others had chosen their load outs, which wer all over the board, I said, "Now, until there are other Guardians, you six will be in Canterlot. One of the mages will join you on your trip there, and this," I said, pulling out a small letter, "is to be taken to Princes Celestia, for her to read only. Is that clear?" Now, the letter basically said that the six of them were going there to help her should anything happen in Canterlot, as well as take care of anything the guard can't. "Sir," the unicorn Warlock, who, under the Iron Regalia helmet, had a bright green skin or coat, I don't know the terminology for that right now, and whose name was Emerald Forest, said, taking the letter. "We'll get it to her." "Good," Rhino said. "Now, get a move on. The next train to Canterlot leaves in an hour, and we still don't have Sparrows or Jumpets for you." Yet. They saluted, Forge saying, "Sir, yes sir," and the six of them, their Ghosts, and the one mage, a mare with a pink coat and bright blue mane and tail, left. The other mage, who had decided to become a citizen of the Vanguard, stayed behind. "What about me, sir?" "Right now, do something fun," I said. "We'll need to wait until we have actual clothes for you all before we roll the spell to everypony." He nodded. "Sir," he said, and left. As he did so, Ace, Golden, and CMC sized Applejack walked in. "Hey guys," Cybis said. "Your lucky. We just finished the induction of our first recruits." "So they're the ones we saw in the hall?" Golden asked. "I thought they were ponies." "A spell the Canterlot mages created so that they could use our equipment," Rhino said. "Hey, uncle Rhino," Applejack said, a happy smile on her face. Rhino laughed as he picked Applejack up and put her on her favorite spot, which was his shoulder. "Hey there, Applejack. How have you been?" "Just fine," she said. "Hey there, Uncle Cybis, Uncle Josh." "Hey, AJ," Cybis said, petting her head. "Sorry we couldn't come to your birthday yesterday. We got caught up in something." "Yeah, but we'll make it ti the next one," I said. "That should be an easy one," Ace said. "She did just get her cutie mark, after all." "She did," Rhino said, picking Applejack up and looking at her cutie mark. I can now safely say we changed more in the time line then just her parents being alive. Instead of the apple trio, which should have come in yesterday, as we saw the Rainboom, there was the Vanguard honor symbol. Well, could be worse. Huh, I wonder how Twilight's day had been. Guess we'll find out when we go Canterlot in a week. 'I'm gonna be a Guardian," Applejack said happily, and just how she said it helped to make me see this is actually better then the show's time line. "Not so fast, Applejack," I said as Rhino set her on the floor. "Given how old you are, you'd still need to go through schooling, which we can provide, but it means giving up your citizenship as an Equestrian, which means you won't be able to help out around the farm as much." "Oh, don't worry about that, Josh," Ace said. "We hired a lot of farm hooves, something granny didn't want, but with Golden being the farm owner, it was her decision to make. If it's what Applejack wants, we'll support her." "Okay then, but if you guys really want to do this, whenever we went to Canterlot, she'd be coming with us," Cybis said. "We do still have letters, you know," Ace said, which got a small laugh from us. "I guess so," I said. "But still, are you sure, Applejack?" I asked, squatting down to look her in the eye. "More sure then anything in my life," she said. "In that case, it'll be a while before it's finalized, given your age, AJ, but seeing as how we're going to Canterlot in a week, we should be able to speed it up," Cybis said. "We're fine with it," Golden said, a small tear of happiness coming from her eyes. "I'm just glad our little apple's going to do what she wants." "Yay!" Applejack shouted, and we all laughed. A week later, Rhino, Cybis, Applejack, riding with Cybis in the Ketch me, and I made our way to Canterlot. Applejack, her parents, Big Mac, and Granny Smith had a heartfelt goodbye, but it wasn't final, and she'd be seeing them when she got back. "So, Applejack, looking foreward to Canterlot?" I asked over the radio "Yep," she replied. "I always wanted to see the city." "Well, you won't be disappointed," Tara Ghost said. And i just thought of how she and Twilight are going to react to each other. This is going to be good. We got to Canterlot about twenty minutes after we left Ponyville, and transmatted to the gardens, where, Celestia was sitting on a bench, a familiar lavender filly with a book next to her. She looked up upon hearing the sound of transmat and saw the four of us. "Ah, hello Josh," she said. "Twilight, don't be rude," she said to the filly, who was still reading her book. "Say hi." I can only guess that Twilight rolled her eyes, being careful to not let Celestia see it, and looked up at us. Then she shut the book and her eyes widened. "Oh my Celestia, you're the Guardians," she said excitedly. "Princess Celestia's told me a lot about you, including what you told her of your world. "How'd you get here? Do you have a way to get back home? Why'd you decide to become royalty?" "Twilight, I don't think they want to die from questioning," a voice that sounded like Spike's said, but he'd still be a baby, ut that thought was dashed when a purple and green Ghost materialized next to the lavender filly. I looked to Celestia. "You tried to make a Ghost, failed, and made it be the one for your Kobyshi Maru style test, with you using the knowledge from the failure to make the other six, am I right? And Twilight some how activated it, and it's now her's? "You'd be right in all of those cases," Celestia said. "I suppose i should introduce you to her. This is Twilight Sparkle, my personal student. I believe she already knows of you." It was here I guess she saw Applejack. "And, if I may ask, what is Applejack doing here?" "AJ," Cybis said, and Applejack nodded and turned to present her cutie mark. "She's our personal student," he said. "I gonna be a Guardian," she said for the umpteenth time, hopping around. "Before you ask, Celestia, her family is okay with it," Rhino said. "We were actually hoping that while we were here, you could actually help speed up the process from the Equestrian side." "I'd be happy to," Celestia said. "Come, it's time we discussed what I asked for you thee to come. Twilight, I want you to stay with Applejack. Make friend aside from Spike and Smarty pants." "Okay, Princess," Twilight said. With that, Celestia and the three of us left he two fillies. Applejack was a responsible pony for her age, and i knew she'd make sure she and Twilight stayed out of trouble. As we entered the castle, Celestia spoke up. "I must admit, I'm surprised at what you three have done, what with creating a nation and helping to create a spell that gave ponies certain traits of your races." "It was needed," I said, shrugging, before I explained the tests we did with our own armor to see if we could change their shape, and how they all failed. "I understand," Celestia said. "At least none of them were harmed. But that is not the reason I asked for you." "Then what is it?" Cybis asked, though we had a good idea thanks to that probe. We walked a few more steps before Celestia spoke up. "Two weeks ago, a old friend on mine, who took the place of oracle a year before you all arrived, delivered a prophecy, and I believe you are a part of it." "What did it say," I asked. "'When darkness falls over Equestria, and an ancient evil arises to exterminate all life in it's name, three champions of light will stand against it, with the light at their sides. It will be their actions that decide whether or not we all fall, or rise,'" Celestia said. "I believe that you three are those champions, with your fellow Guardians being the light at your sides." "Why tell us this?" I asked. Celestia sighed. "It is because I am afraid the darkness refers to my sister, who, much to my shame, I let be forgotten. She will return in twelve years, and I ma afraid that you'll kill her to protect Equestria." "We won't Celestia," Cybis said. "If anything, we'll make sure that whatever caused her to want to take over Equestria," and not the world, I's point out, "is taken care of. With out her dying." Celestia visibly relaxed. "I thank you," she said. "Of course," I said. "And how are Forge and the others doing?" "Quite well, actually," Celestia said. "In fact, some of the best tailors in Canterlot offered to make them everyday outfits, as news of that particular part of your culture spread here quickly. In fact, I think I even overheard Fleur De Lis, a model and tailor from time to time, say she'd absolutely love to make outfits for the three of you." "Well, if she's willing to come to Ponyville, she's welcome to," I said. "With us being Applejack's teachers, as well as being the ones to train each Guardian so far, we have to stay there." "We'll send her an invite when we get back," Cybis said. "I imagine she'll be happy about it," Celestia said. "If I may ask, what did that spell do, aside from the physical changes?" Rhino shrugged. "It changed their subconscious, the part that controls movement, to more like ours, so they already knew how to use them." "Smart," Celestia said. "And may I ask as to the armor they had?" "No," the three of us said at the same time. "That is a national secret, and you, Celestia, are not a part of our nation, so you don't have clearance," Cybis added. "I could easily declare war," Celestia said. "Do you not remember what we're capable of," Rhino said. "We can easily wipe the floor with your guards, and the three of us, I'm sure, can kick your plot." Plus we all know we could easily kill or hold ponies hostage, I added mentally, but Celestia cooled down. "I suppose you could," Celestia said, "but I hope it won't come to it." "As do we," I said, "but the fact remains it's a secret only the three of us, our Ghosts, and those two mages, who have been sworn to secrecy." "Of course," Celestia replied. "It's been a pleasure to see the three of you again." "Same here," I said. "Now, we should get back to Ponyville." "Agreed," Cybis said. With that, the four of us made our way back to the gardens, where we saw Twilight and Applejack playing with Spike the Ghost. We didn't want to stop them, so we decided to sit on a nearby bench and watch. "Looks like they're having fun," Rhino said. "Indeed they are," Celestia said. "Perhaps, given what Forge told me of the training, as little as it was, Twilight could visit Applejack occasionally." "Maybe," I said. "But just her and her Ghost. No guards, and sure as tartarus not you. Don't want our secrets revealed." I chuckled. "I'm sure you have secrets, after all, that you haven't told any." "In that, Josh, you are correct." Celestia sighed. "If there is any who truly know all of my secrets, it is my father, who vanished thousands of years ago." "Well, I'm sure he was as kind a ruler as you," Cybis said. "I'm sure he was, Cybis," Celestia said. "I was still just a filly when he vanished, the only clue being a single word. 'Thraska'tae'co'na'. Wordy yes, but it is in ancient Equish. The closest translation to have come is from me, and it would say 'The taken'. I have no idea what he meant by it, though." My eye began to twitch. All powerful. Ancient. Vanished. The taken. Fuck. Me. Cybis and Rhino were thinking along the same lines, and we didn't like it. Fortunately, though, we were able to hide our signs of unease. Before any of us could say another word, Applejack and Twilight came over, large smiles on their faces. "Is it true that you're Applejack's uncles," Twilight asked us. "Yeah, we are," Cybis said. "Come on, AJ. Much as we hate to break you and Twilight up, it's time to head back home." "Awww, but Uncle Cybis-" she said before I cut her off. "No 'buts' Applejack," I said sternly. "Do you still want to be a Guardian?" "Yeah." "Then we are going back home so we can get your education started. Is that clear?" "Yes, sir," she said, giving an adorable salute, causing me and the others to chuckle. With that, after telling Twilight that she could visit Applejack whenever she wanted, we were transmatted back to our jumpjets, and returned to Ponyville to get started on Applejack's formal education, and the easier parts of Guardian training. Five years later It had been an active five years for us. One of the major things was related to what we had learned in Canterlot five years ago. We couldn't tell anypony as to our theory about Celestia and Luna's father, but we got new protocols in place with the Guardians, which now had groups in all of Equestria's major cities. Some of those protocols included having around the clock surveillance in and around the cities, which was possible, now that we began bringing jumpjets through the Vex portal we had made, as well as Sparrows. Applejack's education had gone by quickly, too. in less then a year, she had practically graduated Elementary and half of middle school, which, for me, was sixth, seventh, and eighth grade, so she was halfway through her seventh grade education. I don't know why, but I have a feeling Granny Smith thinking anything beyond elementary education had something to do with it, as, with her parents around, Applejack was nearly as smart as Twilight, in terms of material, and not specifically magic. Twilight actually came to visit often, and on the days she had a break, either Cybis, Rhino, or I would take Applejack to Canterlot to see Twilight. One thing I know I saw is that, most of the time, the two wanted to be alone, and I myself sometimes caught the two of them snuggling. In fact, I had just done so while invisible. Before you say creepy, wouldn't you look after your favorite niece at all times if she was a kid. Just saying. Okay, really I had been walking past Applejack's room, going to the next training session for the next group of potential Guardians, when I saw that it was ajar, with whispers being heard. "And what about them?" I heard a voice that sounded like Twilight's say. "What about your family?" "I don't care what they think," I heard Applejack say, her time with us removing her drawl. The accent was there, yeah, but not the drawl. "Besides, it's not them I'm staying with. The real question is your family." I decided to go invisible. Fortunately, due to the next class being on on stealth, I had Kephri's Sting on. I just sent a mental signal to it, and I was invisible. I got as close to the door as possible with out opening it, and saw Twilight and Applejack laying next to one another, an admittedly cute scene. "I already talked with them about it, actually," Twilight said, "and they're good with it, as long as I'm happy." She nuzzled Applejack. "And I know I'm happy when I'm you, Jackie." "Me too, Twi. Me too." i smiled to myself and shook my head. Looks like we had a huge impact on a lot more than I thought. Unfortunately, Rhino was walking by as well, and heard the same conversation, and I missed him as he opened the door, only to make the two ponies scramble to come up with an excuse. I saved them by decloaking and pulling Rhino aside. "Sorry, girls," I said while, somehow, pulling Rhino away. "but out of the three of us, Rhino's the most protective. But I know I say we're happy for ya, AJ." "You are?" she asked. "Yep," I said, still dragging Rhino away. "Just don't hurt her, Twilight, or else I won't be able to hold Rhino back." "I won't," Twilight said sheepishly, blushing. I nodded. "Good. See ya later," I said. With that, I left, but left the door open, as I didn't trust her that much. "Rhino, calm the fuck down!" "Why? What if something happens?" "Then we'll just have a Ghost revive her. You know that." Rhino calmed down here. "Yeah, I know," he said as I released him. "But it's Applejack. She's practically our daughter, given she spends most of her time here with one of us." "Then we just have her take an extended break, and let Golden and Ace have some time with her," I said. "Simple." "Why didn't I think of that," Rhino said, face palming. "I'm going with you not getting the common sense from when we were still one person," Is aid. "Now come on, the new ponies are waiting on us." "Fine," Rhino said, and we made our way to the training room, which took most of it's influence from Twilight Gap. We got there, and the six ponies there, all pegasai, waiting for us. I got to work with them, and, an hour of pegasi getting drop kicked because they knew shit about stealth later, they left, sores on all of their bodies. "Well, that was fun," I said, stretching. "That's because you weren't hit once, Josh," Rhino said. "They were hit more then ten times each. So it's safe to say they aren't bladedancers." "Agreed." With that, the two of us left the room, and made our way to where Fleur, who had decided to join our little nation after we sent her an invite to be our personal tailors. That had been an interesting week, let me tell you, but that is it's own story, so maybe later. Three and a half years later "You sure about this?" "Nope." "Well, this isn't the craziest plan you've come up with, Josh." "I know, Nolandroid," I said, sitting in my jumpjet in low orbit. "Is everyone ready?" "Yeah, they're ready, and Appleseed's still helping Applejack, but she's doing well." Ah, yes, Applejack. She'd become a full Guardian, and the youngest, a few months ago when she went on a mission with Forge and Fire team Disciple. The mission was supposed to be a simple dragon containment mission, but, instead of a baby dragon, it was a fully grown one, and it was pissed off at the seven of them trying to move it. The nearest Fire team, Fire Team Obsidian, which was assigned to Applossa, had been an hour away, even with jumpjet. They were the six pegasai whose plots I had thoroughly kicked the day I had found out Twilight and Applejack were in a relationship, and each were Titans. The dragon had tried to cook Forge and the others alive, but they had been able to dodge it, but Forge had been hit by the dragons claws. Applejack had seen it getting ready to take a bite out of her, and got between the two. She put her hooves in an eagle style, and a ward of dawn appeared, stopping the dragon, and giving the Titans of the Fire team the chance to knock it out. Upon returning back to the castle, Applejack was given her Titan armor, which was the VoG raid armor with, appropriately, Atheon's Epilouge as her primary, Found Verdict as her special, and Corrective measure as her heavy, her Ghost having the Frontier shell, and she had named it Appleseed, or just Seed, for short. "Then get me a transmission to each jumpjet," I said. "On it," Nolandroid said. A few seconds later, he said, "You're clear." I nodded, then cleared my throat. "Guardians," I started. "I know most of you are wondering why we're here in upper orbit." I paused. "Well, it's because we're undergoing a rescue mission. The magic detectors in orbit we launched a year ago have picked up something on the moon, something we believe to be a pony. "Our mission is simple: Find the pony, and bring them home." Don't worry, Luna, I thought. We're bringing you home.