//------------------------------// // Chapter 3 // Story: The Lonely Leader // by Captain Whatever //------------------------------// When I came to, I was in the same place I was before, but now the room was empty. I got up, and I searched for Johnny and Twilight. Pinkie most likely went back to Sugarcube Corner, so I wasn't too concerned about her. Eventually, I found Twilight and Johnny sitting in my bedroom. I feared the worst. "You may want to take a seat, Michael." "No thanks, Twi. I prefer to stand and build leg muscles." True story, by the way. "Suit yourself, loser." Johnny jumped right onto my bed. I instantly pummeled him. "Get your hoof outta my name. Magicking it is bad enough, twerp." "Who you calling a TWERP?! Get off of my bed, you FEATHERBRAIN!" Right there, we felt a magic pulse on us, and we floated away from each other. "Knock it off you two blockheads. This is a serious discussion. Now please, sit down somewhere before I lose my mind." Twilight sounded pretty annoyed at that point. Johnny sat on the ground, and I, once again , stood. "Thank you. Now, as I was saying, Johnny, you know what I said about being an Alpha Guardian, correct?" He saluted, and nodded. "It's like an Element Bearer, such as you and Pinkie." I was confused. Twilight had never told me about this Alpha Guardian stuff. "That is correct. You are the Guardian of Courage. And Mike is the Guardian of Guidance." "Huh?" They turned their heads towards me. "Mike, I'm sorry I didn't tell you earlier. I just thought that if the others weren't around, it wouldn't change anything. But since Johnny is here, that mean the other three are also somewhere in Equestria." Johnny looked like Twilight had just tried to explain Starswirl the Bearded's friendship spell all over again, and I felt the exact same way. "Wait, hold up, Nightlight Spartacus. You mean to say there are more of us?" "It's Twilight Sparkle, Johnny, but yes, there are three other ponies, one unicorn and two earth ponies. I do not know how you can find them, but I do know that they are not in Ponyville. That is all I can say." Awkward silence filled the room for a little while. Like, seriously, it was awkward, and it was silent. "Well what are we sitting here for, dude? C'mon, Mitch, let's go find these other dudes." My first thought was about how this guy could get a name wrong after not hearing it more than a minute prior. Our first stop was Canterlot. We got off the train...and immediately regretted it. Ponies were swarming here and there, and everywhere. No joke, we got tripped by about ten different ponies before finally exiting the train station. As we left, we headed for the Canterlot Castle. We figured the Princesses could help us. We flew over to the castle (well actually, Johnny flew and stopped, because I am unable to fly as fast as him), and we're met with the Royal Guard. "Hey, guys. Mind if I get through?" "Who is the pink one?" Johnny seemed a little ruffled up at that. "I have a name, you know. And besides, I'm with Mickey here." Get it right, you imbecile. I hung my head. "Unfortunately, Johnny here is right. Oh, and by the way, featherbrain, it's Mike. Not Mitch, not Mickey, Mike." He whinnied, not surprisingly. "Sheesh, Peachy Sky was right, you are grumpy." Pinkie Pie, you numbskull. Pinkie Pie. The Royal Guard let us through, and Johnny marveled at the scenery surrounding him. "So this is what it looks like up close. Not too shabby." "We should hope so." I whirled to my side, and Luna was right there. Johnny instantly lowered to the ground, and knelt. I just waved and said hello. "Hi, Mike. Who is this?" She pointed a hoof to Johnny, who was still kneeling. "Luna, meet Johnny, my fellow Alpha Guardian. Johnny, get up, you look like a moron." He rose, and Luna stared at me, wide-eyed. She then rushed away, returning minutes later with Celestia. "You're Alpha Guardians?" She said. We nodded, and they both knelt. To us. Normally, for me, this would be awesome, but it was still confusing. The two princesses apparently noticed, and explained themselves. "We were told by an oracle that five ponies, one alicorn, one unicorn, one pegasus, and two earth ponies, known as the Alpha Guardians, would defeat an evil force that not even the princesses or the Bearers of Harmony could stand against. Their names were not normal ones, but rather ones of another realm unknown to ponykind. However, until now, not a single one of them knew any of the others existed. Also, they were to be considered a higher rank than Luna or even myself." We stood there, jaws barely touching the ground. Johnny broke the silence. "Sweet mother of pearl, this is frickin supercool." He did a few backflips in the air, and noticed I wasn't. "C'mon, man, what's gotcha so pessimistic? We're practically kings if ya ask me." I looked away, trying to ignore the question. Luckily, he didn't ponder any further, and just landed beside me. "If ya don't wanna talk, I'm cool with that. I'd like to know later, though. Sound good?" I nodded, and we asked where one of the Alpha Guardians might be. We were told to look in urban Canterlot, Apple-Loosa, and Vanhoover. We set out for urban Canterlot, and our quest began.