//------------------------------// // My Name is. . . // Story: Guardian // by Thule117 //------------------------------// "I cannot kill you, but I won't have you standing in our way." Samuel Hayden's words were met with stony silence from the armored man currently suspended in the containment field before him, though he could feel the burning hateful stare coming from beneath the figures tinted visor. Turning away, Hayden began examining the remarkable artifact known as the Crucible. It pulsed with the unrefined energies of Hell, and the long blade like plane of energy it emitted was covered in the arcane symbols that made up Hell's alphabet. "Once I decipher the meaning of these markings I am certain we can find a way to restart production of Argent energy, and save huma-" Hayden was literally yanked from his thoughts when his left leg was pulled out from under him with incredible force. Falling to the ground, Hayden's vision was obscured by various readouts telling him that the left leg of his robotic body had suffered catastrophic damage, and was no longer functional. Looking back over his shoulder, Samuel Hayden was greeted with a terrifying sight. The Doom Slayer was standing over him bathed in blue light, and with sparks of electrical energy crawling across his body, as the containment field struggled to pull him back in. The armored figure dropped the ruined remains of Hayden's left leg before grabbing his right, crushing the ankle joint as he pulled Hayden along the floor. "NO! STOP! WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?" Though Hayden's body was now mechanical, he still could feel fear, as the Doom Slayer grabbed the arm containing the Crucible. The reinforced metal limb deforming under the ancient warrior's unnaturally strong grip. Without a word, the Doom Slayer tore the robotic arm out of its socket in a shower of sparks. "NO! YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT YOU'RE DOING! THE CRUCIBLE IS THE ONLY THING THAT CAN SAVE HUMANITY!" The armored figure pulled the Crucible from the now useless mechanical arm. Casting aside the robotic limb, the Doom Slayer glanced down at Hayden's mangled form. His helmet visor was filled with warning symbols and the words 'UNCONTROLLED TIME SPACE ANOMALY DETECTED!', but the Doom Slayer ignored it, as he pulled his shotgun from behind his back, and leveled it at Hayden. "SO THAT'S YOUR ANSWER IS IT? JUST KILL THE LAST HOPE OF THE HUMAN RACE?! HAVE YOU EVER EVEN CARED ABOUT ANYTHING OTHER THAN REVENGE?! DO YOU EVEN UNDERSTAND ANY CONCEPT BEYOND KILLING AND HATE?!!" To Hayden's surprise, the armored figure actually hesitated for a moment. Then, shockingly, the figure uttered the first words Hayden had heard the Slayer speak since he awakened. His voice was surprisingly youthful, sounding as if it came from a man in his early twenties, but it had a hardened quality to it, that spoke of one who has experienced great hardship. "If I did not, I would have died long ago from despair, the records of Hell told you my sole reason for fighting was blind rage, and vengeance. However, that is because demons are incapable of understanding why any creature would fight beyond either hate, or lust for power, as that is all they themselves fight for. So when they recorded my story they assumed I fought solely out of anger, and a desire for revenge. While it is true I did fight for revenge at one time, that is not the reason I fight now." Hayden would have glared at the Slayer if he could have, but lacking a true face he settled for simply injecting as much venom as possible into his voice emitter. "Then please tell me what you do fight for?!" The Doom Slayer was about to reply, when his body was enveloped in an explosion of white light. . . . The Doom Slayer awoke to the sound of bird's chirping, and insects buzzing, sounds he had not heard in centuries. Opening his eyes he stared in wonder at the sight of blue sky, and fluffy white clouds. Getting to his feet, the Slayer retrieved his shotgun from where it had fallen nearby, the Crucible still clutched firmly in his other hand. Surrounding him was a vast forest, whose massive trees swayed gently in the wind. The Doom Slayer felt an odd sense of familiarity, as if he'd been here once before. He mentally commanded his Armor to do a complete scan of the surrounding area. The scan revealed nothing interesting at first, carbon based life, oxygen nitrogen atmosphere, no radio, infrared, or ultrasonic communications detected, etc. Then the Doom Slayer's armor started giving him readouts on the more mystical aspects of his surroundings. There was no trace of any Hell energies, aside from the ones he himself was emitting, but there was a massive amount of Seraph energies. The Doom Slayer's eyes widened in shock, only one place he ever visited could have this level of Seraph energy. Turning around the Slayer's eyes widened even farther, and he fell to his knees, when he recognized the half ruined castle before him. "It cannot be!" Princess Twilight Sparkle stared at the friendship map with an expression of profound boredom on her face. She tried not to let it get to her, but sometimes being a Princess felt like the most mind numbing job in Equestria. Her apprentice and assistant were out of town, along with her other friends, and because of her near psychotic level of organization. All her various forms of royal paperwork were done for the foreseeable future. Yet, staring out the window, Twilight couldn't help but smile. It was a beautiful day in Ponyville, the sun was shining the birds were chirping, and ponies happily went about their daily lives. "I'm tired of moping around, I'll just have to make some of my own excitement. I can have lunch in town, read my new book in the park, and then go to the spa for a few hours, it'll be perfect." Giggling to herself Twilight turned away from the window, but turned back almost immediately, she had seen something out of the corner of her eye. Shielding her eyes with a raised hoof, she looked in the direction of the sun. Something was flying directly at Ponyville, no, a whole bunch of something's, squinting her eyes Twilight tried to make out what they were. They definitely weren't pegasi they were too large for that, and their movement pattern was different. They also couldn't be griffons, as they were coming from a different direction than Griffonstone, and no nearby towns even had this many griffons. Suddenly Twilight felt the color drain from her face, as she examined the incoming creatures via a small hoof telescope that she kept on a nearby table. "Oh Celestia, no. . ." Twilight whispered to herself, as she saw the scaled hides, and massive bat wings of one of the most frightening creatures in the world. Leaning out the window Twilight magically amplified her voice as loud as she could. "EVERYPONY GET TO COVER DRAGONS!!!" The Doom Slayer walked the forested path, following the indicators in his helmet telling him the way to the nearest high concentration of Seraph energy. His mind raced with questions, but after finding the ruined castle, he wondered if he would like the answers he sought. The Slayer had examined the castle thoroughly, and there was no mistaking the signs, a battle had been fought there. Readouts from his armor told the Doom Slayer that the castle had likely been abandoned for over a millennia, based on the estimated age of the damage. Still, the ruins had been disturbed recently, so it was likely that someone was making regular trips here. The Slayer needed to know what happened to the two original occupants, someone must know! The Doom Slayer took a calming breath, he needed to stop imagining the worst, and focus on his surroundings, who knew what resided in this forest. Just as the Slayer finished his thought he heard the faint sounds of explosions, and screams. His armor registered a heat bloom about a mile from his current location. The Slayer started running, his thoughts focused, the trees rushed past him in a blur, as he streaked toward the sounds of destruction, it was time to go to work. Twilight glared in anger at the dragon before her, highlighted by the burning buildings Garble's arrogant smirk was made all the more disgusting. "Your royal highness Twilight Spackle, so nice to see you again." Garble drawled insincerely. "That's 'Sparkle'." Twilight hissed through gritted teeth. Garble's smirk widened. "Did you just correct me?" He asked in an unsettlingly calm tone. Twilight heard the citizens of Ponyville shift nervously behind her, as Garble slowly walked closer to her. Refusing to be cowed Twilight looked him right in the eye, even as he grabbed her by the throat bringing her face to face with a vicious jerk. "YOUR NAME IS WHATEVER I SAY IT IS PONY!" Garble roared, spittle flying into Twilight's face. Dropping her roughly to the ground, Garble's enraged expression turned to a calm smile. "Now, what's your name?" he asked sweetly. Twilight glared at Garble with undisguised contempt, she refused to play his game. "My name is Twilight Sparkle Princess of Friendship, and you and your thug cronies are not welcome in my kingdom." Twilight spoke slowly and deliberately, refusing to give in to the fear she was feeling. "Is that right?" Garble asked, as he shifted his gaze to one of the dragons he had brought with him. Garble jerked his head toward a random house, the other dragon nodded in understanding just before spewing a jet of fire at the structure, instantly setting it ablaze. Garble smiled, as he watched the conflagration. "I know some of you ponies are hiding in those houses, how many do you think I'd have to burn before we find them?" He asked with a sadistic smile. Twilight's look of horror was all the answer Garble needed. "Now, what is your name?" Garble asked sweetly, the cruel smile never leaving his features. Twilight wanted to scream at Garble to go straight to Tartarus, but she held back. Garble had all the cards, and he knew it. Even if Twilight could immobilize him with magic, one of the fifteen other dragons with him could easily roast her, or worse yet, one of the ponies behind her, instantly. No matter how much it hurt her pride, Twilight would have to play along to protect her town. "My name is Twilight Spackle." She hissed angrily. Garble sneered, patting Twilight on the head as if she were a dog who just performed a trick. "Good pony." He said in a mocking insincere tone, as Twilight resisted the urge to spit at him. "Now that we've established the pecking order around here, I have a question for you." "What?" Twilight asked curtly. Garble gave Twilight an unsettling smile. "Where is my dear little buddy Spike?" He asked in a sickly sweet tone. Twilight felt a stab of icy fear, as she looked up at Garble. "Why do you want Spike?" She asked, trying to keep panic from entering her voice. "Why?" Garble asked calmly, before his face became a twisted mask of rage. "Because he stole what was rightfully mine!" Garble's eyes were filled with insanity as he continued. "I should have been the Dragon Lord, but that was taken from me by that worthless weakling Spike! He's gonna pay for that, oh how he's going to pay!" Twilight felt abject terror at the thought of what Garble would do if he ever got to Spike. "Spike won that contest fair and square, it's not his fault you lost! You have no right to hurt him!" Twilight declared angrily. Garble turned to Twilight raising his claws, intending to beat some respect into her, but then he was struck by a thought. "You know what, you're right." Garble said calmly, lowering his arm. Far from being relieved, Twilight felt her heart sink into a pit of dread and horror. "What do you mean?" She asked, once again trying to keep her fear from entering her voice. Garble gave Twilight a smile devoid of all reason. "I shouldn't be hurting Spike. . . I should be hurting you!" Garble snarled, as he closed in on Twilight, his psychotic tone revealing just how unhinged he had become. "Spike stole everything from me, so I'll take everything from him!" Garble roared, grabbing Twilight's wings in his claws. "I'll start by taking these!" Twilight cried out in pain as Garble began to pull her wings away from her body. "Once I'm done with you I'm going to burn every stinking pony and building in this town to ash! Then I'll-" Twilight wasn't certain what happened at first, there was a bang, something wet spattered her face, and Garble's grip went limp. As Garble fell to the ground, Twilight gasped. Half Garble's head had disappeared! Twilight could clearly see what was left of his brain and skull, and she gagged as she realized what must be on her face. The dragon next to Garble had an instant to process that his boss was dead, before his head exploded into fragments. Another "BANG!" directing the attention of the remaining fourteen dragons to the area behind them. Unfortunately, by the time they saw the threat, it was far too late. A bipedal figure slammed into the dragon farthest from Twilight. The green scaled dragon just had time to scream, before the figure grabbed it by the horns, and ripped its head from its body with an almost casual twist. Twilight was stunned, the creature moved like a blur as it tossed the head away, and jumped to the next dragon. As Twilight watched, the figure bowled over the dragon with a bone shattering kick to the chest, then rode it's body to the ground. Pulling a strange metallic object from it's back, the creature pointed it at the head of the dragon it now stood on. There was a loud "BOOM!" and the dragon's head exploded into red mist, but the creature still wasn't done. With speed that rivaled Rainbow Dash on her best day, the figure whipped the weapon around to blow away another dragon with a second shot from the rod-like weapon. One dragon, through reflex or deliberation, managed to spit fire at the figure. For a moment, Twilight thought it had worked, until the dragon who had unleashed the torrent of flame, was struck by a barrage of bright blue white blasts of energy in its sternum. The dragon would have screamed if it could have, but by the time the pain signals hit its brain, the beast's lungs had turned to blue vapor. The dragons stared in horror as the monster leapt out of the flames with no visible injury. Spreading their wings they decided to flee, rather than face the wrath of this bipedal monster, but one was to slow. This dragon, a white one with pink webbing on it's wings and frills, was grabbed by the figure, and hurled to the ground. Using the hapless dragon as a springboard, the creature jumped to catch the next dragon by the leg, but not before blowing away the first with a burst of deadly blue white energy to the face. Turning it's head to a steaming bloody stump in an instant. Pulling the dragon it had grabbed to the ground with its weight, the creature broke the dragon's leg with a sickening "CRUNCH!" before punching it through the poor firebreather's head with a practiced ease. Looking up, the creature saw the remaining dragons flying as fast as they could toward the horizon. With a faint "Crack" and flash of red light, the weapon the figure had been holding vanished, and was replaced with a massive object almost the size of its wielders torso. Taking careful aim, the bipedal destroyer waited for its targets to get to the proper distance, before it fired its new weapon, and a ball of crackling green energy shot from the end of the device. As it passed into the group of dragons, the ball struck them with what looked to be tendrils of green lightning, causing them to arch their backs in horrified agony, an instant before the green sphere exploded. Twilight could feel the force of the blast from where she was, despite the distance of at least a mile and a half, the brilliant green flash of the detonation blinding her for a few seconds. When she could see again, Twilight gaped in shock. . . nothing remained of the fleeing dragons, not even ash, now only the biped was left. Twilight felt herself quaking with fear as the figure approached her. It wore a suit of armor that covered it from head to toe, and even obscured its face with a tinted visor. A strong smell of sulfur and burnt copper accompanied the figure, as it strode calmly toward Twilight. Twilight forced herself to her feet, if this was her end, she was determined to meet it with dignity. She found herself glad that none of her friends were in town, and that Spike and Starlight Glimmer were safely in Canterlot. The figure was now in front of her, Twilight wondered if it would hurt to die? She closed her eyes, she didn't want to see it coming, she heard the creature shift its weight, seconds ticked by like an eternity, what was it waiting for? "Noble Seraph, I hope you and your fellows are uninjured?" Spoke a slightly distorted male voice. Twilight opened her eyes, and nearly fell over in shock. The figure was. . . KNEELING!? On one knee the creature stood with it's weapon placed on the ground next to it, it's head bowed in subservience. "S-s-seraph?" Twilight stuttered out with a squeak. "Yes milady, you are a Seraph, are you not? One who bears the united power of the three ponies of Equestria?" Twilight didn't even know how to respond, but the figure did not move, politely waiting for her to give him permission to rise. "Please remove your helmet." Twilight wasn't sure where that request had come from, but it was the first thing to pop into her head. "As you wish milady." The figure replied respectfully. The figure reached up, gripping the sides of its headgear, and giving it a twist. There was a slight hiss as the pressure seal was broken, and the figure extricated its head from its protective covering. Twilight wasn't sure what she was expecting to see when the helmet was removed, but when she saw the creature's face, she gasped. Long straight black hair cascaded around noble facial features, as eyes of icy blue stared at Twilight with calm composure. A light beard graced the lower cheeks and chin of the man's face. "You're a human?" Twilight asked in a shocked whisper. "Indeed milady, you know of my people?" Twilight nodded. "I know a little bit of you, it's a long story." The man nodded, speaking again after a moment's hesitation. "Milady forgive me, but I must ask, have you ever heard of either Seraphs Luna or Celestia?" Twilight did a double take. "How do you know Princess Luna and Celestia?" The man's face lit up. "Then they still live?!" He blurted out, before returning his gaze to the ground, as if feeling guilty for his outburst. Twilight nodded. "Well yes, why wouldn't they be alive?" The man laughed, talking as if he hadn't heard Twilight's question. "Oh thank the heavens, when I saw their castle in ruins I feared the worst. Please my lady, do you have a way to contact them?" "Uh. . . well, yes of course, but who exactly are you?" Twilight asked bewildered. The man raised his head, smiling as he replied. "My name is Derran Grandel milady, but I am also known by the title of: Doom Slayer."