The Guard And His Sword

by Himntor

The Sword Awakens

As I awoke, visions of all my failures spun in my head. All I could think about was how much I messed up attempting to make my father proud, to make him smile, to do anything that would make him believe I’m living up to my grandfather’s legacy.

And nothing ever worked! So he casts this spell on me because of how disappointed he is, making my cutie mark disappear, and now he’s gone! How was that fair!?

Twilight gets everything she ever wanted, I lose everything I ever had.

“Here, drink this water,” I heard a voice say.

I did as it said when a cup was lifted to my mouth. I opened my eyes slowly and shut them immediately as another wave of vertigo hit. My head was spinning. I couldn’t tell what position I was in.

“Where am I?” I asked. I couldn’t remember.

“Is he alright?” another voice said. “What’s wrong with him?”

“Mom? Is that you?” Right, my parents’ apartment.

“He’ll be fine, Mrs. Shield,” the first voice said. “I believe he’s just a bit nauseous from the shock. Do you know what this piece of metal around his waist is?”

“It’s my sword.”

“It’s his sword,” yet another voice said. “He’s always shapeshifting it.”

Katana? She was here? And could they not hear me?

Instead of opening my eyes or trying to sit up, I attempted to move my hoof a little. When I found I could, I tried to hum, testing my voice.

“He’s waking up,” Katana said.

“Oh, thank Celestia,” Mom said. “Swordulan, can you hear me?”

“Y-yeah,” I said. “My head is spinning. Water, please.”

I felt another cup lifted to my mouth, and I slowly drank. Wait, where was the rest of it? I was dying of thirst here.

After a short fit of coughing, making my head throb like crazy, I managed to ask, “What… happened… to Dad?”

Silence. Nopony seemed interesting in answer, so again I tried to open my eyes. I ignored the vertigo and tried to focus on something, spotting my mom and looking her straight in the eyes.

“What… happened?”

Tears came to my mom’s eyes and she looked away. “There was a… an accident on the way to work.”

I clenched my teeth and began to shift myself into a sitting position. Closing my eyes as a wave of vertigo hit, I finally managed to sit upright. With a deep breath, I said, "I need to go home.”

“Are you serious?” Katana blurted. “Your dad just died, you passed out in front of your mom, and you won’t even stay a while to be with her? What the buck is wrong with you?”

My mom began to sob and went into her room, shutting the door.

“I can’t recommend leaving yet either,” the unfamiliar mare said. “You need more rest.”

I managed to open my eyes and look at the mare. “I am a Lieutenant of the Royal Guard, I know my limits, and I’m fine. I don’t need rest, I need to go home.”

“If you’re so fine, why is most of your cutie mark missing?” Katana asked.

I scowled at her. “Because my dad put a curse on me, and now I need to find a way to reverse it now that he’s gone.”

“Have you gone crazy? That’s ridiculous! How could he even do that?”

“I don’t have to explain anything to you,” I snapped. “It’s none of your business. I need to—ah, ah, AGH!”

I jumped from the couch and shaped my sword into its normal form, letting it fall onto the floor. It had just heated up like a molten branding iron! Luckily no mark had been left on my waist, but the sword still sat on the rug, pulsing brightly, and the rug caught fire. In a panic, I levitated the sword into the air and stomped out the fire, all my vertigo replaced by adrenaline. The sword continued to pulse brighter and brighter, and I had no idea what to do! I cast a shield around it to contain the heat, but the shield began to crack. With a blinding flash, it exploded, knocking us all to the floor and turning over the couch.

It was all over in ten seconds.

“What the hay was that?” Katana asked.

“I don’t know,” I said, my heart pounding. Was this the conscious entity’s doing? Would it do this again? There was no way to know, but one thing was for sure. “I have to go. This might go off again, it’s too dangerous.”

Without another word, I teleported the sword and myself outside of Manehattan. It was a jarring sudden change, the stress and noise of the city now behind me with only open skies and fields of green ahead. I needed to study the sword away from civilization, so I began to make my way into the countryside, levitating the sword in front of me and using my magic to analyze the large crystal. There was nothing to discover, though. Everything felt normal, and I was about to shape it around my waist when it began pulsing again. My adrenaline spiked again, and I cast a shield around the sword.

Nothing happened. It just kept pulsing.

I needed to find Discord, he could probably tell what was wrong. I wasn’t sure how long I had been out, but it looked to be only a couple hours before sunset. If this was still the day of Twilight’s coronation, it was only a few hours ago when I’d seen him.

“Discoooooooooord!” I yelled. “As much as I hate to admit it, I could use a little help here!”

A flock of birds flew out of a nearby tree, but there was no sign of Discord. Wasn’t he supposed to keep an eye on this sword? Did he not sense the explosion or what was going on?

Some use for good he’s been. Thanks a lot, Celestia.

“Come on, you show up on plenty of unwelcome occasions, why can’t you show up on a welcome one? I don’t know what to do about this blasted sword. Ugh. You probably can’t even hear me. What a powerful Spirit of Chaos! He can twist Equestria into a state of pure madness in the blink of an eye but can’t detect the magic fluctuating like crazy in this stupid rock!”

Well, I guess he isn’t showing up. I’d just have to go to him in Canterlot, or at least go there to find out where he is.

I took down my shield and tapped on the sword, and it was definitely hot, though it didn’t seem to be giving off any heat. So long as I didn’t touch it, I was fine. I recast a shield around the sword and bound it to my back so I could carry it without needing levitation and began the long journey back on hoof.

As my adrenaline died down, I was grateful that the waves of vertigo did not return, though now I felt as if I had just finished the Running of the Leaves. I wanted to sleep, but that was not an option. Not yet.

The first few miles were flat farmlands with some mild hills here and there. I decided to take the most direct route to Canterlot, which would take me through the Hollow Shades forest and over one of Foal Mountain’s passes rather than over the rolling hills above Fillydelphia and around Foal Mountain. I wasn’t eager to travel in the forest, what with my recent experience in Everfree, but at least Hollow Shades was a normal forest, albeit still with its risks. Most of Equestria’s large forests came with tales of monsters or things out of nightmares, but considering the sword on my back going supernova, I wasn’t concerned.

The further along I went though, the more confused I was. Where was the forest? I had read about it, but there seemed to be no sign of its existence, only more and more windswept rock jutting out like spines. What was this place? It seemed so desolate.

My sword continued to pulse brighter as I went further into Hollow Shades. I had to strengthen the shield spell every now and then, as it kept cracking. I was worried it was going to explode again, so I levitated it a short ways off, but it never happened. Exhaustion was beginning to set in though. Carrying the sword around in a shield was draining, and I needed a proper full night’s rest. Eventually I reached what looked like an abandoned village, with a large well sitting in the center.

“Anyone out here?” I asked, keeping alert for any monsters that might be scrounging about.

Only the wind answered. I decided to enter one of the abandoned buildings and found it empty, but it was as good a place as any to stop and rest. I cut the shield spell around my sword, and thankfully it didn’t explode. I levitated it far away from the home and let it fall harmlessly to the ground then closed the door, shutting out the light. I got as comfortable as I could and cut my light spell, letting my eyes close. If the sword exploded, whatever. If monsters came, I trusted I was a light enough sleeper to wake up in time to deal with them.

Sleep. That was all I needed.

Floating… no… flying. Yes, I was flying on my sword. I was over Canterlot, no, Ponyville. Wait, Manehattan? Yes, all three. I went from my parents’ old house, then to my house, then to my parents’ apartment. The doors to each rushed up to my face. I knocked.

Bang bang bang.

No answer.

Bang bang bang.

No answer.

The Royal Guard barracks in Canterlot rushed up to my face. Why was the door shut?

Bang bang bang.

No answer.

I stood in the middle of Ponyville. There was no one in sight, as though the town had been abandoned. Twilight had to know what was going on. The library door rushed up to my face.

Bang bang bang.

The door opened, inviting me inside. I walked in, but no one was home. Just the books with layers of dust upon them. I went upstairs, and there was my old play tent I slept in when I was a colt. I went inside, but it was not the inside of my tent. It was the castle in Canterlot. Changelings patrolled throughout the halls, some standing guard outside doors wearing Royal Guard armor. They turned and stared at me, changing into different guards I knew. Captain Morningstar, the other Lieutenants, Shining Armor.

“What are you doing here?”

I turned back. It was Twilight, wearing her own set of purple and gold armor. Behind her stepped out Princesses Celestia, Luna, and Cadance, also wearing armor of their own colors.

I looked between them confused. “I don’t understand. What’s going on? Why are there changelings everywhere? Where is everypony?”

“They left,” Celestia said. “You remain.”

“Join us!” Luna hissed.

The Princesses moved in on me. I tried to fly away, but my sword had disappeared. I backed away to bump into a group of changelings, all hissing at me. Then they were gone. Everything was gone. There was only a door.

Bang bang bang.

“Who is it?” I asked.

I opened the door for a peek and was met by Discord sitting in a rocking chair, unraveling my sword with a pair of knitting needles.

“You cannot run anymore, Swordulan,” he said sinisterly. “You must face it.”

“Face what?” I asked.

Bang bang bang.

There was a second door behind me. I opened it and was greeted by Princess Luna.

“Follow me, Swordulan,” she said.

I backed away. “Are you really here, or are you just another changeling?”

“I am here as long as you want me to be. It is time for you to move forward. This way.”

She walked back through the door and invited me in. I slowly followed her into a place of emptiness, an endless black forever.

“What’s going on, Princess Luna?” I asked. “Why are there changelings in the castle? What’s happened to everypony?”

Luna gave me a solemn look. “There are no changelings in Canterlot. You must choose, Lieutenant. You must move forward.”

I shook my head. “I don’t understand. What must I choose?”

“It is your choice, and only your choice. You must choose.”

Whatever floor we were standing on vanished and I fell away from Luna, her voice still echoing towards me.

“You must choose!”

I felt something grab me and pull me up.

“I gotcha, cousin! Not letting you fall on my watch.” It was Katana.

Her grip began to fail and I was slipping.

“Don’t let go! I won’t let you!”

My sword flew in out of nowhere and cut Katana’s hooves off. She screamed, and I fell away. My sword flew underneath me as if to catch me, but it transformed into a gigantic mouth with razor sharp teeth. It began to fly towards me, chomping its metallic teeth.

Bang... bang…

BANG!

I awoke with a jolt. I checked my hooves and neck to make sure they were still intact. Finding that they were, I breathed a sigh of relief.

BANG!

I jumped up, my heart pounding. Something was being smashed into the ground outside. I went to the door and opened it slightly to take a look. There was something large out there, but I couldn’t tell what in the darkness.

BANG!

“Out! Come out!” a draconic voice said. “I will have you for my horde!”

Was that…

I quietly walked out of the home, and…

Oh Celestia, help me.

Only a short distance away sat a dragon ten times my size. It wasn’t tall, but it was long like a snake, with limbs as thick as my torso. Its claws grasped at my still-pulsing sword, trying to pry the crystals out of their sockets and slamming it into the ground when they wouldn’t budge.

Adrenaline and instinct kicked in and I teleported my sword to my side in its normal size.

The dragon snorted and looked at its claws in confusion, grasping at thin air. He looked around and spotted me, eyes narrowing.

“What’s a little pony like you doing in my village?” he asked, crawling towards me.

“Trying to sleep, no thanks to you,” I said, twirling my sword in front of me. “This doesn’t have to get violent. You can leave now and I won’t be forced to hurt you.”

The dragon laughed. “You think that toothpick of yours can hurt me?”

I shaped the sword larger than the dragon’s head. “I know it can.”

The dragon paused and took a cautious step back with a hiss. “Your unicorn magic doesn’t scare me. I see through such trickery.”

I smirked and began spinning the sword like a pair of helicopter blades, a pulsing disc of light. “Hmm, you sure about that?”

I took a few steps forward, and the dragon let out a burst of fire at me. I put the spinning blade in the fireball’s path, dispersing it without a lick of flame touching me. The dragon snarled and began to stalk around me, keeping his distance but slowly edging forward.

“I will have those crystals for my horde.”

He let out another burst of fire, again easily blocked by the sword, but then it began to hum, and the hum grew louder. Suddenly I lost control and the blade fell to the ground, vibrating as quick as lightning.

That couldn’t be good.

“You know what, you can have those crystals,” I said, galloping away as fast as I could.

As I ran, I looked back, and the sword no longer pulsed with light, instead it was continuously growing brighter. The dragon spat fire at me again, and I managed to duck out of the way. The humming was now as loud as a train. The dragon rushed up to the sword and clawed at the crystals, and then I heard something crack.

THOOOOOOOOMMM!!

The entire village lit up like the craziest party Pinkie Pie’s could ever throw. I was knocked off my hooves and thrown into a house, and there was a gigantic sphere of electrified light coming from the center of the blast. In the briefest instant, I swore I saw some other place within the sphere, as though it were a portal you could walk through, and then all went dark.

The dragon was gone. Everything was silent.

I shook myself from the pain of the blast and made my way to where the sword was, finding it dormant in its normal size in the middle of a massive blast mark. I touched the hilt, feeling no heat. It wasn’t cold either. I picked it up in my magic, and for the first time since before enchanting it, it felt like it had weight. The large crystal was cracked straight down the middle. I magically analyzed it again. The enchantment was still there, I could tell that much, but there was something missing. It felt as though the crystal was hollow.

I tried to transform the sword into the surfboard shape, and I was able to, though it took some effort. I hopped on and still managed to hold myself, thankfully, but how fast could I go now? How much would it drain me? Would it be so easy to teleport it still?

I didn’t dare risk trying, it might start pulsing again. There was no way to know for sure. I still needed to get back to Canterlot and have Discord look at it.

Perhaps it wouldn’t pulse for a while though, and I didn’t want to carry it around with levitation all the way back, so I shaped it around my waist. As I did so, I noticed something strangely different about my flank.
There was a shield.