The Guardian

by InsaneBatPony

The Forest Part 5: Caretakers

Author's Note:

I'm Back! After a ridiculously long break and a tumultuous start to my college semester, it's good to be back in the helm. The wait was long again, forgive me. But, I present to you the next two installments, hope that helps reconcile at least a little bit. I will try to keep myself to a schedule, no I won't tell you what it is, but updates will hopefully not take as long nor be as infrequent as almost three months between chapters. In any case, thanks for the patience and read on!

Luna rested against a makeshift bed made of rock and stones propped up against one of the walls in the throne room. Volos sat, leaning against the wall close to her side. He had been sitting there for a couple hours watching and waiting for any sign of recovery, no matter how small. Volos had scanned her body for injury before and found that some of the damage had been repaired but was not close to completion. Volos ran his hand across his bone white faceplate before groaning loudly. He raised an arm and cocked it in front of him before slamming his elbow into the stone wall behind him. The wall exploded at the impact point and left a large, gaping hole. He yanked his elbow from the hole taking another large chunk of the wall with it. He stood up slowly and watched as Luna's chest raised and fell in slow motion.

"At least she survived," he said quietly to himself. He began to pace along the floor, his heart beating rapidly. "How could I have let this happen?" he berated himself. He growled and swung his arms wildly. Images of past events and how Luna received her injuries flowed through his mind. He roared loudly putting his clenched fists by his side as he roared. "ATHENA! This is your fault!" Volos seethed and growled. "Hear me you damnable thing, I will end you!" he roared.

After a few minutes Volos had managed to calm himself and return to Luna’s side. He gingerly touched Luna’s cheek and ran his hand through her ethereal mane. The stars in her mane bounced and reflected off his metal cased appendage. Luna’s nostrils flared for an instant and a quiet groan escaped her bloodied lips. Volos sat back and held Luna’s right silver shoed hoof in his hand and squeezed it lightly. He grasped the same hoof with his other hand and held it to his forehead.

He felt her hoof twitch within his grasp and looked down at her body to see it shaking violently and foam coming from her mouth. Volos put her hoof down quickly and tried to hold her down. Luna’s chest shot up and down and her head shook while her limbs lurched in Volos’ strong grasp. Volos’ onboard computers scanned rapidly and lit up with images and text. Luna’s brain was displayed in the center of his vision. He could see her synapsis and the electrical currents in her brain. The electrical currents flowed rapidly and without direction. It was as though her brain had gone into an overloaded state. He continued to hold her down as she shook and her heart rate and brain activity was displayed to Volos as he tried to keep her from injuring herself. Just as suddenly as it had begun Luna stopped shaking and had become still. The displays that Volos was looking at showed Luna’s heart had stopped and her brain activity was now dangerously low. Volos let go of Luna’s body and pressed his hand to her chest and pushed down quickly.

2

Luna felt a breeze. Her eyes fluttered open as she shivered lightly at the winds crisp touch. She yawned deeply and stood up; her muscles spasmed as she stretched them. She looked around and found herself surrounded by the greenest grass while tall trees dotted the hilled landscape. A diamond sun rested in the sky and its tepid warmth could be felt along her body. She took a deep breath and the smell of fresh cut grasses, ozone and unpolluted air filed her nostrils and lungs with life. She remained standing in the midst of this place for a while longer taking in its sights and smells.

“What is this place?” she asked happily.

“This is Coralyth,” a feminine voice said behind her. Luna spun around and saw her mother standing behind her. “Hello again, love.” Luna ran into her mother’s waiting hooves and she remained there for a time.

“Where are we Mother? What is this place?”

Mother let go of Luna and stood up at her full height. She motioned Luna up to where she had been standing previously. “This is Coralyth, the afterlife for the many creatures of the universe.”

“Coralyth?” Luna asked. She looked around quickly. “But, I don’t see anypony else around.”

“That’s because this is the plane for Alicorns.”

“So then where is father?”

“Here,” she heard a gruff voice reply. The large black Alicorn landed in front of them and his stern face soon locked onto Luna. “I’m surprised you’re here,” he huffed, “You shouldn’t be.”

Mother gave a nasty look to her husband and patted Luna’s head softly. “He didn’t mean it like that dear.” Luna’s mood remained unchanged. “Moving on then, follow me. There is somepony I’d like you to meet,” she said sweetly despite her husband’s greeting.

Luna followed her mother as her father trailed behind. Luna continued to look at the scenery as they went. Flowers adorned the ground and reflected the sun from the platinum, azure, turquoise, and golden petals. The reflected light colored the ground around them creating a sparkling and mixture of colors. Luna’s smile returned as they moved and she had begun to admire such a beautiful environment.

“Where are going?”

“You’ll see,” was all Mother would say.

Luna stopped and clutched at her chest. “Mother?” she called, her voice filled with pain. Luna doubled over and clutched at her chest with her hooves. She screamed loudly as Mother came running over to her side and Father casually caught up to them. “What’s happening?” she asked holding back another scream. She felt a pressure hit her chest then release quickly, then felt it again seconds later. She screamed as the pressure returned and vanished over and over.

“You’re being pulled back,” Mother said quickly. “Somepony is trying to pull you back!”

Luna screamed again as a large ripple shot through her body distorting her for a short instant. Her chest burned as the ripples came and went through her agonizing body. Luna’s chest exploded as she felt herself be ripped from the reality that she had been seeing and was replaced by darkness.

3

…Heart Rate: Within Normal Parameters… Brain Function: Within Acceptable Range…

Volos groaned and fell back onto his hindquarters. His arms were behind him supporting his massive upper body. He breathed a breath of relief and sat back up. He stood up and heard his armored joints rub against each other making a loud grinding noise. He went over to a window inside the throne room and looked on outside. The sun was in its descent phase and the sky had begun to change from its standard blue to a dense orange and dark yellow with a hint of crimson.

“Our time here is almost over,” he said quietly to himself. He looked away from the window and moved back towards where Luna lay and sat down again. He let his scanner go to work again.

…Heart Rate: Normal… Brain Activity: Acceptable…

He watched the text disappear then saw his vision flashing and more come into view.

…WARNING…WARNING…WARNING…WARNING…

…Medibots Malfunctioning…Shut Down Imminent…Incompatibility Found…Incompatibility Found…
Medibots Deactivating…Deactivated…

Volos growled.

‘Diagnose,’ he commanded his onboard systems.

…Diagnosing… … … … Complete… … Displaying Results… … Medibot version 9.0 incompatible with transplant host systems…

‘Explain’

…Transplant Host Systems rejecting all transplanted Medibots…

Volos punched the wall. “This can’t be happening,” he growled. The heart monitor that Volos had monitoring Luna began to flash as her heart rate dropped again. “No!” He kept scanning her body as the Medibots began to shut down and her vitals plummeted.

4

Luna’s eyes burst open. Her vision was blurred by the intense light and the constant shadows that invaded her vision. When it cleared she could see her mother’s concerned face and her father’s indifference written on his.
“Back again?” Father asked sarcastically, “Pick, alive or dead. You can’t have both.” Luna groaned as she flipped herself to her stomach. “On your feet,” he said sternly, “You are Alicorn. Such disorients are beneath you.”

Luna stood back up and rubbed her head. “What happened?”

“You were sent back to the world of the living,” Mother said quietly, “Somepony there doesn’t want you here.”

Luna smiled and chuckled. “I suppose he wouldn’t want me to be here,” she whispered to herself.

Mother smiled. “Now, there is somepony we’d like you to meet,” she said, pointing over by a small tree. Luna stepped closer and saw a creature sitting under it against the trunk. “Luna, this is Alyssa.”

The creature sitting under the tree got to one knee before propping itself up on two legs and making eye contact. The creature walked closer to Luna and put two appendages similar to Volos’ on either side of her face. The creature pulled her head down lightly to see her eyes. Luna could see a loving motherly gaze in the creature’s eyes and she relaxed slightly.

“You’ve grown so much,” it said sweetly, “If it weren’t for your eyes, I never would have guessed who you were.” The creature let go of Luna’s face and took a small step back. It had no hair on its body except for its head, which was a light sand color. Her eyes were a midnight blue and her skin was almost pale.

“Who are you?” Luna asked, entranced.

“My name is Alyssa, as your..." she hesitated, "mother said...." Her demeanor changed quickly and she began to weep. "I… I… I’m sorry,” she cried, jumping to Luna and embracing her around her neck. “I’m so sorry."

“I don’t understand,” Luna said between Alyssa’s sobs, “What are you sorry for?”

Alyssa let go of Luna’s neck, keeping one hand on her cheek. “For abandoning you when you needed me most.”

“What…?” Luna asked. She looked at Alyssa questioningly and examined her words for any clues as to what she might mean.
She felt a throb in her chest and raised a hoof to her heart. AGH!” she screamed again. She clutched at her chest as her chest burned again and the ripples shot through her body. Her reality collapsed again as her vision was enveloped in darkness.

5

Volos relaxed his posture as Luna’s vitals came back to life. He rubbed his faceplate again and groaned. He got back to his feet and went back to a window and stared outside. The sun a fallen behind the horizon and the moon was now in the sky. Volos nodded quickly and moved away. His audio receptors picked up a quiet noise and saw that Luna was moving her mouth, but no words came from her lips; only mumbled jargon. Her body twitched and bile oozed from her mouth. Volos got back on his knees and readied himself for the inevitable seizure when Luna doubled over and vomited on herself and the floor. Volos bent down to try to get as much of the vomit off of her body when his sensors blared once again.

…WARNING…WARNING…WARNING…

…Core Temperatures Rising Rapidly…

He looked down to see Luna sweating and her head rolling from side to side. Her face contorted and her horn began to glow brightly. Her legs began to move and she began to moan. The light from her horn overwhelmed Volos’ optics and began to blind him. He turned away before hearing a loud explosion. Luna's horn exploded in a brilliant wave of blue magical energy and heat. The moon shone brighter and its light shone throughout the forest, illuminating it in its pale diamond light.

Volos felt himself flying through the air in a wave of heat and pure energy. His optics fizzled and were full of static, blinding him completely. His internal thermal sensors blared and rang on his onboard displays and his mechanics began to overheat. He felt numerous impacts on his body as he soared until he found himself lying still on the grass at the foot of the castle. His optics cleared and began to filter out the darkness as his night vision mode kicked in. He laid on the ground unable to move as his mechanisms and other machinery cooled from the intense heat.

When he could finally move he propped himself up on his hands and knees and stood up slowly. He looked at the castle and saw that the roof had been blown apart and that rubble and debris lay all around him. He took a timid step forward and saw dust and pieces of rock fall from his armor. He forced his arms and legs to move as he cleared the rocks and dust from his body. Satisfied with the result of his endeavor he found a way to climb back to where Luna was last seen.

He found some of the rocks in the wall had been knocked out enough for him to use the holes like a makeshift ladder. He jumped up and slammed his hands through the stone of the wall. He hung there for a moment before punching his feet through it as well, making small footholds in the already dislodged rocks. He continued climbing up to the throne room. His hand grasped a jutting stone and as he pulled himself up it fell from its place and plummeted to the ground. Volos managed to hang on to the hole he had made in the wall, saving himself from a punishing fall.

He reached the top of the wall and climbed over. He fell onto his back and lay there for a moment groaning. "My stabilizers aren't functioning fully yet," he groaned to himself before getting up again. He righted himself and made his way over to Luna’s body. It was emitting light glow and she was floating in midair on her back, perfectly straight. Volos reached out and tapped her shoulder before retracting his pointed finger slowly. She never flinched and remained floating. The light around her body began to fade and small sparks fizzled in the air as it did. She lowered to the ground and rested on the rubble below her. Volos knelt down beside her and scanned her vitals again. He hummed in satisfaction and went into standby.