The Guardian

by InsaneBatPony

Decisions and Messages

Fancy Pants and Rock Crusher sat in the council chamber. Both had their heads in their hooves. The chamber had little light and the what light was available was dim casting small shadows and lighting only half of the counsel table.

"What have we done Fancy?"

"We did what needed to be done."

"But to hand over all powers of the Equestrian Throne to him."

Rock Crusher put his hooves onto the table. and looked around the room sighing.

"What do we do now?"

Fancy Pants looked at him sullenly, yet with a hint of determination in his eyes.

"We hold Equestria together. Luna's place will remain secured and we will do what we can to reassure and calm the ponies, just as he asked us to."

"What of Blue blood? He wants to usurp both Celestia and Luna."

"Blue Blood will not try anything. He may be an arrogant and pompous baffoon but even he is not stupid enough to try anything that may result in his demise."

"I'm not so sure. He's proven shrewd before and ruthless when he does not get what he wants. He may use the chaos to his advantage."

"That is why we need to counter the chaos before he has a chance to use it."

"Do you honestly believe that we can mitigate the fallout from this disaster Fancy?"

"Not completely no. Though we've seen a number of attacks on Equestria and come out fine in the end."

"Because we had the Elements of Harmony and Celestia was NOT the villain!"

"I agree the circumstances are vastly different from times past but the message remains the same."

"We survived disasters before and we will survive this one Rock."

"I pray that you are right."

They stood up and left the council chambers both with trepidation in their hearts.

2

Three months later

News of Celestia's attack was still raw in both Volos and the ponies of Equestria's hearts. Speculation soared through the populace about why Celestia would try to kill Luna outright. Commentators and news paper columns gave reasons from the absurd to the most absurd and Volos was caught in the middle. Many blamed him for the changes in both Luna and Celestia. Though he did not mind it so much, he believed them to be right. He did not know what Equestria was like before his sudden arrival but he was sure that he changed it in some way. He was different for certain and now the ponies knew that Luna was like him and not like them. He had not held an official court like Luna and Celestia had done but instead preferred to keep his distance, focusing more on the day to day and his visits to Luna's bedside. The Council of Nobles had deemed it appropriate to give Volos emergency powers over Equestria until Luna's recovery was complete. However, at the rate the recovery was going he would be in charge for some time. A team of unicorns were found to take over the raising and setting of the sun and moon in relatively short time, most coming from the Royal Guard. From the time the Council made the announcement he had been beset by various issues. Volos delegated various tasks to the Council and the Guardsponies. The Council managed to put together a team of unicorns sourced from the Solar Guard and Lunar Guard to raise the sun and moon after the emergency apparatus ran out of magic power.

The Council of Nobles minus Blue Blood was hard at work keeping the peace. They had been travelling Equestria, talking to news outlets, and holding town halls. They had to enlist other nobles to aid them in their mission. They wanted to prevent the chaos from becoming too great to where a massive guard response would be necessary. The other nobility was hesitant to join but eventually became convinced that they needed to get involved. Canterlot could not lose face as the center of Equestrian stability and the nobility agreed. Blue Blood, however, had not been seen nor heard from in that time. Thought that worried Fancy and Rock, they deemed it unnecessary to worry about his movements or lack thereof while they were focusing on keeping Equestrians calm and feeling secure. The general populace questioned and lambasted the Council of Nobles for giving emergency powers to an alien and not a pony and the derision continued to be loud and a majority.

The Solar guard had disbanded itself to a large extent. Many of the ponies were conflicted about remaining loyal to Celestia. However, they wanted to remain guards. As such, Captain Dark Heart had them fold into the Night Guard as the daylight units. The reorganization of the guard took some time but Dark Heart managed it with her lieutenants and some help from the former Captain of the Solar Guard. Volos approved of Dark Hearts plan somewhat quickly as having a strong Guard presence that maintained its current numbers and routines without elevating to occupation methods would keep the ponies from panicking because the guard remained as they had been. Dark Heart took a small number of guards to travel sections of Equestria that were considered major risk like Manehatten and Baltimare due to their large populations. They had not been back to Equestria in several weeks.

Volos sat inside Luna's chambers as he had often done when he felt the need to be alone. The events of the last three months replayed themselves in his mind from the attack to the decree of the Council, and Luna's long recovery. Each time he thought over these his rage increased, yet he could not act on it. To clam himself he would sit by Luna's side. Volos returned to Luna's side and knelt to the floor. The hospital room was covered in wires, machines, and I.V. bags containing different fluids. He despised the look of the room as it reminded him of a laboratory. However, to his delight, much of the wires and tubes had been removed form Luna's throat and body, a welcoming sign of her recovery. Her fur could not be replaced until she was fully recovered leaving her looking like a different creature altogether. Much of her body was still covered in blue fur but much more was revealed to be machinery and natural organic bodily systems. Luna had yet to regain consciousness but her physical ailments had practically vanished. The hole in her chest had gotten significantly smaller and her vitals grew stronger. Even so, something nagged Volos' mind; Celestia's sudden outburst, Luna's metal parts, and his and Luna's attachment to the other. He mulled these questions in his mind but felt that there was no one to answer them. While he mulled over these questions he heard sounds in the hallway. He stood up assuming that the doctors, the few ponies remaining in the castle, were returning to check on Luna. Volos left the room to leave them to their work.

The sun had set and the moon rose in its place. Volos walked through the empty halls of the castle. The darkness did not bother him much, though he missed having Luna by his side. His thoughts raced and remained on both Luna's condition and how to counter Celestia's aggressiveness. He approached Luna's door and opened it. The room was practically the same as it ever was, thought it had become dusty in the absence of the cleaning staff. He went out onto the balcony and looked up at the moon. It shown dimly in the sky as it always had. A gust of wind blew past and knocked a small bejeweled cup from Luna's desk. Volos went and grabbed it in his large hand and he placed it back on the desk. While he was in the room another gust shut the balcony doors behind him. His head swiveled quickly. He could hear heavy breathing around him. He felt his rage bubble and he clenched his fists.

"Volos...Volos can you hear me?" a voice echoed in his mind.

Volos remained silent for a while as he tried to remember who that voice belonged to.

"Volos, answer me! I will not ask again!" it angrily roared.

"What do you want?" Volos said back.

"That's no way to treat me big guy. Besides we haven't spoken since you stepped on me at that facility."

"I know. I wanted to be rid of you."

"Getting rid of me is not easy my host. I have no chip to remove, no lines of code that can be undone. I was programmed into your very nature. Though the separation of our personalities and thoughts is new, or was at least."

"Why show yourself to me know? I can crush you again if I need to Anubis."

"I know what troubles you. You want power, more power. You failed to keep the horse safe and now you require power to prevent another failure."

"Make your point Anubis," Volos growled.

"I know one who can help you."

"Stop being cryptic and tell me."

"Another like me called Athena."

"Like you?"

"An A.I. I, Anubis, am the unbridled strength and hatred. Athena is the logic. She is the one who can give you the power you need. Athena gave you the body that you now reside in. Do you remember?"

"I do remember, though I vowed to destroy her."

"You were in a rage, I doubt that you meant it."

"Why tell me this?"

"You need to seek her out. You are still an incomplete creature, Athena will make you whole."

"I will not leave Luna."

"Bring her with you then. She will need to be there as well."

"Why?"

Anubis no longer answered him. Volos stood in both anger and contemplation. Anubis had remained dormant until now. It worried him that Anubis knew something about Luna that he himself did not know, and that worried him. Volos sat in the middle of the room and decided to shut down for the night and address this in the morning.

3

The morning came and Volos was on his way to the courtroom due to a summons that he received. The letter did not say much only that his immediate presence was required in the throne room. He opened the doors and entered the now dusty and dulled room. The gold did not shine and the walls and carpets had not been cleaned in some time. He approached a small group of ponies, six in total; two guards and four civilians. The civilians were wearing lab coats and looked nervous. One was shifting from side to the other, the second tapped his hoof to the floor, the third gnawed on his hoof, and the last chewed on their tongue. Volos stopped and stood in front of them.

"Why have you called me here?" he asked.

One of the guard ponies spoke up, "These four requested to see you."

"Actually, we requested to the see the princess but all of the business went down so we're talking to you," The one who was chewing their tongue said.

"Who are you?" Volos asked.

"Field Dust. We were studying you back in the Crystal Empire."

"So, you're the ones. Why are you here?"

"I got a letter from my excavation team. They say that they found something and that two of my team went missing sometime ago after they discovered it. A few went in looking for them but they did not come back either. I would like to go back."

"Why do I need to be bothered about this?"

Field Dust pulled out a small pouch, opened it, and dumped a small black square to the ground. She picked it up after putting the pouch away.

"This was with the letter and it said to give to you."

Volos took it from Field Dust and scanned it.

Scanning....Scanning...Scan Complete....

....Playing Message...

A small blue light appeared from the chip and a hologram of a female face appeared.

"Hello, if this message is playing than it has been received the intended recipient," the face said, "Playing message."

The face flickered for moment before the message began to play.

"Volos, it has been sometime since we last spoke. I am Athena. My reports indicate that the one designated as Luna has been recovering nicely considering the damage she sustained to her biological and mechanical systems. This is good. Her functionality should be restored soon. When designate "Luna" is fully functional please come to the coordinates that will be provided by Field Dust."

They all looked at Field Dust, who simply shrugged completely ignorant of what Athena meant.

"The coordinates that Ms. Field Dust will provide you are the coordinates of her excavation site. It is time that we meet one another and if all went well Anubis should have spoken to you about this as well. The events of the last three months threaten to disrupt the set timeline provided by our creators. The situation must be rectified. There is not much time left and preparations must be completed."

The message ended and the hologram vanished. The group stood in silence before Volos spoke up.

"How soon can you be ready leave Ms. Field Dust?" Volos asked slowly.

"Two Days at most."

"You three should pack up as well," he said looking to Gene Splice, Alpha Bone, and Star Gazer. "We're all leaving when Luna is able to travel of her own power."

The guards escorted the four ponies out of the throne room. Volos turned and went up to the throne. He laid his hand on the arm rest and kept it there for a time.

"That thing is too small for you to sit on big guy."

Volos turned around and saw a bluish purple pony with batlike features standing on the bottom step to the throne.

"Who are you?" Volos asked.

"Aw, that's hurtful. It's me Dark Heart, Captain of Luna's guard.

"When did you return? I thought you left to keep order after the transfer of power was finished."

"I got back a little while ago. Wanted to change out of my armor first."

"That's why I didn't recognize you."

"Thought so."

"How are the ponies doing?"

"Not well, I'm afraid. There is till fear and uncertainty but most of the ponies are coming around. The Council of Nobles minus Blue Blood is doing what they can to keep the ponies from rioting. It's been working but there are still some pockets that have been causing some problems."

"That's unfortunate. The ponies need someone who can actually lead them but Celestia is now feared instead of loved and the ponies are not even sure that Luna is one of them. The situation appears to be desperate."

"That it is. The Guard may need to increase their presence to keep the peace.

"That might cause more problems."

"True but it may need to be considered. Of course, it would still need your final approval." Dark Heart scratched her head, wanting to change the subject.

"Has Princess Luna's condition changed?"

Despite the sudden subject change Volos remained stoic after discussing the issues of the public.

"She is recovering well thankfully. Though she has yet to awaken."

"Since you're the temporary ruler I need you do the debrief so I can go home."

"Unfortunately, that is something I cannot provide you right now."

"Why's that?"

"Something has come up and I want you to come along."

"Okay, what are the specifics?"

"I received a message about meeting someone to get some answers on what has been happening since I arrived here. Unfortunately, the message has raised more questions that need answering. It has to do with the ones responsible for building me and apparently building Luna. We will be leaving once Luna is awake and is able to be moved. Hopefully, that will not be much longer."

Dark Heart scratched her head and pushed back her mane. She shook her head slowly and looked up to the ceiling. Her mind was trying to process the little information that Volos provided.

"That's intense. You've been working me to the bone here big guy but I'll be ready to leave when you are."

"Good. In the mean time, you can go home to your family to see them. I'm sure that they have been worried during all of this."

"My mother and Father thank you."

Dark Heart left the throne room and Volos stepped away from the throne proper. He returned to Luna's room and stepped onto the balcony as he had done many times before. The sun was out and the tranquility of the castle and its gardens was in stark difference to the turmoil of the rest of Equestria. He was determined to hold the kingdom together so that Luna could return to her rightful place as the Princess of Equestria. He thought over everything that had been said by Anubis and Athena, Celestia's attack, and Luna's condition. His vengeance would need to wait until he and Luna both were ready to take on Celestia's power. He looked up to the sky and the blazing sun.

"Either you return Celestia or I find you first. We'll end this dispute and a victor will be chosen."

Comments

[BronyGamer]

To me this was worth the wait, gave me chills as I read it.

[InsaneBatPony]

8715331
I'm glad you thought it was worth the wait. Especially when that wait is two years.

[Night Star the Scholar]

Glad you updated. I have begun to clear stories that haven't updated for more than a year. It annoys me seeing promising stories that have been abandoned by their authors.

But worth the wait.

[Freyr]

8715369
Bah, 2 years 2 months, 2 weeks who is counting? A good story is always worth the wait :P ( please don't make me wait another 2 :( )

Besides, it's been long enough I forgot what happens. Means I get to read it all over again haha

[BronyGamer]

8715369
Dude, a different story I favorited just sent out a new chapter after four. I think you’re doing good

[Themexininja]

Faaaaak. I gotta reread the whole thing I forgot what what going on at all. Oh whale.

[M1_A4_Abrams]

Holy shit. I honestly did not expect to see this update again. Well done man.

[Lucid Spark]

Dude, I almost choked to death in surprise,
I didn't expect THIS to be back.
But Im happy its back!

[Lich of Entropy]

If the Nanosuit 2.0, T-H, I-950, every terminator before the T-1000 was made, Robocop, and your standard cyborg had a baby.

[VoicefulAuto76]

Lovely read my dude. Really can't wait for the next update. Hopefully that will be soon

[shadowgod3211]

WHELP THIS FUCKING CELESTIA IS AT THE TOP OF MY FUCKING KILL LIST