Guardian

by Zodiacthehedgehog

The Old God Rises Again

Guardian
Chapter 9: The Old God Rises Again

Silver said a goodbye to Marshall. A tear ran down his cheek. He wiped it off with his hoof and trudged out of the forest. It took him about two hours to find the edge of the forest. He slowly walked into Ponyville. Other ponies stopped what they were doing to watch him walk by. He slowly made his way to the HQ. Silver opened the door and entered. He could hear Twilight’s voice arguing with Onyx’s.

“You let him go after Marshall?!” Twilight shouted.

“You told him I was here!” Onyx shouted back.

“Now hold on you guys-” Applejack tried to say, but was interrupted by a huff from Twilight.

“If you were his true friend,” Twilight said.

“I’ve known him since we were colts,” Onyx argued. Silver entered the room and clear his throat. The three ponies turned to him.

“Silver!” Twilight said happily. She ran over and hugged him. When she pulled away and saw the sad, hurt look in his eyes, she frowned. “What’s wrong,”

“Where’s Marshall?” Onyx asked. Silver looked at the ground and said nothing. “Oh no...”

“Oh my...” Applejack said, “I’m mighty sorry,”

“He... he was killed by his own friend,” Silver said, “Then... then I...” He couldn’t finish that sentence.

“Silver...” Twilight said calmly. She kissed his cheek, “It was out of self defence,”

“It shouldn’t have come to that...” Silver said. Before anything else was said, they heard a commotion outside. Silver and his friends peeked outside to see a crowd gathered in the center of Ponyville. They walked over to see what was happening. From there you could see Canterlot. Silver had looked that way many times. But now, when he looked, his breath was taken away. Canterlot was on fire!

“No!” Twilight shouted.

“What happened?!” Rainbow Dash asked as she glided down from her cloud.

“I don’t know!” Twilight said hopelessly.

“Nighthawke,” Onyx said.

“Of course,” Silver said, “We were about to stop his plan of resurrecting Nafarious so he attacked Canterlot to slow us down,”

“What do you mean?” Onyx asked.

“We could search for the last altar and let Canterlot burn,” Silver pointed out. He saw the dismay on Twilight’s face so he cleared his throat, “But we can’t let that happen. You and I shall go to Celestia’s aid,”

“Not without help,” Rainbow Dash said.

“You all have to stay behind in case he decides to attack Ponyville,” Silver ordered, “Gather all the Guardians in the area. Send about half of them to Canterlot for back up,”

“You sure about this?” Onyx asked, “What if Nighthawke succeeds with his ritual?”

“Then we’re all doomed,” Silver said, “Try not to think about it,”

Getting to Canterlot without being seen was easy. It was only the two of them. Silver felt the anxiety well up in his chest as he stood at the gates of the city. Onyx was messing with a switch near the gate. He had been for ten minutes, but it seemed hours for Silver. He had no idea what lay beyond the gate. His emotions seemed more chaotic than usual.

“Got it!” Onyx cheered. The gate slowly opened and the two ponies entered. The city was in ruins. Fire spread everywhere. No pony was in sight. The only untouched thing seemed to be the castle. Silver and Onyx crossed over to it and opened the large door. It was deserted inside so they entered.

“Go and find Celestia, I will look for Nighthawke,” Silver said. Onyx nodded and ran down a corridor. Silver entered the throne room. Like the rest of the castle it was empty. Silver looked at the giant stained glass windows and marveled at the pictures. One had six ponies defeating an evil one. Silver assumed it was Twilight and her friends fighting Nightmare Moon. He looked at another one. It was like the same picture in Twilight’s book. Two ponies were fighting each other. A giant dragon loomed over them. Silver noticed that both the silver and the black pony were faintly glowing. He walked further in and noticed there was a shadow on the throne. It wavered and Nighthawke appeared, with a tooth pick in his mouth. “Nighthawke,”

“Ah, sorry my dear friend,” Nighthawke burped and threw the toothpick away, “I just had dinner. How do you like my new castle?”

“It’s Celestia’s castle,” Silver said, “Speaking of, where is she?”

“Never mind that,” Nighthawke said, “I have some entertainment,”

“I don’t have time to watch,” Silver said.

“Who said you were watching?” Nighthawke asked. Silver heard a laugh and looked behind him. Onyx stood their defiantly.

“Onyx?” Silver asked in disbelief, “Did you find the Princess?”

“No, and I don’t plan to,” Onyx said. His voice was changed. It sounded more like a snarl now.

“You see, my lad,” Nighthawke said, “Onyx was tired of being on the losing team and switched sides. I took him under my wing and together we took over the castle.”

“I know secret entrances and exits,” Onyx explained, “There are a lot of them,”

“Onyx,” Silver said sorrowfully, “I thought you were my friend,”

“I still am,” Onyx said, “Join the Shadowshapers and we will finally win,”

“You know I can’t do that,” Silver shook his head.

“Let the games begin,” Nighthawke said.

One thing about Onyx, he is a good fighter. Silver had a hard time dodging and deflecting attacks. Hurting him wasn’t an option. Silver couldn’t hurt his friend. They fought for ten minutes, magic bolts and beams shooting everywhere, until Onyx unleashed a large beam of magic. Silver shot his own beam and they clashed. Silver’s gold beam mixed with Onyx’s purple.

“Onyx, stop!” Silver shouted over the sound of the beams clashing, “You can still join my side again. We can still win!”

“No!” Onyx shouted, “I saw the future, it is bleak and meaningless,”

“You are doing what Nighthawke wants you to!” Silver tried to reason. In the background, Nighthawke was laughing hysterically. Suddenly, Silver noticed the energy output of the beams were making something that looked like a portal. A large claw shot out of it and gripped a pillar for a handhold. Silver cut off his beam and jumped to the side to dodge Onyx’s.

“Too late!” Nighthawke laughed. Silver’s heart filled with dread. He watched as the maw of a large dragon came out of the portal. It quickly pulled itself through.

“But- but,” Silver stammered.

“What? You thought I was a Shadowshaper too?” Nighthawke laughed, “Think again,” he pulled off his cloak. Silver wanted to faint. Nighthawke was a black colored version of him. They looked the same except for Nighthawke’s mad smirk.

“What- I,” Silver felt like his brain was failing him.

“I am the personification of the last Gem,” Nighthawke said, “I am Insanity!” he then jumped at Silver. Silver was knocked to the ground with Insanity on top of him. Insanity quickly lowered his horn. It touched Silver’s and it flashed. Silver went unconscious.

He was back on that cliff again, except the water below churned in a whirlpool. The sky was red and the cliff started breaking up. The ponies in front of him were panicking or shouting incoherently. Two new ponies were there also, Greed and Insanity.

“There he is!” Insanity shouted, “There’s the one that wants to destroy us!”

“Uh...” Silver had no idea what was going on. All of the ponies turned on him and growled. Silver put up a glowing golden shield just in time to deflect a bolt of magic from Rage. More followed and Silver’s defence couldn’t hold long. He tried to figure out what to do, if he attacked, the shield would go away and he would be hit over the cliff. He knew that would be bad. If he kept holding up the shield, it would soon break leaving him dazed and he would die. It was hopeless. Despair took him over. He was about to jump on his own accord, when suddenly a wave of courage washed over him. He took down his shield and lunged at the other ponies. He was stopped when a flash of bright light exploded. A pony in gold armor appeared in front of Silver and shot all of the others with a wide spread beam of magic. They all were subdued instantly. Silver felt the chaotic emotions inside him die down for good. The armored pony turned to him and shook off his helmet. It was Silver, but gold in color. “Courage always prevails,” Courage said, “Remember that,” He placed his helmet on Silver’s head and then Silver woke up.

Silver was standing up. Insanity was gone and Onyx stared at him, mouth hanging open. Silver was armored head to hoof in golden armor. His wings and tail were the only things exposed.

“Impossible!” Onyx shouted.

“Not really,” Silver said. Memories flooded his mind like water after a dam burst. Silver knew he could only stop Nafarious, who roared at him. Onyx growled and lunged at Silver. Silver just knocked him aside and made his way over to Nafarious. Nafarious roared again and took flight. he crashed through the roof of the castle and flew away. Silver flew after him, his armor shockingly light. Nafarious flew up into the sky and shot a fireball at Silver. Silver barrel rolled to the right and just dodged the attack. Silver shot out a beam on magic and connected with Nafarious’s leg. He roared in anger and shot more fire balls. Silver dodged around those. The got closer and closer to Ponyville. Silver had to get Nafarious away from there. he could already see ponies heading for the castle, the Guardians that would back him up. Nafarious took sight of this and flew after them. The Guardians looked up in horror and scattered. Silver flew after Nafarious and tackled him in mid air. Surprisingly, Nafarious was knocked to the side. Silver flew right over the Guardians. They all looked up at him in awe. Silver then noticed Twilight and her friends were among them.

“Who is that?” he heard Rarity ask, “I like the armor,”

“I don’t know,” Applejack said. Silver rolled to the side to dodge a fireball and shot another beam. Nafarious roared when it connected. It swiped a claw at Silver. He was knocked out of the air and he hit the ground hard. Dazed, he got to his hooves and took off again. He noticed he was missing his helmet.

“Silver?!” Rainbow Dash shouted. Silver had to get the huge dragon away from his friends.

“Follow the birdie!” Silver shouted as he shot up into the sky. Nafarious followed him with a roar. The crown of horns seemed to glow like mini fires and the scales seemed to shine. Silver flew up into the darkening sky, leading the dragon away from any pony or town. Silver got an idea, a crazy, horrible idea. When he was sure it was safe, he looped and flew straight at the beast. Silver imagined any pony who looked could see a small speck traveling at break-neck speeds at the castle-sized dragon. Nafarious seemed surprised at this and hesitated. Silver grinned. His horn glowed from over charged magic build up. Silver hit the dragon in the neck and unleashed the magic. A golden light exploded and knocked them both to the ground, hundreds of feet below. Nafarious spat fireballs this way and that. Silver pushed the dragon to the ground by the neck, completely enveloped in a golden light. The two fell to the ground, waiting to meet them. Nafarious tried to claw at Silver, breath fire on him, and bite him, but nothing stopped the alicorn from pushing. Silver closed his eyes from the heat and wind. He prayed this wouldn’t hurt as much as he thought it would.

Twilight watched as Silver and the dragon fell to the ground. Everypony around her sat in stunned silence and heard the roars of the dragon. Twilight stared in disbelief. How could Silver do this. It was impossible. When the dragon hit the ground, a pillar of flame shot up into the air. A shock wave rocketed all around them, sending up dirt and loose rocks. Heat washed over Twilight.

“No!” She cried, “Silver!”

The pillar didn’t die down for another five minutes. When it did, Twilight bolted towards the place where the dragon fell.

“Twilight, wait!” her friends called after her. She didn’t heed them and ran into the forest. Nothing seemed touched by the shock wave and the fire. It was like the dragon never fell. Soon, she broke into a clearing where all the grass had died and the trees were blackened and didn’t have leaves. It was like a giant circle of death. The giant bones of the dragon lay, scattered randomly. Its scales and skin had burned up in the fire. How could Silver have survived this? Twilight ran, searching in vain everywhere. Tears ran down her face. She had planned to tell him when they got back to Ponyville from Manehatten. She turned over bones. She planned to tell him that... She found a piece of his armor. Her hopes sky rocketed. She kept find pieces of his armor like a trail. When she reached the end, her hopes sank like a rock. Silver lay on the ground, his fur scorched. Cuts and gashes were all along his body. A scar ran up his face and over his eye. He was motionless. He wasn’t even breathing.

Twilight’s friends found her, her head on Silver’s chest and tears running down her face. Next to her head was a gold gem. They helped her up and left. The Guardian’s picked up Silver and the pieces of his armor. When they got back to Ponyville, the sky was dark and black clouds hung in the sky. Ponies watched them as they headed for the Guardian HQ. There was a sniffle in the crowd and low, whispering voices. Some ponies bowed their heads while other wiped away tears. They had all saw how Silver protected them. How he sacrificed himself for their safety.

The HQ seemed to send waves of sorrow. The Guardians lay Silver on top of an altar in the basement of the HQ. Around them were ceremonial coffins, displaying the name of every hero the Guardians had. Emerald stood behind the altar and looked down upon Silver. In the torchlight, he seemed almost peaceful.

“Silver the Lightbringer shall rest here until the morning,” Emerald said after a pause, “We will then hold a ceremony at the town square. He will then be taken to Golden City, where the main Guardian HQ is located to be buried in the tombs below. He will join his ancestors and guide us through this dark time. He was the last of the Lightbringers so we all have to play our part to keep Equestria as safe as he did, whether he knew it or not, his presence alone kept our world safe from darkness. Now we have a long road ahead of us all,”

“Where is Golden City at?” Applejack asked after a moment of silence, “I’ve never heard of it,”

“It’s hidden from the Shadowshapers and other ponies. The Shadow City is also hidden. Only the members of each faction know where their main city is at,” Emerald explained. No other pony said a word. They were silently dismissed. Twilight still carried that golden jewel in her mouth. She went back to the library. Spike was sleeping in his bed, snoring away. Twilight placed the gem on her desk and went to bed. She cried silently to herself, remembering how he was always there to protect her and others. How, before he went after those altars, he was high spirited and cheerful. How he stood up for Granny Smith and Applebloom on his first day. Soon, Twilight fell into an uneasy sleep.