Children of the Guardian Chap 8

by ~Sunjian54

Children of the Guardian

Chap 8

"No, no, try again." David said as he sat next to Sunlight's desk in her room. The afternoon sun shone down into the room causing David some slight annoyance since it was shining directly in his eyes.

"Ugh… I just don't get it dad." Sunlight said as she threw her pencil onto the desk and fluttered her wings in rage. She had asked her father for help with her history homework, but all he had been doing was telling her if she was wrong or not.

"I'm just not good at history like you and Midnight." She huffed as she shot the pencil away from the paper with her magic and up against the back of her desk. David shook his head at his daughters struggling. He had given himself the same excuse when he had been in high school. The only difference was that he struggled with Math and not History.

"Sunlight" He started as he ran his hoof down her white gloss white mane. "In school… I learned that there was NO such thing as being bad at a subject. Many students have subjects that they're not good at. I struggle at Math, your brother at Literature, and you at History. Do you know what that means?"

He asked smiling at her. She shook her head as she stared at David with her lavender eyes.

"Well it does NOT mean you can just give up." He said as he retrieved the pencil from the desk and placed it back in front of her.

"It means that you have to put more work into preparing for the subject. For example… back on Earth I used to spend about 4 hours a week on each subject but I kept doing poorly in Math. So I decided to spend at least 6 hours a week on my Math studies and my grades improved."

"Well that's great dad, but how does that help me?" Sunlight asked confused as she stared at her history homework.

"It helps you because this means that you should spend extra time studying history. You're not bad at the subject Sunlight. You just need more practice in it."

At this conclusion Sunlight looked up into his eyes. It had always amazed David at how much his wife and daughter looked alike. He had occasionally made the mistake of mixing up their names but ironically it never offended either of them. Sunlight liked the idea of being a mature Princess, and Twilight liked the idea of being a young mare again. To which he would tell her, "You're not even over 1000! You can't call yourself old!"

His thoughts snapped back to reality as he felt his daughter hugging him tightly. "You're still going to help me… right dad?" She asked.

"Of course I am. Heck you might learn a few things from me that your book won't teach you." He said laughing. Sunlight smiled and reshuffled her papers.

"Okay, True or False… during the Eclipse War the Guardian lead a force of 35,000 ponies to fight Nightmare Sol's Eclipse army. That's false isn't dad? You told me you lead an army of 11,000 ponies, griffins and dragons." David nodded.

"I did. We tried to gather more but finding volunteers for what many thought a suicide mission was hard. So yes the answer is false." He said closing his eyes. (11,000 against 30,000… dear God it could have been much worse.) He thought as images of the battle ran through his head. He saw himself slay his dark copy, cut down dozens of Eclipse troopers, and then slay Nightmare Sol and Radious, but what scared him most of all… was that he didn't feel fear or emotion from these memories.

(What's happened to me? Have I… become immune to the thought of death?) This was truly frightening; if he couldn't feel emotion then he was nothing more than a robot.

"DAD SNAP OUT OF IT!!!!" Sunlight shouted breaking his trance. "Sorry about that, just some old memories." He said putting on a fake smile.

"It's okay dad. Next question: Who was more beneficial in the battle of Canterlot Mountain? General Bio or Commander Devin? Umm… Dad?" Sunlight asked confused.

"Neither one of them was more important than the other. General Bio fought like a monster on the field of battle and he fought off Nightmare Sol's apprentice Trixie while I confronted Nightmare herself. Until he turned into Radious, but that's not important." David said smiling.

"As for Devin he…" he stopped as an idea popped into his head. "Hey… why ask me? When you could hear it from the stallion himself, he lives down on Sweet Apple Acres with your mom's friend Applejack." He said walking toward the door.

"Really dad?? Could you introduce me too him??" Sunlight asked bouncing up and down her chair like she had springs in her hooves. "Of course I can! Get your work and your backpack and meet me at the gate okay?"

"Okay!" She said as she gathered her things and tore past him full speed. David couldn't help but chuckle as he made his way down the stairs and headed toward the main gate, but a sudden explosion stopped him in his tracks. It wasn't a huge explosion but it made his legs shake and he nearly toppled over.

"The HAY was that???" A guard wondered out loud. "Must have been that mare Technia…again. I hear she's building something special." Another guard answered.

"Technia…" David mumbled as he turned and headed deeper into the castle. The lower part of the castle had been entirely dungeon, but with some reconstruction it had been made into a half dungeon, half "Mad inventor's lab" for an old friend. As David approached the large steel door to the inventor's room there was another loud *POOMF* followed by smoke that came out of the door cracks. Before he could open the door however it flew open and Technia came out coughing.

"Dumb…*Cough* experiment *Cough*." She gagged as she took deep breathes to clear her lungs.

"Hi Technia." David said greeting her calmly. "Oh hi David! What's up?" The dark grey mare asked as she wiped off her goggles with a red cloth. "Well first I'd like to know what that earlier explosion was."

"Oh that! That was my dinner, I overcooked it, it went up in flames, and triggered some mild chemicals." She said innocently.

"And the second one?"

"Dessert" She smiled sheepishly. David shook his head as she led him into her lab. It was filled with bottles and beakers filled with a rainbow of colors. Electricity sparked from machines and computers buzzed and hummed in a tune of mechanical symphony.

"I want to thank you again David. Since I was able to take apart one of the bullets from your gun I may be able to make gunpowder weapons really soon!" She said happily.

"No Technia I told you, no gunpowder weapons. I still can't believe you want to keep doing this." After the war Technia had taken on of David's bullets and taken it apart. She studied the gunpowder inside and had begun research into early gunpowder weapons. While David did agree that guns would benefit Equestrian military it would severely harm the worlds balance. Introducing a human weapon into pony hooves could only end badly. Before long he knew that other creatures would create the weapons and before long it would be too late to stop the storm of violence from coming. So Technia forged on without help, her first early designs were good but they never worked. Time and time again she would ask David for help but he would refuse.

"Technia I'm fine with you unlocking ideas for this stuff… but NO weapons okay?" David asked gently.

"Sure thing boss." She smiled as she tossed her grey and red mane out of her eyes. "So where you headed?" She asked as she began to draw out a new design on a blueprint.

"I'm on my way to see Devin. Didn't you say you had an invention for him?" He asked remembering Technia saying she had an idea for some farm equipment.

"Yes I do!!" She said as she jumped up from the table and ran over to a pile of parts and metal pieces. "Where is it… oh here it is!" she exclaimed as she pulled out a strange device only to have it fall apart in her hands. "Oh nooooooo!!!" She wailed as the device's pieces fell to the ground.

"I spent WEEKS building that nutrition sprinkler!"

"Nutrition Sprinkler?" David asked confused.

"Yeah… it was going to help out on Sweet Apple Acres. See you put this thing in the ground like so…" She began as she sat the broken machine on the table. "After you do that you press this button." She then clicked a button and the football like object peeled open from 4 sides revealing what looked to be a small cannon shaped tube. "These four peeled sides stick into the ground near a field of crops. You put plant food and water in here." She said pointing at the cannon shaped tube.

"And with a few little button presses, this thing fires water balls up into the air that rain down and water your crops for you. Plus, since Sweet Apple Acres has wells on it refilling the devices is a synch."

David was amazed. Technia had always been a master mechanic, but this machine was brilliant. People back on Earth would be foaming at the mouth for a device of that caliber.

"Technia you've outdone yourself again. I'll let Devin and Applejack know the basics about the machine and then I'll let you know how many they want okay?" He said winking at her. Technia stood at attention and flashed a quick salute as she lowered her goggles and got back to work. Leaving her to it, David began the climb out of the lower levels and back to the main part of the castle where he could see Sunlight talking with her best friend Saturated Flame. Even from a distance Saturated's long ponytail mane and white cap gave her away immediately.

"Mr. David sir!" She said as she came running up to him. "Um… if it's not too much trouble, could I possibly interview you for our school newspaper this weekend?" She asked nervously. David smiled.

"Of course you can. Although I'm not very good at interviews so you may have your hands full with me." He joked as she nodded and took off into the sunset back towards her house.

"Alright you all set Sunlight?" David asked looking at his daughter who had loaded up a saddlebag with paper and pencils. "Yes sir!" She said happily.

David nodded and waved a chariot over to pick them up, but just as they were about to board Midnight came flying in from the east at full speed.

"D-Dad… I… I wanted to tell you..." He panted trying to get the words out.

"What is it son? Breathe and speak calmly."

"I wanted to tell you… that I'm taking Brushie out on a date and will be home late tonight." He said finally getting the words out.

David wasn't sure about this idea however. He did like the fact that his son was taking his girl on a date, but he didn't like the idea of him being out all night. He had classes to get too tomorrow morning, and no girl was more important than the kingdom classes. "Fine, but be up in time for your morning classes understand?" he said sternly. Midnight nodded happily and took off toward his room to get ready. "Dad do you think you can trust Midnight to keep his promise?" Sunlight asked concerned.

David nodded quietly. "I trust your brother Sunlight. He has a good heart. It's his brain that I'm worried about. I wonder if it's really in the right place when he's thinking. It's either in his head…"

"Or stuck up his flank." Sunlight interrupted giggling. "Yeah that's the short version of it." David finished as their chariot took off toward Sweet Apple Acres. Next Chapter: Chapter 9 Estimated time remaining: 1 Hour, 15 Minutes