As the Giant dragon stared down the barrel of my gun, he gazed at me with angered eyes. “Please step aside, I don’t wish to harm you elder.” I told the dragon before me.

He rose his head into the air and let out a mighty laugh, I was thrown into confusion by his random fit of joyous laughter. Once he calmed himself down, he turned to me and smiled,“Mortal, you remind me of the Guardians of old, now they were a force to be reckoned with. Your companions would have made excellent candidates, as would you. Now then, what have you come here for, young one.”

I looked to the dragon before me puzzled, I was confused by his calm and collected ways. I turned to the group and gave them a look of confusion and they all replied with a broad shrug. I returned my attention to the dragon lord before me and said,“I have come here to discuss this matter of disturbance with your king, may we enter?” I asked.

He looked to me and raised an eyebrow. He began to scratch his chin with his sharp claws and contemplated the scenario. “Well, I could let you into the city to talk to the king, but since he’s already in front of you then it seems like a waste of time.” He looked to me and smiled.

I looked to him and balled my fist, I placed it over my chest and bowed to the dragon. “I’m sorry elder, I ask for your forgiveness.”

He looked to the down soldiers and grinned as he returned his eyes on me,“There’s no need to feel ashamed for what you and your friends have done. This shows what you are capable of, young one. Taking on Draganic guards is no easy feat. You and your companions would have made the guardians of old proud.” He looked to the downed guards once again and said,“And to top it off, none of them are dead. This is good.” he grinned as he nodded his head.

I looked up into the king’s eyes and said,“If I may be so bold to ask, what was this dispute between the dragons and equines about?” The dragon looked to me and raised an eyebrow at my curiosity.

“The council and I have come to the conclusion that we do not wish to watch over these lands anymore. When the guardians still existed, they watched the lands and protected its inhabitants. We were equally to blame for the extinction of the guild and have taken it upon ourselves to temporarily watch over the equines in their place. When the orders numbers faded, and their guild had disappeared, we, the dragons of the badlands have remained the watchful eye these lands needed, but things change with time. They now have a new guardian, a new protector. They do not need for us any longer.”

He slowly approached me and sat down between me and the group. “My kingdom and I have watched over this land with the guardians of old for many centuries, but now it is your time, your chance to raise a new guild. You have the strength, physically and mentally, to rebuild the once forgotten order. From what you and your friends have shown here, I say that you already have a few deserving candidates.”

He looked to my companions and I turned to face them as well, the entire group looked amongst each other and smiled. I turned to the dragon king and said,“If it stops these problems between the dragons and the equines, I will rebuild the order.” I looked to the group once more and smiled as I laid my eyes on Terra firma,“First of all, we’re gonna need some armor...”

//////////////

With the dispute between the two troubled races solved, my comrades and I were crossing the fields of barren wasteland on our way towards the Crystal Mountains to deal with the frost spirits, they were consuming whole towns in a hold of ice and frost.

“Do you really think we can do this? Do you really think we can rebuild the Guild of Guardians once again?” Terra asked. He seemed to be otherwise ecstatic for our future plans.

Pyromancer jumped in and said,“Yeah, and if we did, where would we set up shop?” I looked to the fiery maned stallion and thought about his question. We didn’t actually have a place to build the foundations of our guild yet, and I didn’t actually know where we could house the guardians, nor the future recruits.

Terra jumped in shortly after pyro had finished and spoke,“Well; I do know where we can set down, but achieving our base will take some time, and maybe even some blood.”

I looked to the drake and said,“What do you mean?”

“Well, the old guardian fortress. The place was plenty spacious and had court grounds to train and practice. A mess hall, and a smithery. That would be the ideal place to stay and build, but there could be some complications with this plan...” He trailed off and looked over the field of red before us.

“There’s something guarding these ruins, isn’t there.” I said with a tinge of annoyance. I knew that the basic fundamentals of life would always have some sort of road block, obstructing our path. From the expression plastered across his face, I could already tell that there was. “What’s hiding inside the ruin?” I plainly asked.

“That’s the question I’ve asked myself for many years. Ever since my apprenticeship under the legendary blacksmith Firefist ended and the guardians home abandoned, I gathered groups of my own to explore the fortress and discover its secrets. Each trip, we would lose crew members.” He looked to me and his voice grew quiet. “One moment, you would be walking through the endless hallways and in the blink of an eye, you’d lose entire teams. I once caught sight of a dark shadow fly through the corridors and I knew that it wasn’t a figure of my imagination. It was too.. real. It was a spirit, or a demon.”

I looked to the dragon and thought deeply,‘Is it a good idea to house the guardians in such a haunted ruin?’ the thought was a surefire ‘No’ in my books, but if this was truly the original fortress, it could hold some secrets and tools that we’d need to rebuild. I looked to the dragon and nodded,“We’ll stop there right after the Crystal mountains. Their could be something we could use there.”

Pyro jumped in,“Ok, I’m not the only one that thinks going into a haunted ruin, that houses a spirit of some kind that steals ponies, a bad idea?” He looked around at each and everyone of us and we all stood there watching him. “Just me then?”

“It does sound a bit risky, I’m not sure if I’m going on this one with you guys. I’ll follow you into the Crystal Mountains but after that, I’m out.” said Night Strife.

“Good, then it’s not just me.”

Axton stepped in and looked to Archimedes, Terra and I. “If it’s a chance to check out this ancient order, then count me in. I’d like to do a bit of field research instead of the usual trip to the library.” He threw a smile across his face and we all proceeded towards our destination.

Frost spirits, You better be ready.

Hail! To the Queen, of the changling kind!
From Dark's heart, she feeds.
Hail! To the Queen, of the changling kind!
Bow to her majesty!

Keep it cool, Condemned.