When I awoke, I was greeted by all of my friends. Although I could not see them at the time, I knew from the sounds of their voices it was surely them.

“How long have I been out?” I asked anyone that could hear me.

“It’s been about... damn near a month!” Voiced Pyro.

“We thought you might have passed on the the ethernal plains, I’m glad you haven’t yet.” Terra said through clanking armor.

“I’m glad that you’re back, Dark.” Voiced Night Strife.

“So, once you’re back up and running, we’ll have start adventuring again.” Axton’s voice seemed to swing around, as if talking to the others. “We’ve tried to search around for guardian relics and such, but without that map in your head, no luck. But, you’ll be pleased to hear that we’ve found the perfect spot to start building the guardian base, to a spot you’ll find most convenient.”

I coughed as I spoke,“And where’s this spot?” My voice still was sore for not being used for so long. “Damn throat.”

Pyro spoke up,“Well, it’s not even that far from here... just over the ridge on the far side of Mystic mountain. We’re gonna build it mounted to the side of the mountain. A bit of inspiration came from the Canterlot castle. As for how we’re gonna start, we’re gonna need to use some old schematics that were used to set up the city from the Canterlot royal library. Which you’re gonna have to get.. when you’re good again that is.”

“That... that might take awhile. I..” I trailed off as I held my throat in pain. The amount of stress I was putting on my throat was excruciating.

“He needs to rest for a bit. After coming out of a coma, I don’t expect that he’ll be right on his feet. If you wouldn’t mind, I would ask that you all left for now. As soon as Dark feels better, I’m sure he’ll meet up with you four somewhere.” Voiced Chrysalis.

“I guess so. Well Dark, we’ll see you sometime later. Get better soon.” Pyro said while patting my foot. A sense of pain came from my foot and jolted up to my brain and became sound as I grunted out a small groan. “Sorry.”

“I hope that you will be better soon, brother. I must return to my house in the mountains. Farewell for now.” Terra stated.

“Dark, I’ll be back sometime later. Either tomorrow or the next day, either case i’ll have something that’ll help with your current... being. Catch you later.”

“I would like to stay, but if the queen wishes that I leave then I guess I have no choice. Get better soon Dark.” Night Strife said with a hint of sorrow. In a uniform fashion, I heard a group of hooves and a pair of footsteps turn towards the exit of the room and the door close behind them.

“Dark.” Voiced my Queen,“You should get some more rest, This’ll take you some time to recover so it’s best for you that you sleep. I’ll inform Celestia and Luna that you’re awake, though I have the feeling that Luna already knows.” She gave off a light chuckle that warmed my heart. “One day at a time Dark, I’ll be back in a few hours. Sleep tight, love.” She planted a light kiss on my cheek and I listened as her hoofsteps made their way over to the exit, following the future guardians steps. As the door closed behind her, I was left alone to my thoughts and the quiet that came with loneliness.

‘I want to be moving, but I’m far too broken to even try. It’s probably best to listen to the others and just try to get some sleep.’ Through the pain I was feeling and the soreness that filled my body, I slowly edged back into my mind and began to drift back into sleep.

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

Axton returned the next day with a small trinket, it was a small ring that had been enchanted to help with my recovery. I wore it on my left hand index finger and the charms’ powers had already began to work their ways. I wasn’t healing at an incredibly fast rate, but it was helping to ease the pain that filled my aching body.

It took nearly two weeks before I could even leave the bed, and another week to work up the strength to walk. The pain of walking around was ever present, but I tried to work through all the pain. I’ve gotten older, I could feel it in my bones.

“Love, where are you going?” Asked Chrysalis with a hint of concern and a worried expression covering her face.

I turned back to the ebony queen and gave a smile,“Just to the training grounds. I need to work on many things. How can I expect to lead the guardians if i can’t even move?” I let out a small laugh and turned back towards the field.

“Don’t strain yourself, you’ve only been walking so far and you’re always tired when your done. Just don’t push yourself too hard, ok?” she pleaded.

“I’ll try not to.” I continued my way through the field and after ten minutes of walking, I finally arrived at the training grounds. I asked a few changling guards ahead of time to set up some dummies for me to practice on, and to clear the track so that I could exercise my endurance. Weights were also set up, though I did not ask for them to be. ‘Are they suggesting I’m weak?’ I thought to myself. I gave a small chuckle and said,“No, couldn’t be. They’re just looking out for me. I hope.”

Each time I rounded the track, I found myself gaining just a bit more speed. The first round was a light walk, the second was a fast walk, the third a small jog. I thought it best not to push myself to anything too strenuous, so I changed from the track to the weights. I started with five pound dumbbells, then trading to ten pounds, fifteen, twenty. Once again, I stopped myself from pushing it. I traded over to the dummies and started practicing.

“Ok, I can do this.” I jabbed between the dummies, switching between the three that had been set up. When I first arrived in the grounds, it was the early morning. As I looked to the sun, I could see that the time was nearing high noon. “I should go get some lunch and relax.” As I turned to head my way back to the castle, I could feel something watching me.

I gave a look around and I found a dark figure standing in the field, staring at me. I couldn’t exactly make out who or what it was so I rubbed my eyes in an attempt to reveal the shadowy figure, but as I removed my hands from my eyes, I found that the dark figure had vanished. “What was that?” I asked myself. All I could make out from the figure was a small gleam of light.

As if it were metal.

Just because I know you like music. Maybe not this one, but hopefully.

Keep it cool, Condemned.