A/N: yes I'm back, with the third installment of the guardian series, let us see as twilight and her friends continue their journey.

Disclaimer: I don't own any MLP characters; they belong to their respective owner's.

The Gathering Storm: chapter 1: The Mountains pass

(Flashback) 7 years ago

It had been two days since Silver's father passed away, it was a sad day for the guardians, and they had lost one of their greatest leaders, it took some convincing, for Silver to finally agree to attend the funeral, and even then it was sad, Silver hadn't been himself, and after the funeral he immediately locked himself in his quarter's, and gave the guards order's to not let anypony in, and so it had been, for the first day after the funeral.

Everpony was saddened by the loss of their leader, but Silver was taking it the hardest, he refused to see anypony, even Sapphire. Silver sat quietly up in the rafters of his room, he always found peace and quiet up there, it was a place where he could escape, from his worries, and now he needed to, more than ever.

He sat there, deep in thought, he knew his uncle would be here soon, and try to convince him to come out, luckily his thoughts were correct, when he heard three voices coming from outside, one of them sounded like his uncle.

Suddenly the door, opened lightly, to reveal none other than Sky Breeze, cautiously walking into the room, looking for him, "Silver, I know you are here, come out we need to talk" he heard him say, at first Silver didn't reply, but he knew he couldn't hide from him for long.

"Yes, what do you want uncle" Silver said, from above, and when he did, he regretted it. "Silver come down from there, I need to talk to you" his uncle said looking up into the rafters, at first he got no response, but then suddenly he saw a bright flash, appear in front of him, and when he looked over he saw, a very depressed Silver.

"I already know why you are here" Silver said, turning away from him, and walking to the other side of the room, he heard his uncle sigh, "Silver, this has got to stop, you haven't let anypony in to see you, not even Sapphire, your own fiancée" he said, as approached his nephew.

Silver sighed, heavily, and turned to face him, "Silver, let's be serious, we are all sadden by your father's passing, but your acting like a foal, look your father was my closest friend, before he died, he told me that it is your time, to take his place" he said with a serious face.

Silver again, just sighed, but didn't turn around, "you know that the council will not let me become Grand Master yet, because I'm too young" Silver said, still not turning to face his uncle, "yes in know, your father died, before he could officially pass the title to you, but it doesn't matter, you must take his place, the council can't stop you, from taking what's rightfully yours, becoming Grand Master is your birth right" he said stepping up to him and putting a hoof on his shoulder.

Silver sighed again, and brushed it off, "why don't you do it, you're a wise leader, just like father" Silver said turning to him, Sky Breeze shook his head, and looked Silver in the eyes, "because, I am not your blood relative, If I were to become Grand Master, it would break the chain, you must take up leadership, just as your ancestors have before you" he said, turning away.

Silver breathed in deeply, and looked at the ground, "what if I'm not ready, to become Grand Master, what if I mess up" Silver said sadly, Sky Breeze sighed and turned to face him, "Silver listen to me, your father believed in you, we all do, this is what he would want for you, I know it's a heavy burden, but you must do it, I have watched you grow up, into the strong stallion you are today, and I have never seen a more capable unicorn then yourself" he said putting a hoof on Silver's shoulder.

Silver looked up at him, a single tear in his eye, he saw the warm smile on his uncle's face, he couldn't help but smile, he wrapped his hooves around his uncle's neck, "thank you uncle" Silver said, before he made his way to the door, Sky Breeze watched with a smile, as he watched his nephew, walked out of the room.

(End flashback)

Silver opened his eyes, and found himself, inside his tent, back at camp, the night before, they had arrived at the base of the mountains, and made camp, for the night, they were less than day from the next shrine.

Silver sat up straight in bed, looking around, he looked over to the other half of the bed, and saw his wife, sleeping peacefully, wrapped in the blanket, the sight of her, always calmed him down, he smiled to himself, and slowly got out of bed, he walked over to the opening of the tent, and poked his head outside, he looked up into the sky.

There was a faint hint of light on the horizon, he returned inside his tent, he felt as if he couldn't fall back asleep, so he just walked over to his desk, and turned the lamp on, with his magic.

He brought out the old photo album, and began flipping through the pages, slowly going through the pictures, from when he was young, all the way to the day Comet was born, half way through the book, he noticed a familiar picture, of the day he became Grand Master, it was one of the most memorable days of his life.

(Flashback) 7 years ago

After his private talk, with his uncle, Silver finally agreed to go through with the ceremony, the one that would make him Grand Master, for the next day, the whole sanctuary was busy, preparing for the special occasion, Silver himself, was the very busy, overseeing preparations, and trying on the ceremonial robes, that was a part of the tradition.

Today was finally the day, the one that would change Silver's life forever. everpony, had gathered in the sanctuary's main hall, all dressed in their finest clothing, in celebration for the special day, the sadness from their previous loss, still lingered, but they would not let that ruin the day.

Suddenly the hall was filled with loud music, as they all turned and to the door, the guards used their magic to open the door, and Silver walked in, dressed in the traditional robes, which were worn by every Grand Master.

On the other side of the room, stood Sky Breeze, his Mother, and Sapphire, all smiling at him, as he came up the steps, despite the sad events that took place, only days before, Silver still had a smile on his face, as he stepped up in front of his uncle and his mother, holding the ceremonial necklace, that had been passed down in his family for generations, traditionally the current Grand Master, would present the necklace, to his successor, but now the duty was passed to his uncle.

When he was a mere few feet from his uncle, Silver stopped and gave him a respectful bow, Sky Breeze smiled as he turned to the crowd, "my friends, today we are gathered here, to witness the birth of a new era for the guardians, Silver Heart the time has come for you to carry on the tradition, that your family has done, for centuries" he said, loud enough for the entire room to hear.

After a minute of silence, Sky Breeze turned his attention back to the unicorn, in front of him, "Silver Heart, do you so solemnly swear, to protect the guardians, as our leader, just as your father did before you" he said looking down at him, with a serious face, Silver did not look up, "I swear" he said, still in a bowing position.

"Do you so solemnly swear, to lead the guardians, with wisdom and strength, just as those have before you" Sky Breeze said, still looking down at him, Silver still was in the bowing position, and did not look up, but he answered none the less, "I swear" he said, his voice growing louder.

"do you so solemnly swear, that when the time comes, you will fulfill our ancient oath" Sky Breeze continued, as he stared down, at the calm unicorn in front of him, Silver breathed in a heavy sigh, "I swear" he said almost shouting, Sky Breeze smiled, and turned to Silver's mother, who was holding a small box, that contained the ceremonial necklace.

She smiled and opened it, the shiny jewel in the middle, glimmered brightly as Sky Breeze gently removed it, and walked back to Silver, who was still in the bowing position, he quickly lifted it in the air, over Silver's head, and turned his attention to the ponies in the room, "long live Grand Master, Silver Heart" he said as he placed the pendant over Silver's neck, so that it dangled, after he did that, Silver rose from his bowing position, with a smile on his face.

He then turned to face the crowd of ponies behind him, "may the heavens watch over you" Sky Breeze said, as he walked in front of him, followed by his Mother ad Sapphire, Sky Breeze made the first move, by taking the first bow, Silver turned to his Mother and Sapphire, who both did the same.

He then looked at the crowd, who all started bowing, with respect, to their new leader, Silver looked on, despite the saddening events before, this made up for it, this was the day he has been looking forward to since, he was a young colt, and it was finally here.

(End flashback)

Silver smiled, as he remembered that day, and the other's after that, less than a week after the ceremony, was the wedding ceremony of Sapphire and Silver, who had decided to have their wedding day, shortly after.

Silver was brought from his thought, when he heard the rustling of bed sheets, on the other side of the tent, he looked over and saw Sapphire crawling out of bed, with a messy mane, she saw him and smiled, "hey, what are you doing up?" she asked, with a sleepy voice.

Silver was confused by what she meant, when he got up and looked out the entrance, and saw the sun, was higher in the sky, and there was more activity in the camp, he realized he had been looking in the book, for over an hour.

After they officially got ready, for the day, they stepped outside, and breathed in the fresh air, the mountains, created a large shadow, which had covered most of the camp, they began their daily walk around, the camp, to make sure everything was safe and sound.

When they reached the center of camp, they saw Comet, talking with Sky Breeze, at the breakfast table, so they decided to join them, "good morning uncle, good morning Comet" Silver said, as they took their seats across, from them, they smiled as they ate their food, "morning dad, morning mom" Comet said, after swallowing another forkful of his meal.

Shortly after that, they heard some familiar voices from behind, when they turned around, they saw two familiar unicorns, still with sleepy looks in their eyes, he couldn't help but chuckle to himself, "well good morning you two, rough night" he said, with a raised brow, when they heard that, they looked at each other and blushed heavily, "oh no, it's just that we aren't quite used to waking up this early yet" Flame said as he walked up to them, and they took their seats.

"so what is our plan for today" Twilight said with a sarcastic smile, as a soldier appeared with a plate of food, and dropped in front of them, and they immediately started eating, Silver laughed, and looked at them, "well, we are less than a day away from the shrine of honesty, aside from that, nothing" he said, as he took another bite of his food.

As they ate slowly but surely, all of Twilight's friends came one by one, to get their breakfast, they sat there eating for another ten minutes, soon after they were all done eating, and were just sitting there talking, suddenly Silver levitated his watch in front of him, his eyes widened as he put it away, and got up, catching all their attention.

"Okay, we need to get moving soon, eat your breakfast, and get ready to travel, we leave in one hour" he said before, he walked off, again followed by, his wife, and soon they all went their separate ways, and returned to their tents.

(Later…)

After about an hour, the camp was again fully packed up, and they were ready to move, all the tents and supplies, had been packed into the wagons, and everpony was ready to move, Silver came out in front of everypony, and cleared his throat, catching their attention.

"Alright listen up, when we enter the mountain pass, the terrain gets really harsh, so everypony stick together, the mountains can get very dangerous, so stay together, nopony gets left behind, nopony goes ahead, does everypony understand" he said, he was received multiple nods, telling him that they acknowledged his warning, "okay, everypony move out" he said, as he turned and walked forward, they all slowly moved forward, under the shadows of the mountain's, they had a long journey ahead of them.

A/N: well that was the first chapter of part 3, don't, worry it's gets more interesting.