A/N: well, here's the next chapter.
Return of the Shadow League: chapter 5: the journey begins
After their late night meeting, with the mysterious unicorn, named Silver Heart, Twilight and Flame did, exactly as they were told they had gone to sleep for the night, knowing they had a big day ahead of them.
They spent the following day, packing essential, items, for they journey, they had a hard time deciding, because Silver, gave no specification, as to where they were going, but they had no choice, but to guess, they were up in their room, packing supplies, Flame had trouble concentrating.
He took a break from packing his saddle bag, and sat on the bed, with a heavy sigh, Twilight noticed this, and walked up to him, with a worried expression, "hey Flame, what's wrong?" she asked, sitting next to him, he sighed, again and turned to her, "I don't know, it's something about this Silver character, something about him, I don't trust" he said looking in her eyes, with a serious face.
Twilight, simply chuckled, and looked at him, "Flame, now your being paranoid, if the princess trusts him, then that's good enough for me" she said getting up, and returning to her previous task.
Flame, looked away, he knew she was right, but something at the back of his mind, something that was nagging at him, but he decided to trust her judgment, and also resumed his packing, earlier, they went around town, Flame had to tell the mayor, that he wouldn't be there, she understood, and gave him a vacation, which in truth was a secret mission, given to them by the Princess.
After they finished packing, they decided to rest for the day, until their friends arrived, before sunset. The sun started to slowly descend on the horizon, and as they rested in the living room, talking to each other, they heard a knock on the front door.
Flame was the first to get up, and went to open the door, when he did, he was greeted, by Shining Armor and Cadence, standing outside, he kindly invited them in, and as he did, they were quickly followed by the rest of Twilight's friends, much to their surprise.
"Wow, you all made it early" Twilight said, surprised, Shining Armor walked up to her, "yeah, well we decided to get here early, so we can all prepare, for our little journey" he said with a smile on his face. There they waited, for about an hour, before Twilight looked out the window, and to the horizon.
"Well everpony, its sundown, better get moving" Twilight said over her friends talking, they all looked at her and nodded, and they slowly made their way to the door, Twilight turned around, and took one last look around the library, before she closed the door, and followed her friends, to the outskirts of town.
(Outside of ponyVille)
When they arrived, the sun had nearly fully set, in the distance. As they cleared the hill, they saw three figures waiting for them, at the top. When they got there, they recognized them as, Silver, with his wife and son.
He smiled at them, as they got closer, "you made it, good" he said, turning his attention to Twilight, as they came up to him, "well, were very punctual" she answered back, with a smile, as they stopped in front of him.
"Wait, where's your uncle?" Flame said, looking around for the other pony, who was not present, at the time, Silver turned to him, "my uncle, is back at the camp, he's waiting for us" Silver said as they turned around, and led the way, "we have a long journey ahead of us, and it is very dangerous" he said, as they continued walking.
As they approached the shadows of the forest, they all fell silent, Silver turned to his wife, she turned and nodded her head, he understood what she meant, and stopped, letting her, go forward, as they all passed, he saw Twilight and Flame, talking to each other, when they reached him, he cleared his throat.
"excuse me, mister Flame, might I have a word, with you alone?" he asked, Flame, turned to Twilight, who just nodded, and walked on, Flame then turned his attention back to Silver, he had a solemn expression, on his face.
"I see, you want to be with your wife, so I won't keep you long, I just wanted to say, I know you don't trust me, and you have every right not too" he said, as they started walking, "well, I…it's just with everything that's going on, I have been worried about Twilight's safety, and other things" he said trying not to offend Silver, who just looked at him.
"I understand your concern, but believe me when I say, that I am not your enemy, I am truly here to help, I promise, I have no intention to harm you or your wife" Silver said stopping them, and turned to him, Flame looked him in the eyes, and nodded his head, signaling that he understood.
"good, now come, we need to get to camp, before night fall" Silver said, walking ahead at a brisk pace, making Flame run to catch up to him.
(2 hours later)
As the group, made their way, through the forest, the sun had nearly set, leaving only darkness, but luckily Silver, knew the path, and eventually they came to a clearing in the forest, and they saw a large camp, full of tents, and camp fires, burning in the middle, they were greeted by an older stallion, who walked up to them from the camp.
"Silver, glad to see you made it, we were thinking of sending a group to find you" Sky Breeze said laughing, Silver returned his action, and turned around to face the group behind him, "okay, you all have your own tents, Twilight and Flame will sleep in one, Shining armor and Princess Cadence will sleep in another, and for you five you can choose any one you like" he said, gesturing towards Twilight's friends, "dinner, shall be in one hour, feel free to unpack your belongings, and get settled in" he said, turning back to his uncle, and walking past him, followed by his wife and son.
Twilight and her friends all turned to face each other, with confused looks, but they shrugged it off, and went to go choose their tents.
When Twilight and Flame, had chosen their tent, they walked inside, and were shocked completely by the sight before them, indeed they were in a tent, but on the outside, it looked like any other tent, on the inside, it seemed larger, and far more luxurious, they had a large bed, with a desk, and everything a normal room came with, except for a shower, but that was something they could live without.
"Wow…this is amazing!" Twilight said, as she walked forward, and set her bag on the bed, Flame still had the shocked look on his face, Twilight simply laughed, at his amazement, for the next hour, they went about, unpacking their supplies.
Suddenly a soldier, peered inside the tent, catching their attention, "lady Twilight and lord Flame, lord Silver has requested your presence at dinner" he said before, he left, Twilight and Flame, were equally shocked by such a formal greeting, Twilight looked at Flame, with a smile, "I think it's going to take a while, to get used to the whole, lady and lord thing" she said before she got off the bed, and walked outside the tent.
As the soldier led them to the table, they came across the middle of the camp, where they saw two major tables, at one sat, all the soldiers that had accompanied them, and at the other, they saw Silver and his family, along with Twilight's friend's and brother, sitting there.
When Silver saw them, he smiled, "ah good you're here, please sit, the food is superb" Silver said, gesturing to the seats, in front of them, they took their seats, they looked down at the food, and slowly levitated their forks, into the plate before them, they first smelled it, and it was probably the best thing they have ever smelled.
They slowly put the forks in their mouths, and chewed; to them it was the best meal they have ever tasted, and they eagerly ate more of it, "this is the best meal, I have ever eaten" Twilight said, while putting another fork full in her mouth.
Silver smiled and responded, "Well, we have the finest chef's, we tend to camp a lot, so we need filling meals to keep our energy up" Silver said, eating another fork full as well.
As they continued eating, the others carried on talking, Twilight was silent, she had wanted to ask, Silver a certain question, and she chose now, to do so.
She cleared her throat, catching everypony's attention, including Silver's, "um excuse me Silver, but you never did tell us, where we were headed" Twilight asking, looking across the table at him, Silver's smile disappeared, as all eyes fell on him, he looked over to her.
Before he answered, he looked over to his uncle, who was looking back at him, with a warning gaze, he sighed and turned his attention back to the others, "well, before I told you that, I would have to tell you our history" he said before, clearing his throat.
"the guardians go back as far as the beginning of Equestria" he said first, and his reply was a large amount of gasps, from the others, but he continued none the less, "it was back when Equestria, was still fighting to establish itself as a nation, after the defeat of Discord, the Princess's did all they could to bring their new kingdom, out of the darkness, but it wasn't easy, they faced war, his name was Shadow Blaze, he was once their court wizard, but after a terrible accident, he changed, and betrayed them, he believed that the Princesses were unworthy for the throne, he went into exile for years, but returned with an army, and challenged the Princess's rule, the war was devastating, it lasted many years, it nearly consumed the whole world, they immediately did everything in their power to stop him, they discovered an ancient power, you may know them as the Elements of Harmony, the elements chose six ponies, to stop the war, after practice and training they stood up to Shadow, and in a final climatic battle, they defeated him, and his army and imprisoned them deep within the planet, hoping one day that he would not return, in return for their service, after they all passed away, the Princess's built six shrines, and dotted them across Equestria, and they still stand their today, and so they wait for the elements to choose new hosts" he said.
As he looked around, their expressions showed their shock and amazement, Flame was the first to speak, "but that doesn't explain, your story?" he said with a curious eye, "yes, the legend says, that two ponies were chosen to serve and protect, the original hosts, they became the first guardians, my line goes back to the servant of the original host for the element of magic, over the centuries they waited for the elements to choose again, only a guardian knows the location of each shrine, my father taught me everything I needed to know to be grand master, until his sudden death, a few years ago, our first destination, is the shrine of magic, deep in the forest, hidden so no strange, lost pony might find it by accident" he said finally finishing his story.
"wow… well I'm sorry for your loss" Flame said, with a sad look, one that they all shared, "thank you, for your concern, but it was many years ago, normally at the age I was, when my father died, I would have been too young to be grand master, and it would have fallen to my uncle, but he turned it down, and so I came to power at a young age, and my uncle is my advisor" he said looking from Flame to all the others.
"what's your story, mister Sky Breeze, are you really Silver's uncle" Shining Armor said, speaking for the first time, since Silver started telling his story, he chuckled, "not by blood, but Silver's father, was my greatest friend, he was like my brother, Silver's right, I would have been the one to take command, but I turned it down, and Silver rightfully took his place, and now I watch him, to make sure he doesn't make any foolish mistakes" he said looking over to Silver with a smile on his face.
Silver returned it, and looked back to Twilight, and her friends, "yes, and over the years, I have been doing what my father would have wanted, and someday, when my time in this world ends, Comet here will take my place as grand master, just as his ancestors have, for many years" Silver said, looking at his son, "when that day comes dad, I will be ready" he said standing up in a proud position, Silver simply smiled, and levitated his watch in front of him, and his eyes grew wide.
"well, telling stories makes time fly, excuse me, but we must be getting rest, as should all of you, we have a big day ahead of us, and a long journey" Silver said, standing up, as he was followed by his wife, son, and uncle to their tents.
Soon everpony said their goodnights, and made their way to their tents, and went to sleep, as Flame and Twilight crawled into bed, Twilight sighed, as she pulled the covers up to her chin, and watched Flame crawl in next to her, "still, so suspicious, about him now" she said with a smile, Flame smiled back and turned to her, "no, I had a talk with him, I openly admit I was wrong, you happy now" he said as he kissed her goodnight, and he reached up and turned out the lights, and they drifted off into a deep sleep.
A/N: well that is probably the longest chapter so far, but oh well, they will probably be like that from now on, maybe even longer, it depends. See you all next time, to see their adventure continue.