Del recalled hearing bells. It confused him, whenever he woke up he'd hear the sounds of animals and the wind through trees. Yet he felt like his bed was the most comfortable thing ever. It was so warm to him that... why get up? The stallion laid his head down. Odd, he didn't see a pillow, or anything. It was all a blur to him, and the bells just rang as he saw a golden figure stand above him and a pony. What was Prism doing here?
"Keep your head down!" Diamante yelled over all of the gunfire as she threw a grenade towards a squadron of Vex. Claire slashed away at one and ducked as T chewed into the arm of another. Mercer stabbed into a Minotaur and emptied his clip into it before pushing the robot away for Candy to deal with while Annie kicked the void icicles at the Hydra in hopes of holding it back and away from the others.
What was all of that noise? Was family visiting? Was Prism not the only one to visit? Maybe Candy was throwing a party. Or so help him if Creme was here for a surprise visit. Prism was probably gonna tell everypony they were dating.
It was best to just go back to sleep.
"The light is supposed to heal trauma like this instantly." Karas informed as he examined Del.
"Well it isn't working!" Prism yelled over gunfire. "We need to take him to Sugarcube corner so the others can look after him."
Karas flinched at the sound of a nearby explosion. Diamante flew and hit the side of a house and was cornered by a Minotaur, that aimed it's weapon at her and prepared to fire. A few bullets struck its back as Mercer and Candy charged at it. Diamante tried to get up but dove out of the sights of a Hobgoblin, who took aim for another shot before it was disposed of by Starburst before she flew down to Karas and Prism.
"What happened?"
"It's that Hydra. He took a round to the head." Karas informed. "We need to get him with the others. It's the only place we've made safe." He informed.
"Yeah, Starburst. You and Mercer and protect us while we move him there." Prism informed.
"What about me?" Dia asked, running over.
"You stay with the others. The light may have made them fighters, but they still don't know what they're up against." Karas said as he grabbed Del by one of his hooves. He pulled the stallions body onto his shoulders before standing up.
"Jeez he's heavy."
"Tell me about it." Prism quipped as his wings charged up.
"I can't move to fast. I gotta count on you guys to keep me covered. Got it?"
"We got your back, Karas." Starburst said as her wings glowed once more.
"You are in my watchful eyes, Captain." Mercer said over transmission. Prism ducked when sniper fire zoomed right past him and took out a Goblin.
"As are you." He told Prism.
"Lets move!" Karas yelled as he went into a jog, the fastest he could move with Del on his back.
"He's not the most heavy guy you would have carried today, but at least you can move." Prism joked.
"Cover me!" Karas only yelled back as he tried to dodge anything shot at him with little effect.
"This isn't a time for jokes Prism." Starburst scolded as she landed by him.
"Just trying to lighten the mood."
"That wasn't funny." Mercer said over the intercom, sniping from the roof of a nearby house.
"What wasn't funny, I jus- Oh.... lighten. I get it." Prism chuckled before he slashed his wing at a nearby Goblin.
"Your light is more important than any thing you've ever had before." Mercer explained, dropping a Hobgoblin that was about to sneak up on Claire, who turned back and gave a quick wave before running off. "It's a gift, the Vex are here since you have it in you."
"How are we gonna get rid of it?" Starbust exclaimed, swiping at a Minotuar before Prism leaped on it and finished it off.
Mercer's Ghost spoke up. "I have a theory, it involves returning that shard to the Traveler. We'll have to deal with these guys first."
"Got it." Prism responded, before looking around.
"Uhm... where is Karas and Del?"
"I'm detecting the Hydra, it's moving towards the civilians!" Ghost alerted.
"Damnit! Dia, have T and Candy fall back to Sugarcube corner. You, Claire and Annie draw the rest of the Vex away from them. Create as much noise as possible." Mercer.
"I... think I know a way how to." Dia said, as if she was ready for something.
"Whatever it is, make sure they don't get near the rest of the ponies." Mercer advised as he sniped a Goblin, it's white core exploding from the impact of the bullet.
Prism heard a nearby explosion followed by the sound of crashing. He looked at Starburst, who shared the worried look under their helmets.
"Mercer, I think the Hydra is at Sugarcube corner."
"How can you tell?" Mercer asked.
"Call it a hunch." Starburst said.
"Alright, I'm on my way. Dia, scratch that previous order. Have them return to you. And let them know you'll be without sniper support for a while." Mercer told her.
"We can keep things covered on the ground. Just try not to get yourself killed." Her transmission spoke.
"Understood. Stay alert." Mercer told her.
Prism looked up to where the Hunter was perched, but was surprised to see him already gone.
"Mercer... where did you go?" He asked.
No response.
"Mercer!"
Each of the ponies inside Sugarcube corner stayed silent, some listening to the battle outside while others looked through the windows.
"I don't understand at all..." Caramel said, Applejack right next to him.
"There isn't much to understand." Pinkie said, hopping from behind the counter with a plate of cupcakes. "Robots are here to attack our kids cause of some artifact from another world..." She passed them out to nearby ponies, seemingly having enough for everypony crammed into the shop. "And three brave heroes came to help them and get said artifact back." She handed a cupcake to her husband, who asked "How did you...."
"Nevermind." Pokey Peirce had learned to never question his wife's antics.
Soarin peered out the window, dust and smoke over the town. "I still know why this has to happen..." He said. "Our kids are literally fighting something that's threatening our home."
"It can't be for to long. There can only be so many of the those robot things." Cloud Chaser told him.
"But that doesn't mean-"
An explosion rocked the ground, causing a few to cry out as they held on to something or somepony.
Soarin turned to look out the window.
"What was that!?" Applejack asked.
Soarin kept looking, seeing how close the explosion was. He focused to see something flying out of the smoke.
"Get away from the windows!" He yelled.
Everypony ducked in cover as something crashed through the window of the store. Dust rushed in after it and filled the room, causing them all to cough and gag before it settled.
In the farthest corner of the room, Karas laid in a small crater of the wooden floor. He was groaning in pain as he tried to get a hold of his bearings and find out where he was. A few of the ponies went over to him, checking to see if he was okay.
"S-sir..." Fluttershy approached him. "Are... are you alright?"
Without responding, Karas stood up, charged to the door and kicked it down before running back outside. Looking around, he found Del lying on the ground a few feet from where he was blown up.
"Del!" Karas ran over and grabbed him by one of his hooves and started to drag him back to the building. As he looked up, the Minotaur that had sent him flying through the window was fast approaching him.
A few ran outside to see the situation. Applejack shrieked when she recognized the armor that her son was given and also ran over.
"Hey, get away!" Karas yelled to her as he pulled out his shotgun and fired at the Minotaur.
"Golden Delicious!" Applejack yelled as she ran over to her son and did her best to try and carry him as well. Caramel ran out as well, hoping to help his wife with saving their son.
"Damnit, I said stay back!" The Titan yelled at the two before firing two shots at the large robotic monster.
The couple attempted to lift their son on to their backs. It didn't help that he grew up to be bigger than both of them. Applejack suddenly was flying through the air and had the wind knocked out of her.
Karas charged at the Minotaur, a purple glowing fist tearing into it's head before the creature tossed the Guardian off of it. Karas landed near a house and before he could get up, the Minotaur aimed and then fired a shell where he laid.
Del looked over at the dust settling to see a figure struggling to stand up. He was about halfway through the door to Sugarcube corner. Several ponies reaching out to grab him and pull him back inside.
Until he saw a robotic creature move towards his parents.
"Del... get up."
What was that voice... it sounded like... a group...
"Del... I will help you... your strength is my giving. Now rise."
"Del..." Rainbow Dash checked on him, moving his head around to see if she could rouse him.
The Minotaur had nearly gotten to his parents when something inside of Del glowed, causing him to spring up and charge at the beast before turning around kicking his legs out. Instead of giving it the good ole fashion buck that would have made his family proud, Del let his hind hooves fall into the ground hard and kicked the ground up and at the Minotaur, which was crushed underneath it all.
"That was the coolest thing I have ever seen!" Prism yelled from above.
Del caught his breath as his vision cleared up. The concussion healing as his head cleared.
"You alright Guardian?" Karas asked, running over with his shotgun.
"I'm alright..." Del breathed out.
"Your light didn't heal you right away. That happens to new Guardians." Karas explained. Del looked down at his parents, seeing them breathing heavily, his father in pain. Del went over and picked him up.
"Your parents went out here to try and get you inside. It's safe in there if you need to rest." Karas said as he helped Applejack up, Caramel's hooves dangling off his shoulder.
"No... there's still Vex to fight. Ain't there?" Del asked.
"That's the spirit Guardian. I'll lead you back out to the fight." Karas said as he dropped Caramel off. "Your dad broke his leg... Ghost's analysis say's it'll heal right up."
That was a relief for Del. Getting someone hurt would make it all seem like this was his fault. But a distressed yell could be heard from inside the store. When Del went over, he heard...
"The back door is open... I saw Icy follow Pixel out..." a distressed Sweetie Belle cried.
"Where would they go?" Del asked.
A shadow appeared over Del. He immediately tried to kick the stranger away, only to have his hoof grabbed by none other than Mercer.
"Probably to see what we're trying to keep away." He said, holding Karas's assault rifle in his hand. "I can find them."
"Oh... th-thank you..." Sweetie Belle cried more as Button held her.
"Clearly I'm never to far from home." Mercer told Karas as he handed him his rifle. "You take care of the Vex in the town with Dia and the rest. I'll have Prism search the skies for me."
"You should try looking for that Hydra. Who knows where it is?" Karas said.
"Will do. Good luck Captain." Mercer said as he turned and whistled at the sky, alerting Prism.
The Pegasus landed on the ground, blowing dust everywhere. "What is it?"
"Your brother and another child is missing. I need you to scan the skies above me. Let me know if you see anything." Mercer ordered him.
"Alright..." Prism said,, distress visible in his voice through his helmet.
"Now you let me know if you see anything." Mercer told the pony as he pulled out his Hancannon.
"I will. Make sure he's safe please." Prism said.
"I promise." Mercer said.
Before Prism could take off, pair of hooves wrapped around his necked and he felt somepony's head on his shoulder.
"Please be safe... and find your brother." Rainbow Dash said, who was also crying.
"Mom... I promise you he'll be safe." Prism told his mom. "Now... I gotta go."
Rainbow let go of her son and looked back to Mercer, who was staring at the two.
"You... make sure they're both alright. You got it?"
Mercer nodded to her. "Lets get moving Prism."
"Got it, Mercer." He said as he took off to the sky.
Mercer walked off, yet when Dash blinked, she could have sworn he had disappeared.
Claire ran through the street, swiping at a Goblin before spinning to impale her tail through another then jumping and pouncing on another. turning around, she gave a threatening growl to a Minotaur before running and tackling it to the ground. T arrived to bite into it before stomping it to pieces. A bullet caught her in the shoulder when she turned around to see a squadron of Vex approaching her. With her claws and tail burning with Solar energy, she charged forward and was met to see them by destroyed by a burning piece of rock. Looking over, she saw Del and Karas running over.
"Glad to see you're alright." Claire said, smiling to him.
"Yeah... took a round to the head according to Karas. I'm feeling better though." He said.
"Well come on, there's no shortage of these guys to fight!" Claire said, rallying him up. Del almost laughed, it was rare to see her in such a violent mood that didn't involve burning Prism to a crisp after a prank.
"Actually Claire, I need you with me. Someone by the name of "Pixel Bit" went missing. I was told you two are related."
Suddenly, Claire went from rowdy fighter to the most concerned of them all at that moment.
"What!?"
"We've been assigned to look for them." Karas told her. "Del, you're with Dia."
"Wait, how come I'm not looking? She's my cousin too." T asked.
"We need as little Guardians as needed. We don't need more unwanted attention." Karas explained.
Despite the wishes to search for his cousin, T nodded solemnly.
As Karas walked off with Claire, Del followed T back to where Dia and the others were.
"How have things been in the town?" Del asked.
"Not much has changed. They say that if we take out these Vex's big cheese then we think the rest will fall back." T explained to his friend as the two trotted back to where the rest were.
"I sure hope that's true, though I doubt we'd hear the last from these things." Del said.
"The Guardians are smart. I'm sure they have a way to stop them." T responded.
"I sure hope so." Del said before he noticed Annie kicking suspended void icicles at a Hobgoblin. She noticed the two and waved.
"These helmets helped her eye sight a lot." T told Del, excitement riddling his voice.
"Hey guys! We're kicking ass right now!" Annie told them as a Minotaur appeared behind her.
"Annie!" The two yelled in fear.
Suddenly, the Minotaur felled over covered in flames as Diamante appeared behind them.
"Hey boys. We could use some of your help fighting these guys." She said, rifle slung over her shoulder.
T looked at Del, who nodded as the two walked to where the others were set up.
"Pixel! Wait up!" Icy Storm cried out to his friend as he quickly ran over to her, who looked around the near deserted part of Ponyville.
"Relax Icy. No one's around here. We'll be fine." She said to him as she peaked around the corner of a building before running out to the middle of an empty street. Icy followed after her, visibly scared as he looked around.
"Come on, they must know we're gone by now. We have to go back." He pleaded to her.
Icy Storm looked around, only distant gun fire and an occasional explosion sounded through the air. Pixel skipped around in excitement as if there was nothing to worry about.
"Relax. They're fighting those really cool heroes and our brothers and sisters." She said.
"You're not worried about Claire or T at all?" Icy asked.
"Nope!" She exclaimed loudly. "Claire is the coolest of all those Guardians. She'll probably burn them all and T can stomp on them!"
Blissful to their surroundings, the two were unaware of the Hobgoblin that had examined her words so that they could identify them as related to one of the Guardians. Receiving it's order, the Hobgoblin kept his sights on them as it's internal radar showed allies moving to it's location.
The storm cloud appeared in front of the two that brought lightening and terror in the form of metal and lights. Pixel and Icy backed away slowly from the group of Vex that looked at them.
"Pixel... run." Icy whispered loudly, shaking in fear.
Pixel saw as a Minotaur approached them and raised it's cannon at them. Preparing to fire, Pixel was frozen in terror. Not a sound or single flinch coming from her.
"Pixel!" Icy screamed as he turn around to run, only to stop to see the Hydra that lead the Vex here approaching them from behind.
The purple glow would be the last thing Pixel saw...
Until the purple glow turned orange as Claire slashed her way right through the robot and leaped to Pixel to protect her from the rest.
"CLAIRE!" Pixel screamed as she was rocked by an explosion from the rest of the Vex that fired at them.
"Come on Pixel! I'll get Icy and then we can-"
A direct bullet to her head knocked Claire to the ground. She felt like a boulder crashed into her skull as she tried to stand up. Pixel grabbed her claw and tugged at it.
"Come on Claire! We have to leave. There's to much of them and you're hurt." She tried to pull her cousin away. "HELP! SOMEPONY!" She screamed as the Vex descended upon them.
Karas landed right in front of the two as the Vex opened fire. Instead of firing back, Karas suddenly felt like his whole body was wrapped in a tight force that he couldn't escape from. Every inch of him struggled to move as body refused to react to what was gonna happen. Using his arms, he knew a way to free himself.
All he needed to do was push.
As all the Vex shot at them, a purple shield formed around the three and blocked any of their attacks. Claire felt something clear her head as she got up and shook it to wake herself up some more.
"Claire..." Pixel sobbed as she hugged her. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine." She told her as petted her head. She looked to see them all surrounded.
"I can handle this, Pixel." Claire said as she was ready to charge forward. "You stay here-"
With a sudden force, Claire was pushed back into the shield as Karas ran out and engaged the Vex. He started by rushing the Minotaur and jumping on top of it and emptying an entire clip from his auto rifle before punching it to death. He back flipped off of it and landed on a Goblin and crushed it before quickly grabbing the other Goblins gun and turning it on it's allies and gunned down a few Vex before Karas blasted it with a shotgun shell and sent it flying to another Minotaur that was greeted with a Magnetic grenade that blew up the first time and sent pieces of the metal enemy flying towards the rest of the Vex, where the second explosion took care of the rest of them.
Karas exhaled as he looked at the rubble of destroyed Vex at his feet. As he turned around, the crunch and squeal of a living Goblin nder his foot could be heard before the machine like purr ceased.
"Whoa... that was so cool!" Pixel exclaimed. "And this bubble thing, it's so awesome."
Karas looked to Claire. "Claire, are you alright?"
Rubbing her head, she responded "Yeah... I'm fine. Thank you very much."
"For what? I did what a Guardian does." He told her.
"Uhm... mister?" Pixel tugged on Karas's mark to get his attention.
"What is it young one?" Karas asked, looking down at her.
"Do Guardians help save other ponies?"
"Of course."
"BECAUSE ICY NEEDS TO BE SAVED FROM THAT GUY OVER THERE!" Pixel screamed as she pointed to Icy, who backed away slowly from the Hydra.
As Karas turned to look, suddenly his whole body locked up as he dropped to his knees and held his head in pain.
"Karas! What's wrong?" Claire yelled to him as the Ward of Dawn disappeared.
"Help him! Please!" Pixel asked as she kept tugging on his mark.
"I promised this wouldn't happen... it's already to late." He whispered.
"It's not over! Get up!" Claire yelled.
As for the little Pegasus, Icy backed away in fear as the Hydra looked down at him, his guns pointed at him.
"Uh... I..." He tried to speak, but no words could come out. He could only watch as the cannons lit up and prepared to fire...
Only for something to pull it back.
"Huh?" Icy saw as the Hydra was pulled back and instead fired into the air and hit nothing as something seemed to pull it back. An invisible force that came to the young colts rescue.
And that invisible force was Mercer, who appeared on the top of the Hydra carrying his knife as he stood on his knees and rammed it repeatedly into it's eye.
"Get out of here!" Mercer yelled to Icy as he held on to the beast and stabbed it a few more times.
Mercer pulled out his Hancannon and pointing the barrel at the eye of the Vex machine and pulled the trigger till he needed to reload, he put in another cylinder when the Hydra used a "detonate" which shook the ground and knocked the gun out of the Hunters hand.
Icy saw the handcannon slide towards him and saw that Mercer needed help. Picking it up, he floated up and yelled to Mercer.
"Hey!" He yelled and saw Mercer turn to him.
Tossing it, Icy unknowingly caught the attention of the Hydra as well. As he landed, the Hydra prepared to fire. Seeing what was going to happen, Mercer jumped off and reached out to grab Icy while another caught his gun. Icy braced himself for the Hydra's attack when an armed wrapped around him. Mercer reached into the air with an empty hand and grabbed something invisible to Icy and pulled. He and Icy appeared far out of the reaches the Hydra and tumbled to the ground. As Icy got up slowly, Mercer sprang up and saw the rotating shield of the Hydra protecting it.
"Stay here." Mercer ordered Icy as he ran off o fight the Hydra. "Captain, I need your help!"
Back at Karas, the Titan shook his head and pounded his fist into the ground as he stood up when he saw the Hunter approach him.
"Get up. He's alright." Mercer told him.
"I'm out of ammo Guardian." He told the Hunter.
Giving him his "The Devil you know", Mercer accessed his inventory and brought out another Handcannon.
"I save this one for special occasions... and this is surely something special." He told Karas.
"Is that the...?"
"Yep, found it in the Vault of Glass. The Fatebringer." He told him.
"Well Guardian, we still have a foe to defeat."
Mercer looked over to see the Hydra approaching the two.
"Claire, get your cousin and Icy out of here." Mercer commanded.
"You got it. I'll be back to help." She said as she had Pixel climb on her back before running off.
"Well Hunter, think we can take it?" The Titan asked as he saw the Hydra's rotating shield guard itself.
"You keep it distracted from the front, I'll get it from behind." Mercer told him.
"You got it Guardian." Karas told him as the two charged.
As Karas slid in front of the Hydra and fired at it, Mercer jumped and then 'blinked' over to it's unprotected side. As the Vex turned to him, he aimed and fired.
Diamante heard a distant gun shot ring out as she looked over to see a wave of Vex advancing on her teams position.
"There's no way we could fight all of those things." Annie told her as she used her void magic to encase her hoof before waving it and making a shield for them, which was chipped away by laser fire.
"Well... I do have a plan. Del, I need you to get on that roof above us with me." Diamante said.
"Uh... I don't think I can. There ain't enough room." Del told her.
"Well... Annie. Can you make something for Del to jump off of?"
Annie turned her head and nodded. "Yeppers!" She exclaimed as she coated her hind hoof with void energy and kicked upwards, which made a pillar for Del to jump on to.
"A little higher please." Dia asked as she started to use glide to levitate herself up to the roof.
Annie jumped off of the pillar and kicked her hoof across the entire alleyway to make a bar for Del to climb onto and reach the roof. There a hobgoblin waited for them. It wouldn't bother to shoot below since it would have been destroyed in a matter of seconds. Del pounced on the creature and tossed its gun away and held it down as Dia shoved a solar grenade into it's core.
"Ready?" She asked.
"Ready." Del told her.
Standing the Hobgoblin up, Del bucked it with his solar powered hooves and sent it flying into the rest of the Vex, which blew the all up when the grenade detonated. The pair had laid down on the roof to take cover from the explosion.
"That was awesome!" T cried out when he saw the debris of Vex clear.
As Diamante and Del chuckled to each other, another wave of Vex spawned in.
"You have got to be kidding me!" Starburst could be heard yelling before the sound of void magic being used.
"I need to go find the others." Dia said, standing up and trying to dodge all of the laser fire.
"No!" Del pulled her down into cover. "We have to wait stay here." He told.
"No, I have to go find them."
"They're fine!"
"How do you know!?" Dia asked.
"I just do! We'll be fine, and so are they." Del yelled over all of the combat.
"You know what Del." Dia stood up, gaining the attention of the Vex. "I don't believe you so I'm going to-"
From the distance, she saw Prism in a ball of arc energy crash into the Hydra. The explosion rocked the ground and made her fall over. When she peaked her head over, she saw the Vex retreating.
"Wow... they actually did it." She commented as the streets cleared up.
"We won!" Candy cheered as she hugged Starburst tightly before running off.
The intercoms in their helmets came on. Mercer spoke.
"Good news, the Hydra is down. How are things on your end? We don't hear anything."
"Diamante here, the Vex are retreating. It's safe to say we have this town secure." She told them.
"Fantastic news. Meet us at Sugarcube corner. We'll plan our next steps there." Karas told her.
"Understood Captain, out."
Whirlwind's mane was a mess as Prism, rubbed her shoulder. Ponies looked around the sight of a war-torn Ponyville as the Guardians and a few of the ponies talked to them.
"Dubz... you sure you're okay?" He asked, his helmet off.
"Yeah... I'm fine. Just really worried." She told him. "What's gonna happen to you guys?" Whirlwind asked as Ghost flew over.
"We have answers for that. The Guardians need a word with you." It told him.
"Not now, buddy." Prism waved Ghost off, who managed to give him a 'look'.
"You can spend time with your girlfriend later. You have the light, you speak with the Guardians." Ghost scolded.
"One, not my girlfriend. Two, I didn't ask for this stupid light. I didn't want me and my friends to get shot at." He yelled.
"Neither did we." Ghost said as it floated away.
Sighing, Prism looked at Whirlwind. Who nodded in assuring him she was okay. Walking off, the rainbow maned Pegasus walked over and joined his friends.
"I know a way to get rid of their powers, but to make sure the Darkness doesn't come here after them they will have to go with us." Ghost explained.
"You mean.... leave on your space ship things and go to wherever the Traveler is?" Del asked.
"Exactly, the Darkness is here for your light. We need to make sure that they're not here when you lose your powers. The only way to make sure is for you to come with us back to Earth." It told them. "And only you guys."
The group looked at each other. The Light may have given them more energy for another fight, but they still felt down at the thought of leaving home.
"For how long...?" Candy asked.
"A day at best." Karas told them.
That was a relief to them all.
"Guardians." Dia stepped forward. "Your bravery today will be remembered in the Tower and here on Equestria-"
"And isn't over yet." Ghost informed as he looked out to the distance.
At the edge of the mountain, Canterlot, showed a dropship that didn't belong to the Guardians nor seemed to bear resemblance of Vex technology.
"It's a Fallen patrol. They're looking for the shard." The Ghost informed.
"What are we gonna do?" Annie asked frantically.
"Okay, Dia, you and three others stay here. Mercer and I will take four others to that city."
"Why do we have to stay here?" Dia asked.
"We can't leave this town undefended. They say the Shard is nearby." Karas asked as he put his helmet on.
"Now who volunteers to go to uh..."
"Canterlot." Prism corrected.
"Canterlot. Who's staying and who's going?" Mercer asked.
Starburst was the first to step forward. Del was second, before Prism went up to join them.
"We need one more. Is there anyone here who has friends and family there?" Mercer asked.
Claire stepped forward.
"I have to go with you."
"I guess I know why." He responded.
"Ghost, there is room in the dropships correct?" Karas asked.
"Affirmative."
"Alright, we have no time to lose. Lets get moving Guardians."
As the shout of good luck and wishes were heard, the four suddenly felt themselves whisked into a small cargo room. Del and Prism were in one with Mercer while Karas transported Starburst and Claire.
"We should be there in no time." Ghost told the four.
Ponies backed away nervously. Their new guests were intimating to say the least. Several Vandal's gave looks at the equines as Dreg resisted the urge to scare them all straight.
The patrol was composed of about 6 dregs, 4 Vandals, and 2 captains with one Archon. There was an occasional growl between them that most assumed was them communicating.
It wasn't long before Royalty found the Fallen patrol. Princess Celestia and her family were the first to meet them. Celestia seemed curious to meet the newest arrivals, and lacked the look of intimidation she would usually have. Several Guards accompanied her to meet the small group.
"Greetings." She greeted them.
A small chirp came from one of the smaller ones, the Dreg, before being growled at by a Vandal.
The Archon bent down to Princess Celestia's heights and reached forward one of his arms. She reached her hoof out and he took it before doing what most assumed was a greeting ritual. The Archon raised all of his hand over his head then hissed and chirped before touching her hoof to his forehead.
The Princess bowed, her family following her actions as the Fallen watched them.
"I apologize.... I don't understand what you're saying... but I do welcome you to Equestria, foreign visitors." The Princess smiled warmly to them.
"Mom..." Illusion spoke up "Isn't there a spell that can translate what they're saying." He asked.
"Actually.... there might be. I would think Twilight Sparkle would know though."
"Can I take a carriage to Ponyville?" Nidra, her niece, asked.
"In a moment, dear." Celestia told them as she continued to address the Fallen. "We haven't had guests like you before. Come, join us in the castle. There will be much to discuss from what I can tell." She said before glancing to the roof of a nearby house.
"And you your guard can come too, though I'm quite sure there won't be a need for conflict." She said.
The Fallen seemed confused by that last statement. One of the Captains hissed and growled in what most assumed was a confused tone.
"The one on that roof over there." Celestia pointed.
All of them turned to see small glare coming from a hooded figure before a loud bang rang out just as one of the Vandals heads exploded and his soul was "ripped from his body". Celestia gasped in fear and confusion as the Archon let out a roar and pointed to the figure, who had disappeared.
"Who was that!?" Celestia yelled frantically. The Archon turned to her and yelled some kind of threat and pointed before he drew his weapon and ran off with the rest of the Fallen patrol.
"Mom, what was that!?" Illusion yelled ponies ran in a panic.
"I don't know, you all get to the bunker. Don't come out till I come get you." She ordered.
"You're not going with us?" Luna asked.
Celestia sighed and looked at the ground and over at the Fallen that were on the hunt for their assassin.
"Clearly this is a conflict that needs my resolving." She told them.
Discord, giving her a sad look, ran over and embraced his wife quickly and gave her a peck on the cheek before he ushered the kids back to the castle.
Celestia sighed and turned to see the Fallen had taken several positions around the block. Using her Royal Canterlot voice, she spoke.
"Attention Assassin! We mean no harm and I'm sure these guests can overlook your crime against them. Come out peacefully so we can settle this." She alerted. Several Fallen could be heard groaning and growling as their response.
Other than that, there were murmured whispers of ponies that were watching from a distance.
"I will only say this one more time!" She spoke as she inhaled. "Come out and-"
"Princess Celestia!" A familiar voice yelled. The Princess looked around to find the source.
"Prism... is that-"
"LOOK OUT!" He could be heard yelling.
Celestia turned to see one of the Dregs approaching her with it's arc blade ready. She backed away while readying her horn.
"I don't wish to fight you. Stay back." She ordered.
Ignoring her, the Dreg lunged forward but was quickly grabbed and stabbed in the head by Mercer, who had appeared from his invisibility. Turning towards the Fallen, he only yelled "NOW!"
Karas jumped into the center and attacked the Captains with his shotgun while Del appeared and took out the Vandal and Dreg pair as Claire leaped from a rooftop and into an alley way with a hiding pair of Dreg. The Alleyway glowed orange before Starburst leaped in and took out the two Vandals before assisting with Karas to eliminate the Captains. They successfully wiped out nearly all of the Fallen in a speed that would make Prisms mom proud.
The Archon ordered the surviving Dreg to get the ship and leave after he saw the number of Guardians that were there. The Dreg obeyed and were long gone as the Archon approached the Guardians.
"You were right Ghost, just a patrol." Mercer commented as he drew his handcannon.
"I don't think this guy will go down as easily as the others." Starburst said as her wings glowed purple once more.
"Exactly, that's what makes the kill more satisfying." Mercer told her. "Del, you and Starburst and on civilian duty with Karas. Make sure they stay away from here. Prism and Claire, you're with me."
"You're the boss." Prism responded as the others moved out of the area.
The Archon looked at his foes that surrounded him. It wondered who to attack first.
Starburst ordered the guards to set a perimeter as Del answered as many questions as he could to a panicked crowd. Karas merely stood at the main pathway that was being blocked.
"Think they can handle that thing Captain?" Starburst asked.
Nodding, Karas explained "A lone Guardian was able to defeat an Archon a while ago, I do think three can handle this one." He said.
"I hope so..." She said as she looked over at Del and despite the current situation, she couldn't help but smirk under her helmet when she saw who he was talking to.
"I-I'm sorry miss... it's just that there's been an-a uhm... attack of sorts." He explained to the mare with a pink mane and white fur.
"Is everyone alright back there?" She asked.
"Princess Celestia was moved to the bunker with her family. Royalty was one our top priority's Creme."
The mare smiled. "Oh that's great to hear. I'm glad that- wait... how do you know my name?" She asked.
Del could be seen shaking slightly in his armor. "Oh well I uh..."
"And that accent. I know somepony who has one just like yours." She said.
"Uhm..." Was is only response.
"Del.... are... are you in that suit?" She asked.
Sighing, Del admitted "Yes... it's me."
"How did you get in there?" She asked.
"It's a long story. Basically, my friends and I found a rock that gave us magical powers and then these guys called Guardians show up just as evil robots arrive and they gave us armor."
"Oh I see." She nodded.
Del sighed again.
Starburst giggled to herself as she watched the interaction unfold. Seeing Del get flustered always brought her and her friends great joy. Sadly, it was vice versa for her as well.
"Princess Starburst?" A think Norwegian accent spoke. (Or Norhay, but I wasn't gonna find a way to ponify that)
"Oh... F-Fletcher. How goes it?" she said, trying to be casual. It only confused the Guard.
"Well... we have a perimeter for the ponies to not go into set up. But we can't be sure it'll keep the ones inside from going out." He said.
"Well... I'm sure my friends can handle that thing." She said, ignoring the explosion heard from behind her.
"Well... Princess, I hope so." He told her.
Karas seemed to perk up when he spoke. "That accents..." He said. "Where are you from originally?"
"Norhay, before I moved here." He said.
"Norway..." Karas commented. "That's very interesting. When this is over, I'd like to talk to you."
"Of course sir." Fletcher said as there was a loud crashing sound that alerted them all.
"That sounded really close-"
The Archon crashed through a nearby house and stumbled into the crowd of ponies that scattered at the sight of it. Prism was on the back of it's neck as he yelled a battlecry. Claire and Mercer chased after him.
"Prism! Get off it damnit!" The Hunter yelled as he thought about shooting him off, only to remember Prism didn't have a Ghost to revive him. Claire leaped and latched on to the Archon's leg before being kicked off at lighting speed. The Archon looked to see Karas and Starburst near Fletcher and aimed his weapon.
"Move!" Karas yelled as Starburst flew off, leaving the Titan to grab Fletch and dive behind a barrier.
"Let me go." Fletcher yelled as he tried to push Karas off of him. "I need to make sure the Princess is safe."
"Stay down!" Karas yelled as the Archon fired it's shrapnel launcher at them. Dust and chunks of the ground rained of Karas's back as he protected Fletcher with his body before equipping his LMG and peeked over to fire at the Archon's head. Stunning him, he let Fletcher go as he got up.
"Bad news Guardian." Ghost spoke up.
"Can it wait?"
"Can a large battalion to the north being detected wait?" Ghsot asked.
"Damnit!" Karas yelled as he looked at the Archon reaching to grab Prism. "Go tell Starburst and Del. Tell them to come with me."
"Roger that." Ghost appeared and flew off as Karas followed it.
Meanwhile, the Archon jerked it's shoulder to the side and kept trying to grab Prism before a rock hit it in the head. He looked up to see Whirlwind glaring at him.
"Whirlwind, what are you doing here?" Prism asked.
"To make sure you don't so something stupid, which I've clearly failed at." She told him as she flew around the Archon.
Prism reached out to her to say something, which resulted in hims being grabbed by his head. Prism struggled and yelled "Hey! Hey HEY!" before being thrown into a nearby house. His helmet came clean off.
"PRISM!" Whirlwind yelled in horror at her friend being thrown so hard.
Inside, Prism got up onto his hooves and shook his head to help him recover.
"I've come back from worse than this." He said, gritting his teeth.
"What in Equestria..." A voice said, that Prism picked up on immediately. He looked around and almost recognized the house.
"Wait a minute..." He said, his head still feeling fuzzy. He looked over and saw a blur of red and crimson.
"Hot Head... hey." He said before looking to the other side of the room and seeing Amber and Lucky hiding in a corner as well.
"What is going on?" Hot Head asked.
"It's a really long story that I'm sick of hearing and explaining." Prism told him. "Ya see, it all started when..."
Prism looked over to see the Archon peeking into the house. Amber shrieked and almost threw a pillow at it as he aimed at Prism. Prism looked behind him and realized it would also hit Hot Head, so he jumped up and sprinted to Hot Head before tackling him out the window as that side of the room exploded.
Hot Head landed on his shoulder and yelled in pain, but stopped when he heard a distressed Amber.
"Amber.... Lucky..." He groaned out.
"I'll get them out, you stay here." Prism said as he ran back out to join Claire and Mercer.
"You alright Guardian?" Mercer asked.
"Good, but my buddy over there busted his shoulder and there are two others in that house." He explained.
"I can get them out." Mercer said. "I see your significant other is here, work together to lure the Archon to the edge of the city. Let me take care of it when I'm done." He said.
"Drop that term, she's my friend." Prism explained as he saw the Archon approaching them. "But we can discuss that later. Good luck." Prism said as his wings flared with arc energy as he charged at the Archon and landed a three hit combo to it's chest. It stumbled and tried to defend itself from Claire as she tore away at his armor and did her best to get the aggro on her.
As the trio distracted the Archon, Mercer snuck into the house to be greeted with a pillow smacking his face. He tuned to the source.
"Go away!" Amebr yelled, shaken by the incident and the hole in her wall. "Just get out."
"Easy Amber..." Lucky told her. "Maybe he's here to help us." He said.
"I am." Mercer told them as a stomping and slight dragging sound could be heard behind him. He quickly turned and aimed his Handcannon only to see Hot Head, who was limping.
"Amber... we need to get out of here." He groaned in pain.
"Hot Head!" She pushed past the Hunter and hugged her friend. "You're gonna be okay sweetie. You'll be fine. I promise." She assured him.
"I'm leading you all out of here and to the Royal guard. I assume they'll take care of you. Hot Head, can you walk?"
"Yeah..." He groaned out. "I can fly."
"Alright, l lets move. I can't trust myself to let the others handle that Archon." He said as he waved them out of the house.
The three moved as quickly as they could, Hot Head hovering around the group as he made sure Amber and Lucky were alright.
"I can't believe Prism is a super hero now..." Hot Head moped.
"Your shoulder is dislocated and this is all you can whine about?" Mercer groaned as the sound of fighting grew distant.
"It's just that... he gets everything you know..." Hot Head sighed. "You wouldn't get it, you only just got here."
"I know all about rivalry's, but things like this are not meant to be something to brag about. Just because you don't have the Light doesn't mean you can't help others." Mercer explained.
"Yeah, easy for you to say. You've-"
Claire dug her claws into the Archon's arm and yanked his arm away as it fired, the explosive bolts heading right for the group.
"Look out!" Mercer yelled as he reached and grabbed the nearest pony, who was Lucky, before blinking out of the way for debris to start raining down on them. He looked to see Amber looking up in fear.
"AMBER!" Hot Head screamed as he flew and pushed her out of the way as the house that was hit came down on him, burying him in debris.
"Oh my goodness.... HOT HEAD!" Amber shrieked as she ran over with Lucky and started to pick pieces of the house off of him. Mercer shoved the two aside and cleared Hot Head off of dust and picked him up.
"Lets go!" He yelled as he took off running. The others following him. Amber nearly breaking down in tears.
"Why... why did he does this... why would he?" She sobbed.
"He loves you. That's what people do." Mercer told her.
Back at the battle, the Archon used Claire's shocked reaction of what happened to pin her to the ground. Whirlwind flew in to try and get it off of her only to be grabbed and squeezed.
"LET THEM GO!" An enraged Prism yelled as he tackled the Archon with a great force than knocked it off of it's feet. He flew down to help Claire and check on Whirlwind.
"Dubz! Are you alright!?" He asked.
"Don't worry Prism, I'm fine." She assured him
The Archon got up and was hit with a great force by Claire that caused him to stumble back and near the edge of the city.
"We almost got him!" Whirlwind cheered as she hovered around him.
Still mad at seeing what happened to his friends, Prism leaped onto the Archon's face and smacked his wings across it's face. It stumbled back some more and nearly fell.
"Prism! Don't!" Claire called out to him.
Not listening, Prism slashes his wings some more before turning and bucking the Archon with a great force that sent it off the edge, except one hand reached and grabbed the Pegasus by a hoof and pulled him down with it. Prism yelled out as he was dragged off.
"No!" Claire screamed as she looked over to see Prism desperately reaching out for help.
The air rushed around him, and suddenly that sickening feeling of being in free fall. Free fall with no way of escaping. Prism flapped his wings in a desperate panic to escape his foes tight grasp that dragged him to his doom.
Suddenly, Prism felt the weight of the Archon replace with a lighter weight, he saw that Mercer had cut off it's hand and grabbed on to Prism.
"FLY!" He yelled to the Pegasus, who happily obliged and flapped his arc powered wings back to Canterlot. Upon reaching sanctuary of solid ground, Prism let his weight fall, giving up standing on his hooves as his breathing took a composing pace.
"You alright?" Mercer asked, never seeing someone freak out this badly.
"Y-yeah..." Prism told him as Whirlwind and Claire hugged him to make sure he was alright.
"I'd hate to say this, but Karas and the others went up North to another location. A heavy enemy signal was detected by our Ghosts." The Hunter told them.
"I..." Prism breathed out. "Alright." He said as he turned to Whirlwind and pulled her into a hug.
"Go back to Ponyville for me... it's safe there." He told.
"Okay..." Was all she got out, her voice cracking. "Be safe for me."
"I'll be okay, I promise." e said as he looked back to Mercer. "Ready when you are."
"As am I." Claire said.
"Then we don't have a moment to lose. Lets get to to it Guardians."
Footsteps that rocked the very earth stomped through the Crystal Empire as gunfire was countering magic blasts from unicorn guards. Karas and Starburst attacked the giants in armor as Del provided cover for the Gaurds that were fighting these monsters. A shadow overhead signaled that help had arrived as Mercer, Prism and Claire appeared on the ground. He ran over to them.
"Canterlot secure?" He asked.
"Yep." Mercer told him as he drew his gun and ducked at the sight of a rocket heading for them.
"Who are these guys?" Starburst yelled.
"Karas didn't tell you, it's the Cabal!" Mercer yelled as he fired at a Centurion that roared at him.