Diamante sat cross legged on the ground, her helmet to her side as she meditated peacefully. Others looked at her with slight confusion. The Warlock didn't seem to worry about her teammates or the fate of the shard. She just gave off a warm radiant glow that lead some fillies and colts to imitate her actions.

"I just don't get it." T said. "Earlier she was freaking out over her teammates not being near her and now she's more calm than I've ever seen her."

"Tell me about it, she almost killed Del to get off the roof to see her friends." Candy told him.

The scene in Ponyville was calm and eerily quiet since the Vex were repelled by the Guardians. Annie stayed by her mom and the Mane six as they investigated some of the areas and remains of destroyed Vex for samples. Annie would joke that Flash was certainly in for a long night with Twilight studying them. The rest of the ponies went to see if their houses had survived the invasion while others were still afraid to leave the shelter they had took.

"I just hope this over soon." Candy told him. "I may have a lot of energy from this Light stuff, but I could use a nap."

"You can lay down, just try to keep an eye on Diamante for us. We don't know why she's suddenly so calm..." T told her as he was ready to walk off, but the sound a flapping wings caught his attention.

"Hey Whirlwind, are you okay? Where were you?" T asked as the two walked over, along with a few ponies.

Catching her breath, she spoke up. "Listen! The situation in Canterlot was resolved, but there's more things invading the Crystal empire." She alerted, causing gasps to the crowd of ponies.

"Prism was almost dragged off the edge of Canterlot and he also lost his helmet. Other than that, everyone is fine. They're at the Crystal Em-"

"Why... why do I need a tissue?" Whirlwind asked, as if trying to play something off.

Dia approached her and bent down so she could look the pony eye to eye. Whirlwind backed a way nervously as she felt the eyes behind the helmet pierce her soul.

"The fur... around your eyes. It's damp. You've been crying, haven't you?" Dia said.

Whirlwind did her best to deny it. Shouting "No!" loud enough to for everyone to hear her voice crack. Everypony gave her a sympathetic look as Candy walked over to her as she was taking off her helmet.

"It's okay..." She told her, as the crowd decided to give the two some space. "I'm worried too." as a sympathetic hoof was placed on the Pegasus's shoulder.

Whirlwind broke down once more and was pulled into a sudden hug from Candy, who patted her back.

"He... he was so reckless... after he saw me and Claire get hurt... I... I can't let that go on my conciseness." She sobbed.

"Shh, everypony gets scared when they see friends get hurt. It makes them do crazy things. I know he's alright right now though, I can tell."

"How..." Whirlwind continued to cry, sniffling a little. "How can you just know somepony you care for is gonna be alright when he's fighting a major threat and you're not there with them?"

A tissues came into her line of sight, she reached out and grabbed it before blowing her nose. Whirlwind looked up to see Dia crouched down to her.

"We clearly have a lot in common. When you're ready, I want to talk to you. You have something very interesting to say, I know it." The Awoken told her.

While the Warlock and the Pegasus discussed their fears over the matter, the news was spreading throughout town about the attack on the Crystal Empire. It wasn't long until word had reached the mane six and Annie, who knew there was someone who they would have to tell.

"I dunno girls..." Applejack thought as she looked at her brother with his wife and daughter as they investigated the school house. Red June was with her parents, Big Mac and Cheerilee as they made sure the school wasn't to damaged. Surprisingly, the family seemed rather optimistic and were even cracking jokes about how they could have used the scraps of Vex to rebuild the building.

"You know how close she and the Prince are." Rarity commented as she looked to Applejack. "It's best that if something happens, she at least knows ahead of time to prepare herself."

"Oh Annie..." Fluttershy whispered. "Do you really want to.... ?" Her mother asked.

"Well it is my friends and allies fighting over there. I should be the one." The unicorn mare told them.

"Alright then." Applejack nodded before turning to her friends. "I think y'all should go find your family as well. Make sure they're alright."

"Yeah... I need to check on Cloudy and Sugar." Pinkie said, not wanting to stay around and hear Red June's reaction.

"I think we should all go make sure everything's okay." Twilight spoke softly. "We can meet up at the castle when we're ready."

"Okay Twilight." Rainbow Dash said. "We'll see you later." She said as she flew off.

Meanwhile, Annie did her best to comfort Red June, who broke down crying when she heard.

"How do you know!?" Red June sobbed into her father chest as he hugged her tightly.

"If there's anything I've learned about the Guardians, it's that whoevers after them will only attack them and that they'll make sure nopony gets hurt."

Sniffling and pulling away from her fathers embrace, the mare asked "Are you sure?"

Annie smiled. "I'm positive. I bet right now they have everything under control. Who knows, they might be friends as of now."

"This is an outrage! You never once considered a peaceful negotiation!" Valiant Hearts, prince of the Crystal empire and captain of the Royal guard yelled to Mercer.

"We tried it a long time ago and nearly lost Humanity as a whole. Now step aside Captain." He ordered as he peeked over the corner of the wall of crystal that was being used as cover. Several earth pony's blocked oncoming fire from the Cabal with shields as unicorns fought back with magic blasts. The Guardians were taking care of civilians as they lead them to safety while Mercer stayed behind to command the guards.

"You're gonna need a lot more firepower to deal with these guys." He told the unicorn as the Hunter aimed and fired, killing one of the Centurions. The squadron of Legionary advancing to their location was being held back by magic blasts before Starburst swooped in to fight them.

"What!?" Lance exclaimed as he ducked down from a nearby explosion. "My guard are the best of the best and this is something we could have handled on our own. Peacefully too." He told Mercer.

Mercer looked to see that indeed, there were now a group of Phalanx's that came to assist in attacking Starburst.

"Don't worry, I've dealt with much worse." Mercer said as he holstered his handcannon and walked out with nothing but his knife in hand.

The wastelands... the Hunters survived them for years. Using the light, they had been able to survive the collapse and hunt as a pack. Many treasures were discovered due to this. In this wasteland, Mercer found himself staring at a ball of pure arc energy, which he struck with his knife.

Lance and the Guards were amazed to see Mercer channel electricity into his knife as he gave off a radiant glow. Charging forward, the Cabal were met with a series of strikes and blows that Mercer dealt by the hands of his arc blade.

A Legionary swung at him, only to lose his arm before being finished off as Mercer spun and swung up at another's head and back flipped to land on the shoulders of a Centurion where he used his legs to snap it's neck. He jumped off and landed to face a row of more Cabal, grinning, he slashed and brushed the ground with his blade, creating a wave of arc energy that traveled across the ground and erased the them all in arc energy. Mercer turned and saw the Colossus and went away to slashing away at it's thick armor, only for it to stomp the ground and send Mercer flying back a few feet. Jumping and then blinking over it, Mercer dove back on to his prey as stabbed the hulking Cabal soldier repeatedly before delivering another wave of energy which finished it off.

The guards were amazed by the Hunters skill. His arc blade faded away to his normal knife as he sheathed it and pulled out his handcannon.

"Alright people, we need to take this fight to them." Mercer instructed. "We're on offense now."

Valiant Hearts nodded. "Alright everypony, I need a defensive layer around the palace. Make sure nothing gets in. Unicorns are with me. Am I clear?"

Else where, Karas gunned down a wave of Cabal units before charging forward to strike down the Colossus. Both he and Claire assaulted the beast, watching to tumble to the ground as it was vaporized by Claire's solar powered claws. They turned and saw Del had annihilated a squadron with one kick while Prism charged through and killed another colossus.

"That's great and all, but I wasn't hoping to keep these powers forever." Claire commented, checking her claws.

"I understand. We'll make sure everything is in place when that happens." Karas told her.

Nodding, Claire ran off to join her friends as Starburst flew and in front of Karas.

"Karas, Mercer was looking for you. You two are gonna work together with the Valiant Hearts while the guards join us." She informed.

"I got your location. I'm heading there now." Karas informed before turning to Starburst.

"You all stay safe. Stick close to the Guards and if you see anything major, let us know." He instructed.

"You got it Karas. Stay safe, and look after my cousin." She said as she flew off with her wings glowing.

Karas wasted no time in running off. Using lift to get to the roof of a nearby building, he ran across the rooftops and was able to quickly find Mercer and Valiant Hearts.

"Greetings Captain." Lance said. "It's an honor to meet you." The Guard bowed to the Titan. Mercer merely stood behind him with his arms crossed.

"The pleasure is mine, Valiant Hearts. Your cousin spoke of you highly." Karas told him.

"We need to get to work. Our job is to secure a path for a royal carriage to come and escort the my mother and father out of here." Lance said.

"I'm not leaving, these ponies will need me to stay and defend our home." Lance said.

"Well lets get moving. The area was marked by my Ghost." Mercer said as he drew his Handcannon and ran off, the others following him. Karas stuck close to Lance as they sprinted down an alley way and were met with a platoon of Cabal soldiers.

"It's go time!" Mercer yelled as blinked above the crowd and pulled out his rocket launcher and fired in order to clear a path for them. Lance fired several magic blasts at the war rhinos as Karas fired his Auto rifle.

"Nothing like this has stopped a Guardian before and it won't start today." Karas told him as he lifted above the crowd and fired his auto rifle at them. A Legionary pointed up at him and roared something.

Next thing he knew, a rocket was fired at Karas. Letting himself fall to the ground, he leaned and narrowly avoided the rocket. The explosion shook his landing as he dropped his rifle and stumbled to the ground. Getting up, he grabbed his gun and resumed the fight along side his allies.

"Still far, we just need to keep the pressure on these guys." Karas informed before looking over to see Lance readying up a spell.

Running out of cover, Lance's horn flared as he cast a bubble shield similar to that of his fathers that enveloped the Cabal soldiers in a stasis. Leaving them vulnerable, the Guardians jumped at the opportunity and opened fire and were able to clear out the area.

"It's a detainment spell." Lance told them, sitting down and rubbing his temples. "It's usually not used in that large of a radius but..."

"Well...." Lance got up and stretched. "Time to go let them know that there's a safe landing. We need to escort my parents out-"

Lance flew to the ground, blood pouring out of a wound in his stomach as he howled in pain. The two turned to see a Psion had shot their Alicorn ally. Karas aimed and emptied his clip into the robot before he ran over with Mercer to check on the Guard.

"Lance can you hear me?" Mercer yelled as he checked the wound, his biggest concern was that the armor was cracked and there was no exit wound.

"No time! The bullet didn't leave him. We're gonna have to get it out." Mercer yelled as he check Lance himself.

The Warlock, Red June, and Whirlwind sat in a triangle, each cross leg/hoof as they breathed gently and meditated. In order to bring a peaceful environment, Dia took her helmet off and let the young ponies play with it. She doubted they could break it, and she kept a spare just in case anyways.

"I understand what you two are going through. A loved one facing a conflict without your support can be very difficult." She told the two ponies.

Whirlwind was cut off by a "Shh" as Dia went over and tapped them both on the nose.

"Regardless, I understand a friend going through something without you is hard. You want to be there for them. Am I correct?"

"Well I can tell you that sometimes, you have to trust the fact that even if you were there, you wouldn't be able to change their fate. If they come back from this, then it's clear that there were other plans of their fate." Dia told them in a calm tone.

Red June exhaled a shaky breath, clearly still distressed over the thought of Lance being hurt or worse. Though Whirlwind seemed more calm then her, knowing that her friends had space magic powers.

"The Guardians are here to make sure that no harm comes to anyone of this world, that I can assure you." The Warlock spoke.

Red June's eyes snapped open as if she felt something wrong. She looked over to see the children running around, chasing after Ghost and playing with Dia's helmet.

"June." Dia's eyes opened. "You must accept that you couldn't change anyone fate regardless if you were there or not."

"You're speaking in past tense?" Red June pointed out. "Something has happen and you're not telling me."

"I haven't heard from the Guardians since they left for Canterlot, and I only have faith that they'll return." Dia said, growing more impatient.

"Yeah, well you're friends have magic and weapons, my friend doesn't and he's in danger." Red June yelled.

"You act like nothing bad will happen to you, because nothing bad probably ever has!"

"Well you probably don't have to live with people who don't have your gift to protect themselves!" June screamed before running away in tears.

Valiant Heart screamed in pain as Karas carried him off the streets. Mercer found a nearby intact house and kicked the door down, scaring a family of Crystal ponies.

"We won't, but we do need help." Mercer told the mare as Karas came in with the Prince in his arms.

"Oh my goodness, is that the Prince!?" She nearly yelled, covering the colts eyes.

"Ma'am, I need you to stay focused here." Mercer took off his helmet and looked at her. "Is there a medical kit or something?"

"I've been studying to be a nurse." She said. The mare turned to look at her son. "You go upstairs and be safe with daddy, I'll be up soon."

"I know sweetie.... I know.... I'm scared too.... but we need to be brave, remember?" She said.

The colt nodded and ran up the stairs. The mare turned and looked to see Karas had carried Lance into the kitchen and threw everything off the table and placed the Prince on it.

"Okay miss, he's been shot and there's no exit wound." Karas informed her, she nodded.

"Yes, is there something we can use to stop the bleeding? We'll need to stitch this after." Karas said.

"Okay, can you use that magic to see if you can pull out the bullet?" Mercer asked.

"I..." she shook her head, "I can't be sure that'll work. We usually use tools and..."

"Y-yes.." The mare was starting to tear up and sweat nervously as she used her magic to feel for the bullet.

"You're gonna be alright Lance!" Mercer yelled to the Guard, who was gasping in pain.

"One if I'm hurt, another if.... I'm dying.... and this one is for when I die without... seeing her..." He breathed out.

The moment the magic grasped the bullet, Lance thrashed and yelled in extreme pain. The mare backed away in fright.

"No use, it'll kill him to use magic." Mercer said as he drew his knife. "We'll have to cut it out."

"You're right, give me your rifle." He said, the Titan obliged and handed it to him.

"Saving you, this will hurt when you wake up." Mercer told him before looking at Karas. "Have your Ghost go find Starburst and tell her to get a doctor."

"We don't, but this is the best option with what we have." Mercer told him as he raised the rifle.

The last thing Valiant Lance saw was a rifle being slammed into his head, knocking him out.

Starburst and the Doctors had followed the Ghost back to the house sometime after the Cabal were all repelled. Her heart raced as the Ghost pointed to the building that they were supposedly in. She rushed over and saw the two Guardians walking out, streaks of blood sprayed on their armor.

"Relax, he'll live." Mercer said. Karas went over and informed the Doctors what had happened as they went in.

"They didn't come in full force, and the Cabal must have realized they were in the wrong place after a while." She said as she sat down, Mercer joining her.

"Well that should be it for now, lets get that shard and you guys to earth as soon as we get back."

"Sounds great..." Starburst said as she took off her helmet and stretched her wings. She looked over and saw her cousin being carried out on a stretcher. The two got up and ran over to him.

"You were right... I would change letters..." Lance chuckled weakly. "There's a Mare in Ponyville named Red June... she's pink and red and wears a bandana. Can you give that to her? It's a letter telling her I'll be in the hospital and it has two train tickets." He said.

"I will." Mercer took a hold of the hoof holding the letter. "You fought well to defend this kingdom, you're forever praised in my mind." He told him.

"Wow.... thanks...." Lance said. "Alright boys, take me away." He ordered the doctors to keep carrying him.

Starburst looked up, seeing the afternoon sun shining down on her. How long would this day last?

A scream rang out from the Crystal tower where Shining Armor and Princess lived.

"You all stay here, I'll handle this." Mercer told everyone as he ran off with his Handcannon at the ready.

Twilight was shocked to see how fast Ponyville bounced back from the attack of the Vex. Several unicorns confiscated the remains and were sent to be studied in Canterlot. Soon, her, her friends, and the Guardians that included their children would meet with the Princess to explain what has happened here.

The small tuft of grass on the road was the resting place for her. Pulling the pencil from between her ears and wrote down a few more notes.

Made of metal, they appear as bipeds and were able to walk much like a young Dragon. They used weapons that seemed to sling a glowing red slug at it's targets that would cause wounds such as burns and could kill a pony if used correctly. Several variants of these Vex appeared, including a hovering type that had a rotating, see-through shield. The main weak point to strike was a white core on their stomachs that contained a scalding hot liquid. I present these notes and studies to the science department of Canterlot Castle.

Stopping for now, she awaited to hear about the other things her daughter and her friends saw. She had heard of creatures that were bipedal and had four arms and two legs and had also.

Seeing her son play with the other foals while her husband worked with a few other guards. Smiling, she got up and went over to see if there was anything else to do.

"Shiny! Get up!" Cadence pleaded as she struggled against the tight grip of two arms.

Try as he might, Shining had lost all strength to rise and defend his wife from their attackers. Three Fallen Dregs stood over him and seemed to clap in celebration over their defeated foe.

The Archon, pointing with his only free hand, ordered them to execute the unicorn while he held his wife.

Just as Shining closed his eyes and prepared for the end, he saw a blue light spin and shine on the Dregs. Suddenly, a burst of electricity bolted around the three and killed them. the Archon growled loudly as Mercer appeared from a corner in the room.

Wasting no time, the Archon jumped out the window with it's hostage, who screamed and struggled.

Starburst was outside looking at a strange vehicle when the Archon landed on to it and held Cadence with two arms, one having a missing hand as it twisted something and sped off.

"Aunt Cadence!" Starburst yelled as she readied her wings before she saw something else.

Mercer had jumped out the window and had his sparrow, the "X10 Timebreaker" spawned underneath him before he hit the ground. He sped off at top speed after the Archon, determined to claim his kill.

The Archon looked over to see the Hunter in pursuit and tried to speed up on it's Pike, boosting far ahead of him and out of the empire and back to his ship at high velocity.

Mercer hit the brakes on his sparrow without letting go of the accelerator. Instead of slowing down, time seemed to slow down for him as he approached the Pike. Ignoring the warning beeps that indicated he would blow up his ride soon, Mercer moved so he would avoid be ejected from the Sparrow as he let go of the brake and jumped so he could let the vehicle crash into the Fallens pike.

The Archon was thrown fro his vehicle, Princess Cadence flying out of his grip and landing on her hooves. Mercer blinked forward and landed on the Archon with his Handcannon pointing in it's face.

The wind picked up rather fast in Ponyville and it was then that ponies noticed that the two jumpships that left earlier had returned.

"They're back!" Night Light cheered as he ran over to them, seeing the Guardians appear in blue light. "Sis!" Night Light ran over and hugged Starburst tightly, who chuckled.

Red June looked over and saw the blood on the two human's armor, causing her heart to race more. It didn't help that one of them in a hood walked over to her.

"He's alive, but he wanted me to give this to you anyways." Mercer said before walking off.

Dear Red June, if you're reading this then I've been injured in the field but am expected to live. In that case, I wanted you to get this message so that you can know about my whereabouts. Inside this envelope are two train tickets so that you can come visit me in the hospital. I care for you a lot June, and it would mean a lot to see you while/if I'm recovering.

Love, Valiant Lance

Her heart fluttered in chest at the "love" in the letter, but that didn't stop June from having a large weight off her chest as. Red June got up and looked over to see the group of Guardians were meeting. She knew she would have to apologize to Diamante at some time.

"Get our jumpships to carry the Shard back to earth and return the shard. We take the ponies with us so no other of the Darkness shows up here." Karas told her.

As they all discussed, Twilight wrote everything interesting they said down. Flash himself was afraid to touch her on the account she would explode with how excited she looked.

"Oh my goodness.... I need to have all of you take notes while you're there." She said, bursting with excitement.

"No.... I guess you all should take notes of our world." Dia said. "It would be good for yours to learn about the Traveler."

"Yeah." One of the Ghosts said. "But we gotta move fast. It's only a matter of time before-"

A horrible sound that Prism thought was concrete scraping against concrete turned out to be the sound of a Hive Tombship coming into Orbit. To her horror, Twilight watched as the street were filled with panic as ponies ran from horrifying creatures.

"It's the Hive, everyone get to safety." Mercer yelled as he fired at the charging horde of Thrall that rushed them, being gunned down by Karas's LMG and Dia's fusion rifle.

"We have to get the shard!" Prism yelled to an oblivious group as he slashed his wings at a cursed Thrall that exploded and sent him flying till he smacked the wall of a house and was stunned. He saw a blur of the battle and tried his best to get up. A light blue blur was in front of him.

"Prism!" Icy yelled as he grabbed Prism's hoof. "Get up!" He said. Icy looked over and saw Whirlwind running towards them.

"Prism, you need to GAH!" Whirlwind yelped when she felt a mixture of freezing cold and burning heat grab her hoof and pull her to the ground. She clawed at the two to try and get away as she was dragged across the ground before being lifted by her hind hoof. She turned and was face to face with a witch, who gave an ominous hiss in her face. Whirlwind grunted as she struggled to get free, trying to brush the claw away that reached her face.

"Whirlwind!" Icy screamed in terror as he looked behind to see Prism getting up. He readied his wings and charged forward to save his friend when a Knight intercepted him and knocked him back down. Getting up, he charged at the Knight and blocked it's sword with a wing while spinning to cut it down with his other. Looking over, he saw that the witch had dropped Whirlwind when Mercer jumped on top of the beast and stabbed her to death.

"You two need to get to safety now!" He yelled before a rumbling shook the whole town up.

"What in Equestria is that?" Whirlwind asked. She expected Mercer to give an answer, but he took off running. Looking up, she gasped.

The shard from the Traveler floated out of it's resting place, it was surrounded by a green energy that one would assume was being used to carry it.

"Guardian, stay back!" Dia warned as she continued to hold back a wave of Acolyte.

Ignoring her, Mercer kept sprinting forward with an unmatched determination to retrieve the shard. It was then that a Knight of the Hive landed in front of him, but not any ordinary knight.

The Hunter jumped and readied an attack, only to be cut down by Uzrok, the Hated and be sent flying back. His body skimmed the ground before sliding to a halt. His Ghost appeared over him and spread it's pylons out, creating a blue sphere.

"NO!" Icy shrieked as he saw the limp Guardian lay on the ground dead. He looked over to see Karas running to help, only to be stopped by a swarm of Thrall. Just before he could yell for help, the colt was swooped up by Whirlwind and carried away.

Annie blocked attack after attack from a Knight as she struggled to find a way to get a hit on it. But just as her void ice shield was chipped away, T came in and chewed the Knight up. He looked over and mauled an Acolyte before swiping a Thrall with his tail.

Summoning up a large ball of her void magic, Annie hopped on T's back and jumped off his head before kicking the ball at a large group of Hive and watched it explode.

There it was, the burning light of the Traveler, in the palm of her hands. She wrapped her fingers around it and felt the burn course through her entire body. The Warlock couldn't handle this sensation, her body convulsed as she writhed in the gasps of it.

Flexing her body, Dia lit up with solar energy. Using her power, she punched a Acolyte and threw several grenades towards the Hive forces before using her rifle to gun down the ones attacking Karas before using glide to hover above and using her LMG to shoot wave after wave of advancing hive.

Uzrok, the Hated screeched something while waving his arm back, probably to call back the Hive forces. It didn't matter at that point they had what they came for. All the forces escaped back to the Tombship just as Diamante's Radiance wore off.

Karas got up and revived Mercer, who shouted at the shard as it was being carried through the portal with the Hive tombship. Tearing the Titan's Auto rifle from his grip, Mercer ran out and fired at the sky with no avail. Everyone who was there watched as he fired an entire magazine into the air before seeing the portal close. Yelling in anger, Mercer tossed the rifle before slamming his fist into the ground.

"Mercer, we can get it back." She told him. "I doubt the Hive can steal something of that value without taking notice."

Taking his helmet off so he could breathe better, he looked at the crowd watching him and saw the Guardians.

"Alright, we need to hurry and inform that Speaker as soon as possible. We'll need as many Guardians on it as much as possible..."

A few hearts in the crowd sank. Mercer got up and grabbed the Auto rifle he had tossed.

"And I'm sorry to say, but you seven have to come with us one way or another until the shard is found." He pointed to the group of Guardians they had found this morning.

Fluttershy, who was by her daughter, let out a sob as she broke down. She buried her face into Annie's shoulder as she cried.

"I personally wish there was another way, but if you stay here then they'll come back." Mercer gave the rifle to Karas. "If there's anything that should be done here, now is the time to say."

"Can you at least give a statement to Princess Celestia on what has happened here?" She said, her voice cracking.

This was it, after a long day they all knew that it wouldn't be for a while until those seven ponies saw their friends and family again.

Starburst looked at her mother, who finally started to cry a little. She went over and gave her a big hug, wings and hooves. A few tears even fell from her eyes as well.

"Mom, I promise I'll be safe." She told her. "Please keep an eye on Nighty while I'm gone."

Sniffling, her mother pulled away from her daughter gently. "You... stay close to the others.... listen to those people and... make sure you eat." Twilight told her daughter.

Del followed Applejack to the hospital to find his dad, who was recovering from earlier.

"Del... I heard stuff going on outside what happened?" He asked. Caramel seemed to be doing very well.

"I came here to give make sure you're alright..." cracking a small grin "and you best be up and at em when I get back."

"For you my son.... I will." Caramel chuckled lightly as Applejack pulled the two into a group hug.

"We'll be sure to keep the farm going while you're gone." Applejack said, sniffling a little.

Rarity didn't care that her makeup was running for once. She sobbed onto Spike's shoulder as he patted her back.

"Listen you two, I don't know what you'll be doing on whatever planet you're going too, but please try to be safe. Stick close to each other, don't be afraid to call out for help. Ask questions if you need to, make sure you eat and sleep well." He told them, tears welling up.

Suddenly, Spike felt a large mass on top of him. He looked to see his son was hugging all of the family at once.

Prism teared up for one of the few times in his teen years. His mom didn't bother to not hide her emotions either, while his dad kept a stern look.

Too emotional for words, Rainbow Dash broke down crying while her husband wrapped a wing around her and pulled himself close.

"I will dad. Take care of mom for me." Prism said as he turned to face Whirlwind and Icy.

Though able to crack a smile, Whirlwind cried a little more after she let him go. Prism knelled down to Icy.

"You're the man of the house now buddy. You look after the others while I'm gone for me, okay?" He told his little brother.

"Okay.... you be good. Make sure Whirlwind doesn't hurt herself. Keep dad from eating 3 pies a day.... and...." Prism started to cry this time. "I... I'll make sure to come back.... and we can practice flying all day when I'm home. Whirlwind can come.... even Star and.... doesn't that sound great."

"Yeah.... it'll be great." Prism said before getting up and turning to Whirlwind.

At Sugarcube corner, Candy typed furiously at a typewriter and was able to leave a 1000 word letter in 30 seconds. She wiped her eyes and read it over before leaving it with the cakes to give to her friend Parry, who was out of the town and wouldn't be back for who knows how long.

Walking outside, she was met with a blast of confetti from her moms party cannon.

"Candy! We all wish you luck out there." Her sister Sugar Rush said, her and Cloudy Skies holding a banner. Both her parents were there.

"We know you'll be alright, just don't do anything to risky." Pokey Pierce said.

"Now Annie, you stick close to T. Make sure you eat and if those Guardians are ever mean, you tell T."

The group had gathered over the three jumpships hovering over the surface. Giving a few final waves, they were transported inside. The cheers from the crowd outside faded out as they left for Canterlot.

The ten Guardians were led into the throne room, met with heavy guard deployment and the stern look of two Princesses.

"I think diplomacy runs high here." Mercer commented as they were brought to a stand.

"So... we read the statement, and the only thing we're not pleased with is the fact that all of this had to happen." Celestia said.

"We're sorry, we accept full responsibility for the outcome of our mission." Karas spoke.

"Do you all agree that taking these young kids away will help solve the situation as a hand?" Luna asked.

"If they were to stay, a new force will come to claim this land. We do hope to complete the mission and get them home as soon as possible." Diamante said.

Starburst stepped forward. "Yes Princess Luna. As much as we don't want to leave home we know its for the best right now."

"We also have an official statement released from my mother detailing the events that had happened in Ponyville." Starburst took out a piece of paper and handed it to a guard, who gave it to Princess Celestia.

"Interesting...." She read it over. "I've made a decision. I allow you all to travel beyond Equestria and fight this "Darkness" to recover that piece of "Traveler". Celestia said, clearly confused by what she said.

"We'll be leaving shortly." Mercer told them. "I personally need to visit someone." He turned to the group. "If any of you need to say goodbye to anyone here, now is the time."

The nurse led the two through the hall ways of the Hospital, which had become over burden with ponies after the attacks from the Fallen. Mercer and Prism looked through the room to see who had been hospitalized.

"For the first year it uh.... it wasn't that big of a deal. Then he started dating Whirlwind... But I never wanted this to happen to him. We'd make fun of each other if we sprained a wing but not this." Prism said.

"This wasn't your fault." Mercer told him. "I made sure that Archon payed for what he did." He growled.

"They're right through here." She said. "but I have to say, his mother is very emotional right now."

"She adopted those two from the orphanage to come live with her." Prism told him.

"I guess they do love each other. I was right." Mercer commented as he stepped into the room.

The sight of Hot Head made his heart sink a little. He was bruised and had bandages and his hoof in a sling.

Amber's damp eyes looked at the Hunter. She had been cuddling that pillow for a while, judging by the tear stains on it.

Amber sobbed some more. "I've been a wreck. Lucky is out working with others to repair the damages and they say Hot Head might be here for a long time."

At the sound of that, Ghost appeared. He examined Hot Head in the hospital bed before checking out the machines he was hooked up to.

"Yep. As for him his wounds are bad, but he can recover." Ghost went over to Amber.

"We've seen others with worse survive this on earth. He can pull through." Ghost said before going back to Mercer.

"All seven of us have the thing that made those alien things come and attack.... and we have to leave."

"Oh gosh!" Amber sobbed heavily some more. "Say goodbye for me and the boys... okay?"

"You were brave for those you cared about. I promise you that you'll be able to rest easy."

The jumpship's engines all roared as a few of the Guardians were transported inside. Karas looked out the window to see Del bidding farewell to Creme, even seeing her give him a peck on the cheek. Starburst waved to the guard he met earlier. Hopefully he would have a chance to tell him about the Norway on his world.

As Claire gave Illusion a kiss goodbye, all of them were whisked into the hull of the jumpship.

"Alright team, we're leaving for the Tower." Karas told them. "I can' thank you enough for agreeing to this."

Destiny: The Light from Beyond

by SolidFerret

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