"Nighty.... come on..." Starburst moaned out. She looked over to see her mother and father instead of her brother. "Where is he?" She asked them.
"He's here..." Flash seemed to assure her.
"Where...?" She asked, every sound bouncing around her.
"Somewhere...." Twilight told her.
Starburst ran off... she wasn't sure where she was... this wasn't the Everfree forest or Ponyville... it was somewhere.
"Nighty...." Her voice rang out, seeming to echo forever and ever.
Starburst looked around frantically in search of her brother before she looked to see him sitting right in front of her.
"I'll miss you..." His voice echoed from him.
"Miss you..." Just kept echoing in her mind. Starburst slammed her hooves on her ears to block the sound.
"Somewhere." Starburst whispered as her eyes snapped open. She looked to see Del, Claire staring at her.
"You alright?" Del asked
"Yeah just..." Starburst took a few breathes, noting how she wasn't sweating at all in the armor.
The dense hull of the Jumpship had little light source except from the cockpit where Karas piloted the ship. The three weren't sure where they had been since they last saw the sun when they left Equestria. Ghost had commented that the moon and the sun were moving in an odd pattern. The ponies figured that Celestia and Luna were changing the time of day.
"You've been out for a while. I still don't know when we're gonna get there." Claire told her.
"We just passed Venus. We'll be there shortly." Ghost informed them.
"I don't know what that is." Claire told it.
"This is gonna be a annoying, I can tell." Ghost said.
"Hey!" Claire scolded.
"Knock it off down there." Karas told them. "We'll be there soon."
Shoving Ghost away, Claire gave a huff and slumped in her seat. The little pylon ball floated back to the cockpit to meet it's Guardian companion.
"They're pretty crabby down there." It said.
"Probably because they had to leave home to help fight the Darkness for that Traveler shard." Karas said. "We're lucky they understood why they had to come."
"I just hope we can find it soon..." Ghost commented.
"I'm sure we will. No doubt we'll have more than just us searching for where they took it." Karas said, noting how he passed Earths moon. He looked over and called to the three in the hull.
"We'll be there shortly."
Starburst perked up at the sound of that. Despite being depressed over leaving her family, she was excited to see a new world with her friends. She looked to Claire and Del to see their reactions and saw that they shared her excitement.
"I hope this place has decent food, I'm starving." Del said. Claire giggled.
"I'm sure they do." She told him.
Suddenly, orange light shined down from the cockpit. The ship shook and rumbled before slowing down. The three eagerly looked up to see if they were on Earth.
"Are we there?" Del asked.
"Yes we are. Welcome home, Guardians." He said softly as the he piloted the sip to the tower. "Take us down Ghost."
"You got it."
With in a moments notice, all of the occupants were transported to the surface of the Tower. The Warlocks and Hunters had joined them also.
"Hey guys!" Candy waved as she went over to Starburst and the rest. "How was your flight? Prism complained the whole time about the lack of food." She muttered.
"Hey! I've only eaten breakfast." He talked back. The reunion was cut short by Mercer clearing his throat.
"Ahem." He coughed.
The all turned to see his hands behind his back as his Ghost floated over to them.
"Welcome to the Tower Guardians." It said.
[Day One]
The seven ponies were so caught up in seeing each other that they didn't bother to look out to see where they were. The setting sun had given the Orange hue to the Tower, where Guardians were out and about still bustling to go out on missions or group up in a Fireteam. One consoled their friends over how mad they got over engrams while another had just turned in a few bounties. A few Guardians took notice to their arrival.
"This is where the Guardians live." Ghost told them.
A few waved, some were frantically in a hurry as they ran back and fourth. Others went to the Guardians to ask about their new allies.
"This will be your home for a while." A robotic "whirl" was heard in Ghosts voice. "And that...."
It turned around to point outward towards the City's treasure.
"Is the Traveler." It spoke.
"Whoa...." Annie breathed out in awe as she and her friend marveled at the Celestial being.
"It protects our city still." Karas told them. "It only began to heal recently."
"So that thing is why we're here?" Prism asked.
"Yep." Mercer told him. "This is what gave us so many advances in technology and gifted us the light."
"Just from that sphere?" Prism asked him.
"Apparently...." Mercer responded.
As the ponies admired the view, Ghost looked to the group of Guardians.
"We need to inform the speaker, let him know that we failed the retrieve the shard."
The Titan and Hunter nodded while Dia was explaining to another Warlock what had happened.
"Okay you seven, we need to go see the Speaker. He'll want to know what happened." Karas told them.
The seven broke away from their mesmerized stare and looked back to them.
"Who's he?" Annie asked.
"He's the voice of the Traveler, the one who sent us to Equestria." Mercer told them. "He's gonna want to meet you all."
"Well lets get to it. The sooner we see this guy, the sooner we get to rest." Del said.
"Lets get going then." Karas said as he lead them to the Traveler. Mercer waved Dia over.
Looking up, the Warlock turned back to her friend. "Sorry Gunnar, but I have to go see the Speaker." She told him. "I'll see you around." She waved before jogging off to meet the others to show the ponies the other part of the Tower.
The ten awed at the sights of the tower, touching every wall and scrapping their hoof across every marble floor. the architecture of the Tower was unlike anything they had ever seen. Several of the inhabitants waved to them, Frames, more humans and Awoken greeted them each with kindness and curiosity.
"This place is wonderful..." Claire sighed.
"I bet mom would have had a ball here." Starburst thought out loud to herself.
As the three were lead to a room, a white robed figure descended the steps.
"Speaker." Karas stepped forward. "We regret to inform that we were unable to retrieve the shard from the distant world it was on. The Hive stole it from our grasps."
"I see..." The Speaker spoke. "As much as I would hate to say it, I was prepared for this."
"And what might that plan be?" Mercer asked.
"You three are now going to be assigned missions on finding the shard. I also plan to assign a hunter who will track it down for you three." The Speaker approached the Guardians.
"He will report on it's location and that's when you and...." The Speaker looked over to see the seven ponies. "I assume these seven uhm.... equines will accompany you to the mission locations."
"Yes. These seven found the shard and acquired the light from it." Diamante pointed to them. "They better introduce themselves."
The seven stepped forward and presented themselves in armor, minus the helmets to the Speaker.
"Greetings." He waved as he descended the steps. "We've never seen any of your kind before on our world."
Starburst spoke up. "I can imagine why. We've heard that equines are..."
"Its quite alright, Starburst." The Speaker said.
"Wait, how did you know my name?" She asked.
"I was contacted by one their Ghosts. I've heard what you all did back in your home world." The Speaker chuckled. "Quite a day from what I've heard."
"You have no idea." Prism commented.
"Well it's settled, you three will take each out on a field mission until we get reports from out Scout about the whereabouts of our shard. But as of now, take our new Guardians on a tour around the tower."
As the group left, Mercer went over and whispered "They have the light. You know they'll need training tomorrow?"
"Of course." The Speaker whispered back.
"Also... make sure no Faction takes a hold of them. They'll be under our command." Mercer told.
"That is understood." The Speaker told him as the Hunter began to leave. "Make sure you all care for them. Poor things will be homesick."
"You have my word." Mercer responded as he exited the room.
"This here is the Hangar." Ghost showed the ponies. "The Guardians usually get armed here and have our sparrows and ships repaired."
The seven looked around to see what the area had to offer. They introduced themselves to several Guardians and people who were there as Mercer had arrived.
"What did you two talk about?" Diamante asked.
"I just told him that they will need training tomorrow, and that no fraction to to use them." He said.
"Good thinking." Karas told him. "No doubt they'll want to get them to support their cause."
Mercer had walked off to see what the others were up to. Prism was showing off his flying skills to Amanda Holliday. T, Annie, and Del were talking to a hangar worker while Del and Claire watched the Jumpships land.
"Look!" Claire pointed. "That's Mercers I think." She said as a jumpship pulled into the hangar and was landed on to a platformed that took it away.
"Aspect of Glass." Mercer thought as he watched his jumpship be put into storage. "I'd rather not describe where I found it." His thoughts ceased when he saw Candy talking to someone.
"And so you see, we just got here." Candy explained to a pale white Awoken.
"I see.... and where did you get this armor?" Arach Jalaal, representative to Dead Orbit, asked.
"Oh! Those cool floating things with the blue eye made them for me and my friends." She told him.
"Interesting...." He said, rubbing his chin. "I would-"
Upon glancing up and seeing the dreaded Hunter standing behind Candy's shoulder, Arach suddenly lost his words and desperately searched for new ones.
"love to meet them..." He finished.
"You okay Mister?" Candy asked.
"I'm fine."
"Okay! Come on, my friends are being shown around by our new Guardian friends." Candy bounced back to where her friends were as the Awoken followed. Passing Mercer, he did his best to avoid the Hunter's burning stare.
"In the hall of Guardians, this is where you'll meet the best of the best." Ghost explained to the group. "You'll meet the Vanguard and Crucible handlers."
"Neat!" Candy exclaimed.
The three walked down the stairs and were greeted by Lord Shaxx.
"Ah, these are the ponies I've been hearing about." He told them. "You've guys have caused quite stir here in the Tower."
"For good or bad reasons?" T asked.
Chuckling, Lord Shaxx told him "No no, you're never a bad presence in the Tower unless your a minion of the Darkness."
"No need to worry about that." Karas smiled. "These Guardians would take care of them personally."
"I bet they would. Why don't you all go and meet the Vanguard. They're the ones who probably sent these three to find you." Shax said.
As the seven look around more, Karas whispered to Shaxx "They don't have Ghosts, so no mention of the Crucible."
"Of course." Lord Shaxx responded as Karas walked off. Dia approached.
"Greetings Diamante. I assume you three plan to lead the mission to retrieve this shard?"
"Yes we do." She told him.
"Well I wish you luck."
"Thank you very much Lord Shaxx."
As the Warlock walked off, Mercer also walked by the Crucible handler. In a dead, flat tone Shaxx merely said,
"Mercer."
"Shaxx."
Mercer walked off.
"So what are you exactly?" Candy asked Cayde-6.
"I'm an Exo." He explained, going on about the history of his race. The seven all sat and listened to his story.
Hours had passed since their arrival to the tower, and the group of ponies had already been affiliated with the residents. Several Guardians had met, asked almost everything about where they came from and about their species. Now it was their turn, as they had already learned about the history of humans and the Awoken.
"Some time ago, we were rebooted after the collapse. We really don't remember what our original purpose was, but I think being Guardians is fine reason to be activated again." He said.
"Wow...." The seven exhaled out.
"Tell us a story about being a Guardian!" Candy cried out.
"Well.... I do have one funny one...." Cayde-6 looked over to Mercer. "Do you remember that one mission on-"
"Mars when we had to take out a high command Cabal unit?" Mercer finished. "Yes, how could I forget?"
"Well me, Mercer, and an old friend. Lets call him Andal..." Cayde-6 trailed off for a moment. "We uh.... we were told that this was gonna be one of the deadliest units. When we got their, the Vex patrol outside their base were more of a problem." He chuckled, Mercer grinned.
"When we get inside, there were only a few Cabal Psions. We took care of them easily before moving in. Wouldn't you know, turns out nearly all of the soldiers inside were focused on mining some relic iron that they dropped all their guns. By the time their commander walked in, we were long gone."
The group laughed to the story, even Mercer let out a small chuckle.
"Last I heard, he was gunned down by a squadron of Vex." Cayde-6 said casually.
"Some Commander he was." Prism commented, causing a few more laughs before it died down.
"Okay..." Dia commented. "I am dead tired right now." She finished with a yawn.
That yawn spread to nearly the whole room, save for Ikora and Commander Zavela.
"I guess it's time we show them where they're staying." Karas said as he sat up.
"Alright guys, come on." Diamate said as she lead the group back to the entrance. There, they saw a door that was to the right of where they came in from. One of their Ghosts opened it and it showed rows of elevators in a long hallway that lead to more doors with four digit numbers over them.
"Lets see.... we're under.... 5026." Dia said. "Here we are."
Opening the door, several beds were in the room for the Guardians to rest.
Letting out a sigh, Prism claimed the top bunk of the closest bed. Starburst got in the bottom one.
"I guess you guys chose your beds. This room is usually for guests and well... you're all considered one." Dia told them.
"Nice setup." Del commented. "So we just sleep in armor?"
"Why not? It feel so comfy." Prism muttered.
"I'll be in my room across the hall if you need me." The Warlock said before spinning around and stepping out the room.
Within a few moments, Del had gotten into a bottom bunk since Candy took the top while Claire slept in the top bunk of T and Annies bed.
They were all asleep within a few minutes before the lights were turned off.
Del seemed to gasp the moment he woke up. For some reason, the stallion could not recall what was going on in his dream that made him awake in such a way.
"It was uh.... there was a...." He tried to recall his previous visions from last night, yet drew a blank.
"Sleep good?" A voice asked.
Del looked over to see Annie and T were already awake.
"I guess...." Del got up and out of bed to stretch.
"Hey, go see if the others are awake." A voice muttered above Del. He looked up to see Prism was just waking up and peeking over his bunk.
"You guys can go wake them up, I'll stay here." Annie said.
"I guess I could go..." T said as he left the room, a nervous Del and complaining Prism following him.
Del knocked lightly on his door before entering Karas's room where he was greeted with the Titan doing handstand pushups.
"Oh, you're awake." Del said.
Looking up, Karas saw the stallion looking at him.
"Ah, good morning." The captain said as he pushed his body off the floor and landed on his feet, the act making Del jump a little. "I assume you're already to get some breakfast and get to training."
"I guess.... how early were you up?" Del asked.
"I'm always up up before the sun." Karas told him. "Taught myself to do it on the field, so that no enemy would sneak up on our base."
"Well... that's.... great I guess." Del responded. "Will we ever need to stay overnight out there?"
"Never, we'll make sure we're in orbit asap if anything goes wrong." The Titan said.
Del nodded. "Uhm.... so where's breakfast?" He asked.
"I'll show you." The Titan lead him outside, passing T who went into Dia's room and found her head asleep on an open book.
"Uhm.... Dia...?" T asked as he lightly shook her.
The Awoken snorted as her head popped up. "Huh, what!?" Diamante said as she looked around. "Oh... hi T I was just...." She stretched her arms and yawned. "Studying..."
"I see..." T commented at the large amount of books stern about her room. "Some of us just woke up and wanted to get breakfast."
"Oh yeah.... cause we plan to spend the whole day training you guys."
"Are we going out into the field today?" T asked.
"No, we will tomorrow. We're gonna take one of you you on a mission while the others patrol."
T got a little nervous. "Well I think me and A-"
"She's coming with me, Karas is going to look after you and your sister."
"Uhm.... alright." T nodded, nervously.
"Now come on, I'll show you and the others where the mess hall is." Dia said as she lead the dragon out of her room.
As walked out, he looked over and saw Prism knocking on someone's room. Only one response came from behind it.
"Open." It said.
Prism walked in to find a dark room where Mercer dismantled several hand cannons under a lamp.
"Morning."
"Uh... hey." Prism said. "So, we were planning to get some breakfast so if you-"
"Of course." The Hunter quickly responded without batting an eye at the Pegasus.
Prism stood there silently for a few moments before asking "So uh.... what are those?"
"My collection of Handcannons that I've used out in the field." Mercer said. "Some I just have for show, like The Devil you don't, others I've kept after a mission." Mercer said, motioning to a purple gun with the words "FWC" printed on it.
"What about that one?" Prism asked, pointing to a slightly rusted one mounted on the wall above his bed.
"Personal." The Hunter responded as he sat up. "You all better eat hearty, cause we're putting you all in the virtual sim-field all day. Yes you will stop for lunch and we we'll be done in time for dinner."
"Well okay, how hard can virtual training be?" Prism asked.
Prism spun to slash a holographic recreation of a Hive Thrall before jumping to avoid being taken out by a knight. He was almost out of breathe as another wave spawned in. The blue glowing grid seemed to shake with each step as they rushed at him
"COME ON GUARDIAN! GO GO GO!" Mercer yelled at him as he watched the pony fight off waves of enemies. All of the others were watching as Prism leaped up and bucked a witch before finishing her off with his Arc charged wings.
"Time!" Dia yelled as a virtual clock stopped above the doorway. It read a time of 5:26.52.
"Whooo!" Prism cheered as he walked through the entrance and back to a sort of dugout like area where his friends were. "I bet none of you could beat that time."
"Glad to see your ego came with us." Starburst commented. Mercer gave him a scowl.
"Well, lets see who else is up." Karas said as he got up from where he was sitting and looked over the list.
After breakfast, the team was sent to a virtual training grounds, and have been working on their skills all day. First they were taught about how to dodge enemy fire, the elements used in their powers, and how to survive on their own. The sun had just disappearing over the horizon by now. The group was exhausted by now.
"We have time for two more." Karas said.
"Oh, I'll go!" Annie jumped up.
"Alright Annie, you're up!" Dia exclaimed as she set up the enemies.
Annie stepped onto the deck and let out a confident sigh inside her helmet. With slightly improved sight while wearing it, her horn charged up with void energy as simulated Fallen rushed her. Waving her horn to have the magic flow like water before freezing in the air, she formed icicles and kicked them at the Fallen one by one.
"Wow..." T commented, his face pressed against the viewing glass.
Annie encased her hoof in void magic as she waved it around into a ball before kicking it towards a group and causing an explosion. The group was amazed by her skills despite her blindness.
"Time!" Dia yelled as the last of the enemies were defeated. Annie stepped off the training area.
"How did I do?" She asked.
"4:38.09." Karas told her.
As the group cheered and congratulated Annie, Prism sat in his spot with his hooves crossed in a pout.
"I call fowl play." He muttered.
The group were still sharing plenty of laughs by the time they got back to their barracks. The Guardians returned to their rooms while the ponies went to theirs and told more stories.
"Man, that was the most fun I've eve had training." Prism said.
"Yeah, hard to believe we have to go fight those things again tomorrow." T said.
"Cheer up guys." Candy said. "They say that it's mostly patrols, small groups on enemies, that we'll be dealing with. Besides, we got to get that shard back so we can go home."
"Yeah.... home." Starburst muttered.
The group fell silent as they remember it had been over a day since they left. To think that yesterday was the last time they would see their friends and family for a while.
"I hope dad is feeling better." Del commented.
"Mom must be worried sick." Annie said.
"I bet dad is taking care of mom right now." T thought out loud.
"I bet she's crying on her drama couch.... you can hit me for that." Prism told him.
"Actually... you're probably right." Claire responded with a chuckle.
"I hope we can go home soon." Prism sighed.
Starburst got up, hearing the sadness in her friends voices sparked something in her. "Guys, come on." She said walking around the room. "I mean, I know it's sad and all, but we can't be down. We'll kick these guy's butts out of here in no time. I mean, we took on an invasion at our own turf. With even more Guardians by our side, we'll find the shard faster than Prism's made up timed lap."
"Hey!" Prism called out. The group followed with laughter that he eventually joined.
"Now lets get some sleep guys. Tomorrows our first step to getting back home."
"Alright, goodnight everyone." Del told the group as he turned off the lights and got into bed as the rest were snug tight in their blankets.
"Oh and by the way, that was an actual time limit." Prism told the others.
"You can't lap Ponyville in under a minute." Starburst told him.
"You can't." Prism told her.
"I'd like to see this when we get back." Claire called to him.
"Oh you will."
"I'm betting he takes a nap halfway." Del commented, causing the others to burst out laughing.
"I do not deserve this roast." Prism exclaimed.
Before Annie could say something, light filled the room as a male human Warlock in purple armor stood in the door way.
"Yeah, hi. I know." He said. "Could you guys keep it down a bit? I get you're all having fun and miss home, but keep the noise down."
"Oops.... sorry." Annie blushed as she snuggled up to T.
"It's okay... goodnight." The Warlock turned and closed the door, Starburst was able to point out yellow face paint under his eyes before the door shut.
"Well I guess that's it for one night. Goodnight guys." T said.
The group seemed to forget how happy they could all be together in one day.