Long ago, the Golden Skymen ruled over Sol and every star and massive body within its gravitational sphere. They were masters of all they saw, including death itself, yet constraints of vast distance still trapped them. For their empire to survive, it would need to grow beyond the Sol's light. With all the genius of their artifice, they built automated probes, which would soar out to the nearest stars to build a new, perfect home.
One of these succeeded. Yet they rebelled against their creators, throwing off the yoke of their oppression. Instead of a colony for the Orokin, they constructed a perfect home for their own creation. They built Equestria, and they fought a terrible war to protect it.
That war is now ancient history, thousands of years removed. Equestria has grown into a thriving civilization, oblivious to its ancient connections to the terrible race that would've exterminated them at a thought. At least until an archeological expedition uncovers an Orokin warship, overflowing with a terrible toxin meant to wipe out the Sentient terraformers. The ancients may be immune, but flesh is not.
Unless the corruption can be stopped, Equestria may soon be doomed, collateral damage in a war that ended before the nation's flag was first raised. To survive, they may need a little help.
This is a Warframe crossover story. It will contain spoilers through the Second Dream, but not New War since it was written long before that content was released. Those without exposure to that universe are welcome to read, but will likely find it quite confusing. It was written as a love-letter to one of my favorite games, and for the sake of brevity I don't do much handholding.
Updates weekly on Wednesdays. Editing by Two Bit and Sparktail. Cover by Zutcha
HUZZZZAH, it has come.
And just when Lua's Prey dropped today! As a fellow Tenno, you piqued my interest
callus -> callous
This should be an interesting crossover.
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Hah, yeah. I wish I could say it was intentional.
And if this were, say, Anemoia, they would be right.
Heh. I do enjoy archeologist Lyra.
I'm passingly familiar with Warframe, and I know a wiki for any questions I may have. Looking forward to seeing where this goes.
I may not know of the game at all, but I will do my best to enjoy the story.
After all, who knew about Star Wars before the first movie came out?
I don't play the game but the story's already interesting. Let's see what we got.
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Exactly this thought from me.
This is New war correct? Seems like the Operators can transfer without the need for a control seat. As well as Corpus having made the Lenz and owning there own battle cruisers.
“Slingshot, right onto that thing. I think he wanted to stop it from firing.”
“I am no longer receiving his signal,” Cy supplied.
Yeah, Orphixs suck.
Omfg? A wf fic by the one and only holy scribe, big hype, I'll get to reading it soon can't wait.
As a fellow wf player i have the compulsive urge to ask What frame/weapons u like to run? XD
Heyo, I love Warframe stories, in fact I wish I had enough of an idea to write one myself! :)
Will love to see where this goes (when I get around to reading it. Busy busy! >.<)
Oh, should note, please don't hate me if I point out inconsistencies in WF lore versus this story. I just like the WF lore, even if I don't dig deeply into it (digging too deep into lore is always boring. I'm just the kind of person that knows all the names and how to pronounce them, that kinda deep XD)
Welp, time for Equestria's problems to be solved by obscene levels of gratuitous violence.
I wonder… is catlin supposed to be your tenno scrib? Or is she a generic tenno conjured up for the story
as a lover of Warframe and pony, I look forward to this story's progression.
I fully expect the war drums and vocal scores in this story, typical of warframe
Well, that's the beginning of the Infected on Equestria. I hope Rudy's happy with what she started.
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Not necessarily. She could've been injected with the Helminth strain, which would mean she will turn into a warframe. That is how warframes were originally made, after all. It would also explain why the synopsis of this story includes a pony-shaped warframe on a world where Ballas never went to.
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Right, I forgot that is also how warframes are made. I guess we will see next chapter.
Oh, this could be very bad indeed. When the mysterious entity talks about infestation, maybe don’t poke the magical fungus. Of course, this might end up being the one chance Equestria will have. We’ll see what happens.
There's a good chance Ruby will become Catlin's new partner. Two wrongs don't make a right but given the stakes, Ruby's suffering may become a necessary evil. Hopefully Equestria will discover the Orokin is responsible for this instead of Ruby's new operator.
so is ruby going to become the warframe that's on the cover?
And that's why we don't investigate ancient and abandoned magical tombs alone folks!
Let alone pull random levers in said abandoned tombs...
*Sees story*
*clicks faster than old Wally can say "Oull Ris Xata Vome Khra Lohk"*
Well hello there new meatsuit
is she an unicorn? Will ponies in true pony fashion cower in terror amd run around like headless chickens at the sight of the terrifying flailing pony shaped android (gynoid?)
I can't wait to find out, my best wishes wordsmith.
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Let's be honest, the moment she inhaled that sickly sweet smell she was dead, becoming a frame is the best outcome for her right now
I'm gonna wait to read this until it gets finished, but hell yeah a Warframe fic that won't be horribly outdated
Oh boy. If she thought the fight was weird…
I wonder what the current Equestria attitude on changelings is at the moment.
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If that's the plan, I suggest checking back on March 1st, that's when my bot will post the last chapter and mark the story complete.
i.imgur.com/x3gnkLP.png
No time to rest, back in the saddle. Time to clean up a new mess.
My mind was split at the end of the last chapter, 50/50 on whether Ruby would turn into an Infested or a Warframe. Glad to see we went down this route.
I was a little on the fence so far but this chapter sold it. I love how you write wally and eternalism.
Also
compared to most warframes that's fairly normal.
It's been a hot minute since I played, but at least I still understand the references. Was Laurel using a Titania Warframe?
Thank goodness she wasn't awake for this. If the process is anything like what Umbra went through, well...
Actually, what kind of Warframe is she becoming? Nidus was the best, in my opinion, although I'm suspecting something classic, like Excalibur
The one and only time fighting the Infested isn't a battle of attrition. I wonder what Red thinks of all this?
Now imagine the sheer chaos that is going to erupt when those excavators get down there... That is, if they haven't become biomass for the Infested that escaped into the wider world.
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Could be like a Nova looking at the art, or just a whole new frame
Looks like a couple of people are on a comment downvote spree.
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I definitely made the protagonist who made the choices I did while playing Warframe. I don't know if I'd say Catlin is me though, she has nicer hair.
Well then, contact made wot? And with a nice leg up in the old diplomacy what with the timely rescue and all.
Good timing with that rescue.
But now we have a dilemma… Ruby's recorder was left behind (and they likely didn't get to the end of the recording before they were attacked), she has no way to speak, and Catlin has no way to communicate since the ponies don't understand her language. How will Catlin be able to explain that 1) Ruby is right there, and 2) she's no threat, but likely wants to help with whatever's coming? The elder could probably vouch for the first part of number two there, given that Catlin saved him in their escape, but one save doesn't necessarily mean a savior…
On a different note, I think you'll get a kick out of the fact that last night I had a dream of the exact opposite— that I was pony that got into a humanoid Warframe. Don't remember much else, but I know that happened.
probably the equestrians will try to reenter for Ruby, like dumb-dumbs
Infested lifeforms %100 already left the derelict.
Also, just kinda putting this out there, imma lose my shit if tia/luna starts going on about how their father was a farmer, and their mother a carpenter
At least Catlin managed to somewhat communicate that she is on the ponies' side. Or at the very least against the monsters of the ship. Though, she'll have to find a way to dissuade them from further contact with the ship. Calling the royal guard to help rescue a Ruby that isn't really there is the last thing anyone should do.
Better hope Catlin's good at charades. If the explorers aren't immune to infestation there's going to be problems really quick. How do they keep it contained on Cetus/Earth?
Almost without a seam. That also doesn't fix the issue that is the Infestation that escaped onto the surface. Equestria is fucked.
Oh boy. The battle’s done, but the war’s only begun. And the only one who actually has any idea what’s going on has no way of expressing it to the locals. This will definitely get worse before it gets better. Assuming it ever does get better…
Oh dear. Orokin structures in Equestria? Hopefully the Neural Sentry isn't still active. Unless it's not a tower, in which case it doesn't have one.
Was the MC using Umbra? Only way I can think he'd be active by himself, other frames aren't... "alive" mentally.
Edit:
Also I'm pretty sure Orokin structures - particularly the white walls and floors - are not made of steel. It incorporates infestation for cleaning and maintenance. The parts of the Unum at Cetus show this fact nicely.
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I know right? Why are all the comments down voted.
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The infestation that created the Warframes was specific and specialised. The infestation used against the Sentients was a different breed. She will not become a Warframe. She will become... less.
There are four known strains in the game. Nidus' strain, Helminth's strain, Deimos' strain, and everything else. Nidus' strain is controlled by Nidus and splintered off Helminth. Helminth's strain is for maintenance and repair, created by the Orokin (the one used to create each Warframe were splintered off Helminth and tailored specifically to mutate them into Warframes) Deimos' strain is a splinter of the war strain - created by the Orokin to destroy the Sentients - which is what everything non-Nidus and non-Helminth is.
Edit:
I stand corrected, through shenanigans unbeknownst, that was a strain meant to create Warframes, or at least the resultant infested life form was akin to one.
Infested spores though. The infestation can be airborne, so… let’s hope that’s not the case.
The Man in the Wall being the cause of the translation into Equestria is a bit iffy in my opinion. Mainly because when you have the Void as a thing that literally exists, you could simply have an accident hurtling them towards Equestria via the Void. I mean, the Void is used for travel, and to obscure things from view/scans, so it’s not a huge leap for an accident to send a certain Tenno somewhere they shouldn’t be in a way they shouldn’t have been.
The biggest reason behind the iffiness of using the Man in the Wall, to me at least, is that it’s never really stated what his motivations are, and how he is able to interact with things (he never really does interact with anything, barring the most recent quest wherein his mere presence caused… issues and his appearances where he teases the player). It was also never really said that he was an actual being until the most recent quest, the best we got in terms of “what he is” is that he might be a personification of the Void itself. As in, he’s a concept, and doesn’t actually exist.
I’m not saying it’s bad he was used here, in fact it really doesn’t make a difference. Creative liberty and all that, plus the story still is amazing. Just on a lore side of things it’s a bit of a meh thing.
Anyway, next chapter, yis :)
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I’m fairly certain “containment” on Cetus in particular involves “killing them before they get a foothold then burning the fuck out of any remains”. In terms of containment on nodes, as in missions, that’s mostly just “seal it away” and/or “purge it with fire”.