Canterlot, Equestria. 5:14am 22/06/1000 AN
On the west wing balcony of Canterlot castle sat Princess Celestia. She had just finished raising the sun, starting a new day for all her little ponies in the land below. They would all be waking up to a calm morning, little responsibility, smiles on their faces. This was, however, not the case for Celestia. She wore a neutral expression, not unlike the one she used at day court. Only it lacked the motherly smile she had practiced for so long. Celestia didn't feel like smiling, she didn't feel like raising the sun. She didn't feel like doing anything, but these things had to be done. She was a princess, and she had to act like one.
Twilight had stopped sending apology letters somewhere around midnight. Celestia had presumed she had fallen asleep, but then the letters had started up again, this time they were about a strange star near the moon. Maybe Luna was coming ho... No! Don't think these thoughts. You'll only be disappointed when nothing comes of it. Her internal war was intrupted by the arrival of one of her guards.
"Princess, shall I inform the nobles that day court is cancelled." He said
"No need, I will be attending this morning." Came the reply.
"As you wish, your majesty."
Celestia hated that, why couldn't her ponies just call her by her real name. Why must they use these trivial titles. She knew why, but it hurt all the same. They were afraid. Her little ponies were afraid of her, and there was nothing she could do about it. She wasn't Celestia, general lazy mare and lover of baked goods. She was Princess Celestia, diarch of the sun. Ruler of Equestria. That's all she'd ever be to them. That's all she'd ever be to anypony. As Celestia dragged her golden plated hoof shoes to day court, along the maze of expertly painted hallways, she realised just how lonely she actually was.
Long Far Gone, Equestria. In orbit. 5:29am Equestria time, 22/06/1000 AN
Mathew was currently sitting in hangar L2, he was sitting on an odd bike looking thing, resting his eyes. He wasn't really resting though. He was waiting.
"57, 58,59,60! Alright here I come!"
How did Mathew's life come to this, playing hide and seek with a pony princess. It didn't help that the we bugger could teleport. Damn it, he's suppost to be a hunter, finding things was in the job title. How was she so damn good at hiding. He scanned the hanger for any sign of his temporary house guest.
She had settled in nicely actually, the expected 'who are you and where do you come from' conversation occurred hours ago. Mathew had told her about earth, about Venus and even a bit about Mars. He had told her stories of his work as a guardian, how he fought to keep his friends in the city safe. He had introduced her to his hearty crew of Sentinels, Exuberant was intrigued by the workings of her horn and wings, as was his ghost. They had conversed for nearly an hour. Then came the inevitable.
"Why are you here?"
The words had caught in Mathews throat, why was he here. He was here because he had nowhere left to go, because his home had been destroyed. His home, his friends. Now that the adrenaline of his new adventure had worn off, he came to the sudden and shocking realisation that he was, in fact, the last of his kind. Humanity, an endangered species of intelligent primates, a race that were responsible for some of the greatest achievements in the galaxy. Had finally met their end.
He had cried there. A guardian, a warrior who had killed thousands of foes in the name of his races survival, cried. He was brought into an embrace by the only other creature in the universe that could possibly understand his pain. Princess Luna knew what he was going through. She had been through it herself, knowing that she wouldn't see any of her friends ever again. Though never on this scale. They stayed like that for a long while, as Mathew cried away a lifetime of bottled up emotions. When he was done Luna had suggested that they do something different to take his mind off what had happened, and that lead to what he was currently doing... Badly.
"Where are you?" Mathew teased in an ominous tone.
He heard a childish giggle coming from a row of crates to his left. Rushing over, he looked behind he crates to see... Nothing. Did she get away? She didn't teleport, he would have heard, so where did she go? A snark from behind made Mathew whip around. Luna was standing there, a very smug expression plastered on her face.
"Fooled by a simple voice projection spell, one would almost call that sloppy."
Mathew laughed. "That's not the first time in my life I've been called that, I assure you."
"How old are you, exactly?"
Mathew thought for a moment, how old was he? He had been seventeen when he had died originally, but it's often said that a gurdians age is well beyond their physical appearance. He totalled up some numbers.
"I think I'm around 1500 years old by this point, could be more though. I'm not really sure how long I was dead the first time. What about you?" He asked.
"My sister and I are roughly 5000 years of age, though that too could fluctuate."
Wow, 5000 years old. He hadn't even existed for half of that time, and he'd been dead for the majority of it.
"As much as I'm enjoying our little escapade, I think it may be time for you to go home, not that I haven't liked your company." Said Mathew.
Luna nodded. "Yes this has been enjoyable, we should do it again sometime."
Mathew looked around, there was plenty of transport here, and his ghost had taken the few micro seconds to learn all the flight controls for every single one of them while they were having their little chat. He looked at Luna.
"I'm going to be quite frank with you, my ships not going to be able to take down both of us and all the equipment Exuberant wants to transport down there." He said
Luna returned his look with a questioning expression.
"Is there any ship in particular you'd like to try?"
Luna was ecstatic, she was getting to choose a spaceship. A spaceship! She scanned the room before her eyes fell on a vehicle near the rear wall. It was large, sleek and a deep purple colour. It's tail was forked and elegant, like a fish.
"Could we take that one?" She asked
Mathew followed her gaze before noticing the craft in question. He turned to his ghost, who had materialised by his side.
"That's a Type-56 Lich. According to the ships database, the Covenant used them to transport large amounts of troops and weapons to a desired location, extremely quickly. I have all of the necessary flight controls here." He said "I'll inform Exuberant of our departure."
Ghost blinked as he communicated with the monitor.
"She says she wants some of her Sentinels to come down with us, for research and security purposes. She also wants to stock the ship with some weapons and equipment to study the natural 'arcana' on the surface."
"What sort of Sentinals, because I don't want one of those enforcer things scaring off the local populace." Replied Mathew.
"Just some constructors and one or two aggressors, they'll be on safe mode so no one is hurt."
Mathew didn't see the problem with that, in fact they might make things slightly easier. As long as they weren't a harm to anyone.
"Okay princess, let's get you home." He said
"You can just call me Luna thanks." Said his pony companion.
Mathew lowered into a bow. "As you wish... Your majes... GAH!"
He was cut off by a swift punch to the gut, sending him reeling. Both Luna and his ghost burst into a fit of giggles.
"Haha very funny you two, let's get going." Mathew picked himself up and began to walk towards the Lich, his troupe close behind. The Sentinels were just finishing stocking the ship. Mathew stepped up the ramp and into the ground floor. There were weapon cases everywhere, scattered around the room. Some of them looked like they were designed to level buildings. There was a few ground based vehicles as well, including a small troop transport.
"Isn't this a bit excessive, its not like we're dropping into a war zone."
Mathew didn't really pay much attention to his ghost as he began to browse the selection of guns and launchers that were present. He pulled out a short purple weapon with a set of glowing crystals on top, their strange pink glow radiating across his visor.
"Ghost, have you got anything on this." He asked.
"That's a Type-33 Needler, a kinetic weapon created by the Covenant, those crystals are the projectiles." Ghost blinked as he read more of the information on the database. "The crystals are made of a substance called blamite, which is found on one of the massive neutral satellites of the the planet Sanghelios, named Suban. They seem to feature aggressive tracking behaviour, able to not only identify, but actively pursue soft targets. How they do this remains unknown. The crystals are violent, and will detonate when a critical mass is reached."
"I take it you just read all of that straight off of the computer then." Sneered Mathew.
"Well I... Um... Yes I kinda did. It answered the question though didn't it?"
"And then some bud."
Their banter was interrupted by Luna fiddling with a small object across the room from them.
"What is this device, is it some sort of doorstop." She held out the silver cylinder in her telekinesis. Ghost examined it closely.
"It says here that it's a variant of the Type-1 Energy sword, namely the 'Vorpal Talon'."
Luna snorted, what a pathetic weapon.
"This is no sword, it doesn't even have a blade. What are you suppose to do, hit ponies with it."
Ghost regarded the ships memory.
"It says to activate it, point the spiked end away from you an squeeze the duel triggers on the hilt."
Luna looked at the hilt in her magic, before doing as instructed. The handle glowed and a pair of brilliant gold blades burst to life, startling both Mathew and Luna, who nearly dropped it in her surprise. The golden blades ended in cyan tips that had a translucent quality. The heat was massive.
"What sorcery is this! How can a blade appear from nowhere!" She yelled.
"Ah! Luna, volume." Said Mathew. Luna blushed.
"Sorry."
Ghost shot a beam at the hilt, which was still sparking and emitting the blades excited energy.
"Interesting, it appears that the hilt contains a plasma powered battery and pair of magnetic field generators that give the sword it's shape. The unique colour comes from the inert gasses that the blade is made up from. It's like an energy based version of your sword Mathew."
Luna gave Mathew an interested gaze.
"You have a sword? May I see it?"
Mathew nodded and began to unclasped Dark-drinker from his belt, then he stopped for a moment. Could he trust her with it? It was a pretty devastating weapon, able to shred apart even the tickest of armour like it was tissue paper. He noticed how Luna was watching him with a hard stare. Did she know what he was thinking?
Mathew relinquished his blade to his indigo comrade, she looked at the short hilt in fascination.
"It works the same way, just press the button underneath the cross guard." Informed Mathew.
Luna deactivated the Covenant blade and placed it on a shelf nearby, before lifting Dark-drinker and pressing the switch with her magic. The wide hadium blade wafted into existence, it's spiralling design reflecting the light of the hanger outside. Luna's eyes widened. She held it at an angle, facing the textured floor. A long drip of void energy ran down the smooth surface, before falling off the swords edge and spiralling out of their dimension.
"Unreal, how can it contain such pure magic, such raw power. It shouldn't be possible." She said
Mathew pointed towards the crystal attached to the base of the blade.
"It's to do with that crystal, it creates and stores most of the void energy that powers the sword, kinda like me actually."
Mathew formed a ball of void light in his palm for emphasis. Luna just stared at it, completely silent, stunned. She floated the sword back to Mathew who flicked the switch, expunging the blade.
"That's an impressive weapon Mathew, I would fear to meet you on the battlefield with it in hand."
"Thanks, I made it myself." Said Mathew, with almost childhood innocence.
Luna lifted the energy sword off the shelf and offered it to Mathew, who just shook his head.
"Keep it, I'm sure Exuberant won't miss it. Besides, it'll remind you of us every time you see it."
Luna smiled before slipping the hilt into the makeshift saddle bag ghost had constructed for her.
"Right, let's get this show on the road."
Mathew walked up a ramp to the first floor, which was filled with scientific equipment. He spotted a pair of aggressors moving a box of test vials, they placed it down and looked at him expectantly. Mathew waved awkwardly at them, unsure of what to do. One of the Sentinels, plating golden in colour, tilted sideways in confusion, before slowly raising a manipulator and waving back. Mathew snorted with laughter and continued into the pilots area. Multiple purple holopanels adorned a large semicircular console with a pilots seat in the middle, two smaller seats were placed behind it in a delta pattern.
Mathew took a seat at the front and gazed out into the hanger beyond. Luna came in behind him.
"Do you know how to operate this craft?" She asked.
"No but there's a first time for everything, ghost... How do you start the engines?"
"The large red button to your left."
"Ah, of course it is."
The engines whirred to life and the ship began to rise. Mathew gripped the control rods and looked over his shoulder at Luna, who was trying to get her belt to work. She clipped it in and beamed at Mathew, who was suppressing a laugh.
"Alright your majesty may I suggest you hang on tight."
The ships rear thrusters roared and the Lich blitzed out of the hanger, embracing the cold vacuum of space with open arms. Luna was pinned back in her seat with the force of their acceleration.
"God damn this thing really shifts." Yelled Mathew in excitement.
The ship banked down towards the atmosphere over Equestria, flames erupted around the nose of the Lich as it passed into the cloud layer. That's when Luna felt it, the familiar cold grasp of Nightmare moon.
"You could take it, take it all. With his help the world could fall before our hooves."
"Why hold back, you could rule. You would be better than her, beyond her. THIS IS YOUR CHANCE. TAKE IT!
"ENOUGH!" Screamed Luna, and instantly she felt a huge weight lifted from her. She was gone.
Mathew looked back. "Too fast?"
Luna couldn't believe it, Nightmare moon was gone. She was free! "No, go faster! I want to see what this things got!"
Mathew pulled of his helmet and grinned. "I thought you'd never ask!"
He punched the throttle, propelling the ship to blinding speeds. The sound barrier shattered instantly, the crack ringing out across the land below. Mathew pulled the Lich into a huge arc, before shutting down the engines and letting the ship complete its ascent. It reached the crest and slowly flipped over, beginning to dive. He engaged the thrusters to push it to its maximum velocity. The Lich rocketed though the air at two thousand miles per hour, boiling any clouds it passed though immediately. A strange energy began to build up at the nose, shimmering in the morning glow.
"What is that?" Yelled Mathew
Luna couldn't believe what she was seeing, she thought the rainboom was just a myth.
"Just keep going! You'll see!"
Mathew kept the ship on course, the lower cloud layer was getting scarily close.
"Are you sure this is safe!" Shouted ghost.
"Hell (Tarterous) no!" Screamed Mathew and Luna simultaneously.
The ship broke cloud cover and they could see an expansive forest below them, stretching for miles.
"WOOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOO!" Screamed Luna as the Lich sped towards the ground.
The energy reached a critical level and exploded passed the back of the ship. Mathew pulled up hard, just scraping the tree line. The noise was deafening, like a gunshot down a megaphone. A rear view camera displayed a large expanding ring of multicoloured light, flowing across the sky like ripples in a pond. The crew of the cockpit let out a breath they didn't know they were holding, before bursting into a fit of uncontrolled laughter. Even ghost laughed a bit.
"That was the most fun I've had in a millennia! Said Luna, still wheezing from the exertion.
"I'll second that." Panted Mathew "Where do we head now."
"I believe that my sister has taken up residence in the mountain city of canterlot, which is over there." Said Luna, pointing to the massive structure built into the side of a cliff face to their right.
"Alright, one mountain city coming up."
With that, the ship accelerated off again, to the city that was most certainly, fit for a princess.