Noon time at the Tower. Twilight and I have yet to venture out since our newly acquired warp drive was being installed. We thought that it would be quick. But Derpy's workload seemed to have piled up a bit lately. Twilight let out an agonizingly loud sigh.
"Twilight..." I began. But then I forgot what I was going to say. Twilight didn't seem like asking why I suddenly said her name. She just kept her head down, lying on her hooves just hanging over the edge of her bench. Her eyes were drooping. I tried to start up a conversation again, but her yawning face scared away any thought of small talk.
"Ghost..." Twilight said. But she didn't say anything after that.
Figures.
Rainbow Dash and Apple Jack walked up to us. Both of them shrugging to each other as to why we were board.
"Still waitin'?" Apple Jack asked, taking a sip of her apple juice.
"Yes..." Twilight and I grounded in harmony.
"Now I know this is going to sound weird... But you know who I miss?" Rainbow said, drawing our attention just enough to look up at her. "Discord." She answered with a sip of her drink. Twilight chuckled.
"He certainly would've made things a little more interesting around here..." Twilight commented. Snuggling into her bench.
"Haha! Yeah..." Apple Jack agreed. And then the silence grew again. Sometimes life at the Tower was not all missions and stories. Sometimes you spend a good while organizing your vault, browsing the many vendors, and if you're lucky, you can chat with a legend or two. But today was not one of those days. Twilight had tried pacing, figuring out prime napping spots around the plaza, even learning different dances from her friends. Which was a new change from the patrols and deliveries she had been asked to do since her enlistment here.
"Would he have survived? The Collapse that is?" Twilight asked, and Apple Jack got to thinking. Rainbow Dash just shook her head.
"I doubt it," Rainbow began, "He would've had to have found a really good hiding spot to have waited out that storm of shi-" but before she could finish, an absurdly loud sneeze was heard, and a crash, following screams and shouts of all kinds coming from the hanger bay.
"What in the name of all that is cider!?" Apple Jack shouted, drawing her primary weapon on reflex. Twilight stood up with wide eyes. There was a funny expression on her face. I couldn't tell if it was comical, or the beginning of a horrifying thought.
"Do you think?" Twilight asked.
"No!" Rainbow said quickly.
"But if it is..."
"No! That would be crazy!" Rainbow said again. And then as we continued to stare at the west wing of the Tower, Guardians seemed to be running away from bullet fire, unarmed? And only after a few moments, guns of all kinds came flying out of the hanger bay entrance, wings sprouting out as if they were born with them.
"Oh, pony feathers it is..." Rainbow Dash said, head dropping. And the three set out for the for the hanger bay.
"Jeez, I know I get made fun of for sowing a pair of wings to a Unicorn, but this is too much," I said. Twilight glared at me. Honestly, I had to make that joke.
Galloping into the hallway, we could see a Frame getting attacked by the gun birds. Rainbow whipped out her Hawkmoon quickly, firing in quick secession, shooting the guns back down to the ground. The Frame ran past us as a swarm of more gun birds came flying in.
"Oh dear," I said at the sight of them, and we all ducked for cover.
Bullet fire roared in the hallway, and breaking glass and chipping concrete as we hid behind two weapon counters. Apple Jack hunkered down behind the counter on the other side of the hall. While Rainbow Dash and Twilight squeezed behind the other.
"Y'know that old saying how guns don't kill ponies, ponies kill ponies?" Rainbow Dash smirked as she reloaded calmly. Twilight rolled her eyes before ducking again from the absurd amount of gunfire.
"There isn't enough time for an opening!" Twilight shouted for us all to hear.
"Leave this to me," Rainbow said pulling out her heavy machine gun, charging headlong into the swarm. More bullet fire was heard, some blood splatter, and a messy corpse came crashing back behind Twilight. I could tell that she didn't want to look back at Rainbow Dash. But a few gags later, Twilight looked up at Narrator's shaking body. Disappointed at Rainbow Dash's attempt to solve the problem. Twilight reached up to Narrator's core, and successfully revived Rainbow Dash.
"Not my best idea," Rainbow admitted. And all of us agreed.
It was now time for us to get a real plan together. "Scarecrow, Narrator, let's plan," I said, calling the other's respective Ghosts. Apple Jack watched as us Ghosts tried to think of a way to get around this wall of guns in front of us. But AJ simply took it upon herself to jump headlong into the gunfire, and slam her hooves down on the ground roaring. Sending a shock wave throughout the air, and not only knocking all of the gun birds out of the air, but also making a creator, splitting the stone floor in every direction.
"Everypony alright?" Apple Jack asked, and Twilight and Rainbow raised their hooves slowly. A Striker's power was unmatched. Twilight said it once, and I'll say it again, a Warlock's magic infused hoof attack hit hard, but Titans hit harder.
Moving forward into the hanger bay, we were met with zero opposition. So judging by the Guardians coming back to retrieve their guns, we had silenced the all of the winged weapons. Venturing up to Derpy's workspace, we found her waiting for us. Mane in disarray, clothes ripped from gunfire, and an expression that screamed: "I've had a rough day".
"Derpy what-"
"Here's a crowbar, there's the hatch to your Jumpship, and where is your apple cider stash?" Derpy interrupted Twilight giving her the tool to open our Jumpship, and looked to Apple Jack, demanding a drink.
"Uhh... Back of the tower, behind the last crate on the left..." Apple Jack told her, and Derpy took her leave without another word.
"She's gonna think you're a liar, AJ," Rainbow Dash said, "Depending on if there is any cider left." Rainbow then burped, leading Apple Jack to grab Dash's armor in frustration.
"Girls, a little help?" Twilight said in the midst of their bickering. Then Apple Jack and Rainbow Dash helped to open the Arcadia. And when the hood opened up, a long snake-like creature stretched its different limbs and yawned as if it just woke up. This serpent had the head of a goat, the arms were of an eagle's talon and a lion's paw. Legs of a Dragon and a donkey, crooked horns of an elk unicorn and wings of a bat and bird. If I wasn't so well versed in Equestrian history, I might have questioned what he was. But since I was, there was no mistaking who or what he was... Discord. The Draconequus of chaos and disharmony.
"Now I know what your thinking, an amazing adventure in the middle of an ever expanding universe, and the story is hidden on little cards you have to collect? Wouldn't it make a lot more sense if somepony just told you? But really, what fun is there in making sense... Twilight?"