Thovog's eyes widened at the pony's words, not expecting them to be so open to him. Quickly, he gathered himself and stood tall before addressing the new pony.
“-As I have previously mentioned, we come in peace. We have been banished from our legion and are looking for somewhere to stay while we figure out where to go next. I understand if you decline, but I ask that you at least consider our situation.-”
The pony tilted its head before responding, “-And why should we open our doors to you? We heard about what happened in Manehattan.-”
“-Well, perhaps we could be of aid to you. If you need something built or moved that you are unable to complete on your own, we are strong enough to do so. I am also a reasonably good strategist, and can create plans even outside of combat movements.-
Smiling, the pony responded quickly, “-I appreciate the gesture, but we would have no need for something like that. However, I am not one to turn away ponies that are in need of help. If you are being truthful and you will not cause trouble in our town, I am open to accepting you into the town.-”
Thovog sighed in relief and relaxed his stance, turning to the soldiers beside him, “Stand down, they are permitting us to stay,” He commanded.
The various Cabal footsoldiers nodded and stowed their weapons, following their leader's relaxed stance. When they had visibly stood down, the ponies also calmed. The shield remained around their town, but the Val doubted that it would stay there for much longer.
“-Please, follow me.-” The pony said, beginning to walk away towards the town.
- - -
Indigo Tornado, one of the many colts within the town, was hiding in his home with his mother. When he got back home from the meeting with the Elders, his mother refused him to leave the house for fear that he may have been hurt by the monsters.
“Mom, where's dad?” He asked. His mother had been staying as close as possible to him, continually at the ready to run should they have to.
“He's outside the shield with the Mages,” she replied, her eyes locked on the window.
Indigo paused for a moment before speaking once again, “Will he be okay?”
“As long as the War Mages are okay, he will be too.”
The colt gave a nod and settled himself down beside his mother, letting out a yawn. His classes had fairly odd times, normally finishing in the early hours. The teachers believed that teaching at night time was a better time to do so, as there was little to disturb the students. Adapting to the times was easy for anyone that went there, but dealing with the oncoming exhaustion was a little more difficult.
Before he could close his eyes for sleep, however, a shadow passing one of the windows brought his attention up. The mare beside him had also noticed it, and was watching it with fear filled eyes.
“Indigo. Stay close.” She whispered, standing up and creeping over to the window. Indigo did as he was told and followed behind her, his eyes only just peeking up above the windowsill.
Outside, a group of creatures were being lead through the streets by Elder Shine. The pony was smiling as she spoke with them. The creatures were huge, walking on two legs. They all wore armour of varying mass, the one at the front wearing the most. Its armour made it almost three times the size of the smaller ones that trailed behind it.
“What are they, mom?” He asked quietly.
“I don't know, but make sure you stay near me, okay honey?” She said in response, backing up slightly.
The colt gave a murmur if confirmation and pressed himself against the mare's side, fear truly seeping in at his mother's words.
Outside, the commotion was beginning to settle as the creatures passed by. Crying and ponies calling for others could be heard, but there was little screaming or shouting.
The lack of noise was almost like music to the pony and her colt as it signified they were finally safe.
“Okay, honey. I need you to-”
The mare was cut off by a new, amplified voice coming from the square, “Ponies of Despectus! I come bearing good news. The beings you saw me entering town with are not here to harm us, they are simply looking for refuge while they find a place to settle. I ask that you all treat them the same way you would treat any new guest, and if you don't like it, bring it up with the Elders. That will be all.”
Indigo's mother had a look of shock adorning her face as she listened to the news. She quickly stood tall and looked down to her son, “I'm going to go find your father. Just stay here, okay?”
The little pegasus nodded with a frown, unsure as to what was going on. He accepted a hug from her and watched as she galloped from the home, leaving him alone.
Sighing, he sat down and looked out of the windows. The ponies outside were just beginning to calm, the words from their leader seemingly being enough to stop their panic.
“Be quick, mom.” He whispered, looking out at the fading shield that covered the town.
- - -
“Are you absolutely sure this craft is safe?”
“Ma'am, I wouldn't bring you aboard if I thought you were in danger.” Exodus said, exasperated. The War Mage's leader had been fairly problematic since she had boarded, quickly finding out she was timid around technology. Especially if it moved fast.
“I understand that, but what if it crashes?” She asked. She was sitting between two other Mages, and had her head on a constant swivel. The Galliot had many flashing lights across the inner portions of it, leading it to be distracting to those that had never been aboard it.
She and her guard were not the only Mages on board. Another fourteen ponies also sat, though they were completely silent. They all seemed to be watching for signs of attack, leaving Exodus with the assumption that they still did not trust him, even after what they did within the city.
Breeze, Lemon and Chrome were on board Kervis' ship with another load of Mages. They had decided it wasn't a good idea to keep them on the same craft as the War Mage leader in case of attack.
“It won't. But if it even started to do so my Ghost would move you to safety before you were harmed.” The Warlock explained, focusing his attention on the radars in front of him.
His explanation appeared to calm the pony somewhat, ending her questions there. Her silence was nothing bad to the guardian as it meant he could fly the ship without distraction. While his Ghost did most of the flying, it was his job to keep a close eye on the instruments and early warning systems.
The next few minutes consisted of the Warlock watching monitors while the ponies behind him either sat straight, watching the Exo, or looked around the cabin at the flashing boards and screens.
Just as Exodus was beginning to relax, however, a voice pierced through the silence.
“New targets, moving into formation behind us!” Kervis called out, drawing attention to the new blips on their radars.
There wasn't many, but they were far larger than any of the organic beings they had seen thus-far.
“Hostile?” Exodus asked.
“Not sure, but I don't really wanna find out.” Kalis commented, her ship flying faster in an attempt to gain distance from the new guests.
“I have to agree, we can't fight with all these ponies on board. How far are we from the destination?” Kervis questioned.
“Too far.”
Exodus was about to speak up when he was cut off by another voice. One he didn't recognise.
“Guardians. We know you are carrying animals with a great level of power. We ask that you give them to us willingly.”
The voice was deep, and there was grunting in the background which gave the answer as to who it was that was chasing them.
“You really think we are going to just hand these ponies over? Fuck you!” Kalis said. Her ship slowed greatly as she said this, falling back behind the other two.
“This is your only opportunity to end this without conflict. Give them to us willingly, or suffer.” The voice commanded.
“We'll see about that,” Kalis muttered, cutting off her comms.
“Exodus, we may have to use Plan B,” Kervis said when the sound of a mic cutting out was heard.
“I hear you. Good luck out there.”
“Same to you.”
The Warlock stood and turned to his Ghost, “I need you to shift me on top of the ship. Keep flying as fast as you can and drop the ponies at the town. When you have done that, pull the ship back and pick us up.”
The little machine nodded and turned invisible, following out the commands he had been given. Only moments later, the Exo felt the familiar signs of a teleport, not flinching as the scenery changed to that of the surface of his ship.
He had to hold on to prevent him being flung off before he was ready, though his mechanical hands had no issue keeping a tight hold on the metal.
As he clung to the ship, he noticed Kalis' ship not far behind him. The Hunter had clearly decided to use the same tactic Exodus had used and was standing on the top of her Inquisitor, watching the Cabal ship closely.
When the Galliot got close enough to the enemy ship, he let go, using his light to slow him down slightly, and glided until he reached the front plating of the craft. The impact was heavy, but did little to harm the Warlock. He managed to get a hold of a gap within the armour, allowing him to hang from it without worrying about falling off.
“Kalis? You there?” He asked over his short-range comms.
“You joining in on the fun?” The Hunter asked in response.
“You could say that.”
Reaching into his light reserves, he began compiling energy into a ball, leaving plenty for any fighting he may have to do afterwards. When enough light had been gathered, he projected it into his hands. The ball sparkled with energy against the deep black that made up the majority of it.
“Hey Kalis, you remember the Crucible?”
“How could I forget?”
“I learned a little something from it.”
Turning, he hit the plating of the ship with it, the light melting its way through it with ease.
“And what would that be?”
Exodus didn't respond right away, instead working on setting the ball of light up. When it had stopped moving as much, he allowed his light to temporarily fill him. Cutting it off as quickly as it had started, he moved whatever light remained outside his reserves into his hand.
“You may want to hold on,” He advised before slamming his charged hand into the ball, the reaction creating a huge explosion that decimated the ship's armour. He had nearly been flung away by it, but his Ghost managed to teleport him onto the upper hull of the machine.
“The hell was that?” Kalis exclaimed, letting Exodus know she had made it out of the blast unharmed.
“I'll explain it later, we have bigger things to worry about.”
The blast had almost entirely brought the ship down. One of its engines was giving out huge plumes of smoke and liquids of a variety of colours poured from the hole, most of them likely being coolants.
“This thing won't be chasing the other down any time soon. Meet you on the other one?” Exodus asked. He hadn't seen his partner as of yet, but he had a feeling that would change soon.
“Fine by me, but I want this one.”
The Warlock chuckled at that, “It's all yours.”
Seeing no reason to stay, the two guardians leaped off of the hull, using their light to keep them in the air. The other Cabal ship had been flying some distance from the first, likely dropping back when it noticed the smoke. The distance was a slight struggle for Kalis, but Exodus had no difficulty keeping his light running for long enough.
Soon enough, they had directed themselves toward the craft long enough to hit the surface of it, letting them pull themselves up onto the top.
“So, you got a plan?” Exodus asked the Hunter. They were both standing beside each other now, easily able to communicate via comms and hand signals.
“Yeah, though it's not gonna be as flashy as your method,” She replied, throwing her hand up into the air. As she did so, her body became shrouded in solar energy. As soon as the energy coursed through her body, her Golden Gun appeared in her hand with a flash of light.
Without waiting for a remark, she dropped her arm and took aim at one of the nearby engines, firing a single shot into it. The shot did far more damage than the Warlock expected, leaving a huge gaping hole and a cloud of smoke.
As quickly as the first, she turned and took aim twice more, firing off the remaining shots into two more engines. The ship, now flying with just one engine, began its descent without pause, a screaming noise coming from the overstressed machine.
“I think that's our cue to leave.” Kalis said, jumping backwards and allowing her momentum to carry her away.
“Agreed,” Exodus commented, doing the same as her. As they free-fell, they watched as the craft fell from the sky, hitting the ground with a new explosion.
The fall meant little to the two Exos, as their light slowed them to a near stop before they hit the ground. When their feet hit the ground, Kalis moved to survey the wreckage, picking off any Cabal that survived. Exodus, meanwhile, turned and spoke with his Ghost.
“How far is the Galliot from the destination?” He asked.
“Not far. Only one-hundred miles, should reach it in about twenty minutes.”
“Then we have some waiting to do.”
The time spent waiting was mostly silent. Both of the guardians had their own ways of occupying themselves. Kalis was looking over her weapons, tweaking their upgrades to make them slightly more efficient. Exodus, on the other hand, had been practising his Stormtrance. The ability was a more recently learned skill for him and he hadn't quite mastered its use.
As practice, he had set up pieces of metal from the crash in different areas, and was trying to melt all of them before his ability drained. The activity was fairly taxing on his light, but it was no issue to the Exo. His chestplate had enough light stored for a few self-ressurects, leaving him confident in his own skills to fight off any attackers should they show up.
“Hey Exodus, you mind talking about something?” Kalis asked during one of the Warlock's breaks.
“Sure, what was it you wanted to speak about?”
“When are we going to work on getting home? I get these ponies need help and we are probably the best they are going to get, but... are we going to go back?”
“Of course,” Exodus said without pause, “I know it's difficult to be so far from the Traveller, and Kervis knows that too. However, we are needed here. As warriors for the Traveller, it is our duty to defend it and our home. While I would love to return home, these Cabal pose a threat to not only this planet, but ours aswell. We need to stop them before they can pull off what they came to do, even if we die doing so.”
“Yeah, but if we found a way home, we could get reinforcements. We don't necessarily have to do this alone.”
“Kalis, look at what these Cabal have managed in just forty-eight hours. They have decimated a large city, kidnapped a huge amount of ponies, and threatened every living being on this planet. All for what? So a few million soldiers can go home? If we stop for even a second, they will gain the upper hand. We have to focus on the bigger picture right now, but maybe when they have weakened slightly, we can look for a way back.”
The Hunter nodded slightly, going back to her weapons. Exodus understood what Kalis was going through, but wasn't sure how to talk with her about it. Warlocks were the most connected to the Traveller, and any changes to it could be felt strongly by any Warlock that had been living for even a few months. A sudden loss of something he had bonded with was far more difficult than anything he had felt before, but he had done little to express it. The energy around them fuelled whatever light they lost, and while the Traveller's presence was no longer available, he found solace in the knowledge that what he was doing saved more lives than the city could ever hold.
They continued their distractions in silence after that, neither of them knowing how to continue. It was Exodus' Ghost that broke the silence.
“Our ships are nearly here. Shouldn't be more than a minute.”
Kalis stood from her seated position when she heard the news, walking over to the Warlock as he lowered himself from his hovering position.
“Here's hoping Kervis got the ponies back okay,” She commented, standing beside her companion.
“We shouldn't have much to worry about. He's the most experienced out of the three of us for a reason.” Exodus responded, watching as two ship came into view.
The engines of the two crafts roared across the land around them, signifying their speed to return to their pilots. When they got into teleport range, they slowed to hover above the two guardians.
“See you at the town,” Kalis said as her Ghost teleported her into the Inquisitor.
Exodus didn't respond, instead opting to just wait for his Ghost. When he was on board his ship, he jumped into the pilot seat and switched to manual flying, pushing the Galliot to full speed at the press of a button.
- - -
Kervis continued to fly in silence, watching the radars intently. Exodus and Kalis had just broken from formation to attack the enemy ships behind them, leaving him to guide the guardians vehicles to the destination.
It seemed that the two other members of his fireteam were successful in eliminating them as their dots on the screens moved out of sensor range.
When it was clear they were no longer being followed, the Titan rested back, shifting full control of the ship to his Ghost.
The ponies behind him didn't say much, what with them being used to what had happened over the last day. His passengers were the ponies they considered closer allies, those being Breeze, Lemon and Chrome. Cobalt had been ordered to stay back at the main camp, and so had reluctantly remained with his army. The Vienna was, unfortunately, not a very large ship, and carrying any more than those three would have been dangerous, so the majority of the ponies stayed with Exodus and Kalis.
“Ghost, how long will it take for us to reach the town?” Kervis asked.
“Around twenty minutes, give or take.”
“Good, we shouldn't have too much trouble then.”
That was all that needed to be said. The trio behind him settled down at their own paces, ending up dozing off with the gentle heat and vibrations of the engines.
When the town came within sensor range, Kervis called out to the ponies behind him.
“Hey, wake up guys. We're nearly there. Chrome, I'm gonna need some help organising the Mages. Not entirely sure how to command a large amount of people.”
“No problem,” The unicorn muttered, stretching and standing up. His sleeping earlier had made it much easier to wake now, leaving him feeling fully refreshed.
The sounds of the engines dulled out as the Vienna slowed, turning slightly to move to a suitable landing zone near the outskirts of the town. Finding space for his own ship was easy, but finding space for a craft as large as the Galliot was more of a challenge. It wasn't enormous, but its lack of landing capability made it difficult to move.
There weren't any issues in the end, thankfully. The ponies were moved from the ships safely, the Inquisitor and Galliot flying away to recover their pilots. The Vienna stayed grounded to wait for Kervis, as he saw no reason to send it to orbit.
When all the Mages were accounted for, their leader trotted up to him, smiling a happy smile.
“I would like to thank you for the trip. I assume your partners are well?”
“I'm not sure right now. They left to deal with the Cabal, but should be back soon.” Kervis responded, looking down at the robed pony.
“I see, well in the meantime, I would like to welcome you to our town. This place is a safe haven for anypony, Mage or not.”
“I appreciate that. We won't be staying long, but we may return here if you would be alright with that.”
The pony's smile grew even wider at that, “Of course, you are more than welcome to stay as long as you need. You have already proven to be an ally, and so our doors are open to you.”
The Titan gave a nod of thanks to her, watching her as she lead the other Mages into the town. When they had all left, he started to walk in after them, deliberately taking a different path to explore a bit. The ponies that lived there were a bit anxious, but didn't show fear to him walking through their town. Many simply gave a passing glance and went on their way.
Eventually, he came across a rather large building. The sign outside pointed to it being a local bar, though it was written in a language he didn't fully understand. It looked like a long dead language he had seen glimpses of on Earth, though he couldn't be sure.
Needing a way to waste some time while his fireteam came back, he walked in. The smell of alcohol made its way past his air filters, bringing up memories of past times he had spent in the City.
He walked over to the bar, ignoring any conversations around him. The ponies in the building were either not bothered by his presence, or were too drunk to care.
“You the one they are talking about? The one from Manehattan?” The bartender asked when he sat at a stool.
“Not quite sure I follow,” Kervis said, cocking his head slightly.
“Heard some stories from ponies that fled the city. Apparently a single being took on an entire army of those monsters and walked away unharmed.”
The human chuckled at that, “There was three of us, actually. But it would be understandable that I was the one that attracted the most attention.”
“Regardless, we all are thankful for the lives you three saved, even if it wasn't many. Here,” He said, sliding a mug of liquid over, “Apple family cider. Good stuff.”
“I'm afraid I don't have any money to pay you with,” Kervis said, looking down at the drink.
“On the house. If you three need anything, you are welcome to come to us.”
He looked at the pony in surprise before giving a nod and removing his helmet and setting it down beside the mug. It had been a while since he had taken it off, the feeling of the gentle breeze was far nicer now that he could actually feel it.
Taking a sip of the cool cider, he leaned forward a little, resting his arms on the bar. It was times like that which made him truly appreciate the work he did. Being able to come to a bar after a long day of work was one of the best rewards he was able to receive.
And he was going to make use of it every time it came around.