Lightning Rain had been lounging at home, watching a baseball game, eating from a bowl of chips when the news suddenly came on, interrupting the game.
“Hey,” he said to the TV. “I’m missing the good part!”
“It seems we were not alone in the universe after all,” the news reporter said through a thick grey moustache. “Repeated sightings of aliens dropping down around Canterlot have thrown the entire city into panic. Reports say they are armed and extremely hostile. Everyone is advised to stay in their homes as the military is mobilized to deal with this threat. What do they want? Why are they here?”
Lightning quickly put his bowl down and rushed to a window, peeking his head outside. He hadn’t heard any of this outside yet, which was strange, considering the reporter said they were attacking Canterlot.
Then he heard the front door slam open and then slam shut as footsteps rushed towards the living room. The baseball player only had enough time to turn his head when his sister rushed in beside him, throwing her arms around him.
“Thank goodness!” Lightning Dust said as she squeezed him tightly. “I couldn’t get you. I was afraid you were still out there.”
“Is it about the aliens?” Lightning Rain asked her as she let him go, giving his arm a pat. “I was just seeing that on the news.”
The runner nodded her head. “They’re all over school, shooting at anything that moves. If it weren’t for Mr. Loregiver and the others, I don’t know if we would’ve made it out.”
“Where’s the rest of your team? Weren’t you having track practice today?”
Lightning Dust shook her head and shrugged. “We split as soon as the aliens appeared. I think everyone headed home. I’m sure our walls aren’t protection enough, but there’s nothing else we can do. I trust Mr. Loregiver. He said they’re on it. We just need to hold out until they’re done.”
“Done with what, exactly?” Lightning Rain asked.
Dust looked out the window. “Taking them all out. We just need to hope it isn’t the other way around...”
Adagio Dazzle scooped her sister up in her arm and ran on, just narrowly avoiding one of the aliens as it swung what looked like a cleaver for her head, embedding it in one of the school’s bushes, cutting all the way down to the roots.
“Come on, Sonata, we need to move!” she yelled at her sister to pick up her own feet. Sonata Dusk might’ve been a pain at times, but she was still her sister. “Can you walk?”
“Yeah, just shaken…” the blue haired siren rubbed at her knees and ran alongside her two sisters, trying to get away from the nasty looking alien. “What’s going on? Why are these things here? Why are they trying to kill us?”
Just then, one of the Warframes, like the ones they had piloted a month back, slammed into the alien, knocking it down before stabbing its katana down, taking it out with a spray of blood.
“Gross…” Aria Blaze placed a hand over her mouth.
“You girls need to get to safety,” the Warframe held its sword firmly and looked around for more aliens. “Don’t stay outside.”
“You don’t need to tell us twice,” Adagio frowned and gathered her sisters close. “We should head home. I’m sure we’ll be safe there.”
“Maybe,” Aria answered. “Or we could just be leading these aliens back home with us. I don’t think she’ll be too happy if we do.”
“You have a better idea?” Adagio snapped at her, just as more gunfire echoed around them.
“Go, get out of here,” the Warframe said and gave Adagio a slight push as he readied his katana once again.
“You have more of these Warframe thingies?” Sonata asked. “We could help out! Remember? We had some the last time that other thing was here?”
“What? Umm… I’m not sure,” the Warframe rubbed his blue hair. “Just… go, please. Don’t get caught out here in the crossfire.”
“Help out? Are you crazy, Sonata?” Adagio stopped herself from pulling at her hair. “What do you expect us to do? We know nothing about this kind of combat.”
“Maybe if we had our powers,” Aria focused her piercing eyes on the Warframe.
Just then, a group of aliens appeared and fired at the sirens. Adagio brought a hand up to cover her face, but soon found herself and her sisters shrouded in a blue dome, the bullets disappearing as they entered.
A second Warframe dropped down from the roof, tipping what looked like a magician’s hat to them before pulling a long rifle from its back, firing at the aliens.
“We’re not going to make it ten feet,” Aria folded her arms. “I think we should just find a classroom and lay low.”
“Works for me!” Sonata shrugged. “Maybe we can hide in one of the science labs, you know, maybe we can brew up some explosive stuff just in case.”
“Whatever, let’s get inside and see what we can do,” Adagio grabbed both her sisters and shoved them towards the school building. Anything else was safer than arguing out in the open.
“Aaaand… there,” Stardust wiped her golden mane from her face and grinned. “These Warframes should be ready for work.”
“Yes,” Nyx nodded her head. “With them around, we have a chance at ending the Grineer once and for all. All they need are suitable human partners, just like Volt did when he found Flash Sentry.”
“We should help out too, Nyx,” Twilight stomped a hoof on the metallic floor. “Princess Celestia needs us. The human world needs us.”
“Yes. There’s no one else I would rather team up with than you, Twilight Sparkle. I am sorry if we did not see eye to eye in the past, but know that I have come to respect you.”
“Shall I help out too?” Stardust spread her metal wings, the glow in her eyes intensifying.
“I think you should stay here, Stardust,” Twilight explained. “It would be good with you around, but we can’t leave Equestria totally defenceless. If the Grineer return, we need ponies here to stop them.”
“Right,” the mechanized pony nodded. “I will do what I can. The Grineer shall not succeed again.”
Nyx placed a hand on a pod. “Then if we’re ready, let us go, Twilight Sparkle. Give me the green light and I shall activate my remaining brothers and sisters. We shall take the fight to your world and we shall be victorious.”
She reached out a hand and activated the first pod, watching as its doors opened up with a hiss of steam and frost as the Warframe inside began to light up.
This is it, Twilight thought to herself. This would be their chance to rescue the princess. The lavender alicorn thought to her friends back in the human world. She hoped that they were already in the process of getting Princess Celestia out, but the only way to know for sure would be to join them.
But first, Canterlot High needed her help.
Sunset Shimmer awoke in a dark room, lit only be dim red lights around the ceiling, giving the room a sinister feel as she rubbed at her head.
“Where am I…?”
Then she realized she was touching her hair and looked down. She was in her regular clothes, her Warframe strangely absent.
“Ember?” she called out, but there was no response.
“Your Warframe is not around to help you, girl…” an elderly voice echoed behind her.
Sunset turned to see an old woman with a pointed helmet of sorts and a staff, along with a smaller one with two pointed objects on her head.
“Who are you?” she asked, looking around the red room. “Why am I here?”
“She doesn’t even know who we are,” the smaller one giggled, blinking her round yellow eyes.
“Silence, Worm,” the older one waved a hand across the air. “Girl, we are the Queens of the Grineer.”
Sunset widened her eyes in realization as she watched the two females cackle, turning their bright eyes on her once they were done.
“Yes, well, as to why you are here…” the older queen coughed. “As you can see, I am nearing the end of this body’s life. In order to continue my existence, I need a new body. You girl, have been chosen to replace the one I now have.”
“What?” Sunset drew back a few steps. “No, I’m not helping you live longer!”
“You do not have a choice, human,” the younger queen pointed a finger at her. “We have immobilized your Warframe and our forces are taking care of your friends as we speak. No one is coming to help you.”
“I’m not going down without a fight.”
Sunset suddenly sprinted forward, jumping at the Grineer Queens and kicking off the head of the smaller one as she ran behind them, finding a long dark hallway. She had only made it halfway when she felt something tingling in her head. Soon, she was down on her knees, grasping for her head as pain began welling up inside.
“Aaagh!” she screamed out, unable to hold it in as she fell on her side, curling up into a ball.
“You will go nowhere, girl,” the Twin Queens approached her from behind, the older one holding out her staff, its tip glowing red. “Your mind is weak. We know a thing or two about enslaving weak minds. Now, I think it’s time we commence our little experiment.”
“Yes, squeal, human,” the younger queen rubbed her hands together with glee. “There’s nothing you can do about it! Just face your future and let my sister use you for our greater good!”
Sunset Shimmer felt the pain in her head increase. It kept going until everything went blank. Sunset cracked an eye open, gazing out in a vast expanse of white, the pain in her head gone.
“What is this place?” she said out loud. Her voice echoed around like this was some sort of dream.
“Sunset Shimmer, you’re here,” a familiar voice said, almost like it was coming from all over the expanse.
“Ember?” Sunset called out. “Is that you?”
“Yes. It seems our minds are still one within the suit,” Ember replied. “I was afraid you wouldn’t wake up after what happened.”
“What happened?” Sunset looked around the space. “But the Queens. I was just in the room and they knocked me down with some magical power.”
“No, Sunset Shimmer. You are still within the Warframe, but I don’t know for how much longer. The Grineer have begun drilling into my databases. I don’t know what their plan is, but if we don’t do anything, they shall succeed. You must recover control of yourself, Sunset Shimmer. You must fight back while my systems are down.”
“But how do I do that?” Sunset threw her hands up. “I thought I was awake and out of the Warframe. How do I get out of here?”
“I suggest you keep going, Sunset Shimmer. Locate the way back. But hurry, I don’t know how long we have before we’re compromised. It’s up to you, Sunset Shimmer. I know you can do it. After all, you are no human being and you are special. I can feel it in your mind when we drift. You can do this.”
The girl looked ahead into the vast expanse ahead as Ember went silent. There wasn’t exactly a straight path, but she decided trying was better than just sitting here. Taking off, Sunset started in a light jog, hoping to see a change in scenery as she moved along. Ember said she only had a limited time to somehow regain control of the Warframe. Sunset didn’t know how much time she had left to do that, but she knew she had to try. She wasn’t going to let a gnarly old Grineer queen take over her body.