//------------------------------// // Epilogue: Waking // Story: A Rift Between Worlds // by Cinders of War //------------------------------// On the dark side of the moon, Stardust trotted through the crags and craters, creating new hoofprints in the dust below her feet. Behind her, the Warframes followed, unsure of where she was still leading them. Stardust had been moving her equipment here for a few days now and she still had plenty of things back at her workshop to bring over here. The moon wasn’t much in terms of scenery, but she was sure it would be the place the Tenno could learn to thrive and live their lives out. After all, this was where their masters had left some things. Climbing up to the top of the next hill, Stardust smiled to see the structure that was going to be her new workshop once she had everything in place. Just beyond the hill was a flat plane, surrounded by more hills and craters. Sitting just in the middle, embedded into a larger hill was a structure made of white and gold, its metal not reflecting anything on this side of the moon. “What is this place, Stardust?” Vauban asked, stopping beside the mechanical pony. “You will see soon,” was all she said before setting off towards the structure. Princess Celestia was right when she said there was more to the Tenno than she had told any of the humans. More than she had told the Tenno themselves, but Stardust knew it all, now that she’d been here herself. She was going to be spending a lot of her life here now that she was relocating, so she had all the time she needed to research more of them and their tech. Stardust smiled at the idea. If somepony had told her she’d be spending time studying machines in another world, she would’ve just laughed it off. She had been one of Princess Celestia’s students all those years ago. The closest, in fact. She didn’t know how many years she had left to live, but she did know she was going to use what she had left to learn as much as she could here to maybe one day give back to Princess Celestia what she had done for her before her abduction in the Void. Walking to a tall semi-circular door down a metallic path, Stardust activated the key within her systems, opening the large door and releasing a gust of steam and dust at them. It was dark inside, but Stardust’s mechanical eyes were able to see just fine, so she didn’t need to install lights. “This is… Orokin, Stardust?” Nyx touched the side of the door and looked up at the ceiling. “They built a structure on the moon here?” “I believe so.” Stardust nodded. “This structure matches all their other structures in the Void. But this structure is more for you than you know. I think the Orokin actually intended this place for you Tenno to thrive.” “How so?” Rhino stepped past Nyx and asked. “Come. See for yourself.” Stardust continued to lead the way in, first going through two large halls with potted plants on the side and benches in the middle. It looked like it was a place for a large community, but perhaps eons ago. The next large door led the group into a large atrium with a slope going down to another door, with water cutting the room in half, along with a second floor on both the left and right. After that, was another few more corridors and then another large atrium, leading deeper down into the place. After that, Stardust and the Tenno found themselves before another large door, but this one had plants growing around it, with the unicorn guessing that it had been a long time since anypony or anyone had been here. Opening it, she revealed a dark room with light coming down from a hole in the ceiling above, right in the middle of the room where several pods lay, water around them. “What is this place?” Excalibur looked at the large tendrils of roots that went up and around the walls. “This… is your home, Tenno.” Stardust trotted in, keeping her eyes on the pods. “I have scanned the place when I started moving my things here. Over to your left, is an obstacle course, just like the one we have back in Equestria. To your right are my labs, where I will continue my research and creations. In front of you, past the center, are your quarters and spaces, where you are free to do as you will. “What about the pods, the ones in the middle?” Nyx pointed out. “What are these? Are these for our sleep?” “I believe so.” Stardust nodded. “But you are already using it.” All the Tenno turned to her and tilted their heads. “What?” Zephyr asked. “What do you mean, Stardust?” Vauban walked to the pods to examine them. The glass was dark, but the analytical Tenno could see a dark shape inside, one that resembled their shape. Vauban put a hand on the glass, then wiped away a light layer of fog on it. What he saw inside forced him to take a step back. “What are they?” He turned back to Stardust. Stardust hovered over above the pods and flapped her wings, blowing away the dust and grime. “I discovered them when I first walked these halls. They are connected to machinery in there, linked to something. I believe that these bodies you see here, Tenno, they are you, projected into your Warframes with what I call transference. You are not machines. You are more than that.” “This is why you brought us here?” Ash asked. “Yes.” Stardust looked at Vauban’s pod, watching his sleeping form. “You were not programmed. You can choose how you want to live your lives, how to flourish as a new society, how to spend your lives without war.” She turned to the Tenno and nodded at them. “I believe it is time we wake you all from your dream.”