Opening her eyes, Lyra awakens to a world of purple. Everything around her was obscured in a purple haze. She couldn’t make out a single detail of the area around her and the air smelled like copper. As she was getting up from her resting place, she began to feel lightheaded and staggered a little. She quickly lost interest about where she was and simply enjoyed what she was feeling.
Lyra spotted a number of blurry figures moving towards her, but for some reason, she didn’t care. Without thinking, she attacked the figures with fists and hooves as she remembered when observing or participating in Sweetie’s training sessions. Some of the figures had red glowing blades coming out of points that she could only guess were arms.
Feeling no fear, Lyra continued attacking the figures without noticing that amber-colored blade-shaped lights were appearing just a few inches from her hands She viciously attacked the.figures until they stopped moving.
The next moment, she came upon a grotesque form. She saw a creature that had no face and many glowing red eyes. Around its head were a number of smooth tentacles, and even more tentacles all over its body.
The fiendish creature glared at Lyra and reached for her with its many tentacles. Lyra tried to run as fast as she could from the beast, but it was gaining on her. The creature soon grabbed onto Lyra’s leg and wrapped itself around her body. Lyra struggled to the best of her ability to escape the creature’s grasp, but she could not break free.
A sharp pain on the back of her neck made itself known to her just before her world went from purple to white.
Lyra opened her eyes slowly as she came to realize that she had a headache. She groaned as she slowly sat up. “Did someone get the number of that carriage?” she moaned.
She soon regained enough mental clarity to look at her surroundings. She was in a small cylindrical space that was filled with a strange, blue-colored energy.
Looking beyond her container, she saw two creatures that were unlike anything that she could have imagined. These beings were tall, very thin, and grey-colored. She saw their digitigrade legs and saw that their feet ended in two clawed toes. Their hands had only three clawed fingers. She could only see the back of their heads but noticed that the hair, what she assumed was hair, on the back of their heads were braided in multiple strands that were held together by a gold-colored ring. The armor that they wore were also gold-colored and designed in such a strange way where large rings go from the back shoulders to the front shoulders in a wide loop. The armor was also adorned in beautiful, smooth, blue crystal. The wristbands that they wore were oddly large for the design and Lyra wondered if there was a reason for this.
“It would appear that you have finally regained mental clarity,” a voice spoke in her head.
Lyra looked around to find another of the beings she was looking at before. She noticed that the being had no face, only a pair of glowing, blue eyes.
“Can you understand me, little one?” the voice spoke into her mind once more.
Lyra realized that this being was not vocally speaking to her, but instead was directly communicating into her mind. The sensation was very foreign to her and left her feeling apprehensive about it. Lyra gathered up enough courage to respond with a nod.
The being noticed her apprehension as he scanned her surface thoughts. “I apologize that we cannot speak to one another using more conventional means. Our entire race and our civilization is based solely on psionic communication. Allow me to introduce myself. I am Executor Tassadar of the Templar caste and our race is known throughout the stars as the Protoss.”
Sensing only curiosity and no hostility within Lyra’s mind, Tassadar orders the guards to open Lyra’s cell. He continued, “I am sure that you have many questions, little one. I can sense a large number of them trying to escape through your thoughts. I will answer them to the best of my ability. Also, you are due for a judicial hearing from the Conclave to explain your presence and actions at the hidden Tal’darim facility a few hours ago. For now, can you tell me your name little one? Also, can you tell me what you are, as there is no mention of your kind in our records?”
At Tassadar’s words, many more questions appeared in Lyra’s mind; "Who is this ‘Conclave'?", "What’s a Talda-whatever?", "What are Protoss", and more importantly "What did I do a few hours ago?" Her memory was a complete blur from up until she woke up in that small cell. Lyra climbed down from the elevated cell and finally spoke. “M-My name is Lyra Heartstrings and I’m a unicorn from Planet Equus,” she said, remembering Discord’s words about being sent to a far away galaxy. “I-I’m sorry, but it seems my memory of those few hours is really hazy. Can you fill me in on what happened?”
Tassadar figured that this would be the case given what happened. “I cannot give you all of the details because we do not know what transpired before we arrived. What I do know is that a strange energy signature appeared where the Tal’darim facility was located. When we arrived we found much of the facility was being flooded with Terrazine gas. We put our best efforts to disperse the gas and by the time we made it into the main atrium, we found you moving about the area in an erratic manner while wielding something akin to psi blades without a focuser.
“After the renegade Tal’darim were killed by your hand, that we saw, you began to panic for some reason and behaved as if you were being strangled. In order to calm you, I had to get behind you and knock you out. We had you placed into a stasis cell until we were sure that the effects of the Terrazine had worn off.
“Alas, you may have done us a great service by exposing these renegade Protoss, but your presence and purpose on Aiur will be called into question. That is the purpose of the upcoming hearing. Speak only the truth and I will ensure that the Conclave is lenient.”
Lyra was more confused than before since many of the terms and names were completely unfamiliar to her. Thankfully, Tassadar was willing to educate her on the terms. She learned about psionic power which, based on his description, had some similarities to unicorn magic. She learned that Terrazine was a psionic enhancement substance that had the side effect of causing strong hallucinations and may lead to psychotic behavior. Based on Tassadar’s description of what happened, she may have inhaled a significant amount of the gas and went on a psychotic killing spree.
That was when it started to sink in: She had killed people. Not just one either, she had killed who knows how many Protoss in her drug-induced frenzy. Panic began to well up within her and that panic was starting to show to others around her. She had never taken a life before now and all of a sudden she kills who knows how many Protoss. Her mind was having difficulty coping with this sudden revelation.
Tassadar, noticing Lyra’s decaying mental state, enveloped her mind in soothing psionic waves to calm her before speaking. “Calm yourself Lyra Heartstrings, for you have done nothing wrong. I can tell from your behavior that you hail from a culture where the taking of another life is not observed often and yet you displayed impressive skill against our enemies. Few enough can wield psi blades without focusers. I can sense great potential in you, Lyra Heartstrings.”
Lyra blushed at Tassadar’s compliment. “That’s nice to hear, I guess,” she said “but I have no idea how I did that. My memory of what happened is too hazy for me to recall how I used that technique. And please, just call me Lyra.”
Tassadar hummed. “Perhaps some training might help you to remember. First though, I would like to confirm something.” Tassadar summoned a nearby Zealot and requested one of his large armbands around his wrist, calling it a focuser. Tassadar gave the focuser to Lyra. The device felt a little heavy to her. “Place that around your arm and channel your energies through it.”
Lyra slipped her arm into the device, which was a little big for her. Lighting up her horn, she channeled her magic into the focuser, hoping that magic was a good enough substitute for the psionic power that Tassadar mentioned. A few seconds later, the crystal in the focuser turned an amber color. An amber-colored concentration of her magic appeared from a hole in the device in the shape of a blade.
Tassadar’s skin changed to a sunny color. He indicated that Protoss express emotions through changes in skin color before he continued. “We may be able to use you after all. The fact that you can wield a psi blade shows that the khaydarin crystals imbedded in the focuser react to your energies. Only those that have at least some psionic potential can create such a reaction. Unusual still that your energies altered the color of the crystal.”
Noticing the time, Tassadar quickly led Lyra to the Judicator Assembly where she was to have her trial.
A semicircle of Protoss sat in chairs that were specifically reserved for them. Each member wore clothing that revealed their place as members of the Judicator Caste. Sitting among them was Judicator Aldaris, who held the will of the Conclave in the highest regard.
Aldaris waited patiently for Tassadar to bring the creature that had blatantly infiltrated their society for some unknown purpose. He questioned why this creature was even being allowed to be given a trial in the first place when she should have simply been executed on the spot. However, Tassadar had used his influence to allow her a hearing, much to his dismay.
The doors to the assembly opened, revealing Tassadar and the creature as they slowly, yet formally walked into the center of the room around where Aldaris and the other Judicators presided. The creature’s posture betrayed any attempts to conceal her anxiety.
Aldaris looked upon the duo condescendingly. “We will now begin the hearing.” He glanced at Lyra. “Please state your name for the record.”
Lyra nervously looked up at the Judicators. She took a deep breath to calm herself. It helped a little. “L-Lyra H-Heartstrings” she said, unable to hide her anxiety.
Aldaris stared for a moment before continuing. “Very well, Lyra Heartstrings. You stand before the Judicator Assembly accused of the crime of illegally entering our world and society. We demand to know of your intentions and how it was that you bypassed our planetary defenses without them alerting us to your presence.”
Lyra recalled the moments before she came to this world and events that day that would lead up to it. She told the Judicators that she was a simple Unicorn from Planet Equus and that her intent was to help her friend find a way to deal with an enemy from her world through seeking power somewhere in this galaxy.
Aldaris grew infuriated as he listened to this Unicorn’s potentially made up story. Before he snapped at her, however, Tassadar intervened. “Aldaris, it matters not where she came from. I have seen into her mind and found that she bears no malice. Whatever had brought her here had resulted in the revelation of a Tal’darim cell that bore malevolent intentions of spreading Terrazine amongst our people. The number of canisters alone could have afflicted half of our capitol city. I witnessed her potential firsthand, Aldaris. She can wield the psi blade like us. She may yet prove useful.”
Aldaris finally snapped. “HAVE YOU GONE MAD, TASSADAR!?” he shouted as his skin turned red,slamming his hands on the podium. “She is not even a Protoss. She bears no loyalty to our order. How can you so easily trust this creature when she may even be plotting our downfall as we speak?”
Tassadar took a moment to gather his thoughts. “I cannot say whether or not she may be trustworthy, however, some part of me tells me that I must help her in her quest to find her friend. For that, I am willing to take responsibility for her actions. I intend to mentor her in the ways of the templar so that she will be able to carry her weight among us.”
“You wish to impart our secrets to this creature?! This is unacceptable! We cannot allow our secrets to fall into the hands of one who is not part of the order.”
“I have no intention of imparting our secrets to her. In the least, she must know how to fight. We have no idea where she came from nor do we know if we can return her to her people. Until we know that, Lyra will make herself useful to us while we seek out her homeworld.”
Aldaris stared at Tassadar for a full minute before debating with the other Judicators about the matter. Ultimately, they decided to make Lyra Tassadar’s responsibility. Tassadar thanked them for their kind decision.
“There is one more matter” Aldaris started. “The sample of the other creature that was brought to us earlier fills us with concern as the reports show that these creatures, known as the Zerg, are seeking out the Terrans. It seems likely that these creatures will begin invading the Terran held worlds soon if they have not begun already. While you are training Lyra, you shall be given orders to accompany an expeditionary fleet to Terran space and purify any world that bears the taint of the Zerg.”
Tassadar began to argue that the action of purifying the Terrans goes against the core principles of Protoss society. “The Conclave has ordered this action and their will is absolute. Do not question the will of the Conclave, Tassadar” Aldaris retorted. Tassadar relented and left the assembly room with Lyra.
The duo walked toward the training ground with Tassadar deep in thought. Lyra, walking beside him, looked at her new mentor. “Are you alright?” she asked.
Tassadar looked down at Lyra. “It matters not how I feel about this. I cannot question the Conclave. Now come, I must introduce you to two of my former students.
The rest of the journey to the training ground was made in silence as Lyra wondered what his students were like.