“‘Undone her death’?” Sunset blurted. “What does that even mean?”
“Yeah,” Cayde–6 said, “it’s not like she just pulled her knitting apart.”
Ikora narrowed her eyes at the pair. “Eris would say not to make light of this.”
Sunset bowed her head slightly, sufficiently reprimanded.
“Good thing she’s not here, then.”
Cayde, on the other hand…
Ikora rolled her eyes and turned back to Sunset. “We need to take care of this now. Guardian, since you’re the only one from the original team available, can you take point on this mission?”
Sunset nodded. “Who’s available?”
“I’m in!”
The group turned to stare at the titan–human male, shaggy black hair, and too much eye shadow–who stared back with a lopsided grin. “What am I signing up for?”
“Omnigul’s ‘undone her death,’” Cayde snarked, complete with air quotes.
“How the hell does that happen?” the titan blurted.
“I know, right?” Sunset answered.
“Hivebane,” Ikora said forcefully, “are you volunteering?”
“Yes ma’am please,” the titan said quickly. “Swordbearer’s on an extended patrol through Venus and I’m bored out of my skull.”
“Feeling a little pent-up, Guardian?” Cayde said.
The titan smirked at Cayde. “Sir, are you asking me to elaborate on how well one of your hunters is treating me?”
Ikora cleared her throat.
Cayde and the titan swallowed their next quips and shuffled awkwardly.
“So…” the titan said after a beat, “my usual partner’s not here, so if you know of a third?”
Sunset nodded. “I know a girl.”
“Hivebane?” Rainbow yelled when they landed in the cosmodrome. “You didn’t say it was Hivebane!”
“Is that a good thing?” the titan said, scratching the back of his neck.
“Are you kidding? You’re a legend, man! The Black Garden, the Dreadnaught, Crota!”
“Yeah, and you’re freaking Rainbow Dash? SRL Inaugural Grand Champion?”
“And don’t you forget it,” Rainbow said with a dramatic pose.
“And if you two are done?”
They turned to look at Sunset.
“Slayer of Omnigul…” Hivebane began.
“Bane of the Splicers…” Rainbow finished.
Sunset rolled her eyes.
“So,” Sunset yelled over the din of the fight with the Splicers, “how do you choose a name like ‘Hivebane’?”
“Well,” Hivebane said as he threw a new clip in his pulse rifle, “when everyone starts calling you something you tend to answer to it. I mean, I’m fine just going by ‘that titan over there,’ but apparently that wasn’t good enough for everyone else.” He glanced over to her as he reloaded. “What about you, ‘Sunset Shimmer’?”
Sunset blanched. She wracked her brain trying to come up with an answer that wouldn’t give herself–and Rainbow!–away.
“Eyes up, Sunset!” Ray yelled in her head.
Sunset blinked, aimed, and shot two dregs that had gotten a little too close to their position.
“It just…” Two bullets, two shanks. “Just came to me, you know?”
There was silence between the three guardians, peppered by the sound of various rifles finding their targets.
“His ghost says he’s nodding sagely,” Ray said. “Apparently he forgot you couldn’t see him,” he added.
Sunset shook her head slightly as she and Rainbow took out the last captain. “Can we get any data from that system?” she said, motioning at the console at one end of the room.
“On it!” Rainbow yelled as she ran over, her ghost, Tank, already out.
The titan surveyed the room. “Ghost says there’s Hive on the way.”
Sunset nodded. “What’s the word, Rainbow?”
“Tank, do you hear that interference?” Rainbow said with a tap on her helmet.
Tank materialized, and a burst of static immediately flooded the channel. Sunset and the titan cringed for a second before their ghosts cut the transmission.
“What was that for?” Sunset yelled.
“You need to see this.”
Sunset turned around to look. Rainbow pointed at the screen showing a rough outline of Twilight Sparkle’s cutie mark.
Sunset forced down the swell of… emotions? Nostalgia? Longing? “How long do you need?” she said.
Rainbow turned to her ghost. “Tank says five minutes. Maybe seven.”
Sunset turned to the titan. “Can we hold the line for that long?”
“It’s sweaty,” he said. He turned to Rainbow. “I’m guessing this is not strictly Vanguard business, judging by how we’re offline?”
Sunset shook her head. “We’re not gonna drag you into this. Rainbow, we can come back later.”
“Into the middle of Splicer territory?” Rainbow nearly yelled. “They might wipe the system before then!”
“What are you looking for?” the titan butted in.
Sunset and Rainbow both came up short. The ghosts twitched nervously.
A Hive knight roared from the next room over.
“We’re looking for one of our friends,” Rainbow said quickly. “I’ve been looking for her for… since I…”
“Since you remembered her?” the titan said evenly.
“Yeah,” Rainbow said.
The titan nodded. “Fireteam leader, I will respect your decision.”
“You don’t have to,” Sunset said.
The titan shrugged. “If you can meet the needs of the many and the needs of the few, why not both?”
The shriek of a pack of Hive thrall put an end to the discussion.
“Tank, start the download!” Rainbow yelled as the three guardians brandished their guns.
“Rainbow’s ghost is exposed,” Sunset said. “Watch for snipers.”
“I’ll take close,” the titan said.
“I’ll watch the explodies,” Rainbow said.
Sunset nodded. “Eyes up.”
The three guardians rested at the vista overlooking the Last Array. Rainbow occupied herself picking bits of Hive out of her boots.
The titan leaned with his back against the railing. “How much do you remember?”
Sunset looked up from double-checking her weapons. “A name, sensations…” She glanced at Rainbow. “Friends.”
The titan nodded. “I don’t remember anything. At all.”
Sunset frowned. “I’m sorry.”
He waved her off. “Don’t be. I don’t know anything about my past life, and at this point I’m too afraid to find out.” He shrugged. “I like who I am now; what good is digging up the past going to do.”
Sunset nodded. “That’s fair,” she said. “I just didn’t like who I am.” She blinked. “Was. Before I…”
The titan nodded with a smile. “I get it,” he said. “You didn’t like who you were, so you went digging?” At Sunset’s nod, he continued. “So was it worth it?”
Sunset looked over and accidentally made eye contact with Rainbow, who had apparently taken a sudden interest in their conversation. She touched the Rarity-made warlock bond on her arm.
“Yeah,” she said quietly, “totally worth it.”
Omnigul’s bunker wasn’t as bad as Sunset remembered. It was worse.
The usual hiding spot was overrun with SIVA blooms, forcing the guardians out into a more open field of battle. They did their best to stay behind cover and make shallow progress wearing down Omnigul, but whenever they felt momentum swinging their way, she would disappear and summon another sea of minions.
“How’s everyone’s super charge?” Sunset yelled into the comms.
“I’m at least two minutes away from an Arc Blade,” Rainbow answered, thinning out some of the Acolytes in the back
“I’m halfway to a bubble,” the titan added. “I counted three sword knights in this wave; do we have eyes on them?”
Sunset fired twice. “There’s one down,” Sunset said. “I see one more. Rainbow?”
“Which one do you see?”
“Green chitin, south wall?”
“Shard,” Rainbow swore. “Anyone got eyes on number three?”
“Nothing here,” the titan said.
A mental nudge from Ray had Sunset looking to the right just in time to see the third knight bring its sword down, shattering her shield.
“It’s here!” she yelled as she dove away and fired blindly at it. It staggered back long enough for Sunset to stick a grenade in its face, and with a howl and a curtain of green flame, it went down.
“Well,” Sunset breathed, “that was—“
A well-placed shot from an Acolyte’s shredder finished her off.
The bond between a guardian and her ghost is strange, often mystical. Some would even call it ‘magical.’
Sunset, in her current state, wouldn’t call it much of anything. She was vaguely aware of what was around her, but only through the thoughts and sensations she was able to pick up from Ray. She had no brain, no real thoughts to speak of; just a spirit nestled in Ray’s Light.
Light enough to keep her alive, but not enough to revive her. Omnigul’s presence filled the bunker in a very real sense, muting the Light from the Traveler. If one of her teammates could get to her, loan her some Light, she could return.
Except there was another way! Ray felt the determination from his guardian, along with a questioning feeling.
“Not yet,” Ray said. “There’s still a chance.”
Rainbow took out Sunset’s killer with a single shot. “Ponyfeathers,” she swore. “Tank, can we get her up?”
“If we can get to her, yes,” Tank answered.
Rainbow looked back at Sunset’s body. She could just make out Ray next to it, staying out of range of the Hive. She looked over to the titan. “Can you get her?”
“Maybe?” Another burst of gunfire, punctuated by some heavy blasts, interrupted him. “Maybe not.” He chatted with his ghost. “One minute on the bubble.”
An unearthly howl reverberated through the bunker. Tank glanced above their cover for half a second, then screeched, “Thrall!”
The titan brandished a shotgun. “Run!” he yelled. “We’ll come back for her!”
Mentally screaming at herself that she shouldn’t leave her friend, Rainbow switched to her sidearm and dove out of her hiding spot just as the lead thrall lunged toward her.
A lance of plasma cut off one of their escape routes. “Ogres!” Rainbow yelled. She glanced over her shoulder. “Two of them.”
“I’ve got rockets,” the titan answered as he ducked into a corner. “Can you cover me?”
Rainbow ran to him and spun around to face three thrall. Instinctively, she stabbed one in the face. “Not for long!” she yelled. She dispatched one with her sidearm, but when the magazine clicked empty, she hit the last with her knife.
“Duck!”
Rainbow dropped into a crouch. She focused on reloading her sidearm while she felt the heat of a rocket pass over her.
“That’s the ogres!” the titan yelled. “Now we just–”
Omnigul’s piercing scream reverberated through the bunker.
Rainbow grimaced. “Now we just die.”
Ray took in the scene. The titan and Rainbow were still pinned down by thrall and acolytes. The ogres and knights were taken care of, but now Omnigul herself had re-entered the fray.
“Now,” he whispered.
“Can we make it back to her?” the titan said, trying to peek around the corner.
Rainbow bit her lip. “I might be able to go invisible, sneak around behind them.”
The titan nodded. “I’ll keep their focus over h—“
A blaze of solar light lit up the other side of the bunker.
Rainbow grinned. “Never mind; she’s up!” With a toss of her grenade, she vaulted towards the end of the catwalk. Most of the Hive had turned to the newly reborn guardian, making them easy picking for Rainbow and the titan.
The three met at the end of the catwalk. “The hell happened to you?” the titan yelled as they regrouped.
Sunset hoofed over her rocket launcher to Rainbow. “Long story, I’m a pony, don’t tell Ikora. Now hurry up and shoot her before—“
Omnigul cast a spell at the ground beneath her, calling up more thrall onto the catwalk to defend her.
“Focus fire on her,” Sunset yelled. “I’ll take care of the thrall.” As the first wave approached, Sunset turned on her forehooves and delivered a solid solar-infused buck to the first thrall. It exploded and took out the next two behind it. Sunset turned around and stared down the next three a few steps behind it. The first met a hoof to the face. The second met a second hoof, augmented with the pulse of raw light characteristic of warlocks. With a war cry, Sunset lowered her head and charged the last one, impaling it on her horn.
Any further research on the interactions between Equestrian unicorns and Hive thrall would have to wait, though. As Sunset finished off the last thrall, Rainbow and the titan finished off Omnigul.
“Well, that’s it for her,” Rainbow said with a grin as the Hive witch dissolved into green flame and ash.
Neither of her teammates said anything.
Rainbow turned to the titan. “You okay, big guy?”
“Yeah,” the titan said distantly. “Just… pony?”
Rainbow sighed. “Hey, Sunset, how do you want to explain this?”
Sunset didn’t respond.
“Sunset?” Rainbow turned to her. Sunset was standing where she had impaled the thrall, her tail twitching in agitation and her mane slightly frayed.
“Hey, Sunset, are you okay?” Rainbow said, running up to her. Sunset wasn’t moving except for her mouth.
Rainbow pulled off her helmet.
“Ew. Ew. Ew. Ew. Ew. Ew. Ew.” Sunset repeated under her breath.
Rainbow looked at Sunset’s horn. There was some black and green ichor running down the side, the last remnant of the thrall she had stabbed.
Rainbow wiped some off with her finger. “Yeah, you got a little something on you,” she said with a grin.
Sunset shoved her hoof into Rainbow’s chest. “Shut up and give me my rocket launcher so I can respawn.”
It was early in the night when the fire team returned to the tower. Ikora and Cayde had left for the evening, leaving Zavala to maintain his watch over the communications.
“Guardians,” he said in his deep baritone. “I take it your mission was successful?”
“Killed her dead, sir,” the titan said. “Again.”
“She really should have gotten the picture by now,” Rainbow added.
Sunset rolled her eyes with a smirk. “Yes, sir; mission accomplished.”
Zavala smiled. “I’m glad to hear it. Anything to report?”
The guardians looked among themselves. “There was SIVA in the bunker,” Rainbow said. “Lots of it. It might explain how Omnigul was able to return.”
“Indeed,” Zavala said. “It could be significant. Or it could be a coincidence.” He tapped on his tablet. “I’ll be sure Ikora and Lord Saladin are informed.” He nodded to them in dismissal. “Thank you again, guardians.”
Rainbow and Sunset nodded and turned to leave, but the titan stayed put. “Sir?” he said, a little hesitant.
Zavala cocked his head. “What is it, Hivebane?”
The titan bit his lip. “Sir, I understand that Guardian Sunset here is… not doing well?”
Sunset and Rainbow stiffened. Zavala frowned. “Did something happen?”
The titan shook his head quickly. “No, sir! I wanted to make sure you knew she was excellent on the strike.” He looked at her with a grin and continued. “She showed excellent judgement as fireteam leader, and she demonstrated mastery of her light in order to turn the tide of battle.” He fumbled visibly before finally saying, “Ten out of ten, would fight with again.”
“Ten out of ten?” Zavala said, the barest hint of a grin on his face. “What would Swordbearer say to that?”
“Oh, she’s a thirteen out of ten. No question.”
Zavala chuckled. “Thank you for your report, guardian. If you put that in your report, I’ll make sure Ikora sees it.”
The titan grinned broadly. “Thank you, sir.”
Zavala turned back to his tablet. “I suggest you get home, guardian; Swordbearer checked in this afternoon.”
With a gasp, the titan turned and strode purposefully out of the room, Rainbow and Sunset matching pace with him.
As they reached the concourse, the titan turned to them. “So,” he said, “is there somewhere we can talk?”
Apparently the ramen shop also did takeout. Sunset, Rainbow, and the titan leaned against the outside wall, waiting for their orders.
“So,” Sunset said, “What do you want to know?”
The titan blinked for a moment. “How much do you really remember?”
“Everything.”
That took him aback. “Everything?”
Sunset nodded. “I was part of a group of… explorers that made contact with Earth during the Golden Age.”
“Really?” The titan’s ghost materialized and hovered in front of Sunset, scanning her reflexively. “Where were you from?”
“Equestria,” Rainbow said. “We were from Equestria.”
The titan glanced between them. “How many of you are there?”
Rainbow and Sunset both kept silent.
The titan sighed. “Look, I’m not going to turn you guys in or anything. I thought I made that clear with my little speech to Zavala.”
“Yeah, thanks for that,” Sunset said, a genuine smile on her face. “Hopefully it’ll get me some more time to figure out what my story for Ikora is gonna be.”
The titan’s face fell. “Why not just tell the Vanguard?”
Rainbow scoffed. “You’re kidding, right?”
“Not really, no.” He sighed. “I know they’re not perfect, but they’re not unreasonable.”
Sunset held out a hand to calm Rainbow. “You’ve just discovered something new and unknown,” she said to the titan. “Call it an Awoken artifact or something. What do you think Ikora would do with it?”
The titan considered the question. “Probably study it. Maybe take it back to the tower or wherever her secret base is.”
Sunset nodded. “And Zavala?”
“Probably destroy it, honestly. That what we usually end up doing.”
“Cayde?”
The titan laughed. “No freaking clue. Probably treat it like some cool new toy until it proved to be too dangerous, then destroy it.”
Sunset nodded. “And that’s why we can’t tell them. Not yet, at least.”
Rainbow sighed. “I want to tell Cayde. It’s tearing me up that I can’t. But not until we can find Twilight.”
“Twili—“ He blanched. “Wait, is that what you were looking in the computer for?”
Rainbow nodded. “I keep seeing bits of data on her; I think the Fallen know more about her.”
“And if you tell the Vanguard now, they might cut off the trail before you find her,“ the titan finished with a sigh. ”Yeah, I don’t like this either."
He shrugged and pepped himself up. “Well, if you or any of your other pony friends need anything, just ask me or Swordbearer.” He glanced at Rainbow to check for a reaction, and to his surprise she nodded.
“I get it,” she said. “Plus you seem like the type that’s awful at keeping secrets.”
The titan scratched the back of his head awkwardly. “From her? Yeah. But she knows a thing or two about hard situations. As long as you’re not endangering the people or draining the Light from other guardians, you’ll get no grief from us.”
“Ew, no,” Sunset spat.
“Yeah, didn’t think so.”
Sunset held her hand out. “Friends?”
The titan shook her hand firmly. “Hell yeah.”