The sun peeked its way over the horizon as dawn cracked the sky. The heat rushed to fill the cold void of sand and dust, as the wind picked up to carry the heat across the dunes. The sand gathered in clumps and spiraled upward with the current.
“Did you sleep at all?” discord asked as he popped his head into the font.
“Ya, for like an hour or two.” Luna yawned as her dreary eyes shot focus to the sand-wind in front of her. The line of sight was compromised as the sand made a sharp veil. The wagon had windows, and this was fortunate for the princess. “Seems like you all had a great slumber.”
Discord stretched out as he let out a loud yawn. “I really needed that nap. I haven’t had a break in days now.”
“I know the feeling,” Luna moaned.
Where are we at anyways?” Discord asked as he put his face against the window. The veil of sand made it nearly impossible to see anything in their path.
“I honestly have no idea,” Luna admitted.
“What?” Discord jumped. “You got us lost!?”
“No, she did exactly what I told her to do.” Arch walked up to the front and stared out the window. “We’re actually right on our path, and we’re making better time than I thought.”
“But I can’t even see anything.” Discord snapped his fingers and made an umbrella appear. He stuck his head outside as the umbrella failed to do its job. He looked around with binoculars but to no avail. “How in Equestria do you know we’re on track?” Discord popped his head back into the wagon as he brought a rain of sand with him.
“Come on!” Luna jumped as sand flew everywhere.
“Because bud,” Arch said as gave Discord a pat on the back. “I see with more than just my eyes.” Discord raised a brow as Arch gave him a wink.
“Where are we going exactly?” Luna asked.
“To our homeland. It’s a barren land that’s mostly deprived of any life.” Arch continued to stare out of the window. The sand raced across the land and still impaled their visibility. “We still have a bit of way to go before we get there.”
“Seriously,” Discord groaned.
“Yes,’ Arch nodded. “So you should get comfortable. It’ll be a while.”
The group continued on their journey for many more hours. The desert gave no mercy as the sand continued to rain down on them. Luna drove as straight as she could but she really was driving blind due to the sand. Arch continued to insist that they were going in the right direction. Shira agreed that he knew what he was talking about and tried her best to comfort everyone who wasn’t happy to be driving blindly through a sand storm.
Small pieces of metal flew across the desert in waves. Black creatures came out from underneath the sand screeching on the way out. Their skin sizzled as the sun bombarded them with rays. The squad was held up behind large pillars and rocks. Their weapons were hot as they shot one after another.
The gray cat unloaded every piece of metal his gun could shoot. His gun clicked as it ran out of ammo. He took the clip out and quickly threw it aside. He took one out of his belt and it took the old one's place. He aimed at the group of monsters that charged at them.
The monsters laid dead on the ground. Their blood sizzled away with the sun. The squad checked each individual corpse to make sure they were all dead. The gray cat walked up to one of them and turned it over. Its black rotting teeth hung out of its mouth.
It truly was a vile beast. It took quite a bit to put them down but they had trained to the point that they could easily take one on. Their true power lived in the sheer number of them. They were pack hunters and never strayed too far from their groups. Where there was one you would always find more. Their claws were long and they had a large spike that came out of the knuckles. The cat's armor could off most of their attacks but repeated blows from them would cause the armor to break.
They had taken out dozens of them back in the facility, but to see them willing go out into broad daylight was definitely unusual. The sunlight didn't kill them but it definitely hurt them. The darkness was their domain and they stuck to it. While they could survive the light, it severely weakened their armor. In the dark, only armor-piercing weapons could effectively take them down.
The gray cat opened his panel and looked up at the sun. Daylight wouldn't last forever and that meant their job would be of much greater difficulty. He motioned to them to continue on. He walked towards his destination and the other instinctively followed.
“How much longer must we wait?” A blue armored cat walked up to the gray cat.
“Arch was sent to retrieve it,” the grey cat responded.
“That was several days ago. He hasn’t responded since he left.”
The grey cat looked down at the panel on his wrist and began to fiddle with it. “He’s one of the best guardians among us, but the land he went to was quite far. Not to mention he had several fallen trailing behind him.” The gray cat closed his panel and began to walk. “We must give him the time he needs.”
“You really have faith in him.” The blue cat to the clip out of his metal weapon and snapped it back into its holder.
“I do.”The grey cat sighed. “Without that sword, the Fallen will rise again.”
“This is my home,” Arch proclaimed as the sand finally cleared. “Isn’t it a beauty?” He let out a little sarcastic laugh.
“I’ve seen outhouses with better luxury than this.” Spike stared out into the desolate desert. The land was cracked and dried by the scolding sun
“Spike, don’t be rude,” Capper hissed.
“Sorry.”
“No, don’t be,” Arch assured. “Our land has been run by generations of war.”
“With who,” Luna asked.
“Where do we start?” Shira chuckled. “The guardians have fought many foes over many lifetimes.”
The land could be described as a still dark drown desert. The cold ominous wind swept across the land and blew dead life across the ground. The sun was hidden behind a thick veil of smoke that layered the atmosphere.
“Honestly I thought it would more of a paradise than this.” Spike used his claws to try and clear up the dust on the window.
“Well, the thing is, this isn’t a paradise, it’s war.” Arch opened the door and jumped out onto the cold dead sand. “Come on now, we don’t have time to lose.
Shira jumped out after him as the rest slowly followed. Discord preferred to float as the sand was ruff and stuck to their fur. Luna tried to fly but was stopped by the sand that rushed to stab her eyes. Instead, she used her wind as a shield. Spike used Big Mac’s large size in order to fight mother nature’s wrath. Shira and Arch seemed not to be bothered by the harsh conditions. They didn’t even cover their eyes and simply walked through the running stream of tinny needles. Capper used his infamous red coat as a shield.
They made their way through the storm as Arch led them. Their journey found them at a small metal shack that had no windows. Arch walked up to the door and put his paw on it. The rest watched as a golden light emerged from his paw. The light was stained to the wallas it enveloped it. The wall slowly slid to the side as the light dissipated from it. Arch turned to the group and signaled then to follow.
The shake was full of old rusted metal parts. Many wooden shelves stood rotting away with the sand. The little light from the outside revealed old rusted armor that layered the floor. Arch used his paw to illuminate the room.
“What is all this stuff,” Discord asked as he picked up a rusted helmet.
“There’s a few relics here and there, but mostly junk.” Arch kneeled down at a table and took something off of it. “Ah, there you are.”
“What is it?” Luna asked.
“It’s a key for where we must go next.” Arch froze as he looked up at the ceiling.
“And wh…”
“Shhhh,” Arch hissed as he raised one claw. He stood in place as his eyes continued to track something on the ceiling.
Luna stepped forward and tried to speak. She was immediately cut off by a loud thud that crashed on the room. Luna jumped as she couched down. “What was that?” She whispered. Arch only continued to stand and listen as his paw slowly reached for is back.
The rest of the group copied Luna’s stance and Spike even laid down on the ground. The roof shook as the sound of heavy footsteps slowly past from one end to the other. Dust fell from the ceiling as the shelves shook from side to side.
“Arch?” Capper whispered.
Arch pulled his sword out as he lifted his paw. “RUN!”
"Shut your mouth," whispered the large gray cat. "These things hunt by sound. We don't want to take them head-on; it's best to let them sleep."
The cat marched forward with several cats following him. They all had shiny silver armor; The tint of the darkness was the only thing that concealed them. They walked differently and strategically had not made a sound. The sound of water droplets and steady breath fill the atmosphere.
Their eyes could expertly pierce the veil of Darkness allowing them to see their enemy. Little capsules made of Flesh hung from the ceiling with blood dripping from them. They silently crept past them as not to disturb them.
They carried small metal weapons. The weapons are far more advanced than any known by most creatures. They shot small pieces of metal that could Pierce even the strongest of enemies. The only flaw was the limited amounts of ammunition they could carry.
Their armor was loaded with clips from head to toe. Their weapons had little lasers that told them where they were aiming. They aimed away from the capsules and forwards the ground. They made no sound and used hand signals to communicate with one another.
They came to a large door made completely out of metal. The door had little lights on it that shined red. Two of the cats walked forward a lead against the door. They held their breath so as not to make a sound. They listened carefully for any sounds that weren't naturally supposed to be there. They both could hear the sound of wheezing. Something that had a tough breath was by the door.
They looked back at the team and nodded their heads. The team walked forward and one of them slowly opened the door. The room was mostly dark; only illuminated by pulsing lights. The lights belonged to creatures that were curled up into a ball. Their skin was transparent making them nearly invisible to the naked eye. The cats focused on their dim glowing hearts that revealed their location.
One of the cats walked forward; trailing deeper into the room. He surveyed their surroundings keeping track of every creature he could see. He turned back towards the group and held up his arm. He moved it in special rhythms that any normal creature would have found nonsensical. The other cats nodded in understanding and continued to silently march forward. The large gray cat brought out a small golden blade. He shuffled his way up to one of the dormant creatures and stood beside it.
He raised the knife, ready to strike.