The grand halls of Canterlot Castle are wide and lofty, stretching high into the air with ornate archways and artisanal stonework. It reminded Cyrell of the chapels and other ancient holy sites he had explored across Earth when he was still newly resurrected. Of course most of those old buildings had long been abandoned for centuries and were slowly being reclaimed by nature. Most now lay in slowly crumbling ruins, but their former majesty still could be seen in small parts of their design and construction.
“Sir Cyrell, are you alright? You’ve been very quiet” came a voice beside him, drawing Cyrell from his thoughts and back into the present. He glanced over to see Stalwart Defense, the Captain of the Royal Guard that Princess Celestia had introduced him to during their first few meetings. The stallion reminded him of members of the city’s own lightless military forces, although far less stressed and more social. His armor was made of brilliant gold like most of the guards with a rich purple cape flowing behind him. A plumed helmet sat atop his head, framing his face and allowing only his eyes and the front of his muzzle to be seen. The cape had the Equestrian Coat of Arms stitched into it as well, with some ancient Ponish words encompassing the top and bottom of the image.
Cyrell quickly composed himself before responding, “I was just thinking about the different options you had sent me earlier this week. I think I’ve made up my mind for the first excursion” he said simply. Stalwart immediately perked up, a wide grin spreading across his muzzle.
“Excellent! Then where are we going first, my friend?” Stalwart said, leaning toward the Titan as they continued to walk towards the War Room. The command staff had pooled together multiple files of dangerous zones that they had been meaning to send forces into to cull some of the more dangerous monstrosities, predominantly the more chaotic ones. With Cyrell already proving his combat prowess, and uncanny ability to cheat death, this had presented both sides with a rather golden opportunity. The Royal Guard had been more than eager to supply all their findings for the Titan swiftly, no doubt eager to have some of those dangerous missions taken care of for them.
“The Hayseed Swamps, specifically the eastern badlands I think” Cyrell said, “It sounds like a good place to start out with. Being relatively far from any other villages or towns.” They had by this point made it to the castle's War Room, Cyrell entering first with Stalwart quickly following. Compared to most of the other areas of the castle this room was by far the most Spartan that Cyrell had encountered. Most of its walls were covered in tall wooden bookshelves, lined with a variety of texts and scrolls for the commanders to utilize during their meetings. There were a few chairs and desks on the corners of the room as well, but little actual decoration was found besides a large banner displaying the Equestrian Coat of Arms much like Stalwarts cape. Stalwart had chosen to approach the large square table that took up the majority of the room's center. Charging his horn caused the once blank table to project a topographical view of Hayseed Swamp. Most of the area was swampland, but off to the East a series of large bubbling tar fields that were home to some of the more dangerous creatures in Equestria could be seen.
“That should certainly net you some of the Dark Magic you said you needed in spades. Have you decided on any follow ups?” Stalwart asked as he tapped a hoof to his chin, moving about tiny figures representing Royal Guard troop deployments and formations, and even one of the Titan himself with his magic as he spoke. “Because those monsters will need to be dealt with by certain specialists. Particularly the Pyromancer division of the War Mages, since fire and tar are not too fond of one another” he muttered. His mind was already churning out movements and strategies for aiding the alien in his quest.
Stalwart considered himself quite lucky to have the Titan here, with the rise of magical maniacs and ancient evil sorcerers it made it hard for the Guard and its multiple divisions to take the time to make sure the myriad other nasty beasts were contained and away from the public. While Equestria was not in any way threatened by the other nations, thanks to Princess Celestia’s expert political maneuvering and their neighbors lack of interest of trying to fight a Sun controlling demigod, they still had more than enough problems dealing with the large variety of magical creatures that had succumbed to Dark Magic’s influence or because of a certain mismatched troublemaker’s previous tantrums over a millennia ago. The Captain did his best to divert what troops and Specialists he could to ensure the citizens of Equestria were safe, but that was becoming harder and harder with how limited his resources were and how often the aguard were called to help protect or evacuate civilians threatened by the newest would be world conqueror.
It’s hard to justify maintaining a large, well trained and armed military force when you’ve had over a thousand years of peace and prosperity after all. It was even harder to convince the bit-pinching bureaucrats that places like Hayseed Swamp and the Ebony Briar Woods had to be patrolled and maintained by the best fighters and casters they had, otherwise there would be a lot more monsters roaming around. Even the Wonderbolts had fallen from their previous hardened military might thanks in part to relying on their air shows to provide some much needed funding. Their recent lackluster performance hadn’t helped either.
Now though, he had a hardened warrior that not only wielded weapons and magic he could only have ever had dreamed of, but that also could literally come back to life to fight again. It was as if Harmony itself had taken pity and sent him a boon for his faithful service to his home.
Stalwart glanced back at Cyrell, who was skimming through some of the other potential collection sites the Recon teams had put together for him. This alien may be strange and imposing, but if he could really remove the dark energies plaguing these parts of the world it would mean the Gued would be able to better allocate their resources and possibly create new land for Equestria to thrive on. That was enough to earn him Stalwarts direct attention and respect, along with the other members of Equestria’s military branches.
Cyrell shifted some more files in his hands, bringing up one he had been reading the previous day, and showed it to Stalwart as they continued walking. “This one here, the ‘Badlands’. It says this place has a lot of potential but from what books and maps I’ve gone through it’s mostly one large desert, correct?” The Titan asked.
Stalwart bobbed his head a bit, before responding. “For the most part, yes. And it is sparsely populated with regular creatures as a result. But there are some monsters out there that I think would provide quite the haul of magic and a challenge to boot” he answered. Cyrell’s head immediately snapped to Stalwart, curiosity clearly peaked at the word monsters.
Stalwart chuckled, “something of a monster Hunter I take it? That’s good, the guard has always existed to protect the civilians from such creatures and have been struggling with recent budget cuts and recruitment restrictions. It'd be nice to have some of their numbers brought down” he smiled at the Titan as the projection before then morphed into the Badlands. Stalwart picked up a wooden pointer with his magic and began pointing out areas to Cyrell.
“These areas are dead Zoë s, you won’t find anything of interest there so it’s best to avoid them.” The pointer flew from point to point before he twisted it in the air and pointed towards the lone Mountain that stood toward the southern portion of the projection. “This is former changeling territory, so it’s anypony’s guess what all may still be there. King Thorax has assured us that once his people have had time to restore their population that they will aid us in dismantling the former queens castle, so no need to go there. “ he said, before moving his pointer once more towards a large expanse of sand dunes that surrounded a valley of lava and grey tree like structures.
Stalwart glanced up to Cyrell, his smile slowly faded away and his voice grew more tense. “Now I know that you’ve proven yourself a capable warrior, but I’d be a failure of a Captain if I didn’t tell you that this area’s inhabitants are extremely deadly.” Cyrell could see traces of fear in the grizzled veterans eyes as he spoke.
Stalwart continued, “They may be feral creatures, but the dark forces that flow through them have transformed them into the most blood thirsty and ravenous monsters I have seen in my entire life. I’ve told you before about the Guards' history as defenders against both war bands and monsters alike, and I can guarantee you these things are on another level of evil”.
Stalwarts words hung in the air like a miasma, threatening to suffocate the two warriors. Cyrell recalled of the horrors he had faced and heard of, if they were any indication of the possibilities the he would need to take Stalwarts words to heart and be careful if he went hunting there.
“We can save it for last then, maybe try a few other areas before going there.” Cyrell said as he stared at the Badlands projection before him.
Stalwart simply nodded his head, before stepping beside the Guardian and picking up some more files in his magic.
The two began discussing and planning their options for each area, Stalwart providing context for the creatures and what Guard Elements would be best suited to aid him. Cyrell expanded on his arsenal and what abilities he was capable of. Together the two began to formulate a detailed plan of action, the first step of many yet to come.
Drifter watched as the last of the parts he had requested were unloaded into his dropship by a City frame, the slender robot promptly handing him a clipboard with the manifest for him to check over. While he was stuck getting the pieces for this grand machine his cohorts were out gathering the other crucial element, Darkness itself.
As he methodically checked each and every part on the manifest, his mind began to think of one thing. With a chuckle he muttered to himself, “Let’s hope they can get me more notes, I miss having my best Gambit player”.
He signed the manifest and closed the cargo bay, firing up the engines and heading for the Derelict. It was time to build a portal.