//------------------------------// // Lotus // Story: My Little Warframe // by midashguy //------------------------------// Celestia and Luna stood on top of the older alicorn’s tower balcony, bathed in the moonlight. Their gaze was directed down on the beautiful and greenish Canterlot Gardens, where two bipedal creatures sat across one another, kneeling above the small patch of grass surrounded by a lake whose waters shone like silver. Silence reigned between the sisters, and the quiet air hung between the meditating warriors as well. “Sister,” Luna sheepishly broke the atmosphere, shifting her gaze from the creatures and towards Celestia, “do you really think that letting those… things roam through our kingdom is safe?” “Luna… I don’t know. I just don’t know. First, that Vor character appears, alongside these two who call themselves Oberon and Loki. I talked with them at the dungeons. Despite Loki’s… erratic behavior, I noticed several strange things about them: As I heard, it seems that they have no regrets in killing, yet they didn’t seem to want to harm any of us at all. Oberon is plagued by dark visions, saying that he is cursed to remember, while the ‘others’ simply forgot about whatever they had done. I tried to dig more through Loki, but he simply swatted the subject off.” Celestia spurted out all of the information she had got from the two, her gaze full of concern and worry going from the gleaming moon to the princess of the night. “When they fall asleep, I shall tap into their dreams. Perhaps their minds are not as strong while they slumber.” Luna offered, giving Celestia a weak smile and placing a reassuring hoof on her shoulder. “Ok, just… be careful Luna... “ This said, and Celestia trailed off from the balcony, using her magic to open the giant golder doors. Luna watched closely, sighed and slowly turned on her hooves. She continued to stalk the two aliens from above, waiting for them to fall asleep. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Meanwhile, at the Canterlot Gardens… “Tenno. It’s good to finally get into contact with you. What happened?” Lotus called out inside their minds, showing her worry carelessly on her voice. “Mass teleport Ma’am.” Oberon reported immediately, relieved to hear her voice again in such an unfamiliar world. “I should have expected this.” She responded calmly. “There’s been some...technicalities.” Oberon trailed off. “Well, turns out that we’re stuck in ponyland, and that some purple pony called Twilight Sparkle made my weapons turn into ash. Also, Vor is somewhere around here, and we fear that he may be able to call reinforcements. Might attract the Corpus and their profit-loving asses.” Loki intervened, giving Lotus the probable dangers imposed by Vor’s presence “This is...not entirely bad news. A new planet, and a sentient species. Though Vor still presents a threat. We must play our cards carefully.” She advised. “Reinforcements will arrive within a few days via Solar Rail. Can you hold out till then?” “Ummm, we aren't in any direct danger. Unless miss Twilight wants to turn me into a pile of ashes. Oh, Lotus?” Loki asked eagerly. “Tenno?” Lotus replied flatly. “Could you send me some weapons? Like, I got nothing, and I don’t wanna get a wooden spear from the ponies. Nor do I want a wooden stick.” He explained with a sheepish laugh. “I’ll be sending both of your collected armory to you along with two other tenno so you’ll have a full squad. We may be out of contact for a while, good hunting. Lotus out.” And with that, her voice left their minds. Silence came crashing back , only broken partially by the wind gently brushing the tree’s leaves. Loki instantly opened his eyes and nearly fell flat on his back, balancing himself on his toes before he could be submerged on the shallow lake. “Woah… Umm, Oberon, what now?” He asked, sitting on his knees. “We wait. Vor can’t go off world so he can’t cause too much trouble alone. I’m going get some much needed rest.” Oberon said, standing up and preparing to leave. “Uhhh… what about me?” Loki stood up and opened his arms wide in confusion. “It really does pain me to say this. Stay out of trouble.” Oberon commanded. Loki gave an unamused breath and turned on his heels as Oberon trailed off from the gardens. Even though Tenno were highly resistant to starvation, thirst and sleep, he couldn’t hide away from his need to take a nap. The only thing that he would need was to find an appropriate place to lay down. That tree is really appealing to me… come on, Loki. You’re safe. Finally deciding mentally if he should or should not lay down on a tree, Loki shrugged off his worries and climbed the tree without much effort, since it was naturally easy and short. Crouching to avoid hitting his head against the leaves and branches hanging above him. Now slowly dropping his back against the larger branch that he had seen earlier, the mischievous Tenno finally could rest for a bit. With quite a view to the stars, that is. What he didn’t know, was about Luna’s plan to get a better and broader knowledge on these new and abnormal aliens. Looking down at the nearly asleep Loki down on the gardens, Luna charged up her horn with dark blue energy, before dissipating in thin air, leaving only a few particles soaring through the air. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Luna entered the plain of existence from which dreams spawned in a flash of bright light. She intended to enter Loki’ mind first, as he seemed to have less willpower then… the other one. Still, she was timid about delving into someone mind without warning them, but it would destroy the purpose of spying on them. “Enough. Now or never.” Luna muttered before casting the spell. She was not prepared for what came to meet her. The second she could feel her hooves meeting with cold metal, what seemed to be numerous footsteps ragefully coming at her direction came to her earshot. Her eyes went wide as dinner plates, terrified as she realized that whatever was nearing her was coming in hot. Turning to her left side, Luna screamed loudly as she saw another bipedal creature, painted in bronze and particularly bulky, rushing at its top speed towards what seemed to be Loki’s figure standing carelessly with his arms crossed. Before it could collide with her or Loki, Luna instantly teleported to a random location, apparently landing on top of a pillar. Her heart beat rapidly as she saw multiple beings clearly dancing wildly around in circles vaguely resembling the Tenno. A shriek escaped her mouth as the princess of the night saw the bulky frame crash against Loki, but his figure simply disappeared in a flash of energy before replacing one of the box-headed dancers, who was sent flying through the room before exploding on the nearest shining wall. Confused, Luna looked around the ambient to find a safe place. Suddenly, she was assaulted by Loki who simply popped to her side on the pillar’s top. He chuckled loudly and placed his hands on his waist. “Loki!!! Get down here so that I can smash your little hammerhead to pieces!!!” An angry, deep and gruff voice came from down the hallway. It was coming from the same big armored thug she saw during her arrival. “Oh hell no, Rhino! I don’t want to be stuck in a wall again! Now, let me properly threaten our newest guest!” Loki cheerfully announced as he spun on his heels and faced the scared Luna. Out of thin air, he removed two small static dolls, one painted in white while the other was in red and black. “See? This is Frost and Ember! They’re such a loooovely couple! Too bad that they can’t get together or she’ll melt him down…” Her mouth agape from confusion, fear and weirdness didn’t move as Luna’s eyes followed the small dolls fly away from his hands and down into the hallway. “You know what? Imma slash through some Grineer.” “No, no! Stop it!” Luna yelled at the top of her lungs, but Loki didn’t hear her. He dropped on the halls beneath them wielding two sharp katana-styled swords leaving red trails behind him. Loki broke into a full blown sprint as numerous frames appeared in his way, resembling that Vor character but their armor seemed more basic and they appeared to be taller. Classical music played from nowhere as Loki literally began to slide on his feet with grace. Luna nearly closed her eyes just before his blade’s edge was about to hit one being’s stomach… and automatically made it slide together with him, singing along with the rithym. The princess of the night couldn’t help herself but to crazily stare as Loki seemed to bring the others together to his insane freak show. Shaking her head while muttering a thousand ‘no’s, Luna’s horn glowed brightly, bringing her back to reality in the blink of an eye. Her breathing was obviously off, sweat dripped from her forehead, along with her tired expression. She looked down at the still sleeping Loki laying on the same branch, sighing relieved since he was still asleep. Luna would need now try and see what reigned in Oberon’s subconscious. Perhaps Oberon might have a more sane mind… Without more than a second thought, she cast herself into Oberon’s sleeping mind. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A few hours later…. Celestia had gone to check on Luna, considering that she had not heard from her since she offered to tap into their guest’s dreams in search of answers. She was not worried, just wondering what was taking so long. She sucked in a heavy breath and put her hooves to walk, slowly and quietly passing through the dark halls of Canterlot Castle. It didn’t take long for her to arrive at her sister’s balcony. Using her magic to open the doors, the older alicorn found Luna shaking her whole body profusely while whispering to nothingness. “L-Luna? Are you alright?” Celestia asked, trying not to panic with the sight of her shocked sister. “I saw….” Luna muttered, he face twisting in pain. “I saw what he did. What they did. What they ALL did. Monsters. They are monsters built to fight monsters. Sister…we cannot trust them, everything they touch dies.” Luna pleaded. “What?” Celestia wondered, her face stamped with pure fear and confusion. “They have done horrible things they can’t remember. But one is cursed to. It doesn’t matter. They are monsters and we must force them to LEAVE!” Luna commanded. Celestia’s magenta gaze fell to the marble floor. Yes, it happened all so sudden, but considering what she heard from them, a new and horrible threat by the name of Vor was released and roaming through the peaceful soil of Equestria carelessly. It was quite clear that the Tenno were the only ones who knew and had the ability to stop said threat, and she wouldn’t force them to leave as her world was left to burn. She had a plan… “I’ll… I’ll make them leave by tomorrow’s morning. Equestria is greatly threatened by these creatures…” Her face remained blank, not meeting Luna’s stern eyes. Without any further words being said, Celestia spun in her hooves and left the balcony with a heavy air surrounding her. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- “... Please, I would like you to keep ultimate secrecy on the fact that you’ll be housing the Tenno inside your library. I’ll send both of them in a train to Ponyville this very moment, and they’ll arrive at your library soon. They will live with you until they manage to gather information on whenever this Vor character is. Just make sure to explain the situation to any witnesses that happen to see them: We don’t want major panic outbreaks there. Your former mentor, Princess Celestia.” Twilight finished reading the letter in her magical grasp and scratched her head in confusion. It was a great surprise for the newest princess in Equestria to receive such an important message in the morning. Her clock clearly read 6:02 AM, and waking up early was a problem for her. So… why did Celestia send her a message this early in a morning? “ Ten--Who? What is this now?” Spike, who was splayed at the wooden floor, asked lazily as he yawned deeply, stretching out his small limbs. “Didn’t you hear about these aliens that appeared out of nothing at Canterlot Castle yesterday morning?” Twilight asked to her number one assistant, but got only a snore as response: The little baby dragon had dozed back off again. Twilight grunted annoyedly as she enveloped Spike in her magenta magical aura and placed him on her back. “C’mon, Spike! We need to gather the girls and wait for these Tenno things!” A nearly lifeless groan was her answer. “Just a few more minutes….” Meanwhile, inside the next train to Ponyville... "This is the most ridiculous form of transport.....EVER." Oberon muttered, staring out the window at the nature-filled world moving by. "C'mon, Obbie: I thought you liked old stuff. Vintage...." Loki laughed, stretching his legs and placing his hands at the back of his neck.. "I like traditional....and preferably functional." Oberon responded. "Functional? C'mon! This thing is moving, isn't it? It's pretty functional for me." Loki threw back at him, looking out of the window as well. “Dude… I think we’re stuck at wonderland or something… Have you ever seen such an organized settlement or such green forests before? Earth doesn’t count, really.” His clawed finger went from the distant town of Ponyville to the Everfree Forest. “The idea of a perfect world is impossible. Society will always topple itself in the end. Paradise cannot exist, and I doubt it would be full of colorful magic creatures.” Oberon said with a grunt. “The universe is magic, Obbie. What, you thought that we were the only ones, alongside the Grineer and the Corpus? Magical talking ponies are the best things I’ve ever found in my… lifetime. Messing with Valkyr is one of them too, but that’s another story.” Loki spurted out as he placed his feet on the seat before him, sinking in his chair. “Perhaps. But an optimistic outlook doesn’t change the situation. I prefer to stay neutral if possible.” Loki kept quiet as he observed the world before his eyes. It was so… surreal. So perfect. Maybe even alluring… “Argh, how long till we arrive?” He asked, diverting his gaze from the scenery as the train reached a tunnel and the lights over their heads turned on. “A few hours perhaps. I did manage to make something to help pass the time.” Oberon offered. “Oh?” Loki breathed as he took a right position on the seat. “It took a bit of time last night, but I could hardly sleep. I carved some mahjong tiles.” Oberon stated calmly. “Uhhh…” “Just be quiet and play. Only one problem, we need four players.” Oberon muttered before taking out an old wooden box and taking out hand made pieces. The train suddenly came to a stop, showing the Ponyville Train Station right next to the two Tenno. Loki shot up from his chair and started jumping around the interior, making his way to the exit while humming a tune. “Perhaps another day.” Oberon sighed, placing the tiles back in the box. Loki left the train and stepped at the station with a cheerful atmosphere surrounding him. He glanced from side to side, searching for ‘Golden Oaks Library’, but he was only met with the wide-eyed stare of the ticket pony. Loki turned to the shaking ticket pony. He put one finger up to his helmet. “Shhh.” The stallion nodded, shocked and still shaking unconsciously. “Oberon, we better go before we turn this into a freak festival or something.” Loki called out, holding a hand out to keep the terrified stallion quiet. “It would be prefered to keep our existence here secret, seeing as we are not supposed to be here.” Oberon stated. “Why do you think I’m making this poor… horse quiet?” Loki said, a bit of pity on his voice as he lowered his hand motioned for the pony to keep doing whatever he was doing. “Please, let’s just go.” Oberon turned to the stallion. “Don’t say anything about us, or I will NOT be happy. Am I clear?” He warned. The stallion nodded furiously. “Let’s go, with calm, through the shadows.” Loki started moving towards a shadowy backyard of a house. Loki’s long range communicator clicked on, and through the static he could hear… Oberon. “Good. I’m half way there.” Oberon said, rather amused. “Wait, what?” Loki said, a bit impressed with the speed of his partner. “Come on. The library is at mere meters from the station.” Replied Oberon, waving at his not so far away friend. Loki grunted and put himself to a sprint, but not before thumbs-upping the unfortunate stallion at the ticket stall. The trajectory was simple, and he had only to vault over a few barrels and wooden boxes. He slid on his knees to arrive next to Oberon, emerging from the shadows of the backyards and shining in the sun’s light. “A tree-library.” Loki muttered, chuckling and rubbing his hands together. “Can this get any better?” “Very natural… I like it.” Oberon said plainly. “It needs a name made by me: treebrary. Do you like it?” Loki asked, placing his hands on his waist and facing Oberon. Oberon could only put a hand up to his face. “Oh for the love of all…” Loki exhaled in relief as he saw a small wooden door, darker than the whole structure, standing out at the bottom of the giant tree. He patten Oberon on the shoulder and ran to the door, rapping his knuckles cheerfully on it. No response came. He knocked once again. Nothing. He started doubting if there was truly someone inside that thing. “Perhaps it’s a decoy and this is a trap…..” Oberon worried slightly. “Stay on guard and trust nothing.” “I would rather do this.” Loki commented unamused and swung the doorknob open. The Tenno entered the sunlit wooden interior without a care, only to stop dead on his tracks. Six pair of eyes, all coming from equines standing crumpled on the corner of the room, eyed him widely. Loki scoured his eyes through the library and was taken aback by the cozyness and the size of the shelves. “Ummm… I’m Loki! Your hammerhead friend from outer space!” “Looookkkkkiiiiiiii!!!” Pinkie Pie shouted, tackling him in a hug.