High above the planet known as 'Equia' by the Grineer, a large platoon of lancers boarded their dropships and prepared to attack the planet below.
General Sargus Ruk smiled a cruel smile as he watched lancers, scorpions, bombards, hellions, and heavy gunners all board transport ships and launch from the balor famorian's hangar bays.
"Tenno, gar aagre reaar," He said quietly, "Tuh grineer rrhus kruhig garr kkkrggse tk us, na glkry rrhuss fkr Grineer!"
As he moved from the observation overlook, a lancer behind him was silently frozen, and crumbled.
'not if I can help it' an icy figure thought. His helmet had a golden cage on its top, and his long white robe flapped silently as he ran.
He hid behind a stack of containers and waited until the troop transport in front of him was starting to close it's hatch, before diving into it.
The Grineer inside didn't even have a chance to so much as breath before they were all encased in frozen prisons, and shattered like glass.
The figure took the controls of the transport and guided it out into space, following the rest of the armada to the planet below.
***
*Shift POV*
I wasn't sure if I had come to the right place. The town was pretty and peaceful, but far from what I was expecting from what the Lotus had told us about the resources here.
"Looks can be misguiding" I reminded myself quietly.
After the bloodbath that had taken place on the open plain, I had walked through the immense forest until I reached this place. The buildings were colorful and the only thing that really looked out of place was the tree-castle on the edge of the town.
I entered town and stuck to alleyways and rooftops. I only went in the open when I was 100% sure no one was looking or when someone started a commotion when they spotted me.
'Note to self: never wear gold when trying to be stealthy' I thought as I leaped to another rooftop.
Unfortunately I misjudged the distance and ended up slipping off the edge, falling into an alleyway and landing on some precariously stacked crates with a loud crash.
When I was able to see again, i was relived to see the crowd I'd attracted wasn't very big. However I had still attracted attention, which I didn't want.
A creature started towards me, but he backed off the second I drew my dakra, the gold blade shimmering even in the shadows of the alley.
"You never saw me, got it?" I growled at the crowd before running up the side of the alleyway and back-flipping onto a rooftop. I heard a gasp of astonishment from below, the creatures impressed with my simple feat.
I kept running, silently progressing from rooftop to rooftop.
Once I found a place where I was sure I was safe and unseen, I took in my surroundings. The town wasn't that big, I could probably cross it on foot in a matter of minutes without breaking a sweat. In the distance I could see something resembling a pre-war earth farm, with row upon row of trees growing.
My attention was caught suddenly by a large group of creatures gathered around what appeared to be the center of town.
'something is going on over there, the question is; what?' I asked myself before leaping to another rooftop and making my way towards the gathering.
When I was still a fair distance away, I heard something that sent a shiver through my body.
"RRRRAHHHHHHHH"
I knew that sound, more importantly I knew who made it and why.
"Huntress" I breathed before breaking into a all-out sprint, not caring about being unseen anymore.
As I got closer I heard the unmistakable sound of my friend's energy claws scything through the air.
"let me through!" I yelled as I pushed my way through the crowd of creatures to the center.
What I found however was surprising to say the least.
There was Huntress, her claws fully extended, slashing through purple translucent training dummies.
The audience watched with awe and wonder at her display, and I had to admit she pulled off some pretty badass moves with those claws of hers.
She brought her claws up to the head of the last dummy, grabbed it by the sides of it's head, and twisted it clean off.
The audience was silent, then a wave of stomping spread throughout the crowd, as they applauded her.
When the noise had died down, I cleared my throat loudly. Huntress whirled around to face me.
"Shift," she cried out happily, rushing at me and hugging me tightly, "I thought you were gone forever"
"You kidding, let's remember who helped you get your dread bow in the first place" I joked.
"Um, excuse me Huntress, but is this your friend you told me about earlier?" A purple creature asked, walking up to Huntress's side.
Huntress looked from me to the creature and back to me again.
"Follow us, I'll explain when we get to the castle" she said before walking off towards the huge structure in the distance.
I followed close behind looking around as I did, taking in all the details I could of the colorful town.
***
*Cynder POV*
Fluttershy explained everything as we walked towards the huge structure that she called a castle.
"After we restored the power back to the ponies of Equestria that Tirek had stolen, the box flew to here and the castle sprouted from it" She finished as we approached the massive doors.
From inside I heard the sounds of conversation from the room in front of us. I braced myself for more awkward moments and odd stares from more ponies, but when the grand doors opened, I immediately recognized two of the "faces" in the room.
"Shift, Huntress!" I called to the two tenno in the middle of the room. They turned and an audible gasp was heard as they saw me.
"Cynder," they cried rushing over to embrace me, "we thought we lost you!"
"I thought I lost you," I said back, "oh, thank the Lotus you're okay!"
After a few minutes of embracing and story sharing we turned to face our pony company.
"Um, you three are friends?" A purple pony asked.
I looked at Shift and Huntress.
"I've already explained to Fluttershy," I said, "one of you can explain it just as well as I can"
I heard them groan before Huntress said she'd explain.
"You all might want to sit down," she advised, "the tale of our kind is not one that is short, but I'll try my best"
Once everyone was seated she continued.
"We are the Tenno. Warriors of blade and gun: masters of the warframe armor. We are the survivors of the old war left to drift among its ruins. Until we were needed once more..."
I knew the tale practically by heart, having heard it so many times being told to the new recruits in the dojo. Huntress continued to tell the ponies of the Grineer threat in the Origin System and how Tenno across the system, who had been left in cryostasis, were now being called into action by The Lotus.
"So, this 'Lotus'," the pony who Shift told me was named 'Twilight' interrupted, "is she kind of like your princess?"
To this the three of us laughed, making Twilight blush deeply, before Shift answered her.
"No not at all," The prime said, still chuckling, "if anything The Lotus is our guide, guardian, and mentor"
"She's the one who sends us on missions to stop the Grineer and Corpus factions all over the system," I continued, "she isn't a ruler, she's a ... motherly figure to all Tenno"
The last part I was unsure of, but it seemed correct to me. Huntress nodded in agreement and continued to tell the tale.
A few minutes later she had come to our arrival on this world, and the whole Balor Famorian and archwing conflict.
"These Grineer sound just awful," the pony named 'Rarity' commented, "conquering planets and destroying whatever gets in their way"
"That's true but I think the Corpus sound even worse," Rainbow Dash said, "especially after what they did to huntress here!"
Huntress flinched, but otherwise remained stoic behind her helmet.
"Both factions threaten to upset the balance in the system, yes," Shift said, "but despite their greedy and selfish goals, they still rely on us sometimes to help them"
Six sets of eyes went wide at those words.
"You don't help them execute these horrific crimes do you?" Twilight asked incredulously.
I shook my head knowing how that must have sounded to them.
"No, but when one faction tries to invade another's territory, thats when the Tenno are called in to push them out or help them take over," I explained before adding, "to keep the balance we usually have Tenno working on both sides of the battle"
Shocked expression turned to confused ones, which turned into understanding looks.
"Ah have a question," Applejack declared after a few moments of silence, "what about this Stalker figure ya'll mentioned, the one that Huntress got her bow from?"
The three of us shivered slightly, knowing how touchy that topic was. No one truly knew who the Stalker was, or what his motives were. Just the mention of his name brought squads of bickering Tenno together to team up against him, and focused those who ignored others.
"We don't know a lot about him," I said slowly, "but I do believe that he works to do the same as us; keep the system in balance"
"Only he deals with only one group; The Tenno," Shift added in, "he only appears when we start to shift the balance with our actions, be it choosing only one faction to side with, or assassinating VIPs from one faction only"
"In all many ways," Huntress started to conclude, "he is one of us"
We sat in silence, until a loud sound caught our attention from outside. Everyone got up and ran to the castle entrance, the massive doors opening to reveal the sky being dotted with shapes all Tenno recognize; Grineer troop transport ships.
"There's gotta be several full attack squads in those things!" Shift said quietly.
I watched as the first transport landed right in the center of town, two others following quickly. I heard the sounds of gorgon miniguns, garakta assault rifles, and ogris rocket launchers firing, and the screaming of the ponies in town as the Grineer did as they always did; kill everything to display might.
"Girls," Huntress growled, "get ready for a bloodbath"
"Wha--" was all I heard Twilight say before Shift, Huntress, and I broke into a full run towards Ponyville.
'A bloodbath indeed,' I thought, 'may our attacks only find foes and never friends'