"Guardian. Wake up guardian." Ghost said. Xaya turned over and sat up to stretch. She hit her head on the emergency brake above her and remembered that she slept sitting slightly higher to get comfortable. "You've had two hours of sleep that's plenty. Now come on there's something I have to show you." He said to her. She fazed out of her ship and landed on her feet. She walked to the castle from before but remembered there was something she needed to do.
Moving to the back of her ship she found the hatch to open the cargo area of the small ship. She reached in and pulled out the large crates Xür had given to her. 'Why is it that he lifted them with one hand but every time I pick it up it gets heavier?' She thought to herself as Ghost called out for her.
"Hey come on. I didn't do all of this work for nothing." His voice echoed through the hole indicating he was pretty far in. She activated the camouflage on the ship that thankfully was salvaged and it soon disappeared from sight.
"So I think you'll be glad to know that while you were asleep I explored the castle and found good places to set up an outpost. If only we had more supplies I could do more." He said. She walked through the hole in the castle and saw a large room that from the looks of it was a rundown study room with cobwebs. Surprisingly the books seemed for the most part untouched. There was a couch in the middle of the room and a door that was wide open.
"Go on there's more." He said to her. She walked through the door and saw a hallway that was lit by spirit bloom above her head. She walked through it as her ghost followed her. She walked into another room and it was a full on library with bookshelves towering several stories high.
There were stairs leading up to the other levels of the library to put the size into perspective. There was a long red carpet that trailed along the ground and led to a large table. On the table was the Archons cloak and on either side were light stands to illuminate the large room. She whistled at the impressive work of her ghost.
"These are the only rooms I could renovate at the moment. Hopefully we don't have to stay longer than we need to." He said to her. She walked over to the table and set down the two crates on either side of the cloak. Letting out a sigh of relief she stretched her arms.
"I suppose we should scan this and hunt the fallen now?" She asked.
"Well we could do that but then there are also the options of repairing the ship and scanning information on this new planet. Your call really." He answered. She clicked her tongue and thought about her options. She could hunt the fallen because for every second she didn't they would get stronger.
She also needed to repair her ship if she wanted to find out just how far from home she really was. On the other hand scanning the planets fauna, inhabitants, and air could prove beneficial to her extended stay. Suddenly a tiny voice in the back of her head spoke to her. It spoke in such a silent manner that she could just barely make it out.
"Hunt them. Hurt them. Kill them."
She quickly shook off the strange voice and turned to ghost and spoke. "We need to find any trace of the fallen we can, its our top priority." She grabbed the Archons cloak and looked it over.
"Well let me see what I can dig up," He said before scanning it thoroughly. "This Archon, Axis, is no joke. The only thing keeping him from being a Kell is the fact that the wolves already have one...and he's completely insane. He ripped his brothers arm off and killed him with it apparently."Ghost stopped scanning and flew to eye level with Xaya. "And he eats Guardians for breakfast."
"Why don't we ever face an easy opponent for a change? Cant we ever take a vacation either?" She said. Ghost rolled his eyes at her complaints. "Hasn't the speaker ever heard of a siesta?" Her complaining ceased when she walked down the large stairs out into the sun again.
"Well the Darkness never rests, so we don't either." He replied sadly. "Anyway this cloak has a specific Glimmer lining that is associated with many fallen house cloaks. The residue left an impromptu breadcrumb trail for us to follow." He disappeared and set up a way point deep in the forest. "This was his last known location. We should get moving."
She walked around the front of the castle and took notice of the particular area. During the day the small area in front of the castle was very bright, like the sun purposefully shone on where the castle stood. The castle seemed to be on some sort of island that was surrounded by huge trenches and only one bridge at the front. 'This set up is pretty good when it comes to castle warfare. Funnel them through a rickety bridge while you fire.' She thought to herself.
"I took the liberty of scanning the air before you woke up. It's....breathable, But I suggest that you just keep your helmet on for safety purposes. Don't worry about it too much lets just find the fallen."
"You always knew how to calm me down Ghost." The way she talked had sarcasm written all over it. This fact did not escape Ghost whatsoever as the conversation drifted into silence.
Xaya cleared the bridge in a quick jump as it wasn't that long. Once on the other side she summoned her sparrow and glided across the forest towards the waypoint.
As soon as they were out of sight however the unguarded castle was approached by a creature who had been hiding in the shadows for hours.
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Xaya's sparrow came to a fast halt as she reached the destination. "Let me out to scan, I may be able to find a trail." Ghost suggested. Xaya obliged and released him to do his work, while she searched around.
Out of the corner of her eye she noticed a strange blue flower in the middle of a clearing through the trees to her left. She walked up close and reached her glove covered hand to it. The plant seemingly moved into her palm as if it was rubbing itself on her. As soon as it touched her gloves receptors she could feel that it was warm to the touch.
Something felt off about the flower to her yet she couldn't put her finger on it. "Ghost, you may want to see this." She called out. Seeing his blue light in the distance she heard him speak.
"In a minute, these Fallen know how to cover their tracks really well." He said before going back to his scrubbing of the area. Xaya looked back to the flower and took notice of how beautiful it looked up close. Suddenly an entrancing aroma burst through her helmets breathing regulators. It smelt simply divine and only the blue flower could have been producing it.
With a shrug and a smile the guardian took of her helmet, plucked the flower from the ground and dug her nose into the petals taking a big whiff as she did. She heard the familiar whiz of ghost flying to her and she quickly put her helmet back on. "Okay so what have you got for me?" He asked.
"What do you think this strange plant is?" She asked presenting him the blue flower in the palm of her hand. With a thoughtful hum ghost scanned it for quite some time. After he was done he lifted it up and threw it away.
"Yeah it's best if you stay away from that plant in particular." He said. Underneath her helmet Xaya's eyes widened. "Well anyway I think I've got a lead on the archon." Ghost started to say before Xaya stepped in front of him.
"Why should I stay away from that flower?" She asked him.
"Well the scans show that this strange plant has some kind of offensive type of effect. Any animal it sees as a threat it lures in with lovely aromas and if the animal touches it they get poisoned. Not entirely sure what it does though. Why do you ask?" He said while squinting his eye and moving closer to Xaya.
Xaya was faced with a personal dilemma. There was a large possibility that she could be dying that very moment. And the only way to stop it was to admit to Ghost that she was an idiot. The answer became clear after her small thought process.
"No reason, So where is this lead going to take us?" She answered calmly.
"Okay." He said slowly and with suspicion. "Well do you remember that town we passed last night?" Xaya thought back to the previous night.
"I think so, why do you ask?" She said.
"Well sovereigns solar core should still be intact. If we infuse the cloak with a piece of the core we'll have our very own Archon tracking device." He said.
"What does that have to do with the town?" She asked.
"Well I know for a fact that the locals have taken custody of the core and are tampering with it. Not to unsettle you but if they nick one wrong wire the whole planet will turn into a sun within seven milliseconds." He said seriously.
"Well that's just peachy." Xaya said. Standing up she summoned her sparrow and traveled to the edge of the forest on a hill that overlooked the town. Taking out her sniper rifle she surveyed the area. "There are a lot of guards everywhere." She said.
"What I want to know is what kind of evolutionary fluke made ponies the dominant species. Not only that but give them ridiculous colors, horns, and wings that shouldn't even be able to lift them up." Ghost said irritatedly at the lack of logic in the species.
Xaya's eyes grew wide beneath her helmet and her breath was caught in her throat as she felt the surge of power that could've only come from the solar core. "Tell me you felt that." Ghost said worriedly.
Immediately following the first surge a barrage of energy waves started emanating from a large tree near the back of the town. "Okay screw discretion, if we don't get that core in the next hour we'll be turned into fried guardian with a side of roasted Ghost. My shell can only withstand heat going to 40,000 Degrees Kelvin." He stated with concern.
Without a word Xaya jumped down the hill and towards the town. Within seconds she was at the town outskirts. Creeping near an alley she crouched down and soon became invisible. Seeing as the alley was far from any other cover she sped her way across the streets teeming with ponies as fast as possible. She passed by a large market for trade and large stores selling plenty of wares ranging from quills to custom armor.
"The more I observe these ponies the stranger they become. The colors seem unnaturally bright up close, and the marks adorning their flanks range from mysterious to borderline ridiculous." Ghost commented within Xaya's helmet. Halfway through her trip she realized just how large the town actually was. Reaching into yet another alley she caught her breath as the invisibility wore off.
"This is way harder than I thought it would be, and the streets are swarming with guards." She said. Something in her chest warmed her and she realized her stored energy had reached its peak. Reaching within herself she took the energy and enhanced her invisibility.
"Since when could you do that?" Ghost asked.
"I have no idea." Xaya replied with a bit of fear in her voice. Remembering her mission she shook off the strange occurrence and ran across the open area completely unseeable. Taking more time to observe her surroundings, she noticed the way the houses were designed. They seemed to be very primitive compared to the enhanced lifestyle of the people in the city.
With more time to think Xaya could notice that up close all of the ponies resonated a form of energy that reminded her of the light. However the energy seemed impure to her, like someone had taken a ball of darkness and anger then put a thin layer of light atop it. Continuing her walk she overheard some talking about a princess as well as an orchard being closed off for investigation. So far that was the extent of her knowledge from last night.
Out of the corner of her eye she spotted three young foals sitting at a table discussing the events of the previous night in detail. The thing that set them apart from other ponies was that none of them had pictures on their flanks.
"Why do you think the princess left all of those guards here?" The white foal said while rubbing a hoof against her head.
"Ah just want to know why they won't let me into half of mah family's orchard. What do you guess was in them meteors?" The second pony said While fixing a bow in her mane.
Xaya stopped and listened to their conversation since it provided even more information than anything else she had heard beforehand. Just as the other two were about to change subject the third one spoke up.
"My guess, they were alien spaceships." The third pony theorized before planting her orange hooves on the table with a smile. The other two looked to each other and then back to the third one with raised eyebrows.
"Um Scootaloo, You should probably think about what you just said." The white pony said to Scootaloo. There was a pause as Scootaloo thought about it.
"Well, what about it I said there were aliens." She said to her friends. The white one shook her head and said what she meant in the first place.
"No, I meant that you should realize how ludicrous it sounds. I mean really? Aliens?" She told Scootaloo with a matter of fact tone.
Xaya tuned them out because she knew there were no more answers for her there. Continuing her walk she thought about their perspective on the situation. To them several aliens that are most likely alive crash on the planet and flee. Then they find crazy technology aboard the alien ships. Of course they would be frightened for everyone in the town, and would want to keep everything they found secret as well.
"CITIZENS OF PONYVILLE!" Out of nowhere a loud voice shouted across the entire town garnering everyone's attention. A deafening silence broke out in the town as all of the ponies listened for another voice. Again it spoke but not as loud as the first time.
"We urge you all to go to your homes immediately, and stay within the safety of their walls until we permit you to leave." Said one of the guards as he marched around the town itself. The beating of wings could be heard above everyone as carriages full of soldiers flew down. A lot of ponies then started running to their houses for safety after seeing that these many guards were needed.
"Um Xaya I really don't feel like rushing you but you should probably get the core before the entire town is overrun with guards!" He said with urgency. Xaya turned around towards the building she needed to break into.
It was a huge tree that held a sign saying Golden Oaks Library. At the very least it was two stories tall and had dozens of guards protecting it outside and in. "No unguarded way in from what I can see." She said to ghost.
"Then lets take the distraction approach." He appeared and scanned the structure from afar. "Okay here's the plan, I'm going to go stir up trouble. When they come towards me we'll have a small window of opportunity to get in and incapacitate everyone in our way. We get the core and slip our way out of here, sound like a plan?" He finished up and waited for Xaya's reply.
"It's go time." She said simply. Ghost smiled as best he could and then teleported. A loud crash was heard and all of the guards tensed up. Another loud crash and they got into battle positions, but still they were glued to their spots. "Ghost it isn't working." She said eying them closely.
"Let me take care of it." He said over the comms. After a few seconds Xaya heard nothing then it happened. "Hello." Ghost said calmly and non threateningly. Then several loud screams were heard piercing through the air. The guards all started to run towards the noise.
Xaya heard the noise that meant Ghost was back. Without wasting any time she bolted for the library in a dead sprint. "Go through the balcony, the door is being watched." He said. She jumped to the balcony and tried opening the doors but they were locked. Pulling out ghost the doors opened automatically for her and she rushed inside.
Once inside she crouched down due to her invisibility fading long before she entered. Inside she heard a child humming to himself while the sound of a broom brushed away. Soon the boy started talking to himself. "I wonder why princess Luna is here? What if Scootaloo was right about the aliens?" He wondered.
With a look Xaya saw he was a type of large lizard with green and purple scales. She was going to sneak past him but with her leg she knocked down a book 'Your slipping Xaya' she thought to herself.
He turned his head and when he saw her his face was frozen in sheer horror. Dropping his broom he started trembling in his place, then he took in a deep breath. Knowing that he was going to scream she lunged at him and pinned him against the wall with her hands over his mouth. She had made the right decision since her hand vibrated from his muffled screaming.
"I don't want to hurt you, but I do need you to go to sleep." She said to him. As soon as she did he closed his eyes and started crying. She chopped the side of his neck with her hand and he passed out on the floor. Checking his vitals she placed his unconscious form on top of the starred bed and continued down the stairs.
"Did you hear him? We might have royalty to deal with." Ghost said not expecting an answer. Xaya didn't want to speak but since no one could hear Ghost he could talk all he wanted.
When she walked down the stairs she could hear voices speaking to each other. "Don't worry miss sparkle this is the safest place in the entire town." Someone said presumably a guard.
"Well do you think that my friends could stay here until it's safe?" She asked. As they talked Xaya observed her and the two guards from the shadows at the top of the stairs. The room they were in was the main room and it was filled with books from top to bottom.
"What happened to all of he guards the house was filled with them?" Ghost wondered. Ignoring the question Xaya pulled out Ghost and nodded to him before letting him fly.
"Well we could try but I don't think It's safe." Replied one of the guards. Ghost appeared below next to them and coughed. They all looked at him and jumped in surprise.
"Well hello to you." Ghost said as politely as possible. The guards aimed their weapons at him and slowly observed him. "Am I going to get a reply?" The guards eased up a bit and carefully thought about what to say. One of them heard something with his highly trained ears and turned around. When he saw nothing he looked back to Ghost unaware of the invisible guardian he had just stared at.
"What are you and what are you doing here?" Said the guard.
"Oh okay straight into the questions. I am Ghost a messenger of the Traveler, and I am here because you have something that belongs to us." He said.
"What's the Traveler?" Twilight asked him. Ghost fidgeted and saw that Xaya was almost in position to knock them out. He replied with a phrase that would dodge the question while also being simultaneously vague, and annoying.
"I...don't even have time to explain why I don't have time to explain." He looked back at Xaya and saw that she was ready. "But it doesn't matter anyway." He said. Right on time Xaya grabbed the guards and smashed their heads together. Immediately she grabbed Twilight in a sleeper hold and kept her from resisting.
She felt the pony starting to fade as her movements started slowing. "Good job as soon as we get that solar core we'll be unstoppable, and they won't stand a chance!" Ghost said before he disappeared. Twilight started to struggle even harder but eventually she passed out.
"Whew that was close huh?" Xaya said.
"Indeed it was very close alien." Just as soon as the reply came she was immediately surrounded by guards aiming their spears or horns at her. But one stood above all of them with her distinct color mane and height. She had both wings and a horn with a starry mane that flew in the wind.
There was no doubt about it she was Princess Luna and she had Xaya completely surrounded. She looked around and they all had smirks on their faces because of her predicament. "Well Shit."
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Darkness filled the air and consumed everything it touched. His mind was consumed and he couldn't think straight. His brothers fell to the ground as their souls left their body's. The light blue cloaks flew away and were consumed with his fellow guards. He turned and ran through the halls of the Winter Ketch as fast as his feet could carry him but the shadows grew nearer. He abandoned his swords and got on all limbs to sprint faster. Entering the throne room he saw his Kell, Draksis sitting on his throne completely calm.
He Yelled for his Kell to move before the shadows came, but no matter how hard he begged his leader would not move. The darkness burst through the door and it took the form of three guardians. He tried even harder to move the Kell but it was futile. Unsheathing his swords he prepared to defend the Kell at all costs.
Before the Guardians moved however he felt a large hand on his shoulder and he looked above him. The Kell stood their with his gun and to him he spoke.
"I have done many unforgivable things, and I wish I could take it all back. I won't see our home world ever again, but you still have the chance to see it for the first time." The Kell lifted his hand and stepped in front of his guard. "Don't make the same mistakes as me. Gather your most trusted and leave Venus, and hopefully if you seek the help of the Traveler the house of winter will survive through you."
"What of you Draksis?" He asked solemnly.
"I will not die without an honorable battle, and these ones will gift me that which I seek. I am no longer the Kell, I am but only another Fallen. You Zaeed you are the new winter Kell." Zaeed's eyes widened as he was given the title most Fallen higher ups only dream about.
"Now go Zaeed wake up!" Yelled Draksis. The words confused Zaeed, but Draksis continued to chant it. "Wake up! Wake up! Wake up Zaeed!"
With a gasp he woke up in the forest with the winter baron Indra staring at him. "Thank the gods you awoke my lord. We believe we have found where the guardian is staying, shall we move in?" She asked. Zaeed looked around at all of the Fallen around him the small group was all that remained of the house.
He closed his eyes and sighed in sorrow. "Let us go." He said. Deep inside he felt determination to keep the House of Winter alive. He would do anything to see their home world reborn into the new age of winter.