//------------------------------// // Negotiations, Repairs, and Beacons // Story: The Light Behind the Veil // by Gunner59524 //------------------------------// Well.....today has certainly been an interesting one. I seek out a lost crate of resources and wind up not only rescuing some of the locals, but in doing so, eliminate the owners of the nest the crate fell into. Now resources are being poured into repairs. The fabricator first. Everything else second. Now Sparks and I are answering questions ranging from "What are your intentions for being here?" to "Do you like cupcakes?" That last one had Sparks throwing a fit of laughter. No surprise there of course, I was laughing too. I wish I knew what a cupcake was..... I have little-to-no memory of my old life before Sparks found and revived me to become a Guardian. The yellow one, Fluttershy I think, was rather saddened by that revelation. When discussions of the Collapse came up they got curious..... considering how horrible the war is, I'm not surprised that they bore expressions of great pity and sorrow towards me and the other surviving inhabitants of the Tower and the Last City. How they took the warning and offer for help however..... well I guess fear is universal. End Log. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Equestria, Equis. February 16th, 1630 Hours "Sparks, go ahead and transfer the crate. Start on repairs. I'll see about negotiations." Sparks materialized in front of me and gave the equivalent of a nod before rezzing up the crate of materials next to the ship. Immediately he was off to work fixing the fabricators. I turned to face the locals. "Well, I guess you've got questions," I sat on the undamaged wing of my ship. "What would you like to know?" Celestia was the first to speak. "Your name and species first of course, in exchange for our identities." I nodded and removed my helmet, revealing my blue eyes, tanned face, black face paint, and short cut black hair. "My name is Tiberius," I said as I looked upon them without a visor between us. "I am a human, one of the last remaining, assigned the rank and responsibilities of a Guardian." "Guardian?" Luna asked. "A defender of the light and of the innocent." "Ah, so a noble being," she concluded. "More or less. May I know your names and the names of your species? It appears there are many." Celestia chuckled. "I am Princess Celestia, this is my sister and co ruler Princess Luna. Behind me are Sergeant Windbreaker and company, along with Princess Twilight Sparkle, my protege, and her friends, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Rarity, and Fluttershy." Each bowed their heads or made another greeting in turn (a happy bounce in Pinkie's case.) to make it easier to identify them. "My sister and I are Alicorns along with my protege Twilight. Rarity is a Unicorn, Applejack and Pinkie Pie are Earth Ponies, and Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, and Windbreaker are Pegasi." "A pleasure to meet you," I replied, "I wish it were under better circumstances though....." "Worry not. You saved our lives and we thank you for that. May we ask a few more questions?" Celestia asked. "Please do. I'm here on a mission of diplomacy in a manner of speaking. I'm an open book." "From where do you originate?" Luna questioned. "The Sol System, a planet called "Earth" where the surviving members of my kind reside." "Are there any nice animals there?" Fluttershy suddenly asked, causing some of her friends to smile or giggle. I couldn't help chuckling and smiling before a frown took the smile's place. "Very few and far between sadly.... most close to extinction." Many frowned at this. "Do you like cupcakes!?" Pinkie blurted out. I chuckled out, "What?" Sparks chuckled behind me. "Do you like cupcakes?" she repeated. "I'm afraid I don't have the slightest idea what that is. Sorry." Her mane deflated momentarily before "poofing" out again if you can believe that. The deflated mane was accompanied by an equally short lived frown. "Oh well, we'll have to just let you try one later. I should throw you a "welcome to Equestria" party too!" I just laughed. Sparks and the other ponies did as well. "You said 'surviving members.' Does this mean your species underwent some sort of catastrophe recently?" Twilight asked, the question nagging at her. "Yes....." They all looked at each other with saddened expressions that time. "What.... what kind of catastrophe?" "We call it the 'Great Collapse." They all bore confused expressions. I sighed. "I suppose I should explain it. Be warned, this is a rather... disheartening tale... and within is a warning to you, another part of my mission here." The ponies each looked at each other worriedly. "Me and my fellow Guardians face a vast and evil threat we know only as the forces of Darkness. These forces are comprised of many factions, each in conflict with one another just as they are with us. Chaotic and deadly are these foes, devouring all light. It is these very forces that have brought a beacon of light we know as the Traveler harm and forced it into a form of hibernation. On top of this, they nearly made humanity go extinct. We know these events as the Collapse. While the arrival of the Traveler had brought a Golden Age, the arrival of the Darkness has brought upon us a dark age." Sparks chose to speak up then. "With it's last waking breath the Traveler spawned myself and countless others like me. We are known as Ghosts. Most are paired with a Guardian." "Through our efforts we managed to save the Traveler and allow it to begin healing. However, the Darkness still poses a great threat, and not just to our solar system anymore. From a distance our leaders witnessed this very threat beginning to encroach on your territory. The first of them, a faction called the Fallen, will arrive soon. Within a few weeks if I am not mistaken. I don't know how to prove this with anything other than my words and emotions.... I can only hope you'll heed this warning." Celestia and Luna shared a concerned look before the Day Princess spoke up. "We'll take it into consideration..... I assume you'll be providing assistance against this threat?" "As is my mission and my duty." Sparks spoke up. "Your very species radiates light at unprecedented levels. Even at a distance we saw it radiating from this solar system... or rather the Vanguard did. To let the Darkness snuff out innocent lives and the light that radiates from this place would be a failure on our part." Celestia smiled. "The Guardians must be benevolent indeed." "We are far from perfect Princess, but we are no pushovers. We're armed, we're strong, we're determined, we will protect," I affirmed. Celestia nodded. "Well... I suppose that is enough questions for now. Thank you for saving us, and bringing this to our attention. If I may though, this forest is not the safest place to further commune or to repair your vessel. If you like, we have the means to transport your craft to the edge of the forest if you'll allow us. There you can repair in relative safety." "That.... would be appreciated. Sparks could you pack everything in the cargo hold and get the ship ready to be moved?" "Not a problem." Everything was soon transferred inside, crate of materials and equipment all secured safely. That's when we got a very REAL surprise. By means neither Sparks nor I can fathom.... weeeeelllll. Celestia's and Luna's horns started glowing with gold and navy blue auras respectively. A mixture of the same auras appeared around my ship and it levitated.... it freaking LEVITATED! They were TELEKINETIC! "Are you seeing what I'm seeing....?" Sparks asked in complete disbelief. "Yeah..... and I don't believe it....." Twilight giggled. "You haven't seen anything yet," she said as they began their trek out of the forest. "Noted...." Sparks muttered before something important came to mind, "OH um Tiberius...." "Yeah?" "Just a fair warning. When that meteor shower took us down, the distress beacon began transmitting..... I managed to shut it down soon as I discovered it but by now the Tower is aware that we hit a snag at the very least. We may be seeing another Guardian or two pretty soon." Rainbow raised an eyebrow. "More of your friends are coming?" "If they are, I'd welcome the help," I admitted, "A whole fireteam is better than lone wolfing it against a whole army of the Darkness. Fun as it is, some of these guys can be a real pain in the ass." "Ah, language Tiberius," Sparks chuckled. "Oh shut up." Some of the ponies giggled at that.... though Rarity was giving Tiberius the stink eye over the apparently vulgar word. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Unbeknownst to the unlikely band, already, evil eyes watched them from afar, angered that a servant of the Traveler has already arrived.