Equestria, Equis. February 19th, 1000 Hours
"Tiberius, I got news!"
Upon hearing the excited voice of my Ghost, I dashed to the front of the ship. Whenever he sounded this happy, it had to be good news. "What's up Sparks?" I asked.
"Message incoming from just beyond the edge of the Sol System. Our beacon was received. Here, I'll run the playback."
What came next was at first just a little bit of white noise with a garbled dialogue, but right after that, I heard something that brought a smile to my face. "...epeat, this is Hunter Richard to Titan Tiberius. Your message has been received. I have been tasked with assisting you in your mission. If you get this message, please transmit a response via Tightbeam Transmission on frequency 277.98. Just a heads up Tiberius, I picked up a package for you at the Tower upon the Speaker's request. You'll get your new helmet before the end of this mission I promise. It'll be good to work with you. We're two or three days out from your location and will contact you as soon as we arrive. Richard out."
I couldn't believe my ears at first. The beacon had been picked up. Better yet, I was getting reinforcements and my new helmet all in one. A dream come true after about three days stranded on a world with a damaged ship.... you wouldn't believe how much us Guardians get used to easily being able to leave a world or just even fly sometimes. What can I say, I have a love of flying. Oh you think I'm an overly romantic fool? Yeah well bite me. ANYWAY....
"Sparks set up a tightbeam transmission, encrypted, frequency 277.98," I ordered.
"Got it, ready to record."
"This is Titan Tiberius to Hunter Richard. It's damn good to hear from a fellow Guardian Richard, and even better to hear that help is on the way along with my new helmet. Been waiting a week for that thing you know. When you arrive, we'll activate our beacon down here so you can find us. I'll make sure the locals know you're comin too. Make haste alright? The Fallen may try to get here ahead of you if you're detected. Tiberius out."
Sparks nodded. "Message away. You seem excited."
"Sparks we're practically on our own out here till the local's get organized. I am excited. Every bit of help counts here and a second Guardian, a Hunter at that, is a huge benefit here."
"Can't argue with that," he admitted, "In that case I'll....." he stopped abruptly.
I knew what that meant. Something was coming. "What is it?" I asked as I prepared my rifle.
"Locals incoming. Looks like the younger princess and her pals, plus that Sergeant from two days ago. They seem relaxed so I assume they wanna talk.... okay well for the most part they're relaxed, that pink one looks like she's on a constant flow of drugs or something."
I relaxed and smiled as I removed my helmet. "Let's roll out the red carpet then. Gotta try and be friends here so lets keep the bickering down eh?"
"No promises," Sparks chuckled.
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There it was. Even from a distance, even in its damaged state, the ship gave off an air of superior power. As Twilight, her friends, and Sergeant Windbreaker approached, she took note of the shape, color, and size. Angular, sleek, dark, the ship looked like a mighty bird of prey capable of striking from the shadows. It sent shivers down her spine. Yet, when its owners came into view, she began to feel a bit more at ease. The Ghost, Sparks, was little more than a set of eight freely moving prisms around a small sphere with a seemingly mechanical eyeball. Stored in this little package though was a great intelligence and personality. Sparks reminded her of a beacon of some kind. She did not know exactly what but the words 'Light' and 'Wisdom' came to mind among other things. Tiberius himself was another thing entirely, a human known to his brethren as a Guardian Titan. A being clad in dark, silver armor, sleek and aesthetically pleasing, he gave off an intimidating air of raw power and strength. His face though, without his helmet, seemed like the more friendly part of him. Today he wore a smile as he looked towards the arriving ponies. There was no glint of mischief or dishonesty in his eyes. No malicious intent showed either. He only gave off an air of kindness, honesty, and wisdom. Experience showed also, for those eyes clearly had seen many horrors and battles, yet despite this he gave off an unspoken promise of safety and protection as well. 'I hope he really is here with friendship in mind,' she thought as she remembered what he did to the manticores. The biggest one had caught the Princesses off guard and had been surprisingly agile after all. He had caught it off guard and very practically decimated it. 'Those eyes though.... what happened to them before they attacked us....? It was unnatural....'
Her train of thought was interrupted when Tiberius greeted them. "Hello everyone. What brings you here today?" '
Wait.... was his armor still translating like last time or was he already practicing our language?' Twilight thought.
A pink blur came before anyone could respond, followed by Pinkie being right in front of him. 'How did she....? That will never make sense how she does that....' Twilight thought to herself.
"HI TIBERIUS! I brought an invitation to your "Welcome to Equestria" party!" She just about yelled as she gave him a card, which he accepted with a chuckle.
"Well thank you very much," he said, "I see the whole gang is here, minus the night and day princesses."
"They had business to attend to in Canterlot unfortunately," Twilight admitted, "Though we also would like to invite you to a meeting at the castle in Ponyville if that is okay. The other leaders of Equestria would like to meet you and hear what you have to say."
"Sure, when and where?"
"Midday, five days from now. I'll come escort you there myself," Twilight explained.
"I'll be ready when the time comes," Tiberius said with a smile. "OH before I forget, I got a message from a fellow Guardian. A Hunter named Richard is on his way to provide further assistance and will be here in two or three days. He's bringing my new helmet too so I'm pretty excited bout that."
Pinkie gasped long and loud. "YOUR BUDDY IS BRINGING YOU A PRESENT!? COOL! I wonder how it'll look!"
Tiberius could only laugh in response, along with Sparks.
"She's a hyper one huh?" Sparks asked.
"Ya get used to it. Pinkie Pie, sugarcube, let's not overwhelm the poor guy now," Applejack intervened.
"Sorry." Pinkie backed off a bit, still smiling widely.
"Wait.... did you say your friend was a...." Fluttershy gulped, "A hunter....?"
Tiberius apparently knew where this was going. "Yeah but not the kind you're thinking of," he explained, "He hunts bad guys, not animals. He's probably pretty stealthy and quick about it given what class of Guardian he is."
Twilight managed a small smile when she saw Fluttershy's expression turn to one of calmed understanding. "Oh... okay..." the butter pegasus said with acceptance.
"Hey!" You can guess who yelled that considering that a prismatic blur rushed up in front of Tiberius and turned out to be a certain cyan pegasus. "I gotta know, how fast can that ship go?"
Tiberius raised an eyebrow in surprise, leaning back a little in reaction to the sudden, and loud, intrusion of personal space. He then chuckled. "In space it is capable of traveling faster than the speed of light relatively speaking. However, it can only go about say seven or eight times the speed of sound in most atmospheres."
The pegasus' jaw dropped and she sat on her haunches, no longer hovering. Surprise and shock was etched all over her face. "W-w-whoa..... That's... that's really fast...."
He shrugged. "There are faster Jumpships."
"Wait you call them...?" Twilight's question was interrupted by Sparks blurting out "Uh oh!"
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"Uh oh!"
I looked at Sparks. "What is it?"
"We got trouble. Hostiles in the vicinity, fifteen hundred meters out and closing. They're Hive."
That spelled big trouble..... I remembered their glowing green eyes. How did they get here ahead of the Fallen though....? Then it hit me. Those beasts I fought when I arrived, the manticores. I drew the connection. Green glow in their eyes, slight facial deformity, they were starting to be corrupted by Hive. It must have driven them feral.... "But if the Hive are already here...... SPARKS! SEND A TRANSMISSION TO RICHARD AND TELL HIM TO HURRY HIS ASS UP! Girls, run, back to the town, fast as you can. Tell any garrisoned soldiers to marshal a defense and set a perimeter. We have unwelcome visitors."
"Wait.... I thought you said it would be weeks before the first ruffians arrived!" Rarity blurted out.
Sparks sighed. "Guess the Vanguard made a miscalculation. If the Hive is already here then your world is in alot more danger than we thought. They're usually the second to arrive, and they're terrible monsters who practically worship death and destruction. If they're already here...."
"Then the Fallen are already somewhere on the planet," I concluded, "and the Vex and Cabal aren't far behind."
Spike spoke up next, "You can take em right....?"
Sparks and I looked at each other. I noticed the subtle motion he made, equivalent to shaking his head no. I gave a sigh. "Not long...."
Windbreaker stepped up, "Then I'll stay and help."
"Me too," Twilight stated, determined. "Girls, get back to the town, spread the word! Get the guards out here as soon as possible!"
"We'll stay and fight!" Rainbow called out, not willing to leave Twilight behind.
"No! We'll likely need more help to fight them. Please just do it. Don't risk yourselves. We'll hold them off as long as we can."
Her friends were reluctant to go.... I really didn't want to let her or the Sergeant stay and risk their lives either.... I knew I couldn't say no though. It is their world. They have a right to fight for it. Soon enough, the others turned to leave, all of them with varying levels of reluctance, before galloping off (or running in Spike's case). The screeches of Thralls could be heard by then.
"You sure this is a good idea?" Sparks asked as he materialized into my armor.
I stared at the forest, the beginnings of rapid movement coming into visual range as I raised my auto rifle, Atheon's Epilogue. My silence was his answer. He knew what I was thinking.
"I thought so."