Twilight and her friends moved forwards, out from behind the corner and into the throne room where the most fighting had broken out. Although, the term "fighting" was a bit of a stretch. "Slaughter" was much more proper. The aliens were killing ponies left and right, their weapons too quick, to ranged to do anything about. An archer pulled back an arrow on his enchanted bow, hoping that the magic would be enough to do any sort of damage to the armored creatures. The archer was lucky, and managed to take down one of the aliens with a shot to its head. Unfortunately for him, that kill was noticed by another alien, who proceeded to kill the archer for his transgression.
The six kept moving, trying their best not to freeze in place from the shock of what was happening all around them. Between them and the Vault at the back of the throne room was one hundred meters of slaughter at the hands of an enemy they had almost no chance of besting. At the center of it all, Luna and Celestia could be seen working together to best the alien they could only assume to be the leader of the starbound strangers, Aventus Da'axus. The six slipped between ponies on the outskirts of the fighting, trying to not get hit by whatever it was the aliens' weaponry was using. On multiple occasions, the projectiles nearly hit one of them, but a quick duck or redirecting spell saved them from harm.
It took a few minutes to pass through the room unnoticed, but they made it to the Vault unscathed. Twilight powered up her magic to use the spell necessary to open the massive door that protected the Elements. But a sudden scream forced her attention away from the Vault.
"Rarity!" Rainbow called out, seeing blood dripping from the unicorn's side. The invisibility spell had worn off, and one of the aliens had noticed. "You're going to be okay! Twilight, open the Vault!"
Twilight returned her attention to the Vault once again while the others tended to their wounded friend. Pinkie, being Pinkie, pulled her Party Cannon from nowhere and began returning fire to the enemy that had dared hurt her friend. Each shot of confetti and party supplies slammed into the thing's armor until one shot included fireworks. The explosion from the fireworks decimated the alien's suit, and the rapid depressurization sent its chestplate flying into one of its comrades. On a rampage Pinkie went, firing her Party Cannon until the fireworks could dispatch the enemy, managing to take down three of the enemies before she herself took a hit. She grunted in pain as the shot slammed into her ribs, but didn't stop firing the cannon. She managed to take down a fourth enemy before her cannon ran out of instant parties.
Twilight managed to open the door, and hovered out the necklaces the Elements bound themselves to, placing each one on its respective bearer. But before she could get the Element of Laughter on Pinkie, she took another hit. The pink party pony gasped and hit the ground, feeling something hot in her chest. She looked down at where she'd been shot and gasped again as she realized there was no way she'd be walking away from this one. She coughed, blood spattering the marble floor, starting to feel dizzy and sick. Around her, she could sense her friends' panic, and the sudden placement of her Element on her neck. "Fuck..."
When Pinkie's head hit the ground, Applejack felt nothing but pure rage and hatred for these strangers from the heavens. They had come down from the sky and lied about being peaceful adventurers. They had come down like hellfire and attacked their home without provocation. They had killed one of her best friends and gravely wounded another. All they had done was attack her home and her friends, and those sins were unforgivable to her. She sprinted out into the fight without thinking to the nearest enemy. She turned on her forelegs just in front of the giant creature, and slammed her hind legs into its chest as hard as she could. Regret instantly hit her as she felt her legs shatter. Pain instantly shot up her spine and made her scream. But at the same time, she noticed that she had managed to cave in the chestplate of the enemy she'd kicked, and even knocked its dead body into the alien that the princesses were fighting. For her transgression, Applejack was shot by Aventus in the neck.
Rainbow Dash suddenly felt herself become just as enraged as Applejack had been. Here she was, standing in the middle of a war, two of her best friends dead and another wounded and bleeding out. Deep within her chest she could feel something that had been reported to happen in the most powerful of pegasi: active magic. She could feel it like a cloud, something shapeable. Something she could manipulate and control. She spread her wings and concentrated on that feeling, and when she opened her eyes she had made a dark thundercloud. As soon as she grabbed it, she could feel the magic in it. With a great flap of her wings, she took to the air with the cloud and began an assault on the enemy. She stopped above each one with the cloud and kicked it with her hind legs, striking the alien below with lightning and frying them alive. A lucky shot from one of them hit her in the wing and forced her to the ground, but she continued her assault, still running around amidst the chaos and fighting and killing all of the beasts she could.
But her assault soon came to a close. Her thundercloud ran out of lightning, and as soon as that happened, a hailstorm of enemy fire introduced her to Death and all his friends.
Rarity felt her life slowly fading. She had been bleeding from her injury for a few minutes, and even though she was laying down and holding a hoof to the wound in hopes of slowing the bleeding, she knew that she was going to die here today. She picked herself up from the floor, Twilight protesting as she tried to sift through her memory for a healing spell. But Rarity refused to lay back down. She had to make her mark while she still could. She concentrated all of her magic into her horn, feeling every other part of her go numb and fall limp. Her body floated up into the air, more enemy fire piercing her body and bloodying the ground below her. When she could feel her horn at full power, she released the magic in the purest form she could: a ball of pure energy flying straight into the middle of the battlefield. The magic fell on a group of aliens, and exploded upon contact with the ground, sending all of them flying until they fizzled out of existence, the magic erasing them from reality.
Rarity's body fell to the ground, riddled with holes and lifeless, her pure white coat stained with blood.
It was at that point that Twilight screamed bloody murder, time itself seeming to stop around her. Her eyes glazed over for a moment before they became overwhelmed with a magic more powerful than any that could be consciously wielded by the princesses. Awoken, Celestia called such a state. Some unicorns, when they sensed an immediate danger, could slip into the Awoken state and wield enough power to cripple armies. Twilight was one of those unicorns who could slip into that state. That was why she was accepted to Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns. It wasn't just about hatching Spike's egg. It was that she had Awoken to do so.
Now Awoken, Twilight turned her greatest weapon against those who had killed her friends. Blasts of pure magic shot from her horn at enemies, penetrating their armor as though it were paper, searing holes through the creatures inside. One by one she decimated any who dared try to attack her or Fluttershy, every shot fired at either of the two remaining Element Bearers disintegrating upon being fired. However, Twilight couldn't keep her assault going forever, and another wave of the enemy slipped into the throne room. Eventually, Twilight fell against a wall, and laid down, her body numb from lack of magic. She looked up to see Celestia and Luna still fighting, trying desperately to kill the alien leader, but no closer to success than they were when the six arrived on the scene.
Fluttershy laid down next to Twilight, her body dripping with blood and riddled with holes and arguably in worse condition than Rarity's. She plopped down with a sickeningly wet slap, and rested her head on Twilight's body, her breath raspy as though she had a punctured lung. While everyone else had gone out in their blaze of glory, Fluttershy had protected every single one of them from the shots that would have killed them. When Pinkie was firing her cannon, she had taken a shot that would have hit the party pony's head. When Applejack charged the enemy, she took a shot that would have paralyzed her from the shoulders down. When Rainbow had summoned the clouds, she took two shots that would have pierced her heart. When Rarity used her magic, she took a shot that would have shattered her horn. And when Twilight had Awoken, she took seven shots that would have killed her. As she felt the life slowly leaving her, Fluttershy tried to whisper something to Twilight. Twilight just hushed her, saying she already knew, and told the pegasus to rest on her.
------
Shirska growled savagely as he ripped the helmet off of the Cabal Colossus with his bare hands and threw it at a Psion, hitting it in the head and knocking it to the ground. He pulled the trigger on the fusion rifle again and watched a Phalanx die as the shots pierced its shield. Noticing that the weapon was now out of munitions, he tossed it back to Pinkie's still unconscious form, pulling out Applejack's machine gun and letting loose on the remaining Legionaries and Psions.
"WARNING! LOW ETHER! RETURN TO TOWER FOR NEW RATION!" a voice in Shirska's helmet said, a small red exclamation point appearing on his heads-up display next to his motion sensor.
"Can't now!" Shirska yelled at the voice. "Have to save friends!"
"AT CURRENT USAGE RATE, YOUR ETHER WILL BE DEPLETED IN FIVE MINUTES!" the voice blared, a small timer appearing in the bottom left corner of his HUD.
"I WILL STAY AND FIGHT!" he screamed, tossing the now empty machine gun back to Applejack's still downed body, and pulling out her shotgun.
A shot rang out, then two more. The three remaining enemies disintegrated into ashes as Pinkie's Golden Gun burned them down. As the weapon of Light dissipated, the others picked themselves up off the ground. Pinkie looked at Shirska and ordered, "Go. I've got them."
Shirska hesitated a moment, then nodded and hopped into his ship. Within seconds he was gone, leaving the six on the ground with most of their weaponry low or out of ammo.
As the six ponies looked around, it dawned on them that Shirska had fought off dozens of Cabal on his own to keep them all safe while they were out. Applejack felt a twinge of pride for her friend, and a sense of awe at his strength. But then, that feeling was replaced by confusion brought about by reliving her death. What had the Stranger needed them to see that for? What was their design imperative? Was there a clue hidden in that memory?
"Ghosts, I think it's time we talked about why you lied to us," Twilight growled. She sat down on the ground with her legs crossed.
"We had to," her Ghost replied. "We told you that."
"That's not good enough. We want to know the truth. Why did you lie to us? We were dead. We were killed by the Cabal, and we would have agreed even if you had told us that we were dead," Twilight ranted, her voice growing more and more unstable. "Why did you lie to us?"
"We were told to."
"By whom?" Rarity asked. "Who would tell you, beings of Light, to commit an act of Darkness such as lying?"
"The Nine," G-Evs answered.
"Who are the Nine?" Rainbow asked.
"We don't know," her Ghost replied. "Rumor has it they were the nine Warminds built by humanity in the Golden Age, but even that is just speculation. We know they exist, but we don't know what they are or why they are doing what they do."
"So essentially they are invisible puppet masters," Rarity huffed.
"Twilight," Pinkie said in a serious tone. "I think we should head back to the Tower."
------
Back in the Tower, the six found Shirska sitting on a bench next to the stairs leading down to the Vanguard offices. Upon seeing them, the Fallen stood and stepped over to the ponies. Wordlessly, he wrapped all four of his arms around Applejack, saying something in his native tongue, almost too softly to hear. All around them, Guardians looked on, some looking puzzled, others disdainful. Applejack couldn't truly blame them. The Fallen, as they understood them, were all enemies, often described as pirates with no sense of honor or duty. They had only ever seen them in combat, as enemies trying to kill them and their people. So to see one showing affection must have been quite troubling to their minds and their definitions of what the Fallen were. There was no doubt in Applejack's mind that this was their first time seeing a Fallen show anything other than disdain or fury or hatred towards anyone, especially a Guardian.
"I am glad you are safe," the Captain said as he pulled the other five into the hug with his massive arms.
"We're glad you're safe too," Applejack said. "Thanks for protecting us back there."
"You protect friends," he replied, "I protect friends. Is what friends for, yes?"
Applejack smiled and nodded. When Shirska let go, the seven headed down to the Vanguard office, where Arcite 99-40 watched in his cold metallic gaze. If Applejack were to hazard a guess, she would say that the Frame was glaring at Shirska. But that was of little concern.
"Hey look, the Six are back. How's the Stranger? Did you get their name? Are they a man or woman? Both? Neither?" Cayde-6 asked, skipping the greeting and going straight for business.
"Cayde, your mouth is running off again," Ikora Rey hissed at the Exo. "Let them give us the details when they've had a moment to breathe."
"I was just—"
A glance from the Warlock silenced the excitable Hunter.
"Our world was attacked by a contingency of Cabal in green colors," Twilight said, messing with the holo-table and pulling up an image of the Cabal they'd faced on their home from J-Ami's memory. "We found more Cabal with those same colors just hours ago on Venus below the Vex Gates." As she pulled up an image of the Cabal that Shirska had killed on Venus, the three Vanguard leaders watched her with undivided attention. "From what my Ghost knows about the Cabal, they come in four primary legions, marked by different colors: The Sand Eaters, Dust Giants, Siege Dancers, and Blind Legion. But none of them have this armor coloration, and none of them are on Venus."
"We've got a huge problem if the Cabal are on Venus as well," Zavala muttered under his breath.
"This legion has taken our home. But I didn't see their leadership on Venus. If I'm correct, then the contingency we found on Venus was there to report that we were the ones who made it off Equis, and not some other ponies," Twilight continued.
"But why you? What's so special about you that they sent a contingency just to check if you stole their Harvester?" Cayde-6 asked.
"We are the Bearers of the Elements of Harmony. On our home planet and in our home country, we were the six ponies capable of wielding the most powerful magical artifacts known to our planet: the Elements of Harmony. Legends say they can restore thousands of years of damage to a planet and any life inhabiting it," the unicorn answered. "I have a suspicion that the Cabal are fleeing from something. They have an enemy and they came to our home just to kill us so that our Ghosts could find us and make us Guardians."
"That's quite a theor—"
"I'm not done yet," Twilight growled at the Titan representative. "They also came to your system in hopes that they could acquire the aid of a Warmind."
"Why not go for one further away from humanity? Avoid the conflict, save lives?" Ikora Rey asked.
"They wanted to get close to humanity because they would need a human to gain the Warmind's trust. Humans built the Warminds. If they went to sleep and awoke to find humanity was extinct, why would they help any old stranger?" Twilight theorized. "If the Cabal are here for your Warminds and wanted us to be Guardians, then whatever's chasing the Cabal is closing in on us, and time is of the essence. We need to go back to Equis and find the Elements of Harmony. We'll need them if we're going to help you stop the Darkness."
"You said you needed to be level fourteen to stand a chance back home?" Cayde-6 asked. "Congrats. You're all level sixteen now. Arm up, get some rest. Your next mission is to find your Elements of Harmony, and I expect you to be at your most prepared to take on that task. Shirska will go with you."
As the seven turned to leave, Ikora Rey spoke, "Twilight? May I have a word with you?"
Twilight signaled the others to go on and rest, and stayed behind. She walked with the other Warlock to a private room that reminded her of her library at home. Books of all kinds lined the shelves, some in languages she couldn't discern. A dark wooden desk sat with one side against a wall, behind which was a tall bookshelf that had books sitting on top of it because there was no more room for them on the shelves. As Ikora sat down, she gestured for Twilight to do the same.
"I can sense that you're still reluctant to be a Guardian," Ikora said to the unicorn, catching her off guard. "Most Guardians do have to go through the grieving process to really come to terms with it, but for them it is much smoother."
"Did their Ghosts lie to them to get them to agree to become Guardians?" Twilight asked rhetorically, already knowing the answer.
"Your Ghost must have had a good reason to justify it. And your reluctance to be a Guardian shows that perhaps it was necessary," Ikora replied. "Have you asked your Ghost why it lied?"
Twilight sighed and shook her head, "Yeah, and it only said that it had to because someone told them to."
"Did it tell you who?" she asked.
"They called them, 'the Nine'," the unicorn answered.
The veteran Warlock froze up and stared at Twilight like she'd seen a phantom. "Thank you for your time. Go rest. You will need the energy."
------
Back in the ponies' room, Applejack and Rarity had since gone to sleep, both of them exhausted beyond belief. When Twilight returned, Rainbow and Pinkie gave her a hug and then went to their room to sleep as well. Now alone with Fluttershy, Twilight could feel that something was weighing on the pegasus' mind. Her eyes were constantly looking down, and she wasn't smiling. Her frown was enough to make Twilight worried, and when she saw the first tear roll down her cheek, Twilight felt her heart break. "Come here, Shy," she murmured, wrapping her arms around the pegasus and holding her close. She walked with her to their shared room and closed the door, keeping the light off, the sunlight from outside still enough to make a dim glow in the room. "It's okay. We're okay."
"Twilight," Fluttershy murmured between sniffles.
"Yes, Shy?" she asked.
"What I saw today... I-it... um... it got me thinking..." she started, fighting an uphill battle against sobs and sniffles and the lump in her throat. "I never got to tell you something before we..."
"Would you like to tell me now?" Twilight looked at Fluttershy, seeing how nervous she was beyond her normal social anxiety. There was something significant on her mind, something that could easily change the dynamics between them, and Twilight wanted to know what it was.
Fluttershy clamped her eyes shut and inhaled sharply before lunging at Twilight and pressing her lips against the unicorn's. At first Twilight's eyes widened in shock, but after a second, she closed her eyes and started kissing back. When Fluttershy pulled away, she softly apologized for her bold actions, but was silenced by Twilight. The unicorn smiled at her and said, "I want to hear you say it."
"I love you," she whispered.
"I love you too," Twilight mumbled as she wrapped her arms around the pegasus and kissed her again.
After a few minutes of kissing, the two finally shed their armor and took their showers, washing away the sweat and blood of the day's battles. Both of them thought to themselves about the other, and how they had failed to realize each other's feelings until after they'd died. They both berated themselves, blamed themselves, for being unable to express their feelings for each other. Had she been in a relationship with Fluttershy at the time, Twilight wouldn't have dared leave that bunker and put Fluttershy in danger like she did, and then perhaps they would all still be alive. Truly alive, not this strange un-death they were experiencing now. They could have still been ponies, living in Ponyville, the Cabal forced off Equis and the damage done by their arrival reversed. Hell, they could have gotten married, adopted foals and raised them. They could have had, no, made a life together. But both of them had been to shy, too afraid to act upon their feelings. They had wasted their lives.
When Fluttershy got out of the bathroom after her shower, she climbed into bed with Twilight and wrapped her arms around her. "I'm sorry I was too scared to tell you when we were alive..."
"We both were too scared. It's okay," Twilight murmured to the pegasus. "We can make the most of what we have now."
"But what if we die again?" Fluttershy shivered and cuddled up closer to Twilight.
Twilight kissed Fluttershy's forehead, "Then at least we had the courage to tell each other in our second lives."