//------------------------------// // Chapter 22: Party Crasher // Story: A Rift Between Worlds // by Cinders of War //------------------------------// The shadows surrounding the Stalker dissipated, revealing the rogue Tenno, still kneeling, it's expression unknown. "You go too, Home Run," Rainbow told her partner as they watched the smoke grow. "You're in no condition to fight." "I'm not leaving you," Home Run argued. "You know what it's capable of." "Just do it, Home Run," Rainbow gave him no time to answer, immediately folding Zephyr out, to the astonishment of most of the students there, and blowing Home Run back with a gust of wind. "Sorry, slugger. It's for your own good." "Let's take it down, Rainbow Dash," Zephyr sounded. The others gathered around Rainbow as the smoke began to clear, their Warframes already equipped. The athlete was surprised to see Loregiver and Eclair as she turned to make sure Home Run and Applejack weren't standing with them, not thinking they would be here for the event. Seeing Nekros brought back bad memories, but she quickly shook them off. The Stalker was not going to go easy on her like Eclair did. "Students!" It was Principal Celestia's voice. "Quickly find your way out of the gym. Do not panic! Move in an orderly fashion." Most of the students began clearing out as the shadowy figure stood up from its kneeling position and immediately chucking two throwing knives at the team, forcing them to get out of the way. The knives continued on, imbedding themselves in the wall on the far side, scaring a few students away from the main floor. “Princess, Flash!” Loregiver pointed to the panicking students before facing the Stalker. “Get the kids out of the battle! We don’t want any casualties!” “On it!” Flash saluted and dashed off with a speed ability, Twilight following behind. They headed to the nearest batch of students and tried to chase them off or wave them away. The dark Tenno immediately launched itself at Loregiver, swinging its scythe at his waist level. The teacher quickly brought his blade down vertically, blocking the slash, and swung it up, deflecting the Stalker’s blade, leaving it open to an attack from Eclair. The Eclipse guard spun her scythe and slashed at it, only for the Stalker to disappear in a puff of smoke, quickly reappearing on the other side of the gym, nocking an arrow into its bow. Rainbow shot at it with her akstilletos, forcing it to step aside, the arrow unfired. “I think we’re getting it!” Rainbow let out a whoop as she flew around the shadowy Tenno, firing continuously until her guns ran out of bullets. The Stalker saw its chance and lodged a throwing knife in Rainbow’s leg, forcing her crashing down, breaking the punch table in half as Rarity and Sunset fired their guns at it. “Medic! I’m down!” Fluttershy quickly ran over to help, casting a blessing over the Warframes in the area, healing Rainbow’s leg and boosting the armor of the others. The Stalker spun around an arrow Rarity shot and nocked its own, letting it loose at Eclair, only for the arrow to be cut down by Loregiver as he fired up a radial blind. The others took this chance to fire on the dark Tenno, pelting its armor with their projectiles. As the bullets touched its form, the armor seemed to swallow them, shadows spreading and forming around the bullet before pulling it into the darkness of its armor. They seemed to be hurting it, but not as much as they liked. “Is it even working?” Pinkie shouted over her shotgun’s fire. “Doesn’t look like it! Maybe we need something bigger!” “Just keep it up!” Rainbow answered, reloading both guns. “We’ll wear it out some time!” Without warning, the Stalker dashed forward in a slashing arc, launching Pinkie, Rainbow, Sunset, and Rarity flying across the gym. Pinkie broke the horse ice sculpture as she crashed into it, sending shards sliding across the floor, while the others created three new holes in the gym walls. Loregiver and Eclair charged at the Stalker, gaining as much distance as they could before it started throwing daggers at them. Both pilots swung their weapons skillfully, deflecting the sharp projectiles as they connected with their weapons. “Keep pushing, Loregiver,” Excalibur encouraged. “I can feel its vibrations. It’s weakened. We can do this.” Loregiver nodded and launched himself up, spiralling down to the Stalker, blade first. The dark Tenno looked at him and quickly sidestepped, avoiding the skana as it pierced itself in the wooden floor. The Stalker’s movement gave Eclair a small space to throw a soul punch at it, sending it flying onto the stage, impacting the back wall, sending cracks snaking up to the ceiling. “Good shot,” Loregiver acknowledged as he pulled his sword out of a wooden board. The Stalker quickly recovered and snaked its way across to the curtains, firing off two arrows on its way there. Both Equestrians easily deflected them, making their way towards the Tenno, but when they arrived, the Stalker was no longer on the stage. “quoi…?” Eclair lowered her stance as she scanned her surroundings. Twilight and Flash arrived back near the broken punch table, signalling to Loregiver and Eclair that the other students had been moved outside. “Careful!” the history teacher warned. “It’s still in here somewhere. Watch your backs.” Just then, the Stalker materialized behind Twilight and Flash, stabbing back with one of its daggers while swinging his scythe in a wide arc. Volt and Nyx took over their pilot’s movements and parried accordingly, Nyx jumping away and firing her sybaris while Volt slashed up with his nikana. “Ooh, close one there!” Flash whistled. “Thanks, Volt.” “Always keep your eyes and ears open, Flash Sentry,” Volt reminded. “You’re lucky I can take control.” Flash fired a shock at the Stalker, sending electric coursing through its body. It didn’t seem to bother it much, but the Stalker still let out a groan of annoyance as it dashed past him, a cut appearing along Flash’s  leg. “Agh!” the guitarist gasped before falling. “Flash!” Twilight quickly got in front of him and raised her rifle. The Stalker slid to a stop before tossing as many knives as it could towards the pilots. Twilight stood paralyzed, but Nyx took over again and activated an absorb, sending Twilight levitating into a green, spinning orb. “Don’t forget your abilities, Twilight Sparkle.” The daggers broke apart as they were absorbed, Twilight’s orb gaining power. “Time to give it a taste of this!” Twilight smiled before releasing the energy, sending it blasting out towards the Stalker, damaging the floorboards and cloth decorations on the way. To her horror, the Stalker brought up an absorb of its own, taking in all the power Twilight threw at it. “Oh dear…” “Twilight!” Nyx quickly warned. “Get out of there!” Twilight took a few steps back, but remembered Flash, turning around to see him trying to stand on his sword. “Go,” Volt told them in their HUD. “We’ll slow you down.” “I’m not leaving you, Volt,” Nyx argued, taking control of Twilight’s arms and hauling him and his pilot up; she lifted him from under his arm. The Stalker pulled its body together, ready to release the energy build up, but before it could do so, Loregiver jumped in and brought his sword up in a blocking stance, taking the main force of the energy. He held out as long as he could, but he hadn’t had time to get into a good stance. The energy threw him across the room, sending him bouncing like a pebble on water across the floor and stopping at one of the gym’s pillars, breaking it down when he impacted with it. “Loregiver!” Eclair quickly made her way over to the rubble. The Stalker got back on its feet and advanced the weakened Twilight and Flash, who had also taken a small amount of damage from the blast, spinning its scythe in its hand. “Your turn…” It stalked towards the two downed pilots, ready to end the lives of two more Tenno, when something charged right into it, pushing it through the gym and ramming it into the wall. “Who was that?” Flash asked as Twilight helped him up again. “Don’t tell me…” Twilight said, watching the figure stand up, hoping her eyes were wrong. “Applejack?” Rhino stood on the far side, getting into stance as the Stalker swung itself back up with its hands. Just then, another Warframe jumped it, spinning like a tornado before swinging his hammer at the Stalker. It blocked with its scythe, but the impact still sent it flying to the roof, denting one of the lights before sending sparks down along with it. “Applejack! Home Run!” Rainbow flew in from one of the small holes in the wall. “I told you to stay away! You could get hurt!” “We’re not leaving you,” Home Run said sternly, hauling up his hammer over his shoulder, sparks exiting his joints. “That’s final.” “We can’t jus’ sit back and watch y’all get hammered,” Applejack raised her fists as the Stalker stood back up. “What Applejack said,” Rhino added on. “You shall not see me *bzzzzzt* sitting around while you get damaged.” Just then, the rest of the team returned, surrounding the Stalker as it readied its stance, lifting the scythe handle above its head, the blade facing down. “Give up!” Rainbow taunted, lifting both guns to its face. “We’re too awesome for you. Just leave! We don’t need to fight.” The Stalker spun on a heel, swinging its weapon in a arc, sending all the pilots and their Tenno flying back across the gym. Fluttershy quickly cast a blessing before hitting into one of the pillars at the back, healing everyone’s injuries. She turned her head as Eclair walked over, supporting Loregiver from under one of his arms. “I do not think we can win. Not without Loregiver,” Eclair muttered, looking at the shadowy figure prepare a combat stance. “We must retreat.” “I c-couldn’t agree more, Eclair,” Fluttershy firmly grasped at her staff. “But it’ll just follow us…” "Tenno, pilots! Are you all alright? I need all of you to go to the mirror!" Celestia's face appeared on their HUDs, wearing her Lotus mask. "I've already prepared the space for you, but you must go now!" Before anyone could reply, a smell began entering their noses before thick, blue smoke began pouring across the area. “Where is this coming from?” Rarity coughed as she looked around. “This way!” The team turned to see a human silhouette, standing near the front doors, beckoning them with a hand to get out. “Perfect!” Eclair voiced and headed for the exit with Loregiver, the others eventually following behind. Home Run was the last out, looking to the figure by the door to see who had popped the smokey effects, shocked to see it was one of the students. “Trixie?!” Home Run stopped in his tracks. “Don’t stop now!” she hissed and pulled him towards the exit. “The great and powerful Trixie did not use her smoke bombs for you to waste them!” Home Run didn’t need to be told twice, quickly picking Trixie up in his arms and taking off towards the mirror, where the others were already waiting. “Trixie?” Pinkie jumped forward, lowering her shotgun. “What are you doing here?” “Trixie wanted to see what all the fuss was about,” Trixie huffed as Home Run set her down. She hurled another handful of smoke bombs towards the gym. "And it looks like it's a good thing she did." “Guys!” Sunset barked as she took a step through the mirror. “Less talk, more walk! We’ve got to get out of here before the Stalker figures out what we’re doing.” “Trixie, come with us,” Home Run beckoned for her. “It’s not safe here. At least not now.” The team wasted no time, getting to the safety of Twilight’s palace. After making sure everyone was through, Twilight pulled the book off her machine, preventing anyone else from entering Equestria. "This is amazing!" Trixie grabbed at her face. "Of all Trixie's years alive, she has never done this trick before!" "This is where I'm from," Twilight said as she walked out of Nyx. "Twilight Sparkle!" Trixie gasped. "So all these... things are from your world?" "Sorta." The team gathered around Loregiver as Eclair set him down in a corner, allowing him to rest his back against the wall. “Thanks, Eclair.” “How’re you feeling, Mr. Loregiver?” Rarity lowered her helmet. “I’m afraid Excalibur’s been damaged.” The Warframe folded away from him and stood on its own for a second before dropping to one knee. “That Stalker knows what it’s *bzzzzzzzzt* doing. It’s tough. I’m afraid we won’t be able to *bzzzzzzt* fight at full capacity.” “What are we going to do?!” Fluttershy turned around and grabbed Sunset by the shoulders, raising her voice slightly. “If Mr. Loregiver can’t fight, how are we supposed to win?” “We’ll figure it out, Fluttershy. Don’t worry.” Sunset comforted her friend. "Home Run. Applejack." Rainbow lowered her helmet and stomped towards the two as they exited their damaged Frames. "I told you two to stay away! What if... What if you got hurt!" “We had it, Rainbow.” Applejack tried to get her point across. “Yeah, if we didn’t show up…” Home Run added in. “It might have been a different outcome.” “But you could have died!” Rainbow snapped at them. “I won’t lose you both. And you, Home Run! Do you know how many close calls you’ve had? Too many! You can’t keep doing this to me!” Home Run understood how she felt and softened down. He felt Death’s grip one time too many, and it was a feeling he didn’t want to experience again, but he still knew he had a job to do, and he wasn’t going to sit by and let his friends take the blow for him. “I’m sorry, Rainbow. It’s just… I can’t let you all get hurt while I sit by and watch. I’m sure Applejack feels the same.” He stepped forward and put his arms around her. "But... I'm sorry for worrying you. I didn't think about that." “Home Run’s right,” Applejack tried to convince her friend. “We might be damaged at the moment, but we’re not going to let the same thing happen to all of you.” "There must be something we can do..." Sunset tried to think. "Every time we go against this Tenno, a few of us get injured. We need to find another way." "That is why I called you all here." Everyone turned as Princess Celestia entered the room with Princess Luna following a few steps behind. "Princess." Eclair quickly knelt down, deactivating her helmet. “Principal Celestia?” Trixie asked as her mind tried to comprehend what she was seeing. “A… a pony? With wings? And a horn?” “Actually, it’s Princess Celestia,” the white alicorn chuckled. "Principal Celestia is your world's counterpart of me." "So there's a... Trixie here as well?" "Yes, that's right." “Princess,” Eclair called from her kneeling position. “What do we do now? Loregiver is in no position to fight. Without him, I’m afraid we’re vaincu. Defeat is only imminent.” “That is why I have called you all here…” Celestia let out a huge sigh and a pause before starting. “I’m afraid I haven’t been all that truthful again… There’s another secret I haven’t shared with anypony but my sister.” Luna looked like she was disappointed in her sister, but coughed and resumed her stern expression. The team looked at Celestia, waiting for her to speak. "I... didn't create the Tenno or their Warframes..." “Wait… what?” Rainbow asked, stepping forward, making sure her ears had heard the princess right. “But if you didn’t make these awesome guys… then who did?” Celestia walked to one of the pods and gazed inside, looking back to ancient times. “I found them. In the Void. They were leftover from an ancient civilization known as the Orokin.” “Orokin?” Loregiver raised his eyebrows and creased them. “Why, I do not believe I’ve heard of them.” “They predate us, Loregiver,” Celestia continued, walking into the center of the room to begin her story. “When I had found the Void, I searched through its great halls, looking for anything I could find that would help me in my fight against our spacial enemies. It was then that I found these pods. Tenno, and their Warfames, lying dormant within them.” “So you brought them back?” Home Run asked, intrigued in the story. “How’d you get them to help you?” “I reprogrammed them. With the help of... another pony. We made the Tenno answer to only one master. The Lotus. That was where I created the mask. It helped me watch over them, while also disguising myself so my enemies wouldn't know where to look." "Woah nelly, that's a lot a information to take in," Applejack sat down on the floor, trying to wrap her mind around this world's past. "So... Uh... Who was this other pony ya worked with?" Celestia looked away with a pained face. "The Void is not a safe place. When the system had learnt we took the Warframes, they sent their minions at us. I managed to return to Equestria with them, but the other pony... She... She didn't make it." Tears filled the alicorn's eyes as she recalled that painful memory. "It was my fault. I brought her there to help me. She always had a knack for inventions and gadgets... But she wasn't ready for what the Void had for her... If only I could see her again. To tell her I'm sorry..." Luna sighed but trotted over and wrapped a wing around her sister. "What's done is done, dear sister, but I do hope you don't leave any of these children behind." "Wait, you want us to go in there?" Rainbow asked, watching the white alicorn nod her head slowly. "But so what if we find more Warframes? That Stalker is tough. We need upgrades!" "That's right, Rainbow Dash," Celestia wiped her eyes before continuing. "The void held more than just those Warframes. Inside these vaults... There were special Warframes. Ones I never took. It would've taken me too long to get them and they could only be opened with void keys. Things I didn't really have back then. I believe whatever you find behind those vault doors will be enough to stop this new foe." "Sounds like a plan," Sunset shrugged and turned to her friends. "What do you all think? I mean, sure, it'll be dangerous, but we've gotta try." "I'm in," Rainbow hopped off a wooden chair and joined Sunset. "Me too," Rarity nodded. "We can't let this thing do as it pleases." Soon, the girls had stood and joined Sunset, defiant looks on their faces. Home Run smiled at the thought. Each and every one of them were willing to sacrifice themselves to protect the ones they loved. "Count me in," Home Run pointed at himself. "It's what I signed up for in the first place." "So what's the plan, princess?" Twilight walked up to her mentor. "How do we get to the Void?" Celestia projected a magical image with her horn, displaying pictures of some sort of spaceship. "This is a liset. It's meant for a single Tenno and Warframe, but it seats four at maximum. The liset will take you to the Void." "Then what do the rest of us do?" Sunset asked. If only four could go, the rest had to stay behind to fend off the Stalker. With their team divided, they had even less of a chance to come out of the fight with that dark Tenno. "You have to awaken the rest," Loregiver replied from his resting position. "The rest of you should take the pods and find more pilots to join the fight. Perhaps with numbers, you can hold that Stalker off." “Well, I’m definitely going to the Void!” Rainbow quickly shot up a hand eagerly. “I’ll lead the squad there! Who else is coming with me?” “I shall accompany you, Rainbow,” Rarity walked up and flipped her hair back with a hand. “You may require my expertise when you enter that place.” “Settled! Anyone else?” Rainbow looked around, her expression beckoning her friends to join her. “Ooh! Ooh!” Pinkie hopped up and down, barely landing before jumping up again each time. “Pick me! Pick me!” “Right, Pinkie should go,” Sunset nodded. “With her mirror skill and guns, she’s gonna deal some damage for sure.” “Umm…” Fluttershy mumbled, putting her fingers together. “Maybe… I should go too…? To provide some healing, just in case.” “That’s a good idea!” Rainbow put an arm around the timid girl. “So there we have it! We’ll go. We’ll find the Warframes and teach that Stalker what true friendship is!” “The horror! The horror!” Roseluck looked at Lightning Rain, then at the ruined gym before fainting into Lightning’s arms. The students had walked back into the gym after the others and the shadowy figure had left, wanting to see what had happened. Craters peppered the floor, while the walls were filled with holes. The punch table lay on the ground, broken in two, while rubble dotted out the entire length of the gym. "Man..." he muttered as he half-supported Rose. "The place is trashed." "Eeyup," Big Macintosh said as moved to put the table on its side. “It’s going to take ages to fix up!” Hoops complained on Lightning Rain’s left. The boy's hair was a mess, with bits sticking out all over the place. “Where are we going to play now?” "Basketball is the least of your worries now, Hoops," Spitfire said as she and Soarin joined him, the other boy putting a hand on his shoulder. Part of her blue dress had been torn vertically, probably from something landing on it. "There are other things out there. Things that might kill us." "Spitfire's right," Soarin added. "And our friends, the Rainbooms, are once again part of all this. What do you think those things were?" "I'll tell you what they were." All eyes turned to Jetstream as he strolled in, trying his best to look tough and confident. “Well, now that we’ve got a moment to calm down, I think we all can look at the facts. One, our school was once again attacked by a something. We’ll call it the Creeper, because it reminds me of ol’ Lightning here-” “Hey!” "Well, it's true," Jetstream continued as Lightning fumed beside him. "Anyway, it's obvious what that thing was. It was a robot." "Really," Cold Wind walked in supporting her brother; the neighgagger having sprained his ankle on the way out. "Could you go one day without some nonsense? I'm sure it was just a guy in a suit." "This is so going on neighgag." The sprain didn't seem to affect Heavy Wind's psyche one bit as he took a few pictures with his phone. “Could a guy in a suit have done all this?” Jetstream waved his hand at the wrecked gymnasium. “Yes!” everyone chorused back at him. “Look, Jets." Lightning gently set Rose on the ground. "We’ve seen much weirder things done by people who weren’t robots, and this Creeper thing didn’t even look like a robot." "Yes it did!" Jetstream pointed a finger at him. "I know a robot when I see one, and that thing was a robot!" "Look, everyone." Sundown stepped in before their conversation could escalate into another fight. "It doesn't matter what that Creeper was. It destroyed the gym. It's dangerous. What else do we need to know?" Apple Bloom walked up to the shaven-headed boy. "What Ah want to know is what my sister and her friends have to do with all this." "Eeyup," Big Mac seconded as he carried the remains of the punch bowl away. "True..." Jetstream put his chin in the curve of his hand. "They always seem to be the center of attention when weird things happen..." "Home Run too," Lightning Dust said as she dusted dirt off her dress as she stopped next to her brother. "He turned into one of those things too." “Is he a robot too?” Charly asked, his white suit blackened with dirt and rubble in a few spots. “I doubt that…” Soarin mused. “Though, we should ask them sometime. Something’s definitely afoot.” “You don’t say…” Lightning Rain panned an arm around the destroyed gym. "Alright, that's about it, kids..." Mr. Pierce walked into the middle of the crowd, Principal Celestia following behind looking almost uncharacteristically furious. "Discuss what happened away from here. In your homes, on your way back. I declare this dance over. Have a nice rest of the evening kids. I need to take care of some business first." The computer teacher waited until the students started leaving before moving off on his own. "Well, that's that, I suppose," Jetstream said as he followed Lightning Rain out, an arm around his sister. "We'll duel this out some other time, eh?" "Yeah," Lightning stared at him as he carried Rose, still unconscious from the disaster. "Just you and me." "I'll send you and Rose home, Jets," Lightning Dust told them as they headed to the car. "We'll have to find some other time to dance, huh?" "I'm free next Tuesday!" the baseball player smiled, pulling out his rose, its stalk broken, and sticking it in his mouth.