Home Run propped up the Warframe pods against the school’s water tank before lowering Vauban’s helmet to wipe sweat off his brow.
“Didn’t think it would be this much work…” he muttered, looking out over CHS’ field. The rooftops sure had a good view of the houses around school.
“I apologize, Home Run,” his partner said in his ears. “But without proper repairs, my suit will not have the required strength to aid you.”
“Yeah. I figured, buddy.” Home Run hoped the others found what they were looking for in that Void out there. Fighting the rest of the battle like this wasn’t going to do him any good.
“You do not have to help, Home Run,” Eclair replied, fully enclosed in Nekros’ Warframe. “I can manage on my own. It is my job.”
“Nonsense,” he waved her off. “I can’t just sit around and watch you carry all these up here yourself.”
“I am an agent,” she reminded the baseball player. “Sometimes, one must spend time in the field. En solo. Besides, your friends could use your help, finding potential pilots.”
“Well…” Home Run rubbed the back of his head. “You see, I’ve only been at this school for like, a month, so I don’t know the others like Sunset and the rest.”
“A fair point.” Eclair returned to moving the pods, making sure they were all secured well against the tank. “But your help is no longer required. We have moved all of them.”
“Oh.” Home Run looked down the steps leading to the roof, then back at the pods. “Cool. Didn’t notice. So what now?”
“I guess we wait for your friends to return,” Eclair replied and folded Nekros back into the small badge on her coat. She sat down and leaned back against the wall and rested her head behind her hands. “Take a pause, Home Run. You look like you need it.”
“A… pause?” Home Run asked, receiving the nod from the grey-skinned agent. “If you insist.”
He folded out of Vauban and took a seat beside her, resting his head back against the cool surface of the wall.
“So, you say you were from another school?” the girl tweaked her head over to look at him.
“Yeah. I came from Fillydelphia State School. Do… do you know the place?”
“Fillydelphia? Yes. I’ve been there before. I’m afraid your school does not exist in my world, however.”
“I don’t know if there are the same, uh, ponies in your world, but back there, I had a couple of friends and teachers. Perhaps you might know some names?”
Eclair nodded. “Oui, I had some contacts in your city. Perhaps I may know them.”
Home Run thought before starting. It had been a while since he’d seen his friends in Fillydelphia. “Well, let’s see… There was Wind Skater, Grand Catcher, Sidewind. Those were my pals on the baseball team.”
Eclair closed her eyes, thinking back to her time in Prance. “Pardon, Home Run. I do not know those names.”
“Hmm… How about the teachers? There was Mr. Pen, Miss Mockingbird, Miss Magnets. Those were all awesome teachers. Oh, and I shouldn’t forget Principal Frost. He’s the one who recommended CHS after all.”
“Mockingbird, you say?” Eclair opened her orange eyes and flashed the baseball player a smile. “I did have a contact with that name. She’s a good source and a friend. Un bon ami.”
“That’s cool,” Home Run nodded. It seemed in Equestria, his old English teacher was a spy of sorts. Their worlds were similar, but not exactly. “Are you from Prance, Eclair? You sound like you are.”
“Oui,” she smiled and looked to the sky. “Good guess. I was born there, but I moved to Canterlot to become a guard.”
“Sounds like an interesting tale,” he chuckled.
“That might have to wait, Home Run.” Eclair suddenly stood up and folded her Warframe over herself. “Danger.”
“What?” Vauban quickly took over, enveloping himself over the boy and tossing their bodies over to the right, falling just under an arrow. Home Run could still feel the projectile above his back. “Whoa.”
“He’s here,” Vauban alerted. “I’ll contact the others. Keep an eye out, Home Run.”
The baseball player stood up and pulled out his jat kittag, while Eclair had grabbed for her ether reaper.
“Foolish Tenno…” the Stalker’s voice and face appeared on their visors. “Numbers will not win you this battle… Let me show you.”
Almost immediately as its face disappeared from their HUDs, the Stalker materialized between Home Run and Eclair in a puff of smoke, slicing in an arc with its scythe.
“Watch it!” Vauban took over and blocked with his hammer. Eclair already had her blade up, parrying the scythe away from her neck.
She pulled back a hand and thrust it forward, releasing a soul punch, knocking the Stalker off the roof in a single hit. Before she had a chance to recover from her stance, the rogue Tenno had returned, popping up behind her with a kick, knocking Eclair down.
Home Run stood at the ready with his hammer, but the Stalker didn’t focus on him. Instead, it went for the water tank and what rested against it.
“No!” Vauban yelled and moved the Warframe, chasing after the dark creature, but he wasn’t fast enough.
The Stalker stabbed its scythe through the first pod before pulling it out from the side, spilling fluid and wires all across the rooftop.
“Gah!” Home Run yelled as he swung the hammer one round before pounding it down over the Stalker’s head, but it grabbed the hammer’s head and stopped it.
Eclair came in from behind and sliced up with her scythe, but the Stalker turned around and grabbed the shaft of her weapon, holding it still.
“You serve a traitor. She has deceived many, but soon, it will all cease to matter.”
With another spin, the Stalker threw both Warframes and their operators away, flinging Home Run clear off the roof and to the ground below. He might’ve hit his head on the ground, but Vauban flipped him back to his feet right as he was about to.
“Thanks, buddy,” he breathed. “Where’s Eclair and Nekros?”
“I read they’re on the other side of your school building, but…” Vauban’s voice said with increasing urgency. “The pods. We need to get back! Now!”
“On it, buddy."
Home Run charged back next to the building and pulled out a bounce grenade, using it to launch himself back up to the roof in a single leap. But by the time he arrived, it was already too late.
“No no no…” Vauban raised a hand towards the destroyed pods. “We have failed…”
Appearing in fragments before being fully materialized, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Rarity and Fluttershy stood disoriented for a second before gaining their bearings on their new location.
“So this is it, huh?” Rainbow said, marveling at the shiny architecture.
The room they were in shone with white and gold, gleaming brightly all around them. It was as if the place was never abandoned.
“Welcome to the Void,” Princess Celestia said, appearing on their HUDs with her Lotus mask. “This place was once the ancient home of the Orokin, the race before you humans. Tread these halls carefully. They may be vacant, but traps and creations still run, active.”
“Well, that’s convenient,” Rarity groaned and pulled her paris bow from her back. “Well, that’s what we have this for, I suppose. Everyone set?”
“Are you kidding?” Rainbow Dash held back a laugh. “Of course! Let’s go, Zehpyr!”
And the rainbow haired girl was the first one off, running down a long tube into a bigger hall. Pinkie let out a big whoop before cartwheeling after her, leaving Rarity to push Fluttershy ahead of her, watching the rear.
The place around them was oddly quiet, with only the sound of their footsteps being heard. The next hall led out into an expansive room with three doors, one on each side.
“You sense that?” Trinity spoke in their heads.
“I see them, Trinity,” Mag replied. “Rarity, at the ready.”
“What?” was all she had time to say before one of the doors opened, revealing humanoid-like creatures, encased in silver. Immediately after spotting them, they opened fire with what looked like rifles in their hands. “What are those?!”
“The Corrupted,” Princess Celestia answered on their visors again. “Beings changed by the Void. They will try to stop you, but you must go through them to get to the vault.”
“Sounds easy enough!” Rainbow blasted up into the air before spinning her akstilletos in her hands.
The first wave of Corrupted had already fallen by the time she jetted forward, blasting through the door they had originated from.
“Rainbow!” Rarity shouted out, unsure if her friend had heard her. “Wait! Ah, whatever. Let’s go, girls. We need to keep up.”
“On it, captain!” Pinkie saluted and spawned four more clones of Mirage.
Together, they ran ahead, blasting Corrupted forces down with her boar, putting a great slash into their numbers. Rarity joined in, nocking an arrow. One Corrupted, looking oddly similar to a Grineer, ran at her with its gun raised, but Rarity let fly with her arrow, watching it sail for a second before embedding itself into the Corrupted’s chest, sending it flying against the far wall.
“Come on, Fluttershy!” she waved. “We need to keep moving.”
The shy girl was hesitant, but Trinity took over and ran ahead, twirling her bo staff between her hands. “I’ve got this, Fluttershy. Don’t worry. Just watch out for me.”
Trinity jumped in a circle and smashed her weapon into the heads of two Corrupted creatures that had heads like slugs, sending them crashing off a balcony. Rarity followed close behind, firing her arrows at incoming Corrupted. Three had almost got the jump on her, but Mag took over and suspended them with her skill before crushing them from within. The two had finally arrived through the door, watching Pinkie launch a Corrupted Grineer across the room with her shotgun before firing a prism across the room, disintegrating all the enemies in its path.
The girls took a few hits to their shields, but nothing life threatening. One Corrupted with a knife knocked Rarity over, but Mag used a pull and flung the creature over her head, sending it straight into one of Pinkie’s shotgun blasts.
“Thanks, Mag,” Rarity pushed her hair back and resumed firing.
“Anytime, Rarity.”
Rainbow Dash was nowhere in sight, but they could hear gunfire from down a staircase, so they followed it, hoping to find their friend closeby. Unfortunately, all they found was more Corrupted soldiers, fighting back against them with all they had.
“Is there no end to these things?” Rarity complained and crushed a few more with her skill.
“I-I hope there is…” Fluttershy whimpered as Trinity cast a blessing around the three of them before bashing a Corrupted under its jaw. “Eep! Nice one, Trinity…”
From above them, Corrupted of all shapes rained down towards them, leaping over the railing and taking the stairs, converging to their location.
“Where’d they all come from?” Pinkie asked as she took down three more. “It’s like they can just pop out of anywhere!”
Then Rainbow Dash was back, landing right in the middle of the Corrupted horde, sending most of them flying. She let loose a vortex, which took care of the remaining ones, while beckoning her teammates to move on.
“Go! I’ve got them distracted for now! Straight ahead, through that door!” She pointed to the large cylindrical object on the right.
“Right,” Rarity nodded and led the way, nocking another arrow into her bow.
The next two halls were surprisingly empty, with the exception of one or two Corrupted. Rainbow joined her generous friend in the front, showing the way.
“I think I found it earlier, when I was flying around,” she explained. “Just this way, down this slope.”
The next area was just one long slope, with doors on the left and right. Water poured from the ground just under their feet, flowing down the slope into a small pool at the bottom.
“This place is beautiful,” Fluttershy gasped in awe, but keep moving, fearing more Corrupted would appear behind them. “If only we had more time to look around…”
“Well, you could,” Trinity replied. “I could always fight for you while you look.”
“Uh… N-No thanks.”
They ran down to the next area, which was a wide squarish room with a second floor visible from where they were standing. Three doors in three of the walls led to places unknown, but on the fourth wall, something caught their attention.
“Is that it?” Rainbow pointed to a large semi-circular door with four large socket-like bulbs in it, along with a grey circle in the middle with a weird insignia on it.
“There it is,” Princess Celestia breathed and nodded on screen. “The vault.”
Rainbow pulled out the key from her side and looked at the vault door. The only one obvious place to put it was the grey circle in the middle. She had almost put it there when lasers pinging off the door in front of her, forcing her down into a crouch.
“Corrupted, incoming!” Pinkie yelled, splitting herself into more clones and fired back. “Dashie, get the key on the vault door!”
“Got it,” Rainbow nodded and placed the object in.
The key fitted nicely within the circle, and in a few seconds, the sockets in the doors spun once each before the door segmented away into three parts. Rainbow was the first in, gazing up at a giant statue of Mr. Loregiver’s Warframe: an excalibur. Between its hands stood a Warframe pod, almost identical to the other pods they had, but only with gold patterns across its casing.
“Found it!” she cheered, but then realized something. “Umm… How are we carrying this out of here?”
Zephyr took over and picked up the pod. “Like this, Rainbow Dash.”
“Great,” Princess Celestia gave them a smile. “Now get to extraction.”
When Rainbow had exited the small room, her friends had already taken down multiple Corrupted soldiers, but more were still pouring in from the three other doors in the room.
“Guys, you need to cover me!” she briefed, showing them the golden pod in her hands. “I can’t fire back like this. Can’t fly either.”
“Roger!” Pinkie shouted shrilly. “Go, my pink armada!”
Pinkie’s four other clones rushed in with their shotguns, carving a way through four-legged Corrupted creatures towards the entrance they had come from. Trinity leapt high into the air before diving down with a ground slam, scattering a few more Corrupted Grineer and another type that had a squarish helmet. Rarity joined in, using a shield polarize to restore her friends’ shields.
“Come on!” the party planner yelled with a huge wave for Rainbow Dash to hurry up.
“Takes time, Pinkie!” the athlete grunted, but kept a steady pace, somehow managing to avoid most of the rifle fire.
“You have a large assault wave coming from your right,” the white alicorn warned. “It’s the Corrupted.”
Gee, I would never have guessed… Rainbow Dash grumbled internally. She was probably just agitated from having to carry this heavy pod on her shoulders.
Zephyr swapped in for a second and kicked off the face of a grotesque Corrupted creature, lifting herself a good five feet in the air before landing at the top of the small staircase leading to the door. Pinkie Pie protected the rear, keeping the other Corrupted from entering the door until her teammates had proceeded out through the next door. She quickly hopped after them before throwing another prism towards the previous hall to slow the enemy down.
In the next room, Trinity led the group, taking a different path from the way they came. “The liset will be docked at the exit. It’s this way.”
“More Corrupted emerged from all around them, forcing the three girls to fight back while Rainbow ran on, carrying their only hope on her shoulders. If this didn’t get back to Earth, they were all going to be in trouble.
“Watch out!” Zephyr warned, but removed Rainbow’s leg a second too slow.
A pressure plate fell into the floor as the walls on the left and right opened up, revealing an array of movable laser discs, instantly activating behind Rainbow, one of them scorching a hole through her rainbow hair.
“Woah,” she jumped ahead a few steps and turned around. “Thanks, Zephyr.”
Some of the Corrupted were vaporized instantly, turned to ash by the lasers. Pinkie, Rarity and Fluttershy stood on the other side, still fighting off Corrupted forces. Rarity turned after letting loose another arrow, inspecting the laser trap. Mag took over for a while and fired a few arrows at the discs, disabling a few lasers, just enough for the girls to crawl underneath, also leaving enough to keep the other Corrupted out.
“You’re almost to extraction,” the masked alicorn appeared again. “Keep going.”
Rainbow was first through the rotating doors, opening to a wide darker room, with a long stairway at the other end, leading up to something that looked familiar.
The liset entrance.
“Come on!” Rainbow shouted back to her friends and took off down the steps. “We’re close!”
More Corrupted emerged from two doors in the final room, but Rarity took them down with a crush before the four girls got into their spacecraft one by one. Rainbow had somehow managed to squeeze the pod in before herself, securing it near the armory at the bottom before meeting the others in the main space.
“Hang on,” Celestia said as the liset began to leave the tower they were in. “Good work, team. You’ve secured an advanced pod. Something I had never been able to do.”
“What do you think this one does?” Rainbow asked, looking back down the slope where the pod lay.
“I don’t know, but Princess Celestia said it would give us an edge over the Stalker, soooooo… I think it’s going to be super awesome!” Pinkie bounced up and down.
“Slow yourself, Pinkie Pie,” Mirage complained, forcing the girl back to the ground. “I’m sure whatever Warframe is in that pod will bring us victory. The Lotus has never let us down before.”
With their prize intact, Zephyr went to the controls and set a course for home.
Deep in the Orokin tower, where the light did not shine, a pod with a red light stood, resting against a wall of black wires, slowly beeping with a rhythmic pace, before the light finally turned green, signaling its readiness.
Steam hissed out of the capsule as the door slid open, letting a lone figure fall to the floor, her hooves hitting down against the glassy floor with a loud thud.
She coughed, splurting fluid out of her mouth, struggling to breath as she fought for air. Then she noticed something.
She could breathe without having to. Breathe without her nose or mouth.
Odd...
The pony rose, noticing there was something wrong with her eyes. Across her vision, she could see blue lights and indicators, displaying something that read ‘shields’ and ‘health’, along with a circular icon on her right, like a little radar.
What is going on? Where am I? Who am I?
Suddenly, her body began moving, as if it were not her own. One hoof took a step forward, then another. Her metallic wings unfolded themselves behind her, lifting themselves to their maximum length, gleaming with a tinge of blue from the lights pulsing at their center.
Strange… I don’t remember having wings…
Her body gave itself a shake before taking more hoofsteps forward. The pony looked down, noticing they weren’t the same hooves as before, but now, they were metal, as if somepony had gone and replaced her old hooves with new ones.
W-What is happening to me? What am I?
Without warning, her head tilted up, staring straight at a reflection of what she could only assume was herself, or at least what was left of herself. Her eyes were golden, placed over blackened eyeballs. Her chin, ears, and body had been meddled with, almost fully replaced with more metal of white and gold.
Her mane, tail, horn, and face remained untouched, but she couldn’t recognize herself anymore. She had forgotten what she looked like, what her name was.
Then her question was answered as her mouth moved on its own, uttering words from a voice that wasn’t hers.
“I am Duality,” she said with a robotic-tuned voice. “And I will be your reckoning.”