A sword, NOT in the stone...

by Dunking monkey

With blade in hand....

"Nothing is so strong as gentleness. Nothing is so gentle as real strength."- Frances de Sales

Ex awoke with a slow trickle of willpower. He had fallen asleep while meditating again. Then again, he killed more than a hundred or so Changelings, and was nearly ended by their leader. He shook his head, glad that he made it out of that alive, and contemplated his new situation. He was now a Guardian Tenno. Said Tenno were highly skilled, and guarded VIPs in the Old War.

With a mental chuckle, he extended his legs and once again touched the ground. When a Tenno meditates….They like to show off a bit, floating a foot off the ground usually. He had done the same in the back of his Liset, which was given permission to hover a good ten feet above Applejack’s barn. As he started to walk into the armory section of the ship, his Cephalon chimed in, wishing him a good morning, and letting him know of a few new updates.

His clan had donated more than several weapons of different types for his use, as well as having set up a small supply line for every month or so in case he wanted to build something to keep busy.

Ex sighed, and then let out a quiet chuckle. His clan was an odd one alright. He looked to the empty Incubator off to the right of the ship, next to his Weapon Modification station, then to his left, to the empty Sentinel station and Foundry, and lastly, to his far left, the relic station. He wouldn’t be closing any rifts any time soon it seemed.

He stepped into the armory, and watched the holo-display appear before him and update.with the new weapons. An impressive array to be sure. With a mental smile, he sent orders to his Modification station, giving it a long list of work on all the new weapons.

While it whirred and worked, he traded out his kunai knives for a pair of AKMagnus. The twin, revolver like pistols settled onto the fin-like protrusions on his hips, magnetizing to his warframe and ready for use. Making sure their mods were stable, he then decided it was high time he changed how his warframe looked. Opening up the armory’s color system, he couldn’t help but feel necessity for this. While the default colors of his warframe were decent, he needed a different solution, so that the inhabitants-sorry, Ponies, would know it was him, in case another Tenno using an Excalibur came along.

First, he changed the primary color from a light grey to a nice, smooth black, changing most of his helmet, his chest, most of his arms and legs. Easy to pick him out from the crowd of colorful beings, but hard to see if he didn’t want to be found. The secondary was changed to the old primary, merely adding some detail around the parts of the warframe that looked like armor, and the back, which looked like it was exposed, when it was truly as much armor as his front.

He left the tertiary color as it was, merely leaving the mantle piece the dull gray it was, seeing as it blended well. As for the accents, he changed those to a midnight blue, and left the energy color as it was. Why Tenno felt the need to change that was beyond him. With a few commands, his weapons took on the same color schemes. With a mental check, and making sure that he wasn’t forgetting anything. The Foundry was silent, and the only sounds in the ship were the ship itself and the Mod station working its ass off.

With a chuckle, he went into the upper part of the ship, to the Star Chart, and sat on his legs, and made a few hand motions the Ship was familiar with. Within seconds, the floor opened up, and he slid down and got into the ready position. Tenno prefered to leave their ships like this. Grabbing ahold of the two rods as he magnetized to the ship, the cylinder turned over, exposing him to the barn below, before releasing him. Doing a flip, he landed lightly on his feet as the ship closed back up and continued to hover.

Ex stood up, almost reached for his weapons, but pushed his instincts and training aside, and merely dropped from the roof of the barn, making his way in the direction of the house on the property. He was pleased to see the trees growing as such. The trees he was used to seeing were either overgrown giants, or grown in controlled environments It was refreshing to see some well taken care of apple trees on this peaceful planet.

As the farmhouse came into view, Ex broke into a slight jog, easily making his way up to the front of the house, and immediately came face to face with an elderly mare of light green, with tired, amber eyes that pierced to his soul. She wore a blue blouse, with a long white skirt, and a frilled, yet worn, white apron over those. Her hair was done up in a practiced bun as she gazed upon Ex coming up the steps. “.....So, yer the one who saved my granddaughters last night? Excalibur, from what Aj tells me?” She asked in her aged and experienced voice.

Ex put his fists together, and bowed to the elderly mare once, then nodded as he straightened out. The Elderly mare gazed at him warily for a few moments longer, before smiling softly, her gaze turning just as soft as she stood up with support from a well-worn wooden cane. “Welp. I guess I owe ya thanks, sonny. I’m Granny Smith. Just call me Smith.” She said, her bones creaking gently from her movements.

Ex sighed softly, before speaking in his gentle voice. “I like to speak often, Miss Smith, but call me Ex, as my friends do.” When Granny Smith raised her brow, her smile grew to a smirk.

“Well, do you know sign-language?” Ex wish he had eyes to blink. He grinned in his head as he quickly used sign language to tell her, ”Why yes, I do.” Granny chuckled and beckoned him to follow her inside. Ex was quick to rush up the steps, and hold the door open for her. She nearly burst into laughter at that. “Well I’ll be! What a fine gent you are!” She commented as she headed inside, and to a large oak-wood table in the middle of the house.

Ex shut the door softly, then followed her to the table, taking a seat across from her. ”How do you know sign language?” he signed. Granny rolled her eyes and crossed her arms on the table, keeping her elbows off. “Ex, my boy, I used to run Sweet Apple Acres. I traveled all over, worked and did business with all kinds of ponies and such. I learned sign language as a courtesy not only to those who needed to use it when buying from me, but to those I did business with….And also a precaution in case any of my family members needed to do so as well. Thankfully, I’ve not needed to use it. Doubt my bones could handle it at this point.”

Both of them chuckled at that remark. Ex had nothing but respect for this mare so far, for how hard she seems to have worked throughout her life. After a few minutes to calm down, Ex signed, "Where is Applejack now, by the way?” Granny grunted and craned her head, just in time for the door to open, with a sweating Applejack holding it that way as she and a taller Equine walked in behind her. He was big, red, and had sandy-orange hair. Both were staring at the Tenno sitting at the table, apparently having a conversation with their Grandmother. Said Tenno waved at the duo, before tilting his head at the red giant, while also taking better stock of Applejack, as he didn’t last night.

Both wore plaid shirts. Aj wore a brown one, and the male wore a darker version. Both also wore workers jeans, and dark brown boots. Applejack took off her stetson and fanned herself with it. “Well I’ll be! Ex, is that you? I thought yer armor was a different color?” She stated in confusion. Ex signed to Granny, and the elder mare chuckled before turning to her grand children.

“He changed the color this morning is what he said. Big mac, this here is Ex, the young fella we have to thank for saving both AJ and AppleBloom last night.” Big Mac, finally let his confused look fade, and walked over, gently putting out a hand to shake, to which Ex gladly stood, and shook firmly. “Thank you, Ex. Because of you, I didn’t have to lose them both in a day,” Mac said in his deep, yet gentle voice.

Ex released his grip, and gave a slight bow, before looking to Applejack. He noticed the apple shaped pendant on her neck, and pointed at it with a tilt of his head. Aj followed his finger, then chuckled. “Ah, yeah, this ol’ thing. The girls and I had em made. We don’t have the originals anymore, but they’re good for memories. They represent what Element of Harmony we stand for. I stand for Honesty.”

Ex had read-well, not exactly read, but scanned-a book on the subject. Only five were mentioned, and a mysterious sixth. Honesty seemed like a decent trait, however. For now, he didn’t question it further. He just nodded, tilted his head for a few seconds, then made his way to the door. Aj grabbed his shoulder before he got there. “Woah there buddy! Don’t ya wanna eat something first?”

Ex silently chuckled, before using a hand to make an eating motion, then wagging his finger no, like he did with Rainbow last night. Applejack gave a new confused face. “....Ya don’t eat…?”

Ex didn’t give her time to ask why. He slipped from her grasp, waving to all three, before popping open the door and dancing outside while she futilely tried to grab him again. “Hey! Git back here Ex!” Ex laughed loud enough to be heard on a gust of wind, before turning to the road leading out of the acre, and getting into his Old Runner’s stance. One of the only few things he remembered from a time long since gone, before breaking into a mad sprint like the crack of a whip.

Steel, flesh, and will drove him as fast as he could, at which the speed would easily out run anyone on land with an abundance of ease. His recorder was going once more, the recording and the mission that lasted the whole of yesterday was easily counted as an amazing success. As the farmhouse faded behind him….He started to slow, ever so much, until he reached a steady, decent walking pace. The scenery was just too astounding to the Tenno used to seeing war-torn worlds and colonies of metal and odd shaped buildings, military compounds, and the like.

“When I upload this for all Tenno to see,” He started, making sure to get as much of the scenery as he could, even spinning about to get the scenery behind him, before turning back around, “I hope that all of you can appreciate it as it is. As the Guardian for this world….Not a thing I would want to change about it.”

With that tidbit out of the way, he continued on with following the road, passing by a large red building, with a playground next to it. He took a long few seconds to record it, before heading off again, eventually coming to a small cobblestone bridge that allowed passage over a small river. He remembered passing over it last night, but was forced to keep focused on the mission. As he gripped the side and peered, he marveled at the clear, spring like water, also flowing naturally and not in a controlled environment. So calm, and peaceful, yet ever shifting.

After standing there, staring at the reflection of his warframe for a few minutes, Ex pushed away from the side of the bridge and continued on his way to the town. He eventually came upon, and zoomed in on, the town, which for now, was crawling with guards, whom were in the midst of checking all the homes, buildings, and business for any of the remaining changelings. “Currently, these guards are the local defense, and are rooting out any of the enemy from last night, classified as Changelings. They are indigenous to the planet as far as I know. Most of them were killed last night, but stragglers remain.” He really didn’t want to speak, but if ever more Tenno from other clans were to come, or need to take his place for whatever reason, this information would help them.

He climbed atop a roof, and ducked into an alleyway, swiftly using back roads and alleyways until he came into sight of the castle once again.Except now, there were guards all over the place. A sinister thought came into the Tenno’s mind, and if Ex had a thought, he’d be grinning mischievously. He decided to test how how good these guards were at spotting him…

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Twilight was double checking every book in her library….Ok, more like quadruple checking. Spike was yawning in a corner. It was well into the noon of the day, and after briefing guards, stressing NOT to attack Ex or try to arrest him, and making sure her friends were all okay again, she decided to revisit the room that seemed to have started it all. No matter how many times she looked over the place, Ex had left not a SPECK of dust, anywhere to be seen. The books were just...Perfectly organized and handled. It was just, truly astonishing! Course, she had to move the cleaning products back into the closet they came from, and had to get rid of the makeshift incense, but it was trivial at best.

As she was near finishing the check, the door was burst open, Shining striding inside. “Twily? The castle might’ve been infiltrated.” Twilight frowned at that, and turned to her brother.

“How so, Shiny?” He beckoned her to follow, and as she left, Spike followed suit, stuffing his claws in his cargo pants while Shining began to explain the situation. “We found one of the windows open, and more than several guards reported what they thought was a shadow moving around the outside of the castle.” He explained, bringing them into the hallway with the open window. Spike had went through his mental map of the place, and as they got to the window, he deadpanned.

“Oh you have got to be bucking kidding me.” Twilight spun on him in an instant. “SPIKE! Language!” He recoiled only slightly. “Sorry Twi, but if my hunch is correct, I already know who it is.”

His brother and sister both stared at him with the same deadpan expressions he wore a few moments ago. Spike rolled his eyes and pointed to the window. “I’m Twi’s assistant. I’ve got the whole castle memorized in my head, and THIS particular window, was opened by someone yesterday. Here’s a hint: He saved us after he wiped the floors with Shining.” That got a blink from Twilight, and a recoil from Shining.

They all perked up however, at the sound of soft clapping. The echo of the hallway however, made it extremely hard to pin down. When the clapping ended, a soft thud sounded from near the window, causing all three to turn back to it, and see Ex standing there, yet all of them blinking.

Shining outright glared at the Tenno, while Twilight studied him anew with awe. Spike was grinning all cocky like. He was right this time~ Ex looked to the small Dragon, and after a few moments of staring, turned, and clapped once more, nodding his head ever so slightly. That just got Spike to grin even more. “Man, you are just making my days here! Nice to finally meet you, I’m Spike.”

The Tenno bowed his head, and then let out a sigh. “Call me Ex. Guess I have to use my voice more often while I’m here.” Spike and Shining stared, for a few moments, before Twilight started circling the Tenno, before stopping in front of him, staring at him in curiosity. “Ex, did you change your armor color somehow? And what’s with the weird things on your hips?”

Ex was silent for a few seconds, and those tidbits had put Shining on his guard….before the Tenno sighed, slumping a bit. It was a few more seconds before he straightened up and shrugged. “Yes, I changed my colors, for several reasons. Also, the items on my sides are different weapons from what I had last night. The hope is that I won’t need to use them as the Guardian Tenno.” He explained, crossing his arms. Twilight blinked, then crossed her arms. “How’d you met my brother last night?” She asked suspiciously of the Tenno. Ex titled his head, before chuckling.

“Well, he and his four guards-whom I was severely curious about and why they looked like they were made of crystal- decided to TRY and arrest a Tenno. I proceeded to exploit the openings in their stances and reaction times without using any of MY weapons. I did, however, take a spear from one of the guards, and use it against the rest, before using the twin axes of a female guard. Hen I blinded you all, and jumped out the window I came in from, hence, how Spike figured out I broke in…..Again.” IT was a long winded explanation, but it had the effect. Shining facepalmed alongside Twilight, while Spike was chuckling happily.

“S-still think he’s a c-changeling, Twi?” He asked through his chuckling fit. Twi removed her hand from her face and glared at her assistant, before looking to Ex. “Sorry about that Ex. After last night-” Ex cut her off with a raise of his hand and a slight bow of his head. “Do not worry, Twilight. I understand….Now that I am here, I was wondering if you might help me. Most of the populace is scared from last night, no doubt. Having another being be seen on the streets, one they never heard of and know nothing about, would cause quite a panic.” The Tenno crossed his arms as he finished explaining his predicament.

Twilight looked to her two brothers, then back to Ex, smiling gently. “Well, some of the populace seems to know you as a good guy already. Sure, they don’t know your name, but the Crusaders spread word about how you saved them and Sweetie Belle. And Rainbow is bound to brag and spread word about how amazing you were during the fighting. But you DO still need to be fully introduced, to stop any panic from spreading,” She went on, resting her chin on her balled up hand. “I guess we can do an announcement. But wrangling up the whole town right now would give any changelings a chance to get away. It’s a predicament for now, for sure.”

Shining frowned heavily and nodded. “Yes, she’s right. While we have spells to find hidden Changelings, and an abundant amount of troops in the area, A changeling could very well easily dress up as an officer, or a group of them as a squad and say they were reassigned to a post to relieve the sentries, even draft up documents and fake orders almost perfectly. Then when he real orders will have come through, they’ll all have gone through the way that they themselves made.”

Ex listened carefully as the situation, and the problems along with it, were explained in full. He ended up rubbing the chin of his warframe in thought. He looked out the window….Then snapped his fingers, and clenching his free hand. “I think I have a way to counter them doing that….”

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It had been an hour, and the meeting near town hall was already starting. Most of the guards were stationed in the square, making sure no hidden Changelings were planning something amongst the crowd. It seemed skeleton crews were manning the makeshift checkpoints at all of the town exits.

It was at the Western exit, that was suddenly, being reinforced. A six pony squad, the same size as the guards currently on duty, approached at a steady pace. “Where is the commanding officer? We were told to relieve this post.” Asked an Earth Pony Mare leading the new squad. The commander stepped forward, sliding his sword into his sheathe. “Those orders come with papers,” he paused a moment to read her rank, “Lieutenant?” The Lieutenant nodded, digging into her satchel, and handing the commanding officer a scroll. He looked it over, then nodded, turning to his squad.

“Alright boys! We’re heading back for some rest and reassignment. Let’s move!” In under a minute, the switch was complete. However, as soon as the relieved squad was out of sight, the leader stopped the squad, and turned, pointing to the only pegasus of the squad, and the smallest of the two unicorns. Both nodded, and the pegasus jumped over to the unicorn, and grabbed them under their arms, spreading their wings after a spell was cast, and taking to the skies, up to a reasonably high height, where the unicorn cast another spell, and both landed safely on a cloud, before hunkering down. The unicorn pulled out a pair of binoculars, and handed them to the flier, who immediately took them up, and began to spy on the ‘replacement squad.’

“Cmon, you bastards, take the bait….” The pegasus said under his breath. His companion smirked, and even chuckled at his companion, pulling out an orange colored firework. “Oh don’t worry,” He began, putting on a tough leather glove, and holding the firework at the right angle, “they’ll take it alright. I’m just surprised this worked. I heard that strange creature came up with it.”

The pegasus grunted, keeping still as her squadmate talked. “Yeah, he did. What the hell was he called again, anyways? Ex, or some shit? Talk about friggin’ edgy.” Her companion had to let out a laugh mixed with a snort, trying to keep it quiet. “Edgy! Heh, you’re learning kid. Yeah, that’s what the advance force thought too, but if you saw what he and his pals did to these bastards, you gotta give credit where it’s due. They sure-” The pegasus cut her companion off with the raise of her wing.

She had begun to see movement. More ‘guards’ approaching the checkpoint. She started to count, using the dexterity of her wings to raise one feather slightly higher than the other….Then a second….And soon a third, followed by a fourth shortly after. Her companion blanched. “Fourty!? Are you bucking kidding me!?” His companion kept watching as she responded, “No, but I counted thirty-four, so I’m going to round it up for safety. Better to have more forces and not need them..”

The Unicorn grumbled as he fished for a different firework to go along with the orange one, pulling out a blue one after putting on another tough glove, and holding both in position. “...Than to need them and not have it. Jeez, you won’t be a rookie long, kid. Taking the fun out of being just a few ranks higher than you.”

The Pegasus smirked as she continued the conversation, waiting. “Isn’t that a good thing then? Means I got a good sense for this last time I heard~” The Unicorn rolled his eyes, then blinked as he felt her wing pound against his back. He grinned mischievously as his horn flared up, and the orange firework fuse was lit. The fuse was longer than any normal firework, giving it the few more precious seconds they needed. The unicorn counted to two, then used his magic to light the blue one’s fuse. Just before the fuse went up into the orange one, he loosened his grip, and stuck his face into the cloud, his winged companion following suit. A second later, the orange firework was off, followed almost exactly two seconds later by the blue one.

Both guards brought their heads up with a grin. “Off and away~” Said the unicorn with a whistle. He looked to his companion, seeing her offering him a casual fist bump. He responded with a lazy eye roll, then bumped it back. It only took them a few seconds to get ready, before they were off to regroup with their squad.

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The gathering was actually nearing its end. Ex had been introduced to the public, and though many had questions, it was Twilight who answered them, saving Ex some trouble. There were a lot of questions about his race. Twilight dismissed all of those as something that has yet to be disclosed for safety reasons and to keep the general public from, for now, knowing that, yes, aliens DO exist.

As the meeting was beginning to close up, two loud BANGs sounded from the western sky. Ex spun, and would have smiled like a devil if he could have. Shining walked over and sighed, shaking his head. “That’s in the direction of the western checkpoint. So they were probably planning to use false orders to get on the train, and get away from us through semi-legit channels. Either that, or they were planning to get to the hospital and use the patients as hostages. The squads we had in position will be there soon,” he whispered to the Tenno. Ex nodded, before turning to the crowd, and bowing once.

And then, he spun, and launched himself up the balcony of the town hall, running across the roof, before leaping towards another building, charting a course westward.

“Hey! Where the hay is he going!?” Twilight looked back to the crowd, a little flustered. After taking a moment to recompose herself, she gave a grand smile, straightening out the papers used for her speech. “Well, everypony,” she began, looking up to the crowd with a grand smile, “I would imagine he’s gone to do the very job he came here to do in the first place. Be a Guardian.”

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Ex was indeed off to do his job. What Shining had said struck a chord with the Tenno. Thinking back to some of his recorded battles, some Grineer hoped to survive confrontations with Tenno extermination squads by using hostages. As he near the tracks and the hospital, he saw the a large group of the real guards, all surrounding the group of fake guards, and keeping at a distance. Some of the fake guards knew it was over. Some were down, with more than a few arrows in them, from having tried to escape or cause a distraction. His plan was working, so far. But one can never been too careful. Several guards waved as he dashed by.

Skidding to a halt, he gently pushed the wooden twin doors open, striding to the front desk. Upon seeing him, it being the same mare as last night, she looked past, and around him for a few seconds, then sighed and smiled at him. “Well, if it isn’t last night’s hero. No damsels in distress this time?”

Ex calmly rested his palms on the counter, and sighed, making the mare sitting there blink. “No, not this time. I need you to tell me what kind of security you have, numbers, and how you keep in contact with them all. Patients may be at risk.” He said cooly. As the mare blanched, and then took time to compose herself, Ex got a better look at her.

A vibrant, light red coat covered her body, disappearing under the the pink shirt and pants she wore. He noted the green cross on the bottom of her wrists as she moved folders and forms about her well kept station. Looking to her face, the most immediate feature he was drawn to were her dark amber eyes, before taking note of her darker shade of red hair, or, mane as he heard it be referred to, broken by a streak of green that bore the same color as the mark on her wrist.

As she looked back up at him, she gave him another once over, opening a few of the folders. “...Nice colors, by the way. Anyhow, we have our nurses, who are permitted to throw anyone out given proper reason. If said ponies or otherwise won’t leave, then the orderlies are called in to aid the nurses, and if things get violent, the security team will be called in. We have an even staffing of eighty in total, with twenty-two doctors, thirteen nurses, fifteen orderlies, and fifteen security guards. The last are six secretaries, four I.T. personnel aaaaand five technicians for medical equipment.” She stated as she read off from the binders. “Currently we have seventeen patients, and nine logged visitors, each of whom should have an i.d. tag clipped to their shirts or apparel.”

Ex waited until she was fully finished, then nodded once, rubbing his chin. “Do you also log which visitors go to visit which patients?” He asked curiously. The mare nodded, and showed him the visitors log. “We do, we have them state who they come to see, and have them wait while we look up the patients, and then log the room the visitors are heading to.” She grabbed a small box with an antenna on it, turning a switch and speaking into it. Ex recognized as a primitive, (at least to him), radio as she started speaking into it.

“This is nurse Feel Good at Station 1. All orderlies and security personnel, we have a possible threat to the patients reported. Security is to check the following rooms: Eighty-Two A, Ninety-Three A, One-Seventeen S A, Thirteen B, Twenty-Five B, Thirty-Two C, Forty-Six C, Fifty-Three C, and Sixty-Seven C. Orderlies are to help sweep all halls and rooms, have all staff checked for proper credentials.” A series of affirmations were broadcasted from the radio speaker shortly after. Looking up at Ex, Feel Good smirked and lowered her eyelids while raising her right brow. “I take it you wanna go have a look yourself, huh, Deus?”

The Tenno tilted his head, and looked about the room for a second. No one there but them. Looking back to her, he shrugged. “Deus?” The nurse chuckled at pointed up to the t.v. on the wall. “I saw the announcement. And considering your name, and last night? Well, it sounds less edgy than Ex, and you were that little girl’s Deus Ex Machina, so~” She explained with a small smirk. Ex would have blinked if he could have. Instead, he let out a simple chuckle. “Funny. Maybe, if I live up to it. So far, I’ve been doing what I can, that’s all….Speaking of that girl from last night, do you-”

Feel Good cut him off with a wave of her hand. “Eighty-Three A. Down the south hall, follow the numbers till ya get to the room.” Ex shook his head, then beckoned her. “You might as well come with me, miss. The guards won’t know me unless they saw the news as is.” Feel Good blinked a few times, before chuckling and standing, grabbing her radio and clipping it to her belt. “You think WAY too much. You make most anime heroes look like morons.”

Ex stopped before he even moved, looking at her with his ‘blank’ stare. “....What in the name of the Lotus is an…’Anime’?” Feel Good stared at him, and then shook her head, leading the way. “Never mind, let’s uh, get moving.” Ex just shrugged and followed closely.

The few guards and orderlies they did encounter, didn’t mind the duo making their way. The way Ex figured, they either also saw the news, or they trusted this particular Nurse enough not to ask. As they approached the room, a guard came out, smiling softly. As he came out though, Ex immediately noticed something wrong. Of all the denizens he’s seen, not a single one, had eerily glowing green eyes.

Ex stopped the guard as he tried to walk by. The guard didn’t even notice, and tried to walk away from Ex’s iron grasp. Feel Good stared with a confused expression. She poked her head in the doorway, and poked Ex in the chest awkwardly. The Tenno let the obviously mind controlled guard go, and moved into the doorway without hesitation.

In the room, with her back to them, looked like Rarity, whom he met last night. But he knew something to throw that decent disguise through the mud. The ‘mare’ turned around, and feigned surprise. “Oh! Hello there! You saved the girls last night did you n-” Ex interrupted her with a hand raised up. And his free left hand bringing up the pistol from his hip, and aiming it right at her.

She blinked a few times, before sighing loudly. Her horn suddenly lit up in a brilliant green light, blinding Ex for a few moments. As soon as her horn lit up however, he snapped off a shot, the crack adding to the blinding. As his sensors re-calibrated, he noticed three things. The hospital bed ‘she’ sat next to was overturned. ‘She’ was holding the little girl he saved last night in an arm lock hold with a knife to her neck. And his shot had connected with ‘her’ midsection.

The changeling winced from the pain, baring their teeth. “How!?” They roared, still using the borrowed form’s voice. Ex steadied the pistol with both hands, even as they moved the child’s head slightly in front of theirs. “Easy,” He stated while shifting the pistol slightly, “The real Rarity was backstage of the announcement, thanking me again and again for saving her sister last night. So now you have a choice. Get that wound checked out, or find out how much I loathe hostage situations.”

The ‘mare’ growled and pressed the tip of the wicked blade against Sweetie Belle’s neck, drawing a hint of blood. “Why in the name of my Queen, would I give up with a Hostage in my-!” Ex was already bored of the monologuing. A sharp Crack cut the Changeling off. A second bullet ripped through the air, tearing through the exposed bit of the Changeling’s head, poking out from behind the filly. As both fell over to gravity, orderlies and guards piled in behind the Tenno, who was already placing the smoking gun back on his hip. As he turns, a flash of green creeps over the overturned bed.

The staff all make way for him as he passes, staring in shock. Feel Good walks up to him, keeping in step with a slightly impressed, yet cautious look on her face. “No fancy one liner’s? You definitely live up to that nickname, Deus….So what the hell was that you used back there?” Ex grunted and laid a hand on one of his twin pistols. “That, was a gun. A piece of tech that I’m not sure this world is ready for.”

Feel Good rolled her eyes, her suspiciousness draining from her face as they walked, guards who heard the sound rushing past, led by an orderly. Some nodded to Ex in respect. Ex just kept walking. “Ok, that line kinda aligns you with comic book characters….But still, there can never be too many heroes.”

Ex chuckled as they reached the Nurse Station, turning to the mare. “No, there certainly can never be too many, but you are forgetting that there is always some form of balance. Where there are heroes, there are villains to counter them.” Feel Good crossed her arms and shook her head. “Great. He’s got philosophies too. So what comic book did you pop out from, again?”

Ex shook his head. While he didn’t know what an ‘anime’ was, he knew about comic books. Some Tenno drew created them, and posted them on their network, allowing some semblance of artism that wasn’t in battle spread amongst a race of age-old warriors. “None that you could have ever read. Keep an eye out for more. Now that the guard is here, I’m leaving it to them. I’ve a feeling I’m going to need to check in with Miss Twilight soon.”

Feel Good rolled her eyes and shoo’d him with her hands. “Fine fine, ya crazy ninja hero. I’ll see you around, maybe?” She asked as she sat back down at her station. Ex shrugged and made his way to the doors. “If I let you,” he teased, before opening the doors, and vanishing from the mare’s sight. Feel Good shook her head and closed the folders on her desk, and setting her radio back in it’s cradle. “Yup. Definitely a Deus Ex Machina. Wonder what big bad is gonna chase him?”
----////----////----////----////----////----///----////----///----////----////----////----////----////----////----///----////----///----////----

Ex was dancing across the roofs of Ponyville once more. He thought about the Nurse’s nickname for him. A Deus Ex Machina. If anything, he figured, the Tenno were probably always considered that. If all the Tenno currently out there, went up against either the full might of the Corpus or Grineer armies right now, they’d more than likely win that fight. The Infested were another story. It would most likely be extreme casualties if they attempted that fight.

While lost in thought, he lept over a street, gliding through the air, and landing in a roll, coming up in a kneeling position, before sitting down with a sigh, and looking to the sky. So far, the threats he faced in the two days here, were mostly trivial. Forces were scattered, and the leader was captured. But it was what he said, that made him ponder. He was already considered a hero. And like he said, there are always villains to counter those heroes. If the Grineer stumbled across this planet, the Tenno would be their only defense, hands down….

He was brought from his pandering, by the sound of someone landing next to him. He looked over, half expecting to see Glide, but instead, got Rainbow, wearing jeans and a sweater without a hoodie. “Yo, Ex. What’s up?” Ex looked to the streets below, and motioned to them. Rainbow tiled her head as she walked over, and sat next to him. “What, not talking now?” He looked to her and shrugged. She at least knew he preferred silence from last night. With a grin, she offered him a hand. Ex took it gently, and began to write.

W-O-R-R-I-E-D. Rainbow raised her brow at him. “What? You? Why?” Ex considered before he answered, H-E-R-O-S-Y-N-D-R-O-M-E-K-I-N-D-A. Rainbow blinked, then chuckled. “You’re worried being a hero around here will get to your head?” Ex shook his head at her before adding, E-N-E-M-I-E-S. The flier nodded, smirking slightly. “So you’re worried about the bad guys. To be honest, I kinda had Hero Syndrome a while back. My friends showed me the wrong of that, though. All of them dressed up like a comic book hero and averted disasters before I did. After I found out it was them, I learned the lesson they were trying to teach me. It’s ok to be a hero. But it’s bad to get caught up in the glory.”

Ex listened kindly. Not interrupting her explanation. It helped him re-affirm his belief that, this world, while it had it’s own version of the evils he and his fellow Tenno faced, it was still innocent in nearly every sense of the word. And from what he read last night, there was so much more he needed to see. The other races he needed to make contact with, and investigate. All in due time, of course, but still.

Ex patted her hand, before standing, letting the limb go. “You and your friends are an interesting bunch, to be sure. Speaking of, do you know where Miss Twilight is?” Rainbow cracked a smile and jerked her thumb towards further in town. “Yeah, she was with Pinkie, heading to Sugarcube Corner for a bite to eat. Ya know, the gingerbread house you slashed up those bastards in last night?” Ex ‘frowned’ and nodded, turning towards the direction of said location. Hard to forget a place like that looked like a confection. “Right. You coming?”

Rainbow rolled her eyes and got up herself, before spreading her wings, and flapping them several times to get off the ground. “Nah, I’m gonna go nap. You tell ‘em I said hey, kay?” Without letting him respond, she was off. Ex stood there a few minutes, before shaking his head. If only she saw him with his Itzal. With a stretch, he rolled his shoulders, and started hopping from roof to roof, making his way over the town, many following him with their eyes when they saw him, and children pointing out the new, ‘Resident Ninja.’

As Ex landed on the roof of the shop, he found that it actually wasn’t made from gingerbread, to his relief. He would have had WAY too many questions for the owners. Sliding down the roof, he dropped to the side of the building before making his way around the front. As he opened the door, he saw something just in his vision that suddenly made him leap back. A cannon went off, and as he jumped back, he watched as a...cupcake, went flying past his face.

And right into the path of the second cannon, which fired a pink blur that wrapped its arms around his neck, and used the momentum to make him swing around a few times, before falling on his back, with a Pinkie on top of him, giving him a hug. He honestly didn’t know how to feel about this.Pinkie was wearing a multi-colored striped shirt and sweatpants, and an apron….And was hugging Ex so tightly that his shields were decreasing at a total of five per second, which was stunning. “Erm...Miss Pinkie, if you keep hugging me like that, you might actually damage my warframe’s internal components.” He claimed as he went about trying to push her off.

Pinkie looked up at him with her crystal blue eyes, before pouting and sitting up on him, keeping him pinned. “Aw c’mon Exie! I thought you were made of sterner stuff!” Ex sat up somewhat, watching the meter on his shields replenish. “So did I. Now, if you please, I would like to get up?” Pinkie giggled and got off, before giving the Tenno a hand up. He decided to humor the situation, and dust off his legs. Twilight watched from the doorway, brow raised. “Well, it’s not a Pinkie Surprise Party, but hey, that’s a welcome if I ever saw one.”

Ex nodded to the both of them and motioned to the building he was just assaulted from. “Shall we step inside?” He asked. He was mildly concerned with why the ponies all around them weren’t really reacting to this. Pinkie bounced her way inside, while Twilight held the door open, smiling at Ex. “So, how was your run?” Ex chuckled as he made his way inside, following her to a table and sitting across from her. “Well, if it helps, I added another changeling to the count from last night.”

Twilight stopped smiling at that and lowered her lids at him, her brow raised again. “Did you kill a runner or something?” Ex shook his head. “I visited the hospital. Seems I have a habit of saving that girl, Sweetie Belle.” Twilight’s other brow shot up, along with her eyelids as her pupils dilated. “What! What the hay happened, Ex?” Ex shrugged, looking over his shoulder to watch Pinkie work the counter, serving several customers. “Changeling disguised as Rarity in her room. I showed him that hostage situations don’t work against a Tenno’s aim.” Twilight winced at that and sighed, shaking her head as she massaged her temples.

“Suddenly, I’m glad Rarity was adamant about thanking you today, otherwise she might’ve been taken hostage as well, and things would really go south.” Ex nodded as he looked back to her. “Yes, indeed. What I find strange, is how well the populace is taking this.” Twilight chuckled, not opening her eyes. “We usually get a dire situation every two to three weeks. But, thankfully, me and the girls can handle them.” She opened her eyes, looking up at him. “Here’s to hoping we won’t need to lean on the crutch you gave us.”

Ex shrugged, crossing his arms, putting a smug tone in his otherwise quiet voice. “Hey, I don’t mind the exercise.” Twilight was about to say something, when a shake was put in front of her by Pinkie. Before Pinkie could put a cupcake down, Ex gently stopped her hand. “That, isn’t necessary, Miss Pinkie. While I appreciate the gesture, it’d be for not. We Tenno do not eat or drink.” Both girls stared at Ex with wide eyes (and low-hung jaws in Pinkie’s case) at the admission. Twilight teleported a quill and pad to her side, and wrote that tid bit down. Pinkie got teary eyed, however. “B-but, if you can’t eat, then how can you know the joys of a cupcake?”

Ex shrugged. “I won’t delve into it, but...We Tenno, don’t eat or sleep, because we were made, not born. We are warriors of steel and flesh, but do not need to partake in biological functions. We sleep to pass time, when in truth, we don’t even need it.” Twilight wa sin a frenzy with her quill, and Pinkie, saddened by this, took the cupcake back behind the counter. When Pinkie was out of sight, Twilight pointed the tip of the quill at Ex. “So the Tenno are really sentient constructs created by someone to be their warriors?” Ex nodded, before standing. “Yes….Like I said, I do not wish to delve into it. If you’ll exc-” Spike opened the door to the store and bolted inside, right to Twilight and Ex. “Twilight! Oh, hey Ex, good that you’re with Twilight. Saves us trouble.” He said with a grin, before handing Twilight a scroll. “Letter from Celestia.”

Twilight snatched up the scroll, unfurling it and reading it over. Ex was unsure if he should sit back down or not. Twilight, for her part, tensed up a bit. “Well, that was fast.” She said, tossing the scroll to her assistant. “Ex, Princess Celestia wants you in Canterlot by tonight. There’s gonna be a meeting tomorrow with the leaders of all neighboring nations, and those from overseas. Seems that when she sent word about you to them, they all came running. Said for me to stay here though, to help Shining finish the search.” She explained, fishing through her bags. “I’ll give you bits to pay for a train ticket.”

Ex wished he could have grinned at her. This actually helped him a bit. “No need, Miss Twilight. I’ve got a ride.” Twilight stopped rummaging and looked up at him as he held out his hand, a screen soon floating above it. Before should could try to read the backwards words, he was pressing and swiping along it, before making it vanish. “Where do I go?” He asked. Twilight had so many questions, but knew better, crossing her arms. “The city on the Mountain. You’re taking that ship that’s above Aj’s barn, aren’t you?”

Ex chuckled as he made his way for the door. “See if you can’t let her know before I get there.” He challenged, before leaving out the front door, and leaping atop the roof as his Liset stopped overhead, reorienting itself so the nose was pointing to the sky. With a powerful jump, he made it to the docking station, and rotated in.

Twilight had gotten up and out to watch, an expression of a wow-factor on her face, as she watched. Before she could speak, Spike had blown fire on a hastily written letter to the Princess of the Sun with a grin. “He may be fast!,” Spike called out over the thrusters of the ship propelling if forth toward Canterlot, “But not even he can beat the speed of Dragon Fire.”

Author's Note:

Took me way too long to finish this chapter. THings are a little crazy in my life still. Hoping to have the next one out within the next two weeks.

Feel free to point out any mistakes!

Don't forget to dunk in Lunaro, Tenno!

Comments

[KaoZBloodshot]

Took my advice good job on the chapter

[Dunking monkey]

7426552

I tried, I really did! Hopefully I can get that next one out with just as many words and passion.

[KaoZBloodshot]

7426887 just do your best man

[Dhuradhan]

Proceed, please!

[KaoZBloodshot]

7426887
What platform do you play warframe on monkey?

[Dunking monkey]

7492465 PC master race, and sorry the next chapter is taking so long.

[KaoZBloodshot]

7496380 just means it's longer

[Dunking monkey]

7496917 You and me both are hoping, as I am free writing it, and I keep combing over, erasing, and re-writing, trying to make the story...tick, you know? TBH, I wish I could write like Tatsuro. That man, is a god of the Feels.

[Bronzer]

Wonder what big bad is gonna chase him?

Well, Tenno aren't the sort to let their Rogues Gallery survive the first encounter.

[Sirnicklaser111]

Can't wait for the next chapter when can we expect it if you can tell us

[Calibermidknight]

8067528
The stalker