A Rift Between Worlds

by Cinders of War

Chapter 8: Professional Help

Things weren’t looking too good. One Grineer, the one wielding the shock stick made his way towards Applejack as she raised her fists. The one with the gun shot at her, forcing her behind cover as the other one approached her.

“That’s perfect, Applejack,” Rhino told her as she peeped around the corner. “Wait for him to near you, then beat the stuffing out of him.”

Applejack waited, raising her furax’s into a boxing stance when a gust of wind blew past her. She turned to look, realizing it wasn’t wind, but another Warframe. The same one that had blinded and evaded them on the school rooftops. It had dashed past her and the Grineer, the only difference was that she was unharmed. Applejack looked at the Grineer just in time to see half his body fall to the ground.

She quickly returned behind cover and held her stomach. “Urgh… didn’t want to see that!”

The Warframe leapt towards the final Grineer as he shot away at it. The Frame raised its sword, deflecting the bullets one by one as they flew to him.

“Wow,” Applejack marveled, stepping out from behind the wall. “That guy sure can hit. He’s fast! Look a’ that, Rhino!”

“Meh, that’s how we all are at full power. Nothing special, although, much better than you lot. No offence.”

Applejack sighed. “None taken. We did pretty badly out there.”

“Yeah. Well… let’s see how this Excalibur does.”

“Excalibur?” she mused. “That what it’s called, huh?”

The Excalibur arrived a few paces in front of the Grineer and with a horizontal slash, it cut the Grineer’s gun in half, along with his left hand. The Grineer took a few fearful steps back before turning and racing back to the pod.

Applejack willed the Excalibur to chase after him, but instead, it stood there, unmoving except for one hand, which turned its sword upside down. It soon pulsated energy as it stabbed its sword in the ground, releasing off a flash of light and a few swords made completely from energy, hurtling them in different directions. Some stabbed into the school walls, while others made it around the baseball field. One found its mark, getting the Grineer in the arch of his back. The Grineer didn’t fall, instead, getting propelled further forward as the sword impaled him against the wall of his pod. It didn’t move again.

“Woah…” Applejack said, opening her mouth and leaving it hanging open.

The Excalibur recovered its stature and made its way back towards Applejack and her friends.

“Rhino…” she whispered to her Tenno. “What do we do? Is he friendly?”

“I reckon he’s on our side, but I just woke up, so I have no idea. I think its friendly, but be careful just in case.”

The Excalibur paused as he reached the Rhino clad girl and looked at her before walking past her to check on Twilight. He bent down and opened a panel on his hand, releasing a green spray over the unconscious girl.

“Hey!” Applejack started, taking steps towards the Excalibur.

“Stop, Applejack,” Rhino voiced. “That’s a healing spray. He’s getting her back up.”

Soon, Twilight lifted her head and got up to a sitting pose. “What? What happened?”

She looked up to the Excalibur, putting a hand out for her. She took it as it helped her up. Before she knew what was happening, it knelt before her for a second before taking its leave, running up the side of the school again.

“Umm…” Twilight pondered out loud. “What was that?”

“Twi!” Applejack shouted, running over and giving her friend a quick hug. “Sorry ‘bout that. I wasn’t sure how to stop it.”

“It’s alright, Applejack,” Twilight smiled. “We’re all still learning how to control our powers. But who was that just now? And why did he kneel down?”

“Twilight Sparkle,” her companion began. “You are right when you said you’re still learning how to control your powers. You still have a lot to learn. Oh why did I have to get stuck with you of all your kind?”

“I’m sorry Nyx!” Twilight apologized harshly. “But we haven’t done any training whatsoever, so how can you expect me to meet your expectations immediately?”

“Ha!” I doubt you’d meet me expectations even if you trained for a thousand moons. That Excalibur before you just now… that was an excellent soldier. You should try to be more like him.”

Twilight was about to fight back, but Pinkie was much louder. “THAT WAS AWESOME! Did you see how he flew down and whooooosh! He got that Grineer right there! And then kablaaam! He got the second one with all that Vwwwoooooossssh! That was sooooo cool!”

“Not as cool as me…” Rainbow huffed, getting up from the ground.

“Well he did much better than you, Rainbow,” Sunset said from underneath her.

Rainbow turned to her and lowered her helmet, revealing her frowning face. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“You got us incapacitated,” Sunset said flatly. “And you wasted your bullets.”

“I can’t help it!” Rainbow argued. “The gun fires them at a super high rate! Plus, while I’m flying around being cool and all, I can’t exactly aim very well, but give it time and I’ll show you who’s the marksman here! Plus… it was Pinkie’s fault!”

“Whaaat?” Pinkie complained. “I said I was sorry.”

Talk about Pinkie made Sunset realize something. “Oh no!”

“What?” Rainbow asked.

Sunset turned and quickly ran to a block of ice. “I forgot about Rarity! She’s in there.”

Sunset quickly conjured a fireball and slowly melted away the ice with it. Soon, Rarity’s helmeted head was visible and she began to move again.

“Brrr…” she shivered as more of her body got free. “I-it’s… f-f-freezing…”

“I’m so sorry, Rarity!” Sunset apologized as she melted the last of the ice. “I should have been more careful where I point that gun.”

“I-it’s n-n-not your f-fault dear…” Rarity shook some more.

“Told you to take the ignis,” Ember told Sunset.

“Then I’d have roasted her!”

Fluttershy walked up to her friends, still shaking from the gunfight that had just occurred. “I… I’m so sorry. I thought maybe I could handle myself from the side, but… once the guns started firing…”

“It’s alright, Fluttershy,” Sunset comforted. “We all tried. True, we need more training, but… we gave it our best.”

Trinity didn’t stay silent. “Fluttershy, I know it’s tough, but you need to stand up for yourself and your goals. Don’t let your fears get the better of you.”

“So what now?” Rainbow asked, stretching her limbs. “Threat’s averted. Can we go home?”

“I think you’ll need some more training, Rainbow Dash,” Zephyr prompted. “Your aiming needs a lot of practice, although… nice flying. That’s how we roll.”

“More training?” Rainbow groaned. “Already? Can’t we have a break…?”

“This is important, Rainbow Dash. If you don’t get better, the Grineer will win.”

Rainbow sighed, slumping her shoulders. “I know, Zephyr… but… I think it’s been a long day. Can’t we continue tomorrow? After school perhaps?”

“Well… I guess you can rest for the day. Everyone needs their rest.”

“AWESOME!” Rainbow whooped, pumping both fists into the air. Her friends looked at her. “Oh, Zephyr said we can take a break for the day.”

“So did Ember,” Sunset nodded, rubbing her back. “I guess we do need some rest. I’m still a little sore from… that.”

“I… I could do with… rest,” Fluttershy said, shuffling her feet. “I’ll… I’ll be sure t-to try my best next time.”

“Yeah, we should head back…” Twilight said, still hurt from taking the full blow of a Rhino charge. “I need to conjure up a warm bed for myself.”

“Twilight Sparkle, that is highly unnecessary. In war, comfort should be the least of your priorities.”

Twilight rolled her eyes, but only released a sigh instead of a rebuff.

“Did you hear that?” Rainbow asked, putting up a hand to quiet her friends. She listened. “It sounds like sirens.”

“The Dazzlings?” Pinkie asked. “Are they back? Are they still evil? Are they going to change for the better like Sunset?”

“No, not that kind!” Rainbow shook her head. “Police sirens!”

The rest of the gang stopped and listen. True enough, they began hearing the blaring sound of police cars, slowly getting louder.

“We should go,” Twilight suggested, heading back to the mirror. “You girls go on home. I’ll see you tomorrow after school.”

“Yeah, I guess we shouldn’t let all the cops see this,” Sunset agreed. “Ember, how do we transform back?”

“Just think it, like with your helmet. However, when your armor is off, you will be unable to hear us.”

“Noted,” Sunset said. She willed the Frame to compact itself, watching as the suit around her started folding back into a small badge-like object on her coat. “Wow. That’s pretty neat.”

The other girls watched and did the same, their suits pulling back, getting smaller and smaller until it finished in the shape of a badge for each one of them.

“Too bad I won’t get to hear Zephyr like this,” Rainbow admitted, rather disappointed. “She’s awesome!”

“I’m glad,” Twilight sighed. “I don’t have to put up with Nyx outside the suit. She really gives me no space to recover.”

The sirens were getting louder as they stood in front of the school.

“Gotta go!” Twilight said, giving each of her friends a hug before going back through the portal. “I’ll see you girls tomorrow!”

---

Home Run looked through the window as the same armored man that had saved him before finished off the last of the Grineer.

“Did you see that?” Heavy Wind had said, unbelieving all the footage he was getting. “That was epic! This is soooo going on Neighgag!”

Sundown returned from the hallway, walking back to join the other baseballers. “Alright, team. The cops are on their way.”

“What?” Jetstream asked. “You mean they actually believed you about aliens?”

Sundown shook his head. “Ah didn’t say there were aliens. Ah just told them there was a shootout goin’ on in front of the school.”

“Good choice…” Home Run muttered, still feeling sore from running into the pod. He had a few burn marks on his arms, but other than that, he was fine.

Suddenly, Heavy Wind’s phone started going berserk, spewing sparks and noises as the machine burst in a small light. “Woah! What! My footage!”

Home Run smiled to himself.

Guess the princess doesn’t want anyone finding out about her.

“Well, too bad,” Jetstream retorted. “So sad, but I think we should head out. That was a fantastic work of swordplay, but I could’ve done better.”

“Save it for later, Jet,” Sundown barked. “Ah think it’s time we leave. We got homework and all to do later.”

“Right,” Jetstream nodded. He turned to Home Run. “Need any help getting back?”

Home Run took a few steps on his own and shook his head. “I think I can make it back, fine. Thanks guys.”

“Well, we shall see you tomorrow then!” Jetstream said enthusiastically. He was the first to leave, giving them a wave as he walked out the door.

Home Run decided he should get home and start on his homework. He waved goodbye to the other baseballers before heading to his bike. He slowly got on, making sure not to hurt himself. After getting into a comfortable position, he kicked off the ground and started cycling his way home. He had to cycle slower than usual, but it was still faster than walking home. In about forty minutes, he had arrived home, sweating from head to toe.

I’ll be sure to have a lot of explaining to do…

He walked his bike in, opening the front door and heading in. He left his bike on its rack and headed straight for the washroom. Once inside, he closed the door and removed his shirt. He inspected his injuries, self-determining how bad they were. He touched a few of them and winced.

“Yeah, these are not going away anytime soon…” he sighed to himself.

After washing up, he headed back to his room to start on his homework until his parents called him for dinner.

---

The Grineer helmsmen sat quietly aboard their cruiser, careful not to speak anything out of the ordinary. Captain Vor had viewed the footage of the recon unit sent to scout out the school for a good holding ground for their machines and constructs. He figured four Grineer would be enough just in case any human had wandered by. As he watched the footage, he saw them. Warframes. Weapons of the Lotus, fighting back against his men. His face grew lower and lower until the Excalibur returned, finishing off the last of his men. He had shut off the feed and smashed his fist down on his chair so hard that he cracked a portion of its shiny metal.

“Tenno!” he screamed in anger, the fire burning in his one good eye. “The Lotus… she knows… We must accelerate our plans before she regains more Tenno!”

His men remained quiet, fearful of speaking up. After what happened to the engineer, the others learned to think before speaking.

“We need more soldiers!” Vor barked at his men. “Next time you send a scouting party, make sure they outnumber the enemy!”

He got off his chair and headed down to the armory. In order to reach the Lotus, the gate had to be created, which would allow him to use the torsion beam to tear a hole in the Lotus’ main hub. Getting the pieces would take time, and putting them together would take more time. He had to make sure his soldiers were going to be well prepared against the Tenno.

“Nothing will stand in my way!” he shouted for himself to hear. He pulled out the void key and looked at it, smiling at the power in the small object. “For my Queens!”

Author's Note:

Sorry if it's short, but it gets the next point across. Hope you enjoy it!

Winds of Destruction!

Comments

[jmlop0]

Sundown....Jetstream........... Hmmmmm..... Why does that sound familiar...... Jetstream....Sam?

[MoonlightRift]

Hmm.

[MoonlightRift]

🤔