Little Light

by InfinitySlayer

Vex

They are watching.

Crimson eyes pierce the shadows wherever I look. Have you seen them? Have you felt that venomous gaze on your shoulder? I have.

They are moving.

The sound of mechanized metal on hard stone echoes through the empty halls on every side. Have you heard it? Have you listened to the cold fury resonating in each heavy step? I have.

They are screaming.

The screeching cacophony of electrified battle cries causes blood to freeze. Have you experienced it? Have you found yourself paralyzed by fear you didn't know existed? I have.

They are killing.

Crimson bolts of death fell the strongest Guardian. Have you died? Have you entered the void?

I have.

GHOST MEMORY LOG 1-6
ORIGIN POINT: UNKNOWN [>10000 LIGHT YEARS OUTSIDE SOLAR SYSTEM]
RETRIEVED [DATA CORRUPTED]
ENTRY FOLLOWS, GUARDIAN ATTENTION REQUESTED:

For most organic organisms, interpreting and containing one's own feelings is a daunting task on its own. Imagine having to not only amplify those emotions, but share them with another soul. Like a tether pulling both ways, the emotional link is unstable and easily broken when put under stress. It never truly breaks, however. Even death itself cannot cut the bonds between a Guardian and her Ghost. At least, that was the way everyone assumed it worked.

I cannot even begin to understand the Traveler's reasons and means for tying my sacred Guardian link to another, an outsider, one who came from the land of the few living and not from the billions asleep in their dark graves. Perhaps it is some divine predestination, perhaps it is mere coincidence, but regardless, the bond between a Guardian and Ghost has been forged between me and this Fluttershy. As kindhearted as she is, as selfless as I've seen her be towards those she loves, this creature has one inherent flaw that drove thousands of Guardians into the Darkness.

Fear. Of course, we all feel fear at one point or another. However, the fear within her heart is something else, something far more controlling, concentrated, born from a lifetime of shyness and self-inflicted isolation from true terror. It is a fear of the unknown, of what lies just out of sight, in the shadows of the mind and of reality.

When that beast of metal and Darkness leaped from the shadows of the dark forest, that fear manifested as an icy freeze. He heart skipped a beat, her muscles contracted and paralyzed themselves, and her pupils dilated noticeably. As the Harpy extended its metal tentacles in attack formation, ready to blast my new Guardian with crimson bolts which would certainly disintegrate her unprotected body, she stood perfectly still, not even breathing, not even blinking.

Without thinking, I made a decision that most would claim was fool-hearty at best, suicidal at worst.

I threw my rather small metal frame at the Harpy, positioning the awkward strike in the center of the crimson eye module. Just before the Harpy opened fire, I collided with the Vex machine. Stunned and confused by my attack, the Harpy stumbled backwards slightly, screeching the metallic ear piercing battle-cry that marks the Vex.

With the few spare moments the Harpy was disoriented, I called out to my Guardian, "Use this!"

Transmuting my old Guardian's Thorn into physical existence in front of Fluttershy's stoic face. Her eyes suddenly fixated on the weapon as her breathing returned in short bursts. For a second or two she considered the device, then as the Harpy reoriented itself, she awkwardly held the weapon in both hooves.

My servos ran cold as I realized the obvious error in my decision. The Thorn was designed for bipedal organisms, not for four legged horses. There was no physical way that she could-

BANG

The sound of the radioactive charge propelled by the Thorn rang out in my sound receptors. A streak of black and green light slammed into the stunned Harpy with incredible force, causing the evil machine of Darkness to fly backwards a full meter. A rippling layer of green toxic light spread across its body, causing continual residual damage until the entire machine was engulfed in an orange flame, exploding with a shrill cry.

For a long moment, there was only the silence that follows battle. A silence of the soul, a quietness that doesn't seem like it should be there. Adrenaline pumped through the veins of my Guardian as she stood perfectly still, the Thorn pointed at the empty space the Harpy once inhabited.

"I just killed something." Fluttershy's words spoke daggers into my heart. I had been hoping to preserve her innocence a little longer, to delay the inevitable until a future time arrived. Now was that time.

"Yes." I couldn't lie to her. The Vex machines do live, perhaps not in a colloquial sense, but they are at least partially sentient, if guided by a hive-mind.

"But you killed a minion of the Darkness, a foul being that only knows how to kill and destroy. By destroying that thing, you just saved the lives of your friends." I went back to the motif of her friends in an attempt to motivate her out of her frozen stupor. Still she stood still, silent for a few moments, pondering quietly, adrenaline sill pumping.

"That doesn't matter. I killed a living thing. I stole its life."

A single tear streamed down her buttery cheek. Within that crystalline fluid was whatever innocence she tried to maintain, lost to the ground below her hooves.

"Being a Guardian is more than just a title and fancy gear, Fluttershy. The role of Guardianship comes with an inherent call to protect the innocent, by any means necessary. We don't kill other things just because we feel like it. We do it because if we don't, no one will, and when no one does...they'll kill us without a moment's hesitation."

The Thorn fell from her hooves and landed on the mossy ground with a thud. Fluttershy examined her now empty hooves with a sickened gaze, as if she was disgusted by the act they just committed on reflex.

"No. There has to be some other way. Haven't you tried-"

"Reasoning with them? Fluttershy, we did nothing to provoke their actions, yet for centuries have they slaughtered billions of men, women, and children for reasons not even we can grasp. That's why we call them the Darkness. They only exist to quench the Light, nothing more, nothing less."

Her cheeks suddenly flared in anger as she growled, "Well, if I went around killing things that don't like me willy-nilly, then there's quite a few new friends that I never would've known!"

I stared into her cerulean eyes for a long moment. In them I saw fear, guilt, and most of all, pity.

"Listen, Fluttershy. My prior Guardian, whom I loved dearly, was killed by those same machines you're saying are redeemable. Do you know how mercilessly she was killed, Fluttershy? Did you watch helplessly while thousands of Vex bastards tore her limb from limb with streams of crimson death? Have you seen the Darkness take everything you ever loved? I have!"

I could conceal my anger no longer. My infuriated tone seemed to resonate. More tears streamed down her cheek, dropping to the ground like raindrops upon the forest.

"I'm sorry. I didn't know that, Blue." Her calm voice caused my anger to fade away, giving way instead to shame. I felt horrible for yelling at her like that. Then, my new Guardian did something I could not have expected.

Taking my slightly trembling frame in her hooves, she held me to her chest in a pony's equivalent of a hug. I felt the negative emotions bottled up for so long trickle out of my being. Upon that mossy, dirty ground, with who knows how many insects crawling across the floor, we simply sat and hugged. I didn't object.

I turned off my audio transmitters for a long time. I couldn't let her hear my sobs.

END LOG

Comments

[Doomagedon]

damn...........

[Crescent Glaive]

7794176 indeed...

[A.P.O.N.I.]

7794209
Thirded.

[Amusementist]

Beautiful

[Night_Flicker]

Not what I was expacting but god that's a little brutal I feel so bad for ghost and flutters

[Void Runner]

Emotional, but for the most part Blue is right... Of the agents of Darkness, the only ones that have a possibility of being redeemed are the Fallen/Eliksni because of their history and the fact that they once worshiped The Traveler. The Cabal are indoctrinated into their Imperium from birth to the point of fanatic loyalty while the Hive/Taken worship death and work to consume the universe with their fel magics. The Vex, though, are a bit of an outlier... they actively Worship The Darkness, and in return are given power from it while working to exterminate everything else, but unlike the other factions, they are more than willing to Use the Guardians if there is a task they can't otherwise accomplish on their own. It doesn't mean they aren't right bastards for trying to kill you the rest of the time, but it does make them unique among the enemies of The Light.

Of the Factions of Darkness, I think the Vex are the most terrifying, and I'm not even talking about their stupid Time Hax powers which just make them even more annoying. The Fallen are opportunistic scavengers and pirates, the Hive merely wish to bring Death to the universe, and the Cabal want to conquer and Rule. These are all objectives that are fairly easy to counter once you understand How they intend to go about them... But the Vex? We have no freaking clue what they're after... The most likely motive could be that they see everything as some grand cosmic experiment, but the Nature and objective of that experiment are still a mystery... and that's frankly terrifying...

Fluttershy will have to learn this, and learn to accept that sometimes, the enemies motives and objectives do not even consider friendship to be a factor. and that by simply existing, her life (and likely the lives of her friends and the rest of Equis at Large) is now anathema to their goals. The choice is in her hooves now; reject the Destiny put before her and condemn everything she loves to death, or take up the mantle of a Guardian.

[The Villain in Glasses]

.....Fluttershy, the Element of Kindness... wielding the Douche Cannon... welp

[Hood Sickle Pony]

Fluttershy,The Darkness and it's minions have no mercy,they don't feel,they can only think,see,scream,and kill.

[Hidemain]

7795065

because i'm an asshole and like to overthink things.

[The Dimension Diver]

You really done it 'ere.

[Gizmo Gear]

7794941
*le gasp*
Another fan of that show!!!!