Long Far Gone

by A-P-A

Chapter 9: A touch of malice

Hive dreadnought 'Nightmare grasp', Deep space. 4367 Earth date

Death. Death and decay. If you were to set foot within the Hives realm, that is all that would be felt. The Hive know no mercy, no restraint, they only wish to consume. Consume life. They feed off the essence of life itself, picking the proverbial bones from all that breaths. There are many creatures who feed like this. Some cherish blood, others fear, some... Love. Yet most are parasites, hitchhikers. The Hive are not, not anymore. That lust for living mass has driven them beyond the need to leach from others. They are independent. No longer a plague, no longer a scourge. Years of torment had seen to that.

Oryx is gone. The Taken King is no more. He desired revenge against those who killed his offspring, and made the fatal mistake of misjudging his foe. Those humans were tenacious, frighteningly so. Just as they were before, and just as they should have continued to be. Whatever was responsible for the draining lives on. Somewhere out there, beyond the stars. Oryx may be gone, but there is still one to continue the Hives legacy. A two hundred thousand year old crusade for life. For mass. For growth. His name is Nokris, and he looks out to the black with hunger in his eyes.

His throne is shrouded in dark magic, tendrils of ichor licking the solid stone around him, turning it to filthy crystals. Many bow before him, worshiping him as a god, a fitting title, for one who can move planets with his mind. A huge claw descends, scooping a lone thrall out of the grime. In one swift movement a gaping maw opens, and the thrall is gone. This process has been carried out for hundreds of years, feeding his strength, creating a monster to haunt the nightmares of monsters. A destination is set, a course plotted, and the journey is almost complete. A thousand years of hunger will not go unrewarded. He will soon feed, and when he does, nothing, not even those retched rings will stop him.

Canterlot, Equestria. 11:56am 22/06/1000 AN

Mathew sat cross legged on the soft grass, his cloak waving slightly in the mid day breeze. He brushed his hand through the short blades, feeling the green tips between his fingers. This place was so peaceful, it was how he had imagined Earth before the collapse, only instead of humans it was filled with small neon horses. His ghost hovered next to him, taking in the view of the countryside below them, the endless stretches of lush meadows and perfectly formed mountains. It was beautiful.

They had retired from the hustle of the castle as Celestia gave the new arrivals the rundown. It was better that way, he didn't think he would have the heart to tell his story again, lest he risk tears. Mathew drummed his fingers on the top of his helmet as he rested his eyes, the rhythmic sound calming his nerves. He felt something soft brush his back and slowly craned his neck around, squinting to avoid the glare of the sun. The princess of the night took a graceful seat next to him, making sure not to disturb the precious silence.

"Thank you..." She whispered. "Thank you for bringing me home."

Mathew reached up and began to scratch behind one of her ears, his gloved hands making short precise motions. Luna let out a content sigh, allowing the days stress to melt away.

"You don't have to thank us for anything, I don't think I could have forgiven myself if I had left you there."

Mathew continued to stare out at the vast landscape, his eyes trained on the small village in the distance.

"This place is so pristine and polished, it's almost like its artificial." Remarked ghost, unintentionally ruining the atmosphere.

Luna leaned across Mathew to look at him. "How so?"

"I've been measuring and cataloging the data that the constructors collected, as well some of my own, and there doesn't seem to be any imperfections in anything, even down to the subatomic level. There isn't a single isotope or atomic variation, the only form of carbon on this entire planet is carbon 12. There's no pollution, no harmful bacteria, it's like the whole world has been sterilised. I can't even find even the slightest genetic mutation in any of these plants OR any of you."

Luna fixed him with a questioning gaze.

"Isn't that a good thing?"

Ghost hummed in thought.

"It's not bad per say, just really unnatural, forced if you will. Like someone came down here and picked out any imbalance or agent of change. I imagine this place has looked exactly the same for millions of years. Without those genetic mutations, nothing will have evolved into anything else, leaving a lot of questions about how it all got here in the first place."

"I don't know." Said Mathew, running his hand through his hair. "Maybe your overthinking this a bit, just enjoy the view for gods sake."

Luna laughed, causing them to laugh as well. In the distance a curtain of clouds spread apart revealing what was on the other side. A massive cloud structure floated slowly into the valley, casting a four mile wide shadow onto the grassland beneath. Mathew blinked, was he seeing things?

"Amazing... How does that even stay afloat, balloons?" Asked ghost.

Luna deadpanned him.

"Why would it need balloons to stay afloat? It's made out of cloud!"

Mathew squinted at the gargantuan white city coasting into the valley at reasonable speed, he could clearly make out what appeared to be homes as well as an assortment of other familiar structures. How could such a thing be made out of mere water vapour.

"That's not right. How would you walk on it? It would just collapse under your feet, or hooves in this case."

She stopped staring at ghost, who was still having a silent mental breakdown, and instead to Mathew, who continued to scratch deftly behind her ear.

"I guess you could say it's magic." She said.

"Playing that old one are you? Well fine, have your secrets, I don't need em." Mathew replied.

He fiddled with a small pouch on his belt, his one free hand attempting to release the stubborn clasp. He got a grip on the leather flap and gave it a sharp tug, before reaching in and extracting a small cubic device. I pulled his scout rifle off his back and detached the simple holosight from the rail on top, slipping it into the now free leather pouch. The cube was set in it's place and instantly began expanding into a much longer scope. The now telescopic rifle was raised to his chest, giving him a much clearer view of the cloud city. He was beginning to make out the shapes of ponies when a large aqua eye blocked his view.

"Pray tell, what is this device for?" Luna looked curiously at his gun, inspecting the sleek white design.

"It's called a rifle, it's a weapon." Luna's head tilted in confusion. Mathew sighed. "Here I'll show you."

He lowered the Suros and popped out the magazine, the bronze bullets gleaming against the matte back of the cartridge.

"These are called bullets, the rifle can launch these at high speeds, hitting targets much further away than would be possible with a sword or a bow. It basically means that you don't have to get close to something if you want to kill it."

Luna reeled back in disgust.

"So what your saying is that they would have no chance to defend themselves?!" Mathew nodded. "That's so dishonourable, to kill without giving your adversary a chance to fight back. That would have been punishable back in my day."

Mathew just laughed. "I'm afraid warfare took a turn for the worse a lot further back in humanities history, it stopped being about honour well before even my time. Our wars were about survival, not about testing your metal. Weapons like this are pretty much the standard where I come from."

Luna was conflicted, years on the battlefield had allowed her to perfect her skills with a blade, knowing that every strike would equal a kill. She remembers the rush of adrenaline as the opposing army charged, the wind in her face as she plowed through them, cutting their ranks like a hot knife through butter. The wars were often short, played out in one, massive, battle, both sides walking away worse for wear. There's no doubt that this 'rifle' would have saved countless of her allies lives, maybe even guaranteed victory, but at the cost of all she stood for. Would it have really been a good trade?

"Why were you aiming it at the city? Surely your intent was not to-"

"What? No no, of course not Luna, I was just using it to get a better view, come and see."

Luna leaned in close to Mathews chest and gazed down the scope, squeezing one of her eyes shut in the process. She could see crowds of pegasi milling about, most heading to work at the nearby weather factory.

"So if that weapon designed to 'kill' things far away, why do you need a sword?"

Mathew smiled. "Because sometimes far away just doesn't cut it."

Ghost, who had recovered from his shock, let out a synthetic snort at the pitiful attempt at humour. Luna simply rolled her eyes and turned back to the horizon. They stayed like that for a while, drinking in the sound of silence. The moment was brought to an end by the approach of one of the castles royal guards, a small pegasus who looked as though he had been sent on some sort of suicide mission. His legs shook as he approached, flinching at every tiny movement Mathew made.

"U-um hi. T-the princess wishes to see you."

With a grunt Mathew rose from his sitting position and stood above the guard, causing him to back away in fear. This made the human crack a smile.

"You know I won't bite, right? Well, unless I'm hungry, in which case..."

The guards ears flattened against his head as he began to trot backwards at a faster pace. Mathews sly grin sending his fight or flight instincts into overdrive.

"I might just have to have a little snack... And I've heard pegasi is just delectable..."

The poor soldiers eyes shrunk to pinpricks, what little resolve he had left snapping. He let out a scared squee as his eyes rolled back into his skull and he hit the deck, taking out a nearby potted plant in the process. Luna broke into an uncontrollable chortle, rolling around with her hooves in the air.

"I almost feel bad for him." Said Mathew, his act dropping. "Almost."

The guardian slowly bent down and picked up the armoured pony, even with the plating he weighed little more than a dog. Luna pulled herself up out of the grass and began to walk out of the gardens, Mathew following close behind.

"So what do you plan on doing now your back? I mean won't you have princess-y stuff to be getting on with?"

Luna shifted her gaze up to the human, who had the guard snuggled close to his chest.

"I imagine I may take over the duty of the night. Though there will need to be a small transition period, just while sister gets things sorted out."

Mathew nodded. He didn't know much about royalty, but he knew that getting the populace to just accept a new ruler after a thousand years was going to be a tough pill to swallow. Especially after his arrival.

"There will also need to be a meeting of the treaty holders at some point, regarding both of us that is." Luna continued. "At least if that's still around, sister could have done away with it years ago."

"The treaty holders? Who are they?"

Luna thought for a moment.

"The treaty was an old declaration of peace between Equestria and Griffonia, both powers signed and an alliance was formed. Over time more kingdoms were introduced and the alliance began to grow."

They passed under the arch the lead to the garden courtyard, the area was still littered with crates, many of which were lying open to the air. They continued through without incident.

"The ambassadors meet once every two months to discuss the various events occurring within each of our kingdoms, as well as any new laws that need passed or decisions that need to be made. In the situation that something concerns all of the members, like a large alien monkey and his equally large starship, then an emergency meeting will be called, allowing for all the members to contribute to a solution."

"So it's like a kind of round table, only with ponies, and stuff."

"I guess you could say that."

They began walking up the long pristine white stairs of the castle, boots and hooves echoing around the garden.

"So who's all part of this treaty? Just so I know."

"Well, back before I was banished there were six members. Us, obviously, the Griffon empire, the Minotaur tribes, the Zebra tribes, the Diamond dog packs and the Dragon clans. More may have joined though."

Mathew had an intense thousand yard stare going, this place just got stranger and stranger. He shook himself out of his stupor.

"Well, okay. As long as I'm not on trial for anything."

Luna shook her head.

"On the contrary, I imagine they'll all be very eager to meet you, especially the griffons. You are the first alien to visit after all."

By now they had made their way inside the castle, walking down the long pale hallway towards the throne room. The guard was beginning to stir in Mathews grasp.

"Looks like our passenger is beginning to wake up, let's pick up the pace a we bit."

Luna nodded as they started to jog, the stallion bouncing slightly as they went. Soon the tall ornate doors of the throne room came into view, the gold intricacies reflecting sunbeams across the washed walls. Voices could be heard leaking out from the cracks, allowing Mathew to hear the conversation as he approached.

"Am tellin' ya princess ah don't trust em, the both of em. There's just somethin' off about the big fella, not to mention it-"

"HE, Applejack, his name is Mathew." Interjected Celestia. "And he has done our nation a great service."

"By bringing back Nightmare moon! How is that a great service! That creature endangered all of us!"

Luna froze, her eyes widening in shock. Mathew stared straight ahead, his hand pressed firmly on the door, he wasn't planning on entering until he heard Celestia's response.

"Not to mention what it did to Twilight! That things a danger-"

"Get out."

"Excuse me princess?"

"Get out of my throne room."

There was a deathly silence, every second seaming to take hours.

"BOTH OF YOU GET OUT NOW!"

The sound of hooves slipping on marble echoed from within the hall as two bodies race to leave. Mathew grabbed Luna with his one free hand and pulled her down an adjacent corridor, hopefully out of sight. The great doors flung open and the ponies in question raced passed, Mathew spotted the rainbow maned pegasus from the courtyard, along with another pony in an odd looking hat. Celestia's booming voice started up again.

"Now if anypony else has any concerns revolving around my sister or our guest then please, by all means, make them heard."

The tension in the air unfathomably thick, like breathing soup. It didn't look like anyone had anything worth saying.

"Excellent." The princesses voice raised. "You can come in now you two, or well three I suppose."

Damn, looks like they'd been spotted, not that it really mattered. Mathew slowly walked towards the door, making sure not to wake the guard in his arms. He crossed the threshold of the mighty frame and stood, as gracefully as one can expect, facing into the room. There was moment of complete stillness as both parties stared at each other with a mixture of awe and fear. Mathew was about to break the ice when a number of things happened.

The guard woke himself up with a snort, only to take a good long look at the human holding him in his arms. This was closely followed by a swift kick to the jaw. Mathew squawked in surprise as he stumbled backwards several feet, dropping his helmet under him, right into the path of a large number of decorative spears. The small sentry forced his way out of the now weakened hold, shoving Mathew further towards the pointed end of a sun themed pike. In a final unfortunate turn of events, he tripped over his fallen helmet, and was rewarded with an extremely sharp object right through the back of his exposed neck. He slumped to the floor, the jagged blade poking out from under his chin. The entire room stood stock still, mouths agape, completely silent.

"I-is he dead p-princess?"

As if to answer the question, Mathews eyes rolled back in his head and his body slowly faded in a flicker of light. The hall erupted into chaos. Rarity screamed, her voice reaching octaves that not even the Will of Crota could surpass. Fluttershy passed out, her body making a dull thunk as it hit the polished floor. Pinky Pie burst into tears, waterfalls of salty liquid drenching the floor around her. Twilight was still, until one of her eyelids started flicking rapidly, loose strands of mane popping out at different angles.

"This is fine, everything is fine."

She then proceeded to curl up into a ball and rock back and forth. Celestia just sat, unmoving, her eyes fixed on the spot where Mathew had just been. Luna stuck her head round the door, having just pulled herself up off the ground.

"Sister! What in Equestria is going on?!"

The sun princess didn't respond, she didn't even look up, she just sat and stared. What? How?

"Tia, where is Mathew?"

"I-I, he was- He was there, he- He fell and then-"

She looked up at her Luna, and then back down at the pile of spears, one of which had a viscous white fluid dripping off the end. He just died, just like that, the last of his kind, in a household accident. How? Her train of thought was interrupted as a blue glow began to emanate from the mound, and slowly, Mathews ghost emerged. He sighed and began to open up into a ball of brilliant light, swirling with traces of many colours. Celestia braced herself for the worst, expecting him to attack. Instead he snapped shut in a flash, stunning the princess. When her eyes adjusted she saw something she couldn't believe.

"Gah! I hate that!" Said Mathew, shaking himself about. "That's the second time in two days! God..."

The whole room just gaped at him.

"D-did you just... Resurrect yourself?" Stuttered Twilight.

"Um, yeah. Yeah, I guess I did, honestly I wish I didn't have to but... Ya know..."

Several more mane strands popped out as the chipper unicorn began to laugh manically.

"Hehe yeah, that's funny, it's funny right guys. Haha, the talking alien monkey that can come back from the dead, hehe what a joke!"

Mathew raised his hands as the small pony began to saunter towards him.

"It's not like resurrection is a class twelve spell that has never been casted successfully and is presumed to be impossible to complete. Not to mention it takes dozens of highly trained wizards to even get the spell started, hehe it's funny, and you just casted it on yourself. While you were dead. Hehe that's not magically possible. You are not magically possible."

She had Mathew up against the wall now, staring up at him with a hungry expression.

"Um, okay little unicorn, it's time for some personal space now. Yes personal space, please move back a few feet thanks." Said the human, who was attempting to get round the obviously insane mare.

Rarity cut in. "Twilight dear, maybe you should do as he asks. He looks pretty uncomfortable."

Twilights head spun around to face her, making some very questionable snapping sounds in the process.

"Oh but don't you see Rarity, he wants to help with my research. I'm going to get to study a real live alien, oh I can't wait!"

"That's, lovely darling, but maybe you should calm down first... Your acting a bit..."

Pinky Pie, now completely dry of tears, appeared out of seemingly no where, her head popping over Mathews shoulder.

"Crazy? Loopy? Loco in the coco?"

Mathew jumped in surprise.

"SWEET MERCIFUL FUCK! Where the hell did you come from!"

"OhmygoshI'msosorryIdidn'tmeantoscareyoupleasedontfalloverandhurtyourselfagain."

"Pinky get off him! I need him in prime condition to get the most accurate results!"

"I don't think that's the best idea Twilight-"

"Well of course it is! How will I document his sleeping patterns if I can't-"

"Oh my gosh! I forgot your 'Welcome to Equestria/Welcome back from the dead' party! What colour of balloons do you-"

"ENOUGH!"

Celestia's voice ripped through the mares incessant babbling.

"Get off of him, NOW!"

Pinky clambered down from his back and stood next to her friends, who's faces seemed white with fear.

"All of you are completely out of line, get yourselves under control. Do I make myself clear?"

They all nodded rapidly.

"Good. Now Mathew." The dazed human brought his eyes up to hers. "How did you perform that spell?"

Huh, he had really never thought about it. Luckily he didn't need to bother.

"Allow me princess." Said ghost, who had materialised over Mathews head. "It is my connection to the light that allows for Mathew to restore his body and armour even after they have been completely destroyed, how I am able to do this remains a mystery to me, though I do know that this ability is affected by my distance to a light source. The further away from the source I am, the longer the revival process takes, until eventually I cannot cast it at all.

Celestia's horn glowed as she probed Mathews body for magical imbalances.

"W-what is this? Impossible. Your body is seething with wild magic, the kind that permeates the Everfree forest. It is suppost to be uncontrollable and violent, how can this be."

Mathew perked up at the mention of magic.

"I thought I didn't have any magic, only light."

His ghost turned around to face him, his single eye narrowing.

"That's just it, I've been taking measurements of everything that supposedly contains magic, and all of it seems to be a sort of weak, but refined version of what we know as light. The spells, the flight, everything. That only leaves one possible conclusion."

All eyes were on him.

"Both of them are the same thing."

Author's Note:

Hello I'm back again. He with another chapter of Mathews wonderful adventure. This ones slightly less serious than the others. It's not all destroyed planets and robot attacks all the time, though it certainly seems that way. I do believe this is my longest one yet. Anyway, thanks for sticking around and I'll see you all in the next one

P.S There may me some grammar errors as usual, keep your eyes peeled.

Comments

[SCP-096]

P.S There may me some grammar errors as usual, keep your eyes peeled.

*Slams all the work down in front of you*

The whole room just gawped at him.
By now they had made their way inside the castle and were walking down the long pale hallway towards the throne room.
"I might just have to have a little snack... And I've heard pegasus is just delectable..."
"These are called bullets, the gun can launch these at high speeds to hit targets much further away that you can with a sword or a bow. It basically means that you don't have to get close to someone if you want to kill them."

Shouldn't Pegasus be Pegasi ? Also the 2nd and last one need commas.

Anyways,the story feels a bit rushed,and I feel like the whole death thing should've came in later. Should've died by timberwolves,or a hydra in my opinion. I do like the fact you're trying to throw Nokris into this though. All the fellow guardians I bring it up with go like.

HOWEVER! Please refrain from adding too,much fan stuff on Nokris. It's not your idea,and this story will most likely end up getting either a massive rewrite,or becoming obsolete. Unless you're 100% sure Nokris will remain a background character,I ask you do take my warning seriously.

[A-P-A]

7800062

Thanks my dude. As for your concerns, I thought so too, but I felt like dodging around the whole 'Guadians can't die' thing would only make the rest of the story harder to write, and it will act for the basis of the next chapter, which will, as should be expected, contain the obligatory 'Twilight asks alien monkey questions' section, which is well loved. (I hope.) I'm also trying my damned hardest not to Mary Sue Mathew, which is proving rather difficult.

I'm glad thats all you found in the way of grammar errors, it means I'm improving.

[A-P-A]

7800062

And I just spotted your extra message below clip. I spent a solid two hours searching the grimour card database for any scrap of information on Nokris, I can safely say that I didn't find anything. I also checked Reddit for any leads but couldn't find anything worth a dime. I was actually planning on building his character myself, but if stuff exists already I might run into some problems. If there's some actually decent fan theory out there then I take a look. I also know that many of the characters in this story may be completely subject to change, like if they kill off Exuberant in the next halo game or something, but unfortunately I don't work for 343 or bungie so I can only go with what exists right now. If this story is finished and they release something canon that contradicts it then there isn't much I can do. But thanks for warning me none the less.

[AEtherBreak]

7800657 as someone who has read the grimoir almost religiously, (my score is 5315) i can say with no doubt the there is no mention of Nokris anywhere i can see. And given how bungie works with the (lack of) expansions, there probably won't be any new info in Destiny. If anything, any new info would be in Destiny 2, and that hasn't gotten an official release date yet, much less any information on who we would be fighting. I personally think Nokris would br a great choice, mabey as some sort of Hive High Priest or Alchemist. Anyway, keep up the great work. ?

[A-P-A]

7805935

My work? Great? I'm glad you think so, at least that means I can stop my search for stuff. I think I'll just write him myself, if that's what everyone wants.