01 -- The Ghost, The Guardian
In the smallest spaces dwells the greatest power.
------
“Guardian…”
A long ragged breath was followed by a hacking cough as her lungs burned for air. The move was reflexive to her body as conscious thought was slow to follow, like waking from a long sleep.
“Guardian, I don’t mean to rush you since you’ve just come back, but there’s a small matter of urgency that needs to be addressed.”
The voice came from nearby, the tone of the voice containing a strange quality to it that she couldn’t quite place her hoof on. Her eyes slowly cracked open, resisting the temptation to clamp shut again as the blinding light of day was revealed. What was also revealed was the source of the voice.
It first appeared as a floating blue light to her eyes but became sharper as her eyes focused on it. The glow came from an electronic eye set in the center of the thing’s core, and a hoofful of metal shapes clung around the core and moved about as it looked down on her. She opened her mouth to speak but stopped and raised one hoof to the side of her head. Rather than the expected contact with her coat, the hoof was stopped by what she now realised was a helmet that wrapped around her head completely. A glance down and she saw that her leg was wrapped in a dark purple fabric while the hoof was protected by an armored shoe.
What… where am I? She thought as her eyes drifted away from her hoof and to her surroundings. A completely alien landscape surrounded her as far as she could see, with hulks of twisted and rusted metal grouped together like some sort of corroded cobblestone path. What was more disconcerting was the shapes of what appeared to be skeletons of unknown creatures in most of the hulks--
“Guardian, I hate to rush you,” the floating machine said, it’s voice taking on a greater sense of urgency. “We really should head towards the Cosmodrome and find some cover. I’m afraid that when I first sensed you I may have thrown caution to the wind and rushed over. It seems that my hasty actions have attracted the Fallen.”
“Wait one minute… who are you? And who are the Fallen?” the questions tumbled out of her as she finally found her voice. All of her questions grinded to a halt when one in particular surfaced. “Wait wait wait… who am I?” The exploding train of questions was interrupted by a guttural snarl that echoed towards her. Several bellows answered the call, and signs of movement could be seen between the twisted wrecks over the hill.
“Guardian, we have to go now!” the floating machine insisted as it floated towards a truly massive metal wall that stretched to the horizon in both direction. It was equally as corroded as the metal wreckage that surrounded her and was even falling to pieces in places, but the floating machine was clearly heading toward the opening at the base of the wall before it turned back.
Another blood-curdling howl was enough of a motivation to start galloping after the machine. “Why are they chasing us? I don’t remember doing anything wrong to them or anypony else!” she protested as she wove between the debris in her way. Her muscles ached with the sudden effort before she realised that she had access to a much simpler way to travel. “Wait, I can take a shortcut!” She spread the wings she had forgotten she even had and rose above all of the obstructions--
--only to yelp in surprise as a blue-white projectile whizzed past her at blinding speed and struck the towering wall before them. The attack struck the rusted plating and caused a minor avalanche of debris to cascade downward as she ducked back to ground level and dove through the doorway to the wall’s interior. Sounds not unlike an accident at a bell factory chased her into the darkened hallway as more and more of the decaying structure collapsed behind her.
The darkness of the hallway vanished in a flash as the floating machine appeared beside her and projected a beam of light. “That was too close, and whatever fell out there isn’t going to hold the Fallen back for long. We have to keep running or they’ll catch us,” it explained as she stopped at the top of a flight of stairs to catch her breath.
“No, I need answers first!” she insisted, stamping a hoof for emphasis when the machine continued down the hall. “Who or what are you, and why are we running from those things back there?!”
The oddly shaped machine turned about to stare at her. “I’m a Ghost; your Ghost. I was sent by the Traveller to find and bring you back,” the Ghost explained quickly, the metal shapes surrounding its core moving about in some sort of facsimile of expression. “The Fallen are scavengers picking at the bones of the Golden Age, and they’re the enemies of the Traveller.”
Her brow furrowed in consternation. Traveller? Golden Age? This ‘ghost’ brings up more questions than answers! “Okay, fine. When we’re not being chased by whatever those are, I want you to explain everything to me,” she finally managed with a huff before posing another question. “Can you at least tell me who I am and where we are? I...I don’t remember anything.”
“You’re my Guardian,” the Ghost supplied, as though that would answer the question sufficiently. “We’re currently in the Cosmodrome wall in Old Russia, but I’m hoping we can--” The metal shapes surrounding the Ghost’s eye spread out wide, making an imitation of surprise. “Guardian, behind you!”
The Guardian (as the Ghost had dubbed her, though a title was not nearly as sufficient as the name she wanted) whirled about as heavy footfalls echoed up the staircase. Figures in the shadows could be seen at the bottom of the stairs, and another bestial howl followed next. The footfalls increased in tempo as the creatures charged up the stairs.
No further motivation was needed for the Guardian to resume her sprint along the catwalk and into the myriad of darkened hallways ahead of her. After what felt like a lifetime of running, it abruptly ended as quickly as the path itself. The hallway opened up into a vast chasm and a sheer drop into the gloom. A small amount of panic set in as the echoing shouts reached her, but the Ghost’s appearance held her attention.
“Behind and to your right there’s a gate and a weapon on the other side! I’m going to try and get it open just long enough for you get get through,” the floating machine instructed before zipping off into the darkness. “Be ready when it opens!”
The Guardian bounced from hoof to hoof as she spotted the gate in question, dividing her attention from the alleged escape route and the hallway she had just passed through. “Hurry, they’re coming!” she shouted as glowing eyes appeared in the shadows. She was rewarded with a vibrating hum that shook the entire building. The gate began to rattle as it was pulled upwards, and the cavern behind her was slowly flooded with light as the ancient structure woke. She didn’t dare look back until she had squeezed through the tiny gap between the gate and the floor, and when she did it brought no comfort.
The interior of the structure was just as decayed as the exterior, but she glossed over those details as the far more pressing concern was the dozens of creatures she saw moving from the open areas to the cover of shadows. All of them were converging on her position. A thunk from behind the Guardian was enough to draw her attention away from the gate, and a new jolt of adrenaline rushed through her.
The source of the noise was a bipedal creature dropping from some unknown space in the ceiling, more than likely one of the Guardian’s pursuers based on the growl that rumbled from it. Any details of its body were obscured by a helmet and ramshackle armor along with a tattered rag wrapped around its neck. The inspection of its equipment became a distant priority when it drew a knife wreathed in electricity, and a second creature dropped down into the corridor beside the first. Both of them let out a throaty snarl and charged.
The Ghost said there was a weapon here, right? RIGHT? the Guardian tried to recall as her eyes swept her surroundings for something to defend herself with. The attackers had halved the distance to her by the time she spotted some kind of tool resting beside the wall. Lavender light enveloped it and brought it close to the Guardian, who was now frantically sweeping her gaze between the weapon and the approaching enemies. “Ghost! How do I make this thing work!? They’re getting close!”
No response came from the Ghost, and the two attackers had closed to within two body lengths. With no other options available, the Guardian lashed out with the apparently useless weapon she had chosen. It shot towards the first attacker with blinding speed and connected with the side of its helmet with enough force to twist its head a full ninety degrees to the side and sent it flying into the corridor wall. The lavender-glowing weapon continued its wild spin and slammed squarely onto the crown of the second creature, driving it face first into the floor. Neither of the pair moved for a long moment and the only sound in the hallway was the Guardian’s labored breathing.
“Sorry! Sorry! I got delayed by a pack of Shanks and--” the Ghost apologized furiously as it appeared in the hallway seemingly out of thin air. The metal devices ringing its eye widened into something approximating surprise at the scene it now saw. “How did you do this? And how are you doing that?” it asked as it floated over to the Guardian’s improvised weapon as it also hovered in the air.
The simple question snapped the Guardian out of her defensive stance, and the lavender light flickered and went out. The weapon clattered to the ground, leaving her struggling for an explanation as the Ghost’s eye locked onto her. “I don’t know. Everything happened so fast…”
Howls from further down the hallway reiterated the urgency of the situation, and the Ghost bobbed in place in what might have been considered a nod. “Right, we’ll worry about that later! We still have to run!” tt exclaimed before hovering low over the now inert weapon. Threads of light from the Ghost laced the weapon and it vanished in a flash. “Banshee will murder us both when he hears what happened to a Khvostov of all things… But we can worry about that later! While I was reactivating power for the area, I think I found a location of a jumpship nearby! If we can find that, then we can get to safety!”
Jumpship? the Guardian thought, and she added the term to her growing list of things that she had to interrogate the Ghost about. “Then let’s go!” she agreed, and immediately galloped past the two Fallen to follow her guide. The tunnel opened up to a series of catwalks over the chasm, then another series of hallways, then a broken drainage pipe filled with stagnant water before the pair emerged on the other side of the Cosmodrome wall.
The Guardian’s eyes opened wide as she spotted towering shapes far off in the distance. Her gallop slowed to a trot as she drank in every detail. Judging by the surrounding features, most of the structures were far in the distance but did little to diminish the scope of them. A trio of spheres (which, for some odd reason, reminded the Guardian of hot air balloons) crowned the top of each, and just below were a set of blocky metal wings with a half dozen upside down cups mounted on each. Any further inspection was blocked by the rubble and buildings that littered the new area. “What are those?” she asked, unable to keep the wonder from her voice.
The Ghost continued its forward trajectory but flipped around to give the Guardian a look. “The colony ships, but we can talk about those later! We need to get to the Jumpship before they summon more--”
A boom of thunder shook the ground, and what could best be described as a flying scrapheap appeared overhead. It immediately wheeled about and lumbered towards the fugitive pair, threatening to blast them from on high or crash upon them unceremoniously in equal measure. The Guardian needed no more prompting as she spotted Fallen leaping from the flying junk pile to the ground ahead of them. She ran.
The first of the Fallen didn’t have a chance to react as the Guardian galloped past. The next few made wild grabs or attempted tackles to little effect, while the rest began to open fire with the handheld weapons they were carrying. Sizzling blue bolts cut through the night air as the Guardian cut a weaving path across the barren dirt to an open doorway on the far side of the clearing.
The Ghost’s light illuminated the hallway as it pulled ahead. “I passed by here a week ago and saw something we can use! If the Fallen haven’t picked it to pieces, there should be a Jumpship-- Ah! There it is!” The darkened hallway opened up into a larger chamber illuminated by the massive hole that had been punched in the ceiling. The source of that damage was suspended above the ground, tangled in the supports and wreckage of its violent entry. Two stocky wings flanked a central hull, and a long pylon sprouted from the nose of the Ghost’s alleged Jumpship.
“What a piece of junk!” the Guardian exclaimed, unable to keep her initial reaction in check. “Are you absolutely sure that flying deathtrap is safer than staying here with the murderous scavengers?”
“Absolutely sure!” the Ghost said as it floated up to the snared debris that held their salvation in check. “Well… mostly sure. This thing gives us a chance of making it to the Last City safely, but if we stay here then the Fallen will get us eventually.”
“The ‘Last City’? Ghost, you’re doing that thing again!” the Guardian protested with a stamp of her hoof. “You’re talking about stuff like I know about it already!”
The winking light of the Ghost’s eye appeared in the shadows near the Jumpship. “Sorry! Sorry! We’ll have plenty of time to go over your questions once we get in the air. I’m going to need a minute to get the systems up and running… but that might be difficult since more Fallen are approaching.” No sooner had the Ghost said this that the now familiar howls could be heard from the hallway that the Guardian had just emerged from.
“There aren’t any weapons around to use!” the Guardian shouted as she raked her gaze across the room desperately. “What am I supposed to do?”
The Ghost’s tone was equally exasperated. “You’re the Guardian, not me! Improvise!”
Improvise? Oh, well that solves everything! Why didn’t I think of that? she thought with more than a little annoyance as she stared into the tunnel. Flickers of light from the Fallen’s electrified knives briefly highlighted the silhouettes charging towards the Guardian, as well as illuminating the shape of a much larger creature in the middle of the pack. The Guardian gritted her teeth and summoned her determination. I have to stop them. Stop them. STOP THEM!
Just as when the Ghost had told her to use the weapon earlier, a well of power within the Guardian was tapped and gave form to her intent. A wave of lavender energy coalesced in front of her and filled the corridor in a flash. The first of the Fallen crashed headlong into it and bounced off as surely as if they had struck a concrete wall. The scavengers were back up on their feet and pushing futilely against the conjured barrier as a significantly larger Fallen approached. Unlike the others, this one’s armor was in significantly better condition and it cradled a weapon as large as the Guardian herself in its four arms. Rather than flail or push against the barrier as the others attempted, the larger Fallen stood as still as a statue and stared.
The rumble of ancient engines coming to life broke the Guardian’s concentration and the barrier flickered. In that moment, the larger Fallen rushed forward with a deep-throated snarl. The weakened defense shattered under the precise assault, and the Guardian scrambled backward to avoid the reaching arms--
--only for the ruined hangar to be replaced by the cramped interior of the Jumpship in a flash of light. A moment later the Guardian was thrown back into her seat as they accelerated away from the Cosmodrome.
The Ghost appeared a moment later, bobbing happily in the space beside the Guardian’s seat. “You see? I told you it would work! There’s nothing to worry about!” it declared.
Several moments passed as the Guardian caught her breath and surveyed her new surroundings. After her eyes made a complete circuit of the cockpit they settled on the Ghost. “If we’re in flight, that means it’s time for my questions,” she stated.
The Ghost’s bobbing slowed to a stop and it pulled back a small bit. “Well, I suppose it is that time then. What do you wish to know?”
“Everything.”
------
Unknown to the new Guardian or her Ghost, the Jumpship’s departure from the Cosmodrome was witnessed by more than just the Fallen. A cloaked figure watched the ship vanish across the horizon, glowing eyes visible from beneath its hood.
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Edit: Evening folks, sorry for the delay in posting this. I had intended to do so earlier but... yeah, last week happened. :(
Anywho, this was a fun chapter for me to write, and the interplay between the Guardian and her Ghost was really a treat to explore (since this particular mission in Destiny only has the Ghost talking while you just silently nod and follow along).
I hope this gives folks enough of an idea as to what Brightest Spark is going to be like, as after this I'll be hammering out the second chapter of Directive 2 before going back to Mente Materia. Let me know what you think.
Looking good so far, looking forward to how the Vanguard will react to a truly alien guardian
Lavender aura... I think I know who this mysterious guardian is....
Oh hi Twilight.
Oooh i like this!
7790561
Could've sworn it would be Rainbow.
7790707 I honestly thought so also, but it looks like our guesses were off by a long shot
Don't worry, you'll get the exotic version later anyway.
Different start, but steady pacing and good approach to this.
Whelp, it's definitely Twilight under that Warlock Mask, given that her aura is lavender... unless you're going to pull a fast one on us when she takes her helmet off and have a REALLY good explanation for not only the aura, but the instinctive use of a magic shield (one of Twilight's specialities). Now it just beggs the question of HOW she got to Golden Age Earth in time to see The Collapse... and if she'll ever recover her memories. Most Guardians don't, but then again most Guardia s don't have the same motivation she would have, being the only one of her kind and the mystery of what she was doing on Earth.
Also, an interesting take on the first mission/prologue. And that poor Khvostov. The exotic is easily one of my favorite guns in the game, after my Hawkmoon and Imago Loop (which I got lucky as hell on to get the Explosive Rounds/Outlaw/Firefly GOD Roll on the first try...).
7790496 im so confused
can i see if i have this right in the first chapter twilight and the gang saw the fight with the fallen and rainbow goes missing, then somthing happens later on (that we haven't seen probably to do with the dead guardian) that causes twilight (i assume its twilight) to transported to earth and killed, she has now been resurrected so later on in the story we are going to see the scene from the first chapter from guardian twilights perspective.
the only other option is its rainbow that has been resurrected and alicorned bu i doubt it
i hope its the first judging by the name the brightest spark
Loving this so far
Oh! So it IS Twilight! That just makes me dramatically more interested to see this continued, partially because there's a helluva mystery there, and partially because Twilight-focused adventures are the best. You write a fantastic Twilight, but she didn't get to do much adventuring in Stardust, and the same can be said of Mente Materia along with her not getting the spotlight very often it feels like. I super want more of this story! Here's hoping the stuff that makes her such a fun character, the scientific personality etc., are still intact after the whole having-been-dead-for-forever-and-lost-identity thing.
7791358
Where did it say it was twilight?
Were there fur or mane color descriptions?
Well, that's a solid meh for me, so my vote is going to be going to Directive 2. The amnesia is admittedly a potentially interesting twist, but the fact that you demoted Rainbow from my pessimistic estimate of "plot device" to total absence kills any real interest I had in this story. Ultimately, my expectation at this point is that this story will be worse version of Stardust/MM based on the differences in Twilight's starting point and what I have heard of Destiny, and while I doubt it will be bad based on your track record, it's still not something I'm particularly excited to read more of. When you combine that with the fact that I just got a beefy new gaming PC so I can finally play modern games like XCOM, there are very good odds this story won't be a high enough priority to read if you wind up continuing it.
Now what I really want is for GuardianTwilight to find her way into X-ComTwilight verse.
Well. It is now very likely that this new Guardian is Twilight. But if that is the case, how did she get there? Dash was the one that was missing, not Twilight.
7792367
Lavender magic.
even having not played Destiny myself i still find this to be quite interesting, though i do find myself wondering if the guardians ever manage to regain any memories from their previous lives over the course of the game.
7793684
Also, the description of the remains in the previous chapter was that of an alicorn's.
I'm not familiar with Destiny. Has Twilight been raised wholesale, or is she now a set of bones in a pony suit or something?
7794523
The alicorn description alone doesn't mean Twilight, but the Lavender Magic does.
7794811
True, but it did eliminate Rainbow Dash right off the bat, or at least make her much less likely.
7792867 Don't be so pessimistic
. We have a prologue in Equestria, and another Prologue set smack in the first mission of the Destiny Story-line. They're two entirely different settings, presumably happening in parallel subjective time (I've mentioned I hate the Vex... 
) , and considering the windup of the Equestria Prologue, I doubt it'll be set to the wayside so Rainbow will still be found, and may yet ascend out of her current niche of convenient plot device. Arad will hopefully be running the story-arc events of Equestria/Destiny in tandem until the point of convergence (Because that's what would make sense to me anyway), and the Equestria side will likely take more precedence...
As Much as I love Destiny, you can only run the missions so many times before you know them back to front while upside down and sideways, and even with Arad putting his own twist on things the missions will likely conclude more or less with the same general outcomes. Most who visit this story will be familiar with the source material, and while I can't speak for everyone I feel safe betting most are not really here for a re-hash of Destiny, because we've already re-hashed the game ourselves, in game, sometimes dozens of times.
Most of what we're likely looking for is how the big Players of the Destiny Supporting Cast interact with the Pony-Guardian, and how Arad interprets and reinterprets the plethora of buried lore scattered throughout the game, as well as his own take on behind the scenes events that we don't get to see in the cut-scenes. While That's all well and interesting, most of the world building is also going to literally be ancient history for the characters involved, and thus not really driving the story forward outside of some new nuggets for this side of the plot's deeper workings that will hopefully be worked in alongside all the canon stuff and character antics. There is some mystery due to the Pony-Guardian's lack of memory before her revival, which happens to Every Guardian, given that they've been, ya' know... Dead for the last few centuries or so, but overall that's something that will have to resolve itself as the plot moves forward on its own and can't really be speculated on when, or even If it will come back, as to the best of my knowledge no guardian recalls their life before being resurrected the first time by their Ghosts...
In contrast, on the Equestria side, we already have motive and action established, and a goal the characters are working towards while they unravel the mystery of what happened to Rainbow Dash, what caused the battle to bleed into Equestria , and what the battle even was About to begin with. A goal we don't know if they ultimately accomplished before the two plots merge more fully.
This plot will require much less world building that won't already be occurring on the other side of the temporal divide, and will require much more expansion on the plot Itself to keep it moving forward.
7795360 There are four fundamental problems with that line of thinking. None of these are necessarily damning on their own, but when taken together (and added to my new distraction box which is going to eat a lot of stories in the near future) they lead to the sentiment in my first comment.
First and foremost, Arad blew me off when I asked about how big a part Rainbow Dash was going to get. He could have given a simple, vague response like "don't worry, I have big plans for her" which would have satisfied me without any spoilers, but when he refused to say I was wrong in my concerns, the only conclusion I can draw is that I am at least partially right.
Second, there is no Rainbow Dash tag. If that was there it would tell me that she is going to play a major part without needing any other information, but without it I only have the vague "Main 6" tag which can mean just about anything. When you combine that with the fact that Rainbow got grabbed by what looks like a transparent plot device, it is very easy to draw the conclusion that she's not really going to be a significant part of the story.
Third, Arad does not really have a history of writing Rainbow Dash to any significant degree. While this does make sense in the context of his other stories, it leaves big questions on his intent with this one. He could use this story as a chance to branch out into another character like Rainbow Dash if he wanted to, but the setup so far makes it look like his Twilight-focus is an author pattern rather than a function of the story he has been writing.
Fourth, this is not a take it or leave it story like most. We get to actively vote to determine which story he moves forwards with, and we have to make that decision based on what is written here. That means waiting to see what happens is not an option, so I need to explain my conclusion and reasoning now so others can at least understand where I am coming from even if they disagree. I'm sure I'm not the only person reading through these comments to get more perspective on their choice, so I believe it is important that I explain my thinking here to contribute to the discussion even if it isn't useful feedback to help Arad improve his writing.
7795455 all valid lines of reasoning, I suppose (And I seem to recall us getting into a separate "agree to disagree" discussion over a different story before, so it's nothing new
), but they are each subjective to their own lines of reasoning as well.
1) I am, and have always have been, of the opinion that authors are not obligated in any way to divulge any part of their future plans for a story at any point unless they wish to. Arad may not have answered your question about RD (unless he sent you a PM that I am unaware of), However, he hasn't answered any of the Other speculation or questions, either, other than to clarify a few things about the already established setting, and has stated that he is leery of giving away spoilers, which your questions about RD could very easily lead into, so there's no reason to take it personally.
2) True, no RD tag but Twilight tag in there. The Mane-6 tag is there, too though, so it suggests that she will be present at some future point in at least a supportive capacity. I suppose it ultimately depends on Arad's own personal tagging rules, which I am unaware of the particulars of. Would Arad be willing to clarafy his methods?
3) Arad has 7 published stories on Fimfiction, 6 if which are either Core to, or Side Saddle off of his Stardust story, which is a Twilight Centeric story. Logic follows that those stories would follow the pattern, but this is, like you said, an opportunity for him to try branching out, and we're only 2 chapters in, both of which were Prologues in their own ways. There's still plenty of story left to go for this story's pattern to be established.
4) I was under the impression that the feadback would help him determine which story he would Focus on, but that he would continue with all of them at their own pace. (Confirmation please Arad?).
And if you're asking for my choice, then it's obviously this one, because while I'm passingly familiar with XCOM thanks to Strardust, I have no Clue about the other half of Directive 2's cross-over setting. For this story, I know Ponies, and I've been playing Destiny since the second half of Year 1, so I at least know what's going on and can appreciate what Arad can bring by building off of the settings.
I suppose it's time for me to break my silence on this subject.
7795360
Your theory about the two parallel timelines is correct. One part of the story focuses on the Element Bearers trying to solve the mystery of what happened as well as to try and revive the Stranger who was left behind. The other part of the story is of the Guardian trying to solve some of the mysteries in the Destiny setting as well as the gigantic mystery surrounding herself.
7795455
First and foremost, if I gave the impression that I was blowing you off then I apologize as that was not my intent. I tried to provide the best answer I could without giving any kinds of spoilers, and I consider the statement 'I have big plans for her' to be a spoiler, or at least a breadcrumb. My pre-readers and editors have rightfully called me out on my tendency to breadcrumb in comments to try and lead people down the right train of speculation regarding what happens in the future. As my plans for this rely heavily on the gradual exposition of the parallel timelines, I am being extra cautious as to what I share.
Regarding your two middle points, I can't really comment on those without approaching my overly paranoid danger zone for spoilers/bread crumbing. Sorry. : \
The last point will be addressed in a little bit as the other person brought it up as well.
7795535
Regarding your first point, you're mostly correct about the spoiler-avoidance reason for not commenting more, though I would also mention that the events of last week and this week kinda put a damper on replying much.
Also, Warframe. So much Warframe. >_>
Second point: All I can really explain at this point is just the logic behind my character tagging system without approaching the spoiler danger zone. The Mane 6 tag is included because they were in the first chapter, Twilight is singled out because it was from her perspective. Any further explanation goes into spoiler territory. :(
Third point: I will admit that I'm using this story to try something new. As I'm writing this story I hope to bring up several questions for the readers: From the Equestria setting, Where did Rainbow Dash go and who is the Stranger who was left behind? From the Earth/Destiny setting, how did an Alicorn end up being a Guardian on Earth and how will her presence change things? And the story as a whole, how do the events on Equestria relate to the events that on Earth? The challenge for me is to lead the readers to those answers simultaneously without bludgeoning them with an infodump.
Fourth point: I had initially planned on starting these various stories, letting people vote, then putting all but the winner on the back burner until my current projects were done... BUT, after writing for Directive 2 and Brightest Spark I may have to revise the plan because I'm having a blast writing for both. I don't know how things will work out regarding my projects but I will NOT let either one wither on the vine.
Regarding the other half of Directive 2's crossover, it's a manga/anime that's called GATE, with is at it's heart a bit of a crossover itself. TL;DR version? Fantasy world becomes linked with modern day Earth through a gateway. Fantasy world tries to invade. It doesn't go well. It was a fun series to watch/read but it loses points due to it's nationalistic/jingoistic chestpounding themes, which I'll avoid with Directive 2. The theme I had intended to pursue was the cognitive dissonance that XCOM experiences: They're now facing alien invaders commanded by humans, and they have to deal with the fact that they are seen as the incomprehensible alien invaders with high technology when they go through the gate to get justice.
Anywho, can't talk much more at this point. Work starts in 2 minutes.
Later folks!
7796203 thank you!
7795535 Fair enough, and to be perfectly frank this discussion was really more for the benefit of others than ourselves thanks to the way voting works, so I think it's a good thing both perspectives are clearly portrayed here. Of course, Arad's post kills the need for this so I won't bother going back into it.
7796203 Ok, never mind. The fact that you are ditching the voting fundamentally changes things. Asking us to make that kind of judgement call requires you to give us enough information to make the call so we need at least that vague breadcrumb to make a semi-informed decision. Taking away that pressing need to decide if this story is going to be better right now means we can wait to see what happens, although in spite of what you said you still left enough of a breadcrumb to piece the answer to this question together here:
When combined with what I have seen of the story so far, this strongly implies that Rainbow won't be present in this story in a meaningful way. Separating her from the group like you did gives you two distinct options for dealing with her. You can either leave her absent and use her mostly as a plot device to drive other characters to do things (this is basically "rescue the princess"), or you can follow her to write a story about her adventure wherever she went (like Stardust). It is certainly possible to combine these by showing both sides (the MLP episode "A Dog and Pony Show" is a good example), but that still leaves major Rainbow Dash focused plot threads and makes her a major character. The fact that you ommitted any reference to these plot threads in your "questions" (e.g. "What is Rainbow Dash doing?") implies that they are not something you are thinking about to a significant degree, and by extension are not planning on writing about in the actual story.
As for the blow off, that was based on the assumption of a vote and how that reshapes the discussion in the comments. Expecting me to make a judgement call on the entire story this early requires more information up front than would be strictly good for the story since you are asking me to decide up front rather than waiting to see what you do. I can't make that judgement without more information than is presented in the prologue(s), so you refusing to give that information says you don't really care about the integrity of your vote.
When you change that context by removing the vote, the entire situation changes very significantly and totally reshapes the way I both write and interpret comments. If I had known you were going to continue this regardless of the vote, my first comment would have been more along the lines of "I hope Rainbow will be important" and I wouldn't have cared about being told to wait and see because that was what I was expecting to do in the first place. I wouldn't have felt the need to try to dig for information since patience would have been a perfectly acceptable option, and I wouldn't have bothered dissecting your posts for shreds of information you didn't mean to give away since there would have been no need to do so.
Anyways, I think that's enough rambling from me, so just remember that context is important and I'm going to wander off to play XCOM for the rest of the night.
Hey guys, I read this story with no prior knowledge on what it is about, so I was confused on where this story is going at first, but now I saw that it was referencing to Destiny, a game in which I only discovered because of Arad's story and when I watched on youtube a gameplay of it I already get the premise of the story, all in all I just wanted to say, keep up the good work and I am very excited what the other guardians are going to say and how are they going to react to a magical pony on the last city on Earth.
It just goes to show that in the moment of great evil and darkness, a sparkle of light can be seen.
So it isn't Rainbow?
7790807 wait what?
7791159 ... WHAT!?!?
Where is this exotic you speak of? I have 4 Khvostovs in my vault, when was an exotic version made?
7854847
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There are two ways to start the Exotic Quest that ends in acquiring the gun, but only if you have the Rise of Iron DLC attached and verified to your account:
Option 1) Break down one of those extra white Khvostov's you have moldering in your vault. You'll automatically be given the schematics for the Exotic, which you can take to Banshee-44 to start the quest.
Option 2) Start a Patrol in the Plague Lands and make your way to where the area overlaps with the old Cosmodrome, then head into and through The Breach until you come out into the area where your Ghost first revived you during the Prologue. You'll see a Ketch floating off in the distance. Make your way to the Ketch and kill everything dumb enough to get in your way until you're inside the ship. There should be a chest in one of the back corners. Open this chest and you should get the Schematics for the Exotic Khvostov, which you again take to Banshee-44 to start the Quest proper.
The quest isn't really that long, and should only take an hour and a half to two hours to complete if you focus on it exclusively.
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can't wait to see what this story will add to both universes. Fanfics of Destiny, crossover or not, are on the rare side.
i dont give a shit. im reading ghost in peter dinklage's voice. :P