Ahamkara

by Dragonfire2lm

Chapter 3

Author's Note:

I Finally Got This Damn Chapter Done!

Please point out any typo's I missed.

Sometime later the small group left Twilight to her notes and headed to Sugarcube Corner. The lights were out and there was no sign of any life in the building.

“It’s too quiet in there.” Cidae frowned and narrowed her eyes at the eerily silent Bakery.

“It’s a surprise.” Fluttershy said, almost in a whisper.

“Well if anyone tries to jump me I’m going to start shooting.” Cidae snorted. “I don’t like surprises.”

“But... you’re a changeling...” Rainbow looked at the changeling mare in confusion.

“So?” Cidae turned her head to glare at the mare. “Are you being racist on purpose? Because I can’t tell anymore.”

“I’m not racist!” Rainbow cried, throwing her hooves in the air.

"How about I go in first?" the Ghost suggested as his Guardian also looked wary of the building. "Dracona and ambushes do not end well."

"Fuck the Hive..." the exo muttered at the reminder.

“Hive?” Cidae asked and blinked at Dracona owlishly.

“Yes please.” Fluttershy nodded.

As Asriel flew in to ask the party goers not to surprise them Dracona decided to answer Cidae's question.

"The Hive are a race of aliens that live in a perpetual state of slaughter, they need to constantly kill things to sate the hunger of worms they are bound to," she explained. "Long story short, they are a cult of death and carnage, killing everything that isn't one of their own."

“I regret everything that led to that answer.” Cidae said, turning a little green.

“You fought those things?” Rainbow’s jaw dropped as she half-flopped to the ground? “So awesome!”

“They s-sound horrible.” Fluttershy shivered, hiding behind her mane a little.

"They are horrible." Dracona stated.

Meanwhile Asriel had found a way into the building via an open window.

"Hello?" the Ghost called out. "My Guardian would be very grateful if you started the welcome party before she entered the building, um please?"

There was a brief moment of silence from the building.

“Awwww. He ruined the surprise.” Came a disappointed voice.

“That’s out queue to go in.” Rainbow grinned. “Food....”

“Ya know maybe this isn’t such a good idea.” Cidae suddenly looked apprehensive. She took a step back, but was stopped by Fluttershy’s hoof.

“Cidae, you’re going to be okay. Nopony here is going to hurt you.” Fluttershy tried to sound comforting.

"I'm an experienced fighter, I do not like being ambushed, party or not," Dracona stated as she walked in. "Also, please be nice to the changeling or you'll be excluded from Weird Storytime ok?"

The exo made a beeline for the food while her Ghost found an empty corner to work on the transmitter.

The ponies watched the exo in stunned silence. Then Cidae walked in.

“CHANG-!” A pony began to shout.

“NO!” Fluttershy shouted, Her wings flaring out at her exclamation. “DON’T YOU DARE!”

The room went dead silent once again.

“Cidae is a kind and gentle Changeling! She hasn’t hurt anypony! You're all going to treat her just like anypony else got it?!” Fluttershy snorted, her glare roving over the stunned crowd.

There was a quiet fwipping noise as Cidae’s wings snapped out straight. The Changeling stared unblinking at the butter pegasus before her.

"So do you ponies not want Weird Storytime? 'Cause I was going to talk about how I beat up tyrant emperor and stuff." Dracona drawled as she started piling various party foods onto a paper plate, by stabbing the foodstuff with her hunting knife and letting it slide off onto the plate.

“Oooo! Story time!” Pinkie gasped, rushed over, and sat in front of the exo.

Dracona’s announcement, and Pinkie’s reaction broke the hold Fluttershy had on the crowd, most of which moved over to hear the exo’s story.

Cidae, just stood motionless, staring at the heaving form of Fluttershy. Like a switch being flipped, Fluttershy blinked and gasped. “Oh my goodness! I’m so sorry!”

Dracona walked over to her Ghost, who had finished building the transmitter. A circle gems was attached to a series of wires, all of which led to a metal pole with a beacon and two small speakers welded to it. The entire thing was held upright via a metal stand.

"Go enjoy the party, I wanna eat first." the exo stated and took a seat next to the device.

"Why don't you all go say hi to Cidae?" Asriel added. "You might make a new friend in the process."

Asriel glanced at his Guardian and sighed, Dracona had tuned out the world around her to focus on stuffing her face. As the ponies move off to enjoy the party, Rainbow meanwhile flew over to Dracona. “What is that?”

Across the room, Fluttershy finally calmed down from her minor panic attack and noticed Cidae staring at her. “U-uummm, Cidae are you alright?” In response, Cidae simply nodded dumbly.

"This is a transmitter, it will allow us to get in contact The Vanguard, hopefully I can reach Cayde first, He's Dracona's boss," Asriel explained."And probably the only one that will get her attention."

Dracona paused, shot her Ghost a 'don't you dare' look and resumed eating.

"She likes Cayde." Asriel happily added.

His Guardian grumbled in annoyance at him but was too distracted by food to really be offended.

“And who’s this Cayde guy again?” Rainbow cocked her head to the side.

“Ooo! What’s going on with Cid?” Pinkie popped up next to Fluttershy, grinned and glancing between the two.

“I don’t know.” Fluttershy sounded worried.

Pinkie looked back and forth a few times then stated in an oddly serious manner. “She likes you.”

Cidae simply nodded dumbly once again.

"Cayde-6 is the Hunter Vanguard, the leader of all the Guardians who choose to take up the role of a Hunter." Asriel said.

"I'm a Hunter." Dracona added as she finished eating.

"Cayde is Dracona's boss, he's cocky and labels himself as the gentleman theif type." the Ghost continued.

"He jokes a lot and doesn't take things seriously, which is breath of fresh air when your life consists of endless fighting and tying to keep an entire city safe for one more day," Dracona said. "Cayde is awesome."

“Whoa... He sounds awesome.” Rainbow said and grinned. “What’s so special about Hunters?”

"Well, Hunters are fast and kinda reckless," Dracona said. "I don't want to spend all day explaining the differences between Titans, Hunters and Warlocks so, I'm the rogue essentially."

"So, Weird Storytime?" Asriel asked.

"Weird Storytime," the exo confirmed and brushed herself off. "Alright everyone who wants to hear how I single-handedly saved my home from an invasion?"

Most of the ponies within the bakery immediately rushed over to hear the exo’s tale.

“O-oh...” Fluttershy blushed as Cidae finally blinked.

The changeling looked around. “What happened? I spaced out for a minute or two.”

“Fluttershy yelled at everypony before they could freak out and you turned into a statue.” Pinkie giggled.

"I work as a Guardian, it's my job to protect The Last City from our enemies, The scavengers known as Fallen, the worshipers of death called The Hive, the all converting, terraforming force of the Vex Hivemind, the tainted, darkness drenched Taken and finally the planet destroying, militaristic Cobal," Dracona began. "I have killed a Vex God, a Fallen Leader, a Hive prince and his king! But nothing could have prepared me for the war that would claim countless lives and rob us of our home."

"We Guardians are granted the power to protect the Last City and it's people by the will of The Traveler, a massive sphere that has given us the power to wield Light against our foes," she continued. "But the Cobal, led by their new Emperor Dominus Ghaul, attacked and stole our city, our Traveler and our Light from beneath our feet and slaughtered any powerless Guardians that his troops, the Red Legion came across."

"Dracona and I confronted Ghaul atop his ship but without the Light of the Traveller, we were powerless to stop him." Asriel added.

"So we ran, we fled and spent several days living in the wilds before were found by survivors of the attack." Dracona said.

Dracona paused her tale to gauge the reactions of her audience, they were stunned into silence.

"We, along with every other Guardian that escaped made our way to shard of the Traveller that had laid dormant in a dense forest and it was there that the shard returned our Light to us, so we could fight back," Dracona said. "From there we travelled across the stars to reunite with our leaders, Zavala, Ikora and Cayde-6."

"Once the Vanguard had been reassembled we stole a Cobal ship and snuck into the city, while a small unit led by the Vanguard distracted the Red Legion Dracona and I used a Vex Teleporter to get onto and destroy Ghaul's super weapon that he had aimed at our sun." Asriel added.

"After that, all that was left was to confront Ghaul and take back our home." Dracona paused and prepared herself for the big finale.

"Ghaul had stolen the Traveller's Light for himself and tried to wield the powers of a Guardian against us," the exo stated. "But we had an ace up our sleeves for I am not just a hunter..."

She stopped, nervousness ate away at her but before she could continue, the speakers on the transmitter crackled before a familiar voice came through.

"You're an awesome Hunter, am I right?" Cayde-6 said over the commlink. "I'm right aren't I."

The sound of the Hunter Vanguard's voice gave Dracona newfound joy and confidence.

"Yup, Ghaul didn't even know what hit him!" she said cheerfully. "He was so awestruck by my mastery of the Light that he went down in two hits! I've fought Fallen Vandals tougher than that."

"[There you have it folks, Dracona beat the stuffing out of Ghaul and saved the day, why don't you give her a round of applause?" Cayde suggested.

The room was silent. Most the ponies didn’t know what to do.

“So, you’re Cayde? The guy she has a crush on?” Rainbow asked with a grin.

"Rainbow!" Dracona scolded.

"The one and only," Cayde replied. "So you're looking after my hunter eh? Has she been behaving?"

"Cayde!" Dracona whined.

“Eh, don’t ask me. Ask her Changeling.” Rainbow shrugged. “Hey Flutters, Changeling, come say hi to Cayde.” She called across the bakery.

“I have a name!” Cidae yelled back as Fluttershy and her trotted across the bakery to join the pegasus and the exo.

"Aw you made friends? Great, look I can't stay on the line for long but I borrowed your ship." Cayde said.

"...Please don't break it..." Dracona begged.

"Relax it'll be fine, got a lock on your coordinates too," Cayde replied. "Should be about a day or so until I touch down so keep yourself safe Dracona."

"Will do." she said.

With a click, the transmitter fell silent.

“Soooo.... You’re here for a day?” Cidae asked cocking her head to the side.

“Where are you going to stay?” Fluttershy asked, looking concerned.

"I was just going to camp out." Dracona said.

"It wouldn't be the first time." Asriel added.

“I’m sure somepony would allow you to stay with them.” Fluttershy looked thoughtful.

“I would, but I live in a cloud house.” Rainbow shrugged.

“And I’m homeless.” Cidae, shrugged too.

"I'll just camp out, I saw an empty field outside of town and I don't exactly have any of your currency to pay for stuff." Dracona stated.

"I'll store the transmitter away for later," Asriel said. "And I'll see if I can store some of the party food for later too."

"Sweets for tea? Awesome," Dracona replied and looked down at her empty plate. "I'm gonna go grab seconds."

"Well, I’ll join you. Not like I have anywhere else to go.” Cidae said and grinned at the ghost.

"We'd be more than happy to have you join us Cidae." Asriel said as he started transferring the transmitter to his Guardian's inventory.

“Thanks!” Cidae chirped.

The party eventually wound down, and Cidae, Dracona, and Asriel found themselves heading out of town, but not before assuring Fluttershy and Rainbow that they would be okay. It didn’t take them long to find themselves a nice quiet spot to settle down for the evening.

"The tent is set up," Asriel happily stated.

"Cidae gets the tent, I'll sleep outside." Dracona stated as she set up a worn and slightly tattered blanket to lay on.

"Alright, I'm going to defrag in the bag tonight, will you be alright?" Her Ghost asked.

"Yep, you need a blanket or anything Cidae?" the exo asked.

“I’ll be fine.” Cidae smiled. “Thanks for the tent. I haven't slept in something in..... I don’t know how long.” The Changeling happily ducked inside the tent. “Ooooooo!”

"It's big enough for a group of three Guardians, so you should have plenty of room." Dracona commented and sat down on her blanket.

"Well, everything looks fine here. I'll just get started on that defrag," Asriel said as he teleported himself into Dracona's barely noticeable bag. "Goodnight Dracona, love you."

"Night Asriel, love you too." His Guardian happily replied.

"Aaaand he's offline, good. I swear he worries too much," The exo commented. "Hey Cidae, you tired yet?"

“No.” The changeling said from inside the tent. “There’s so much stuff in here!”

"Oh yeah, that thing probably still has my crap from Australia." Dracona realized and walked over to the tent.

Peeking in, her statement was confirmed with the majority of the interior of the three man tent was stacked with boxes of everything from canned food to bits of weapons and armor and folders bursting with pages upon pages of notes. The exo shifted some things around to make more room for her guest.

"There we go, you should have enough space to stretch out," Dracona said and thought of something. "Do you want to know what all this stuff is from?"

"Yes! I would love to hear it." Cidae gasped.

Unknown by the two of them, Asriel was still awake and in the midst of intergrating the communication array into his own systems. He quietly pondered on the best course of action as he did so. It was clear to him that his selfless, doubt riddled Guardian was going to reveal her true nature to the changeling, they shared a similar history after all but the Ghost wondered if he could alleviate his dear Hunter's fears somehow.

The integration completed and Asriel switched on a secure voice channel, one that his Guardian wouldn't hear.

"Zavala? I have something The Vanguard needs to hear," Asriel stated. "It's about what happened to us after we defeated Oryx. Just listen closely."

"Well it all started, a year or two ago? I can't really keep track of time all that well but anyway, I was like most Guardians and had no memory of my life prior to meeting Asriel, did you know his name actually spelled A-z-r-a-e-l? He changed it after I told him about a story I found tucked away in my belongings about a prince who became an angel to save his kingdom. In the book the name is spelled A-s-r-i-e-l and my Ghost got the spelling officially changed because he said it sounded more like his style," Dracona rambled. "Where was I? Oh yeah, so I had no memory of who I was right? So we went looking, now most exo were built by a company called Clovis Bray, or something. But we scanned what few Golden Age records we had and found out I was created by a small independent research facility in Australia."

"We went there and followed a paper trail and a few cryptic messages left by one of the scientists there and we found an underground bunker," Dracona paused and rifled through one of the boxes. "There's a picture in here somewhere."

Eventually Dracona pulled out a photo of a run down bunker decorated with bright colours and posters one would normally find in a school or daycare center.

"The scientists were taking in orphaned and homeless children en masse and even though the place looks rundown now, from the records we found the kis were actually well cared for and happy," Dracona explained. "As for why a group of researchers were taking on so many children, was because of this-"

She flipped the photo over to reveal a highly detailed sketch of a four legged dragon with feather shaped scales, leathery wings and long, curled feathers cascading down its neck with smaller plumage covering its chest and the end of its tail. The dragon's head was facing the viewer, it was missing its left eye and the creatures lower jaw was separated into a pair of tooth filled mandibles with small, pointed tusks on each tip.

"This is an Ahamkara or 'Wish Dragon', the lead scientist had managed to contact her and was using the children as a bargaining chip to get the dragon to divulge information as this particular specimen was the equivalent of a person with a mental illness and needed the assistance of others to survive."

"All Ahamkara have psionic abilities that manifest as an Aura that they give off, which can bend reality according to their will. A normal Ahamkara cares only for themselves, their possessions and their direct descendants for if a Wish Dragon has no confidence, no sense of self worth then their Aura will feed on that negativity and destroy them."

"A selfless Ahamkara is a dead Ahamkara, so the saying goes," Dracona said. "Still with me so far?"

“I gotcha.” Cidae nodded. “It looks kinda bird-ish. Not like the dragons around here. Not that I’ve actually seen any of the dragons around here.”

"Well it is a wish granting space dragon, so its bound to look different," Dracona said and continued on with the story. "This Ahamkara lived a life of servitude in the hopes of being a part of the everyday happiness that other races find normal as such a concept was a sigh of weakness in her kind and without that joy in helping others, her lack of self confidence would have led to a slow and painful death."

"Fortunately Ahamkara have a physical soul that houses their being. They usually live on a separate plane of reality and utilize the strength of their Aura to travel to this plane of reality. With this newfound fact the lead scientist made one final deal with the Ahamkara, in exchange for knowledge, for power the scientist would create a body to house the Ahamkara's soul so she could truly interact with the world around her," Dracona explained. "Do you remember what I was looking for at the start of this?"

“Uuuuummm.... No...” Cidae trailed off looking sheepish.

"I was looking for my origin, who I was before I became a Guardian," Dracona said and smirked. "I regained my memories when Ghaul attacked the city."

Her face fell as she recalled the state of the bunker but quickly regained her composure.

"We found out that the Ahamkara had gotten her new body and was working in Russia when the Collapse happened, she died 500 years ago, only to be found by a Ghost and resurrected as a Guardian."

"I, O companion mine, am Dracona-3. An Exo, a Hunter, a former Blade Dancer, a Nightstalker and...An Ahamkara," Dracona finished and pointed at the sketch. "That was my original form."

"Wait, my best hunter is a dragon?" Cayde asked on Asriel's secured channel.

"An Ahamkara in the City, Just how sincere has our Guardian been? How do we know she isn't a threat?" Zavala asked.

"I believe it would be best if we all took some time to reflect upon this."Ikora stated.

"Al-alright,"Asriel replied as all three Vanguard leaders signed off. "Dracona's not going to like this...."

---

Cidae blinked, absorbing the information. “You’re.... a Wish Dragon in the body of a sapient machine?”

"Yup, this was custom made just me!" Dracona replied a bit too quickly, the relief of Cidae not abandoning her evident on her face. "Just don't tell anyone ok? My kind have a bit of a bad reputation."

“Like anyone would believe that you’er a dragon.” Cidae giggled. “I like you better this way. I much more prefer machine people over reality warping dragons.”

"Back in The Last City, the people would believe me even if I told them I had simply talked with an Ahamkara," Dracona replied seriously. "A long time ago Ahamkara were once lived on the same world as humanity and with egos the size of the sun most of my kind get their entertainment or resources from other races. They cared not for kindness or sympathy and making a deal with perfectly healthy members of my kind results in a high price indeed."

"The City did not take kindly to the demands of the Ahamkara and hunted them to extinction. I have no doubt that if I were to reveal myself to those in the City that I care for, I would be banished at best and... Killed at worst."

"All Ahamkara possess at least something other races would find valuable, be it knowledge, power or even a chance to change the turn of events, mark my words there would be people that would seek me out for such things," Dracona explained. "It could divide the City and that is the last thing the people need right now."

She sighed.

"Were it not for Asriel, my fear and despair would have destroyed me a long time ago," she stated and put in an effort to smile. "Sorry, you probably didn't need to hear all of that."

Cidae sat down on her haunches and raised her forelegs. “Hug?”

Dracona stopped and stared through the small changeling, memories of countless human children asking for same thing flitted through her mind. Her daze lasted for only a second as she pulled Cidae into a hug.

"Thanks," she muttered.

“You’re welcome.” Cidae grinned.

"There is something I've been wondering Cidae, see I have this problem. Once my mission here is done and I return to the City, what am I going to do with you?" Dracona asked. "To give you home is one thing but I'll need to figure out what to put on the paperwork if I want to get us an actual apartment, I can't keep living in my ship anymore with you around."

“What;s wrong with living in a ship?” Cidae cocked her head to the side.

"Not enough space." Dracona clarified.

Cidae raised an eyebrow. “You do see how small I am right?”

"I still don't think it would be a good idea, you deserve an actual home," Dracona stated. "So what do we put on the paperwork?"

“Ummmmm... Ciadaemorphos. Hiveless Changeling... Don’t really know what else to say.” Cidae’s brow furrowed in thought.

"Well, we have few options, I could legally adopt you, list you as my roommate or I could buy the place and be your landlady if you want to have the place to yourself," Dracona suggested. "Which idea do you like best?"

“Roommate works for me.” Cidae nodded.

"Sounds good to me," the hunter replied with a grin. "It'll be nice sharing a living space with someone again."

Dracona deposited the changeling onto the floor and stood up.

"It's getting late, I'll let you get some sleep Cidae," she said and walked out of the tent. "Goodnight, sleep well."

“Sleep well Dracona, and thanks again for the tent.” Cidae said with a yawn.

"No problem." the exo replied and walked over to her blanket.

Comments

[Nova Blaze]

Meanwhile had found a way into the building via an open window.

I'm guessing you meant Asriel?
*******
I'm betting Cayde is not going to care too much

[Dragonfire2lm]

8498316
Thanks for pointing out the typo!