Join a new hero, a Guardian Titan named Tiberius, and his Ghost, on a journey beyond the veil of the Darkness to save a spark of light beyond the edge of the system.
"The Darkness. A blight upon the galaxy. Always will the threat it poses exist. But, it is our duty to stand up against this tidal force. Our duty to defend the innocent and purge every threat. We may not be able to stop it..... but we can give it pause. Each and every one of you, Hunters, Warlocks, Titans, Guardians all, have the strength to fight back now more than ever. The Traveler now heals thanks to the efforts of heroes like yourselves. Now we must begin to push the darkness back. Lights behind the veil still flicker with life. Untouched by the Traveler's Light they may be but they may still hold innocent lives that must be protected from the Darkness. The Traveler works through US now. Let us do our duty to protect what remains, and halt the tide of evil before the fate of our Golden Age Solar System befalls others. We have risen from the ashes. Now we must unleash the cleansing flame." The Speaker finishes his speech. Soon the cheers of Guardians all around the Tower echo throughout the air, heard as far as the Last City below.
(Shout out to The laid back hunter for allowing me to use a character that will be appearing in this story. Rock on my friend.)
"Hey listen to this," Came the voice of my companion. My Ghost, born from the last breath of the Traveler before it began its long slumber like millions of others. His blue glow of the Traveler's Light contrasted with his shell, a red set of prisms highlighted with white stripes called the "Frontier Shell" by Ghosts and Guardians alike. Upon hearing his voice state those words I began a mental checklist.
My ship, the Valkyrie-O5X, gift and pet project from Shipwright Amanda Holliday, was in good order. No warning lights, and her engines hummed in a satisfying and calming manner. Holliday was adamant about teaching me how to care for my vessel before allowing me to depart with it. The weapons were primed and ready on a moment's notice as always, not that I ever had to use them.
My Sparrow, a blue hoverbike with orange flame decals called the EV-30 Tumbler, was in good shape according to the onboard fabricators, dissolving any worry I had about that particular piece of equipment. My Striker abilities were all ready to go according to how they felt when I reached inward, good. I had quite the loadout of weapons at my disposal as well.
The 123 SYZYGY Pulse Rifle, the Atheon's Epilogue Auto Rifle, the Husk of the Pit Auto Rifle not exactly upgraded yet, and the Saterienne Rapier Scout Rifle, were my primary weapons of choice in the field, constantly available to me whenever needed through the same fabricators that deployed my Tumbler. The same could be said for my Ice Breaker Sniper, a self recharging solar class weapon that never needed to be reloaded, and sometimes randomly made my enemies explode, was ready as well. Good. My Void class Amina- E7 was ready as well, along with my "Murmur" fusion rifle, a charge to fire energy blast weapon that was capable of switching between arc class and solar class on a moment's notice, were both prepared just like my "Found Verdict" arc class shotgun. My Hezen Vengance solar rocket launcher was upgraded in full and ready for war as well. I love feeling the kick of that weapon and watching the fireworks as it decimates whole groups of Hive Thralls and Acolytes. My Deviant Gravity-A arc machinegun was good to go too, ready to chew through squads of Vex, Cabal, Fallen, or Hive. It mattered not the foe, it still shredded em the same. Of course then there was my "One Way Ticket 000" void rocket launcher. My good ol standby. "A vacation at the ol' triple zero" the gunsmith would say about it. The thought made me chuckle.
Finally, my armor. A Toutatis Type 5 helmet, Monarch's Gauntlet, Holdfast Type 2 Chest Piece, Molniya Type 0 Leg Pieces, and my Titan Mark.... The Mark of the Duskborn.... one of my many rewards for helping in the hunt for Crota and his Right Hands. Omnigul's screams still echoed within my mind from time to time, making me shudder. My entire kit was colored with the Thunderdevil shader kit, giving me a black as night appearance. This allowed me some semblance of stealth till I strike at my enemies. Not a scratch on the paint yet, good.
With my checklist run through in a matter of seconds, I looked at my companion expectantly.
My ghost began, realizing I was ready to hear the briefing. "We got a message from the Speaker himself. It looks like we have a new assignment. Sorry Tiberius, we gotta go it on our own."
I chuckled. "Not a problem, we've been to hell and back and we're no worse for the wear." 'Liar' I heard in my head. I knew it too..... the horrors we've faced have given me many a nightmare. I was often a lone wolf as well, my only companions being my Ghost, my Sparrow, my Jumpship, and my guns and armor. The Darkness claimed any others I could call friend.... well maybe except for Holliday..... who I can't help thinking is kinda cute. OKAY back to the matter at hand.
"I'll hold you to that. You'll have to hear this for yourself.... it's big. Alot of other Guardians are getting similar missions too," my Ghost explained. He started the message playback.
"Tiberius," came the voice of my mentor, the Speaker, "I understand that this is likely unexpected. I apologize... but I must ask of you a difficult task. With the Traveler healing and the forces of Darkness given pause, we must press the advantage. Shining beacons of light glow bright out there beyond this system. With each passing day however, more and more wink out, no doubt claimed by the Darkness. One such distant system is now your objective. I have transmitted the coordinates to your Ghost along with a few experimental procedures and blueprints from Holliday that you can act on using your rather vast resource surplus. It is still beyond me how you Guardians find so much out there. These new tools and procedures will allow you to breach the veil. You must hurry Tiberius. We can sense the darkness encroaching on your very destination. The Fallen will be the first to arrive for certain. Your Ghost has the ability to translate any language as you have no doubt seen. Use this to your advantage. Speak with the leaders of any local populations that radiate Light like our own. Warn them. Help them. Give the forces of the Dark reason to fear. I wish you luck Guardian. Traveler's Light be with you." The message ended there.
Did I hear that right....? He wants me to go to an entirely DIFFERENT solar system? I looked at my Ghost.
"Well," he said, "I guess we better get to work. Your call Tiberius."
I made up my mind. A job needed doing. "Get us underway Sparks," Yes I've taken to calling my Ghost Sparks. He seems to like it. "Re-calibrate the fabricators to construct these attachments on the ship."
Sparks laughed. "I figured you'd say that. Already got the process started. By the way, you have plenty of ammo fabricators in the cargo hold. Should be pretty easy to stay stocked, especially if we're gonna run into Fallen out there. Anything you want taken care of before we head out? We likely won't be able to visit the Tower until we finish up out there."
"Nothing to do but get there," I said.
"Well if you're game, I'm game. Let's go."
I smiled at Sparks. He's always so loyal. "Alright. I'll invoke a course from the Navigator."
It was late evening in Equestria. As always, many slept, and many gazed up at the beautiful blanket of stars brought forth by Luna herself. Some simply marveled at the beauty of it, others pondered weather there was life out there other than what existed on Equis, some even guessed at the distance of each star. For one particular Alicorn mare however, it was all of the above.
"Spiiike, I need those books! Please hurry!" Twilight called down from the Crystal Tree balcony.
"I'm coming!" her faithful young assistant called back.
He soon arrived with the stack of books she had requested. She floated them over with her magic even as she continued to gaze through the telescope.
"I know right? And a meteor shower is coming up too! I can't wait!" Twilight exclaimed with glee.
"Darling, I know what you mean. These displays are always just dazzling," Rarity agreed.
Twilight's friends had also come along to gaze at the amazing spectacle. As always, Pinkie and AJ had brought some snacks, which everypony was munching away on, until Pinkie called out, "OH IT'S STARTING!"
Surely enough, the sky was graced with an amazing display of shooting stars raining across the heavens. Gasps of wonder and amazement were the result.
"Best one yet," Spike smirked as he watched.
The display continued for a few minutes as Twilight gazed through the telescope.... until something caught her eye. Lost upon the naked eye, a small flash of blue light was visible through the telescope among the shooting stars..... then a streak of light came out and collided with one of the shooting stars to result in a brighter flash which was a little more visible.
Rainbow gawked at the sight. "W-what was that....?"
"I don't know.... but it was rather amazing," Rarity giggled.
"I don't think Luna would have done something like that though," Twilight voiced her concern, "Whatever that was, it wasn't originally part of the meteor shower."
"You're worrying too much Twilight. I doubt it's too serious." Spike smiled. "Besides, it was a great show."
Twilight gazed up at the sky in wonder and worry, "I suppose......"
I gazed out at the swirling blue and black light of FTL, deep in thought. My mind wandered home, to the Tower, the City, and the Traveler. In truth, I was rather somber about being away from it all for what appeared to be a long while. My train of thought was interrupted by the blinking light and beeping of the ship's systems alerting me that we were about to leave FTL.
"Sparks, we're here," I called.
Sparks floated up from the back. "I know. Fair warning, sensors are a garbled mess out here. We've got no comms from the Tower either. Be ready for anything...."
I nodded in affirmation and primed the railguns. What happened next caught me completely by surprise. Between us and the earth-like world that appeared before us, a massive meteor shower rained through the atmosphere. The gravity well was completely messed up too. Evasion was gonna be tough. "GIVE ME THE CONTROLS!" The systems complied and I took the flight stick.
"LOOKS LIKE A BUMPY RIDE!" Sparks yelled.
I managed to dodge three meteors.... but two of the smaller ones made contact, one hitting the firing chamber of the right railgun and shredding it, creating a brilliant flash in the process, and the other hitting the left engine, further adding to the flash and damage to the ship. As a result, we were knocked further into the atmosphere.
"Weapons damaged! Left engine is offline!" Sparks yelled, "Last meteor went through a couple of stabilizers too! Best you'll manage is a controlled crash at this rate!"
"THEN HANG ON!" I yelled, "This is gonna hurt!"
"Please don't get us killed!" Sparks cried out. His little blue diamond eye was wide with shock and perhaps fear. I didn't blame him..... This kind of situation sucks.
Below us, a forest rushed up to meet us. I tried to pull us into a more controlled decent. It only partly worked. The airbrakes weren't working and only one stabilizer was working. The other engines had overheated from a bad reentry as well. Next thing I knew, the sound of muffled metallic thumping, wood cracking, and a whole lot of jerking around happened.... then everything went black.
Everypony was staring out at the Everfree in absolute shock. Earlier, a brilliant orange streak had begun descending shortly after the meteor shower ended. An object was entering the atmosphere. Twilight had been the first to notice it. Soon they could only watch in horror as whatever it was struck HARD within the Everfree Forest. Fire glowed and smoke rose from the impact site.
"W-w-what was that....?" Fluttershy stuttered.
Twilight could only shake her head slowly and say "I don't know" rather quietly in response.
"Well..... so much for Twilight overreacting..... Guess I spoke too soon," Spike muttered, shock apparent in his voice and expression as well.
There were nods of agreement all around as smoke and flame continued to rise.
At first, all I knew was pain. My vision was extremely blurred and tinged with red and black. I couldn't see an inch in front of my face. I could hear a voice though, muffled and a bit panicked. Then the memories of what happened came back to me as quick as my vision. With it, came a major headache. 'Thank god I was wearing my helmet," I thought. The sound of my Ghost, Sparks, sighing with relief caught my attention and I looked in his direction. He was floating next to me, no worse for wear. He must have transferred to my armor during the crash.
Sparks looked at me and spoke. "Thank goodness. You know, for a human, you're alot more durable than any Exo."
He chuckled when I simply shot him the bird.
"Well hello to you too," Sparks practically laughed, "You know, I should inform you that we are now stuck. It'll take a while to fix the ship. The fabricator is shorting out so you only got your weapons and armor for now. Ammo is fine too but anything larger than what I listed is out of the question, which means no Sparrow. There's no vehicle network here either so it'll have to be dropped off and picked up by the ship at close range."
"Perfect...." I sighed with frustration. "Could you get the license plate of that Skiff that hit us?" Yeah I made a joke, laugh all you want. I'm not totally humorless.
"Well," Sparks began to reply, "There was no skiff.... just a meteor shower. You did pretty well getting us through that alive. Autopilot can only do so much."
"Remind me to ask Holliday about it..... ugh. She's gonna throw a fit about the Valkyrie isn't she?" I groaned.
"Most likely. You know how she is about her pet projects. Eh just tell her that it stayed in one piece and saved your life. That and fixing it as best we can will probably get her to like you more loverboy."
"Go fuck yourself...." I growled.
Sparks simply laughed.
I rolled my eyes and just went with it before moving on to a more serious matter. "So how bad is the damage?"
Sparks sighed. "Unfortunately, all left engines are wrecked so we'll have to use the blueprint to rebuild them almost from scratch. You can blame a bad reentry angle for tearing it up more. Fabricator is shorting like I said earlier. Transfer beacon is still intact though so we can enter and exit the ship as we please. Sensors are working fine, but there's some kind of energy field jamming long range capability up. We can only see to the closest edge of this forest. Life signs all around by the way, some look like territorial predators.... or most."
"Oh great...."
"Just watch your motion tracker and your step, we'll be fine. It's not like they're one of the Hive's Hallowed Wizards or Hallowed Knights."
"Or those Cursed Thralls," I shuddered at the thought of them.
"Eris would be very unhappy to hear you say that you know. You're supposed to be above fear of those things," Sparks reminded me.
"I still kill them on an almost daily basis don't I?" I reminded him.
"Good point. Anyway, Cockpit and controls are untouched and undamaged. Railgun on the right is a mess though. We'll have to rebuild that. Come back without it and Holliday will have our heads.... so to speak.... I don't have a head. Sparrow is damaged and can't be repaired till the fabricator is at least partly back up to par. Speaking of which, that's the first component we should fix. It's the one that can be of most use during repairs and material transfers after all."
"It'll take time.... and resources. Looks like our Relic Iron is low after putting together all those jumpship mods. Spinmetal too, damn. Will we have enough?"
"Not for every fix. We'll have to stop by Mars and the Cosmodrome back in our solar system for collection unless we find any of that out here. Though there is some good news. Had to jettison a crate of the metals anyhow and with any luck, it survived the fall."
I gave Sparks a glare.
"Will it help if I told you that we would have died without losing the extra weight?"
My expression softened to a simple frown. "Well.... I guess we're stuck here till the mission is done anyhow.... Any sign of Fallen activity?"
"They're still a good ways out so we won't have to worry about them scouring the wreck. Caught images of other planets in the system by the way, one showed signs of something similar to Relic Iron on the surface. We briefly passed it during FTL before sensors got jammed up."
"Well.... then we may have a way to replenish supplies.... How far off is the jettisoned crate?"
"Not too far," Sparks said, "Roughly half a click behind us, well within sensor range. Bad news is that it looks like it fell into some kind of nest..... creatures it belongs to look big..... and angry. Flight capable, venom delivery method present. Don't let em pierce your armor."
"Well I suppose we were gonna encounter em sooner or later..... Transfer us out with the scout rifle, shotgun, and the machinegun," I stated, resolved to claim what's rightfully ours and fix my ship.
"Alright then.... you sure we can't bring the rocket launcher?" Sparks asked tentatively.
I shook my head. "No dice on that. Can't risk starting a forest fire. Could be sentient locals out here for all we know and hurting the ecosystem badly enough could hurt them."
"I knew I chose wisely," Sparks chuckled.
I couldn't help remembering what he said after our first meeting with the Speaker and smiling. He was referring to his choice of Guardian. "Come on buddy," I said as we transferred outside. "Let's find our resources."
We set out, the rising sun shining down on us from our left.
The Elements and Spike now gathered in the throne room, each as anxious as the other. Twilight had sent a message to Celestia last night about the strange phenomena. Luna was the one to respond directly, explaining that it was indeed not within her plans for the night's meteor shower. Celestia and Luna were on their way now with a company of Royal Guard. A knock on the front door caught their attention.
"I got it," Spike said as he stood and ran to the door. He soon returned to the throne room with Celestia, Luna, and, surprisingly, Discord as well, who promptly received a hug from Fluttershy.
"Sorry I'm not here under better circumstances Fluttershy. I would honestly prefer a small tea party over this mess," Discord pouted.
"Not your kind of chaos?" the butter pegasus asked.
"No not in the slightest. I much prefer strange creatures and turning houses upside down.... oh and turning the lake into a skating ring in the middle of summer." He chuckled.
"Let's not forget your thing for chocolate rain and cotton candy clouds," Fluttershy giggled.
Everyone laughed at that one.
Spike was the next to speak. "Hate to break this up but.... there's still smoke coming from Everfree and everypony in town knows it by now."
"True enough," Twilight sighed, "I hope there isn't a major forest fire...."
Celestia smiled, "Worry not Twilight, we saw no such thing on the way down."
"We did witness a strange object at the impact site however," Luna explained, "Though what it is, I cannot guess at such a distance. Closer examination is required."
"Better not pose a threat to mah friends or family," Applejack muttered.
"If it's a monster, I'll kick its flank!" Rainbow exclaimed arrogantly, but was promptly sat back down with a magic tug on her tail and glare both from Rarity.
"We do not know if it is a monster, meteor, or other such item. Brash behavior is not called for," the fashonista stated matter-of-factly.
Celestia looked to Luna before addressing the others. "While there are many possibilities, we must still exercise caution. Luna and I have felt strange energies coming from the general direction of the impact site."
"You too?" Twilight frowned, "That can't be good."
"We know not if this bodes ill or well Princess Twilight," Luna explained, "We will play this cautiously and by ear as the saying goes. No brash actions," she finished with a look at Rainbow Dash, who crossed her forelegs and huffed indignantly, causing Spike to snicker.
"Should we go now?" Twilight asked.
"Indeed," Celestia replied, "And a small team of Royal Guard shall accompany us while the rest remain to form a perimeter around Ponyville."
Twilight nodded. "Alright then."
Pinkie bounced excitedly. "ANOTHER ADVENTURE!? WOOHOO!" she exclaimed, causing the others to smile and roll their eyes good naturedly.
The forest was silent around my crash site.... Must have scared the animals off. Out here though.... talk about annoying ambient sound. It was still comforting in a way. It meant my only problem was local wildlife. Nothing else was spooking them.... though I was still cautious. Fallen could have arrived earlier than expected and could be sneaking around out here. 'I hope not' I thought to myself as I continued to stalk through the forest.
"Never thought we'd be going farther than the Reef...." Sparks suddenly muttered. I still heard him of course since he was actually in my armor (I still don't know how that works).
"Look at the bright side, at least we aren't eye deep in Vex," I whispered.
"I wonder how long it'll be till we see them here..... Maybe we should send a message back to the Tower, call for backup."
"I'd rather not. Too many ships and Guardians arriving all of a sudden and any locals would probably panic and think us a threat," I explained.
"How is it you're so wise about these situations?"
"For me.... I guess it's just common sense.... I don't wanna scare anyone that may be living on this world. By the way, have you noticed how much like Earth it is here?" I asked in wonder.
"Would now be a good time to tell you that the orbital infrastructure here is almost an exact copy of Earth's. Only difference is that it's Geocentric," Sparks said, dropping the metaphorical bombshell.
"You're kidding me right?"
"Nope."
All I could do was walk on in silence after that, half alert, half speculating about how impossible this world is right now. A not so distant roar brought my train of thought to a crashing halt as I dropped into a low crouch and went on full alert.
"Not alone anymore now huh?" My ghost murmured. God how wrong I wish he was.
A roar echoed through the forest, more savage and angry than usual. Distant, but still audible to the now alert party of ponies and princesses.
Celestia looked around warily. She knew about how dangerous this forest was. "Stay alert," she quietly reminded the rest of her party.
"Yes Princess," came the compliant response of one Sergeant Windbreaker, the accompanying squad leader and sharpshooter pegasus. Celestia found herself wondering if they should have come armed with more than shortswords and crossbows though.
"Hey over here," one of the lower ranking guard's called as quietly as he could, "I think I found it!"
The party rushed to a clearly artificial clearing of burned and felled trees. What sat in the middle was what grabbed their attention though. A strange, arrowhead shaped object sat partially dug into the ground before them. Partly burned, black and yellow in color, yet it gleamed as if it was made of metal. A hollow, metallic sound coming in response to a gentle knock on its surface confirmed that.
"What is that.....?" Fluttershy wondered, half fearful, half curious.
"Ah don't know sugarcube.... but it ain't natural," Applejack responded.
"It looks artificial..... and if so, it also looks damaged," Twilight stated as she completed her initial, visual analysis.
"Could it be a Space Ship?" Rainbow asked in her childishly curious manner. Thing is.... Twilight didn't think she was far off the mark.... and apparently neither did Celestia.
"I think so....." the day princess confirmed, "But if so.... where is the owner?"
"Tiberius.... fair warning, sensors at the ship picked up what could be sentient creatures now headed our way..... they found the ship already and may be following any tracks you left behind."
"Well....here's hoping they're friendly."
Screams from behind answered us.
"Wildlife attacking confirmed sentient beings! What's the play!?" Sparks asked as he materialized in front of me.
I didn't need to voice my answer. Sparks dematerialized and returned to my armor as I turned around and began rushing back the way we came.
Rotten luck, that's what was going through Twilight's head right now: 'We have just rotten luck!' Not one, not two, but THREE territorial manticores were attacking the group. Twilight was holding up a shield with the help of Rarity. Celestia and Luna were bogged down by one particularly BURLY manticore, and the Royal Guard squad were pinned down in combat with the third. She flinched again as the manticore attacking her and her friends struck the shield once more. These beasts were strong. Fluttershy's attempts to cull their rage had even failed. If she wasn't so busy trying to keep that manticore away from her friends she'd be wondering how these things became so feral. No way a simple meteor could make a beast this senseless and bloodthirsty.
"They didn't even listen....." Fluttershy whimpered, "No response.... it's like they aren't even alive...."
If that didn't unnerve anypony, Twilight didn't know what would.
Sparks and I stared from the bushes in disbelief as soon as we arrived. In seconds we came to one conclusion: "Impossible....."
"We have to help.... they're sentient! Look at their armor!" Sparks exclaimed, though only I could hear it since he was in my armor so to speak, talking to me through the speakers in my sealed helmet. He was right of course, I couldn't deny it. These beasts..... their eyes..... something was horribly wrong.
Blinding light.... that's the last thing anypony saw in the next moment. The manticores had stopped attacking though, roaring frantically as they covered their eyes, attempting to block out the light and pain. What happened next though, as soon as the light faded, surprised every living being in the clearing. A loud BANG was heard and a small projectile streaked THROUGH one of the smaller manticore's heads, killing it instantly. The other manticores looked to the source.... an armored biped with a weapon of some kind, smoking at the barrel, and his floating little companion. The manticores roared in rage and charged.... only to receive a shock and alot of pain from a fierce area of effect groundpound attack. Cry Havoc. One manticore wound up VAPORIZED. The other though, the largest one, didn't go down that easily.
I stared in disbelief. This massive beast was still alive after a Fist of Havoc. Only the worst servants of Darkness could achieve such a feat..... Omnigul made an unwanted appearance at the forefront of my mind for the briefest moment.....
"How that thing is still alive is beyond me...." Sparks muttered.
"Thank you for repeating my thoughts out loud. Lemme focus." I switched to my shotgun and prepared for the worst.
Every single pony, princess or not, stared in disbelief. Who or what is this being?
"Wh-what is that!?" was all Fluttershy or anypony could manage.
Twilight could only stare in shock and awe. The power and strength this being had just displayed in a matter of seconds alone was enough to make her freeze in place from fear alone. Celestia and Luna were equally as shocked. The Royal Guard of course, were in no different state. Eventually they all backed away as the bipedal being and the manticore circled one another slowly.
"Locals are backed off for now. This guy is all yours," Sparks informed.
I couldn't help smirking. Just the way I like it. I charged forward and hit him with my Storm Fist right in the snout before leaping back. The beast didn't even have time to recoil in pain before shotgun rounds, charged with furious lightning, impacted its back. The beast growled and roared in rage and agony.
"Why do I feel like I'm only pissing it off?" I asked no one in particular.
I nodded and looked up at the beast once more... and just in time to jump out of the way of a furious swipe of its claws. I noticed in my hud that the grenade was recharged. Good. I tossed it down between the beast's legs, earning a confused look from beast and onlooker alike.... until the grenade detonated a second later, blowing the beast's legs off and sending it flying before it fell limp and lifeless. Once again, I stood victorious.
"Textbook," came the comment of my faithful companion.
"Not exactly, still easier than killing a Hallowed Knight though."
"Shall I record that battle for future reference?"
The ponies could only gawk as the creature stood to full height while the manticores lay dead or disintegrated.
The being looked upon them suddenly. Some flinched away in fear, others remained still out of shock and awe. What happened next was about as much of a shock to them as the bullet that killed the first manticore.
"Managing to pick up some key sounds," Sparks notified as the purple one kept trying to communicate. "Repetitive phrases..... some conjugations..... Some of this actually bears vague resemblance to Pre-Golden Age languages. I think I have something, stand by."
A rough translation started bleeding through the speakers. "Hello? ...you understand...?
"Can you clean this up?" I asked.
"Almost there, give me a sec."
"Um.... th-thank you for saving us," the purple one said.
"PHEW translation works!"
Ah oops, I guess I spooked em cause some jumped from shock.
"Oh uh heh.... s-sorry. Um.... you're welcome by the way. Oh this feels awkward."
"You think that's awkward, try this," Sparks said out loud.
"Oh shit..."
Sparks materialized in front of me, further surprising and shocking the ponies. "Hello."
"SPARKS! Could have been at least a little more subtle."
"HAHAHAHAHAHA!"
All I could do was facepalm. Though I did manage a smile when some of the creatures managed laughs and giggles, especially that garishly pink one. The two larger ones with wings and horns also managed to smile at each other. Maybe this is going better than I thought.
Well.....today has certainly been an interesting one. I seek out a lost crate of resources and wind up not only rescuing some of the locals, but in doing so, eliminate the owners of the nest the crate fell into. Now resources are being poured into repairs. The fabricator first. Everything else second. Now Sparks and I are answering questions ranging from "What are your intentions for being here?" to "Do you like cupcakes?" That last one had Sparks throwing a fit of laughter. No surprise there of course, I was laughing too. I wish I knew what a cupcake was..... I have little-to-no memory of my old life before Sparks found and revived me to become a Guardian. The yellow one, Fluttershy I think, was rather saddened by that revelation. When discussions of the Collapse came up they got curious..... considering how horrible the war is, I'm not surprised that they bore expressions of great pity and sorrow towards me and the other surviving inhabitants of the Tower and the Last City. How they took the warning and offer for help however..... well I guess fear is universal.
"Sparks, go ahead and transfer the crate. Start on repairs. I'll see about negotiations."
Sparks materialized in front of me and gave the equivalent of a nod before rezzing up the crate of materials next to the ship. Immediately he was off to work fixing the fabricators. I turned to face the locals.
"Well, I guess you've got questions," I sat on the undamaged wing of my ship. "What would you like to know?"
Celestia was the first to speak. "Your name and species first of course, in exchange for our identities."
I nodded and removed my helmet, revealing my blue eyes, tanned face, black face paint, and short cut black hair. "My name is Tiberius," I said as I looked upon them without a visor between us. "I am a human, one of the last remaining, assigned the rank and responsibilities of a Guardian."
"Guardian?" Luna asked.
"A defender of the light and of the innocent."
"Ah, so a noble being," she concluded.
"More or less. May I know your names and the names of your species? It appears there are many."
Celestia chuckled. "I am Princess Celestia, this is my sister and co ruler Princess Luna. Behind me are Sergeant Windbreaker and company, along with Princess Twilight Sparkle, my protege, and her friends, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Rarity, and Fluttershy." Each bowed their heads or made another greeting in turn (a happy bounce in Pinkie's case.) to make it easier to identify them. "My sister and I are Alicorns along with my protege Twilight. Rarity is a Unicorn, Applejack and Pinkie Pie are Earth Ponies, and Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, and Windbreaker are Pegasi."
"A pleasure to meet you," I replied, "I wish it were under better circumstances though....."
"Worry not. You saved our lives and we thank you for that. May we ask a few more questions?" Celestia asked.
"Please do. I'm here on a mission of diplomacy in a manner of speaking. I'm an open book."
"From where do you originate?" Luna questioned.
"The Sol System, a planet called "Earth" where the surviving members of my kind reside."
"Are there any nice animals there?" Fluttershy suddenly asked, causing some of her friends to smile or giggle.
I couldn't help chuckling and smiling before a frown took the smile's place. "Very few and far between sadly.... most close to extinction."
Many frowned at this.
"Do you like cupcakes!?" Pinkie blurted out.
I chuckled out, "What?" Sparks chuckled behind me.
"Do you like cupcakes?" she repeated.
"I'm afraid I don't have the slightest idea what that is. Sorry."
Her mane deflated momentarily before "poofing" out again if you can believe that. The deflated mane was accompanied by an equally short lived frown. "Oh well, we'll have to just let you try one later. I should throw you a "welcome to Equestria" party too!"
I just laughed. Sparks and the other ponies did as well.
"You said 'surviving members.' Does this mean your species underwent some sort of catastrophe recently?" Twilight asked, the question nagging at her.
"Yes....."
They all looked at each other with saddened expressions that time.
"What.... what kind of catastrophe?"
"We call it the 'Great Collapse."
They all bore confused expressions.
I sighed. "I suppose I should explain it. Be warned, this is a rather... disheartening tale... and within is a warning to you, another part of my mission here."
The ponies each looked at each other worriedly. "Me and my fellow Guardians face a vast and evil threat we know only as the forces of Darkness. These forces are comprised of many factions, each in conflict with one another just as they are with us. Chaotic and deadly are these foes, devouring all light. It is these very forces that have brought a beacon of light we know as the Traveler harm and forced it into a form of hibernation. On top of this, they nearly made humanity go extinct. We know these events as the Collapse. While the arrival of the Traveler had brought a Golden Age, the arrival of the Darkness has brought upon us a dark age."
Sparks chose to speak up then. "With it's last waking breath the Traveler spawned myself and countless others like me. We are known as Ghosts. Most are paired with a Guardian."
"Through our efforts we managed to save the Traveler and allow it to begin healing. However, the Darkness still poses a great threat, and not just to our solar system anymore. From a distance our leaders witnessed this very threat beginning to encroach on your territory. The first of them, a faction called the Fallen, will arrive soon. Within a few weeks if I am not mistaken. I don't know how to prove this with anything other than my words and emotions.... I can only hope you'll heed this warning."
Celestia and Luna shared a concerned look before the Day Princess spoke up. "We'll take it into consideration..... I assume you'll be providing assistance against this threat?"
"As is my mission and my duty."
Sparks spoke up. "Your very species radiates light at unprecedented levels. Even at a distance we saw it radiating from this solar system... or rather the Vanguard did. To let the Darkness snuff out innocent lives and the light that radiates from this place would be a failure on our part."
Celestia smiled. "The Guardians must be benevolent indeed."
"We are far from perfect Princess, but we are no pushovers. We're armed, we're strong, we're determined, we will protect," I affirmed.
Celestia nodded. "Well... I suppose that is enough questions for now. Thank you for saving us, and bringing this to our attention. If I may though, this forest is not the safest place to further commune or to repair your vessel. If you like, we have the means to transport your craft to the edge of the forest if you'll allow us. There you can repair in relative safety."
"That.... would be appreciated. Sparks could you pack everything in the cargo hold and get the ship ready to be moved?"
"Not a problem."
Everything was soon transferred inside, crate of materials and equipment all secured safely. That's when we got a very REAL surprise. By means neither Sparks nor I can fathom.... weeeeelllll. Celestia's and Luna's horns started glowing with gold and navy blue auras respectively. A mixture of the same auras appeared around my ship and it levitated.... it freaking LEVITATED! They were TELEKINETIC!
"Are you seeing what I'm seeing....?" Sparks asked in complete disbelief.
"Yeah..... and I don't believe it....."
Twilight giggled. "You haven't seen anything yet," she said as they began their trek out of the forest.
"Noted...." Sparks muttered before something important came to mind, "OH um Tiberius...."
"Yeah?"
"Just a fair warning. When that meteor shower took us down, the distress beacon began transmitting..... I managed to shut it down soon as I discovered it but by now the Tower is aware that we hit a snag at the very least. We may be seeing another Guardian or two pretty soon."
Rainbow raised an eyebrow. "More of your friends are coming?"
"If they are, I'd welcome the help," I admitted, "A whole fireteam is better than lone wolfing it against a whole army of the Darkness. Fun as it is, some of these guys can be a real pain in the ass."
"Ah, language Tiberius," Sparks chuckled.
"Oh shut up."
Some of the ponies giggled at that.... though Rarity was giving Tiberius the stink eye over the apparently vulgar word.
I'll be honest, I had no idea what was coming next once we learned of the distress beacon. I certainly hoped reinforcements would arrive BEFORE the enemy did. Powerful as we are, us Guardians are not invincible. We can still be overwhelmed. It's something Sparks and I have an unspoken agreement of fearing. I know he does. That involuntary shudder in my mind he makes when we have extremely close brushes with death in Darkness Zones is unmistakable. He knows I fear it too.... It certainly brings enough adrenaline to give me a massive hangover as if I got drunk during such close calls. Thank the Traveler for the incredible healing power's of the Ghosts eh? I'd still have that hangover from that close brush on Mars today..... okay maybe I'm exaggerating but it sure as hell felt like it. Here's hoping that won't happen much during this mission..... God I hope I didn't just jinx myself.... fuck.
Some say you must fight your battles alone. Others say that you're never alone. What do I think? I think only fate can really decide which is true in the moment. Fortunately for me, fate was kind. In the Guardian Tower on Earth, in the Sol System, far from Equis, another Guardian was receiving my message, relayed through to the Tower.
"The distress beacon transmitted from the coordinates we just sent to your ghost," the Speaker explained. "We believe a Guardian may have run into trouble BEFORE he was expected to make contact. Details sent by the beacon indicated that Tiberius' ship was damaged, losing a weapon and an entire left engine block before they were able to make landfall. Now I know this Guardian well, he is alive. Richard, he must be found and his mission must be accomplished. Assess the situation, help him if you can. If it's too late to help him, pick up where he left off.... I hope it isn't too late. Good luck Hunter."
The Awoken Guardian nodded and made to depart, looking at his ghost as they went. "Looks like we're pulling another one's ass out of the fire huh?"
The Ghost, named Specter, twitched the top front and front bottom segments of his Frontier Shell and sighed with frustration. "Can you keep that kind of commentary to a minimum? Listen, instructions before we leave. This guy, Tiberius, is a powerful Striker Titan. He made a requisition for a helmet piece that had yet to arrive and was to pick it up when he got back. Chances are, he'll want this upgrade for this mission. Speaker want's us to grab him the Holdfast Type 3 helmet he paid for and take it too him. Holliday is already outfitting the Aurora Lance with the attachments we need to breach the Veil. Get the materials and just go."
"Always so serious...." Richard sighed. "Mind getting the helmet? I'm gonna go check my equipment."
"You better. I find you slacking off again and I'll zap ya."
"Oh feisty today huh?" Richards laughed and shook his head as he made his way to the vaults.
Okay, equipment check time. EV-30 Tumbler, check. Bloodpact armor shader, duh gotta stay in style. Grim Citizen III auto rifle, check. Void Amina-E7 hell yes. Ah, the swarm. Nothin like mowin down enemies with the solar power of the sun. Love chewin up those Devil Walkers with this thing too. Cold Mantis 2.4.0 helmet, oooooh spooky. Rustburner 1.5 gauntlets good to go... is that a scratch? Damn Cabal. Dustwalker chest armor. Oh damn I make this look good. Rustburner 1.5 leg armor.... soles burned..... God I wanna kill Valus all over again. Ah the Cloak of Hidden Agendas. This suits me. Bladedancer abilities? He tested them to make sure his abilities were at their peak. Solid. Okay.
He made his way to the hangar and met Spectre. "Got the helmet for our new friend?"
"In its assigned position in the cargo hold. You're two minutes late."
"I don't gotta be THAT punctual if it means making sure my gear is all up to spec. Speaking of which, have the fabricator fix up my gauntlets and leg armor, soles of the boots are burned to hell and there's a scratch on the arm gear. Wanna look good, not like I've been through a meat grinder and oven."
"Are you done with the comments? Holliday is already done with the attachments and we need to get going," Spectre snapped.
Richard raised his hands defensively. "Okay, okay, party pooper, we're goin."
They boarded the Aurora Lance.
"Flight Control, this is Richard aboard the Aurora Lance, requesting permission to take off," he said clearly into the radio.
"Flight Control here," Holliday answered, "You're cleared to leave. Keep stocked and bring some extra for Tiberius if you can. Knowing lover boy, he probably scratched my ship again."
"Lover boy!?" Richard laughed, "Where did he get that nickname!?"
"Shut up and stay focused," Spectre hissed.
"Oh stop being such a shitball," Richard shot back.
"If you two lovebirds are done bickering, the flight deck is yours. Have a nice flight. AND DON'T BUST THAT STABILIZER AGAIN!"
"No promises Holliday," Richard snarked.
"YOU TAKE CARE OF MY SHIP YOU SON OF A....." Her comment was lost as the connection was cut.
"Punch it."
"Bout time. Keep your brain inside your head," Spectre snarked before the ship launched upward, rapidly ascending through the atmosphere.
I sighed and gave a grunt of exertion as I put my weight into shifting one of the more major components of the ship back into place. The ponies had made good on their word earlier. My ship lay just a short distance from the edge of that foreboding forest now thanks to what was later explained to be "Magic" usable only by Unicorns and Alicorns. I'll still need time to get used to that.
CLANG!
"GAH, FUCK, SON OF A BITCH!" I exclaimed as three of my fingers got mashed under one of those heavy as fuck stabilizers.
"SORRY! SORRY!" Sparks exclaimed as he immediately transferred the component off my fingers and came closer to take a look at the damage. "Well.... the good news is that there's no major damage.... still gonna hurt for a bit but it's definitely nothing to worry about."
"Yeah that's great, but could you please be a little more careful?" I hissed.
"Yeah.... sorry bout that.... Simply bumped into it.... guess I didn't realize it was so close to the edge."
"Ah it's alright I suppose.... no real harm done." I looked over the stabilizer that had earlier tortured my fingers. "Looks undamaged. I think we're fine. Is it safe for me to install this back in yet?"
"Yeah, finished the mounting and connectors two minutes ago."
"Thanks. So, what do you think of these 'Ponies' so far?" I asked, wondering about his thoughts on the matter.
"Not all that bad actually. I will need more experience with them first though. I don't trust anyone completely without significant experience with em. Well.... with the exception of you of course. You had proven yourself VERY quickly."
I couldn't help chuckling. "Well when your life is in danger and you don't have much choice, It's either prove yourself or be killed. Those Fallen we ran into as SOON as you woke me up? I still have to get you back for that."
Sparks laughed, causing me to smile a bit more. "What about when you brought me into that damn Hive Temple? You know I didn't enjoy that."
"Touche.... okay fine we're even."
We both shared a laugh. We were both completely oblivious to the shadow in the forest, watching us from afar.....
Upon hearing the excited voice of my Ghost, I dashed to the front of the ship. Whenever he sounded this happy, it had to be good news. "What's up Sparks?" I asked.
"Message incoming from just beyond the edge of the Sol System. Our beacon was received. Here, I'll run the playback."
What came next was at first just a little bit of white noise with a garbled dialogue, but right after that, I heard something that brought a smile to my face. "...epeat, this is Hunter Richard to Titan Tiberius. Your message has been received. I have been tasked with assisting you in your mission. If you get this message, please transmit a response via Tightbeam Transmission on frequency 277.98. Just a heads up Tiberius, I picked up a package for you at the Tower upon the Speaker's request. You'll get your new helmet before the end of this mission I promise. It'll be good to work with you. We're two or three days out from your location and will contact you as soon as we arrive. Richard out."
I couldn't believe my ears at first. The beacon had been picked up. Better yet, I was getting reinforcements and my new helmet all in one. A dream come true after about three days stranded on a world with a damaged ship.... you wouldn't believe how much us Guardians get used to easily being able to leave a world or just even fly sometimes. What can I say, I have a love of flying. Oh you think I'm an overly romantic fool? Yeah well bite me. ANYWAY....
"Sparks set up a tightbeam transmission, encrypted, frequency 277.98," I ordered.
"Got it, ready to record."
"This is Titan Tiberius to Hunter Richard. It's damn good to hear from a fellow Guardian Richard, and even better to hear that help is on the way along with my new helmet. Been waiting a week for that thing you know. When you arrive, we'll activate our beacon down here so you can find us. I'll make sure the locals know you're comin too. Make haste alright? The Fallen may try to get here ahead of you if you're detected. Tiberius out."
Sparks nodded. "Message away. You seem excited."
"Sparks we're practically on our own out here till the local's get organized. I am excited. Every bit of help counts here and a second Guardian, a Hunter at that, is a huge benefit here."
"Can't argue with that," he admitted, "In that case I'll....." he stopped abruptly.
I knew what that meant. Something was coming. "What is it?" I asked as I prepared my rifle.
"Locals incoming. Looks like the younger princess and her pals, plus that Sergeant from two days ago. They seem relaxed so I assume they wanna talk.... okay well for the most part they're relaxed, that pink one looks like she's on a constant flow of drugs or something."
I relaxed and smiled as I removed my helmet. "Let's roll out the red carpet then. Gotta try and be friends here so lets keep the bickering down eh?"
There it was. Even from a distance, even in its damaged state, the ship gave off an air of superior power. As Twilight, her friends, and Sergeant Windbreaker approached, she took note of the shape, color, and size. Angular, sleek, dark, the ship looked like a mighty bird of prey capable of striking from the shadows. It sent shivers down her spine. Yet, when its owners came into view, she began to feel a bit more at ease. The Ghost, Sparks, was little more than a set of eight freely moving prisms around a small sphere with a seemingly mechanical eyeball. Stored in this little package though was a great intelligence and personality. Sparks reminded her of a beacon of some kind. She did not know exactly what but the words 'Light' and 'Wisdom' came to mind among other things. Tiberius himself was another thing entirely, a human known to his brethren as a Guardian Titan. A being clad in dark, silver armor, sleek and aesthetically pleasing, he gave off an intimidating air of raw power and strength. His face though, without his helmet, seemed like the more friendly part of him. Today he wore a smile as he looked towards the arriving ponies. There was no glint of mischief or dishonesty in his eyes. No malicious intent showed either. He only gave off an air of kindness, honesty, and wisdom. Experience showed also, for those eyes clearly had seen many horrors and battles, yet despite this he gave off an unspoken promise of safety and protection as well. 'I hope he really is here with friendship in mind,' she thought as she remembered what he did to the manticores. The biggest one had caught the Princesses off guard and had been surprisingly agile after all. He had caught it off guard and very practically decimated it. 'Those eyes though.... what happened to them before they attacked us....? It was unnatural....'
Her train of thought was interrupted when Tiberius greeted them. "Hello everyone. What brings you here today?" '
Wait.... was his armor still translating like last time or was he already practicing our language?' Twilight thought.
A pink blur came before anyone could respond, followed by Pinkie being right in front of him. 'How did she....? That will never make sense how she does that....' Twilight thought to herself.
"HI TIBERIUS! I brought an invitation to your "Welcome to Equestria" party!" She just about yelled as she gave him a card, which he accepted with a chuckle.
"Well thank you very much," he said, "I see the whole gang is here, minus the night and day princesses."
"They had business to attend to in Canterlot unfortunately," Twilight admitted, "Though we also would like to invite you to a meeting at the castle in Ponyville if that is okay. The other leaders of Equestria would like to meet you and hear what you have to say."
"Sure, when and where?"
"Midday, five days from now. I'll come escort you there myself," Twilight explained.
"I'll be ready when the time comes," Tiberius said with a smile. "OH before I forget, I got a message from a fellow Guardian. A Hunter named Richard is on his way to provide further assistance and will be here in two or three days. He's bringing my new helmet too so I'm pretty excited bout that."
Pinkie gasped long and loud. "YOUR BUDDY IS BRINGING YOU A PRESENT!? COOL! I wonder how it'll look!"
Tiberius could only laugh in response, along with Sparks.
"She's a hyper one huh?" Sparks asked.
"Ya get used to it. Pinkie Pie, sugarcube, let's not overwhelm the poor guy now," Applejack intervened.
"Sorry." Pinkie backed off a bit, still smiling widely.
"Wait.... did you say your friend was a...." Fluttershy gulped, "A hunter....?"
Tiberius apparently knew where this was going. "Yeah but not the kind you're thinking of," he explained, "He hunts bad guys, not animals. He's probably pretty stealthy and quick about it given what class of Guardian he is."
Twilight managed a small smile when she saw Fluttershy's expression turn to one of calmed understanding. "Oh... okay..." the butter pegasus said with acceptance.
"Hey!" You can guess who yelled that considering that a prismatic blur rushed up in front of Tiberius and turned out to be a certain cyan pegasus. "I gotta know, how fast can that ship go?"
Tiberius raised an eyebrow in surprise, leaning back a little in reaction to the sudden, and loud, intrusion of personal space. He then chuckled. "In space it is capable of traveling faster than the speed of light relatively speaking. However, it can only go about say seven or eight times the speed of sound in most atmospheres."
The pegasus' jaw dropped and she sat on her haunches, no longer hovering. Surprise and shock was etched all over her face. "W-w-whoa..... That's... that's really fast...."
He shrugged. "There are faster Jumpships."
"Wait you call them...?" Twilight's question was interrupted by Sparks blurting out "Uh oh!"
"We got trouble. Hostiles in the vicinity, fifteen hundred meters out and closing. They're Hive."
That spelled big trouble..... I remembered their glowing green eyes. How did they get here ahead of the Fallen though....? Then it hit me. Those beasts I fought when I arrived, the manticores. I drew the connection. Green glow in their eyes, slight facial deformity, they were starting to be corrupted by Hive. It must have driven them feral.... "But if the Hive are already here...... SPARKS! SEND A TRANSMISSION TO RICHARD AND TELL HIM TO HURRY HIS ASS UP! Girls, run, back to the town, fast as you can. Tell any garrisoned soldiers to marshal a defense and set a perimeter. We have unwelcome visitors."
"Wait.... I thought you said it would be weeks before the first ruffians arrived!" Rarity blurted out.
Sparks sighed. "Guess the Vanguard made a miscalculation. If the Hive is already here then your world is in alot more danger than we thought. They're usually the second to arrive, and they're terrible monsters who practically worship death and destruction. If they're already here...."
"Then the Fallen are already somewhere on the planet," I concluded, "and the Vex and Cabal aren't far behind."
Spike spoke up next, "You can take em right....?"
Sparks and I looked at each other. I noticed the subtle motion he made, equivalent to shaking his head no. I gave a sigh. "Not long...."
Windbreaker stepped up, "Then I'll stay and help."
"Me too," Twilight stated, determined. "Girls, get back to the town, spread the word! Get the guards out here as soon as possible!"
"We'll stay and fight!" Rainbow called out, not willing to leave Twilight behind.
"No! We'll likely need more help to fight them. Please just do it. Don't risk yourselves. We'll hold them off as long as we can."
Her friends were reluctant to go.... I really didn't want to let her or the Sergeant stay and risk their lives either.... I knew I couldn't say no though. It is their world. They have a right to fight for it. Soon enough, the others turned to leave, all of them with varying levels of reluctance, before galloping off (or running in Spike's case). The screeches of Thralls could be heard by then.
"You sure this is a good idea?" Sparks asked as he materialized into my armor.
I stared at the forest, the beginnings of rapid movement coming into visual range as I raised my auto rifle, Atheon's Epilogue. My silence was his answer. He knew what I was thinking.
You know, earlier, I really do think I managed to jinx myself. Okay so while I'm repairing my ship with Sparks, we get some damn good news so okay it wasn't a totally bad day. Then that purple princess Twilight and her friends come along to chat, great, I'm making friends, day is even better.... then the shit hit the fan. Of all things to come out and surprise us all today, it had to be goddamn Hive. HIVE! ON THIS WORLD! ALREADY! If I didn't know better I'd say Crota has his eye on this place.... but he's dead isn't he.... I mean.... how couldn't he be....? If I jinxed myself again I'm gonna jump off a bridge.
"Ugh... five more minutes mom... " Richard groaned.
Of course he yelped when he got a zap in the shoulder. "GAH okay I'm up I'm up, don't bring out the tazer mom! Oh..... ugh, thanks for ruining my nap fuckface," he groaned at Spectre.
"Get your head out of your ass, we got problems."
"Like what?" Richard said, suddenly intrigued.
"Like a distress call from Tiberius' ghost not thirty minutes after we send the message that we're on our way!"
He listened to the playback as Spectre played it. "This is Titan Tiberius' Ghost, Sparks! Richard, I hope you're double timing it cause we need backup here! We got HIVE crawling up our asses already! If they're already here then you can bet the Fallen are here too and the Vex and Cabal aren't far off! We got some help from the locals and.... whoa.... okay that's unexpected.... ANYWAY GET YOUR ASS OVER HERE! It's likely gonna get worse! If you don't hurry you'll likely be finding a dead ghost and alot of corpses! Sparks out!"
"Well..." Richard started, ".....Fuck..... Spectre, can we shave a few hours off the journey?"
"I'm better than that, I shaved off half a day."
"Better than nothing," Richard snarked. "Wake me when we get there alright? I don't want beauty sleep to get in the way of keeping another Guardian alive."
"Don't rest too easy.... Don't wanna have to pull your half alive ass out of jump ship wreckage," the ghost said.
I watched intensely as the foliage really started to get rustled up. Next to me, Twilight ignited her horn. On my other side, Windbreaker unsheathed what looked like specially designed wing blades and prepared to take flight. I gave a resigned sigh and prepared for the worst..... and the worst came. Not one, not two, but three Blades of Crota made their debut on this world alongside swarms of thralls.... and to my dismay, some of them were cursed.
"Don't get close to the glowing ones," I explained to my companions, "They explode."
Their expressions as a result were ones of shocked disgust and fear. The middle Blade raised his sword and roared, signalling the charge.... and all hell broke loose.
Rainbow flew as fast as she could. Probably flew faster than she had in her entire life! (exageration, she needs a sonic rainboom to do that) Her friends were in danger, SHE was in danger, the whole world was in danger. She made it to what looked like the command tent.
"HEY!" she yelled, getting the attention of the Royal Guard garrison's commanding officer.
"What the! Hey this is a restricted...!" the commander started before realizing who it was, "Oh... Ms. Rainbow Dash. What seems to be the problem?"
"Alright first, drop the "Ms." thing, it makes me sound old. Second, MONSTERS ATTACKING! Twilight, Sergeant Windbreaker, our new alien friend, they're at the forest edge! Trying to fight them off! THEY'RE GONNA GET KILLED!"
The Commander grimaced. "Lieutenant!"
Another stallion in armor, a grey unicorn, stepped in. "Lieutenant Magelight, gather the others and prepare for battle DOUBLE TIME! We have an incursion at the edge of the Everfree." The stallion saluted and departed.
"Rainbow Dash, where are the rest of your friends?" the commander asked.
"Getting everypony else in town to safety sir," she explained.
The commander nodded in approval. "Good, you can call me Shieldbreaker by the way," the earth pony stallion said. "Now, I believe we have a battle to attend."
"I'm coming with you," the brash pegasus immediately blurted out.
"I'm afraid that's out of the...." he was interrupted.
"LOOK PAL! THAT'S MY FRIEND OUT THERE! I'M GOING OUT THERE!"
Shieldbreaker was taken aback..... his response died out and he simply nodded..... He didn't want to suffer the wrath of Loyalty it seemed. Outside, the troops could be heard gathering. He made his way outside with Rainbow Dash to organize the troops and initiate a counter attack.
"MACHINE GUN AMMO OUT!" I yelled, switching to my shotgun. One Blade of Crota was down. Twilight and Windbreaker were hammering another with lightning and magic bolts. I was keeping the last one, and the thralls, off of my companions while they finished the guy off (easier said than done). I growled in frustration.
"Fist of Havoc ready," I heard Sparks say.
That was all I needed to hear. Cry Havoc. BOOM! Another Blade of Crota vaporized along with a cluster of thralls... though one of those cursed thralls were a bit TOO close for comfort, dropping my shields some.
"More hostiles coming from the forest! Shit that is alot of thralls.... ACOLYTES!" Sparks rambled.
"TWILIGHT IF YOU HAVE A SHIELD! NOW IS THE TIME!" I called out.
I got a purple dome shield appearing to my right in response, both her and the Sergeant sitting inside safely. That was my cue, and the Triple 0 came loose from its leash. A rocket, charged with the energies of the void, rushed forth, and another, and another, ravaging the enemy line first with initial detonations, then the detonations of many secondary charges. In disarray, the enemy was unprepared (and I as well, along with being shocked) for the purple wave of magical energy that shot forth and threw them all back into the forest.... almost all dead from explosions, heavy impacts, high g-forces, or precision rounds from my scout rifle that busted down what remained of that wave..... yet more screeches could be heard approaching..... Twilight and Windbreaker were panting heavily, nearly spent by the constant combat. As more enemies came into sight, I knew it wouldn't be long now. We were strongly outnumbered, and regardless of how much ammo I had or my abilities, I was only able to fire so fast and still capable of being overwhelmed by such vast numbers. It was a losing battle it seemed..... till barrages of magical energy and crossbow bolts started striking the enemy. I looked behind me to find a very surprising, but not unwelcome sight. A company of unicorns, pegasi, and earth ponies fired crossbow, lightning (from clouds the pegasi pushed which I could only blanch at), and raw magic bolts from most of the unicorns (the rest holding up defensive barriers or firing special attacks like arcane lightning, fire, and ice).
I could only nod in agreement as a response, words failing me at how impossible, yet how impressive this display was. THIS was a true army of light.
Thralls, Acolytes, Knights, and Wizards fell under the barrage, not expecting the raw energy or primitive bolts being hurled at them. Some crossbow bolts proved to be ineffective, but the rest, when they found marks in the eyes of an enemy or in the gaps in the enemy armor, it was a perfect counter to Thralls and Acolytes, the cursed ones exploding prematurely as a result and damaging or killing their fellows. Severely outnumbered and outgunned now, the remaining Hive forces in this particular swarm made to retreat.... and not all made it out as a prismatic blur proceeded to shoot back and forth to pummel them to a pulp.
"Guess our luck held out again huh?" Sparks chuckled.
"I wouldn't count on us being that lucky all the time buddy....." I muttered.
A clearly high ranking Earth Pony stallion made to approach me and my companions as the cause of the prismatic blur landed next to us. Rainbow Dash of course. That put my levels of shock off the charts.
Twilight watched as Commander Shieldbreaker approached, a little nervous about how he would greet this alien. A sigh of relief escaped her lips shortly though.
"Are you the one known as Tiberius?" the commander asked the alien.
"I am."
He knew the alien's name. Good.
"Thank you for fighting so hard to protect our land." He looked around at all the dust and hive armor fragments, "Is this really all that remains of them when they fall?"
"With the Hive, yes," Sparks answered, suddenly materializing before the commander and taking him completely by surprise.
"Ah well.... ahem..." He took a moment to regain his composure, "Was this all?"
Twilight frowned when Tiberius shook his head no. "Not even close. That was likely just the tip of the spear. There are alot more Hive on their way if they aren't already on this world. No doubt, Fallen, alien creatures with four arms and a plethora of weapons, armor, and ships, have already arrived in droves somewhere on this world. They're vicious scavengers so I'd advise caution."
The Commander could only frown as the list went on.
"Next to arrive in this solar system will likely be the Vex. They can transform entire worlds into machines for their network in a matter of days. They're teleporting, possibly time traveling machines too. Finally, the warlike Cabal will arrive. They have thick metal shields, powerful high caliber guns, explosive weapons, and even psionically capable soldiers. Their armor, size, and strength are nothing to laugh at either. Oh and wait till you see the Fallen's Devil Walkers, or the Cabal's Goliath Tanks. They're difficult to fight as well. The Cabal also have mobile fortresses known as Land Tanks so this could get ugly, fast."
By then, alot of soldiers were looking VERY uneasy.
"However," Tiberius began, "This solar system, and this very world, has the attention of myself and my fellow Guardians. We won't be here to pillage and burn. We're here to help and protect. Another Guardian is already on his way, and with luck, more Guardians won't be far behind."
Some of the soldiers seemed skeptical, but others, they seemed hopeful. Still, it would be difficult to fully gain their trust.
"HOW DO WE KNOW YOU TELL THE TRUTH!?" one called out, "HOW DO WE KNOW YOU WONT INVADE US LIKE THE REST!?"
"You saw him destroying those abominations didn't you!? He's on our side!"
"That isn't a he, it's an IT! It's and alien and can't be trusted!"
"STOW THE BELLYACHING, IT ISN'T UP TO YOU!" the Commander barked at the CLEARLY fear and skepticism driven soldier, "We leave the decision of trusting this being, and it is a HE for your information judging by his voice alone, to the princesses!"
The soldier silenced himself... but remained livid....
Twilight frowned. This was going to be more difficult than she thought.
Well.... about three days ago.... the shit hit the fan. So, earlier I said the Hive had arrived. I wasn't joking about that.... and I ain't jokin about this either. These ponies, the powers and skills they wield..... they're formidable. The purple one, Twilight Sparkle, used her powers, her magic, to blast Hive again and again, create a dome shield, and then turn that shield into a deadly shockwave that blew away ALOT of Hive without harming me or or our other companions. On top of this, the Pegasi have the ability to use their very WINGS and the CLOUDS THEMSELVES as weapons. Wing mounted blades and lightning strikes.... Professional as I'm supposed to be, I'm not gonna resist the urge to call this completely badass, cause it was alright, fucking badass. The Earth Ponies were no less awesome. Saddle mounted javelins, hoof mounted and bit trigger composite metal crossbows, wielding swords with their mouths and in some cases SWORD STAFFS! I'm talking double bladed melee madness. I swear they had some semi-auto combustion weapons too but those were few and far between. Regardless, they're a budding civilization that had the ability to fight back a Hive swarm. They are ORGANIZED and it has been proven to me that they are RAPIDLY advancing. I underestimated their courage and zeal. There was something else too.... a much stronger than usual sense of camaraderie. Again and again I witnessed them saving each other's lives, covering each other's backs. Later it was explained to me by Princess Twilight Sparkle that friendship is held with almost religious importance in this nation and on this world. That fact alone speaks volumes. Despite varying levels of distrust towards me and Sparks from the Equestrian soldiers, suffice it to say, I would be afraid if I were the Hive, cause they got a formidable force and Guardians breathing down their necks. These ponies are FAR from helpless.
High in orbit, miles above Equis, a spectacular event was unfolding. High above us as Twilight and I watched through the telescope, we witnessed a small tear in space opening up. From it leaped a small but fierce looking vessel.
I chuckled to myself as Twilight gasped and whispered "Amazing...."
"That," I said, "Is the Aurora Lance. That is the vessel bringing us some much needed backup."
Sparks materialized between us. "Got a comms request incoming. You guys wanna hear?"
Twilight nodded and I gestured for him to open a link.
He spread out his outer prisms, a sphere of blue energy appearing within, his core centered within that. "Link is open."
"This is Titan Tiberius. Richard you hear me?"
It took a moment for the reply to come.
"Tiberius, it's good to hear you're alive. Hive still giving you trouble down there?"
"They've backed off for now," I explained, "but I have no doubt they'll be returning. We have a meeting with the leaders of this world in two and a half days though so let's try to focus on that. Speaking of which, one of them is here now. Princess Twilight?"
"Greetings Richard, I'm Twilight Sparkle, Princess of Friendship here in Equestria," she said.
Richard chuckled, almost laughing. "Well, that's a happy-go-lucky title if I've ever heard one. Gotta admit I'm curious how you earned that one. In any case, it's good to meet you Princess, though I wish it were face to face. All the same I'll be down shortly. Give me a few minutes and I'll be in atmosphere and dropping off right next to you guys. Population is aware of us by now I assume?"
Twilight frowned, just as I did. "Much as I hate to say it," Twilight explained, "They are, but not all are happy about you guys. Alot of them are hailing Tiberius as a hero already but there's a growing group of ponies that are much more distrusting of the Guardians. They're skeptical, some blaming you guys for bringing these monsters here...."
"HAH I wish," Richard said, "That would mean they're too focused on us to care much about your world. Sadly they're very interested in it. Scans already show rich mineral resources and thriving ecosystem, something all the factions of Darkness can thrive off of in some way. If you got any significant tech among you then the problem with the Fallen is gonna multiply."
Twilight frowned at that. "That's distressing...."
I sighed as well. "Regardless, he's right.... we're gonna have to prepare on many fronts.... Richard, the enhanced transmitter on my ship was damaged in the crash so I was lucky to get even a distress beacon out as far as the Sol System. I assume yours is working better?"
"Hell yeah, I got a pretty clean link with some Guardians closer to the edge of the system.... or as clean as it's gonna get. I can relay messages through them. Interference in the atmosphere is gonna be a problem though so the ship will have to be in orbit for the messages to get through. Spectre ain't happy about it either.... Oh right, Princess my Ghost's name is Spectre, just so you're aware."
She giggled, "Thanks for answering that question before I even ask it."
"What can I say," Richard laughed, "I'm awesome like that. OW! Don't zap me little prick!"
"Stay focused," they heard Spectre say in the background.
Richard sighed. "Right.... be down in a few guys. Again it's a pleasure to meet you Princess. Can't wait to meet face-to-face."
"Likewise Richard, see you soon," she replied.
"Richard out."
Sparks retracted his prisms. "Transmission ended. He has our position so he'll drop nearby."
Twilight tilted her head. "Drop? Shouldn't his ship land?"
I shook my head. "Jumpships, when undamaged and working properly, can function on their own for long periods of time, maintaining an automatic orbit and responding to remote commands from the owner when the need arises. The way you've seen Sparks here phase around himself and our materials like he does is how our ships deploy their Guardian owners. The ship will make a quick flyby low to the ground, phase Richard and Spectre to the surface beneath the vessel, and then it will return to orbit on its own, likely maintaining a geo-synchronous orbit above us."
Sparks nodded. "In doing so, the ship can relay clearer messages between owner and allies even while we're on the planetary surface or even a couple miles underground, similar to how it worked when Tiberius and I visited our homeworld's moon."
Twilight nodded, drinking in all the information. She was clearly fascinated by all of it, the scholar that she was. I couldn't help smiling a bit. Her curious and scholarly expression was somewhat.... endearing.... to be honest.
Twilight then had a thought, "Wait how does he already understand my language?"
Sparks chuckled. "We can use our translation abilities in more ways than one Princess. For example, I listen to what you say in your language, translate it, THEN send it to the recipient all in less than a second. Ah the powers of high tech computing."
Twilight giggled. "I suppose that makes sense. Brings up another question though. If I were to hazard a guess, I'd say Tiberius here is trying to learn our language. I heard small differences here and there from when he was saying a sentence in our language and when he was saying one in yours and having it translated by you or his armor."
I chuckled, impressed by her rather strong powers of observation. "Indeed I am trying to learn, with Sparks' help of course."
"He's progressing quickly if I do say so myself," Sparks chuckled, "He always was a fast learner. Took to work as a Guardian rapidly in fact, and already knows a little bit of some of the older languages in our history, such as the one associated with Rasputin, a computerized warmind in our solar system designed in the golden ages to aid in defense. We had learned it was called Russian not long before coming here in fact. Too bad Rasputin doesn't actively speak to anyone.... would make for an interesting conversation."
"I don't quite speak that one fluently yet Sparks, considering there isn't a whole lot to go off of in the first place," I reminded him.
"True enough. All the same, he should be speaking your language like a pro before you know it."
Again, that endearing, scholarly expression of curiosity and amazement appeared on her face. Again I had to smile. Dare I say it was a little cute? Holliday would have something akin to a fangirl attack if she were here, a thought which made me have to suppress a laugh. All that in mind.... I think I'm gonna like it here.... when we're not being attacked by the armies of the Darkness.
Sparks, Twilight, and I watched as the Aurora Lance finished descending through the outer atmosphere, the orange flames of reentry no longer glowing on her hull. She approached fast and hard, somewhat visibly unnerving Twilight. The ship didn't even slow down and flew right over us before flying back up. Twilight was confused for a moment, failing to notice the flash of light that was the result of Richard's transfer. Then she noticed the Hunter, his smiling blue face beaming at the group.
"Hello everyone," he exclaimed.
I laughed, "Richard, it's damn good to see you here."
He chuckled, "Good to be here Tiberius. Before we get started, here." He held out my new helmet.
I accepted it with an excited and grateful expression. "My new Holdfast! Dude you are AWESOME! Thank you for this." I tried it on, the coloration shifting as it synced with my shader, and spread out my arms, looking around. "How do I look."
Sparks nodded. "Not bad Tiberius, looks rather awesome. The antenna makes it look functional but it maintains a sleek appeal."
Twilight giggled, "Looks great."
Richard nodded in agreement, "Dare I say badass?"
I couldn't help chuckling. "Thanks again Richard." I smiled and removed the helmet. "Where's Spectre?"
"Right here. I will admit, the helmet looks good on you Titan. Good to finally meet you." Spectre said as he materialized among the group.
"Likewise Spectre." I smiled and nodded respectfully.
"Good to see a fellow Ghost here," Sparks spoke up, "If it isn't too much trouble, you think you could help me and Tiberius fix up our ship in our spare time?"
Spectre nodded. "May as well. Better to have this thing functional ASAP."
Sparks nodded and he and Spectre got to work on continuing repairs on the Valkyrie.
Richard smiled at Twilight. "Good to meet you face-to-face princess.... though I will say that you aren't quite what I expected." He chuckled.
Twilight giggled, "You aren't what I expected either Richard. Didn't expect to see a blue human."
Richard tilted his head. "I'm an Awoken actually."
Twilight blushed. "Oh.... heh, my mistake."
Richard nodded. "No worries. I'd like to keep chatting, but sadly I feel I should get to work helping with the Valkyrie. If we don't have that thing fixed up ASAP, we won't be completely prepared for further encounters with the enemy."
Twilight nodded. "I completely understand. I should return to the castle anyway. My friends will wanna know of your arrival. It was good meeting you." She turned and made to leave, waving as she left. "See you later Tiberius!"
I waved goodbye to her. "Laters!"
"So Tiberius," Richard began, "I brought some extra materials that I can beam down from Lance at any time should we need it."
"Do you have any idea how much of a relief it is to hear that?" I laughed.
"I have a feeling that you must be overwhelmed with joy," He said with a semi-sarcastic tone.
We shared a laugh. "Shall we get to it?" I asked.
The Awoken Hunter nodded and we joined our Ghosts in repairing the Valkyrie. Things were starting to look up again.
Lemme just say that some politicians are complete assholes, especially ones from warlike nations. I'll say this much. The Minotaur Tribes may end up being a problem.
The sound of an alarm clock was the first thing to strike my waking ears. Okay no biggie, I've heard this sound before. The next sound to reach my ears, AND BEFORE I WAS EVEN FULLY AWAKE, made me jump in my pilot's chair: the sound of a ship doing a VERY close range flyby, no doubt to drop off Richard who had decided to return to his ship for sleep during the night.
"BAAAAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAAHHAAAAAA!" I heard Sparks' laughter at my expense and I immediately shot him the bird.
"Good morning to you too asshole," I said.
"I couldn't help it, that was too hilarious!"
I simply sighed and smiled lightly. "Well I guess we should head outside to meet up with Richard."
Sparks nodded and phased us both outside. I immediately stretched out my arms and let off a loud yawn.
"Hey careful man, you know those are contagious," Richard chuckled. "Good morning by the way."
"Good morning to you too. So first thing is first, recap. Repair progress?"
Sparks materialized in front of me. "The fabricator has been repaired enough to fix and deploy the Sparrow, however remains partially damaged, preventing or slowing more major repairs to the rest of the ship. All stabilizers are functional but the primary port side engine remains nonfunctional."
Spectre materialized next to Sparks. "Resources are sufficient enough to complete the most critical repairs, though superficial damage will remain unless we can acquire a larger stockpile of resources. According to scans of the rest of the system made by Sparks and I, a particularly large desert world has materials resembling relic iron in ample supply. Scans continue to show that the world has no hostile presence but that is likely to change very soon if the sensors aren't already missing something. Repairs to the Valkyrie should be very simple as long as things continue to work in our favor."
I nodded with satisfaction. "So what's the ETA on the repair time?"
"Optimal projections show about a week give or take a day or two," Sparks said.
Richard smiled. "I'd say we're making great progress then. Don't we have a meeting at the nearest castle though?"
"OH SHIT!" I had nearly forgotten. I connected to my ship and ordered the Sparrow deployed. It materialized next to me. "We better get going!"
Sparks simply laughed, earning a glare from me. "Relax Tiberius, a messenger is being sent our way once it's time."
I chuckled sheepishly upon hearing that. "Uh.. heh... oh."
Richard could only chuckle. "Well it gives me time to bring down my Sparrow. Why don't we just chill out for a while till the messenger gets here?"
I couldn't help nodding in agreement. "Alright. Sounds good to me. Besides, I'd like to make sure the Sparrow is fully functional before it's time to go."
The Awoken Hunter nodded and had his ship do one more flyby to drop his own Sparrow off. We spent a good amount of time making repairs and calibrations. Our ghosts kept working on the Valkyrie. It wasn't till I had finished up with my Sparrow and started working with the Ghosts on the Valkyrie that the messenger finally arrived. Lo and behold, our messenger was none other than the loud and boisterous Rainbow Dash.
"GERONIMO!" we heard a female voice yell.
I took cover and prepped my rifle, completely freaked out by the sudden interruption. Richard took it in stride and even laughed at how on edge I was acting even as Rainbow Dash made a very quick and precision landing on the nose of the Valkyrie.
"Nailed it! Hey Tiberius, hey Sparks."
I let off a sigh of relief and gave Richard a smack upside the head before responding. "Hello Rainbow Dash. I take it it's time to head to the meeting?"
"Yup! Oh hey.... another Ghost? And who's the blue guy?"
Richard smirked. "Name's Richard. The second Ghost there is Spectre."
"Name's Rainbow Dash, nice to meet ya," the Pegasus replied.
"Likewise. Nice landing by the way."
"Hah ya noticed that huh?"
"Oh good god." I sighed and facepalmed, "Here we go."
"I am the best flyer in Equestria you know. Can do a Sonic Rainboom and everything!" she boasted.
"A what now?" Both Richard and I raised eyebrows at her.
"Oh right, new on this planet. Eh no time for a demonstration now but I'll show you later. We're gonna be late!"
We both nodded and boarded our Sparrows. Something that confused her till the bikes lifted off the ground on their own. Her jaw dropped at that, eliciting a chuckle from Richard. "We got our own surprises too you know."
"Heh, right. Anyways, think you can keep up?"
Richard and I shared a smirk before I looked up at the now floating pegasus. "You're on."
"THREETWOONE GO!" and she took off like a fucking bullet.
"HEY! THAT AINT FAIR!" I hit the boost and gave chase, Richard right behind me and our Ghosts safely phased away into our armor.
Twilight was nervous that much was certain. Today's meeting could possibly make or break the fate of Equis. She sat on the balcony high above the entrance to her castle. Within, Celestia and Luna were busy keeping the other politicians pacified. The Gryphons proved a little difficult but it wasn't impossible. The Minotaurs were the real problem. The Deer Nations representative, Zebra Nomads shaman, and Dragon Skymasters and Skylords were of little issue though as all of these groups respected Equestria's leaders and their decisions greatly.
Her train of thought was suddenly interrupted as she soon heard a strange sound not unlike the mild churning of energy. She looked outward to see Rainbow Dash being followed to the castle by something that made her jaw drop.
Both Guardians were ridding in on bikes that seemed to hover above the ground, skimming across it like a hovercraft just above water at speeds Rainbow could only barely manage at very low altitudes. The two bikes looked as though they were about to ram into the castle proper when they came to a complete stop almost on a dime. Talk about impressive.
"HAH! WE SO WON!" she suddenly heard Richard yell.
"NO WAY I WON!" Rainbow argued back.
"HAH IN YOUR DR....!" ZAP! "OW Spectre you little fucker!"
"Stay focused dunderhead," came Spectre's response.
Twilight could only raise an eyebrow and giggle a bit at the silly antics, where as Rainbow, Sparks, and Tiberius were throwing a complete fit of laughter as Richard and Spectre continued bickering.
"Good god are you two love birds like this all the time!?" Tiberius barely got out between laughs.
"It's like they're a married couple!" Rainbow snarked.
"We do not argue that badly..... do we?" Richard asked, somewhat unsure.
Spectre sighed. "If you weren't so insufferably immature maybe it wouldn't be so bad."
"Oh fuck you too you stuck up asshole!"
Aaaand the laughter continued.
Twilight rolled her eyes and glided down on her wings. "If you guys are done, we have a meeting to get to."
Tiberius calmed down enough to acknowledge her. "Ah hello Princess. Hey guys, you heard her. Time to go inside."
Spectre and Richard stared each other down for just another second. "To be continued," Richard snarked.
Now, I've seen some pretty impressive stuff in my time. Massive Land Tanks, Fallen Skiffs, The City, The Tower, The Awoken Queen's Kingdom in the Rift, so many things both scary and downright awesome, but the grandeur of this castle was... well... it's a fucking giant tree of crystal with a very well decorated and architecturally spectacular interior. What's not to like right? I didn't even notice Twilight's giggle at how goofy I looked as I gawked at it all. Richard even reached over to shut my mouth for me.
"Careful," he said, "Don't wanna eat a bug."
Even then I simply had no words. That's when the younger of the high diarchs of Equestria approached, snapping me out of my stupor. "Ah, Tiberius, Sparks. I'm glad you made it," Princess Luna greeted. "I assume these other two are Richard and Spectre?" she asked as she gestured to the pair.
Richard nodded. "I am. I can't help but wonder who it is that asks though."
"Oh my where are my manners, I am Princess Luna of the Night. My sister Celestia is currently keeping our other guests entertained. Small talk can only get one so far however as the Minotaur Chieftain proves..... less than patient. I must stress the importance of haste."
I frowned. "Will the Minotaurs be a problem Princess?"
"Hopefully not too much of one, but I wouldn't hold out hope. They're aggressive and warlike in nature. To be honest, I believe it is nothing short of a miracle that they haven't entered a war in almost the entirety of the past millennium. However that hasn't stopped them from becoming violent at diplomatic gatherings before," the indigo alicorn explained.
"Sheesh, that bad huh? I think I'm gonna keep my helmet on for this one guys," Richard joked.
"That.... isn't a bad idea. You two may wanna be prepared for anything," Luna sighed.
I blanched and gave her a deadpan look. "You aren't kidding are you?"
Luna smirked. "I'd be lying if I said I wasn't enjoying your reaction. That said, no, unfortunately I'm not."
Richard and I shared a concerned look before equipping our helmets to ensure our armor sets were sealed and ready to protect us on a moment's notice. I noticed Twilight's apprehensive expression after that. I couldn't help but get a feeling that things were about to turn sour. All the same, I gestured for Luna to lead the way. She nodded and we all began making our way to the meeting room, Twilight and Rainbow Dash following up the rear and striking up silent conversation as we went.
To say that the world of politics is a living hell would be a monumental understatement sometimes. For Celestia, this was very true as a certain Minotaur Chieftain grew more and more impatient.
"Princess, this had better be very important for you to have called us here. I have pressing concerns back among the minotaur clans." the Chieftain known as Steel Bull ranted.
"Like what, running a terrorist insurrection against your own people?" The male gryphon ambassador Ironwing snarked.
"Watch your tongue you deformed poultry! You know full well the Minotaur clans do not tolerate weak leadership among us!"
"Leaders that seek peace and advancement are NOT weak you mindless animal!"
"ENOUGH!" Celestia had seen and heard it all but this was just plain ridiculous to put it mildly. "Ambassador Ironwing, you know full well you cannot control what happens on the other side of Minotaur borders. None of us can. Current treaties prevent our intervention. Unless they act against us, you are wasting breath."
"My apologies your eminence," Ironwing replied.
"As for you Steel Bull, I expect you to show respect to everyone in this room. A critical event has occurred in this entire planet's history. Your complaining does nothing to speed things up. Furthermore, I do expect you to ensure your little rebellion does not spill into other nations. I hope that I am clear on that matter."
"Hmph...."
Celestia rolled her eyes. Minotaurs truly were the most bullheaded of all the planet's species. Regardless, she sought to calm her mind immediately now that things were once again quieter. She looked to the female Zebra Shaman Feroza, the female Deer Representative named Yoshida, and the male Dragon Skymaster Blazewind (who currently took the form of a winged, humanoid, scaly, firebreathing lizard).
"I apologize for this.... less than agreeable atmosphere," she said to the three.
They all smiled though, some more than others, but they were all genuine at least.
"Worry not Princess, I am used to the ravings of the horned warmasters," Blazewind replied.
"Indeed we all are," Yoshida stated, "Though I wish they would leave their attitude behind, I suppose there is nothing to be done. They are who they are. Nothing we can do or say to change their nature."
Feroza nodded sagely, "Well said Representative."
Celestia smiled and looked to the four Elements of Harmony already in the room. Fluttershy, Applejack, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie were all accounted for, though they were less than pleased with the behavior of a certain Minotaur Chief within their own friend's home.
"I apologize that you four had to see that as well...." Celestia sighed.
They all looked to her with sympathetic looks. While none of them wanted to voice it now, it was clear that they understood a little more just how hard Celestia and Luna had it being the leading diplomats in the nation thanks to the pigheadedness of other politicians and leaders.
Soon enough, the doors to the meeting room opened. The first to enter were Princess Twilight and Princess Luna, followed by Rainbow Dash who took a seat with the other Elements.
"Ah I see we're all assembled. Sister have you informed them of the reasons for their being here?" Luna asked.
"Not as of yet but now that we're all here, I suppose we should begin. Put simply, we are here to discuss a critical event in the history of Equis. This event began more than a week ago during a meteor shower gone awry. An object has entered our atmosphere and crash landed," Celestia explained.
"A cosmic phenomenon not of your doing I assume?" Ironwing asked the two diarchs.
They both nodded and Celestia continued. "We investigated the crashed object soon after. What we found was not a natural event. The object was artificial in nature."
This turned heads.
"Extraterrestrial?" Yoshida speculated out loud.
"That's ridiculous! I wasted my time for this? These lies!?" Steel Bull bellowed.
"I must admit this does seem rather absurd," Ironwing added, albeit reluctantly.
"Surely you have some evidence to put forth do you not?" Blazewind queried.
"We do," Celestia answered immediately.
Silence reigned for a few moments after that, so she continued.
"Shortly after investigating we were attacked. Manticores of unnatural strength attacked our scouting group, a concern that must be brought up later and is possibly tied to.... another event that occurred recently. We were just barely able to hold them off when something, or rather someone, saved us. That someone is the owner of our mystery object, later revealed to be a ship of some sort. His distress beacon attracted one other. We are playing host to two sentient aliens at this very moment, along with their rather unique companions. May I introduce Titan Tiberius and his Ghost, Sparks, along with Hunter Richard and his Ghost, Spectre."
Upon hearing their introduction, the two armored beings entered, followed by their Ghosts materializing on either side of the duo.
For what felt like hours, silence reigned supreme. Celestia grew nervous as the tension soon became thick enough to cut with a butter knife. The delegates all stared at the newcomers, each with confusion, apprehension, surprise, curiosity, or a mixture of the four. The tension shattered like glass when one of the delegates finally spoke.
"Remarkable....." was all Yoshida could say.
Celestia had to suppress a sigh of relief.
"They are..... like nothing I have ever seen. And you trust them?" Feroza asked skeptically?
"After Tiberius' recent actions, I trust them completely," Celestia affirmed, "He brought an offer of peace and protected Ponyville from an attack. Richard is here to further assist in that regard."
"They seem puny and weak to me."
One word came to Luna's mind after a moment of shock: "Buck."
Steel Bull was the one to speak. "How were they able to protect Ponyville from any kind of attack? They don't look capable of fitting the role."
"Excuse me?" Richard spoke up.
"Well isn't this a pleasant start....?" Sparks commented sarcastically.
"Honestly Steel Bull, must you constantly think with the warlike part of your brain? Do you even think about the consequences of what you say?" Yoshida asked.
"It's the only part of his brain that exists." Ironwing snarked. "A savage animal like all Minotaurs."
"Hmph, at least we're capable in a fight. These 'aliens' look like nothing more than tin apes," Bull retorted.
"Says the one that looks like a bull and a monkey got together and had sex," Richard scoffed.
Silence reigned again as the shock caused by that comment sunk in.... Steel Bull looking more and more enraged by the second.
"HAAAAHAHAHAAHAHA!" Ironwing and Blazewind were both having a fit of laughter now.
"By the stars, Celestia where on Equis did you find these Aliens? They're BRILLIANT!" Ironwing got out between bouts of laughter.
"Insulting a minotaur, and a chieftain at that, and not even skipping a beat! Absolutely incredible!" Blazewind added.
Luna was laughing as well while Yoshida, Celestia, Feroza, Twilight, and the rest of the Elements (sans Pinkie and Rainbow who were also dying of laughter) all looked rather surprised, or in Rarity's case, absolutely MORTIFIED.
Tiberius simply let off a chuckle of course and folded his arms across his chest. "Should've seen that one coming Steel 'Butt.' You really need to stop letting your mouth run before your brain."
That drove the Gryphon ambassador and the Dragon Skymaster absolutely hysterical..... uuuuntil Steel Bull bellowed loudly and jumped up on the table to charge the two Guardians. Richard jumped higher than a sentient being without wings had any business doing while Tiberius literally caught the bull by the horns with his armored hands and threw him into the ground. Richard came down with an elbow to the belligerent chieftain's back.
That time, everyone in the room simply sat in absolute shock. Again silence lasted for what felt like hours. This went on until a slow clap was soon heard, from the Dragon Skymaster no less.
"Finally, the violence of the Minotaur is countered," he remarked. "About damn time."
"Indeed," Luna chuckled.
"LULU!" Celestia exclaimed.
"Oh don't tell me you don't agree. Steel Bull has always been a pain in the flank."
Celestia sighed. She had to give her that, and so did the other delegates.
"Well.... he's out cold. Maybe he'll learn his lesson?" Richard suggested as he stood back up.
"One can only hope," Twilight remarked with a shake of her head. "Though I kinda doubt it."
"Guards! Please remove Steel Bull from the meeting room and return him to his quarters," Celestia ordered. They did as they were told and left with Steel Bull dragged unceremoniously behind them.
"And I thought you were bad...." Spectre said to Richard.
Okay so after an incident with who I now call the Steel Jackass, things pretty much went off without a hitch. We were asked some questions and we socialized, which put the remaining delegates fully at ease.... or as close as possible to it at least. We told them about our arrival, our profession, our home, the Guardians, stuff like that. Then came the part of the warning and the story about just WHO or rather WHAT attacked Ponyville. This was met with some skepticism and disbelief until Twilight decided to project a memory straight out of her mind, from her horn, holographically onto the table, which quite frankly was one hell of a shock to Richard and I. Boy am I glad we wore those helmets. We looked like giddy children behind those masks, or at least I'm sure I did. Not sure about Richard's reaction to be honest. Upon seeing "the tip of the iceberg," so to speak, before their very eyes, the delegates couldn't hide from the truth of the matter. What came as a shock to us though were the reports of isolated "incidents" in gryphon territory, reports of "strange four-armed creatures" raiding remote tech labs and factories. The same was said for the deer. We told them about the Fallen and they weren't happy in the slightest. Still the description more or less proved that we weren't to blame for the forces of Darkness coming here. We extended the same offer we extended to Equestria: a pledge to aid and protect to the best of our ability as was the duty of the Guardians. Apparently we sounded sincere enough to win over the Deer and the Zebra with our pledge of support. The Dragon stated, "You definitely have Dragon support after that little show with Steel Bull." I like to think that part of the meeting was more of a win after hearing those words. Iron Wing said something similar too. Celestia, Luna, Twilight, and the Elements, after having seen and heard all there was to say, pledged support to a defense effort as well. It took ALOT of work, and I won't talk about all the boring technicalities but we've got a rough groundwork to go with now. The word is out, the leaders are aware, we will begin working on a defense. Much as I can call this a win, I will still say that it was one huge bitch to achieve this, considering the skepticism, technicalities, and one jackass politician we had to deal with.
In addition, tomorrow we see some of the delegates off so that they can prepare their nations, though I think the Zebra and Dragon delegates are staying for a little while longer, which is fine by me. I'd love to talk with them more. Steel Bull, the Minotaur delegate, left early of course, livid as hell too. Can't say I was sad to see him go. I heard that part about him being the leader of a terrorist insurrection. Traveler knows that will probably be a problem further down the road.
In any case, I'm gonna end the log here. There's alot of work to do and not a lot of time to do it. Can't say I'm happy about it setting back repair time on my ship but we gotta make due right? Anyways, this is Titan Tiberius signing off.
