The air was thick in Ponyville, something was off and everypony knew it, an air of seriousness was everywhere. As the Elements of Harmony gathered in the Castle of Friendship, they discussed what was going to happen about the mood of the citizens of Ponyville.
"I think you all know why I called you here girls." Twilight said as she sat down in chair at the magic table.
"Ooh! Ooh! Is it because everypony is all super serious?!" Pinkie shouted as she bounced in her chair with a hoof raised in the air.
Twilight looked to Pinkie and replied. "Actually... yes. Something is bothering everypony and we need to get to the bottom of it."
"Pinkie dear, why don't you just throw one of your parties? That's sure to raise everypony's spirits." Rarity said before nodding her head.
Pinkie sat there staring at Rarity as if she had grown another horn. Everyone at the table raised an eyebrow at their friend. GASP "You're so right! One of my parties has to get everypony to cheer up!" After hearing their friend, everypony in the room sighed in relief.
"But why's everypony actin' like this in the first place?" Applejack spoke up.
"Yeah! Why is everypony all mopey in the first place?" Rainbow Dash said, agreeing with her farm-pony friend.
"That's something I want to find out too, everypony wouldn't act like this for no reason." Twilight concurred with a hoof to her chin and a look of thought on her face.
It was a dark night on the roads of New York. Even when the lights of the city lit the streets, they could not light the darkest corners and alleyways of the city.
"So... Get home, eat something, play a round or two of some games, go to sleep... Sounds like a plan to me!" Martin thought to himself as he walked the poorly lit streets of outer New York. Martin himself wasn't for walking out late at night, but when he needs to clear his head, a breath of fresh— or at least... as close to fresh air as you can get, he'd be out for the whole night.
Martin blended into his surroundings with a jet black hoodie, a pair of loose jeans, and a pair of steel-toed work boots. His choice of attire was something he kept with him his whole time in the city. Even when he was rummaging through his choice of clothing, there wasn't much of a difference between all of the articles of clothing he owned, from what he was wearing now.
BZZRT
Martin pulled his phone from the pocket of his hoodie and tapped the screen, he smiled as he saw who was texting him. It was his roommate Liz. Or Elizabeth, but they both proffered the nickname.
"Where are you? It's late..." A text from his roommate was something that rarely happened, while she wasn't one to care what he did, she did make the effort to worry.
"Out for some air, I'll be back later." Martin said as he typed away at the on-screen keyboard of his phone. He paused before he looked back down and started typing again. "Say hello to Anne for me."
Martin stuck the phone back into his pocket and kept making his way down the unlit sidewalks.
BZZRT
He pulled his phone back out and looked at the text. "Just get back here safe, the news said people are disappearing. She says hi back." Martin chuckled as he stuffed the phone back in his pocket.
"Okay, mom." He muttered to himself.
Liz was someone that had been his friend for a while, the moment he moved to New York, he had to look for a roommate to split the bills with, and Liz was the first one to reply to the ad. Martin got the couch in the living room and Liz got the actual room, something that they both agreed on and Martin actually proffered. Anne on the other hand, was the girlfriend of Liz. This led to complications between the three of them, but it left them with an agreement. No going bumper-to-bumper when somebody is in the room next to your own. And when they made that agreement, that 'someone' was him.
Hiss~
"Huh?" Martin's head turned to the alley he was passing, he looked in it to see if it was just a stray cat, when he squinted all he could see was a trio of green lights forming a triangle of sorts. It moved slowly towards him
"What the fuck is that?" He muttered to himself.
SCREECH Was all Martin heard before the lights shot towards him. The stomping of feet could be heard as the lights got closer and closer.
"Fuck!" He shouted as he tried to turn and run, only to be thrown to the ground as something smashed into his back. The breathe was forced from his lungs and his throat burned as it left. He turned over to see what attacked him, only to be met with something that would bring him nightmares. In front of him was a creature, thinner than him and it looked to be somewhat shorter. It had no eyes besides the three green lights. Its arms were long and they led down to a massive pair of claws, stretching bigger than his whole head.
The creature let out another inhuman screech from a maw of razor sharp teeth before raising a claw into the air and bringing it down onto Martin's head, slamming it into the concrete, making him black out.
"Eyes up Guardian."
Martin's eyes fluttered open, and the sight he was greeted with was something he was not expecting. A tiny floating... thing was in front of him, it seemed like some sort of robot. Its single digital eye flickering as it stared at him. Martin pushed himself away from the floating eye.
"I wasn't expecting you to wake up, but this is good." The tiny robot looked away.
"W—What are you talking about?" Martin asked, his new voice strange to him. It sounded... robotic. The eye looked back to him.
"You Guardian, I wasn't expecting you to wake up after what happened."
"What, happened... exactly?"
"After you and the other guardians defeated Atheon, something went wrong. The fabric of what made the vault seemed to fall apart."
After that was said, images burned their way through Martin's head, his allies, the Vault of Glass, Atheon, everything. The memories came back to him. He clutched his head in pain. The thing in front of him was his Ghost.
"Hurting? Don't worry, it'll pass, in the mean time, let's find out where we are." His Ghost said before disappearing.
"Where did you go?" Martin said as he looked around him. He was on a road, and in front of him was a bridge. The sound of running was faintly heard.
"Don't worry, I'm not gone, just... not here. Physically."
Martin got up from the ground and dusted himself off, a cape billowed behind him in the wind. He looked down at himself and saw that he was wearing armor.
"Uh hey, Ghost?"
"Yes Guardian?"
"Do you have anything that shows what I've got on me?"
A moment later a screen appeared in front of him. In the middle of the whole thing was what he could assume was him. His helmet had bronze-yellowish colored plating with a single eye in the middle of it, the chin of the helmet was pointed. The chest plate was the same color, a single neon orange wire running from underneath it it into a hole just above where it stuck out of. A black weave like material made up the fabric that covered his gut and below. All the way until one of his thighs, which was covered by the same material as his chest. And finally, knee-guards. Like the rest, was a bronze-yellowish color. Martin slid his fingers across the screen and the image spun around. That's when he noticed the cape and hood. The whole thing was comprised of two pieces but the cape had been stitched together. The design of golden wolf heads on either side of a golden tree that had made up a circle that encompassed the whole design. The whole thing led up to two plates that held up a jet black cowl and equally black hood that shrouded most of his helmet.
Martin looked to the right of the screen to see boxes that held pictures of what he was wearing. He looked to the left and saw what looked like weapons. He tapped the top one of the three, it was a purple box with the picture in the middle. Fatebringer. It was a revolver with a ammo capacity of twelve shots, the damage was through the roof and an added ability called Arc Damage. He looked to the next one, this one was yellow. Martin stared at it before he tapped it with his finger. Ice Breaker. A sniper rifle with six shots, damage was even higher than the Fatebringer, this one had Solar Damage and the ability to recharge ammo over time. Martin looked to the last one and tapped the screen. Corrective Measure. An LMG that had Void Damage as a perk and a hundred shots as the capacity. Martin noticed an arrow that had pointed downward, just as he was about to tap it. He was interrupted.
"Guardian, I suggest we begin moving, don't want to stay our here all day."
Martin looked back down at the screen in front of him and nodded. He moved away from it and the screen shrank down into nonexistence. He looked to the trail ahead of him with the bridge and buildings in the distance. Martin reached for his back and the ghost produced the Ice Breaker. He held in front of him and began to march forward.
"I have no clue what the hell is going on..."
"Is everypony enjoying the party?!" Pinkie shouted with a smile on her face as she bounced around the main room of the castle. She was met with cheers. This made her smile even wider. Music and the chatting and cheering of ponies filled the air.
"Pinkie! The party was just what Ponyville needed!" Twilight yelled over the noise.
"But not the one it deserved." Pinkie said with a completely straight face before smiling again.
Twilight was taken aback by the sudden attitude, but shrugged and trotted off the enjoy the party. Pinkie watched Twilight walk away. When she was about to go and grab a cupcake or two from the snack table, her whole body began to vibrate.
"Wowie! Zowie! That was a doozy!" Pinkie said she stopped shaking.
"What's goin' on Pinkie?" Applejack asked as she stopped in front of her pink friend.
"I don't know Applejack, I just had the biggest doozy ever!" Pinkie said.
"What do ya mean?"
"My Pinkie sense told me somepony new came to Ponyville and that them coming here was going to be a doozy!"
The music and chatting was silenced as the sound of somepony banging on the castle door filled he air.
BANG BANG BANG
"Don't worry Twilight! It's somepony new! I'll get it!"
Martin arrived in town found the whole place to be a ghost town. Nobody was seen anywhere. He made his way to the tall shiny tree and as he got closer the sound of music and people chatting and cheering filled the air. Once he got the doors, he raised a fist and brought it down three times and waited. The music cut out and the people inside stopped chatting.
The door opened with a large creak. Martin was greeted by nobody.
"Hi! You must be new to Ponyville! Come on in! We've already got a party goin'." Martin looked down to see who was speaking, it was a bright pink pony with an afro. His mind skipped as he stared at the waist high pony. The pink pony opened her eyes and looked up at the tall bipedal creature.
Fear filled her eyes and she began to stutter. Martin tilted his head. "M-M-MONSTER!" She screamed.
"Shit! What the fuck did I do?!" Martin thought to himself as the pink pony ran back into the building. Some shouting was heard behind the doors and they were enveloped in a violet aura. They swung open and a number of ponies were seen inside. The most noticeable though were the six that were right behind the door as it opened.
He looked at two of them to see looks of anger. He turned and ran with rifle in hand. His agility powered up by his abilities.
"Yo Ghost! Is there anything special I can do?!"
A moment went by before. "Oh no you don't, you're not getting away from me!" Rainbow Dash said as she took flight
"You have your weapons of light! Reach forth to the heavens and let light fill your mind and take its shape!"
Martin stowed the Ice Breaker away and jumped into the air, raising a hand and grasping at nothing, his mind cleared and he felt a surge of power rush through him. The sound of crackling lightning was all he heard as a knife made of pure energy made its way into his hand. He landed back on the ground and spun in place. The rainbow pony was right on top of him before he tossed his knife into the air. Martin dropped to his hands and spun his legs around and brought a foot up into the bottom jaw of the rainbow pony. Lightning arced from his boot and into the pony, sending it flying off and its fur slightly singed. He pushed himself off the ground and back onto his feet. He looked up and reached a hand to the falling knife and caught it.
The five others caught up and watched with wide eyes at what he had done. "Let the light bend around you like it bends to your will, let it cloak you and leave them blind." Martin grabbed his cloak and spun, leaving him invisible the the five ponies in front of him.
"What the fuck did I do to deserve this?!" Was all he thought before he decided to try and sneak away.
"What the hell did I do? Not even a day in town and I'm labeled a monster." Martin thought as he looked at the ponies from his place in an ally between buildings. It had been maybe... thirty minutes, after the whole encounter with the six.
"That was pretty sick though." He said to himself, if his body could smile he would have been doing exactly that.
What had happened was something that he didn't want to happen again. Getting to close to the locals seems to have bad results. Results that seem to lead to bodily harm. Martin sighed, his robotic voice cracking as he made the noise.
Martin slunk back into the shadows of the alley, he crouched, his prone body turned invisible and he began to run to another gap between the buildings. He needed to get out of town without being seen at all. Being seen would cause a stir... of sorts.
"Hey, Ghost, can you tell me anything about this place?" He thought as he slipped into another alley.
"The town seems to be named... Ponyville. Not sure if that's because of the inhabitants or not, but I'm just going to ignore that. The residents, small equines, resemble both, old earth animals, and old earth mythological creatures."
Martin had to laugh at this. Ponyville. Such a fitting name so far. Not much but ponies. "Did you get anything on the ponies?"
"There are four variants. The winged ones, Pegasi. The horned ones, Unicorns. The ones with neither horn nor wings, regular pony. And then there is the one with both wings and a horn, I would need for more information to give them a name."
Martin slipped passed another building and was met with a creek and the bridge he first crossed to get into the town. He trudged through the rushing water of the tiny river. "This is such horseshit." He muttered to himself.
"Sister, we wish to speak to you." Celestia said as Luna approached he from the throne room doors.
"What does thou need Tia?"
"Twilight sent a rather concerning letter and I wish to do something to assist her... but I honestly have no clue what to do."
"Show us the letter."
Celestia levitated the scroll in her magic over to her sister, the aura around the parchment going from a bright yellow to a dark blue as Luna unraveled it.
Dear Princess Celestia,
While me and the girls were hosting a party to lift the mood of Ponyville, a strange creature knocked at the castle door. Pinkie had been the one to answer the door, she had been frightened at what she saw and ran to get us, when we got to the door and opened it further to see what the commotion was about, the creature was standing there in what seemed to be armor. It stood there for a minute before turning and running away.
I regret to say that Rainbow, being her brazen self, she chased after it. It was quick but when Rainbow had been catching up to it, it leapt into the air and brandished what seemed to be some sort of magical knife. It tossed it up into the air and proceeded to kick Rainbow in the jaw. After that, it went invisible and ran off. I would like your help on this. I feel that Ponyville might be in danger but I don't know.
Your faithful student, Twilight Sparkle.
"This is quite the dilemma."
"I should just travel down there and see what's going on firsthoof."
"Then I shall accompany you sister!"
Celestia bowed her head and smiled. She got up from the throne and walked to a window. She scanned the area below and then the horizon, the small town known as Ponyville was barely visible from the distance.
"Okay, to live, I need a plan! Step one, gather resources. Step two, make a base of operations. Step three, win over the population... slowly. No need to make big waves or they might think it's all set up." Martin said to himself as he walked the edge of the forest. The sound of birds chirping filled the air. "Fucking hate birds, won't let me think..." Martin muttered as he looked at the surrounding trees.
He heard some humming coming from his left. He threw his hood onto his helmet, shading everything but his single glowing eye. He walked to the source of the singing and noticed a yellow pegasus fluttering about a garden. She was feeding a variety of animals. Birds, foxes, some skunks, even a bear! Martin crouched below a tree branch and moved closer to the spectacle. He forgot that when he went invisible it sent out a high-pitched noise. The pegasus stopped feeding and looked around.
"Um, hello? Is anypony there?" Fear filled her voice, it was even present on her face.
Martin looked at the pegasus, shook his head, and moved away before his invisibility would wear off. As he walked down the trail into the forest he thought to himself. "Is there any place I can hide around here?" As if on cue his ghost cut in. "There are two structures ahead. One slightly farther in the forest than the other. The one farther in seems to be massive, holding a series of underground tunnels."
"That works. Let's go to that one... Where is it exactly?" Martin asked.
"Keep heading down the trail but don't follow it all the way. Once it bends keep moving forward."
"Got it."
Silence passed between the two as Martin made his way to the structure.
"So, you got a name?" Martin asked.
"We are not given names. We're just made to help guardians."
"I'm gonna call you Nigel." Martin said. He could feel the glare that was being given to him from the tiny robot. Martin avoided a low hanging branch by ducking.
"Don't call me that."
"Fine, but what do you want to be called than?"
"Let's just stick with what you've been calling me. Ghost."
Martin shrugged. "No problem."
Some time passed in silence between the two. As the ruin came into view Ghost decided to speak up.
"There it is. We'll make camp there and hold out until we can come up with something.
"Sounds like a plan!" Martin chuckled and ran to the ruin.
As he approached he noticed the carvings. Two ponies, both had wings and horns. Either statue stood on either side of a large wooden door. Ghost appeared in front of Martin.
"Strange, these ruins are thousands of years old, why would someone just leave this place?"
Ghost looked to Martin for some kind of reply but all he got was a shrug of the shoulders. "Let's just get inside and see if we can fortify this place..."
Martin walked past Ghost and opened the oak door. As it creaked open it gave sight to a large library. Tables, chairs, rugs, and bookshelves of the like were scattered haphazardly around the room. In the center of it all was a large staircase leading to two thrones, one of them smaller than the other. Everyhting in sight had a thick layer of dust. As Martin moved into the room, taking in the sights, dust was kicked up from the rugs he walked on. He walked over to a bookshelf and inspected the contents.
"Fall of the Crystal Empire, Night of Tears, Bestiary: A guide to Equestria?" Martin rattled off the titles of the books that he saw.
"This whole place is a library of sorts, I'm pretty sure we can find some useful information here."
Martin looked at all of the books on the shelf. There were hundreds! And this was just the one! "Hm, It seems that when Equestria lacks in technology, they make up for it culture and everything else." Martin took the Bestiary off of the shelf and opened it up.
"Chapter one: Vegrandis Equus." Martin's face contorted. If he had eyebrows they would have furrowed. "Why the hell is this in Latin?" Martin knew how to read the language, but for the life of him he could never speak it. He flipped the page and was greeted with drawings of a couple of ponies. Some of them were pegasi, others were unicorns, there were some of the regular ones.
"Hmm, this is interesting but I can't really spend all my time reading, gotta fortify this place... Move some of the tables around to create a barricade along with the bookshelves." Martin said as he tossed the book away.
He moved along the bookshelf and grabbed the back of it. "I'm so sorry about this." He pulled the bookshelf, and with a massive groan the whole thing began to tip over and fall.
Somewhere in Ponyville, a certain purple pony princess shuddered as a chill ran up her spine.
"Time to get to work." Martin said as he looked around the massive room.
As Martin worked away at breaking the bookshelf into smaller pieces Ghost wandered around the room, levitating books out of their places and flipping through the pages, taking in any and all information that he could get his metaphorical hands on. "Hmm, This place is rich with knowledge, knowledge forgotten here by others... It would be good to look around and see if I can find anything about this place."
————— (This shall be the passage of time)
Martin looked at the barricade from the door, he choose to have the whole thing curve around the room. Meeting both of the corners on the opposite end.
"Looks good so far, time to see if there's anything in the back." Martin said as he walked to the barricade. Jumping over it, he moved to a small door that had a tiny hole where the latch might have been. Ghost saw his guardian open the door so he dropped the book that he had been reading and floated over to him.
"This place is rich with texts. Did you know there are other races besides the ponies? They've got Griffons, Dragons, Deer, even Cows."
"Interesting. Let's check out the back room and see if there's anything else that can help us."
Ghost nodded and vanished. Martin shook his head and chuckled. "Where the hell do you go?"
"Essentially? I'm a part of you. I don't rightly know how to explain it, so I'm just going to say it's complicated."
Martin shrugged as he opened the ancient door. As it creaked open light seeped into the room, the shadows were thick, as if the light burned it away.
"Ghost?"
"Already on it."
Ghost appeared over the shoulder of Martin and acted like a torch as a beam of light was emitted from his single eye and lit the area in front of them.
"Thanks." Martin said, looking at Ghost. Who only replied with a nod.
The area ahead of them was a long corridor with statues lining the wall. "I'm not liking the look of this, be wary Guardian." In response Martin pulled the revolver from his thigh and brought it up with both hands holding the grip and a finger on the trigger. Martin slowly walked forward, stepping lightly as he watched the statues on the wall. He looked at one of the statue closely, it depicted a large pony with a spear in its hooves, and armor covering most of its body. Martin looked away and continued walking down the hall, but stopped as he felt a plate underneath his feet sink into the ground.
"Shit." Was all he said as he watched the hallway shine with a wave of yellow light, the statues began to glow with runes covering their bodies.
Celestia and Luna had been in Ponyville discussing with Twilight and her friends about the creature that they saw. They all sat in the throne room of the crystal palace looking to Celestia who was currently speaking.
"Be wary girls, we don't know what the creature was or if it had good intentions. All we can do is find it and bring it back for questions." Celestia said before her horn flashed with a bright yellow light.
"Princess? What was that?" Twilight asked.
Celestia looked to Luna with a look of worry on her face before turning back to Twilight and her friends. "That was an alarm from the old palace in the Everfree, I thought I would never feel that since we left it."
"Sister, Is this true? Something has activated the security?"
"I believe so, probably just some wildlife finally making it in." Celestia said.
"What the fuck are these things?!" Screamed Martin as he shot at the stone guards with his revolver. Chunks of stone falling to the floor as the shots connected. The electricity being useless against their stone bodies.
"This is not worth it!" Was all Martin yelled as he reloaded his gun and continued firing.
After the hallway was cleared out of the magically activated stone guardians, Martin made his way to door that had been at the end of the corridor.
"You ready for this?" Martin asked as he looked to Ghost, who only nodded in reply. Martin closed the gap between him and the door and opened it. Anticipation building in the two as the door creaked and groaned.
It was a difficult time in Ponyville. More specifically, the Castle of Friendhsip. Everypony was in a different section of the castle, waiting for the announcement of some kind of plan. Applejack was in the kitchen along with Spike and Pinkie Pie. Rarity was in a guest room resting on a couch beside Fluttershy who was passing the time with a book. And Rainbow Dash was in the dining hall of the castle, flying as she avoided the banisters and archways. And Luna was wondering the halls, admiring the naturally grown castle. But the two ponies who were discussing about things to come, were Princess Celestia, and Princess Twilight.
"The guards were dispatched..." Celestia said as she stopped mid-pace in the crystal tree.
"Guards? What are you talking about Princess?" Twilight asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Do you remember when I said that an alarm was raised in the old palace in the Everfree?" Celestia turned to Twilight with an air of seriousness about her.
"Yeah? You said it was probably some wildlife..."
"Well the magic in the guards died out one by one. Something is in there."
"Do you think it's the thing that came into town a while ago?"
"Most likely, if it truly retreated, then it would need some place defensible, nothing around here is more defensible than the ruins of the old castle. It is in the middle of the Everfree, not many ponies would go there, or even attempt to go there."
At that moment, Luna walked into the room. "So sister, should we prepare to make our way to our old castle?"
"I think that would be best, lest the creature finds something it shouldn't."
"What the hell is this?" Martin asked as he looked at the chest in the center of the room. After he opened the door and entered the room, both him and Ghost were disappointed to find only a chest and two lanterns that barely lit the room.
"We fought all of those things, granted, they weren't that hard. But we fought those things, all for this?"
"Can we at least look inside the thing?" Ghost asked as he levitated closer to the wooden box.
"Fine." Martin said with a grunt.
The Exo moved closer to the chest and dropped to a single knee before placing both hands on the lid. As he lifted and opened the chest, he moved closer to see what the contents were. The only thing that he could see was a short wooden club. He picked it up and stood to his full height as he inspected the thing in his hands.
"Again, what the hell is this?" Martin slowly extended his arm to show Ghost what they had acquired. Ghost quickly began to scan the the wooden club. As soon as he finished he began to say. "The readings aren't giving any clear answer. But it seems like you could focus energy into it and have it take form, I have no clue beyond that."
Martin looked at Ghost before he continued to stare at the club in his hands. He shrugged and held it tightly as he closed his eyes and focused. A minute later, words began to form in his mind. "Light take shape, let the darkness that surrounds me shrivel away as I consume it to strengthen my own resolve." As his light transferred into the club, it began to take on a sickly purple glow. The once wooden club began to grow into a staff of dark ethereal light. Somehow it seemed to consume the light that touched it but glowed brighter than any light the two ha ever seen.
Martin opened his eyes to see the staff and what it had become. Ghost began to scan it frantically as he said. "I've never seen anything like this. This is something I never expected to see."
"...Let's go test this bad boy out." Was all Martin was as he stared at the staff. He looked to where Ghost was, only to see that he was already gone. Martin chuckled and ran out of the room and down the rubble filled hallway.
"So what's the plan when we find that thing huh?" Rainbow Dash asked as she flew overhead, avoiding low hanging branches and moos that clung to them.
"I believe that if we do find it, we should try to capture it and bring it back." Celestia stated, keeping her eyes on the trail that lead to the castle ruins.
"What if it's friendly?" Fluttershy asked, finally speaking after so long.
"Then we shall treat it like we would anypony else. But so far, it doesn't seem to be anything but an animal."
"But it was dressed! It even had a weapon!" Twilight interjected.
"This is true. From what you've told me it acted as if it were not an animal, but something that thinks for itself."
As the group walked deeper into the forest. A loud whimper echoed through the forest. Out of all the ponies Fluttershy was the one to spring into action with a worried look on her face, she shot off at speeds that would make Rainbow Dash jealous into the brush where the cry came from.
"Fluttershy!" All her friends cried out as they ran after their yellow friend.
"It seems that we're closer than we thought." Celestia said under her breath.
"Aww piss!" Martin said as he tried to crane his neck to look at his back. Ghost appeared behind it and inspected what had happened.
The cloak Martin was wearing had ripped all the way down the middle. The two pieces of fabric separated at the seam. "This was my only one!"
Ghost inspected the cloak and turned to look at the banisters on the wall. He looked back to the cloak and said. "I think I've got an idea."
----------
"There, try not to rip this one." Ghost said as he looked at Martin.
Martin was now in a full robe. Instead of the cloak woven into two pieces down the middle. It was a full robe with both pieces of the old cloak on either side of him. Splitting off into sections, both in the front and back, that had the depiction of both the sun and the moon. Where they met was a blend of both dark blue and a bright yellow. His whole person was concealed by the fabric as it wrapped around him.
"This doesn't look to bad."
"I try." Ghost said.
As Fluttershy flew over the last set of bushes between her and the one who had cried for help. What she saw was something that terrified her to her very core. There in front of her was the creature from before, he was wearing something different and was swinging a staff at a pair of Timberwolves. Whenever the club struck the bark that made up the wolf, the bark seemed to rot away. And as it rotted away, the chunks of bark that fell off seemed to be absorbed into the staff. And the staff shined brighter and brighter the more the wolves were hit.
"Stop!" Fluttershy yelled as she got in between the creature and the wolves. Her eyes filled with fear. She looked to the Timberwolves who were cowering with fear.
Martin lowered the staff back into his robe, the glow disappearing as it shrunk back down to its original size.
"Why would you do this to these poor animals?"
The moment she asked that, the creature crouched in front of her. Fluttershy looked at the creature with a brow raised. She was about to talk before the creature disappeared with a high pitched zap. Fluttershy sat their in front of the whimpering wolves, staring at the area where the creature had been before it vanished.
"Fluttershy!" Twilight yelled out. "Fluttershy where are you?!"
"I- I'm over here!" She answered back.
As her friends and the princesses came out from the brush, looks of confusion and shock was on all of their faces.
"What happened here?!" Twilight asked as she looked between her friend and the two broken Timberwolves.
"It was the creature."
"He did this?"
"You speak the truth Fluttershy?"
"It was. He was holding some kind of staff. And he was hurting these poor animals."
"See? I told you he was evil!" Rainbow Dash shouted.
"...We should keep moving, night time in the Everfree is something I don't want to be caught it." Celestia said as she looked at the ruins in the distance.
Fluttershy looked at the two Timberwolves. Sadness in her eyes. She looked back to the Princess and nodded.
"They're right outside the doors."
"They won't be able to set a foot inside... I ain't letting them." Martin said as he watched the door that led to the forest.
He could see a yellow aura surround the door and it began to open. Martin raised his Ice Breaker and aimed at the door. His robed spilling over both of his arms as the Railway Rifle was aimed to the door.
As soon as the door opened all the way and he could see the group of ponies through his scope. He aimed at the wall above them and fired. The shot went right through the stone like a hot knife and butter. The kick of the gun had caused Martin to move back a foot so he stepped forward to compensate for the loss.
"That was a warning shot!" Martin yelled out as he saw the ponies back out of sight. "You are not coming any closer! You set a foot... hoof! In this place, and it's getting blown off!" His robotic voice echoing off the walls of the ruined castle.
The group of ponies outside of the door were shocked to even hear the creature inside speaking to them. The first one to respond was Celestia.
"Hello? We mean no harm! We just want to talk." She shouted.
Silence permeated the air.
"Bullshit! You fuckers attacked me the moment you saw me!"
Everypony flinched at the language being used. Luna stepped forward peeking her head in the doorway.
"It is true! We mean no harm. Just lay down your weapons and surrender peacefully!"
"Surrender?! PEACEFULLY?! HA!" Another crack of gunfire was heard and Luna pulled her head back. A smoking hole was left in her mane.
"I do believe he wishes to be left alone."
Rainbow Dash muttered something in anger before flapping her wings and flying into the castle.
"Wait! Rainbow! I don't think you should-" But Twilight was cut off as her Rainbow maned friend flew back out with a yelp and smacked a tree behind them. A little bit of her color drained away.
"Oh Rainbow! What did he do to you?" Fluttershy said with a worried tone as she ran over to her friend and inspected her.
"He used some staff thing." Rainbow Dash said as she shook her head and tried to fly. But she barely got off of the ground.
"What the hay did he do to me?!" She screamed.
Celestia's horn lit up as the same aura engulfed Rainbow. The magic disappeared and Celestia said. "It seems he partially drained your magic. I would not suggest going back in there. It seems that he really wishes to be left alone."
"Next one to come in here is getting shot this time!" Martin yelled. They all peaked to see the creature behind his makeshift barricade. A small orb behind him was levitating books and scanning them.
"We can't get close to him without him retaliating in some sort of way." Celestia looked to the sky. "We'll set up camp, see about getting him in the morning."
Everyone nodded, agreeing with the plan. Little did they know, Martin heard everything.
"Fucking little shits, won't leave me well enough alone." He muttered. "I can't just make this place my home without someone trying to kidnap me because I was 'violent', yeah right." He thought as he watched the group of ponies scatter. He moved to the door and closed it. As he walked back, he looked at Ghost silently reading everything he could find.
He smiled at this. As he laid down on a pile of books. He remembered everything that him and his friends had gone through, The Cabal, Vex, Fallen, and the Hive. As he imagined little bits and pieces as another image burned its way into his head. Leaving nothing but the image of a Hive.
Before he went unconscious, he could hear in a deep scratchy voice that seemed to be thousands of other voices pieced together, and it said. "So close Guardian, You can't run from me now!"
"Guardian, it's time to get up." Ghost said as he appeared over the sleeping guardian. His makeshift bed pressed up against both the barricade and the wall. The guardian continued to snore, making a sound akin to a chainsaw as he did so. Ghost sighed and floated over to the guardian before lightly tapping his small body against the Guardians head.
Martin bolted upright as he woke from his slumber "Wha? What time is it?" He asked drowsily.
"Time to go unless you want to be cornered here... again."
Martin got up from the ground and brushed his robe off. As he made his way to the castle door he could hear the ponies talking. Why were they awake this early?!
"Shit." Martin muttered to himself. As he slightly crouched at the door, trying not to trigger his invisibility just yet. He listened to them talk.
"This is most problematic. We have to get him out of there one way or another." He could assume that was the white princess from yesterday... what was her name? Martin shrugged and kept listening.
"But sister, his actions have proven that he wishes to be left alone. We should respect what he wants."
That one, Martin liked. Martin didn't hate the ponies, far from it, he just doesn't want anything to do with them.
"But Luna! What about all of things we could learn from him! A real life alien! Think of the possibilities!"
That one, Martin didn't like her. What did she think he was? A Warlock?
"I still say he's dangerous. I mean, what are those things? That stuff he was shooting at us wasn't magic."
"I have to agree with Rainbow on this Princesses. He may seem peaceful, I jus' get a bad feelin' from him." A pony said with a southern drawl.
Everything went quiet after the last mare spoke. "Do you hear that?" Celestia asked.
"... I don't hear anything Princess."
"Exactly, it seems that we have an extra guest to this conversation."
"How the fuck did she know?!" Martin thought to himself before a golden aura enveloped the door between him and the ponies. The door swung open and the aura vanished. All of the ponies stared at him, the large ones had questioning gazes while the rest were mixed between fear, anger, shock, joy, and even just a raised eyebrow.
Martin stood up straight. His robe lifting off of the stone floor.
"Care to have a chat?" Celestia asked with a smile on her face.
Martin looked at them all and replied with. "Only if you can walk and talk at the same time." His voice held no emotion.
He began to walk past the group of ponies and they soon followed him.
"Where are you going? If you don't mind me asking..." Celestia said as she walked beside Martin.
"Patrol."
"Ah." Was all she had to say.
"So, what's your name?" The purple one asked.
"You don't deserve my name." He said as memories of his fellow Guardians flowed through his mind. The purple one flinched and her ears pinned against the back of her head.
"Hey buddy! Where do you get the nerve to talk like that to a princess!?" Rainbow Dash yelled as she flew up behind Martin and pushed her hoof into his back.
Martin stopped. And so everypony else stopped.
"Because the things I've killed would make you look like an ant underneath my boot. But that's a little insulting to ants." Rainbow didn't like that remark. She flew up to him, jamming her face against his helmet.
"You wanna fight?!"
"Why can't we just talk?" Celestia thought as she looked at the two at each others throat.
It was quiet. All before what sounded like laughter come from Martin, but it sounded more like snarling then anything else. Everyone had a look of utter confusion on their face. He stopped laughing as he reared his head back and brought it forward with a loud crack. Rainbow Dash fell to the ground unconscious. Everyone flinched.
"Why would you do that?!" Twilight yelled as she ran to her friend.
"When a Guardian gets cocky and doubts the strength of his peer, they engage in a one on one fight, your friend tried to pick a fight she wouldn't win."
"Surely that didn't call for such a reaction though?" Celestia asked as she stood by her student with a wing on her back.
Martin didn't say anything, he just turned and continued his walk through the Everfree. The group of ponies noticing him leave, Celestia levitated Rainbow Dash onto her back and ran to catch up to Martin.
"If you will not tell us your name... will you at least tell us what you are?" She asked.
"Race or title?"
"Both? If that's not to much trouble."
"I'm an Exo. And my title is Guardian."
The farmpony named Applejack scoffed at that. Martin turned his head to look at her. "Something funny?"
"I don' think what ya did to Rainbow over here was guarding."
Martin couldn't help but chuckle. "I guard people from the darkness, not from themselves."
"You called yourself an Exo? What is that?"
"I'm a machine given thought and life."
"That's impossible, you can't give a machine life." Twilight said. "You can turn it on, but what it does from then on is up to the creator."
"... Ghost? Do you mind?" Martin asked as he stopped once again and turned to the group of ponies.
"I find what she said offensive." He said as he pulled the helmet Martin was wearing into his inventory. Everypony around him gasped.
There in front of them was a living machine, an Exo. "Do you need anymore proof?" No one said a thing. "Good." And the helmet was back on. And they continued.
"What is that?" Martin asked as he pointed at the horizon. Above the tree line were a couple of heads, all of them similar to a lizards in appearance.
"Hydra!" Twilight screamed in a hushed tone.
Martin looked at the moving heads before he broke into a sprint towards them. Everypony followed after him.
"Are you crazy?! You can't fight a hydra!"
"To close to home, gotta get rid of it." He said as he jumped over bushes and ducked under low hanging branches.
"It'll kill you! Hydras are extremely territorial!"
As they got closer and closer, the group of ponies decided that they best not try to interfere. As Martin walked up to the hydra, it spotted him with one of its heads. Getting the attention of the others they all bent down down to eye-level with Martin and roared. Spit flew from their maws and the wind kicked up his robe.
The ponies watched what the guardian was going to do. Martin pulled his hood back and looked up at the Hydra. He pulled the wooden club from its place on his thigh and began to feel the light from his body rush into the staff. The dark glow of the void surrounded Martin and the staff grew. He raised it up and gave a snarl that sounded akin to a Vex Minotaur charging at its prey. The sound ripped through the air like a chainsaw through butter, and the table beneath it. Everyone but Celestia and Luna cowered in fear. Even Pinkie lost her mirth.
Even from where they were, the ponies in the bushes could feel the power of the staff in the guardians hands. They could feel the magic around him being sapped from the air. Apparently, the hydra could feel it as well, it had a look of fear make its way to all three of its faces. It turned around and began to walk away as if nothing had happened.
Everypony couldn't believe it. The creature in front of them had made a hydra back down without even lifting a finger. He walked over to the ponies and dispelled the staff. Everypony's mouth was agape at the creature in front of them.
"What was that?!" Twilight shrieked. Never had she seen someone scare a Hydra.
"Animals know their place."
Ghost appeared in front of the ponies and looked back. "Guardian, after looking at the ability you gained I'm afraid to say that it isn't complete."
Everypony jumped back at the little robot in front of them.
"What do you mean?"
"It seems that what your light is trying to take shape into isn't quite what that staff is."
"What is that?" Twilight asked as she stepped towards Ghost. Bumping it with her nose it floated away and turned towards her and let out a huph.
"I'm a ghost. Well... I'm his ghost." Ghost floated over to Martin and levitated above his shoulder.
"Yer that thing we saw in the castle." Applejack stated. "Floatin' behind him and readin' those books."
"Yeah yeah. What do you mean it isn't what it's supposed to be?" Martin cut off any other questions.
"It means that... The light you're using to make that staff is trying to turn into something else, it isn't meant for a piece of wood."
"The Guardian will die by your hands son. Do not disappoint." The large hive said as he turned to face a towering Hive Knight.
The knight bowed and burned in green flame, disappearing from the room.
"You may have defeated the King of Time, but you will fall by my hands, Guardian."
"Where, pray tell, are we going now?" Luna asked the Exo as she dodged a branch in her glide.
"Back to the castle, patrol is over."
"I would politely ask for you to come with us, there are many questions we have."
"No."
Celestia was flustered, nopony had ever outright denied her before. "May I ask why?"
"Because I don't have to." He said before getting an angry glare from Luna to the back of his head.
"We demand you come with us!"
"And if I don't?"
Luna was about to reply but Celestia held up a hoof. "You will be going against the demands of the crown, and we will have to arrest you." She stated.
"Then it seems I am a wanted man." Martin said as he walked on.
Celestia used her magic to capture the Exo and levitate him to face her. "You are coming with us, whether you like it or not. I don't know if you are a threat, but if you will not come with us peacefully, you will be seen as such." She connected her horn to the forehead of the Exo and took a step back. She had casted a sleep spell on the creature in her magical grasp, hoping that would buy her enough time to get back to town.
"Put me down, or I'll make you put me down." He said in a deep tone, unfazed by the sleep spell.
"Wha—? How did you—"
"I have no clue what you just tried to do, but I'm going to break out now." Martin said as his whole body began to glow with a brilliant purple. The yellow aura that was once around him drained of color before vanishing completely. Everyone around him felt the effects of his drain. Growing weary as their magic, and energy, was slowly sapped away. He began to glow brighter and brighter as the magic drifted towards him. Absorbed by the light around him.
"What are you doing!?" Celestia said, her voice weak and hoarse. She looked behind her to see everyone else but Luna and Twilight unconscious on the forest floor. She looked back up at Martin, to see the Exo still standing there. He bent over and looked Celestia in the eyes.
"Hear me, if you threaten me again, I won't be so forgiving." He stood back up to his full height. "I'm a strange creature with strange, powerful weapons. And you care for your citizens. But angering an immortal won't do you any good." The glow stopped and he stretched a hand to help her up.
Celestia took his hand and she lifted herself up. "Immortal?" She asked weakly.
"More or less. I'll tell you later."
BOOM
A thundering explosion assaulted their hearing as a light blinded them. Everyone blocked out the light with their forearms and forelegs. As the light died down, all that was left were two figures. They were the same height as Martin, one was wearing bulky armor and he had broad shoulders, the other was a more smaller figure, wearing a robe that stopped at its ankles.
"There ya are! Fucking christ! Finally!" The large figure said as it stepped closer.
"Yeah, kinda had to rip a whole in space and time to find you. You owe me a ship by the way." The smaller figure said.
In front of the Hunter were two other Guardians, a Titan, and a Warlock.
"What the fuck are you wearing?" The Titan said in disgust as he inspected Martin. He gasped. "I can't believe it! I'm surrounded by dress wearing pansies." This earned him a magical shove from the Warlock, which he landed face first into the dirt. "It's not a dress!" The Warlock yelled.
"What?" Martin asked, his mind doing flips at the sight of his friends.
The Titan groaned and chuckled. "Don't get your panties in a knot." He got up from the ground and walked over to the Hunter. "This may hurt but you deserve it." He said before raising a fist and knocking Martin out.
As the Titan and the Warlock stood there, staring at their unconscious friend, the Titan spoke up.
"So... What the fuck now?"
"Well we found him..." The Warlock said. His voice light and calming.
"Yeah, I can see that, but how do we get back?"
The Warlock didn't reply. He didn't have an answer.
"Great. So we find him and we're stranded with him?!" The Titan shouted as he walked over to a tree and punched it. Lightning shot from his fist and carved through it. Breaking a chunk of it off and making it fly.
"Calm down. I do believe we have guests." The Warlock said, gesturing with his head to the group of ponies, most of them still trying to wake up.
As the two watched the ponies, the Warlock turned and looked at his surroundings.
"This place is fascinating." He had a hand on the chin of his helmet. "I can feel the light, it's here, but dormant." He muttered.
The Titan watched as a large white pony walked up to him.
"Greetings." It said. "I am Princess Celestia, co-ruler of Equestria." She raised a hoof to him. He looked down at the hoof and looked back up to Celestia.
"Yeah, hey." He decided not to shake the hoof, it was basically the equivalent of shaking someones foot. So many germs. He saw that a smaller dark blue one was coming up from behind her.
"No sense of formalities? Shake her hoof Guardian."
"Hell no, I ain't shakin' your foot. I have no clue what you stepped in." Both of the Alicorns were flustered by the remark.
"I assure you, I haven't stepped in anything." Celestia said.
"Yeah no, still not shaking it." Celestia put her hoof back down and backed away.
"You'll have to forgive my friend here. He is kind of a clean freak." The Warlock said, putting a hand on his Titan friend.
"You try to fight an army of Cabal with diarrhea because someone gave you a bug." A look of disgust made its way onto both Luna's and Celestia's face.
"That was one time! And I'm pretty sure it was the food that made you sick."
Everything went silent. As the other ponies joined, the Titan looked at Rainbow Dash and laughed. She glared at the large alien.
"What's so funny?!"
"What the hell gave you that?" He laughed as he pointed at the large bruise that stretched between both of her eyes.
"You can thank your friend on the ground."
"Why, might I ask, did he do that?" The Warlock asked.
"Cause he thought he could beat me!" Rainbow Dash boasted, this only made the Titan laugh even more. "What? Sister, if this was a legit fight, when you fight us, it's not if you'll lose, it's when you'll lose."
"Is that a challenge?" Rainbow Dash asked. Only to be stopped by Fluttershy.
"Oh Rainbow, please, no more fighting." Fluttershy said as she dug her face into her friends side.
Rainbow Dash grumbled as she nodded. A small blush making its way across her face as her friend hugged her.
The Titan brought his hands up to his mouth and shouted.
Both of the ponies blushed furiously at the remark. Celestia chuckled and walked up to the hulking beast. "Tell me, what is your name?" The laughing stopped. The Titan looked over to the Warlock.
"I'd be comfortable if you didn't know it."
"We're sorry if we come across as rude." The Warlock spoke up.
"May I ask why both of you and your friend won't tell us your name?"
The Warlock stepped forward. "It's matter of honor."
"What does thou mean?" Luna walked beside Celestia.
"In our world, friendships are formed on the field."
"You wanna know how me and the Hunter met?" The Titan said as he pointed a thumb over his shoulder to the body on the ground.
The ponies nodded.
"Me and him had a contest."
"To see who was the strongest?" Rainbow Dash smirked, glancing over at her farm-pony friend.
"No, it was to see who could kill each other the most."
Nopony was expecting that, that much was apparent through the faces that everypony made. Some were of confusion, others, shock.
"It was a training session, and we both decided to just sit back, and take potshots at people running the objectives."
Everypony was listening closely, besides the Warlock who was inspecting the group. Taking in their physical features.
"We found each other at opposite ends at the map and decided to start sniping at each other."
"In the end, we tied, it was hilarious."
"How did you meet him?" Celestia gestured to the Warlock.
"Through him." He pointed to the Titan. "We hung out with the same person. He's pretty cool, get's things done, a little quiet. The type to only speak when he's spoken to."
"God, look at us, we're gettin' mushy." He looked at the Warlock. "Come here!" He shouted as he began to charge at his friend.
"Fuck you!" The Warlock flipped him the bird and the ponies flinched at the language. The ponies watched the Titan chase the Warlock, the Warlock being slightly faster than the Titan though.
"Come here and you can! I'll even use lube!" The Titan shouted, before beginning to laugh like a madman.
Everypony went red in the face. Some of them choked on the air they were breathing.
"Enough!" Luna shouted. "Stop this foolishness! You are in front of royalty of another planet and yet you act like children!" The two Guardians stopped running and looked at the princess.
"Have you no decency?!" Luna barred her teeth.
The two warriors just stood and stared at the the alicorn. The helmets covering their glares. The Warlock spoke up.
"You want to be serious?" His tone less jovial. Luna nodded at this.
"Okay. Let's get serious." He walked to Luna and bent down to eye level.
"Titan!" He bellowed, his voice blowing Luna's mane back a bit. The Titan straightened out and saluted in a blink of an eye.
"Tell me about the situation soldier! What am I missing?!"
The Titan moved his hand back to his side and said, "The civilian with the rainbow hair obtained a bruise from a comrade. And a guardian doesn't harm a civilian unless provoked and given a reason to!"
"What does that mean?!" The Warlock was still at eye level with Luna, who had backed up a bit, due to the volume of the one in front of her.
"That means that she had decided to antagonize him to the point that she was found as a threat!" The Titan didn't move. He just stared into the distance as he said what he knew.
"Wait just a minute!" Rainbow shouted. "He walked into town and looked like a monster and—" Rainbow froze up as the Warlock's head snapped in her direction.
"Did he do anything to suggest that he was going to harm anybody?!"
"No but—" She was interrupted again. "Rainbow! Stop it! You're not helping yourself!" Twilight harshly whispered.
"You attempted to assault somebody without provocation! Not just anybody! But a soldier meant to protect!" A shotgun materialized in his hands. The barrel was a shiny black and the muzzle was tipped with a silencer that extended it. The fore end was a brownish-bronze. Rainbow couldn't see the rest of it as it was pointed at her. He pumped and readied the gun. The Titan behind him materialized a rocket launcher with an ornate design on the front and along the whole body of it. Rainbow's eyes widened and she shook with fear, this was not good.
He looked at the princess who was shocked beyond comprehension. "You want to keep being serious!? Cause I can do this all day!"
"No! Stop! Let us be civil!" She shouted back. Hoping to have the destructive device pointed away from the pony.
"I ain't bein' civil with an enemy! I'd rather have tea with a cursed thrall!" The Titan said. "Tell her to go!"
"Fine! Fine!" Luna gave in. She turned to Rainbow Dash. "Rainbow, could you head back int town? We will meet thee there."
Rainbow quickly nodded and left. Taking off into the air with a rainbow trail behind her. The rest of the elements didn't really take the shouting to well. Fluttershy had fainted. Pinkie's hair lost all of its curls. Applejack was glaring at the two humans with as much hate she could muster. And Twilight was frozen in place, staring at the two supposed Guardians. As the guardians watched Rainbow Dash leave, the guns were put away and the Titan chuckled.
The group had traveled back to Ponyville. Avoiding any and all of the residents in hopes to not spark a panic. The Elements, Princesses, and Guardians all sat in one room awkwardly. Well... Most of them did. Twilight sat across from the three guardians inspecting them and their armor.
The Titan's armor was colored both black and white. The armor itself didn't look all that flashy like the Canterlot guards armor. The only pieces that stood out were the nightstick on his thigh, and his helmet. It may have looked like any other helmet, except for the cracks in the visor that spewed fire, giving him makeshift horns.
Twilight looked away from the hulking behemoth and her eyes landed on the smallest of the group of aliens. The Warlock. He wore a robe with the design of a tree on it. Not unlike some parts of the Hunter's robe. But instead of the golden fabric on a black background. His was a black fabric on a white background. But the one thing that unsettled her the most was his helmet. It was the skull of a ram, the horns painted a shiny gold and the skull itself was pitch black. His head turned and their eyes locked. She tried to look away without being noticed but it seemed to be too late. This situation couldn't get more awkward.
"So... Nice weather we're having." Rainbow Dash said, trying to start a conversation, any conversation.
No one said a thing. The silence went on for a couple more seconds before the Titan burst from his seat and screamed.
"God this is so fucking boring!" He sat back down. He went limp in the wooden chair.
Celestia coughed. "Yes, it does seem our situation is quite... boring." Was that sarcasm?
"Hey! You might not meet aliens everyday but this is pretty normal for us. I mean, all we do is eat, kill, sleep, almost everyday." Everypony winced at this.
"Well besides him." The Titan pointed to the Hunter. "Just get rid of the eating."
More silence.
"Your friend there showed some interesting abilities. Any chance that you have them too?" Twilight asked.
"Do you have a room you're not using?" The Warlock asked, deciding to joining the conversation.
"Yes actually. Most of the rooms in here aren't really filled yet so... Do you want to go to one?"
"Yes please. A large one if that is possible."
"Sure!" Twilight beamed. It's not everyday that somepony gets to see the magical capabilities of an alien.
"Here we are! This is the biggest room that isn't being used." Twilight said as the group entered the large room.
"Okay." The Warlock nodded. "If we are going to be doing this, I need all of the ponies to stay by the door."
"You're friends ability didn't really hurt us. What's the worst that could happen?" Rainbow Dash asked with a raised eyebrow. The eyebrow lowered itself when the skull wearing Warlock looked at her.
"You disintegrate as your whole body is torn apart at the atomic level."
She backed away.
"Okay then. Titan stand over there."
"What? Why me?" He whined.
"Because you have a higher pain tolerance than any of us."
The Titan grumbled and walked to the other side of the room. The room itself was bear, nothing but crystal from floor to ceiling. He turned to see the ponies looking at him, curiosity written on all of their faces.
"Ready!" He declared.
The Warlock took a running start before leaping into the air. Time seemed to slow down as a mass of purple energy formed in the Warlocks hand and he tossed the large ball of magic at his friend. They could barely hear the Titan scream as a deafening explosion rocked the entire castle. All that was left of him was a blue orb. After landing back down on the ground the Warlock walked up to the orb and tapped it lightly. Making it shrink down and his friend appear before him.
"That was the first ability I learned." The Warlock said as he and the Titan walked back to the group of slack jawed ponies. "My next will be performed right after my friend shows us his." With that. The Warlock went to stand where the Titan stood before.
"Ready!"
The same thing happened as the Titan took a running start and leapt into the air. This time, the Titan began to glow a bright blue as electricity arced through the air. As the Titan landed, another explosion rocked the castle, this one left a pulsating field of electricity in its wake. The Titan didn't wait to walk back to the group.
"Aren't ya goin' to help yer friend?" Applejack asked, confused as to why the Titan just walked away.
"This is his last ability. Kinda requires him to be dead. He's hilarious when he's hopped up on all of that light."
Everypony raised an eyebrow at the Titan before they heard something. It sounded like... shouting? All eyes turned back to the orb on the other side of the room. Nothing had changed. But then, a blinding light filled the room as it reflected off of the crystal surfaces... Which was the whole room. As soon as the light died down they all looked to see a burning Warlock running around the room shouting.
"BURN! BURN! BURN!"
The Titan laughed.
"BURN AWAY THE FLESH THAT IS EVIL! AND LEAVE NOTHING BUT LIGHT!" The Warlock began to chuck grenades in every direction.
The Titan was clutching his sides now.
"BUILD A MAN A FIRE, AND HE'LL BE WARM FOR A DAY!" The ponies didn't like where this was going. "SET A MAN ON FIRE, AND HE'LL BE WARM FOR THE REST OF HIS LIFE!"
In the end of it all, it was only Rarity, Fluttershy, and Princess Luna who fainted.
