As a Guardian of light, Lexine is sworn to protect humankind. But when a new Darkness threatens to destroy more than just Earth, she knows that humanity isn't the only thing that needs saving. [MLP/Destiny Crossover]
Crossover: MLP/Destiny (game)
The Guardians stand as the last of humanity's defense against forces of Darkness that seek to destroy everything. Guardians know their mission is to protect Earth, but the Darkness threatens to spread to other realms, to grow more powerful and spell doom for humankind.
A young Warlock takes her duties to a world beyond, and finds that this new world is much more connected to her own than she thought. New enemies, new allies, and new friends; Lexine will seek to discover the secrets of this magical land and the answers behind her very existence.
She must -- to save both worlds.
[Set before the events of TTK; MLP FiM "Twilight's Kingdom"]
The distant future, deep in an old city somewhere along the Western American coastline...
"Ghost, a little light, please?"
A brilliant floating orb shone from behind the voice, illuminating the area before them. Beyond the light's reach was complete darkness. The source of the voice, a Guardian, raised her weapon against the black void.
"What do you think is in there?" she asked to her small, mechanical companion as he cast light ahead of them.
"Something that wants to kill us, most likely," he replied.
The Guardian took the final steps down the staircase, leaving behind the last remnants of sunlight from the outside world. Her companion, her "Ghost", hovered behind, keeping his spotlighted gaze pointed ahead of them.
They continued deeper, passing through broken doorways and subtle corners along the otherwise linear path. Keeping her senses heightened and weapon forward, the Guardian was ready for the possibility of an enemy presence. Ghost remained vigilant as well, continuously scanning their surroundings for any movement.
The interior of which they were exploring was that of an old scientific research facility, in the heart of what was once among the most populated cities on Earth. Now, centuries after its human population hastily abandoned it, the city lay dormant, silently decomposing back to nature as the armies of the Darkness took over.
Curious as always when encountering new places, the Guardian had to mentally focus herself on the mission at hand, fighting the urge to examine artifacts and technology of which human eyes hadn't fallen upon for hundreds of years. The rather lengthy and, so far, uneventful trek into the depths of the facility did little to stay her impulsiveness.
“Getting a bit stir-crazy, Lexine?” Ghost asked after some time, noticing the Guardian’s subtle off-glances and slowing pace.
"No, erm... Are you sure this is the right place?" she said, ignoring his goading.
Ghost emitted some electronic squeaks before replying.
"Positive. The Vanguard want scans on Golden-Age technology reported to be in this location. It's down here.”
“Well, we should ha-”
A sudden shrill, inhuman shriek resonated through the halls, interrupting her.
"As for whatever else is down here," Ghost continued, "that I'm not sure of. Get ready."
The Guardian did not to be reminded. She focused her mind and channeled her energy from within. The circular bond on her left arm began to glow and resonate as she harnessed this energy, “Light” as Guardians called it, preparing to use it against her enemy. A brilliant flash of flame ignited from her arms as her power emerged. The fire did not hurt her, as she was a Warlock, a living conduit of the universe’s most fantastic, and deadliest, arcane secrets.
She was prepared to use this knowledge against Earth’s enemies, as are all other Guardians who fight for the same cause.
Usually, Lexine would find herself on a mission along with other fellow wielders of Light, but for this particular one, she found herself alone. There was no underestimating the power of a single Guardian, however, and the legions of Darkness that made the mistake of doing so met a quick end by Lexine’s light.
The roaring and screeching intensified as broken shadows stretched along the narrow corridor. The dark figures moved towards Lexine at a frantic sprint, their cries desperate for blood.
“The Hive is here!” Ghost shouted, pointing his bright light towards the approaching enemies. Now illuminated, Lexine could see these soldiers of the Darkness in their terrible glory. Their twisted humanoid forms moved erratically, coldly, like spiders dashing towards prey. With bodies of bone and dust, these faceless monsters, these Thrall, had no souls to receive mercy.
Lexine was ready to send them back to the Void.
With her rifle raised, the Guardian pulled the trigger. A flash of light and deafening bang sent a fiery projectile towards her attackers at supersonic speed. It ripped through the featureless head of a Thrall, knocking the body to the floor. Within moments, the body of the monster disintegrated to ash, leaving no trace of the nightmare it was. More bullets hailed the swarm of Thrall, but those behind continued relentlessly. Likewise, Lexine did not step backwards. She walked slow but constant towards the group, keeping her aim and fire steady.
One step.
One trigger pull.
One bullet.
One dead soldier of Darkness.
The Thrall, one by one, fell to Lexine’s deadly aim, but more continued to mass before her. They were getting dangerously close. Lexine quickly slung her rifle over her shoulder, freeing both of her hands. A Thrall leapt towards her, but Lexine’s reflexes were faster. She raised her arm towards the airborne monster, delivering a massive flash of heat and fire upon it, and the monster was reduced to dust. Lexine let the others try their fate as well, but the monsters all met the same fiery end.
Orange and red flashes flickered the walls as Lexine fought the Thrall in melee combat. Her strikes were quick and precise; and augmented by flame, they delivered a quick sentence to the Thrall that tried to get close.
Some of the remaining Thrall recognized it was a losing fight and retreated back deeper into the corridor, rounding a corner out of sight, their shrieking and shouting still echoing the hall. Lexine quickly gave chase, grabbing her rifle and replacing the empty magazine.
As she turned the corner, bright purple projectiles zoomed past her, forcing her to take cover back against the walls. More soldiers of the Hive, but these ones were smarter than the Thrall and possessed projectile weapons. They were called Acolytes by the Guardians, and Lexine knew the threat they could pose. She peeked around the corner before shifting back quickly, catching a glimpse of her new enemy.
Several Acolytes were taking cover past the corridor, which opened up to a large, circular room.
“That’s where our signal leads to,” said Ghost. “I think the Hive are protecting whatever is inside.”
Lexine checked and readied her rifle before replying.
“Let’s find out why,” she said, and spun around the corner. Faster than the Acolytes could react, Lexine made quick work of two of them before they their weapons were even raised. The others that did returned fire, shooting bolts of deadly energy towards the Guardian. Some of the projectiles managed to hit its mark, straining Lexine’s shields. She halted her advance and dashed behind a column along the hallway to recharge. Keeping out of the line of fire, Lexine lifted her hand before her, summoning a construct of flame to materialize in her hand. She quickly faced towards the now well-trenched Acolytes, and hurled the fireball towards them. It landed behind them, and instantly split into a web of small firebolts, each one hitting and destroying their target.
The survivors, perhaps out of fury, abandoned their cover and advanced towards the Guardian, allowing her to better place her own shots. Acolytes were better armoured than the lighter Thralls, but a single shot to their heads still served the same end. They were dealt with quickly, the last of them vanquished with a screech as its body disintegrated to whatever hell it came from.
Lexine breathing was fast but controlled, slightly exhilarated by the skirmish.
“Looks like we’re all clear,” said Ghost. “No more movement. Still feeling stir-crazy?”
Lexine laughed as she replaced the magazine in her rifle.
“No,” she smirked, “I think I’m satisfied. Now let’s see what we’re looking for.” The two of them continued down the hall and entered the large room.
“Let me see what I can do about the light,” said Ghost, floating off into the darkness. After a few moments, the clicks and purrs of a generator returning to life resonated the room, and some overhead lights flickered back on after centuries of slumber. Now the facility was illuminated, allowing Lexine to better see her surroundings. The large room was mostly featureless, except for some barricades of stacked desks and shelves were stacked to one side of which the Acolytes used in the prior fight.
It didn’t take long, however, for Lexine to spot what they’ve been searching for. In the center of the room was a strange machine, which at first glance appeared to be manmade. Upon closer inspection, Lexine noticed glowing markings along the sides of the metal contraption.
“This is it,” said Ghost.
It was built in a circular form, as if someone, or something was meant to stand on it. The machine itself seemed dormant and lifeless, but the markings along the sides were pulsating with green light.
“These are Hive markings, aren’t they?” asked Lexine.
“Yes, they are,” said Ghost. He hovered around the contraption, taking scans of it.
“What would the Hive want with our Golden-Age Technology? They’ve obviously been tampering with it.”
“Tampering is the very least of what they’ve done to this,” said Ghost quietly as he continued scans. “I don’t know what the Hive are using this for, but it’s probably for the same reason we meant to use it for in the past.”
“And that was?”
Ghost hovered backwards away from the machine, seeming to take a good look of it in its entirety.
“This is a machine that can create rifts in our universe” he said, turning towards Lexine. “This is a machine that can create portals through dimensions.”
Lexine subconsciously took a step back from the contraption.
“Hold on a second... this isn’t anything new, is it?” said Lexine. “We’ve met enemies of the Darkness that can travel through dimensions. The Hive can do this to an extent, and I’ve heard the Vex can move through time itself.”
Ghost emitted mechanical noises before replying.
“Yes, you’re right. But this machine was supposedly created centuries before the arrival of the Darkness. Humanity had plans with this technology, but the question is, what?”
“And why were the Hive protecting it? Perhaps th-”
Before they could continue, the contraption began to glow more intensely. The pair quickly backed away from it.
“What’s happening? What did you do?” asked Lexine.
“I don’t know. But it’s not coming from our end.”
Lexine raised her weapon once again, preparing herself for what was coming. Sparks of light and electricity manifested above the circular platform of the machine, forming a stripe of white hot light. The light split apart, opening up to what was on the other side. It wasn’t a continuity though the light, but rather, a completely different scene on the other side.
“The portal... it’s opened,” whispered Ghost.
Lexine peered through the tear, catching a glimpse of the world on the other side. To her surprise, it seemed calm, serene, and familiar. She saw green, grassy hills and trees, and when she looked further, she saw what seemed like a small village along the horizon. She was almost tempted to reach into the portal...
Without warning, the tear closed in on itself. Lexine jumped away, her hand almost caught inside. It pulsed before opening up once again, this time much more violently. The room began to shake loudly, as the portal tore open, revealing a completely different scene. Black and purple shards of light shot out, forcing Lexine to take cover. With a deep pulse, a figure began to step through from the other end.
“Ghost, what is that?!” Lexine yelled, struggling to be heard over the screeching portal.
“Scanning!”
She looked over her cover as Ghost transmitted information to her visor.
ANALYZING...
It looked to be some sort of quadrupedal creature. It reminded Lexine of a certain Pre-Collapse animal, but the exact name escaped her. Its eyes, or at least she guessed so, were black as night, and a pulsing purple light emitted from its head. Its body looked unnatural, as if corrupted, not different from the Hive. Besides its outer features, Lexine knew nothing of this creature that was stepping into their world. As she waited for the scan, it came closer to their side.
SCAN COMPLETE.
LIFEFORM: UNKNOWN
>SUBJECT SIMILAR TO EARTH-NATIVE EQUUS
WARNING!! ANOMALY DETECTED... ERROR!!
>DARKNESS DETECTED... SEARCHING FOR SOURCE...
SOURCE: UNKNOWN EQUINE SUBJECT>
>DESTROY/EVADE IF POSSIBLE.
Lexine quickly aimed her weapon at the creature. It was almost completely crossed over. It turned over, seeming to face Lexine as it took its final steps into their side. Her rifle was raised but hesitated to fire. As the creature continued to stare at her, she noticed a distinct horn on its forehead. It sparked with dark light, and Lexine took a mental note of a possible source of power. Her scans confirmed her deductions.
“Guardian.”
Lexine was startled out of though as the creature spoke. It seemed to have no mouth where it should, but it talked to her nonetheless, in her own language. “By the Traveler... what is this?”
“What are you?” she asked, keeping her weapon trained on target. “Where are you from?”
“What do you want?” Ghost added in.
“So many questions.” Its voice was low and guttural. “They say curiosity kills.”
“Is that what you’re here for?” asked Lexine. “To kill me?”
“No.” It paused. The portal behind it remained open, and Lexine peered past the creature for a moment, but only saw void.
“Why are you here?”
“I am here... to ascend you.”
In an instant, the creature lowered its head and fired a blast of light from its horn. Lexine barely dodged the shot, feeling the heat of the bolt as it sped past her. She wasted no time to return fire. She shot off several rounds towards the creature, but the bullets were absorbed by shield that engulfed its body.
SCANNING...
>ARC ENERGY-BASED AURA DETECTED --COUNTERMEASURE IF POSSIBLE
“Ghost!” shouted Lexine.
“No need to ask.”
The guardian shouldered her rifle, freeing her hands, and within moments, another firearm began to materialize upon them. Powerful and volatile, and a personal favorite, Lexine held her fusion rifle with zeal. She looked over to the creature, which seemed to be charging up for another attack, its horn pulsating brighter. She aimed and pulled the trigger on her fusion rifle. As the energy within the weapon grew, it began to vibrate and glow. Lexine was no stranger to this, she knew how to operate the rifle with skill.
Quickly, the energy grew and was released from the weapon in a torrent of blue projectiles. They hit the creature, causing it to flinch and interrupting its shot.
“Good, the shields are weak to Arc damage,” Lexine thought. The creature quickly recovered, however, and was preparing for another shot. “Just need to get closer.”
The creature let off its blast from its horn, destroying Lexine’s cover. She rolled out of the way and returned fire with her fusion rifle. The creature definitely felt that one, as it roared in anger, firing another bolt towards the guardian.
Lexine attempted to dodge again, but was not quick enough, and the bolt struck her. A significant amount of her own shields dissipated as she yelped in pain, scrambling behind more cover.
“Careful,” warned Ghost. “That portal is emitting massive amounts of Dark energy. I may not have the Light to heal you should you fall.”
Lexine grunted in annoyance as she reloaded the energy sink in her fusion rifle.
“All the more reason to end this as soon as possible,” she said. Her shields now recharged, she quickly aimed over and fired. The creature saw this and reacted, blinking out of space and into another.
“Great. It can teleport.”
Lexine conjured a ball of flame in her hand and tossed it towards the creature. It tried to teleport again, but the fireball tracked it to its new location, and stuck on the creature's body. It exploded in a hot, orange flash. The creature’s shields were resistant to Solar damage, but it was enough to cause it to stagger. Lexine took this opportunity to close distance.
She leapt over her cover and reloaded a fresh sink into her rifle. Blast after blast, she unleashed a cascade of Arc energy against the creature’s shields. They fell with an unmistakable sound, and the creature was exposed.
“Shields are down!” yelled Ghost.
Lexine lowered her rifle and began a sprint towards the dazed creature. With a cry, she leapt into the air and engulfed herself in flame. She extended her arm and released a blast of fire against the creature, pushing it backwards. It stumbled and tried to recover, but Lexine was relentless. She conjured multiple fireballs and threw them at the creature, causing its surroundings to burst into fire. Several more attached to the creature, bursting with intense heat.
The guardian pushed the creature again, the blast sending it reeling against the wall. Before it could react, a storm of fire rained down upon it, until nothing could be seen except the flames. The creature screeched in fury, knowing that its end was near. Lexine approached the burning monster, her body still immersed in fire. The creature was collapsed amongst the flames, but it still looked towards her as she approached.
“Guardian,” it said, its voice even more nightmarish than before. She listened but did not speak. “You may delay but cannot stop the inevitable. Darkness surrounds you.”
“I stand ready,” she said.
“No,” spoke the creature, its body already deteriorating to ash. “Equestria... will fall. And in its wake, Earth...”
With its last words, the creature was no more. The flames claimed it, and Lexine walked away, a new haunting in her heart.
“This may be bad...” said Ghost. Lexine gripped her gauntlet as the flames around her faded away. “I’ve already alerted the Vanguard. More guardians are on the way to secure the facility and they await your report.”
“Got it. And what of the portal?”
She looked over to the machine and the portal above it, still pulsating with strange energy. Ghost hovered towards it and began scanning. Lexine shuddered, trying to image what nightmare could lay on the other side. The nightmare that sent the now smouldering creature into their world.
“It’s still active but stable. I’ve scanned the majority of its structure for the Vanguard, but I think I can-- hold on...”
The portal began to shift and pulse as it had before. Ghost’s scans were relayed to Lexine.
“Uh-oh,” said Lexine. Ghost already began to hover away.
“Time to go!” he shouted.
The portal began to grow in size, and the machine reacted violently spreading sparks of electricity throughout the room. Lexine ran out the way she came in, back through the narrow corridors and hallways. A deafening blast shook the entire facility. Cries of the Hive who were throughout could be heard as the portal and the machine threatened to annihilate them.
“Ghost!” shouted Lexine as they rushed through the halls. “This hallway leading to the exit is a straight line, right?”
“No... bad idea!”
“Just do it!”
Lexine shouted and dove into the air. Below her, a large object began to materialize, and within moments, she was mounted on a vehicle hovering above the ground. She activated a control on the handlebars and the vehicle accelerated with an aggressive burst of speed.
As she sped through the hall on her Sparrow, the facility began to deteriorate around her. It was still dark, but dust and debris scattered as the walls cracked and the floors shook. A loud sound seemed to be getting closer, but she dared not look back. A faint light could be seen ahead -- the exit!
She could feel the heat behind her, but the light ahead grew larger and brighter. She pushed her Sparrow and shouted.
In what seemed like forever, her vision was then surrounded by white light. It wasn’t the blast -- it was the sun. She burst through the exit of the facility as explosions claimed the hall she just emerged from. The force of the blast, however, was enough to knock her off the Sparrow, sending Lexine tumbling towards the ground.
She moaned and shook it off, more dazed by shock than pain. She looked back towards the facility. The explosion had totaled it, and everything inside.
“The Vanguard are not going to be happy about this...” said Ghost. “When we get back, you’re going to be doing the explaining.”
“I think the Vanguard are the least of our worries, now,” said Lexine as she stood back up. She mounted her Sparrow, slightly surprised it had survived the encounter undamaged. “Whatever that thing was, and whatever Equestria is...”
“Trouble is ahead,” said Ghost.
“As always,” Lexine said, suppressing a smile. She sped away, leaving the burning building behind her. As it faded from view, the words of that creature echoed in her mind.
“Equestria will fall... and in its wake, Earth...”
VANGUARD BOUNTY COMPLETED - Scouting Mission SCIENCE FACILITY, OLD LOS ANGELES - The facility was destroyed, but you managed to obtain some scans of the strange machine. Return to the Tower, the Vanguard await your testimony of the incident.
LEVEL UP LEVEL 17
ABILITY UPGRADE ACQUIRED - Sunsinger Class ARCANE FORCE - Training focused on toughness and speed.
WEAPON UPGRADE ACQUIRED - Wyestar X9 HAND LOADED - This weapon is effective at an extended range.
“...Souls are wandering in darkened paths astray; so make me, Savior, more and more, a light along the way.” ~Eliza Edmunds Hewitt
Princess Luna knew of Darkness.
She knows of the temptations when one turns away from the light. Yes, a choice, because one can choose to shut their eyes and see only black. To lose oneself in the oblivion, out of fear, or ambition, or guilt, or hate. To blind oneself from who they are, only to become what they fear in their nightmares. To spread the nightmare to others, because in the dark, one could not feel any more alone, afraid.
This was her definition of Darkness.
She found herself once caught in its fringes, and her single corrupted soul nearly destroyed all of the nation she swore to protect. She sought to reign this darkness supreme, and end all that stood in her way, including her own sister.
It took her a millennia of exile to repent for her crimes.
But even now, Luna has not forgotten the face of Darkness. It has found a new way to haunt her.
A feeling within her heart gave no misdirection. It has returned.
These were the thoughts that filled her mind, as reports of strange lights from the outskirts of Ponyville had frequently taken her attention. She would have sent an outfit of the guard to investigate, but something was too strange of these happenings. They would occur at the same time every night, and scouts who ventured too close would return with a blank space of memories during the moments of observation. Luna knew she had to take it upon herself to investigate.
She kept the matter from Celestia; the Night was her liege and she sought to resolve the issue quickly, quietly.
To accompany her, was two members of her royal guard; ponies of whom she trusted in their loyalty and ability, and they trusted her. To keep things quiet was the least of her worries when considering their naivety.
“You’re saying we know nothing about what we’re up against, Your Highness?” asked one of the guards as the trio flew in the cover of night.
“All the more exciting,” chimed in the other. “I’m ready for anything, Princess!”
Princess Luna opened her eyes to free herself from her deep thought. Her overthinking caused her to worry too much at times.
“I’m counting on it,” she replied, despite her still lingering doubts.
“So... since we don’t know what this is, I don’t suppose we have a plan?”
Luna smiled. Things will work out.
“Jewel, I told you,” said the other guard in a hushed whisper, “it’s a sensitive mission and we follow the Princess’s lead.”
“You are correct, Guardscolt Lance,” said Princess Luna. “But your comrade is not wrong in her concern.”
Luna looked towards the dark horizon, recognizing the silhouettes of sleeping homes and buildings in the distance.
“That is Ponyville,” she continued. “We are nearing the destination. Guardsmare Jewel, there is no plan but to observe. Should the situation require action, we shall act accordingly.” Luna turned back towards the pair. “I trust in your abilities, the both of you.”
“Yes, of course, Your Majesty,” said Jewel. Lance nodded in agreement.
The three flew swiftly over the town, ceasing conversation to keep as quiet as possible. As they neared the area the reports indicated, faint, purple pulses of light could be seen radiating from beneath the treeline. The two guards held a more serious look on their faces; no more time for banter. They landed, standing right behind their Princess, ready for what may lay ahead.
The light was steadily flashing, but from their point, it was dim. They needed to cross over thick plant growth, and would decidedly do so than fly directly from the air. There was more cover in a ground advance, should the source of the lights be dangerous or malicious.
Luna’s approach was augmented by her magic, and she proceeded with the stealth of midnight mist. The two guards were well trained and fared just as well, despite lacking unicorn magic. The two pegasi guards navigated the trees and shrubbery with agile grace, negotiating the thick growth in relative silence. If there were other ponies at the source of the light, they would not detect their advance.
As they neared, however, Luna felt a strange sensation in her mind. It was not foreign, however. She knows it from a spell, one that she uses to ease the memories of bad dreams from the minds of her subjects as they slept. But if what was ahead was a nightmare of reality, it would be one that Luna and her guards would have to remember.
“Take heed, my ponies,” said Luna to her guards in a telepathic communication spell. “This area seeks to alter your minds. I will cast a spell to counter the effects, but proceed with extra caution. Reality may not be what it seems.”
Jewel looked towards Lance with slight concern, but he returned none. Instead, his gaze remained forward, and he continued on towards the light without hesitation.
The light was much brighter now, but the source still could not be clearly seen past the trees. Close enough, though, to be seen from the other side. The Princess raised her horn and cast another spell, conjuring a thick fog along the forest floor.
“Press on, we are close now.”
Luna proceeded, and was the first to break the treeline. The mist was thick and the light was bright against it, but she and her guards could see past their cover.
The Princess squinted her eyes upon observing the light. It seemed exactly that -- a light, floating above the ground, pulsing brightly in the night. Her guards followed close behind, and looked in awe at the illumination.
“Stay behind me,” said Luna. She walked slowly, in a low crouch, towards the light. Her horn was at the ready in the case that the situation went bad, but it was hard for Luna to imagine what could happen next.
The light remained constant, still pulsing, but otherwise static. It emitted no sound, and seemed to react little, if at all to their presence, despite the three being close enough for the cover of fog to offer little.
It was for that reason that the Princess jumped in surprise when the light began to speak.
“Princess Luna,” it said, suddenly, blinking with its own speech. “Welcome back.”
“Who are you? How do you know of me?” the Princess replied aloud.
Her guards seemed confused. “Your Highness, who are you talking to?” asked Lance.
She ignored him, and seemed to not even hear him.
“Do not act so surprised, Princess. This is not the first time we have we have crossed paths.”
“Nightmare...” Luna’s whispered voice quivered at the name.
“Correct, but I am what caused your nightmare. I am your Darkness itself. Tell me, Your Highness, what does the Princess of the Night truly fear of?”
The world around Luna slowly grew black.
“To be the unbearable burden of her sister once again?”
Her mind stung and she suppressed the urge to scream.
“To be the Nightmare of her own people?”
Haunting memories flashed before her eyes.
“To be feared and shunned as an outcast, a freak, never to be accepted or loved?”
She grit her teeth, trying to block it out.
“To be powerless against your own desires?”
She could take no more.
“Aghhh, ENOUGH!” she shouted. The air around her remained dark and still. “You hold no claim over me, monster.”
“Perhaps you are right,” it said. “In time, however, I will own you, and all that you care for. Your friends, your subjects, your nation, your power. In time.”
Luna charged her horn. She was prisoner to this nightmare, but not for much longer.
“For now,” it said, “I will take your guards. It is a good start.”
“BEGONE, DEMON!!” she yelled with her royal might, and her horn flashed with brilliant blue light.
When the spell cleared, she was back within the forest. She looked around quickly, but her vision was still dazed from the encounter.
“Jewel!” she called out. “Lance, are you alright?”
Ahead of her, she could spot two figures, one of them was suspended in air.
“Aghh! What’s gotten into you?!!” screamed the one on the ground.
Luna could recognize her guard’s voice. Jewel was being attacked. The Princess ran towards her and charged up her horn to attack the assailant.
“Cease at once!” she shouted, and blasted a spell towards the floating figure. Her vision was slowly improving, and she saw it collapse and tumble to the ground. She stood before it and Jewel.
As her sight returned, Luna gasped upon seeing the true nature of the attacker. It was Lance... or at least what used to be him. He was getting up from Luna’s attack, but in his eyes were not shock or pain, but of pure rage. He turned towards Luna and charged.
Luna quickly conjured a spherical shield around herself and Jewel, who was clearly shaken by what had happened. Lance collided against the shield, and stood slightly stunned. Quickly, he tried to break it in frustration. It was to no avail, but he seemed intent on Luna. He circled around the shield, staring at the Princess with seething and frightful fury.
“Jewel,” said Luna, “what has happened? Why is Guardscolt Lance acting this way?”
The pony was too in shock to reply at first.
“Guardsmare Jewel! I need you here!” shouted Luna, her gaze not leaving Lance.
“Ah... y-yes Your Majesty. I, um...” Jewel shook her head. “I don’t know what exactly happened. One moment, the three of us were approaching the light, then it gave off a bright flash, and the next moment, you started to talk to somebody.
“You sounded angry, and Lance and I didn’t know what to do. We figured it had something to do with the light, so we just stood watch while it happened. You sounded intense, but things got really bad when you started yelling. Lance started to do the same thing; talk to somebody that wasn’t there.” Jewel started to visibly shake. “It was frightening, I had no idea how to react!
“Lance started to say things like, ‘I cannot fail, I am strong enough!’, like he was trying to convince someone.” Jewel looked at Lance with pain in her eyes. “Then he stopped arguing and just kept saying, ‘I submit, I accept, I submit,’ over and over again.”
Lance growled from outside the shield. He struck his hooves against it, his anger unwavering.
“He changed, right before my eyes, Princess,” said Jewel. “Into what he is now.”
Luna knew Guardscolt Lance well, but the monster before her eyes was not him. His body was deformed and corrupted, his wings looked dead. Upon his forehead was a grotesque growth, like a horn, but horribly so. It was glowing with the same purple light that they had encountered moments before, as if to give off magic like a unicorn horn. His eyes, they gave off no feeling. They were two empty voids on his head, filled with eerie black. Luna did not know of what dark magic could cause such a terrible transformation.
Lance stopped circling the shield and stood directly in front of Luna.
“He belongs to me, now,” spoke Lance, but it was not his voice. It was that of the voice Luna heard in her mind before. “If you submit, this can be quick, easy.”
Luna clenched her teeth as she responded. “You expect me to yield before the one that seeks to destroy us?”
“Not destroy,” it said. “Ascend.”
With that, Lance began blasting Luna’s shield with the magic from its horn. Her shield was strong, but it could not hold forever, and the magic which Lance was casting was remarkably strong. She would have to fight her former guard. The Princess looked towards Jewel, who stood at the ready, but was still clearly frightened. Luna opened her mouth to reassure her.
“I know, Princess,” said Jewel before Luna could speak. “I know of what we must do, and I am ready.”
“Guardsmare Jewel, once I drop the shield, you must fly fast towards Canterlot. Warn the guard there, my sister also. They mus-”
“No, Your Highness. I was assigned to accompany and protect you. I will perform my duty, whatever it may require. With... with respect, I will not leave.”
The fear in Jewel’s eyes dissipated as she stood staring against Lance. Before everything, she was ready.
“Very well,” said Luna. “Prepare yourself.”
Lance continued to blast at the shield, and started to laugh as he did so.
“How precious. Willing to give yourself up for your Princess, just as Lance was? Perhaps you are willing to join him, after all.” His laugh was low and almost demonic.
“You’ll pay for what you’ve done, monster!” shouted Jewel. “Princess, I am ready!”
With a vicious cry, Luna dropped her shield. Jewel blasted off the ground into the sky at blinding speed, and Luna teleported away. Lance was too slow to react to their sudden evasion, and missed his attack to where they stood.
Bolts of blue energy struck Lance, but he did not seem to falter. A slight glow surrounded his body, and Luna’s attacks were absorbed. Luna also knew the reason her attack failed, she was subconsciously holding back her power. Lance took notice of this and cackled at the Princess.
“Do not feel remorse, Your Highness,” he said. “The pony you knew is gone, sent to oblivion and will never return. Soon will be the fate of all that y-”
His speech was cut off abruptly by a hoofstrike, delivered by Jewel at the speed of flight. She turned on a knife-edge dime and struck again, knocking Lance on his side.
“One thing Lance still has of himself!” she yelled. “You won’t ever shut up!”
Lance recovered and ducked away from Jewel, readying to retaliate. His wings were terribly deteriorated, and as such, has lost the ability to move as quickly. His newfound abilities with magic found use, however. He casted a storm of bolts against Jewel, and she took to the air in an attempt to dodge.
Luna intervened before he could hit his mark. She sprinted towards him, and closed off distance with a teleportation. With great force she tackled the pony, and with little effort, lifted him into the air. Lance tried to break free, but Luna’s strength was great. After reaching a significant height, she released him and let him freefall. Lance’s wings were now useless in the skies.
Jewel had joined the fight again, and took loops around the falling pony, delivering strikes and dodging his magic attacks. Luna followed above, charging her horn for a massive shot downwards against Lance. Jewel cleared way and she delivered it. A loud blast and bright flash spread through the night lands as she released her shot. It struck Lance and sent him zooming towards the ground.
Luna and Jewel landed back on the ground, with a dusty crater visibly formed along the forest floor.
“Hmph,” said Jewel with a pant. “That was easier than I thought it would be.”
The smoke cleared and revealed Lance crumpled along the ground. Damage was done, but her was still getting up.
“Ha... Princess, you did not listen,” he said as he rose. “A blast like that should have destroyed me, but you hold back? All flash but no show...”
Luna used her telekinesis to lift Lance by the neck, pulling him close. Jewel was taken aback, but quickly regained focus when he started to laugh again.
“Listen here, demon!” said Luna. “Do not think I would offer you mercy!”
“So then- ack... why not just destroy me?” he said through a smile. “I’ll tell you why, Princess. Because you still don’t know how to control the darkness. You know I will spread, even if you kill the body I hold. Even the darkness within yourself isn’t truly... urk!- ... gone, is it?”
Luna’s grip held tighter.
“You will ... ack!- ... be powerless... to stop me!”
Luna stared into the eyes of the guard she once knew.
“I may not be able to destroy you, monster,” said Luna, as she turned and held Lance in stasis. “But I can send you back to the hell you came from...”
She moved towards the pulsing light, and forced Lance against it. As he got closer, the light began to grow brighter and expand. Lance continued laughing hysterically.
“Yes! Send me back from whence I came!” he shouted. The light had torn itself open and looked as if a window to another world. It grew larger and the area around went unstable. The ground shook and the wind picked up speed. Luna concentrated on the portal.
“We know of you, Princess! You may have left us, but we have found you again!” Lance’s voice sounded even more darker, as if multiple entities were speaking from it. “We know of Equestria! We will return, and with us... an army!!”
Luna pushed lance against the portal. As it swallowed him, she caught a glimpse of the other side. A figure stood tall, almost looking directly at her, but the details were gone as soon as they came. Lance was pushed to the other side, and the portal closed behind him. It returned back to its dim pulsing.
“Forgive me...” whispered Luna.
“It’s... it’s over,” said Jewel. “He’s gone?”
“Yes,” replied Luna. “Guardsmare Jewel, the vicinity is safe now. I require you to relay what has happened to the guard. We cannot keep this incident secret after all. I will remain here and see to destroying this... portal, it seems. We cannot allow what is on the other side to cross over once again.”
“Very well, your Majesty. And... what of... what of Guardscolt Lance?”
Luna closed her eyes and let out a long sigh.
“Speak of his bravery, but spare the details. His friends and family need to know he fought with courage and honor.”
Jewel nodded, mist forming in her eyes.
“I am truly sorry for the loss of your friend,” said the Princess.
“At once... Princess Luna.”
Jewel gave a bow and took to the skies, and disappeared into the now rising sun. Luna, alone, looked towards the pulsing light.
“You have no place in this world of ours,” she said, as she pointed her glowing horn against it. “May you never return.”
“We looked to the skies and they shot us down. Nothing but a Ghost remained, and that’s gone.” ~Dylan Owens
The Traveler sat above the city, silent and unmoving.
It’s been generations since the spherical mass in the sky showed any signs of life. During the Collapse, in its dying breath, the Traveler created the Ghosts, who in turn made the Guardians; the final act of defiance against the Darkness which sought to overthrow Earth.
The true nature of the Traveler has never been fully uncovered. It is speculated that it is a sentient being, a blessing of the universe sent to achieve great things for all life. While the Traveler was here, it did exactly that; ushering a Golden Age of scientific, technologic, and utterly magical wonder. Others were more concerned with what followed the Traveler, the Darkness that brought extinction before humanity, and the desperate, miserable times that followed.
Was it because of the Traveler that the Darkness came?
Did the Traveler come to prepare us?
Did the Traveler come so we could protect it?
These questions were far from being answered even as humanity continued to take the Sol System back... but they haunted the minds of all that looked to the skies and thought for too long of times gone past.
The Guardians and the people of the Last City who live for the present, and fight for the future; they look to the dormant Traveler and see hope. They feel its light, and they know there will be a time when the it must return.
Lexine sighed as she shifted her gaze away from the Traveler, slightly annoyed with herself for allowing her mind to drift away as it did. The pearl-white ball in the sky was a titan to the city it floated above. Even as Lexine flew several thousand miles in the atmosphere, she could see the Traveler from her ship. The lights of the Last City could be seen shimmering below it, like spotlights giving the Traveler a faint orange glow. With the backdrop of a night of infinite stars, the picture of it was mesmerizing, even though Lexine had seen it with every return back. A beautiful sight, every time, she thought, but the city was close now, and the Guardian needed to stay focused.
She gripped on the controls of her ship a bit tighter as she brought herself down to Earth, literally and figuratively. The other Warlocks called her “starry-eyed”, and she was repeatedly told by the more senior Guardians that she needed to maintain practicality, especially during such uncertain times.
“The Traveler helped us immensely, when it was here, no doubt about that,” said Lord Shaxx, when he once heard Lexine talk on a long dialogue about her faith in the Traveler. “But it is not here now, Warlock. We are here, and the enemy is out there, and there’s not a whole lot standing between us and them. Unless, of course, you’d like to count a big floating ball.
“I don’t mean to sound harsh,” he said when he noticed the fairly newborn Guardian’s discomfort, “and conviction is always good. But strength is better. Use your gifts the Traveler gave you in its final moments. Spend less time with the Speaker, and more time in the Crucible... you’ll understand what I’m trying to tell you.”
Lexine shoved the memory away and decided not to daydream any longer as she shifted the throttle. Her ship accelerated over the skies of the City and towards the Tower, home of the Guardians. She cursed herself for not going over in her mind what she was to say to the Vanguard; they would surely ask for her report formally. Hive activity on Earth, in possession of an unprecedented device, and the presence of an unknown enemy from the beyond; all more than warrants the attention of the Vanguard.
The Warlock noticed she was tapping her foot, a habit that she took on when she felt nervous.
“Oh, now you’re worried,” said Ghost. Lexine knew if he had eyes, they’d be rolling. “It didn’t seem much of a concern several hours ago.”
“Yeah, well, narrowingly surviving a firefight with a demented farm animal tends to shift one’s priorities around, if not for a few moments,” Lexine shot back. Her tapping did not cease.
“Joking, no need to get defensive,” chirped Ghost. “And besides, that creature we encountered was far from what animal we had on Earth, and was certainly no farm animal.”
“What were they called...? Horses, right?”
“Horses, ponies, zebras, asses, all members of the Equidae family. This creature was close...”
“Funny,” Lexine thought. “I swore I thought that last one meant the b-”
“...But still so much different,” Ghost continued. “Its stature and features, the abilities it displayed, the fact it spoke. Something much different. I’ll search the libraries when we return to the Tower.”
The Guardian nodded. Just one of many things that needed to be done when they landed. She gave a quick sigh of discontent; she always hated the debriefing. The last thing Lexine wanted to do after completing a challenging mission was to immediately talk about said challenging mission, in detail.
The Tower was much closer to them now. Lexine opened up her comm lines, and prepared her ship for landing.
“Tower, this is Lexine Rayner, ship Arcadia-class eleven twelve; requesting permission to land.”
She hovered near the Tower, awaiting a response.
“Copy that, eleven twelve,” replied a transmission moments later. “You’re cleared for landing. Welcome home, Guardian.”
She smiled. Despite everything, it still felt good to be back.
Lexine wasted no time, the Vanguard knew of her return and were awaiting her. Ghost continued to dock her ship while she was teleported down to the Tower, and she was quickly materialized on the courtyard in the Tower Watch. Even in the middle of the night, the area was active. As Lexine’s feet touched down, she was immediately noticed by a small group of guardians, one of whom greeted her with a wave. She returned the gesture with a smile, but forgot until then that her helmet was still on.
With a click, Lexine pulled off her helmet, allowing herself to feel the cool night air. She tucked the helmet between her arm and chest, but it soon flashed away, teleporting away to her ship’s storage along with her other gear.
“I’ll join up with you soon,” said Ghost within her head. “Well, I’m technically always with you, but you know what I mean.”
She gave a slight not and started towards the Tower’s Hall of Guardians, where the Vanguard waited for her. She passed a small kiosk adorned with red cloth and drapery. A man was working silently on the table, tinkering with strange devices that were foreign to Lexine. He seemed intent on his work, until he noticed the Guardian passing by.
“Ah, Warlock! You’re back,” he called to her. “Have you got anything for me from the frontier?”
“Sorry Master Rahool,” Lexine replied, “I’ve got to report to the Vanguard immediately, but I promise I’ll visit soon!”
“Very well, then! You know, I heard you were at Old Los Angeles,” Rahool started to trail off as Lexine walked on. She waved goodbye, but he didn’t seem to notice. He returned back to his work on the table. “One time a Hunter returned from there, and gave me some very interesting artifacts from an ancient cultural hub called ‘Venice Beach’. Have you ever heard of a ‘Selfie Stick?...”
Lexine grinned. The Tower Cryptarch was very skilled in decrypting useful technology such as advanced armor and and weaponry, but it also seemed Master Rahool was the only person in the Tower more interested in knick-knacks than she was.
She continued through the courtyard, passing several other fellow Guardians that greeted her along the way. She didn’t recognize any of them, but she returned the greetings with respect. Her walk descended down a flight of stairs, and she found herself nearing the Hall.
“Oh, great,” Lexine thought when she walked the final steps down. “He’s still here.”
Up ahead stood Lord Shaxx, the Crucible handler and a well-renowned Guardian. Lexine has been ignoring his requests for her to join the Crucible, a training project in which Guardians fight each other to hone their skills.
To the death.
Of course, this isn’t as bad as it seems; Guardians are essentially immortal as long as their Ghosts are there to revive them upon death. There are some exceptions, however; some places have so much Dark energy that Ghosts do not have the power to bring their Guardians back. These areas are cut off from the Traveler’s light, and referred to as ‘Darkness Zones”. Lexine has known Guardians, friends, who have perished in such places. Guardians do not fear death, and will gladly give their life in protection of Earth, but the idea of it sometimes haunts Lexine.
It was because of this that Lord Shaxx created the Crucible, to train Guardians to be better, fight harder, and in the end, live longer. Lexine knows its usefulness, but she despises the idea of killing other Guardians. Only once before, she’d accepted an invitation into a Crucible match. She and five other guardians were transported to a controlled area within Old Russia, where the objective was to simply kill each other.
The session had started, and Lexine froze up. She had killed before, countless numbers of the enemies of Earth; Hive, Fallen, Vex, Cabal... but when she encountered a fellow Guardian charging towards her in the Crucible, she failed to fire her weapon, never releasing a single bullet. The opposing Guardian, a Titan, broke into a full sprint and lunged at her with such force and fury that his fist essentially broke the sound barrier, cracking the the air and sending Lexine against the ground in a crumple.
The Titan stood above Lexine’s broken body, and crouched down, seeming to have noticed her hesitation that led to her defeat.
“You’re new,” he said to her. “Don’t worry, it gets easier. Trust me.”
He pulled out a shotgun and finished her off, quickly moving on for the next kill.
Lexine forfeited herself from the rest of the match once she was revived, and abstained from the Crucible after that, much to Lord Shaxx’s dismay. It was because of that reason that Lexine had been trying to avoid the Crucible Handler, but there was no way she could slip past him now. The corridor leading to Hall of Guardians was empty save for him and herself. Even as she stood far away, she could tell that Lord Shaxx had noticed, and recognized her. He stared at her, seeming to wait for her to pass so that they may speak. Lexine tried her best to walk forward and pretend that he was not there, and wished she still had her helmet.
“Guardian,” he said as she walked past, and Lexine winced. “You’re back. I believe the Vanguard is waiting for you ahead. Nice job on your last mission.”
Lexine turned and gave a slight bow. “Thank you, Lord Shaxx.” She could not simply ignore the Hero of Twilight Gap. His title demands respect from other Guardians, but his sheer size alone could intimidate a Titan.
As he towered over her, Lexine waited for what he would say next, hoping it would we be quick.
“Well go on then, don’t keep them waiting!” he said.
“Yes, of course!” she said, a bit too loudly for the occasion, and continued forward. She mentally thanked the Traveler for saving her from an awkward conversation.
“I’ll be here to talk when you return, Lexine,” he called from behind, and she whispered a curse.
Wanting to stall no longer, Lexine hurried through the corridor which entered into the Hall of Guardians. The Hall was a large room, which held a longtable in its depressed center. Tapestries hung from the high ceiling and reached the floor, and the opposite end of the Hall displayed a large window that viewed the outside end of the City; even at night the wilderness could be seen with all of its mysterious beauty.
During the day, the Hall was usually filled with activity, with several guardians present to consult the Vanguard in public, but tonight’s meeting was reserved for only one. Lexine gathered her thoughts and presented herself to the Vanguard. They were silently speaking amongst themselves. Ikora Rey, the Warlock Vanguard, was the first to notice Lexine’s arrival.
“Good evening, Guardian,” she turned and greeted.
“Good evening,” replied Lexine, and gave a small curtsy out of habit.
“Let’s skip the formalities and get down to business,” said Cayde-6, the Hunter Vanguard.
“Yes, we’ve gotten the preliminary reports from your Ghost,” said Commander Zavala, Titan Vanguard. “But we need to hear a first-hand account from you. What exactly happened there?”
Lexine stood at the far end of the longtable, and the three Vanguard leaned in and listened for her reply intently. With their eyes and ears fixed on her, Lexine took a breath and explained the events at the science facility.
Delivering her account was more exhausting than Lexine thought it was going to be. It was solid, however, and the Vanguard let her finish all the way through without interruption. When she was done, they were silent for a few moments, as if to think about their next words.
“The presence of Hive activity on Old Los Angeles will have to be carefully monitored,” said Cayde-6. “Did you spot any others during your mission?”
“No, only within the science facility, and as I said, all of them were likely destroyed in the explosion,” said Lexine.
“We’ll send notices to Guardians in patrol around the area, just in case.”
“And what of these explosions?” asked Commander Zavala. “You said the machine itself caused it?”
Lexine nodded. “It seemed to self-destruct... maybe a malfunction from the fighting?”
“Or something from the other side,” said Ikora. “The creature you fought; we have not encountered before. The footage and scans from your Ghost of both the creature and the machine it came from will help us immensely.”
The three Vanguard, as if in unison, stood up straight.
“Your actions were commendable, Guardian,” said Zavala. “The Vanguard thank you for your pursuit into the matter.”
“Come speak to us tomorrow for a reward for your efforts,” spoke Ikora. “For now, go in peace. We have many matters to attend to.”
Lexine felt confused. Was that all there was to it?
“Is there going to be some sort of follow up?” she asked instead of greeting goodbye.
Cayde-6 gave a slight chuckle, saying, “Ma’am, this was the follow-up. You’ve done your job well; the Vanguard will take care of the rest.”
“But I will be notified of any further leads in the matter, right?”
“Lexine,” said Ikora, “it’s best if you leave it to us.”
“We’ve already got a strike team to explore another possible sighting of the same anomaly,” added Zavala. Cayde-6 shot him a look, and he said no further.
“That doesn’t seem fair,” Lexine mumbled.
“Why do you think that?” asked Ikora.
“Well.. it’s just... this isn’t the first time this has happened! I’m always assigned these patrol missions... for what? Get some scans, scout some areas, collect some samples...” Lexine knew she was raising her voice, and tried to compose herself when she spoke next. “When I found traces of Rasputin in Old Russia, you handed off the assignment to another Guardian. I find this and you’re going to do the same thing again.
“It makes me feel... well...”
“Insignificant?” said Ikora.
Lexine just sighed, and that was enough of an answer.
“I hear of Guardians doing great things,” she continued. “Exploring the Black Garden, raiding the Vault of Glass, hunting down a Hive Prince on the moon... and I’ve never even been assigned on a strike team.”
Lexine hung her head as she spoke those last words. Silence reigned for a few moments. Cayde was the first to break it.
"You and I can relate, kid," he said. "Do you think I like spending all my time here in this uppity tower? I'd much rather be out there, but I know we all have our jobs to do."
"You've been with us for only several months,” said Ikora, “but you’ve achieved feats that takes other Guardians years to accomplish. The Vanguard recognizes your talents both as a Warlock but as a Guardian among the rest of us.”
“The last thing we want to do is to send a Guardian on a mission from which they may not return,” said Zavala. “You must trust us on these matters.”
“I... I do trust the Vanguard. I apologize for stepping out of line.”
Ikora approached her fellow Warlock and placed a hand on her shoulder.
“There’s no reason to feel ashamed of your ambition. It’s a good attitude, one that the Vanguard can admire. The time will come when your resolve will define your legend.”
Lexine nodded, there was nothing more to say.
“I’m sure you’re exhausted,” Ikora continued. “Get some rest, you’ve certainly earned it. We’ll have more for you in the days to come.”
“An honor,” said Lexine with a bow, and she dismissed herself from the hall.
She walked forward with many things on her mind, but she did not have the energy to sort and address them at all. The only thing Lexine could think of was returning to her quarters; Ikora was right, she needed the rest. There was just one more thing she needed to deal with first.
“Guardian,” said Lord Shaxx as she passed. “I trust your meeting went well?”
“It did,” she said, and tried her best to sport a pleasant smile. “The Vanguard have got new leads on Hive activity on Earth. One more step towards figuring out our enemy.”
“Indeed...” Shaxx shifted his weight before continuing. “Well, regardless of our circumstances, I commend your actions. It takes bravery to storm a Hive stronghold on your own, and I recognize that. This is for you.”
He picked up a weapon that was lying in wait on the desk next to him. It was what the Guardians call a Hand Cannon. Lexine had owned one before, but it was not potent enough for her to consider replacing her current favored weapon. This one, she could tell, held something special.
“I’m very grateful,” Lexine said as took the gun.
“You should be. These rewards are usually reserved for victories in the Crucible. But I see something special with you.”
“Thank you,” she said as she inspected her new weapon.
“Prove me right the next time you go out there.”
Lexine nodded and turned back towards the staircase leading to the exit. She mentally connected with Ghost as she walked.
“How nice of him,” he said. “I told you he wasn’t so bad.”
“Maybe you should be his Ghost instead, since you like him so much?”
“Why would you say such hurtful things?” said Ghost with the slightest tone of sarcasm.
“It’s because I love you so much,” Lexine returned. “Anyways, I need you to scan and transmit this new weapon to my ship’s armory. We’ll put it to good use soon.”
“Already on it.”
The weapon in Lexine’s hand began to shimmer as it was teleported away, to be stored safely within her ship. She continued past the Tower courtyard, walking quickly to avoid further distractions.
Upon finally arriving before her quarters, her fatigue became much more apparent. Her thoughts were cloudy and her movements were slow and lazy. It took great effort to remain composed before the Vanguard, but with no one around, Lexine was ready to take a break.
“I’ve been searching through the Tower’s databanks for information on our new threat, if you were interested.” chimed Ghost.
“Tomorrow, Ghost.” she said out loud in a drowsy voice. That was enough for Ghost to understand.
“Very well, then. I’ll give you some privacy.”
Lexine unlocked the door to her quarters and entered.
The lights inside turned on automatically as she did, but she wanted them off right away. She was about to turn them when she noticed a small note near the switch.
Lexine,
I heard you were coming back tonight. Wanted to surprise you but I got called to city patrol on short notice. I’ll see you when I return.
I’m glad you got back safe.
~D
Lexine smiled a genuine smile for the first time that night as she flipped off the light switch.
She approached her bed in the now dark room and almost forgot she was still clad in her armor. After a mental effort, her armor began to shimmer and fade away, it being transported to storage among her other gear.
“Thank the Traveler we’re able to do that,” Lexine thought as she dove into her bed, letting the physical and mental weight of the past several days fade away to dreams.
She ran but felt no ground, no wind. No destination except away.
Lexine’s legs were numb, and her lungs were burning, but she dared not stop, not look behind. She could hear the Darkness behind her. She could feel it.
“The Darkness has seen you, Guardian.”
There was no world around her, only black. She had no weapon, no armor.
“We will remember you. And we will return.”
Ahead, Lexine saw a light. A way out. She ran as hard as she could towards it, and felt hope. The light shimmered a bright blue as she approached, and she could hear a voice calling out to here.
“Come to me, my little pony! I will take you from this dark place!” Lexine was confused for a moment, but pushed her doubt aside as she got closer. A light in the dark, a way out.
Her hope was crushed when she saw what bore the light. It was an equine, very similar to the creature she encountered before.
“What? Who are you?” it said when she got close. “Where...?”
A flush of anger flared within Lexine.
“You!” she screamed, pointing at the creature. “You brought the Darkness here! It’s your fault!”
The creature did not reply, it looked confused, but Lexine did not care.
“It’s coming now, I’m going to die, we’re all going to die because you brought it here!”
A dark laughter could be heard drawing closer. Lexine’s heart sank.
She turned around and saw nothing as oblivion took hold.
Luna awoke with a jolt. She was shocked over what she had just experienced. A shared nightmare... it was nothing new for her to patrol the dreams of her people to ward away the bad ones. But the owner of that dream was not of Equestria... she could feel it.
Whoever this strange being was, and the things it said to her, Luna knew it was significant, but to what extent, she did not.
The door to her room opened, interrupting her thoughts. There was only one pony in Equestria who would enter without notice.
“Sister,” Luna said as Princess Celestia entered her room. “Is something the matter?”
“Luna, I hope this is a good time?”
“Yes, I was just patrolling the dreams of our subjects,” she said, trying to dismiss the nightmare.
“Very well, but I fear there are other matters that require urgent attention.”
Luna stood up and walked towards her sister.
“What is it? I am ready to assist.”
“The anomaly that you encountered near Ponyville...”
“Another one has appeared?”
“Not just one. Several. Something is coming sister, a threat to Equestria. I’ve assembled an emergency meeting with the council, and we require your attendance.”
“Of course. I will be there to join you soon.”
Celestia nodded and left the room, closing the door again. Luna thought back to what she saw in that anomaly near Ponyville, and to her nightmare she just witnessed. Celestia was right, something is certainly coming.
There was a persistent feeling within her that she knew exactly what.
NEW VANGUARD RANK REACHED LEVEL 1
NEW WEAPON ACQUIRED - Hand Cannon SILVERED MAVERICK MK. 41 - A well-balanced Tex Mechanica hand cannon, earned through glory in the Crucible.
“It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.” ~Antoine de Saint-Exupery
The Princesses sat before their audience, their presence filling the hall.
The eldest sister, Princess Celestia, held her composure well. It seemed no matter what the situation, she would never be caught without her pleasant and perpetually serene demeanor. It was warming, very fitting for her title as the Princess of the Sun.
The younger, Princess Luna, stood impassive. The ponies among the audience preferred not to make eye contact with her, avoiding her cold gaze in preference with Celestia’s. Luna did not mean to look emotionless; in fact her feelings were quite the opposite. She knew first-hand how dire the situation really was, and she knew her sister’s sugarcoated words would only ease the ponies’ minds for so long.
She knew what was at stake while the ponies here played politics.
If her silent stare was enough to ward off these self proclaimed baby-kissers, journalists, gossipers, and the like; then that was all well with her.
“Princess Luna?”
The sound of Celestia addressing her name pulled Luna away from her thoughts.
“Yes,” she said plainly.
“Should I repeat the question, Your Majesty?” asked a pony within the crowd, holding a notepad at his ready. Luna could feel her sister’s subtle stare of disapproval at her side.
She tried her best to maintain her professionalism, despite her desperate need to leave the conference to Celestia.
“Yes, please, once more.”
“Okay, *ahem*...” said the notepad pony. “You were the first to respond to the strange lights near Ponyville, as I understand?”
“Correct.”
“Alright, I know we’ve established that we won’t be getting details on what exactly happened, but myself and the ponies are dying to know, are we safe now?”
“Yes, we’ve said that what was causing the anomaly has been neutralized.”
“But what about the rumours of intermittent lights spotted outside of Fillydelphia?” asked another pony in the group.
“And Appleloosa!” popped another.
“Some citizens are feeling strange residual magic in these areas, how would you explain that?”
Luna was getting aggravated, and it showed on her face. Her next words were spoken through impulse.
“Yes, what happened in the for-”
“My little ponies, calm yourselves,” said Celestia, interrupting Luna. “Princess Luna handled the situation in Ponyville thoroughly, and the threat there is gone. We are looking into any possibilities of reappearance, but all is safe.”
“Forgive me Your Highnesses”, said the notepad pony, “but the citizens are simply concerned. In light of what happened to one of your guards, it’s only natural for us-”
“We have said that the situation has been handled, and so it has!” said Luna, raising her voice. The pony ducked back into the crowd.
Celestia sighed quietly. “I believe this conference has come to an end. If there are no more pressing concerns, you are dismissed from the hall.”
The ponies, some rather reluctantly, exited the hall. A pair of guards closed the door after them, leaving the princesses alone to themselves.
“Luna, you really have to be careful with what you tell the public,” said Celestia.
Luna shook her head defiantly.
“Why must we keep the truth from them, sister? You and I both know what is coming; our subjects have a right to know.”
“They have a right to safety and prosperity, something you and I as leaders must maintain,” answered Celestia. “To break such news to them would not uphold the peace.”
“So we should just keep them ignorant, then? We know what is looming around the corner, and we do not have a way to fight back.”
“That’s not entirely true, you know that.”
Celestia rose from her throne, and walked along the grand hall. Luna followed, the two of them passing by the decorated windows and royal tapestries.
“We still have our magic; the gifts that the Wanderer gave us,” continued Celestia. “Should the times call for defense, we can still prepare.”
Celestia and Luna stopped before a particular window. They looked up at the brilliant display, as the rays of the sun pierced multi-colored rays before them. In the design, ponies were praising a large object in the sky, what looked to be the sun. Luna and Celestia knew differently, the sphere was not the sun.
“We fought the Darkness with the Wanderer’s help,” said Luna. “It is no longer here. What if we can’t, sister? What if we fail?”
“We won’t. We cannot, for our sake, for our world’s sake.”
Celestia gazed at the window, the faded memories of a millennia ago present in her mind.
“When the Darkness comes again,” she whispered. “We must be ready for it.”
Lexine stood impatiently as she waited for her turn to receive her new assignments. She cursed herself for not getting to the courtyard sooner; by now it was midday and the Tower was bustling with activity.
Usually, she would not have problems getting up early to beat the rush, but her sleep for the past week had been plagued by relentless nightmares. To many Guardians, and to Warlocks especially, dreams were of great significance and were always considered to have a deeper meaning. Lexine would be more invested in uncovering the meaning of her dreams, if only she could remember them.
She could remember black, she could remember fear, but nothing else.
As such, her restless nights were only a source of stress, something she hoped she could relieve by some time in the field. Hopefully, she thought, Xander would have something interesting for her this time.
As she approached the droid and looked at the available assignments, her hope quickly diminished.
“This is all?” she asked, expressing annoyance.
“These are all of the available assignments for you, Guardian,” Xander said in his artificial voice.
“Impossible. I saw the guardian in front of me accept a strike mission to Venus. Why don’t I get assignments like that?” Lexine was trying to suppress the frustration in her voice. “Do you expect me to go halfway around the world to gather some metal? To scan some old, uninteresting junk?”
The frame beeped a few times before responding.
“Apologies, Guardian. I simply relay assignments directed by the Vanguard. You may wish to speak to them if you have concerns.”
Lexine was about to say something but was interrupted by the guardian standing behind her.
“Look, Warlock,” she said, tapping Lexine’s shoulder. “We’re all waiting behind you. Choose quickly or move on.”
Lexine nodded and turned back towards Xander.
“Are you sure there’s nothing else?” she asked again.
“No, this is -- one moment... a position on city patrol just opened up. Additionally, some new Crucible objectives have been assigned, a few of them specifically for you, Guar-”
“I’ll take the city patrol.”
Xander’s frame light blinked several times as he processed the request.
“Very well, objective assigned. Twenty-four hours of city patrol; report here when completed. Good luck, Guardian.”
Lexine left the frame and started back towards the vaults to arm herself, wanting to waste no time.
“Better luck next time, Warlock,” said the Hunter that was in line behind her. “You’ll get something good soon.”
Lexing gave a slight smile and continued on. City patrol wasn’t too horrible, she enjoyed it on some occasions. There was not much ‘action’ to be had within the city, only the occasional petty crime or a citizen with lots of questions. Weapons were rarely used, and powers of the Light were not authorized. The people were always happy to see a guardian, however, though were sometimes reluctant to stray near a Warlock. Though it technically wasn’t allowed, Lexine found that taking off her helmet helped in those regards.
She was under the impression that these patrols were conducted to simply establish a presence within the city, and she was content with the interaction.
Besides, Lexine thought, there was another Guardian on patrol she was hoping to meet.
She soon arrived at the ‘Vaults’, which were actually kiosks that enabled guardians to transmat any of their gear to and from storage instantly. She was already wearing her armor, so she chose her weapons for the patrol. The hand cannon that Lord Shaxx had given her hadn’t seen any action yet, and while it was unlikely it would see any down at the city, Lexine decided to take it with her. She also equipped her helmet, and was ready for the mission.
“Ghost, are you with me?”
With a flash, the floating construct appeared before her.
“Of course, ready to go.”
She went off to descend the Tower to the city below.
The Last City was exactly that, the last known bastion of humanity. After the Darkness struck, humanity lost almost all of its civilization. From colonies throughout the Solar System to long-standing cities on Earth, all perished or were cut-off and lost.
All except the one; the one the Traveler shielded against the Darkness in its dying breath. The city survived the initial onslaught, but still endured many trials that threatened to condemn it, both internal and external. The guardians were the first to protect the city against the forces of Darkness that were persistent in trying to destroying it. From within, the city was always in desperate defense, and many different political factions were vying for control.
In the end, it was finally realized that the city would only survive under unity, and the remaining factions agreed to coexist. Under the protection and guidance of the Tower and its Guardians, little by little, the city slowly grew and prosper.
The area that Lexine was assigned to patrol was special. It was directly under the massive Traveler, an area of the city that stood in almost constant shadow. As a result, the lifestyle of there was much different than the other areas of the city. It wasn’t a bad place, necessarily. The crime rate there was actually lower in comparison to other parts of the city. The Tower theorized it was because of the area’s close proximity to the dormant Traveler above.
It was called the Sheltered Zone, and it was Lexine’s favorite part of the city. The people there were pleasant, and carried a perpetual wonderstruck attitude towards the Traveler, and likewise, to the Guardians. Songsingers, storytellers, and artists alike were in no short supply there, where the legend of the Traveler still rang strong in the people’s hearts.
Lexine had only been on her patrol for a few hours, and she had already interacted with people much more as compared to her time in the Tower.
They asked many questions, and while some of them were naive or redundant, Lexine was happy to answer them.
“How is your armband on fire?” asked a young child while he waited for his mother to finish browsing a street vendor.
“We call it our bond. It’s a manifestation of the powers gifted from the Traveler," said Lexine, pointing towards the white sphere above them.
"Woah... does it hurt? The fire doesn't burn?"
Lexine gave a small laugh.
"No, not unless I want it to."
"Can I touch it?"
"Hmm... I suppose you can."
Lexine knelt before the little boy, leaning her left arm towards him. She had to be careful; if unchecked, her powers could harm herself and others around her. Her bond, however, was well within her control and she was comfortable with letting the child touch it.
"Go on," she gestured.
Slowly at first, the child reached out towards the circle of fire on her arm. When his hand made contact he jumped a little, not out of pain, but of surprise.
"It's not hot at all! And it feels funny... like..."
"Magic?"
The boy nodded with a grin.
"Come now, Artemis," said a voice behind the child. "Don't bother the guardian while she is working."
Lexine stood up to greet the mother.
"Good day, ma'am," she said.
"A pleasure, Guardian.”
“Mama, the guardian showed me her magic!”
“That’s amazing! I’ll tell you what; go find your sister, she’ll want to hear, and then you can tell us all about it.”
The giddy boy skipped off, eager to spread his tale.
“You’ve made his day,” said the mother. “Thank you for your time, Guardian.”
“The pleasure was mine, you and your family stay safe, ma’am.”
Lexine waved her off and watched as she rejoined her children.
“Way better than collecting metal halfway around the world, right?” said Ghost, appearing next to Lexine. She smiled in reply. “Well, I know I’ll be resting easy knowing you’ve made a pyro out of that child, congratulations.”
“Oh, shut up,” she laughed and pushed Ghost away.
For the rest of the day, Lexine roamed the streets and neighborhoods of the Sheltered Zone, occasionally using her Sparrow to cover the required checkpoints, but the majority of the time was spent on foot, and a decent portion of it interacting with locals.
“Can you hear what the Traveler is thinking right now?” asked another citizen later in the day, as he gazed at the sphere above.
“No, but I can feel its Light. Can you?”
The elderly man nodded and smiled as walked away.
“How old are you? I’ve met Guardians in their hundreds.” later said a woman as she sat nearby. The area was less crowded, as the sun began to set on the horizon.
“Compared to them, not close. I’m under a year old, and before I was a Guardian... I don’t know.”
“You don’t remember?” asked the woman.
“No. Just my name, and little else.”
“Well, I’m sorry about that, Guardian,” said the woman as she got up to leave. “Remember when you’re out there, the city is always rooting for you.”
“Good day, ma’am,” Lexine said and gestured the woman goodbye.
The topic lingered within Lexine’s mind for the rest of the evening. Until now, she hadn’t thought too much about her time before she was a Guardian. She was too caught up in this new world to think about the last, but now it started to bother her.
“Ghost, why did you pick me?” she asked as night began to fall, and the streets slowly fell asleep.
“What do you mean?”
“Ghosts search, sometimes for centuries, to find their Guardian. What do you look for? Why me?”
Ghost hovered around Lexine as he answered.
“We look for individuals who are worthy of wielding the Traveler’s light.”
“So, I was some kind of a saint before?”
“Perhaps. Or simply an honorable fighter. A good person.”
“A good person...”
“You have concerns, Lexine? About what that woman said to you earlier?”
“No. Well, yes... but it doesn’t matter. Nevermind.”
Several mechanical chirps resonated from Ghost as he began to speak.
“You know, when we were first brought into this world, we knew very little.”
“Ghosts?”
“Yes. The burning world around us was foreign, the Traveler a stranger, the Darkness an unknown threat. All we had was a directive, something we knew that needed to be done.”
“To find your Guardian.”
“Precisely. You and I are born from Light, for a purpose, and we share a unexplainable bond in this crusade. Ghosts were created by the Traveler, but even we don’t know where we come from.”
Lexine shifted her weight and leaned against the wall behind her.
“So we’re lost children, then,” she said. “Born into a world to fight for a cause that’s older than ourselves.”
“Poetically romantic, I suppose you can put it that way. But I don’t feel lost.”
“How do you feel?”
Ghost thought about it for a few moments.
“Hopeful. Afraid, sometimes.”
“Me too,” said Lexine, and they fell quiet.
The streets by now were mostly empty, and night had fully fallen above the city. The lights from the more populated areas of the city shone bright in the horizon, and Lexine could see the Tower’s lights in the distance.
Night was an interesting time for Lexine, with less things going on the outside, it became too easy to get lost in introspection. But lately, looking inwards only seemed to bother Lexine. Warlocks always had something to think about, whether they wanted to or not. The patrol, so far, had been a welcomed distraction from her stormy mind, but with the tranquil night, there was not much to occupy her thoughts.
As she drifted around in her mind, the transceiver within her helmet alerted her to an incoming transmission.
“Well, it’s our good friend, Deacon,” said Ghost. “Do you want to accept?”
“Yes, I’ll take it from here,” said Lexine.
Static filled her ears as the signal connected. As it cleared, she began to hear a familiar voice.
“Hey there Lex! How’s the patrol coming?”
“It’s slow now, but going well. What’s up?”
“Well, mine ends in a couple of hours, just wanted to see if you wanted to meet up. I’ve got some crazy things to tell you.”
“Sure, maybe I can top whatever story you’ve got.”
“Well, I doubt that,” he laughed, “but I’ll be right there. I’m not too far, see you soon.”
Lexine ended the transmission and removed her helmet. Ghost flashed next to her and circled around her head a few times before speaking.
“Another secret rendezvous, hmm?” he said.
“Oh, hush, you.” hissed Lexine. “Stop being so nosy.”
“I’m not being nosy.”
“You know, it’s rude to read my mind, even if you are my Ghost,” she said, crossing her arms.
“I can’t read your mind. I can only hear thoughts directed to me.”
“Well, what am I thinking right now?”
Ghost gave off some mechanical chirps.
“Hmm... it’s ‘Ghost, you’re a prying little ball of light and you should give me some space.’”
“Good job!”
“Fine, I’ll let you be for the night. Tell Deacon I want you back at the Tower before ten.”
“...I... am not going to acknowledge what you just said.”
With that, Ghost flashed away.
Deacon was one of the few guardians that Lexine shared a bond with. Many other guardians had rather large social circles, and they always seemed to have at least one companion with them on a given assignment. The majority of Lexine’s work was done solo, but when she needed a field partner, it was usually him.
She had met the Titan when she was a newborn guardian, during her first -- and only -- Crucible match. Lexine did not expect she would find a friend within the Crucible, and she certainly didn’t expect to make friends with the guardian that first felled her in the battle.
After the match, Lexine was upset with how it had turned out, and knew the other guardians would judge her for quitting. Deacon approached her and gave her consolation.
“Don’t beat yourself up over it,” he said. “I’m new too, so next time we’ll stick together.”
Of course, there was no ‘next time’ with the Crucible for Lexine, but she found herself with a companion for many of her future assignments. During a fight, the two of them synergized well together, and they learned many things from each other. In lots of ways, they had each other to thank for their relatively quick progression within their respective orders.
Outside of their duties, they still found some time to spend with each other. Lexine was glad to have a close friend, but exactly how close was something she still needed to figure out.
She left her train of thought as the sound of an approaching Sparrow echoed through the quiet streets. Deacon waved as he approached, and stopped his vehicle before Lexine.
“I ran into this hobo back there,” he said as he dismounted, “who insisted that he had an appointment with the Speaker. Said that I was to take him up the Tower.”
“Is that your crazy story?” Lexine laughed.
“Ha, no. That in a bit. It’s good to see you, Lex.”
“It’s good to see you too, D.”
Lexine felt there was some kind of gesture that needed to be done, but wasn’t sure how.
“Woah, what’s that there?” said Deacon “A hand cannon, that’s new.”
She looked down to the weapon holstered against her hip.
“Oh, yeah. From my last assignment.”
“How did that go, by the way?”
“Pretty interesting! We ended up recovering some Golden-Age tech there. Some kind of portal technology, I actually fought some horse thing that-”
“Wait,” interrupted Deacon. “You said portal technology?”
“Yeah, it was very interesting, but the Vanguard pulled the assignment from me before I could follow through. It kind of pissed me off, too.”
Deacon held a surprised look on his face.
“Spit it out, D,” said Lexine. “What’ve you got?”
“Well, it was that crazy thing I told you about earlier. The Vanguard gave me a special assignment, saying that some sort of lost portal technology was found over a week ago. They’ve been working on a prototype and installed it on a jump-ship.”
“Wha... for what?”
“Well, whatever’s on the other side needs to be investigated, so they offered me the assignment.”
“You’re kidding me.”
Lexine was ready to burst. The Vanguard knew that she wanted to follow through the new lead, but now she finds the Guardian that they’ve handed it off to.
“Oh... damn, I know how this must feel, Lex.”
“I can’t believe it! Did the Vanguard say if you could bring a partner along?”
“Well, no, I actually was told to keep this under wraps. I’ve only told you, but I didn’t know you were the guardian that found the technology in the first place.”
The Warlock had more than half a mind to go right back up the Tower and throw a fireball in the middle of their fancy hall.
“They know that you and I have partnered up many times before! If they wanted to hand it off to you, why didn’t they offer the assignment to me as well?”
Deacon only shook his head, knowing that the Vanguard’s direction was all they could follow.
“When do you leave?” asked Lexine.
“Tomorrow, after I report back from this patrol.”
Her mind was spinning. She wanted to be happy for her friend for finally getting a big assignment, as the two of them had been waiting for a long time. But she couldn’t feel that way, because it was her that discovered the lead. She needed to be the one on that jump-ship.
“Hey, sorry Lexine, I didn’t know,” said Deacon with remorse. “I would ask for you to come with, but the safety mechanisms on the ship call for only one passenger.”
“Where’s the ship now?”
“In the Tower hangar, but what-”
“Race you there!” shouted Lexine, as she called for a transmat for her Sparrow. It quickly appeared and she mounted, zooming off before Deacon could react.
“Oh, shit. Lex!”
Deacon jumped back on his Sparrow and chased behind her, their bright engines cutting through the still streets of the city.
Twilight Sparkle sifted through the towers of books stacked throughout her library. It was in disarray, and she was desperate for some particular information.
“If you would tell me what you’re looking for,” said Spike, who stood in the middle library with his arms crossed, “maybe I could help you.”
“No time! Darkness, Wanderer... portals reopening, to the Sol System? Maybe I should look in the mythology section instead...”
Spike walked across the cluttered library, passing by an eyesore of charts, graphs, scratched notes and tossed books. “If this is about those lights we saw,” he said, “the princesses already told us it’s been taken care of.”
“Those weren’t lights I saw, Spike!” said Twilight without lifting her eyes from the book she held. “He said the Hive are coming!”
“You still think you saw a monster? I was there too, Twilight, and I didn’t see or hear anything except the glowy little light.”
“I know what I saw, Spike, and these correlations I’ve been finding can prove it! At first glance, I thought these were extinct creatures from here in Equestria, but the Hive are some sort of alien race, and they are coming back!”
Spike rolled his eyes, only for a book to slam against his face.
“And look at that!” said Twilight. “It tells a story of another world, introduced to us by some being from the stars. This being was called the Wanderer, and it ‘united our worlds, and drove away the forces of darkness and brought prosperity across the universe.’ But when it describes this ‘darkness’, do you know what it tells us?”
“That it’s time for bed because somepony gets loopy after 9PM?”
“It describes an exact match to what these Hive creatures were like!”
“That doesn’t mean anything, maybe the author of that story got inspiration from it.”
“No there’s more! Historical accounts, studies on the origin of magic, beings from a different dimension, it’s connected somehow!”
Spike lifted the book that was thrown at him from before, and looked inside.
“What, to this ball?” he said, pointing to an illustration.
“Yes, Spike! That. Ball. Is. The. Answer.”
Spike gave Twilight an empty stare.
“Okay, Twi, if you want to stay down here and learn about wandering balls, then you go do that, but try to keep it down. I’m going to- hic!”
Spike belched out a flash of green flame from his mouth, and a neatly folded scroll emerged from it and fell to the floor.
“A letter this late?” he said.
Twilight levitated the letter towards her, broke the seal and opened it.
Princess Twilight,
Contrary to what we have told you before, the anomalies that have been surfacing near Ponyville were not mere lights, and they are still a matter of concern. Great concern.
We can’t tell you the matters over letter, so we are announcing our imminent arrival to Ponyville. We realize it may be an inconvenience, but we need you to gather your friends. The situation is sensitive, so please be swift and discrete.
We shall meet soon,
~Princess Celestia and Princess Luna
“I knew it!” shouted Twilight. “Haha, I was right! This is great!” The pony gasped, picking up the letter again. “Oh... no this is certainly not great. I need to get the others! Spike, tidy up the library while I get our friends before the princesses arrive!”
Twilight didn’t bother with walking out of the library, she teleported away in a flash, leaving Spike alone with her chaotic mess. He grumbled to himself as he picked up a pile of crumpled paper.
“Just as I was about to go to bed... it’s gonna be a long night.”
NEW MISSION ASSIGNED - Vanguard Assignment -- Objective Abandoned CITY PATROL - Patrol city sector four, also known as the Sheltered Zone. Complete all check points in a twenty-four hour period, report back to the Tower when finished. -- CHECKPOINTS REACHED:10/12
DIRECTIVE OVERRIDE - MANUAL DISCONNECT FROM TOWER COMMUNICATIONS.
“It is in your moments of decision that your destiny is shaped.”
~Tony Robbins
Six ponies gathered in the center of the library.
All of them, save for one particular pink pony, stood wobbly and lazily, eyes half closed. Twilight was quick to gather them, teleporting from home to home, giving them half-coherent explanations as to why she needed their audience so late at night. They knew there would be a good reason, likely in the form of bad news, but fatigue reigned over them nevertheless.
“So Twilight,” Pinkie squeaked, bright and alert as ever, “why’dya bring us over to your house? It’s a really weird time to throw a surprise party.”
“Ugh, you brought us over for a slumber party?” moaned Rainbow Dash.
“No, not at all,” said Twilight. “Didn’t you listen when I woke you?”
Applejack rubbed her eyes and yawned.
“You’ve got to give me one or two or ten minutes,” she said, “if you’re gunna wake me in the middle of the night. You were blabbing somethin’ the minute you came to my door. Didn’t catch much.”
Rarity sat with her sleep mask still upon her head. “Sorry dear,” she said, “I heard something about the princesses?”
Pinkie gasped.
“The princesses are coming to the party?! Twilight, you should’ve told me sooner!”
“Yes, everypony listen!” Twilight huffed. “This is important, girls. Princess Celestia and Luna are on their way as we speak, and the situation is dire. You girls remember those strange lights outside of town several days back?”
“That’s what this is about?” yawned Rainbow.
“Yes, I remember,” whispered Fluttershy, her voice barely audible. “Whatever it was, it was scaring the animals in the forests. Scared me too...”
“But didn’t Princess Luna already take care of that business?” said Applejack.
“That’s what I thought too,” Twilight said. “But I’ve had reason to believe otherwise, and this letter from the princesses have confirmed it.”
Twilight held up the scroll that was sent to her just moments earlier. The royal seal was clear for all the ponies to see.
“What is it, then, Twilight?” asked Rarity.
“The princesses will be here soon, so I can’t explain much... but if what I believe is true, then our entire world is in danger. An ancient evil, older than the Celestia and Luna themselves, is coming back.”
Outside, the winds began to pick up. The branches and leaves of the library rustled and swayed, and a sharp, airy noise could be heard from above. The winds changed to a less natural sound, like a constant hiss that grew progressively louder. The air blasted to a crescendo as a loud crack resonated, just outside the door. The ponies jumped at whatever impacted outside, already on edge after Twilight’s words.
“What the hay was that?” shouted AJ.
A soft knock came from the door.
“Wow,” said Twilight. “That was really fast.”
She walked over the door and opened it, giving way to two large ponies standing outside. She bowed her head at first then embraced them, her worried look disappearing for just a moment.
“I’m very glad to see you, your Highnesses,” said Twilight.
Princess Celestia and Luna stepped into the library, and the other ponies greeted them with respect. Luna shut the door behind them as the ponies gathered close.
“Likewise, we’re glad to see you all,” said Princess Celestia.
“We know it’s an inconvenient time for everypony, but we need to make haste,” continued Luna. “Please, come close. We will explain everything, but here is not the place.”
Celestia and Luna both began to cast their magic, horns together glowing brightly. The ponies were anxious, but trusted the princesses fully, and huddled as an aura began to surround them. The light grew brighter, and in a flash, the ponies blinked from the library, leaving silence in their wake.
The sound of small feet dotted down the stairs moments after.
“Hey Twilight, I moved the last of the books upstairs like you asked,” said Spike, hollering from the top of the stairs. “In alphabetical order and all that... so hey, just wake me when our friends and the princesses get here, kay?” He yawned, walking back up the stairs. “I’m going back to bed.”
The ponies, eight in all, flashed into their destination. None of them felt tired anymore, with the rush of a mass teleportation spell flowing in their bodies.
“Wow, that was awesome, do it again!” shouted Pinkie, her voice echoing through a massive hall, with tall shelves of books as far as they could see.
“Oh, grand,” muttered Rarity. “Another library.”
“Where are we?” asked Rainbow Dash.
“I recognize these seals,” said Twilight, glossing over a stack of books on a table nearby. “Are we in the Royal Canterlot Library?”
Luna gazed at their surroundings before responding.
“Yes, technically. We are in a separate chamber far below the castle.”
“This place looks ancient,” said Twilight. She picked up an old book and blew the dust off the cover. Even then, it was faded and barely legible.
“That’s because it is,” said Celestia. “We are safe here, but we will waste no time.”
The ponies stood in a circle around Luna and Celestia, listening intently.
“The future of our world is in danger,” said Luna. “A darkness is coming back.”
“But this is no Discord,” continued Celestia, “or King Sombra, or even Nightmare Moon. This evil comes from the stars.”
“Aliens?” asked Rainbow Dash.
“What do you mean, ‘coming back’?” asked Applejack.
“It goes by many names,” said Luna, “and yes, it has been here before.” Her horn began to glow, and several books started to fly at her from throughout the library at lightning speed. She levitated the books in a circle above her, opening them all to reveal various texts and illustrations. A few of the books were so old that it seemed like Luna’s magic was the only force holding them together.
“The Hive,” Celestia said. “An alien race bent on pure evil.”
The books showed many images of the Hive. The twisted bodies of the Thrall, the hideous Ogres, the frightening Knights. A distinct drawing showed a large, three-eyed monster, standing with a grotesque sword, and with it, a name.
“Kairus,” said Luna. “He came before, and tried to take our world by force. We would have fallen to his Darkness, but we were ready.”
“So you’ve beat them before?” asked Twilight. “Kairus, and these creatures?”
“Yeah, we’re all still standin’.” said Applejack.
“Before the Kairus and his army came for Equestria,” said Luna, “we had another visitor.” She sent the books above her away, and new ones floated in to replace them. She opened these, and showed their contents to the ponies. The drawings and texts of these were much different from the last set of books.
“Eons ago, before Nightmare, Discord, Sombra, and Kairus, before Luna and myself, before Equestria and the gifts of magic, came the Wanderer,” said Celestia.
One of the books showed a large spherical object floating in the sky, and on the ground below it were masses of ponies, praising towards it.
“Our world was a perilous place,” said Luna, “and the Wanderer gave us the gifts we needed to survive together. It bestowed magic upon our race. Earth ponies harnessed the unforgiving lands, pegasi were given flight, and the unicorns channelled the pure magic of the Wanderer.”
The books showed drawings of the three tribes, an ancient story that was well-known among the ponies. The first civilizations, the spread of ponykind, and the hardships that were endured.
“Our race did not go untested, as you may know,” continued Celestia. “After many struggles, we emerged from our turbulent world, victorious, and with the founding of Equestria, the Wanderer deemed us worthy of its gifts.”
Luna raised a particular book towards the ponies, showing an image of two ponies, bestowed with both wings and horns.
“The Wanderer chose two of our race to lead Equestria, and gave to them a power and responsibility like no other. Celestia and I, deemed the first Alicorns, were given this momentous task.”
“And to this day, our duties still stand.”
The ponies stood, shocked at the revelation. The princesses understood, and gave them a few moments to take it all in.
“The history books I’ve read,” said Twilight, the first to speak, “they’re all wrong, then?”
“No, actually,” answered Celestia. “The history of ponykind begins with the Wanderer, and everything that came after has been a part of our story. Many things are lost to time, something that books can lose to myth and legend.”
“Like those aliens?” said Rainbow. “Where do those guys fit in?”
Luna sent the last of the books above them hurtling away towards distant shelves.
“Kairus and his kind came shortly after the birth of Equestria. Celestia and I were young, eager to prove ourselves but our magic was still so new to us.”
“The reason books today tell so little of the the Hive,” said Celestia, “is because they were driven away so swiftly, with the Wanderer’s help. Our unskilled magic alone was not enough to defeat them, so the Wanderer intervened, sending Kairus and his army far away. Unfortunately, in this act, the Wanderer left us, too.”
“But now Kairus is back,” said Twilight. “And we’ll be able to stop them again, right?”
They did not answer at first.
“Right, Princess?”
“That is why we have brought you here,” said Celestia. “Somehow, the Darkness has found us again, and a war is coming. Now, more than ever, we need the Elements of Harmony to help guide and defend Equestria from this evil.”
“Here in Canterlot,” said Luna, “you will be kept safe while Celestia and I will help prepare you for the times to come.”
“Ya’ll are asking us to fight?” asked Applejack.
“We’re asking you to be ready.”
“What about everypony else?” asked Rarity. “Surely all should be warned of what is coming.”
“We left in such a hurry...” added Fluttershy.
“We needed to vacate the Elements from Ponyville as soon as we could,” said Luna. “Equestria’s best chance rests on all that are here now.”
“You must understand,” continued Celestia, “plans are being put into effect for the public as we speak, but we are running out of time. We know it is a lot to ask, of any pony, but all of Equestria will be counting on us to make the right choices, at the right time.”
Rainbow Dash flew above her friends.
“Well, I dunno about you guys,” she said, “but I’m not afraid of Kairus and his cronies. I’m ready to kick some alien butt, any day!”
“Same here, I’m ready!” beamed Pinkie Pie.
“I, as well!” said Rarity.
The other ponies echoed their words of approval.
“Whatever is asked of us, whatever it takes,” said Twilight, “we’re willing to do what needs to be done to protect Equestria.”
“We are very grateful for your dedication,” said Celestia. “Now, come. We will bring you to the castle, where you will stay. More will be conducted tomorrow, but for now, you should rest.”
Rarity gasped. “We’re staying in the castle!”
“Just a moment, Princess,” said Twilight. “Do you mind if I take some of these books with me? It seems like there’s a lot I could learn about what’s coming.”
“Take what you wish, but do not delay,” said Celestia. “Princess Luna, could you stay with her? I will take the others up to the castle.”
Luna nodded, and the others gathered close around Celestia. Yellow magic surrounded the ponies before they teleported away, leaving Twilight and Luna in the library.
“Great!” said Twilight. “I’ll be quick. Spike, could you help me carry some of these books?”
Twilight gasped when she realized where he still was.
“Oh no! Spike is still in Ponyville!”
“Ah.. no issue,” said Luna. Her horn began to glow. “I suspect he is in the same place...”
A bright spark lit up the dim library as a small bed appeared before them. In it, Spike was still fast asleep.
“Lexine, of all of your brightest ideas, this has got be the dullest.”
“Oh, enough already,” hissed Lexine. “Whose side are you on?”
“The side that doesn’t get us killed or exiled,” said Ghost. “I don’t want to live on the moon.”
Lexine ignored him, she was occupied with the goal before her. She was back at the Tower, her last mission abandoned. If a Guardian decided to do such a thing, the Vanguard would ask for some kind of explanation, but Lexine could not give them hers. She wanted the mission that she believed was rightfully hers, and she was determined to take the ship that would take her there.
Despite Ghost’s protests, Lexine disabled passive communications with the Tower. It was still night, and her absence has gone unnoticed, but she was taking no chances. The hangar bay of the Tower, where she was now, was mostly vacant, a stark contrast to the constant arrival and departures of Guardian ships during the day. She was in the Tower’s hangar bay now, but was without her armor. She managed to sneak into an engineer’s jumpsuit, posing as a worker on the flight deck. Across the deck, the ship was dormant along the flight line. Now, she was thinking as to how she could get onboard and takeoff, while staying under the nose of the Tower.
Heavy footsteps approached from the hall near her, interrupting what plan she had formulated in her mind. Quickly, she reached for the pair of safety goggles on her head and pulled them over her eyes, hoping it would help hide her identity.
“Nice try Lex,” said the guardian, stopping in front of her. “By the way, that outfit makes you look fat.”
“Oh, go to hell,” she said, pulling the goggles off and throwing them at the guardian. It bounced off his armor and crumpled to the floor. “What took you so long?”
He crossed his arms. “What are you doing, Lexine?” he said in singsong.
“What do you think, Deacon?”
“Well, if my hunch is correct; and I’m usually correct; you’re fixing to steal that ship.”
“My ship. My mission. Are you going to help me, or not?”
Deacon laughed.
“You know, Lex, I would, but what the hell am I supposed to tell the Vanguard? That we traded?”
Lexine turned towards the ship. “Fine, I’ll do it myself.” She hopped over the guardrail to the flight deck and started towards it.
“No, wait!” Deacon chased after her. “Look, you know I’ll stick my neck out for you,” he said, grabbing her shoulder, “and we can both agree the Vanguard are total jerks for giving us these cards like this.”
“But...?”
“But we don’t know what’s waiting for us on the other side,” said Deacon. “If we lose you to a mission that was supposed to be for me, I don’t know how-”
“You don’t need to worry about that.” Lexine sighed. “Look, I ran into that portal back in Los Angeles, and fought what came through” she said. “So I have a good idea what I’m up against. I need this assignment, Deacon. I need this chance.”
“Okay... fine. But you follow my lead,” he said, passing in front of her. “Whatever plan you had to snag this thing was probably crap, anyways.”
The two walked across the flight deck towards the ship. The hangar bay was mostly empty during that time of the night, and fortunately for them, the shipwright was off duty. That meant the only obstacle they needed to face was the security droid frame guarding the ship. If she could take off fast enough, Lexine could avoid a confrontation with Tower flight control.
Lexine’s initial plan was to somehow sneak past the frame, but with Deacon’s help, there should be no need to. As they got closer, the frame noticed their presence and raised its arm to signal them to stop.
“Halt, this is a restricted area,” it said. “Authorized personnel only. Please state your business.”
“We’re here to do some last minute integrity checks on my ship before takeoff tomorrow,” said Deacon. “Make sure everything is good to go.”
“One moment,” said the frame “Scanning...”
After a few moments, it continued.
“This ship is authorized for Deacon-23, credentials match. Scanning second visitor...”
Lexine held her breath. Her ID transmitter was offline, to avoid detection within the Tower. She was unsure how the security frame would react, now that she was being actively scanned.
“Security pass detected, Engineer 2rd Class Marcs, access authorized. You are both free to proceed.”
Lexine felt the faint pressure of an object inside her left breast pocket. Careless, for whoever owned the jumpsuit, but very convenient for her. The two guardians continued past the frame and entered the ship.
She was familiar with the model type, and knew how to handle the controls. This particular ship, however, was modified with Golden-Age portal technology, something she knew little about.
“Alright Lex, you’re on,” said Deacon. “So, how do you want to do this?”
“I’m leaving as soon as possible,” said Lexine. “Ghost, transmat all of my gear to this ship.”
“Already done.”
In an instant, a white flash enveloped Lexine’s body, and she was back in her armor. Mechanical noises filled the ship as Ghost tuned with its systems.
“The mission dossier is in the ship’s databank,” said Deacon. “So you’ll find everything you need to know there. A simple scouting mission as far as I know, but y’know, in another dimension.”
“Files downloaded.”
“And speaking of dimensions,” continued Deacon, “the portal tech. The ship’s warp drive was modified, so instead of making a normal jump, the ship will pass through whatever you saw back in LA.”
“Got it,” said Lexine. “I’m ready.”
“Hey Lex,” said Deacon. “You’d better come back.”
“Don’t worry about me,” she said reassuringly. “I know what I’m doing.”
“I know. But just in case you run into anything big and nasty, some of my weapons are in the ship’s storage. They’re all yours.”
“Thanks, D. I don’t know what I’ll do without you.” Without thinking, she reached over and hugged him, their armor making the embrace clunky and awkward. However, to her infinite relief, he returned the gesture.
After what was probably too long, Lexine turned towards the ships controls, her hand priming for startup.
“Well, you’ll find out very soon,” answered Deacon, “so you be careful out there.”
Lexine nodded, and Deacon turned back towards the exit ramp, stepping out of the ship as it closed shut. As soon as it was secured, Lexine took her place in the pilot’s seat. She knew that once she activated the ship’s engines, the Tower would know something was off. The ship should be able to take off and break orbit before any action would take place, but Lexine hoped Deacon would be able to handle whatever fallout was to come.
“Well, that went well,” said Ghost, appearing beside Lexine.
“You think so? Friends do that, right?”
“I was referring to the commandeering of the ship. As for that, don’t ask me. I don’t have arms. Or a body. Or friends, really.”
Lexine chuckled, and activated the startup sequence. The runway was clear, and Deacon was smart to leave the area as soon as possible. She flipped several switches and the ship’s engine roared to life. Gripping the controls, Lexine navigated the ship towards the hangar bay opening. As she suspected, an incoming transmission from the Tower flight control hailed her ship. She ignored their words, and instead hit full throttle.
The ship blasted out of the hangar bay and into the sky. It ascended into the atmosphere at blinding speed, too fast for those back at the Tower to react. The Last City below faded to faint lights and the Traveler grew smaller as they ascended. Lexine took one last good look at them, knowing that she would need their strength, wherever she was going. Within moments, the ship was in orbit above Earth. Avoiding interception, Lexine activated the ship’s jump drive.
The ship hovered in time, and after a few seconds, it disappeared into the darkness of space.
VANGUARD ASSIGNMENT -- DIRECTIVE OVERRIDE - Scouting Mission UNKNOWN LOCATION - Portal technology originating from the Golden Age was recently recovered. Hive activity and unknown hostile organisms are in correlation with the technology. Investigate possible threats that may wait on the other side, utilizing a modified jumpship to pass through. If possible, avoid direct confrontation and engagement. Return to the Vanguard with your findings.
NEW JUMPSHIP ACQUIRED - Kestrel Class MODIFIED AX - Base model experimental jumpship. This ship has been modified with Golden-Age portal technology, enabling it to pass through certain dimensions in sacrifice to jump capabilities.
NEW WEAPON ACQUIRED - Rocket Launcher DESPOT SA/5 - A high-end general-purpose launcher, built for oppression through controlled devastation.
“We are travelers, constantly moving forward, and looking back. Alone, and as one. We have no choice but to try; for our insatiable curiosity, for our fear of what should happen if we don't..."
~Commander Shepard
Lexine cursed at the diagnostics display before her.
Today was looking to be a bad day. Within moments of exiting jump-space, things went south, very quickly. First off, Lexine was expecting to jump into outer space, presumably near the orbit of whatever planet she was to explore. Certainly, she didn’t expect to jump straight within an atmosphere.
When a ship exits jump-space, it’s still traveling at very high speeds. Upon entering an atmosphere, a pilot needs enough time to properly slow descent to prevent burning up on reentry.
Unfortunately for Lexine, this wasn’t an ordinary jump. Considering that little was known about the other end of the portal, she should’ve felt lucky that she wasn’t jumped into the core of a star.
Still, traveling at several miles a second in the lower atmosphere of a planet isn’t exactly an optimal situation. Upon entering, the ship was subject to violent deceleration against the air of the atmosphere. The outer hull took extensive heat damage, and a multitude of the ship’s external instruments were incinerated. To make matters worse, whatever energy was released when she exited the portal managed to fry some crucial internal functions of the ship. The ground below was approaching rapidly, and there was only one thing Lexine could do.
Slow down.
From the ground, the ship looked like a meteorite falling from the sky. Even though air friction was causing the ship to slow down, the impact would still be deadly; destroying the ship and anything unfortunate to be around it.
Lexine activated the air brakes and put what little power the ship had towards the reverse thrusters.
As the earth below got closer, she could make out small details of the land. She was headed straight towards a lush mountainside, against which looked to be a small city. She could see settlements dotted all over the rolling hills that spread to the horizon. Besides the Last City, Lexine had never seen occupied settlements. Of all the places she explored, everything was either dead or abandoned. An opportunity to explore a new frontier was exactly what she wanted, if she could first survive the landing.
“Ghost, how are we looking?” she shouted amidst the chaos within her ship. Warning lights and sounds throughout made it hard to focus.
“We’ve slowed down enough so that we won’t cause a mile-wide crater,” said Ghost, “but the ship will still be totaled, and we won’t survive. We’re going too fast.”
“Maybe I can maneuver the ship to a softer landing. It looks like we’re heading straight towards that city.”
“At these speeds, not likely. Our main thrusters are offline and we’ve lost most controls.”
“Dammit!”
Lexine needed to do something, quick, or else the whole mission was going to be a failure before she even started.
“As a last ditch effort,” said Ghost, “I can transmat us out of the ship before we hit the ground.”
“Won’t that still kill us, anyways? We’re moving too fast, we’ll hit the ground really hard.”
“Yeah, well, it will kill you. I can float.”
Lexine shot a cold stare at Ghost.
“What?” he said. “I’ll bring you back, of course.”
“No. No, wait, let me try something.”
Even in the most dire of situations, a Guardian must always find a solution, and more often than not, that solution lies with their Light. Lexine thought back to when she learned a new defensive technique from Ikora Rey. When fighting enemies in close quarters, a Warlock can channel their Light to form a very tough barrier around their body, protecting them from harm. She aimed to do the same thing now, with the ship.
Lexine focused and began to harness her inner Light. From outside, a light blue barrier grew and engulfed the ship. Lexine strained to keep it active against such a large mass, but it held.
“A flame shield?” said Ghost. “Good thinking. If you could glide the ship as well, it would help.”
Lexine knew what Ghost meant. There was no way to manually put the ship into a glide, as the controls were offline. No, Ghost was referring to a Warlock’s glide ability, which was a way of movement through controlled levitation. When performed properly, a glide could let Warlocks survive falls from great heights.
If she could pull it off, utilizing her Light to glide and shield her ship, then both her and the ship could survive the impact, possibly in one piece.
“If it looks like I can’t do this,” said Lexine, “then you go ahead with Plan B!”
Lexine strained against the size and weight of the ship. Normally, the act of gliding and shielding herself would come as easy as breathing. However, the act of shielding a ship many times larger than her body, along with levitating a mass falling with the force of a bomb, this was exponentially different. She certainly felt the strain, but it was working.
Through the painful effort, Lexine could feel the ship slowing. If she could open her eyes, she would see the mountainside city getting closer. At that height, the denizens below could be seen, dotting the many streets and walkways. They were scattering, knowing of the projectile from the sky that was coming straight for them.
“Brace for impact,” said Ghost.
“Five...”
The ship’s hull creaked and groaned in protest of the intense forces against it.
“...Four...”
Lexine’s Light was strong, but not endless.
“...Three...”
Citizens of the city below acted quickly, clearing the streets to take cover from the fireball hurtling towards them.
“...Two...”
Lexine devoted all of her strength to the final moments, fighting against the rules of physics to survive the impact.
“...One.”
The smell of scorched metal was the first sense that Lexine regained. The taste of metal came shortly afterwards. A shock of pain flared up from her stomach. She forced her eyes open to see the the damage.
Instead of open space, her eyes met against the familiar HUD of her visor. Ghost must have equipped her helmet moments before the crash. A proper precaution, but even her armor couldn’t prevent all damage. A sharp piece of debris managed to pierce both her passive shields and armor, lodging itself into her lower abdomen. Not fatal, but it certainly hurt. She reached down and grasped the hot piece of metal. Gritting her teeth, Lexine pulled it free. The pain was blinding at first, but it quickly dissipated. She decided the wound was mostly superficial, and the piece of metal didn’t pierce too far deep.
The damage done to her ship, however, wasn’t nearly as negligible. Besides the majority of internal systems deemed completely inoperable, physical damage to the hull and the ship’s engines were irreparable, at least in the foreign location they were in now.
“It worked!” said Ghost, appearing next to Lexine. “Well, relatively speaking. We could have been smashed into a million bits.”
“Yes, but now we’re stuck here,” said Lexine as she forcefully ripped her seat restraints off. “Nobody had any idea that the ship would be in mid-atmosphere whe-”
Lexine interrupted herself with a sharp gasp as she attempted to rise from the pilot’s seat. She gripped her wound, fresh blood trickling out of the break in her armor.
“You’re hurt,” said Ghost. “Here, let me-”
“I need to know what’s outside. Let me guess, visual sensors are offline?”
“Yep. Opening blast shields.”
Slowly and clumsily, several external plates along the outside of the ship shifted to expose the one-way windshields in front of the cockpit. The dark interior of the ship flooded with light, and for the first time, Lexine took a proper look of the world she arrived in.
Up close, she saw the city was much more lively than from the sky. Though it was cleared following the crash, several shops and street vendors lined the area, giving the impression that the street was busy only moments before. Within the buildings, Lexine could see movement, most likely the citizens hiding. Windows, doors, sidewalks, and streetlights; though the planet was foreign, Lexine felt more at home here than she ever did anywhere but the Last City.
“Congratulations,” said Ghost. “You’ve established first contact with new extraterrestrial life.”
Lexine noticed a group of the aliens moving towards the ship. They were dressed in something metallic, shiny; and held primitive melee weapons. Lexine could recognize armor and spears anywhere, even on an alien planet.
“Not yet, I haven’t,” said Lexine. “Let’s go say hello.”
“Right now? Shouldn’t we take care-”
“Right now, Ghost.”
Ghost made some mechanical noises and Lexine’s scout rifle appeared in her hands.
“Just in case,” he said. Moments after, they disappeared from inside the ship.
Outside, the armored aliens surrounded the ship in a circular formation. Lexine appeared outside, her weapon at the ready but not yet raised. She looked closely at the aliens, and they looked familiar. The creature she encountered at the science facility was not unlike the aliens that faced her now. Indeed, in many ways they held similarities with what she knew as horses, four legs, tails, and long faces. Yet, these were different from the monster that emerged from the portal. They were alive, by comparison, and that’s what set them apart, even if their weapons were pointed directly at her.
One of the aliens shouted something, something that had to be a command, in a language that Lexine could not understand. She didn’t want to seem like a threat, but she wasn’t about to comply to the alien’s wishes just yet.
“I mean no harm, but I need to speak to your leader,” Lexine said, despite knowing her words would likely fail to be understood.
The alien replied louder, more aggressively.
“Ghost,” Lexine whispered, “can you translate?”
“Already working on it... but I need you to keep them talking.”
Lexine understood, and turned back towards them.
She turned behind her, seeing that the aliens had completely surrounded her and her ship. The street behind her was ravaged, a direct result of her rough landing. If her plan didn’t work, there would be a large crater in the middle of the city instead of a large scrape along a roadside. At first glance, it didn't look like there were civilian casualties.
The aliens around her hadn’t attacked, so they weren’t looking to kill her, at least not yet.
“I’m sorry about the road,” said Lexine. “I did everything I could to make a soft landing.”
The alien, who looked like the leader of the bunch as it was always the one calling commands, responded to Lexine’s words. Of course, she couldn’t understand.
“Keep them going.”
“Look, I just need you to keep talking so I can actually understand you.”
The alien replied, sounding more and more impatient. The others rose their spears towards Lexine.
“...And so you can understand me. Let’s just take it easy here.”
The alien started shouting again, barking more commands to Lexine. Every word was important, and Ghost was gaining progress, but the situation wasn’t.
“Keep yelling at me,” Lexine said, as calmly as she could to avoid escalation. “It’s pointless what either of us say right now.”
Under command, the aliens began to advance towards Lexine, weapons forward. Lexine held her own weapon firmly, but didn’t raise it just yet. She raised her left arm into the air, hoping they would be able to read body language.
“Hey, we don’t need any trouble.”
She backed against her ship, trying to show as little aggressiveness as possible. The aliens continued their advance. Lexine remained calm, with the primitive weapons and armor they had, they likely stood little chance against her in a fight. Still, she greatly preferred not to start relations with an alien world with bloodshed.
Just then, a large shadow quickly passed over them, followed by a large blast of wind. Something just flew over them, and Lexine looked up to see what it was. Whatever it was passed by very quickly, and when she looked up, the blue skies were clear. The aliens around her seemed unfazed, like they knew exactly what was going on.
Moments later, readings from her scanner began appearing on her visor.
WARNING!!
SIGNIFICANT SOLAR ENERGY DETECTED
In an instant, a bright flash appeared between Lexine and the aliens. It looked like a small explosion of fire, and gave off heat, but it wasn’t an explosion. As quickly as the flash appeared, it was gone, and in its place was another alien, much larger than the rest.
Lexine recognized the form of this particular alien instantly. Wings, and the horn on its head; it looked very similar to the monster she fought before. Even now, the horn began glowing bright yellow as it approached Lexine.
It started to speak, in a quiet voice.
“Lexine, the energy signature coming from that one is very close to what we saw in LA,” said Ghost.
“Just focus on their words,” she reminded him.
The large alien walked closer, pointing its glowing horn towards Lexine. She noticed something along its head, where even in an alien world it was an indistinguishable object.
A crown.
She threw her rifle around her shoulder, and raised both of her hands. To others, Lexine looked disarmed, but a Warlock with her hands raised was far from it. Lexine just needed to play the part, she was messing with royalty now. The alien began to speak again, and Lexine noticed its voice was more feminine than the others.
“Just a moment, your highness. Let’s not make any bad decisions.”
The alien seemed to acknowledge Lexine’s passive behavior, but her horn kept glowing nonetheless. She was very close now, and Lexine could feel the heat radiating from the bright light.
“Ghost, hurry up!”
“Just a couple more seconds... done! Transferring data to your helmet!”
“...I em ruailr du ask erc irrui...one more time,” said the alien, her words garbled as the translation data began to take effect.
It was choppy, but Lexine understood those last words perfectly well.
“Make a wrong move, and I will not hesitate.” she said again, as clear as day. Her horn began to glow brighter.
“Your highness, wait,” said Lexine. As she spoke, her helmet translated her words and relayed them to the outside. Some of the aliens jumped in surprise, and Lexine knew it worked.
“You speak our language?”
“It took some time, but my helmet is translating for us. I apologize for the rough introduction,” she paused and looked back at her broken ship, “but I had some trouble getting here.”
“Here... from where?”
“I mean no harm to your people. My name is Lexine, a Guardian from the planet called Earth.”
The alien stared at Lexine inquisitively for a moment, before replying.
“A pleasure, under the circumstances. I am Princess Celestia, of Equestria.”
Celestia cleared her throat, as the tension fell and gave way to subtle unpleasantness.
“An honor, Your Majesty,” said Lexine, attempting to break it. Her hunch was correct, she was standing face to face with this land’s leader, and they were seconds away from a fight. Now that they had broken the language barrier, Lexine felt there were certain pleasantries in order.
She called for a scan for the atmosphere around her. It came to little surprise that the air was virtually indistinguishable from Earth’s own atmosphere. She decided it safe, and removed her helmet. She held it in her arms and gave the princess a bow in respect to her obvious authority.
Celestia inspected the Guardian closely. Two-legged, small eyes, flat face, and a mane not unlike her own on her head. The armor she wore concealed her body, but not her form, and Celestia recognized it, in memories from long ago.
“Could it be?” Celestia whispered. “A human, after all this time?”
The princess noticed red liquid dripping to the ground.
“You’re injured,” said Celestia. “Do you need attention?”
Lexine reequipped her helmet, knowing what Celestia was saying, despite lacking the translation.
“It’s fine,” she said. “Ghost?”
“On it,” said Ghost, appearing next to them. Celestia tracked him with curiosity as he floated towards Lexine’s wound. Ghost cast a small light towards the area, and it quickly began to repair itself. Bleeding stopped, the wound was sealed, and the armor was repaired, all in one swift treatment.
“Fascinating,” said Celestia, staring at Lexine’s floating friend.
“Princess, I come with major concerns from my home,” said Lexine, cutting straight to the point. “Something I’m hoping you can assist us with.”
“Yes,” she replied, “your visit has fallen on the most curious of times. Let us escort you to the castle, where we can speak further on the matter.”
“The castle?” asked Ghost.
“Yes,” said Celestia, directing their attention to the mountain.
Lexine looked towards the top of the mountain, where a grand castle stood along the edge. To her, it was a marvel of architecture, rivaling that of the Tower itself. Golden archways, falling waterways, and beautifully decorated banners and flags highlighted the city’s allure.
“Wow,” said Ghost. “Good thing you slowed us down.”
Celestia gestured Lexine to follow as she and her guards walked on towards the castle. Lexine looked back towards her ship as it lay broken in the ruined cobblestone street.
“Have this area secured,” said Celestia to one of her guards. He nodded and turned back. “Guardian Lexine, with us?”
Lexine complied, following the princess and the group of guards.
“Welcome to Canterlot,” said Celestia, “capital city of Equestria.”
It was a lot in such a short time, but Lexine tried to take in as much as she could from the world around her. The walk to the palace was uneventful, but as she walked through the streets of Canterlot, she knew she was the center of attention. The “ponies”, as they called themselves, kept their eyes on her every step of the way. Some eyes were fearful and suspicious, others curious and even friendly. Luckily for the human, the presence of the Princess helped alleviate their concerns.
In any case, her arrival in Canterlot created quite a stir, and it resonated through the entire city.
The portal led her straight to Equestria, the same exact name that the monster from Earth uttered in its last words. Her first impression of the place, however, was that it was largely unremarkable, at least in terms of an impending threat. This “Equestria” seemed lacking in any technological progress. The buildings were archaic in style, and the guards had simple metal armor and weaponry. It was all beautifully detailed, but primitive nonetheless. Of what Lexine had seen, the only thing that could be notable were of the ponies’ abilities. Besides those that possessed wings to fly, others had horns, and the qualities of which she was very curious in.
As they walked, Lexine saw ordinary citizens perform surprising feats. A pony was utilizing an act of levitation to carry a crate of tools. Another pony used her horn to stimulate instantaneous growth in a pot of flowers. What really caught Lexine’s attention was a group of ponies, who looked to be students judging from their collection of books, that were practicing amongst themselves a teleportation act. After an abrupt glow of his horn, a pony would pop out of one space and appear in another.
Besides Guardians, there was nothing else that Lexine had encountered before that was able to perform such miraculous acts without the help of advanced technology. To these ponies, it came as natural to them as blinking, or breathing.
Of course, Lexine would have greatly preferred to observe this new world from the outside looking in, but the circumstances of her arrival made that impossible. With no chance to scout ahead of time, she hoped her situation with the ponies remained under control. Playing ambassador and diplomat wasn't exactly part of her skill set, but Lexine recognized the unique position she was in. The Equestrians seemed peaceful enough, but whatever she encountered in Los Angeles came from the portal, and the portal led her to Equestria.
After some time, they arrived at the castle. The guards left them, and Celestia led Lexine through a series of hallways.
“I am sorry for the abrupt introductions,” said Celestia, “but I feel time is not on our side. There are several other ponies I wish you to meet.”
They arrived in a large conference hall, where several ponies looked to be waiting their arrival. One of them stood out and approached Celestia.
“Sister, why have you brought it to the castle?” she said. “I thought this meeting was only with you.”
“Princess Luna, this is Lexine. She is a guest and has requested an audience. I believe we should be interested in what she has to say.”
“Pleased to meet you, Your Highness,” said Lexine with a bow, meeting royalty for the second time today. It was expected, she was in a castle after all.
Another pony approached Lexine, or rather flew towards her, so quickly that she wasn’t expecting it.
“This is the alien from the sky?” she said suspiciously.
“Rainbow Dash, don’t be rude,” said another pony. She walked up to Lexine and introduced herself. “Hello! I am Princess Twilight Sparkle,” she said. “I have so many questions! Where did you come from? How did you get here? What are you wearing?”
Aside from the torrent of questions, Lexine had to make an effort to process these ridiculous names.
“All in due time, Twilight,” said Princess Celestia. “Lexine, you must have went through a lot to get here, and I’m sure it wasn’t for a simple visit.”
“Yes. I traveled here through a portal that connected our two worlds. Something hostile came from your end to ours. It threatened war, and I was sent to investigate.”
“I assure you, the nation of Equestria wish no conflict with your world,” said Celestia.
“Can you describe this hostile something?” asked Luna.
“Well,” said Lexine, “it looked mostly like you. A pony, with wings and a horn, but it looked like it was sick or corrupted. Not normal like the ponies I saw in the city. It attacked me, but I defeated it, and before it fell, it told me these words:”
Ghost appeared beside Lexine.
“Audio playback. ‘Equestria will fall, and in its wake, Earth.’”
The demonic voice gave Lexine shivers as she heard it again.
“I recognize that voice,” said Luna quietly.
“Who is this?” asked Twilight.
“This is Ghost, my companion,” said Lexine. “We’ve come because Earth is concerned,” she continued to the rest of the group, “and as far as we know, Equestria should be, too. Can you help us?”
Luna whispered something to Celestia, and turned back towards Lexine.
“We are grateful for your warning, Lexine,” said Celestia. “And you are right, it is of great concern to us. As I said before, you have come in an opportune time, and we may have need of your assistance as well.”
“Well, considering the state of my ship, I’m not going home anytime soon,” said Lexine. “As it falls within my duty to protect Earth, I am willing to offer my help as a Guardian.”
“Very well,” said Celestia. “We humbly accept. We have much work to do, but for now, Princess Luna and I must discuss our next course of action. In the meantime, I ask Princess Twilight to acquaint you to the castle and familiarize you to Equestria.”
“Yes, of course, Princess!” said Twilight with great enthusiasm. “Lexine, follow me!”
Twilight trotted off back towards the hallways and Lexine followed, leaving the other princesses behind.
“Wow! A human!” shouted Twilight as they walked. “I mean, under all of that, you are a human, right?”
Lexine nodded.
“What’s so special about a human?” sneered Rainbow Dash as she caught up with them.
“Didn’t you read those books I gave you girls?” asked Twilight.
Rainbow chuckled, saying, “Very funny, Twi. Well, books or not, we shouldn’t be so trusting,” she said. She shot a glare at Lexine.
“Excuse my friend’s incredulous attitude,” said Twilight, “but your arrival shook us all up. With all the attacks going on, it’s hard to imagine that anything falling from the sky would be friendly.”
“Attacks?” asked Lexine.
“Yes, attacks,” said Rainbow, “from dumb aliens who came from the sky just like you.”
Lexine tried to say something but Rainbow Dash started to fly away from them.
“Dash, where are you going?” called Twilight.
“I need to meet with Fluttershy,” she said as she sped ahead, eventually leaving their sight.
Twilight looked up at Lexine.
“She just needs some time,” she said. “We’ve had a lot to process these past several days. Everything’s happening so fast.”
“What do we know?” asked Lexine.
“Well, starting several weeks ago” said Twilight, “some strange sightings were being reported throughout Equestria. Bright lights, and strange noises in the middle of the night, that left as quickly as they came. It turns out, these were portals, and something very bad was trying to get through. The princesses tried to contain the situation, but it was no use. The anomalies are becoming more frequent, we know they are coming. It’s only a matter of time.”
Outside, Lexine saw some remnants of smoke from her crash in the city.
“That was quite an entrance,” said Twilight. “It sounded like the sky tore apart when you fell from it.”
“Things didn’t go... according to plan, exactly.” said Lexine. “Speaking of plans, does Equestria have one?”
Twilight led Lexine through a doorway leading to a small library of sorts. In the center was a table covered in books and scrolls, quills and dripped ink.
“With what's going on, we have more than one,” laughed Twilight. “The nation is preparing,”she said with a more serious tone. “We haven’t mobilized our army in decades, but the princesses believe this is warranted. As for me and some of my friends, we’re preparing too. I’ve studied some offensive magic, but not on a scale as large as this.”
“Magic?” asked Lexine.
“Yes. It’s everywhere in Equestria, and we ponies have many ways of harnessing it.”
Twilight’s horn glowed, and a spark of purple light floated around her, before slowly fading.
VOID ENERGY DETECTED
“Interesting,” said Lexine, reading the scans from the visor. “Us Guardians harness something we call Light.”
Lexine held up her hand and a small ball of flame formed above it. Twilight looked at it with amazement.
"I suppose we aren't so different then, you and I?" said Lexine, gently cradling the flame from one hand to another. "Your kind knows of us, after all. I'm not the first human to set foot in Equestria, am I?"
“No, but it's been eons. Lost to myth, but I've done my studies," said Twilight proudly. "If you don’t mind,” she said, her eyes fixated on the flames, “once you’re settled, do you think you can find some time to come visit me here?”
Lexine closed her hand into a fist, and the fire dissipated. “Yes, I think I can,” she said. “I feel we can learn a lot from each other.
Before either of them could speak, a loud screeching noise echoed from outside the castle. Soon after, a loud alarm began to ring throughout the city. Twilight ran to the nearby window.
“No, no, no! Not now!” she shouted.
Lexine looked outside and saw exactly what she expected to see. Several Hive dropships were creating rifts in the sky and began dropping smaller craft to the city below.
Lexine quickly equipped her rifle, ready to fight. “I need to get back to my ship,” she said.
“Wait, no!” said Twilight as she ran across to the other end of the room. “We have a plan, remember? I need to find my friends, can you help me?”
Twilight swung open a large closet door, and rummaged through its contents before pulling out a small chest. Lexine looked up at the grotesque ships that now littered the skies above Canterlot. Too soon, they had arrived. The situation was changing quickly, and she needed to react quicker.
“....Very well,” said Lexine. “Lead the way, Princess.”
Twilight nodded, and without skipping a beat, she headed out the room, with Lexine following behind.
The pair raced through the castle interior, heading back to the conference hall they were in earlier. The relative peace of the castle was broken, and the two had to navigate through squads of armed ponies and panicked citizens. Outside, the sounds of battle had begun.
“We were all called back to the castle when you arrived, so all of us should be here,” explained Twilight as they ran.
“What’s in the box?”
“A weapon. It will drive them away, but I can't use it alone. That's why I need my friends.” Twilight and Lexine burst into the conference hall, where several other ponies were already waiting inside. They were standing anxiously, and a pair of them seemed to be arguing.
“Twilight! We’re so glad you’re here!” greeted one. “And... oh dear, this must be our ‘visitor’?”
“Yes, Rarity,” said Twilight. “Lexine here has offered her help, and I think we’re going to need it.”
“Speak for yourself!” shouted Rainbow Dash. “Twilight, these big alien ships arrived not long after your new friend here decided to pay us a visit! How are we not sure she didn’t lead them here?”
“The Hive are our enemies back home,” said Lexine. “They are no ally, and Guardians have been fighting them for centuries. I can help.”
“Whatever,” said Rainbow. “I’m watching you.”
“Rainbow,” sighed Twilight, “there’s no time for this. We need to... wait. Where’s Fluttershy?”
“She’s still at the wildlife park!” said Rainbow Dash. “I was going out to get her, but Applejack here won’t let me leave!”
“Apple...jack? Wow, I thought the Awoken had weird names...” thought Lexine.
“We’re supposed to stay together, and in the castle, hay-brain.” said Applejack.
“Search party!!” hollered a loud pink pony.
“Pinkie, what did I just say?”
Lexine ejected her magazine and inspected its contents. Fully loaded.
“If your friend is still out there,” she said, breaking their bickering, “then she’s in danger, like everyone else in the city. I can find her and bring her back. You all can stay here where it’s safe”
“No way! To think we’ll trust you with our friend for even a second-”
“Rainbow Dash, enough!” said Twilight.
“Dear, we appreciate your assistance, but we want to help, too!”
“No, Rarity, she’s right,” said Twilight. “Our instructions were clear. With Lexine’s help, we can stay here where we and the Elements are safe.”
“Elements?” chimed Ghost.
“You’ve got to be joking, Twi,” uttered Rainbow.
“I’m afraid not. Lexine, we need you to bring her back safe. Can we trust you?”
“You can trust me.”
“You’ve got to give us a Pinkie Promise!” shouted Pinkie.
“I... uh, Pinkie Promise?”
“When you are out there, try to find one of the other princesses. I’m sure they are already assisting in the defense, tell them what’s happened and they can help you.”
“I’m on it,” said Lexine, turning to her way.
“Bring the yourself and our friend back,” said Rarity, “safe and sound!”
Lexine gestured to them, and ran out of the hall.
“That’s part of the Pinkie Promise!!” she heard as the door closed behind her.
WARNING! WARNING! -- HIVE SIGNATURES DETECTED
MULTIPLE JUMP-SPACE RUPTURES
ATTACK IMMINENT!!
ATTEMPTING TO REESTABLISH CONTACT WITH THE VANGUARD...
//UNSUCCESSFUL
NEW ASSIGNMENT -- Search and Rescue CANTERLOT, EQUESTRIA - Several Hive dropships are invading Canterlot. The Equestrians claim to possess a weapon that can drive them back. A certain individual who is instrumental in the deployment of this weapon has gone missing; fight through the city and bring her back to the castle.
