> Tales of A Guardian
>  by Shaded Changeling
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> The Return
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	As Twilight and Flit dashed across the sky in their ships, both ghosts decided to stop both of them before one of them inevitably ran into something. So as the two of them entered into the Cosmodrome’s airspace, the ships automatically slowed down to allow Twilight her first look down at the new Equestria as Ghost took control of the ship.
Much of the land was destroyed; the luscious green grass had been killed off, leaving only small patches of green amongst the barren ground below them. Many of the trees were killed and sparse, almost none of them looked strong enough to hold even a foal without snapping. Seeing the land she grew up in so destroyed, she let out a sigh.
“You alright Sparkle?” Flit asked, his ship coming into view next to hers. “You sound a little… Sad.”
“Well I kind of am…” Twilight replied. “I grew up here… And… Well look at it.”
There was a pause before Flit replied. “You think this is bad? Wait till you see the crap hole I woke up in. Fire everywhere in the middle of an acid lake. If I weren’t a Changeling, I might have died out there.”
“Is that how you and Topaz met?” Twilight asked.
“Oh no… We met in a very different way. I’ll have to tell you one day… Though not right now. We’re nearing the Transmat zone.”
Twilight looked towards her Ghost floating next to her. “So any idea where to go?”
Ghost clicked. “Well, I’ve been looking over some of the satellite readings in the area, it looks like there is a crashed Guardian Ship not too far from the Transmat zone. Perhaps we could find a Warpdrive there.”
“Well, we’ll be setting down right about now, hope you aren’t as much of a newbie with that rifle as you are with a Ship.”
“I almost beat you!” Twilight replied.
“Almost” Flit replied. “Almost isn’t a win.”
Twilight rolled her eyes. “Whatever Flitter…”
Ghost clicked. “Guardian, preparing for transmat.” The two ships slowed down over a small ridge, once they were over the area, Twilight felt the familiar vanishing feeling as she reappeared on the ridge next to Flit.
Flit’s helmet wrapped around his head fully, completely obscuring the Changeling beneath, but the curved horn was still present, but it was much less startling than before. His helmet had what looked like tinted skiing goggles where his eyes were, obscuring them from sight. His armor was a light brown color and alongside the helmet, looked much more fitting than without it.
“So Twilight, this is your Warpdrive we’re looking for, so you’re on point.” Flit said. “Where we going?”
Ghost appeared next to her and clicked. “I believe that we can find the crashed ship over that nearby hill. Marking it now.”
Twilight looked over towards the cleared hill, various scattered debris over it with strange silvery plants that didn’t sway in the winds growing out of brown rusted materials. “Well… Maybe this won’t be so bad after all.”
Flit tried to look over the hill. “Huh… Usually the Fallen have some semblance of control… Give me a minute.”
“What are you going… To…” Twilight looked over at Flit as he hopped into the air and somehow launched himself further into the air without using his wings. “Do…”
Flit lifted himself into the air and peeked over the hill. “Yup… They got a few Vandals scoping the place out.”
Even though Flit couldn’t tell through the visor, Twilight’s jaw was hanging open. “How did you… Jump?”
Flit looked over at Twilight. “Well… You bend your legs and then…”
Twilight waved her hoof. “No I mean… How did you jump IN THE AIR! I mean Pinkie used to…” She blinked. “Huh… I’ve got no idea who Pinkie is… All I remember is she drove me crazy.”
“Yup.” Flit replied. “She must have been a big part of your life. Or she traumatized you in some way. Anyway I got side tracked. I used some Glimmer to get the Tower’s Engineers to build me a little jump pack built into the armor that helps me get that extra lift, they said something about manipulating gravity within the area around my hooves or something… No wait… That’s the Warlock module…”
Twilight shook her head. “Never Mind… I’ll figure out something when we get back to the Tower.” She sighed.
“Well the ship is just up there.” Flit replied, “Hopefully this will be a short mission.” His horn lit up as the rather large revolver he had on his hind leg was pulled out. “Lead the way.”
Twilight enveloped her own rifle in her magic, the sleek white of the weapon contrasting her original one she acquired from the warehouse. Marked on the weapon was a holographic display of the number twenty-five. While she was still against the whole killing thing, but now that she understood a little bit more, she realized it was a necessity.
Twilight began walking up to the top of the hill, as she neared it, she noticed that there was a small pillar of smoke. Rising from a stretching crater with a bent up yellow ship inside it. A couple of Vandals were looking over the wreckage with a Dreg on top, looking like it was pulling something out as the Vandals growled at it.
Twilight raised her rifle, but Flit put his hoof on it to lower it, shaking his head. He pointed over to a nearby square building; another Vandal was standing up there, looking down at the others through a scope.
Flit’s horn lit up as a rifle was pulled off his back and leaned against a rock, pointing right up at the Vandal. “I got him…”
Twilight looked over at the Vandal, and after a rather loud BANG, The Vandal’s head exploded, causing it to fall off the building and land on the ground below. The other Vandals looked back, and raised their weapons towards the fallen brother. The Dreg stopped pulling on the ship and looked up, but one of the Vandals turned and growled at it. The two began conversing violently, before the Vandal pointed its weapon at the Dreg and it continued to try and pull a piece off the ship.
“Wow… Those things aren’t very good at friendly talk…” Flit said putting the weapon on his back. “Okay, you can kill them now.”
Twilight blinked and looked back at the Vandals. “Oh-Kay then…” She replied, lifting the gun up and aiming at the one that walked over to look at the dead body. She pulled the trigger and let the bullets jump from the gun and into the Vandal. It collapsed to the ground as the other Vandal looked up and snarled, he pointed towards the Dreg, then back at the fallen Vandal.
The Dreg hopped off the ship and walked towards the Vandal, it lifted its head into the air and sniffed for a moment, then turned over to where the two of them were. It growled and let out a screech.
“Ugh… I knew I should have cleaned my armor from when that Thrall bit me…” Flit grumbled. There was a slight whistling sound as a blue glowing spike fell in between them.
Flit looked between the spike and Twilight. “Move!” He said moving away from the spike as it began to glow brighter. Twilight jumped back from the spike as it exploded in a crackle of electricity. She looked up to see Flit searching for something on his armor. “I know I put it here somewhere…”
His Ghost appeared next to him holding a metal sphere. “You left it on the ship again Guardian…”
“Oh… Right…” His hoof, and the armor surprisingly, transformed into a Griffon Claw, he grabbed the device in it, and pushed down on a big red button as it started to flash. “FIRE IN THE HOLE!” He lobbed the sphere over the rock and it rolled up to the Dreg, surprised, the Dreg covered it’s face as the sphere glowed brighter before exploding, setting the Dreg ablaze.
It let out a shriek as its body was burned, it fell to the ground and curled up as the flames ate away at the body.
“Sparkle!” Flit shouted as Twilight looked over the burning. “TWILIGHT!” He shouted to snap her out of her trance.
“You… You just…”
“GET DOWN! YOU IDIOT!” Flit tackled Twilight as a beam of light shot above the two of them. “There are still snipers… You’ll lose your head if you aren’t careful.”
Twilight shook her head. “Yeah… Yeah… You’re right…” Twilight replied standing up. “Sorry… I’m still getting…”
“Yeah. Yeah… Hold on…” Flit pulled the rifle out and placed it on the rock. “There you are you little…” A loud bang cut off his words. “Alright… We’re good, only one left.”
Twilight took a deep breath. “I got this…” Her horn lit up as she flicked her head towards the last Vandal, once the charge hit the ground, it became a dark purple orb with tendrils of darkness. The Vandal looked at it before collapsing to the ground.
“Nice throw.” Flit said raising his hoof for a hoofbump.
Twilight returned the hoofbump before the two of them walked out from their cover.
“So… What was that thing you used?” Twilight asked Flit as she looked over at the charred body of the Dreg.
“The Incendiary Grenade?” Flit replied. “Well, not all of us can create our own grenades with our mind Miss Magic pants. I need to use a finite number of grenades that are all stored in my ship, I think I have like… twelve before I need a restock.”
“Oh… Well…” Twilight replied. “I guess it was needed…”
Flit sniffed before looking over at the ship. “HEY!” He said in surprise. “That’s my old Ship!” He ran up to the wreckage. “Oh… Uh… I mean… I’ve never seen this ship before in my Life…” He coughed into his hoof. “So uh… Let me just look over this ship, that I have totally never seen before… Yeah…” He said hopping onto the Ship.
Twilight’s Ghost appeared next to her looking over the Ship. “Guardian Flitter, shouldn’t I scan the…”
“OY! Traveler Shard! My Name is Flit!” Flit shouted. “Stop calling me Flitter!”
“Of course… Guardian Flit, Shouldn’t I scan the Ship to expedite the process?”
“yeah… Sure… Have fun…”
Ghost floated over to the ship and began scanning it while Flit began fiddling with the Cockpit of the ship, which was currently bent into a ninety degree angle.
As Ghost finished, he flew back over to Twilight as Flit managed to pry off the top of the ship with a Dreg’s blade.
“Well… The Ship is completely destroyed and it looks as though the Warpdrive was taken from it.”
“Well what do you expect?” Flit asked. “The Fallen are Scavengers, they take what they want from wreckage and everything…” Flit reached into the ship and began throwing out broken pieces of glass and metal. “It should be in here…”
“What are you looking for?” Twilight asked.
“I… I mean… Most Guardians keep a backup weapon stored in here for emergencies when their Ghost breaks… I just can’t figure out… AH!” He came back out with a stra-WEIRD! Looking weapon that seemed to be composed of a large pipe and a rather strange looking white box on the front, a small screen was attached to the side. “Hey Warlock, catch.” Flit tossed the weapon at Twilight, who just barely managed to grab it in her magic before it smacked into her.
“What is this?” Twilight asked.
Flit looked at her in surprise. “Wow… You must be from a LOOOOONG time ago. It’s a Rocket Launcher.” He replied. “It fires a big explosion. Think of it like that.”
“How does it…”
“Look, you point it at a thing, and then everything near it dies. It is that Simple.” He held out his hoof as his Ghost appeared. “Ghost, contact Topaz.”
“On it Guardian.” His Ghost replied.
“What is it Flit?” Topaz asked. “You guys find that Warpdrive yet?”
“Nope.” Flit replied. “Listen I need you to look at a map of the area…”
“If this is another mission to try and find Sunstreak’s Stash…”
“No… I learned my lesson from last time… I need you to find a location where we can find some kind of…”
“Found it.” Topaz replied. “I figured you would need a map of heat sigs or something, there’s a building not too far from there. It looks like you can find a computer system in there.”
“Thanks Topaz.” Flit said as his Ghost vanished. He turned to the large rusted building the Vandal had been standing on earlier. “It’s just up here, come on.”
Twilight followed Flit around the side of the building, where a large metal car was turned over. And a car with a rather large metal box attached to it was up straight. The opening to the building was rusted much like the rest of the building, and a weird contraption made mostly of metal was placed to the side, with a stairway leading lower into the building.
Flit walked inside and down the creaking metal steps. Followed timidly by Twilight, who did not trust the thin metal steps, as they walked into the building.
“What’s up Sparkle?” Flit asked, catching her off guard.
“What?”
“Your nervous, scared, and a little bit angry.” He said easily.
“How do you…”
“I’m a Changeling. You forget how we work?” Flit replied. “I can sense your emotions, just because I’m wearing a helmet doesn’t mean I can’t feel them.”
“Oh… Well…” Twilight replied blushing. She did indeed forget how Changelings worked, which made it all the more embarrassing that she had spent a few days studying them after the Invasion. “I’m just… Getting used to everything… It’s so strange to see all these new things. So far all that I’ve seen is the new ways of killing… I’ve seen nothing towards peaceful adaptation.”
Flit rubbed the back of his neck. “yeah… We have a lot of those… Desperate times and all… But there is probably something that was created for good… We could look for it later… After we find that Warpdrive.” He said walking down a second flight of stairs, descending into a lit hallway. As they walked through the hallway, they came to a caved in door, and an opening, through which were a few metal rectangles with weird shapes jutting out of them. On the far side of the room was a large screen, a map displayed over it.
“Ah there’s the map.” Flit said. Just then, a group of four robotic drones flew from behind the boxes. “And there are the Shanks…” Twilight was about to pull out her rifle, but Flit put his hoof up to stop her. “Hold on. Let me handle this… I’ve been Dying to try this out.”
“What do you…?” Twilight began to ask as Flit’s hoof was surrounded in a bright orange light as his hoof was transformed to a claw, in the claw was a burning Hand Canon. He aimed the Hand Canon at the incoming Shanks and pulled the trigger. The gun fired a line of orange light as it hit one of the Shanks. The Shank fell to the ground and disintegrated as the orange spread across it like a virus. Soon there was nothing left of the robotic drone.
Flit wasted no time in shooting the Handgun at two other Shanks, before the Gun vanished from Flit’s claw, he quickly pulled out his hand cannon and fired it into one of the Shanks thrusters, causing it to fly to the ground and explode on impact.
Flit walked over to the exploded Shank and pulled it’s turret from the wreckage. “Ghost, tell the Shipwright I got that Shank turret she’s been eyeing for a while.”
His Ghost appeared next to him. “Affirmative, I wonder what she wants to do with this?”
“Not my problem.” He said as his Ghost grabbed the turret in a stasis field emanated from its eye. The Turret was covered in a bright light before disappearing much like the Ghosts.
“Well now that… Twilight?” Flit looked back at Twilight, who was now standing there, not moving a muscle. Though the weird thing, was the fact there were no emotions. “Twi?” He walked over and waved his hoof in front of her. “Hey uh… Twilight’s Ghost?”
The Ghost in question phased into existence. “yes Guardian?”
“Is she okay?” Flit asked.
The Ghost looked back at Twilight. “Guardian? Guardian?” The Ghost let out a sigh. “Initiating stimulation…” Twilight’s legs suddenly jolted themselves up.
“OW!” She smacked the back of her neck. “What was that?”
Twilight’s Ghost clicked. “You were being unresponsive, so I administered basic shock stimulation.”
“Well it hurt…”
Flit cleared his throat. “Twilight… What were you staring at?”
“Oh… I was trying to figure out what you just did.” Twilight replied.
“Oh! My Golden Gun!” Flit replied. “Yeah… That’s a bit shocking for newer Guardians.”
“How did you do it?”
“Well… I channeled all of the Light I have from the Traveler into a single point that… I guess condenses into a Pistol. It takes a lot out of me to do… I had to sacrifice my shields to do that one… I usually wait until Ghost tells me that I’ve gathered enough energy to use it… Figured I would see if there was a difference.”
His Ghost appeared next to him. “Guardian Topaz wishes to open communications Guardian.”
Flit groaned. “Please don’t answer it… Tell him I’m busy…”
“Very well Guardian.” His Ghost vanished.
“Listen Twilight… Let’s just see about that Warpdrive, and then I’ll work on trying to explain everything.” He walked up to the screen. “Well come on!”
Twilight shook her head again and walked up to the screen, her Ghost flew up to it and examined it. “Fascinating… A topographical map of the Entire Area…” Ghost fired a blue beam at the console below. “Downloaded all data. I think I found that Warpdrive now…”
“Well?” Flit asked.
“It is back where we first found the Ship.” Ghost replied. “Honestly I’m surprised there is anything left there…”
“Maybe a couple Fallen took it over or something… Let’s just go.” Flit replied, he began to walk out of the building followed by Twilight. “I can’t believe you guys were that close to the Warpdrive and didn’t realize it was there…”
“To be fair. I was busy trying to make sure we could survive.” Ghost replied. “If she would have died than I would have been Fallen Food.”
“I don’t blame you. The Fallen most likely gave it to some Captain or something to guard.” Flit replied. “So where to Ghost?”
“It appears there is an opening to the top of a Dam-like structure that is connected to the area we first found the Ship. It looks like there is an access way just over there.” He indicated a nearby wall that had a broken section of wall next to a rusty stair case.
“Great… More stairs…” Twilight replied with a sigh. “I don’t like these rusted stairways… I feel like they will collapse.”
“Oh don’t worry,” Flit replied, “I’ll see about getting you a Jump module when we get back to the Tower.” He said. Beginning to walk towards the broken building. “Plus these stairs are still good, they won’t fall under your hooves or anything.”
“You’re saying that because it hasn’t happened yet.”
“There you go with that word again!” Flit replied, rushing off towards the building.
Twilight looked at Ghost as both of them shook their heads. Or in Ghost’s case, shook his body. Before they followed after him. As Twilight climbed up the stairs, Slowly. Flit hopped into the air and shot himself through the hole in the wall. The two of them began to walk into the rusted building, full of various machines and valves that were meant to keep the building running, now all rusted into inoperative conditions.
Not far into the facility, Twilight noticed a strange net, holding various spheres with small glowing orange dots on them. She would have asked Flit about them, but decided against it. She followed him through the parts of the facility until she came to a pause as her vision was suddenly clouded with a white fog-like tendrils. “What is going on?”
Flit turned back to her. “Darkness Zone.” He replied. “It’s an area where the Darkness is so condensed or powerful that it blocks out our connection to the Traveler.” He said. “I’ll try to tell you how the connection helps later, let’s just find that Warpdrive.”
Twilight nodded as the tendrils faded away from her vision. She followed him down the steps to see the same room she found the Ship in, a large hole in the wall across the hall looked new from when she first looked at it. Though she hadn’t been looking around then.
“So what do the Warpdrives look like?” Twilight asked.
“They are usually some kind of. Metal tube thing. Sort of like… those over there…” Flit looked over at the hole in the wall, underneath which a set of metal pipes was leaned up against the wall. “Huh… Usually the Fallen would hide them somewhere.”
Flit’s Ghost appeared next to him. “Guardian. I feel the need to remind you that your shields are still disabled from your premature usage of Powerful abilities. You should proceed with caution.”
“Yeah. Yeah.” Flit replied. “I’ll be fine. It’s not like there’s anypony in here.” He walked up to the Warpdrive components while Twilight stayed back.
When Flit reached the Warpdrive, he looked up at his motion Tracker which had a large red glow on it, coming from the hole in the wall. As he looked up at it, he heard a deep clicking and growling. “Twilight! Get to Cover!” He shouted as a large Fallen climbed out of the hole.
“Valack Cee Kos Kaa.” The Fallen said as it jumped from the Hole, pinning Flit to the ground with a large hand. He pulled Flit off the ground to look directly at him. The Fallen growled while pulling it’s Shrapnel Launcher up in it’s right top hand and using it’s lower hand to pry off the Helmet Flit was wearing, rather easily. It pulled Flit in to the tip of its mask and snarled.
Flit gave a small nervous smile before the Fallen flicked its wrist and sent Flit into a pillar. There was a loud crack as he slumped to the ground. When he started to get up, the Fallen growled and pointed its gun at Flit’s body, firing three bursts from its flaming gun. The metallic shards shred into Flit’s Carapace, and seared the flesh and organs beneath. One shard flew into his head and he collapsed to the ground.
Twilight watched on Horrified. “Flit…” She raised her hooves to where her mouth would be. She began shaking as the Fallen raised its weapon in its hand and roared victoriously.
Twilight began hyperventilating. She was trying to calm herself down, but it wasn’t working. After a few seconds, her Ghost clicked though he wasn’t present. “Twilight, Guardian Topaz has an urgent communication.”
“Flit? Flit what happened? Your biometrics just went dark. Flit? Twilight? One of you idiots respond!”
“Guardian Topaz, I’m sorry to say that Guardian Flit has been…”
“Killed…” Twilight all but Whispered. “He’s dead… Oh Celestia… He’s dead…”
“Flit’s dead? In a Dark zone… Shit…” Topaz replied. “Alright…. Twilight, is his Ghost still alive?”
“Why does it matter?” Twilight asked loudly. “He’s dead!”
“Twilight, listen. So long as you are in the Darkness Zone with him there is still a vestige of Light down there. His Ghost can use that to help connect with the Traveler, just… Stay alive.”
“What difference would it make?” Twilight shouted, getting the Fallen’s attention. “He’s dead!”
“Twilight! We were all dead!” Topaz replied. “The Traveler brought us back, he can do it again! Just focus on not dying!”
“Varack Kal!” The Fallen roared.
Ghost appeared next to Twilight. “Guardian! We need to terminate that Fallen Archon! It is the only way to help Guardian Flit.”
As Twilight looked away from Flit’s body, she noticed the large Fallen had multiple Vandals around it. Twilight sighed. “Alright…” She pulled the Rocket Launcher from her back and aimed it down at the large Fallen. She pulled back the trigger as the Shell was launched from the weapon. It flew leaving a small contrail before colliding with the Archon and exploding.
The Vandals near it flew off and collided with various structures while the Archon was surrounded in smoke. Twilight held her breath as she waited to see the remains of the Fallen. Instead she saw the four red hot shells fly from the weapon the Fallen was carrying as the Smoke was pushed aside. The Fallen looked practically unharmed as it roared at Twilight.
“How is it still alive?” Twilight asked as she glanced back over at Flit’s body, which began to fade out of existence.
Ghost clicked but did not reappear. “A Fallen Archon is gorged on Ether, a powerful material that all Fallen need to survive. Since they gorge on it, their bodies are more resistant. That paired with strong armor makes them difficult to take down.”
The Fallen growled again. Raising the weapon in one of its multiple hands, the lower right arm was hanging limply at the side.
Twilight charged up her horn and launched a vortex charge at the giant Fallen, it stood there taking it like it was nothing as it fired more flaming hot pieces of metal at Twilight, breaking through the shields as it burned her coat. She and the Archon continued to trade blows for a few minutes before she realized the truth of the situation, she was fighting something much more powerful than her, and she had just watched it kill a more experienced warrior, so why was it taking it’s time killing her?”
Twilight took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Now was not the time to analyze any situations, she needed to focus, and the Fallen wasn’t going to let her just wait it out. She needed some way to kill it…
Twilight kept focusing on the situation, blocking out the sound of the Fallen firing it’s weapon around the small metallic console she used as Cover. She blocked out the sounds as her horn began to glow on its own. Twilight took another deep breath and moved from behind cover. She pulled her head back and focused all of her energy into her Horn. From the tip, a large purple ball was launched from it as it flew towards the Fallen.
The Fallen raised its hands to block its face, but the large ball of energy collided regardless, the Fallen dropped its weapon as it burst into flames it looked at its arms as they burned. It collapsed as its body was incinerated by the fire, and Twilight stood there, breathing heavily as she watched. When the Fallen was completely gone, she felt her legs give out as she fell to the ground. Her helmet disengaged as she began to take shallow breaths. The intake of fresh oxygen helped calm her down, and it was only a few minutes later that her breathing returned to normal.
She felt a hoof on her shoulder. “Nice Job Spark-” Twilight quickly spun around and fired a surge of energy from her hoof at the voice, she watched the Changeling spin back and skid across the ground. “Ow…”
“Oh my Celestia! I’m so sorry Flit! I thought you were…”
“Dead?” Flit replied, cracking his neck. “Yeah…” His ghost appeared next to him.
“Guardian, I need to remind you that you are still at risk for spinal injuries. Please be careful.”
“I know… I can still feel the crack…” He said rubbing his back.
“How are you… You…” Twilight replied dumbstruck.
“The Traveler…” Flit replied. “Well… Actually my Ghost. It managed to gather enough energy from the Traveler to reanimate me.”
“But… I saw you… You had a hole in your…”
Flit’s helmet opened and a hole was formed in his Carapace, showing the flesh underneath. “Like this?”
Twilight raised her hoof to her face. “Are… Are you alright?”
Flit waved his hoof. “I’m fine… A quick stop at the Tower and I’ll be good as new.” His helmet closed. “Listen… Let’s just get these stupid Warpdrives back to the Tower, then I can sleep…” He walked up to where the Fallen Archon had been and looked down at a small glint of light.
Bending down, he picked up the shell of a dead Ghost, no light remained within the machine, its shell was a light purple with a small green shard up by the top. He looked back towards Twilight. “Hey Warlock.” He tossed the Ghost Shell to her. “Happy Birthday.”
Twilight looked at the Ghost Shell curiously. “Isn’t this…”
“It’s a Guardian’s old Ghost Shell.” Flit replied, holding his own Ghost out to transmit the Warpdrives. “Some poor Guardian must have died near him. We can revive as long as there is a small portion of Light in the Dark Zones, but once all the Light is gone, the Ghost either has to leave, or die.” He explained. “A Guardian can lose their Ghost, and a Ghost can lose a Guardian. It’s much harder to get a dead Guardian back without a Ghost, we can revive most dead Ghosts, whether they find a Guardian or even if they can is up to debate.”
The Warpdrive was transmatted out of the building as the Ghost nodded. “Warpdrive has been secured Flit.”
“Great… Now… What was I saying before getting slapped with mystical energy?” Twilight rubbed the back of her neck. “Ah I remember!” Flit replied. “Good job Sparkle. You just killed an Archon! That’s impressive, especially on your own, and with how new you are to all this stuff, it’s even more impressive!”
Flit’s Ghost clicked. “Guardian Topaz is requesting communication Guardian.”
Flit sighed. “Alright, patch it through…”
“WHAT IN THE NAME OF UMBRA WERE YOU THINKING!”  Topaz’s voice blared from the Ghost. “First you use your Golden Gun prematurely and damage your shields!”
“Topaz…”
“Then you go ahead and get yourself killed in a DARKZONE!”
“Topaz…”
“Then you leave our new Guardian to fight an ARCHON! Without backup!”
“Topaz…”
“You are so lucky I am not down there because I would punch your Tartarus Damned CHITIN IN!”
“You done?” Flit asked.
“Yes.” Topaz replied. “Listen, we are going to talk about this when you get back to the Tower…” He sighed. “I’m glad you’re alive buddy. I’ll see you two back at the Tower. And Twilight, good job with that Archon. First round’s on me.”
Flit straightened up. “Now that is a good reason to get going!” He replied. “Let’s get going before he changes his mind!”
“Flit, I’m only buying if I get my Ship back in good condition.” Topaz replied. “I’m still waiting for the payment from you on that Ship.”
Flit rolled his eyes. “Yeah. Yeah, just make sure you got your Glimmer ready, because I’m going to get some of that Griffon Whiskey.”
“Well that’s the only Whiskey you’re getting from me tonight. I’m not spending more of my Glimmer on your habit.”
Flit chuckled. “I guess it’s only fair.” He replied. “Ghost, prep for Transmat.”
“Of course. Should I ready the ship for flight?”
“That would be appreciated.” Flit replied as the Ghost vanished.
“I’ll get our Ship prepped as well Twilight.” Twilight’s Ghost said as it disappeared.
Twilight looked over at Flit. “Are you… Sure you’re alright?” She asked.
“Yes I’m fine Twilight. Sheesh.” Flit said. “Listen… I’ll work on getting you a jump pack once we get to the Tower, and… If it will make you feel better, I’ll take a break for a while… I need to upgrade Ghost’s revival circuit anyway… I’m tired of waking up with pieces of my Chitin and muscle missing…”
Twilight looked at him in surprise but quickly the two of them were transmatted onto the vessels. “Plotting automated course for the Tower.”
“So Sparkle… I’m just going to… sleep for a bit… I can’t feel me eye…”
“You just rest Flit, I won’t blame you.” Twilight replied.
“Twilight, we have a transmission from Vanguard Sunstreak.” Ghost said. “Opening Communication.”
“Ey! Guardian. You there? Never mind it’s not important. Listen, I heard from a very specific Crystal Pony that was cursing about another Guardian that you saw and killed an Archon. I’m impressed. That’s not really why I’m calling… Look Clear Mind wants to see you… Something about a… Shift in the mystical pathways or some such Warlock thing. See ya back at the Tower Guardian.”
Twilight sighed as the communication ended. “Well… Glad to hear that the Vanguard are impressed…”
“I’m certain it is nothing Twilight.” Ghost clicked. “I’m sure she just wants to try and talk about your abilities.”
“Well… I guess we should hurry up and go to the Tower then…”
“Agreed.” Ghost replied. “Beginning take-off sequence.”
The Ship’s engines began to heat up as both of the ships sped off towards the horizon and back to the city. And for the first time in her new life, Twilight was feeling the rising in her stomach that usually symbolized her panic, as her mind presented her with the idea of it being a test. A test she was completely unprepared for, and hadn’t studied for.
Her ears fell against her head. Please don’t let this be a test!
> Personal Touches
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Twilight was trying to keep her panic at a minimum, with very mixed results. Sometimes her panic got so bad in fact, that she needed to transfer flight controls over to Ghost to ensure that she wouldn't accidentally crash into anything. So far she hadn’t gotten anymore communications from any of the other Guardians, and Flit was being extremely quiet. Twilight sort of wished he would talk, give her something to take her mind off the possibility of an unknown test that she had no idea about!
By the time they reached the tower limits, Flit’s ship had branched off from Twilight’s and flew to a different section of the city. “Where’s Flit going?” Twilight asked.
“His ship appears to be on course with the medical bay… He should be joining us shortly after the medical staff help his body regenerate.” Ghost replied. “Oh… It looks like Clear Mind is flagging the ship.”
Twilight stiffened up as she gripped the controls tighter. “Can we patch it through?”
“Affirmative.” Ghost replied.
“Guardian, I am glad to hear you have returned. How are you feeling?”
“Oh I’m… Great…” Twilight replied unsure. “So… You wanted to see me?”
“Yes. I told Shade what I wished or him to tell you,” she sighed “He most likely didn’t understand… There are some things that I wish to share with you, but not here. Meet me above the Hall of the Vanguard. We have much to discuss.”
“Of Course Clear Mind. I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
“I await your arrival.” Clear Mind said as Ghost clicked.
“Guardian, your heart rate has accelerated, are you feeling all-”
“I’M FINE!” Twilight shouted before clearing her throat. “I’m fine… Honestly…”
“If you say so Twilight…” Ghost replied Skeptically. “We are setting down at the Tower now.”
Twilight felt herself transmat from the ship and onto the overlook of the tower. She looked around to see Topaz speaking with one of the Robotic ponies, standing behind a desk. Twilight walked up as she heard a bit of their conversation.
“So the Ghost components didn’t come through?” Topaz asked.
“Apologies Titan.” The Robot replied. “There has been a backlog in my processors, and with the raids on our supplies, delivery has become quite difficult. I’m sorry for the delay.”
Topaz sighed. “Yeah… Just keep me posted on it. I want to fix Flit’s faulty Ghost when I get a chance.”
“Of course Titan.” The Robot replied. “I hope you have an…Efficient… Day.”
“Yeah… Thanks DP.” Topaz said turning from the robot. He shook his head and sighed. “Stupid backlogged delivery system…”
Twilight walked up to him. “Hey Topaz.”
“Hey Twilight.” Topaz replied. “How’s Flit holding up?”
“His ship flew towards the medical center apparently…”
Topaz sighed. “I keep telling him to get that old Ghost checked out, the shell was partially eaten by a Thrall when he found it, but he refuses to get rid of it…” He let out another sigh. “He’s so thick headed it annoys me…” Topaz rubbed his forehead. “The component he needs is a revival circuit, it’s expensive, it’s rare, and I can’t keep buying them when the raids destroy them…” He growled in annoyance. “But enough about him, how are you holding up?”
Twilight bit her lower lip. “Well…”
“Go on.” Topaz urged. “You can tell…”
He didn’t get to finish before Twilight began speaking quickly. “How do you ponies do this every day? I can barely handle myself out there and every time I kill something, I know it’s for the betterment of the rest of Pony-kind, but I can’t help but feel as though there was something I could do to avoid it and I keep feeling like nothing I do is helping! Not to mention the fact that I don’t know anything about this place, time, or even what I forgot!” Topaz blinked a few times as he tried to process Twilight’s rant. “Then there’s this test that Clear Mind wants to give me and- Oh Celestia I almost forgot!” She ran past Topaz and towards the Hall of the Vanguard. “ByeTopazTalkToYouLater!”
Topaz stood still for a minute before turning to look at where Twilight ran off to, he raised his hoof as if to say something but lower it. “Okay… Nice talk…” He stood there for a while before sighing. “Why do I always get stuck with the weird ones?”

Twilight ran past the stairway down to the Vanguards and up the stairs behind them, coming to the same place she had first met Flit and Topaz, though the now familiar face of the Changeling was nowhere to be seen. At the end of the deck was Clear Mind, staring out at the expansive wilderness behind the Tower. Twilight ran up and began to skid to a halt behind her.
“I’m… Here…” Twilight said. “You wanted to see me? With a test?”
Clear Mind turned to her, a small smile on her face. “Ah Guardian. Yes I did want to see you. Though where did you get the idea this was a test, I wonder?”
Twilight smiled sheepishly. “Well I…”
“It is not important Guardian.” Clear Mind replied. “What is important is that your magic has increased in power.” She beckoned Twilight closer to the edge. “You see, we Warlocks are much more tuned to the Traveler than Hunters or Titans. I have spent years researching the full power of the Light.” She extended her hoof as a small sun appeared in the hoof. “Training and Focus… That is the secret to a Warlock’s power Guardian. Do you understand?”
“I think so…” Twilight replied looking out at the trees. “But… Why are you telling me this?”
Clear Mind smiled. “Because I see you have potential. Perhaps more than I have seen from other Guardians. That ability you used to kill the Archon, a Nova Bomb, is a rather potent ability. The fact you could harness it so early after your awakening is a testament to that potential.”
“But…” Twilight began.
“You have doubts about our actions.” Clear Mind replied. “I know that it will be hard for you to understand, the lie you left before saw nothing of these kinds of battles. But I will assure you, it is for the best.”
“How can you be sure?” Twilight asked. “There’s so much I don’t understand… Maybe there is some way for us to…”
Clear Mind shook her head. “I once believed that too.” She replied. “Until I learned what happened…”
“And what… Did happen?” Twilight asked.
Clear Mind looked out at the trees again. “The Fallen were not the first, they are but Scavengers, those who seek to control the land through violence. The others are not to be reasoned with. Shade tells a story about a Baroness that helped him fight off a wave of Hive. The others wish only to end the lives of the Guardians. Vex seeking to turn our planets into conduits for their rule, The Hive seek to experiment on us, to extinguish our race. The Cabal, they merely want conquest.” She placed a hoof over Twilight’s shoulder. “If you still have doubts, think of the Ponies that are still alive, all because of the work we Guardians do. Without us, there would be no Equestria to fight for.”
Twilight contemplated what Clear Mind had said. There are Ponies counting on the deeds of the Guardians… I can’t let them down… “Alright… I’ll try.”
“I knew you would make the correct choice.” Clear Mind replied. “Now I wish for you to train your powers, cultivate them so you may be stronger than you thought possible. I must return to my studies, and you must grow the trust of your fireteam. I believe Topaz has something he wishes to show you. May the Traveler guide your path Guardian.” Clear Mind walked past Twilight and towards the Hall of the Vanguard.
Twilight stood and looked out at the trees below before letting out a sigh. “Ponies are counting on me… on us…” She sighed again. “Do I really have a choice?”
“Sure you do.”
Twilight’s ears perked up as she looked around for the source of the voice.
“Down here.” Twilight looked out at the trees quizzically and then looked over the edge to see Sunstreak clinging to the side of the tower with his hooves. “What’s up Guardian?”
Twilight looked at him confused. “How… You… Wall…” The wall he was standing on was a smooth metallic surface, and there didn’t seem to be anything sticking him to the wall at all.
Sunstreak removed his front hooves from the wall and stood up on his hind legs at a ninety degree angle to the wall, with his forelegs crossed behind his head. “Never seen a Pegasus that can defy gravity before?”
Twilight shook her head.
“Neither have I.” Sunstreak said, pushing off the wall and flapping his wings to lift him up over the railing and land next to Twilight. “I believe it is time that I properly introduce myself.” He bowed with a flourish of his hoof, as he did, his hoof was covered in a green flame that worked its way down his body. “Vanguard Hunter Shade, at your service.” The Changeling said, his right eye an orange reptilian slit.
Twilight looked at the Changeling for a minute. “What happened to your eye?” She asked unconsciously.
“I honestly don’t know.” He replied. “Revived with it as far as I can tell. Though I’m not here to talk about me. So let’s talk about you.” He threw a hoof around her neck. “So I heard from a friend of a friend of an enemy who is also my friend,” Twilight tried to understand that for a couple of seconds, “that our mutual friend Topaz has been looking for a very rare, very expensive Ghost part. That true?”
Twilight nodded.
“How interesting…” He tapped his chin, his voice dripping with intrigue. “Because I may just be in contact with a rather odd individual who may or may not have access to the part that you require… For the right price.”
“Umm… I don’t…”
“Yeah, Yeah, Yeah I know… But I know this guy. Well, this… Thing rather… Not even sure if there is any pony left inside of him…” He took a breath but stopped before starting a new sentence. “Anyway, he’s an old buddy of mine, but a bit strange. He pops in every now and then to trade his wares and then leaves. We’ve tried tracking him and controlling his movements but… Nope. Just vanishes into thin air.”
Twilight blinked. “So… What can I do?”
Shade poked her in the chest. “That, my fair Guardian, is where my part of this comes in.”
Twilight raised an eye brow at the smiling Changeling. “What do you want?”
“Well…” Shade replied. “I want something actually very simple… A favor.” He said smiling. “A one-time, no questions asked, completely confidential favor.”
“And in return?” Twilight asked.
Shade reached up to Twilight’s ear and pulled out a very unique coin, a blue gem in the center surrounded by a strange golden ring, he took the coin and placed it in Twilight’s hoof. “In return… I pay for the part you need, and I get it to you in record time. Flit’s Ghost get’s repaired, I get a favor, win-win. But… If you still aren’t convinced, how about I throw in an old Ghost personality core I found lying around the Cosmodrome in the good ol’ days?” He flashed a smile. “So Miss Sparkle, do we have a deal?”
Twilight looked at the Changeling curiously. Why would he want this? It seems like he is giving so much for just a favor? What is his game here?
“Why do you want to do this?” Twilight asked.
Shade sighed. “Okay… Truth? I’m kind of bored. Being a part of the Vanguard is not all it’s cracked up to be. Sure, I’ve still got my guns, my speeder, my old armor, but waaaaaaaay too much time on my hooves. I’ve got all this old gear, but no way I can use it. So I might as well give some of it to the rest of the Guardians… for a Favor. You never know what kind of things a Guardian can get you.” Shade walked father from Twilight. “So, deal?”
Twilight thought over the deal again, it could easily be some kind of trap set up by him, he could turn that favor against her… but from the sound of that robot pony, it seemed as though the component was expensive and nearly impossible to get. She sighed. “I suppose.”
Shade smiled and patted Twilight on the back. “Excellent!” He held out his hoof as a Ghost appeared there. “Ghost, Transfer twenty-Five Coins to Guardian Sparkle here.”
“Affirmative Guardian.” The Ghost replied. “Anything else?”
“Yes actually, contact Special Requisitions, tell them I want that old Ghost Personality Core to be given to the same Guardian.”
“Of course Shade. Vanguard… Diamond Head needs you back in the room…”
Shade sighed. “Alright… Let’s see what the Titan needs.”
Shade opened his wings, and Twilight called out to him before he hopped back over the rails to re-enter the room. “How am I going to find him?”
Shade smirked. “He’s not here right now, but…” He tapped his chin as he hopped onto the railing, perching on it like a bird. “He should be out by the Outfitter in say… two hours or so.” He saluted. “Talk to ya later Warlock. Give my regards to Topaz.” He tipped himself over the edge of the building as Twilight watched him fall and fly through an open window.
Twilight shook her head. “Ghost?”
“Yes Twilight?” Ghost asked when he appeared.
“Where is Topaz?”



Topaz as it turned out, was underneath the Shipwright’s area. For some reason… There was a small relaxation area underneath the usually extremely busy and most likely loud mechanics area. As Twilight walked down into it, she noticed a couple of ponies working on a mechanical pegasi, and her curiosity couldn’t help but pick up on their conversation as she passed.
“I’m telling you, this Frame is broken… All these old K-9 Models are.”
“Listen, I’m certain there is some way to fix it… Maybe the wings are the problem…”
“It’s too late to take the wings off, the subroutines are already set.”
Tearing her attention away from that, she noticed Topaz sitting at one of the two small tables, rubbing the front of his head with both hooves, a small bottle placed in front of him. He looked up as Twilight approached and she got the chance to see his coat was a darker hue than it was when she first saw him.
“I really hate using the Postmaster…” He grumbled. “The Fallen keep shooting down everything from the other towers… At this rate I’ll be out of Glimmer in another week…”
Twilight sat next to him. “Well… I’ve got some good news for you then.”
Topaz sighed. “Go ahead… Humor me…”
“Sunstreak told me where I could get you the part you’ve been looking for…”
Topaz looked over at Twilight, lifting his head from his hooves. “You’re kidding me!” His coat brightened slightly. “Where? I’ll head there right now!”
“Well… He said an acquaintance of his was coming to the Tower later, and that I could get it from…”
Topaz’s eyes widened. “He’s not talking about… He… Did he give you some weird looking coin things?”
“Yeah… How’d you know?” Twilight asked.
Topaz groaned. “Why didn’t I think of that?” He sighed, beginning to rub his face. “He wants us to talk to an Agent of The Nine…”
“The who?” Twilight asked, blinking. I need to find a book on what I missed, I hate being out of the loop.
“The Nine. They’re some kind of… Higher intelligence or something. Nopony knows! But every so often, an Agent of the Nine comes here, bringing with them rare and powerful objects to help us.” He put his hooves down and grabbed the bottle on the table, taking a quick swig from it before putting it back down. “So where did he say the Agent would be this time?”
“Well, he mentioned that it would be by the Outfitter. I’m not quite sure where that is…”
Topaz chuckled. “Oh, you are going to have a fun time with her.” He said sarcastically. “She’s a good mare, but… You know what; let’s pay the good fashion designer a visit.” He picked up the bottle and drained the rest of it.
“Wait, she’s a fashion designer?” Twilight asked. “What is she doing in the tower?”
Topaz sighed. “Well, originally she was resurrected by a malfunctioning Ghost, it had been through Tartarus and was unable to create a steady link to the Traveler, so she had no connection to the light.” Topaz grabbed the empty bottle and tossed it in a nearby trashcan. “She spent a good few years creating slight aesthetic modifications to the armors of us Guardians. Eventually the Vanguard decided to let her stay here due to her services being so widely sought after by the rest of the Guardians.”
“What services?” Twilight asked.
“She provides access to a specially created armor piece that changes the color of your gear. I’d be lying if I said that I don’t use the one she gave to me on occasion. She gives the newest Guardians a ‘First one is on the House’ deal. I’m sure she wouldn’t mind.”
Topaz and Twilight both walked out of the Hanger before Twilight remembered to ask about one more thing. “Topaz.”
“What’s up?”
“What’s a Ghost Personality core?”
Topaz looked at her surprised. “You found one already?”
“Well, no… but Sunstreak gave me an old one as a part of a deal for the coins.”
Topaz sighed. “Well, I hope you plan to carry through with that, a lot of his favors tend to be… Unorthodox, from what I’ve heard. Anyway, a Ghost core changes how a Ghost sounds. Each Ghost comes with their own personality core that dictates gender, vocal ticks, pitch, and reactions. Mine is a female personality core and Flit has two different ones.”
Twilight blinked. “Huh… This outfitter sounds familiar, I wonder if I know her.”
“You might.” Topaz replied. “She seemed to know a lot of Guardians when they first came to the Tower. Maybe she knows you.” He said as they passed a Crystal Unicorn standing behind a desk, a number of ghost shells around her with a number of various other small things scattered about in her stall. “Yes I understand. I can get it there in three days… No I can’t make it any sooner, Scorch Batteries aren’t exactly the easiest things to transport… Do you want my services or not?”
Twilight continued to follow Topaz up a set of stairs into a covered hallway. They walked down a flight of stairs where a Unicorn variant of the robot ponies was mopping the floor. “Watch your step, Guardian.” It said automatically, it’s entire face lighting up as it spoke. It then began making a strange noise like air going through a tube. “Whistling protocols broken.”
Twilight let her curiosity sit for too long. “Topaz, what are these robotic ponies?”
“The Frames?” Topaz replied. “Those things are just simple robots meant to keep this place up and running, they have the ability to learn, so some of them have shadows of personalities. We used to have Combat Frames from what I see out in the wastes.”
“Why’d we stop using them then?” Twilight asked.
Topaz shrugged. “Too expensive to mass produce, too dangerous, Vex, take your pick.” He said as they walked down a final set of stairs. Twilight looked out at a piece of the city before Topaz walked in a loop to the left of the stairway, stopping by a small alcove, a number of shelves had been set up, displaying pieces of armor and banners with various emblems on them. One that caught Twilight’s eye was the Equestrian seal, a white and black Alicorn encircling each other. Another emblem showed crossed spears with a bolt of lightning behind them.
“What do you think, Pearl?” There were a number of clicks and whistles. “Yes… Much to dark, I agree.”
Twilight looked over at the source of the voice, seeing an alabaster Unicorn standing with her back turned a small blue screen hovering in front of her face, a small pink Ghost floating next to her. The ghost looked over at Twilight and Topaz before looking back at the Unicorn and clicking.
The unicorn turned to the two of them. Her swirled pale pink and pale purple mane kept perfectly conditioned. She looked over at Twilight and smiled. “Twilight!” The Unicorn said. “It’s so good to get to see you again. How have you been?”
Twilight blinked as she looked at the Unicorn. “I’m sorry, I don’t remember you.”
The unicorn dismissed it with a wave. “Oh don’t worry. You probably won’t remember me for a while. My name is Sweetie Belle and I’m the outfitter for the Guardians. Should I assume Topaz here told you about my humble store.”
Twilight nodded. “He told me about some of your craft.”
“Oh, it’s nothing really. If you told Rarity what I would be doing now, she probably wouldn’t have believed you.” She replied.
“Rarity?” Twilight asked blinking. “Who?”
Sweetie Belle waved her hoof again. “Oh don’t worry about it. You’ll probably remember in time.” She replied. “So how can I help you?”
“Well Topaz was just showing me where you work, see Sunstreak gave us some… Coin things to use with an Agent of the Nine, who is supposed to be near here, so he figured that it wouldn’t hurt for me to look around.”
Sweetie Belle took her weird looking pad and held it up to look through it at Twilight. Through the screen, Twilight noticed that it had taken a full three-dimensional scan of her as Sweetie Belle looked at it. “I just need a minute Twilight.” She said. “I honestly don’t know what they were thinking with these color schemes.” She said.
The ghost next to her clicked and whistled. “Hmm… It could work.” The Ghost clicked. “Alright, let’s compare it then.” The two of them looked at the screen. “Well, I suppose it works. What do you think, Pearl?” The Ghost whistled. “Agreed.”
Sweetie Belle turned back to them. “Alright, so me and Pearl here have been working on a new armor Shader, something nice that shows off the grace and elegance of the Void rather than the destructive side of it. We’ve been trying to figure something out for hours. Though, maybe you would enjoy having this.”
Sweetie Belle turned the screen so that Twilight could see it. The three-dimensional scan showed her with her armor’s helmet on, her armor now colored a lavender color, only slightly darker than her coat below the fabric. In the image, she was holding her hoof up, with a glowing purple sphere in her hoof.
“Wow… It looks, really good.” Twilight replied. “I like it.”
Sweetie Belle smiled. “Well, I can give it to you.” She replied. “I always give everypony a first one free deal. I just need to save the details of the Shader, and then I can send it to your Ghost.”
Sweetie Belle tapped a few places on the screen before swiping her hoof across it. “Do you mind if I see your Ghost for a minute?”
Twilight shook her head. “Ghost.”
Ghost appeared next to her. “Downloading Shader details now.” After a few seconds, Ghost’s eye flashed green. “Done. Would you like for me to install the Shader into your armor?”
Twilight nodded.
“Installing now.” Ghost’s eye flashed bright before Twilight’s armor began to change color slowly, shifting to the lavender color showed to her on Sweetie Belle’s screen.
Twilight looked over her now lavender armor. “Wow, it looks even better than I thought it would.”
“I’m glad you like it.” Sweetie Belle said. “Topaz, I was wondering if I could ask you for something.”
Topaz nodded. “You need me to collect something?”
“Yes I do.” Sweetie Belle replied. “I need some of the Fallen Weaves. I need some of that material for a possible buyer.”
“Well, I can certainly check and see if…” His Ghost appeared next to him. “Guardian, urgent transmission from the Vanguard.”
“Patch it.” Topaz replied.
“Guardian, we are picking up strange signals from inside the Cosmodrome. We need a Guardian in there to give us recon.” Diamond Head said.
“Vanguard, I must inform you that Guardian Flit is currently being looked after by the doctors in the Medical wing.”
“Damn… We can’t risk sending you in alone… Is Guardian Sparkle with you?”
“Right here… uh… Sir?” Twilight replied unsure.
Diamond sighed. “While I would prefer that we had more Guardians on this, we cannot risk allowing the Fallen to take more ground, under any circumstance, you and Guardian Sparkle must find the source of this signal, and if possible, destroy it.”
“Of course, Vanguard. We’ll head off in five.”
“Understood Guardian. I look forward to your report.”
Topaz sighed. “Well Twilight, no rest for the wicked.” He said. “Anything you need to do before we head off?”
Ghost clicked. “Twilight, Special Requisitions is requesting you.”
Topaz sighed. “Don’t keep her waiting. She will hunt us down if she has to… Come on.”
Topaz led Twilight back through the hallway, when they came out, Topaz led Twilight over towards the small Stall she saw the Crystal Unicorn talking in earlier. That Unicorn was actually still talking.
“No… Listen to me you Changeling shit… No… I don’t care if Celestia herself rises from the grave. I’m not taking a back payment. All of it upfront… It’s how I’ve always operated… No Glimmer, No Cores…”
“Um… Excuse me.” Topaz said.
The slightly gray Unicorn held up her hoof. “Twenty-thousand Glimmer… I’m going no lower than eighteen… You have seven hours.” She took off a small headset and placed it on the back counter she turned to look at them, her pale blue eyes looking right at them. “So, what can Special Requisitions do for you today?”
Twilight walked forward. “I was told you had something for me…”
“You must be Guardian Sparkle.”  The Crystal Unicorn said. “I’ve got a little present for you from the Vanguard.” Her horn lit up and she pulled a box from a small shelf. “This puppy is old.” She said. “Ghost personality core model: 5P-1K-3D. They were produced quite a while ago, and were discontinued after a certain incident.”
Twilight looked in the box, seeing a small computer chip. “Okay… How do I get this into a Ghost?”
“I can help install it right now, alongside the Ghost Shell I know that you have.” The Unicorn replied. “I’ll just put it on your tab for later.”
Twilight looked over at Topaz. “Might as well.”
“I’ll just need to see that empty ghost shell.” The Unicorn said.
Twilight nodded as she held out her hoof and Ghost appeared. “Ghost could you give the Empty shell to miss…”
“Just call me Shifty Trade. Or Special Req, they all do.” She said with a smile.
“Right…” Ghost said, his eye flashing before the purple and green shell fell to the table. Shifty quickly snatched it up and the box containing the Core, she turned away from them as she began working on the shell. Despite Twilight’s attempts to see what was going on she was refused by the Unicorn.
A minute later, she turned around, holding the ghost Shell in her magic as she placed it on the counter. “There you go, Guardian. One fully outfitted Ghost, ready for transference.”
“Would you like for me to transfer into the new Ghost?” Ghost asked.
Twilight nodded. “This won’t hurt will it?”
Topaz shook his head. “It just takes a small amount of time for the Ghost to accept the new personality.”
Ghost flew down next to the counter and his eye shut off. A few seconds later, the purple and green shell sparked into life and flew off the table. “Processing new Personality Core… Process-pRoceSS-PrOCessing…” His voice wavered slightly as the new personality Core took effect.
“Ghost Personality core Model number: 2-5-6-8-9. Model type: 5P-1K-3D.”
Topaz looked at the new Ghost. “Are there any primary memories stored on the unit?”
“Affirmative. Would you like for me to access them?”
Twilight looked back at Topaz, who nodded.
“Yes.” Twilight said.
“Of course, base memories accessing, please stand by.” Ghost clicked a few times as he searched through the memories. “Single memory fragment remains, extracting.”
Twilight blinked. “Only one?”
“A programmed name.” Ghost replied. “Spike.”
Twilight blinked at the name. “Spike…” She said, memories coming back to her of days, even nights spent with a purple lizard helping her, pancakes in the morning after long sessions of studying at night. “Spike.”
Twilight held out her hoof for the Ghost to hover in. “Glad to have you back, Spike…”
“Twilight, we should get going.” Topaz said. “Diamond Head isn’t going to let us just waste time when there is a threat to the city.”
“Right… Right.” Twilight said, she let out a sigh. “Let’s get going then.”
“Prepping for Transmat.” Spike said. A moment later Twilight was inside her ship. “So Twilight, I only got a few scans during your mission with Flit. Mind telling me how it went?”
“Well… It went about as well as you would expect.” Twilight replied. “Aside from the constant fear that I was going to die any second.” She said. “It went pretty well for my first mission.”
“Let’s see if we can keep that streak going shall we?”
“Promise you won’t leave me to fight an Archon?” Twilight replied.
“So long as you promise not to run out and get killed.”  Topaz retorted.
“Promise.”
“Then it’s a deal.” Topaz replied.
“Do you want me to fly us there, Twilight?” Spike aske.
“No thanks Spike. I want to get a little more flying under my belt.”
Spike nodded. “Planning course to Cosmodrome drop location. Estimated arrival time, one hour.”
Twilight and Topaz’s ship took off from the hanger and zoomed away from the Tower, heading back towards the Cosmodrome.