Chapters Tenno, the greatest warriors to ever live. Masters of the Warframe. Some claim them to be legends, benevolent god-warriors of gun and sword. Others claim them to be demons from the void, heartless and deadly assassins seeking the extermination of all life. There are only a few who know better about the Tenno. They are far better, and far worse.
A silent blade slit the throat of an unaware Grinner guard, blood cascating on his feet profusely. He fell with a quiet thud, the sound echoeing through the densely humid and dark halls of the Grineer ship.
"Think anybody heard that?" Oberon asked.
"As far as I can see, our scans don't show any other life signal other than us and Vor." Loki replied, his voice only a whisper in the silent air surrounding them. "Oh, wait. Lotus was supposed to say that."
"Let's save the jokes for later. Hopefully we can take out Captain Vor before anyone realises what's going on." Oberon muttered under his breath, his serious tone rivaling with Loki's.
They clung to the shadows, though the ship appeared empty. As they walked deeper within the interior, they could hear the unstopping clanging and banging of metal together, sounds produced and emitted by nearby generators and machinery. Above their heads, bulbs flashing white dim light illuminated their way on the slightest, perfect to maintain their presence unknown to the Grinner aboard.
"Leave now Tenno, leave while you still can." Vor's voice echoed in their helmets.
"I don't know about you, but I dont think I'm taking him up on that offer." Oberon said. "He should be right in here." He gestured to a metal hatch nearby.
"Definitely, Obbie. Definitely..." Loki muttered as he walked up to the hatch.
It opened and retracted itself to the ceiling, allowing the light from the other room to creep inside the dark hall Oberon and Loki were sneaking through. Loki was now standing tall right at the doorway, his white armor reflecting the light. The shadow of his hammerhead-shaped helmet was the most curious aspect of his armor. Oberon stood tall and proud, his antler like horns making him appear almost a full head taller that he actually was. His white and lime green armor was polished cleanly, but scratches still left their mark from countless battles. They both walked into the room where Vor stood waiting for them, giving the warriors an unamused and mocking look.
"gar'gre kkkrggse moh'ne." Vor laughed.
Oberon's and Loki's surroundings were way different than the rest of the ship: It was circular, rather than cubical and squared, sporting large pieces of metal which failed to hide the circuits passing there. The floor was covered in plates of steel and iron, leading to a small platform were Vor stood. The walls had many forms of weapons and bits of armor hanging on them. Trophies from Vor's past victims.
Oberon leveled his Orthos, a double bladed staff at Vor's head, waiting for him to make a move. Loki took out his simple yet handy MK-1 Braton assault rifle and got a good grip around it with his hands Both Tenno waited for their enemy to strike first.
Captain Vor was never on to hesitate. He threw two of his favorite calling cards at them, spiked electifying balls. Oberon was quick to twirl his staff fast enough to deflect the balls back, his companion Loki ducking for cover behind the nearest crate.
Loki tucked his head out of his protection and noticed that Vor's attention was turned to Oberon. He took advantage of his target's unawareness and searched for a quick and safe route to the platform where Vor was holding his ground.
Realising fighting Vor in close quarters with his Orthos would be suicide, Oberon swtched to his high powered explosive Angstrum, firing three rockets at the Grineer captain. The explosion little did damage to Vor as he disappeared in thin air and reappeared in a nearby spot, laughing madly.
"Damm, my gun take too long to charge each shot." Oberon told Loki. "Any ideas?"
His response came when he saw Vor staggering back, sparks flying from his chest plate and a groan echoing around. The captain raised an arm defensively and somehow deflected another blow from an invisible source. Clearly enraged by those attacks, Vor got a grip on his powerful Seer pistol and pulled the trigger. Where ever the bullet hit exploded.
A single Tenno was sent flying and briefly sliding on his back, sword in hands. Loki quickly got up to his feet and took cover at the group of crates nearby. The Warframe-clad humanoid then sheathed his sword and got back his rifle.
"You alright?" Oberon asked through the inbuilt communication device.
"Been better. Bastard somehow disable my shields..." Loki replied, cocking his rifle and trying to think of an strategy.
"Perhaps has to do with his stolen Orokin tech. Be more careful." Oberon noted.
"I think I got a plan, Obbie. You know that I can switch positions with targets, right?" Loki asked patiently, shooting a barrage of bullets to counter Vor's attacks.
"I think I see where your going with this..." Oberon trailed off.
"Just get behind me, and I'll teleport the bastard to you, Then, you attack him with all of your might. I'll be providing additional fire from afar." Loki completed.
"Shall I set up a hollowed ground? Teleport him into it?"
"That will do it. Enough talk, more action now." The mischievous Tenno added.
Oberon sprinted to meet up with Loki, making an evasive roll at the last moment to dodge a slavo of rounds shot by Vor. Oberon nodded to Loki and began summoning his power, and a square of blue energy flame formed in front of him. That being done, Loki spun on his heels as white trails of energy glowed in his hands. The moment he stopped, the Tenno was replaced by Captain Vor himself. Vor began to burn as the blue flames scorched his armor, causing him to shout in pain and despair.
"Tenno skum!" Vor screamed, unsheathing his Cronus sword in pure hatred and rage.
Loki unsheathed his standard Skana to try and fight against the Grineer Captain. Oberon pulled his Orthos off this back again, prepared to strike. He prefered to let his foes come to him. He was right: Vor raised his sword arm up high and prepared to deliver a killing blow on Loki. Oberon was able to block the strike last second, less than an inch from Loki's helmet.
"Be more careful." Oberon grunted, holding back Vor's strong arm.
No response was given as the attacked figure of Loki disintegrated in a glowing white flash. Loki's laughter was heard as his true form remained standing at a considerable distance from Vor, pistol spinning in his fingers. Oberon shook his head in this belief.
"Could have told me that was your plan." Oberon shouted at him.
"You know how I am, Obbie." Replied Loki. One could swear he had a huge grin on his face if he didn't wear a helmet.
Loki then stopped spinning his Lex and aimed at Vor. He pressed the finger confidently as the bullet traveled directly to the Captian's arm. The impact was strong enough to make Vor take a few steps back and break his duel with Oberon for a second. Loki saw that as an opportunity to strike a major blow against his target and launched himself into the air, sword above his head.
Oberon moved quickly, knowing he had less than a second. He dropped his bladed staff and faster than thought possible, pulled out his Angstrum pistol, already pulling the trigger to charge it up.
The flying figure above them came crashing against the floor like a bomb. A small shockwave coming from where the blade was plunged into sent Vor flying on his back briefly. Loki then quickly removed the sword and ducked backwards quickly. The Angstrum finally charged up and three rockets shot out of the pistol, impacting on Vor and flinging him backwards even further. His robotic parts sparked and burned, and the duo saw the desperate anger in his eyes. He began fiddling with the Void Key on his chest and talking quietly to himself.
"Captain." Oberon said calmly, trying to defuse the situation before things went from bad to worse. "I know what your thinking but don't-...."
Too late. Captain Vor had activated a mass teleport, sending himself, the unfortunate Tenno and most the room to someplace unknown. Far beyond the Origin System, beyond the Void itself. The rift closed itself, leaving no trace as to where the three had gone.
"Tenno? Tenno report! Tenno?" The Lotus asked in a concerned tone. "This isn't good..."
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Princess Twilight Sparkle happily trotted down the pearly white halls of Canterlot Castle, on her way to Celestia's and Luna's throne for further advice on her princess duties. Her eyes scoured the large and tall glass sporting colorful pictures of the royal sisters themselves, Discord's defeat and even the depiction of the Elements of Harmony freeing Luna from her dark side. Celestia's sun gave a beautiful show of dancing lights on the red carpet stretched along the way.
At the very end of the hallway, Twilight reduced her trot to a slower walk and started to climb the rather long set of stairs leading to Celestia and Luna, who looked down at the youngest princess in Equestria with friendly and calm smiles.
"Good morning, Twilight! What a glorious morning for you to visit us!" Luna was the first to greet the ex-librarian below her, followed by Celestia's motherly smile.
"Good morning to you too-"
Twilight's speech was interrupted abruptly by a deafening, pulsating and very foreign hum, then followed by an even louder *pop*. Screams of panic were heard from both the princesses themselves and the startled guards stationed nearby. When this strange noice ended, what seemed to be metal clashing against the marble floor echoed through the halls.
What lay in front of them was a twisted abomination of metal and flesh. It's sole organical eye stared at them in fearful awe and utter confusion. Right behind this figure were two curiously shaped creatures standing on their laying on thier back. They had their hands set on their helmeted heads and appeared to be in pain.
"Lahk kle-?! Uus nkt Reaar! Kwuim feer me!" The monster that was still standing said, fear in its voice.
"Vor!" One of the figures behind it quickly threw himself on his feet, sword being drawn in a second.
Whoever had said that then lost his fighting stance to see his supposed comrade still laying by his side. The creatured stuck out his hand towards the fallen friend and helped him get up on his feet again. The duo then drew their swords, prepared to fight anything.
However, when their eyes scoured the room enough to stop on the three ponies and a whole squad of Royal Guards staring at them with confusion and terrified faces, they nearly dropped their swords. They weren't on a Grineer ship anymore: They were on a new, distant world. Not losing any second of his presumed opponents, the monstrosity standing tall on the middle fiddled for mere seconds with a glowing golden artifact placed on its chest.
"Nooo!" The hammerhead creature shouted and leaped for a tackle, but landed face-first on the ground.
"Not good. We have unknowns on all sides, Captain Vor could be just about anywhere on this planet and theres no way we can extract. I doubt this would have happend if I'd done this with Rhino...Why Lotus, why me?" Oberon shook his head.
"Hey! I wasn't the one who activated the portal to who knows where? That was Vor's fault!" Loki shouted back in protest, jumping back to his balance. "Also, Rhino's quite cocky."
"Focus on the here and now. We are surrounded by an unknown speices and I doubt thier very friendly." Oberon muttered.
Loki then took a look around the numerous equines brandishing golden armor making a threatening circle around them. He gave an unamused sigh as he noticed what kind of weapons they were carrying. "Spears? Seriously?"
"I think we should do the more logical thing in this situation. Calmly put down our weapons, fake surrender, and if they have hostile intentions we can escape." Oberon said, laying his Orthos, Penta grenade launcher, and his Angstrum on the floor as a gesture of peace.
"What? Surrender?" Loki yelled out in annoyance, Skana still in hands and ready to strike.
"Please, whoever you are, put your weapons down. We don't want to start a fight here." The voice of Princess Celestia came, trying to persuade the warriors.
"I don't follow orders from an stranger!"
Without further notice, the guards started to get even closer, spears threatening to stab him at any moment. You could cut the tension with a knife.
"Ok lets take it easy now-.." Oberon tried to mantain the peace by shooting his hands up defensively.
Loki barely heard his partner's words as he dodged a spear attack directioned to his chest, vaulting himself over the guard and right behind the pony. Not losing his momentum, he kicked the stallion's rear fiercely and activated his invisibility. The ponies couldn't find the source of the multiple kicks and punches that they were receiving. Their only clue was the sound emitted by Loki's boots whenever they touched the ground.
Oberon knew that if they killed Loki he'd be next. Besides fact the Lotus would not be happy with that. Still, he only blocked incoming attacks, not intent on harming anything quite yet.
All of the guards directioned themselves to Loki as he reappeared to them on a far point behind the squadron. They were mildly shaken by the blows they took from this new, invisible foe. What was suspicious was the fact that Loki's image simply stood there, staring at the distance. Spears pointed at it, the guards stabbed Loki all at once. Confused gasps echoed around the room as the tips barely did damage to him.
"You know guys, I'm right here!" Loki's voice rang in their ears as they turned around and saw the Tenno hanging on a nearby flag with a hand. "Stop doing that! I don't want to fight seriously yet!"
Suddenly a blast of magic hit him square in the chest, and before he could react Oberon was struck by one as well. Both Tenno fell hard on their backs,the impact of their hardened armor cracking the marble floor.
"Put them somewhere where they can't escape, I want to have a civilized conversation with them later." Celesta ordered, a midly angered scowl on her usually calm and composed face. "And Twilight?"
"Yes Princess?" She responded, bits of magenta magic dissipating on her horn.
"Good shooting."
Loki opened his eyes behind his peculiar shaped helmet. His gaze met instantly a dark colored stone surface, stained with what seemed to be dried water puddles. He tried to move his limbs, but the clanking of metal together was enough for the jokester to notice his steel bonds keeping him latched to a stone wall. A candle, standing proudly on a small wooden table, provided minimal illumination with its orange aura. Loki groaned silently and saw a metallic door sporting multiple vertical bars only a few meters from him: He was in a prison.
A glance to his side, and he saw no one other than his comrade and friend, the calm and patient Oberon. He was unconscious due to the fact that his head hung low. He was bond to the same wall, and in the same fashion as Loki. This snapped an idea for the mischievous warrior:
“Psst! Oberon! Over here! Wake up!” He whispered in a hissing manner, trying his best to not attract any unwanted attention from his captors. The whispering managed to wake the sleeping tenno, causing him to thrash about violently and spout gibberish.
“I-...Who was..! Not again! No!” He wailed, his usual calm behavior was no where to be found.
“Oberon! To your right side! It’s me, Loki!” Loki tried again to attract his friend’s attention, increasing his voice an octane higher. Hearing a semi-friendly voice, Oberon began to calm down slightly.
“I...Loki? What happened?” Oberon asked.
“Allow me to explain.” Princess Celestia responded, stepping into the cell accompanied by three guards clad in golden armor. Her face sported a stern look, directed towards both Warframe-clad fighters.
“Oh great. Miss pony queen arrives to save the day!” Loki mockingly announced and lowered his face, chuckling to himself.
“It’s Princess Celestia. Watch your tongue monster.” A guard growled harshly in response, pointing a spear at Loki’s hammerhead shaped helmet.
“Not a problem, sergeant. Please, let me talk with them in private.” Celestia’s soft speech apparently made the trio of royal guards nod positively and leave the cell in a moment. “I do believe that you both are capable of speech.”
“Yes, ma’am.” The stealthy Tenno reinforced her obvious statement. He waited for another question.
“Crashing inside Canterlot’s Castle is a very daring attitude of yours, since you did such act with a companion.” She said, taking a seat in a wooden chair and resting both hooves on the table. “Do you know where he went? What was his name?” She asked, sounding authoritarian.
“His name is Captain Vor and he’s no friend. He’s more of a monster than we are.” Oberon responded. “He makes us look like heros.”
“And who might you be?” Celestia asked for further information, showing a faint hint of curiosity.
“Who am I or who are we?” Oberon countered, as if to challenge the sun princess.
“Both.” Celestia answered with a knowing smile.”I have been around long enough to know a trick question when I hear one.”
“I bet I’ve been around longer that you.” Oberon muttered.
“I doubt it. Please awnser the question.” the princess said with a polite smile.
“I am Oberon. We are the Tenno.”
“And I’m Loki, the hammerhead! How awesome does that sound? Kicking both clone and scavenger ass through what once was the Solar System, and listening to Lotus give super useful advice.” Loki added cynically, shaking his hands effortlessly. He noticed quickly that Celestia was taking way too much time to respond. “What? You wanna shake hands with me?”
She gave him a funny stare, giggling in her hoof.
“No, I know the answer. He doesn’t shut up. Ever.” Oberon deadpanned.
“I bet 1,000 credits that Princess Celestia didn’t come here to listen to your wisdom.” Loki retorted to Oberon with an unamused look.
“If that’s wisdom then my faith in….everything, has been diminished greatly.” Oberon muttered.
“Yadda yadda, I hoped you had gotten the idea. Now, allow Princess Celestia to continue.” Loki tried to kill a possible argument.
While he waited for Celestia to continue her set of questions, Loki desperately tried to switch teleport with the white alicorn sitting behind the table. His heart skipped a beat as no energy came from his hands, only a faint spark of white energy coming from his palm. What is this? Why can’t I use my powers?
“Your magic has been disabled to prevent you from doing any further damage.” Celestia said, as if she had just read his mind.
“Magic?” Oberon whispered.
“He seemed to try and conjure some kind of white energy from his palm. Those chains are draining any kind of magical power that you may wield.” The white alicorn explained, glancing at both Tenno in a mocking fashion, masked by her composed expression.
“Well, thanks for laying all your cards on the table before the game has even begun.” Oberon laughed.
“I-...what are you playing at?” Celestia interrogated, shaking her head.
“Nothing really, you enjoy playing mind games as much as I do, though it seems you haven’t had a true challenge in quite some time.” Oberon noted wisely.
“How do you know that?” Celestia wondered in amazement.
“I said. I have been playing them for a lot longer.” Oberon stated calmly.
“Don’t question Obbie’s logic, miss.” Loki completed with a chuckle.
Princess Celestia shook her head rapidly and gave both Tenno warning looks. She had to concentrate, and at least get some information on the two aliens stuck to the walls of Canterlot Castle’s dungeon. “Why are you here?!?”
“Remember that handsome fella with those sexy thighs you saw earlier? He’s Vor. We were trying to put an end to his ass, but since he was in possession of a Void Key, a very advanced Orokin item, he caused a massive teleport.” Loki told Celestia, finally looking in her in the eye. His mix of irony and logic was quite confusing for the interrogator.
“Sucking us to a place I’m not familiar with, and without purpose.” Oberon added.
“Wait a moment. Put an end to him? Murder? You’re assassins then.” Celestia pointed an accusing hoof at them.
“I can’t claim to be good. But we are better than him. I just try to redeem what I’ve done.” Oberon grimaced.
“Oberon.” Loki rang in, strangely serious due to his commonly jokester attitude. “That’s enough.”
“I...I killed so many...Why can’t I forget like the rest?” Oberon asked to no one in particular. “Why am I cursed to remember?”
“Oberon! Shut up!” Loki nearly shouted from his bonds, grief taking his tone and even the air surrounding him.
“What are you both talking about?” Asked Celestia, concerned and fearfully curious at the same time.
“None of your pony business. Classified stuff.” Loki abruptly added without explaining further.
“Just know that we are the silhouette of death.” Oberon muttered. “But we are here to help.”
“Be aware: I may follow what Oberon tells me, and I’ll be nice to you… guys. However, one spear pointed at me, and expect to see guards appearing on rooftops.” Loki warned, his natural behavior returning to his character.
“Alright, one chance. However, watch your step, or you will find I am not forgiving.” Celestia said, much to Loki and Oberon’s surprise.
“Well, we need to track Vor and either chase him off world or kill him. Then you won’t be seeing much more of us. Hopefully.” Oberon commented.
“Yeah, hope to see him dead sooner than later. He is quite a charismatic dude when it comes to making alliances.” Loki gave Celestia a warning look behind his headgear.
“Politics were his strong suit...more so than Vay Hek surprisingly enough. At least he doesn’t kill EVERYTHING that opposes him.” Oberon muttered.
Princess Celestia was reluctant to let free these two bipedal creatures. From what she heard, they had no regret in killing...most of the time. She rose from the chair, towering over Loki, and standing equal to Oberon. The white alicorn took in a deep breath, charged her horn with magic and the metal chains that kept the Tenno to the rocky walls snapped open. Loki fell with grace and quickly stood up, noticing the absence of his weapons nearly immediately.
“I need my gear.” Oberon spoke first, rotating his shoulder blade till a loud pop could be heard. “And a glass of water.”
“Me too! I ain’t nothing without a good Lex spinning in my finger.” Loki followed him suit.
“Oberon’s weapons are still locked in safety. But Loki’s are…” Celestia gulped as her eyes captured Loki’s clawed fingers.
“Mine are…?” He motioned a full circle in the air, waiting for her to go on. His expression was mixed with both rage and fear of losing his prized weaponry.
“Twilight’s blast of magic accidentally destroyed them.” The Princess of the sun quickly spoke closing both eyes shut at what her apprentice’s spell had made. “I apologize if they were important.”
Loki raised a finger to protest, but lowered it almost instantly as he noticed that his weapons were gone. One could clearly hear him inhaling in quickly, as if he tried to find words to reply. His chest was flooded with loss of his trusty gear, like if he wasn’t inside his armor anymore. He just hoped he had his powers. Staring at his feet in disbelief, Loki began to mutter confusing sets of words.
“You can have my Penta and Angstrum for now. All I need is my Orthos.” Oberon grunted.
“Orthos? You had a pet with you?” Celestia wondered deeply while staring at him.
“No, my spear.” Oberon answered simply, pointing his thumb to the large object on his back.
“Yeah, yeah. But keep your stuff, Obbie. I can easily evade combat with abilities that you know very well, and even try to use these babies.” He showed his claws to Oberon’s level, moving his fingers back and forth.
“Take them anyway. Just in case, we are going after Vor still.”
“Uhhh… Oberon, I think that we should firstly think about where we are.” The mischievous Tenno poked his friend’s shoulder.
“Perhaps. We still need to reestablish contact with Lotus and the others, though that can wait till after we kill Vor, he couldn’t have gone far, let alone leave the planet.” Oberon noted.
“Ummm… Princess Celestia? I believe that you understand the threat that Vor is imposing on your… planet? We could try to stop him before he did anything harmful to your population, whatever.” Loki turned to the frozen Celestia, moving his arms to emphatise his point.
“I… Please, let’s leave the dungeons. I think that you two will be able to do more in fresh air.”
“Okay girls, I think it’s best if we went down there! Princess Celestia might have gone into trouble with those two… things that appeared earlier this morning!” Twilight Sparkle announced as she stood next to the doors leading to the deep dungeons of Canterlot Castle, a scowl stamped on her lavender face.
“Ah don’t know if that’s a good idea, Twi.” Applejack voiced, her emerald orbs gleaming with concern. “You sure it’s safe?”
“Don’t worry, Twilight. My sister is able to defend herself against the abominations that have entered our realm.” Luna came in, placing a reassuring hoof over the smaller alicorn’s shoulder.
Twilight’s horn lit up to turn the doorknob, but, much to her and her friends’ surprise, the wooden doors opened with one quick motion: Princess Celestia walked out of the dark hallways, unscathed and with a blank expression on her white face. What really startled the group was the two bipeds in gleaming armor that covered their whole body that flanked her sides.
“Princess?” Twilight asked, unsure and wide-eyed.
“It’s alright Twilight. Give them a chance.”
“You MEANIE!” Pinkie shouted at the top of her lungs, making everyone in the group jump in place.
The pink pony put herself on two hooves and assumed an offensive stance, shooting a poisonous glare at the two humanoids. Another wild scream escaped her lungs and she launched herself towards the hammerhead-shaped creature, both forehooves forward to strike it down. Gasps filled the surroundings as she simply passed through the frame, sliding on her belly through the marble floor.
“What the hell was that?” Loki asked, startled. His copy disappeared and he prevailed by its side.
“I think this is going to go swimmingly.” Oberon said, shaking his head.
Loki instantly assumed a straight stance and saw the numerous pair of eyes staring in both shock and curiosity. They were all equines, even though their coats had unusual colors, same with their manes. Noticing that the situation could sink even more, he announced before clearing his throat:
“I’m Loki! Your friend from outer space!”
“By the Lotus….why...” Oberon exclaimed, placing a hand on his head.
“Wait, you’re a friend?” The same pink pony who tried to tackle him suddenly appeared in his front. “I’m Pinkie Pie! Nice to meet you, Mr. Hammerhead!”
“Saw that, Obbie? I’m already making friendships.” Loki teased as he shook Pinkie’s outstretched hoof happily.
Oberon turned to Celestia. “Do you have somewhere quiet I can go to rest?” He asked.
“The gardens?”
“Yes….that sounds nice.”
“Whoa whoa whoa bud. Explain what you’re doing here.” Rainbow Dah butted in, giving him a glare.
“I don’t repeat myself.” Oberon grunted. “Nor do I take orders from lesser--”
“Yeah, yeah. Go on, Obbie, I’ll give those adorable things some debriefing!” Loki suddenly materialized before Rainbow Dash while Oberon popped in Loki’s earlier position. He shrugged off the white particles from his limbs and crouched next to the cyan pegasus.
“Today is not my day.” Oberon grumbled, walking away.
“Okay, listen up, pastel ponies! Sit your flanks and listen to Loki’s words of pure wisdom!”
2 hours later...
Oberon sat in the middle of an empty circle, a patch where the grass was kept short to allow any being to sit. His Orthos jutted out of the ground where he had put it. He drew in a long breath, and slowly let it out. Once again, he was at peace, the sunset already creeping through the leaves of many trees and painting the skies in a beautiful shade of orange.
A bird landed on a tree branch nearby, Oberon noticed but remained perfectly still. He smiled inside his helmet when the bird perched on one of his horns.
“Hello little friend. Your world sure is peaceful. I could get use to this.” He sighed. “I just hope we didn’t bring the war with us….”
Suddenly, Loki appeared out of thin air, sitting right across Oberon. He was breathing deeply and seemed exhausted. With every second, his breaths went softer and softer, coming to the point of not being heard. He really underestimated the ponies. Thankfully, his invisibility sure came in handy. “Oberon… I chewed off more than I could…”
“Then sit, relax. Meditate for once. Now you can’t spend your free time messing with poor Rhino.” Oberon commented.
“Ahem, messing? I prefer messing with Banshee or Ash. Rhino stuck me to a wall one day, remember?” Loki opened an eye and mimicked Oberon’s position, feeling lighter and eventually hovering like the taller Tenno.
“I wish the others were here...just the two of us? Not only are we outnumbered but we are sorely under equipped. I don’t like this one bit.” Oberon whispered.
“Hey, speaking seriously now, don’t you think that we can contact Lotus through meditation? I’ve seen Hydroid do that once, so, it won’t kill if we try. Maybe she can send some help.” Loki suggested, silent and calm.
“Perhaps. It would take a clear and calm mind though. I doubt you could do it.” Oberon quipped. “I will try my best though.”
Oberon lowered his head, and from his point of view the whole world slowed. Time seemed to crawl forwards at an agonising pace as he concentrated deeply. Everything around him seemed to darken and then, he was left alone in a pitch black void.
There.
Just beyond the void itself. An echo of a whisper. A great mind, like no other.
The Lotus.
Six ponies, together with two taller and older alicorns, formed a circle as afternoon started to fall over the marvelous land of Equestria. Strands of Celestia’s bright sun creeped inside the hallway, enveloping the whole place in a relaxing and soothing aura of orange. Even with such a beautiful scenery, the group of ponies was having a long discussion.
“Strange. That Loki character had attacked most of our guards, but now, he showed himself as a pretty ironic and cynical pony!” Twilight Sparkle protested, looking at a bouncing Pinkie Pie.
“Not sure what I think of that Oberon fella, he seems….odd.” Applejack added.
“But that Loki was just incredible! He teleported there, and disappeared, and created copies of himself!, and… just awesome!” Rainbow Dash came in, nearly bouncing as high as Pinkie Pie.
“Did you see their color palette? Simply marvelous!” Rarity commented.
“I-..um...I’m not sure what to say.” Fluttershy whispered, hiding herself behind her mane. “If that’s okay, that is…”
“I will not allow them to hunt this monster on soil sister! No matter what he has done!” Luna shouted, anger on her face accompanied with a pout.
“According to them he is too horrible to let live, you want something like that loose among our ponies?” Celestia tried to reason with her sister.
“Why are you giving them the benefit of the doubt?” Luna asked.
“Because I only wish I had with you, all those years ago….”
Celestia and Luna stood on top of the older alicorn’s tower balcony, bathed in the moonlight. Their gaze was directed down on the beautiful and greenish Canterlot Gardens, where two bipedal creatures sat across one another, kneeling above the small patch of grass surrounded by a lake whose waters shone like silver. Silence reigned between the sisters, and the quiet air hung between the meditating warriors as well.
“Sister,” Luna sheepishly broke the atmosphere, shifting her gaze from the creatures and towards Celestia, “do you really think that letting those… things roam through our kingdom is safe?”
“Luna… I don’t know. I just don’t know. First, that Vor character appears, alongside these two who call themselves Oberon and Loki. I talked with them at the dungeons. Despite Loki’s… erratic behavior, I noticed several strange things about them: As I heard, it seems that they have no regrets in killing, yet they didn’t seem to want to harm any of us at all. Oberon is plagued by dark visions, saying that he is cursed to remember, while the ‘others’ simply forgot about whatever they had done. I tried to dig more through Loki, but he simply swatted the subject off.” Celestia spurted out all of the information she had got from the two, her gaze full of concern and worry going from the gleaming moon to the princess of the night.
“When they fall asleep, I shall tap into their dreams. Perhaps their minds are not as strong while they slumber.” Luna offered, giving Celestia a weak smile and placing a reassuring hoof on her shoulder.
“Ok, just… be careful Luna... “
This said, and Celestia trailed off from the balcony, using her magic to open the giant golder doors. Luna watched closely, sighed and slowly turned on her hooves. She continued to stalk the two aliens from above, waiting for them to fall asleep.
Meanwhile, at the Canterlot Gardens…
“Tenno. It’s good to finally get into contact with you. What happened?” Lotus called out inside their minds, showing her worry carelessly on her voice.
“Mass teleport Ma’am.” Oberon reported immediately, relieved to hear her voice again in such an unfamiliar world.
“I should have expected this.” She responded calmly.
“There’s been some...technicalities.” Oberon trailed off.
“Well, turns out that we’re stuck in ponyland, and that some purple pony called Twilight Sparkle made my weapons turn into ash. Also, Vor is somewhere around here, and we fear that he may be able to call reinforcements. Might attract the Corpus and their profit-loving asses.” Loki intervened, giving Lotus the probable dangers imposed by Vor’s presence
“This is...not entirely bad news. A new planet, and a sentient species. Though Vor still presents a threat. We must play our cards carefully.” She advised. “Reinforcements will arrive within a few days via Solar Rail. Can you hold out till then?”
“Ummm, we aren't in any direct danger. Unless miss Twilight wants to turn me into a pile of ashes. Oh, Lotus?” Loki asked eagerly.
“Tenno?” Lotus replied flatly.
“Could you send me some weapons? Like, I got nothing, and I don’t wanna get a wooden spear from the ponies. Nor do I want a wooden stick.” He explained with a sheepish laugh.
“I’ll be sending both of your collected armory to you along with two other tenno so you’ll have a full squad. We may be out of contact for a while, good hunting. Lotus out.” And with that, her voice left their minds.
Silence came crashing back , only broken partially by the wind gently brushing the tree’s leaves. Loki instantly opened his eyes and nearly fell flat on his back, balancing himself on his toes before he could be submerged on the shallow lake.
“Woah… Umm, Oberon, what now?” He asked, sitting on his knees.
“We wait. Vor can’t go off world so he can’t cause too much trouble alone. I’m going get some much needed rest.” Oberon said, standing up and preparing to leave.
“Uhhh… what about me?” Loki stood up and opened his arms wide in confusion.
“It really does pain me to say this. Stay out of trouble.” Oberon commanded.
Loki gave an unamused breath and turned on his heels as Oberon trailed off from the gardens. Even though Tenno were highly resistant to starvation, thirst and sleep, he couldn’t hide away from his need to take a nap. The only thing that he would need was to find an appropriate place to lay down. That tree is really appealing to me… come on, Loki. You’re safe.
Finally deciding mentally if he should or should not lay down on a tree, Loki shrugged off his worries and climbed the tree without much effort, since it was naturally easy and short. Crouching to avoid hitting his head against the leaves and branches hanging above him. Now slowly dropping his back against the larger branch that he had seen earlier, the mischievous Tenno finally could rest for a bit. With quite a view to the stars, that is.
What he didn’t know, was about Luna’s plan to get a better and broader knowledge on these new and abnormal aliens. Looking down at the nearly asleep Loki down on the gardens, Luna charged up her horn with dark blue energy, before dissipating in thin air, leaving only a few particles soaring through the air.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Luna entered the plain of existence from which dreams spawned in a flash of bright light. She intended to enter Loki’ mind first, as he seemed to have less willpower then… the other one. Still, she was timid about delving into someone mind without warning them, but it would destroy the purpose of spying on them.
“Enough. Now or never.” Luna muttered before casting the spell.
She was not prepared for what came to meet her. The second she could feel her hooves meeting with cold metal, what seemed to be numerous footsteps ragefully coming at her direction came to her earshot. Her eyes went wide as dinner plates, terrified as she realized that whatever was nearing her was coming in hot. Turning to her left side, Luna screamed loudly as she saw another bipedal creature, painted in bronze and particularly bulky, rushing at its top speed towards what seemed to be Loki’s figure standing carelessly with his arms crossed.
Before it could collide with her or Loki, Luna instantly teleported to a random location, apparently landing on top of a pillar. Her heart beat rapidly as she saw multiple beings clearly dancing wildly around in circles vaguely resembling the Tenno. A shriek escaped her mouth as the princess of the night saw the bulky frame crash against Loki, but his figure simply disappeared in a flash of energy before replacing one of the box-headed dancers, who was sent flying through the room before exploding on the nearest shining wall. Confused, Luna looked around the ambient to find a safe place.
Suddenly, she was assaulted by Loki who simply popped to her side on the pillar’s top. He chuckled loudly and placed his hands on his waist.
“Loki!!! Get down here so that I can smash your little hammerhead to pieces!!!” An angry, deep and gruff voice came from down the hallway. It was coming from the same big armored thug she saw during her arrival.
“Oh hell no, Rhino! I don’t want to be stuck in a wall again! Now, let me properly threaten our newest guest!” Loki cheerfully announced as he spun on his heels and faced the scared Luna. Out of thin air, he removed two small static dolls, one painted in white while the other was in red and black. “See? This is Frost and Ember! They’re such a loooovely couple! Too bad that they can’t get together or she’ll melt him down…”
Her mouth agape from confusion, fear and weirdness didn’t move as Luna’s eyes followed the small dolls fly away from his hands and down into the hallway. “You know what? Imma slash through some Grineer.”
“No, no! Stop it!” Luna yelled at the top of her lungs, but Loki didn’t hear her.
He dropped on the halls beneath them wielding two sharp katana-styled swords leaving red trails behind him. Loki broke into a full blown sprint as numerous frames appeared in his way, resembling that Vor character but their armor seemed more basic and they appeared to be taller. Classical music played from nowhere as Loki literally began to slide on his feet with grace. Luna nearly closed her eyes just before his blade’s edge was about to hit one being’s stomach… and automatically made it slide together with him, singing along with the rithym.
The princess of the night couldn’t help herself but to crazily stare as Loki seemed to bring the others together to his insane freak show. Shaking her head while muttering a thousand ‘no’s, Luna’s horn glowed brightly, bringing her back to reality in the blink of an eye. Her breathing was obviously off, sweat dripped from her forehead, along with her tired expression. She looked down at the still sleeping Loki laying on the same branch, sighing relieved since he was still asleep. Luna would need now try and see what reigned in Oberon’s subconscious.
Perhaps Oberon might have a more sane mind…
Without more than a second thought, she cast herself into Oberon’s sleeping mind.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A few hours later….
Celestia had gone to check on Luna, considering that she had not heard from her since she offered to tap into their guest’s dreams in search of answers. She was not worried, just wondering what was taking so long. She sucked in a heavy breath and put her hooves to walk, slowly and quietly passing through the dark halls of Canterlot Castle. It didn’t take long for her to arrive at her sister’s balcony. Using her magic to open the doors, the older alicorn found Luna shaking her whole body profusely while whispering to nothingness.
“L-Luna? Are you alright?” Celestia asked, trying not to panic with the sight of her shocked sister.
“I saw….” Luna muttered, he face twisting in pain. “I saw what he did. What they did. What they ALL did. Monsters. They are monsters built to fight monsters. Sister…we cannot trust them, everything they touch dies.” Luna pleaded.
“What?” Celestia wondered, her face stamped with pure fear and confusion.
“They have done horrible things they can’t remember. But one is cursed to. It doesn’t matter. They are monsters and we must force them to LEAVE!” Luna commanded.
Celestia’s magenta gaze fell to the marble floor. Yes, it happened all so sudden, but considering what she heard from them, a new and horrible threat by the name of Vor was released and roaming through the peaceful soil of Equestria carelessly. It was quite clear that the Tenno were the only ones who knew and had the ability to stop said threat, and she wouldn’t force them to leave as her world was left to burn. She had a plan…
“I’ll… I’ll make them leave by tomorrow’s morning. Equestria is greatly threatened by these creatures…” Her face remained blank, not meeting Luna’s stern eyes.
Without any further words being said, Celestia spun in her hooves and left the balcony with a heavy air surrounding her.
“... Please, I would like you to keep ultimate secrecy on the fact that you’ll be housing the Tenno inside your library. I’ll send both of them in a train to Ponyville this very moment, and they’ll arrive at your library soon. They will live with you until they manage to gather information on whenever this Vor character is. Just make sure to explain the situation to any witnesses that happen to see them: We don’t want major panic outbreaks there. Your former mentor, Princess Celestia.” Twilight finished reading the letter in her magical grasp and scratched her head in confusion.
It was a great surprise for the newest princess in Equestria to receive such an important message in the morning. Her clock clearly read 6:02 AM, and waking up early was a problem for her. So… why did Celestia send her a message this early in a morning?
“ Ten--Who? What is this now?” Spike, who was splayed at the wooden floor, asked lazily as he yawned deeply, stretching out his small limbs.
“Didn’t you hear about these aliens that appeared out of nothing at Canterlot Castle yesterday morning?” Twilight asked to her number one assistant, but got only a snore as response: The little baby dragon had dozed back off again.
Twilight grunted annoyedly as she enveloped Spike in her magenta magical aura and placed him on her back. “C’mon, Spike! We need to gather the girls and wait for these Tenno things!”
A nearly lifeless groan was her answer. “Just a few more minutes….”
Meanwhile, inside the next train to Ponyville...
"This is the most ridiculous form of transport.....EVER." Oberon muttered, staring out the window at the nature-filled world moving by.
"C'mon, Obbie: I thought you liked old stuff. Vintage...." Loki laughed, stretching his legs and placing his hands at the back of his neck..
"I like traditional....and preferably functional." Oberon responded.
"Functional? C'mon! This thing is moving, isn't it? It's pretty functional for me." Loki threw back at him, looking out of the window as well. “Dude… I think we’re stuck at wonderland or something… Have you ever seen such an organized settlement or such green forests before? Earth doesn’t count, really.” His clawed finger went from the distant town of Ponyville to the Everfree Forest.
“The idea of a perfect world is impossible. Society will always topple itself in the end. Paradise cannot exist, and I doubt it would be full of colorful magic creatures.” Oberon said with a grunt.
“The universe is magic, Obbie. What, you thought that we were the only ones, alongside the Grineer and the Corpus? Magical talking ponies are the best things I’ve ever found in my… lifetime. Messing with Valkyr is one of them too, but that’s another story.” Loki spurted out as he placed his feet on the seat before him, sinking in his chair.
“Perhaps. But an optimistic outlook doesn’t change the situation. I prefer to stay neutral if possible.”
Loki kept quiet as he observed the world before his eyes. It was so… surreal. So perfect. Maybe even alluring…
“Argh, how long till we arrive?” He asked, diverting his gaze from the scenery as the train reached a tunnel and the lights over their heads turned on.
“A few hours perhaps. I did manage to make something to help pass the time.” Oberon offered.
“Oh?” Loki breathed as he took a right position on the seat.
“It took a bit of time last night, but I could hardly sleep. I carved some mahjong tiles.” Oberon stated calmly.
“Uhhh…”
“Just be quiet and play. Only one problem, we need four players.” Oberon muttered before taking out an old wooden box and taking out hand made pieces.
The train suddenly came to a stop, showing the Ponyville Train Station right next to the two Tenno. Loki shot up from his chair and started jumping around the interior, making his way to the exit while humming a tune.
“Perhaps another day.” Oberon sighed, placing the tiles back in the box.
Loki left the train and stepped at the station with a cheerful atmosphere surrounding him. He glanced from side to side, searching for ‘Golden Oaks Library’, but he was only met with the wide-eyed stare of the ticket pony.
Loki turned to the shaking ticket pony. He put one finger up to his helmet. “Shhh.”
The stallion nodded, shocked and still shaking unconsciously.
“Oberon, we better go before we turn this into a freak festival or something.” Loki called out, holding a hand out to keep the terrified stallion quiet.
“It would be prefered to keep our existence here secret, seeing as we are not supposed to be here.” Oberon stated.
“Why do you think I’m making this poor… horse quiet?” Loki said, a bit of pity on his voice as he lowered his hand motioned for the pony to keep doing whatever he was doing.
“Please, let’s just go.” Oberon turned to the stallion. “Don’t say anything about us, or I will NOT be happy. Am I clear?” He warned. The stallion nodded furiously.
“Let’s go, with calm, through the shadows.” Loki started moving towards a shadowy backyard of a house.
Loki’s long range communicator clicked on, and through the static he could hear… Oberon.
“Good. I’m half way there.” Oberon said, rather amused.
“Wait, what?” Loki said, a bit impressed with the speed of his partner.
“Come on. The library is at mere meters from the station.” Replied Oberon, waving at his not so far away friend.
Loki grunted and put himself to a sprint, but not before thumbs-upping the unfortunate stallion at the ticket stall. The trajectory was simple, and he had only to vault over a few barrels and wooden boxes. He slid on his knees to arrive next to Oberon, emerging from the shadows of the backyards and shining in the sun’s light.
“A tree-library.” Loki muttered, chuckling and rubbing his hands together. “Can this get any better?”
“Very natural… I like it.” Oberon said plainly.
“It needs a name made by me: treebrary. Do you like it?” Loki asked, placing his hands on his waist and facing Oberon. Oberon could only put a hand up to his face.
“Oh for the love of all…”
Loki exhaled in relief as he saw a small wooden door, darker than the whole structure, standing out at the bottom of the giant tree. He patten Oberon on the shoulder and ran to the door, rapping his knuckles cheerfully on it. No response came. He knocked once again. Nothing. He started doubting if there was truly someone inside that thing.
“Perhaps it’s a decoy and this is a trap…..” Oberon worried slightly. “Stay on guard and trust nothing.”
“I would rather do this.” Loki commented unamused and swung the doorknob open.
The Tenno entered the sunlit wooden interior without a care, only to stop dead on his tracks. Six pair of eyes, all coming from equines standing crumpled on the corner of the room, eyed him widely. Loki scoured his eyes through the library and was taken aback by the cozyness and the size of the shelves.
“Ummm… I’m Loki! Your hammerhead friend from outer space!”
“Looookkkkkiiiiiiii!!!” Pinkie Pie shouted, tackling him in a hug.
