Author's Note

WHOA HEY HOLY COW!

Been long enough, eh? Fuckin' sorry about that. I've got a hundred excuses, but I won't share any of them. I'll only share the reasons. Started out with me being absolutely at a loss of how to introduce Rarity, I felt like the resurrection scene had been overdone already, and I wasn't sure what else was available. After that I was just having a lot of difficulty relating to the character I was writing, I'm not the hugest Rarity fan myself, I feel most of my similarities are in Rainbow and Twilight, with some ties to Applejack and Pinkie as well.

Guess that's not so important. I dunno, I'm trying to link the character's positions together quickly without rushing it either. I figured its okay to use a little coincidence to keep things going. After all, it's not a coincidence at all. It's Destiny.

I'm kind of worried about the quality of this chapter, and I might revise it later, but I really felt the need to get something out, after I postponed it for so long. Real sorry to keep the audience waiting, I got distracted by mostly video games.

As usual, I'm still looking for editors and proof readers, I'm still welcoming critique, and I'm still hoping I'll have a happy audience! Keep the love, and the hate where appropriate, coming guys!

Glistering

"I don't know if you ever thought of me as comforting, but I always felt safer around you. I know Applejack would knock a mountain over to protect me, and Twilight could summon an army of guards with the stamp of her hooves, but that almost seemed scary. I know you never wanted to act violently, but that you would do anything if I needed you."
- Spike, High Advisor of Her Majesty Princess Twilight Sparkle, circa 1015 Post Nightmare

A mare stood on the balcony of a grand castle, the white, thin coat on her exposed face rustling aside to grant the chilly winds of the altitude passage to her sensitive skin, as she overlooked the landscape that rolled out more than thrice as far as it would on the ground. For the castle was built on the very side of a mountain, lone and mighty. It was an alabaster white, and a solar gold. Though long ago it had much purple, the colour had been eroded over the years, and had not been restored for it was the colour which heralded the ancient sororarchy that had collapsed so long ago. She could see spots of old villages, burnt or shattered each in their own special way, though only one of which was of interest to her. There was a tree, larger than she had thought possible, which marked its location. She knew the tree, though it was much larger now than it had ever been. The mare hadn't seen the tree, or anything else for many centuries. Though the tree was grand, to be sure, it looked more like a bud of broccoli from here, were it not for the browned bark of the stump defying the usual green stem of the vegetable. She chuckled at her own thought, and glanced fleetingly at the sun set.

Or she meant to, though was reminded of hope, and fear at once, by a sight which blocked the horizon. Reminding her why now the castle was in so much shade, even at such an altitude and with the sun, powerful even in its monotonous state, to overlook it. For her vision was overtaken by a sphere, a brushed steel in texture, reflecting the colours of the world around its form. Pinkish, mostly, for it was a sunset afterall. Though it was also in grandly in shadow. The Traveller, the mare new it to be named. Though she remembers it arriving, for nobody could forget a moment like that, she cannot remember if it ever said anything important.

It didn't look like the sort of thing that would speak. It was just an orb of metal with a few cracks in it. But it had done so much, so long ago. Apparently inside it was a greater power, at least there was, for it was the reason that Equis had ascended to the heavens. The mare had thought that Cadenza was a nice opportunity for retirement at some time, though she had been informed it was nowhere near safe anymore. She frowned at that prospect burnt up, and looked back out to the tree.

Someone quickly nodded at the mare, smiling as they said "Good evening, Huntress." The lady paid little heed to the greeting, which did not seem to provoke offense. She had thought to ask to be called by name, but she never got the chance. Everyone in the castle was in a hurry, to get somewhere she did not know. She eventually gave up, and allowed them their love of anonymity. But it made her sad that no one yet had called her by her name, not even her self-proclaimed guardian angel.

It was strange, to not only herself she presumed, that she had been awoken by a floating device with a friendly sort of voice. It had brought her to the castle which she was told to call home. Not that she minded, of course. The castle was beautiful, even more beautiful than she had remembered it being. It once was made only of stone, which no matter how finely crafted still held an air of earthly roughness. Now the ground was tiled with ceramics, and the walls were made of a perfectly formed material that seemed to bare half the properties of steel, and half those of plastic. It was beautiful, without a doubt, and she had always wanted to live in Canterlot. But she had learned long ago, that even Canterlot was no home when it did not house her friends also.

She focused on the tiny tree again -the one that was, in truth, gargantuan- for it reminded her of home. It was home. and saw something which told her that the world was not as beautiful as this castle would have one suppose. In the shadow of dusk, there were tiny flashes of light, only a few kilometers north west of the tree. One came, then another moments later. The mare new that they were the fire of guns, something which made her equally afraid and sad. She sighed, and looked away from the fight, which she would not have been able to see were it not for the assistance of her "enhanced" body.

The machine which had brought her to the City had explained that her improved senses were caused by induced hallucinations, and it was really what the machinery in her clothing was seeing or hearing. She didn't like that her clothes could change how she perceived the world, but she was a little too awestruck at the time to bother complaining. Now she did not complain either, but as we had said, she sighed. A sigh can speak a dozen sentences, with a dozen words each, and Ghost heard every one of those hundred and forty four words.

"It's sad, isn't it?" The soothing voice came from behind the Mare. The Ghost floated reassuringly, and looked concerned at the back of the mare's head. "That's why I brought you back. So that one day, maybe soon, nobody will have to see war on their doorstep."

"So you mean to end a war by sending me to wage it." The huntress said. The notion reminded her of something older than the Traveller's arrival. The War to End All Wars, it was named at the time, when all the races of the continent had risen to defend, attack, steal and guard so many plots of land. It was not accurately titled. In fact, it could be argued that it was the first taste of true war Equis had ever been exposed to.

"Would you rather the war ends by allowing it to consume us?" Ghost asked, rhetorically.

A moment of silence. "I just want to see the ponies I loved again." A gust of wind pulled on the mare's cape, and sent a shivering cold through the fur on her face yet again.

Ghost looked around, quizzically. Though only a simulated behaviour, it made him not only look alive, but feel alive as well. An idea struck him, but it was a risky one. He could inspire hope, but at the risk of shattering it later. It was a long shot, if we were to understate it's severity. No matter, it was Ghost's job to keep his Guardian not just alive, but well.

"Well, there's a chance they're Guardians too. I could check the network for their entries." The mare stopped frowning for a moment, then even smiled, which brought a sense of accomplishment to the Ghost. "I'll need names, and anything else you can remember. Lets go to the Library, and you can draw their sigils too."

The mare warmed on the inside, and began trotting at the Ghost's direction. Though her good mood was spoiled when she walked past an equinoid robot -she had been shocked to see them at first, but quickly became accustomed- which said in its droning, synthetic voice "The City owes you a great debt, Huntress." And the pony visibly winced at her title.

That was just about the last she could handle. Just as her latest acquaintance had promised her something that made her happy, another machine did something that had upset her. She was very angry, perhaps irrationally so. Now she meant to display her anger, something she did not often do, for fear of acting unfair. She knew that, often, emotional responses were irrational, and would be later regretted, but she didn't give herself time to think that over.

"I would very, very much appreciate if you could call me Rarity!" She barked at the construct, who could not signal its fear of her rage.

"I must apologize. I did not mean to upset you," It visibly paused, thinking before it said "Rarity." in an even falser sounding voice than usual. "It is only Castle policy that we call Guardians by their title."

Rarity was still angry, and not so sorry for snapping at the robot. However, Ghost had immediately began to drill through his vast knowledge of history and legend when he had heard the name Rarity. In but a few nanoseconds, he had found what he was looking for, but politely waited for the Guardian to finish her incredibly slow conversation. A bottleneck on his processes. Now that it was over, Ghost could speak.

"Rarity." The Huntress immediately perked her ears, and looked expectantly at Ghost. "I'm afraid we need to reroute, you should meet the Vanguard."

"But what about my friends?" Rarity began to look sad again, and Ghost felt very sorry.

"Twilight, Applejack, and those lot right?" Ghost confirmed his suspicions with a nod from Rarity. "I'll get on looking for them, but this is a matter of great importance. The Vanguard need to know that you, one of the Elements of Harmony, live again."

Rarity sighed, and complied to Ghost's wishes. The hall of the Vanguard was a lot closer than the Library, anyway. Of course, Ghost had already combed every Guardian's identification, and come up with nothing in relation to Rarity's friends in the instant it took him to say Twilight's name. Though he cleverly withheld that information, knowing it would only sadden Rarity. It may have been a tad dishonest, but he also believed that the information was simply outdated. The fact he had uncovered an Element after this long could not have been coincidence. They would all arrive soon enough.

So Rarity complied, and altered her trot toward a new direction given to her. Ghost had set multiple waypoints for her to follow, but Rarity had traversed the halls of Canterlot many times before she had met him. Quickly she realized the Hall of the Vanguard was the throne room of old, and she knew precisely how to get there.

--------*--------*--------*--------

"You need a weapon." Crispy, Twilight still wasn't used to that name, said from her pilot seat. "I'm sure Revenant would love to share something with you, but he'll only offer lower stock to new Guardians, to protect investments."

"Oh, uh-" Twilight stammered, just coming out of deep thought. "Thank you, for the concern I mean, but I don't think I'll be doing anything with weapons any time soon. I'm no guard." She almost sarcastically laughed at her self a little.

She had been in deep thought regarding some things she had been told, and some things she had done. She was thinking mostly about her usage of 'Light' earlier. She only just recently, after Crispy had ushered the Princess onto a ship, realised that she had killed over a dozen life forms, as intelligent as herself. She couldn't even imagine intentionally killing a house fly, or a fish. She knew that it was wrong to try to justify it, down that path she would become callous. So instead of justifying it, she followed the spiritual advice of a monk she had gone to for help long ago. She didn't think about it, she thought about her thoughts on the subject. Following her own mind, and objectively watching what it did. Crispy was making this hard.

"Has your Ghost not explained this yet?" Ghost looked at the floor innocently, "Sheesh, man." Crispy said, exasperated. "Well I hate to break it to you, princess, but a guard is exactly what you are."

Twilight jumped at being called princess. She had been told by ghost to keep her identity a secret untill she could speak to a group called the Vanguard, who seemed like some kind of authority structure. But now it looked like she had somehow blown her cover already. She saw the logic in keeping a low profile, people would either assume her to be crazy, or gossip about her, as Ghost had said. They didn't want either of those things to happen, but Twilight hadn't even shown her face yet, and this eccentric pilot had seen right through her mask!

"Oh no," Twilight whined, "Please don't tell anyone yet, Crispy."

Crispy took her eyes off the sky, which Twilight assumed was just as bad as taking your eyes off the road, just to raise an eyebrow at her.

"Tell them what, that you're a Guardian?" She asked, "Sorry, but I think the outfit pretty much gives it away."

"That was a nickname, Twilight. She was calling you prudent." Ghost radioed through Twilight's helmet, for private communication.

"I uh, just wanted to..." Twilight racked her mind desperately for anything. "Uh, tell my parents in person!"

"Nice."

Crispy looked back out the cockpit window, and resumed her main task of piloting a ship travelling roughly mach six, with a mumbled "Sure thing." She spoke a few unfamiliar commands to her Ghost after the awkward silence that followed, too much jargon being used for Twilight to understand what the Hunter was talking about. Words and phrases like "The Pied Popper" and "Duke Loves You" stood out to the incognito royalty. After much discussion, Crispy and her ghost mumbled several agreements and affirmations over each other while nodding slowly, and then stopped suddenly.

"Anyway," Crispy diverted from previous conversation with emphasis and elongation to the first syllable, "You do need a weapon. After some discussion, Ghost and I agreed you could have one of mine."

"Thank you very much, Crispy, but I really don't want one at all. I was never, and don't intend to be, a violent po--" Twilight was cut off by the wall opposite to her passenger seat in the jump ship folding aside, and a mechanized series of racks producing themselves from the crevices of the wall. The glory was not the mechanism which produced the racks, but the devices which the racks produced. Row after row of war in a condensed, and at one time hoof-held form, though telekinesis now overtook the older methods.

Guns, we mean to speak of. Or 'small arms', if you ask the Interracial Convention of War. Each row seemed to be devoted to a sort of archetype for the design of said weapons to follow. One for sidearms, though they were hefty and powerful enough to be named cannons. Another for what looked like rifles, or maybe carbines, with shortish barrels and large magazines jutting out of their undersides. The rack lower than that held another variety of rifle, which Twilight knew to be named a 'bullpup' with its magazine in the stock rather than under the barrel. The lowest rack held another form of bullpup, typically with much larger stocks, and thinner but longer barrels.

There were possibly a hundred of them, and Twilight was awed to see so many weapons in the possession of one pony. After quickly counting the rows to be twenty five across, and with four rows, Twilight smiled at her very accurate estimate. She frowned again though, at the purpose of the wall opposite to her.

"Pretty impressive, eh?" Crispy called over her shoulder while tapping a key pad blindly. "Take your pick, those are just my spares."

Twilight wanted to try her best to deny the supposed gift, but Ghost bumped into her shoulder and said "Well? Don't be rude, princess." He snickered at himself. Twilight was unnerved by how casually everyone was treating the existence of a capacity for war, not dissimilar to an entire barracks, possessed by a single individual.

She opened her mouth, and raised her hoof. But caught her own speechlessness before she gaped for long enough that someone may have noticed. She looked at Ghost, then back at Crispy's hood, before finally sighing and trotting toward the rack of weaponry in a sort of dejected defeat. The Warlock looked over the weapons, unsure of how best to pick them. She was intellectually familiar with them, but had never actually shot one in her life. She stood their and stared idly, like a child looking into a fridge full of nothing but condiments.

"What's the matter, never seen a gun before?" Crispy joked.

"Never so close." Twilight admitted sheepishly, tapping her chin.

"Well, just remember; you don't choose the gun. The gun chooses you."

Twilight took that advice deeply, and began to try to mentally listen to the devices. It's hard to explain exactly what she was doing, but it was similar to trying to sense a magical aura. She deeply concentrated, and focused on the whole wall. That continued for only half a second, before Crispy began laughing at herself, hysterically so. Twilight lowered her brow and snorted in exasperation with the Huntress. She was as hard to deal with as Rainbow, and this pony was an experienced killer on top of being difficult. Twilight was starting to dislike her.

The princess rolled her eyes, and decided to listen to her book-smarts, some might call them, because it was better than spinning a bottle. Bullpups could be much shorter, with the stock receiver making use of previously empty space in the design, allowing for easy aiming in closer quarters. The variety with the longer barrels tended to have scopes, and were clearly implements for very long range fighting. The conventionally designed rifles looked heavy, and vicious. Some of them even had serrated bayonets, like a steel beak, and Twilight resolved she didn't like them.

That left the sidearms, exclusively revolvers. Though they were massive in relation to most pistols she was aware of, they were still smaller and lighter than any other available weapon at the time. She knew that they would be easy to un-holster, and were ideal for self defense. Twilight didn't see herself being the first to draw in a fight, so perhaps it was the best she could still end up being the first to finish drawing. With a final glance over the available tools, she resolved on taking the lowest profile revolver available.

She was at first uncertain if she should try to use telekinesis, or just pick it up in her teeth. She was honestly a little afraid to use her Light to do anything after the last time. But it would be cowardly to grab it in her mouth, and she would look silly for it. Twilight took a deep breath, and quickly enough felt the empty star in her soul again. Please, tone it down this time? She thought, as the star slowed its spinning like before. She looked onto the weapon of choice, and soon enough it began to float for her, as she felt a little chill run from her gut to her horn. She thought a thank you to the orb of dark light, and returned to her seat with the weapon.

"A Maverick?" Crispy asked, as if Twilight was playing a joke on her. "You sure, kid? The cylinder's only got six pops, you're going to have to be careful with your aim."

"Well, if I'm going to be a shooter," Twilight began, while inspecting the weapon. "I'd like to be a thoughtful one."

"Fair enough." Crispy shrugged, impressed by the short prose.

And with that the ship was put into silence again. Twilight was studying and remembering the functions of her new toy in a regimental manner, and Crispy was alternating between piloting and cleaning her hooves with a knife. Nobody else was aboard, Crispy's two allies were very insistent on preforming some activity they called "Sparrow racing." After Crispy tried, and failed, to convince them to assist in the quest of initiating Twilight, she tossed a bit of obscenity their way, and mounted up to bring Twilight "home."

Twilight had been grateful for Crispy's help, but the rogue of a mare was still clearly a problematic individual. She scared Twilight, who hoped that not all of these 'Guardians,' were so casually violent. Twilight stopped herself from using the word psychopathic, because she did not have a degree in psychology, and could not assume to understand another mind. She looked up from her revolver to the pilot, and raised her eyebrow. For Crispy was practically pressing her snout up against a monitor, as if she didn't believe what it was saying. She mumbled a "What the f..." trailing off before she could upset Twilight with yet more profanity.

"Ghost, you sure this is right?" Crispy asked, and her Ghost nodded a confirmation.

It was strange to Twilight that every Guardian had a Ghost, and every Ghost was named Ghost. They all seemed to have very similar voices too. It felt dissociative in a way, like whoever built them was trying to strip them of any personality or individuality. Though that was a mystery for another time, because now Crispy managed to upset Twilight.

"Oh, fuck you, buddy." She said to no one in the ship. Sorry, princess. We're taking a detour, I just found an old..." She paused, lowering her brow. "Friend." She finished, with far too much emphasis to have been serious.

"Transmat us down, quarter click north east from the target, just behind that tree." Crispy said to her Ghost. "I hope you've got that thing figured, girly. We're going in hot, right on top of someone who deserves to be incinerated."

Just as she finished saying that, the ship shook with the force of an earth quake. The sound of an explosion was unmistakable, even through the thick hull. Suddenly, lights went out and smaller lights began flashing frantically. "Now, Ghost!" Crispy yelled over the sounds of destruction. Twilight shut her eyes in response to yet another ear shattering boom. When she opened them again, she was standing on dried out grass, with a massive tree trunk occupying her vision, she looked around in fear, to see Crispy taking cover behind a large root, and to hear the sound of gunfire coming from the other side of the tree.

"We're coming for you, Zombie!" Crispy yelled in a grunty and clearly very angry voice, and Twilight was just about to keel over in horror.

--------*--------*--------*--------

"Ah, welcome to the Castle, young Huntress." A massive unicorn stallion said warmly, his blue coat rippling as he shifted his gaze from a large map to Rarity's face. He had almost no mane to speak of, and incredibly pronounced square features which surrounded his silver eyes. He was at least as tall as Luna had been, and likely a hundred and fifty kilograms. That is, even without the chrome steel armour which covered him neck to tail, almost as thick as the gracious layer of muscle which enveloped his form.

"Rarity, if you please." She said, keeping her calm this time. "I understand that you are the Vanguard, yes?"

The throne room, or Hall of the Vanguard, was much different than Rarity remembered. The stained glass windows were now replaced with clear ones, that had contoured frames made of the same steely plastic that so many other parts of the castle were. Where the hall was once empty, now there were several steel columns holding the ceiling in place, half polished cleanly, and half painted in a hazard yellow. Behind the stallion, on the dais where the thrones had once been, was a strange statue.

It was a sculpture of a sphere, made of solid steel, that levitated kindly between three large triangular claws which jutted from the floor, and formed cleanly around the sphere. So close you would be strained to see the space between each claw and the ball, but the distance between the two surfaces remained flawlessly constant the whole way around.

"Only one of them, Lady Rarity." The stallion said, in a voice like the deep rumble of a well oiled engine, as he returned his attention to the map splayed out on the massive table in front of him. He pushed a small figurine from one spot to another, and scratched his chin. "I am Commander Häst. Kata, the Hunter Vanguard will be along shortly, if you would like to meet her."

"I do not believe the matter I wish to discuss is exclusively relevant to Hunters, Commander." Rarity said politely.

"Oh?" Häst raised an eyebrow, and his gaze, from the detailed map of Equis to look unto Rarity again. "Would you care to impart this matter to me, then?"

"Of course, Commander." Rarity approached the table at which the stallion stood a little closer, though still on opposite ends from him. "To be honest I am not certain how to say this best. No matter, I suppose." She inhaled deeply. "I am Rarity, you know, but I am the Rarity, Element of Generosity, and friend to Princess Twilight Sparkle."

Commander Häst smiled softly again. "I do not mean to be unfair, Rarity. But many Guardians suffer from severe amnesia, and unclear minds when they are first returned." He managed to say that in a manner that didn't seem condescending, which surprised Rarity. Maybe it was the soothing voice.

"If I may, Sir." Rarity's Ghost rose up. "I've checked, and checked again, and everything checks out. Speech patterns, facial ratios, vein structure. She's a dead ringer."

Häst frowned slightly. "Then this is of more import than I credited. I will alert my colleagues. I trust you are aware what an event like this implies?" He asked, waving vaguely to his Ghost.

"That the Elements of Harmony, and by extension magic, must have returned to our system." Ghost said severely. Häst nodded.

Rarity had been informed of the state that the celestial system found itself in. All the magic had been taken from the worlds by an entity ominously named The Darkness. This seemed plausible, for Rarity found herself unable to preform even simple spells, though she was once skilled in such arts. Supposedly the lack of magic had been a huge blow to pony kind, even with Light to take its place. Light was inherently erratic, agressive. While magic could hold the castle of Canterlot together, Light could only have taken it apart. This pushed ponies to use the gifts of technology which the Traveller brought as well.

But now, there was a sort of hope. That order could be restored. The Elements of Harmony were the most powerful magic ever known, and now at least one of them was alive and fairly well. So many things to be done, that had seemed so impossible to so many. The City's only defense was brute force, and the only hope of reclaiming the worlds of the past was the same. But the Elements, in their righteous grace, could do so much more. Flush evil from the system, revive the lost technologies of old, perhaps even restore the Traveller itself.

This is what Ghost had described to Rarity, and now she found herself remembering it. But her mind was snapped to reality, the reality which now stood behind her, as she sensed two more presences enter the vast hall with her and Häst. She looked back to see them, and was impressed by each in their own way.

The first was a graceful, and strong looking pegasus stallion who bore the definite robes of a Warlock. His mane was combed, short and blonde. His face clean of anything but the light grey coat that covered the rest of his form as well, and his eyes were a deep well of azure, like the colour of his clothing, though that was trimmed with a proud gold. He pitched a half-smirk to Rarity, and kicked his head back slightly, accenting his angled and sharp features. "You look just like I thought you would." He held a suspenseful question in Rarity's mind, before answering it after an agonizing wait. "Stunning."

The second was an almond coated earth pony mare, with bestial amber eyes and a dark grey mane which was mostly long, but haphazardly cut shorter in the back. She wore a pristine cloak, conspicuously cast over an otherwise shambled outfit. It looked to be put together from pieces of possibly dozens of environmental suits, dead animals, and armour. She cut a cold glare with her fiery eyes to the still smirking pegasus. "Shut it, Brannigan." She said, a little too seriously. But the Warlock chuckled none the less.

"It is good to see you have arrived on short notice." Häst said. "Kata, Ric." He nodded to each of the newcomers respectively.

"I'd never miss an opportunity to acquaint myself with a lady so well known as Rarity." Ric said, quite wistfully.

"Nice to see you too, Sasquatch."

The newcomers took a place at seemingly unspecific points around the large table, while Kata inspected her knife and Ric conspicuously flexed his wings. Rarity couldn't say she wasn't at least a little charmed by the stallion, even if he was going a tad overboard. Kata was definitely being unconditionally rude.

"So, Rarity." The experienced Huntress said. "You're an Element?"

Rarity nodded, and the group began discussing the matter to no end. Häst wanted to send out squads upon squads of Guardians to sweep the land, so that they could retrieve the others before anything bad could happen to them. Ric figured that they would make it to the City on their own, just like every other Guardian had. Kata was insistent on interrogating wilders.

It seemed the only thing they could agree on was that they needed every one of the Elements, and that they were the last hope for civilization. Rarity never got much of a chance to interject on the matter, but they hadn't dismissed her either. She was used to sitting through incredibly tedious meetings, it was a requisite of being important in old Canterlot. She was just about to start picking at her cloak to make sure it was pristine when her Ghost interrupted loudly.

"Excuse me, Vanguard!" It said, and the three silenced themselves and turned to the robot. "We just got a report of a light weapon attack on a Guardian ship due west of the City. The ship's down, and the pilot hasn't checked in again yet."

"That's upsetting, but why was this brought to our attention? Surely there are plenty of Guardians who could handle it." Ric said.

"Not finished. The pilot had a passenger. A warlock, purple robes. A six pointed star for a sigil."

Rarity gasped. "Twilight..."

"Good news, Rarity." Kata said cheerfully. "You've a got a chance to prove yourself. Go to the gunsmith, get a weapon, and prepare yourself for a fight. The princess could need your help."

"Excuse me?" Rarity was appalled. "Ric said it himself, there are plenty of Guardians that could handle this. I'm afraid I simply do not fight."

"Not sure you understand, lady." Kata spat. "None of us wanted to fight. We didn't start this war, but we're all in it til the end." After a moment of silence, and dagger staring, Kata strode up to Rarity, and stood over her as the unicorn shrank away. "This is not a choice, Huntress."

"Now, Kata." Ric took a tentative step forward. "She's very new to all this, we don't need to be so hard on her."

"You're in charge of the Warlocks, Ric. Don't tell me how to do my job."

"I don't know about you, but it took me a month to get over my first skirmish. There is no shame in taking things slowly."

"It's not about shame." Kata had, much to Rarity's relief, turned her spite toward Ric. "The princess needs her, and she's too posh to even consider helping out."

Rarity backed away from the scene, as Ric and Kata practically prepared to pounce. They circled each other like they were in a boxing ring, and spat the same argument back and forth, but with increasing tendency to obscenity. It seemed like it was about to actually escalate to physical violence, before a booming voice put everyone to rest.

"Kata, Ric. We do not have time for this." Häst did not shout. He managed to take the volume of a roar, and the tone of a demand, then put them together. "Rarity, I understand your aversion to combat. It is not a pretty thing, but I'm afraid there is no longer any other option." He said, shifting his expression from a powerful, stoic frown to a soft, knowing visage.

"I do not mean to sound..." Rarity thought for a moment. "Prudent -I suppose- but I am not a soldier. I would be very happy to assist your cause, as it is a noble one, but I am not wont to, nor very capable of, fighting."

Kata spat. "Horse sh--"

"I know your intent is not wrong." Häst interrupted, giving a quick glare to Kata. "However, you are a Guardian. It is not a profession. Not a career, nor a hobby. Being a Guardian is nothing short of a destiny."

Rarity felt uncertain, for once. She knew that Twilight needed her help, but war was something she despised in all forms. So rarely was anyone who fought a war right, almost all of them caused by the greed of superiors, and the blind complacency of the every day citizens. If she just accepted it, then she would become blind to the terrible things it caused.

"Your Ghost didn't pick you at random, Rarity." The Titan continued. "You, out of the billions of slain, had a spark that made you worthy to be a Guardian. The spark which allows you to wield light, and which drives you to do good. Only you know why you have that spark, but if ever was a time to use it, now would be the best candidate."

Rarity remembered an event, very old, even ignoring the gap in time she had spent six feet down. She, Rainbow, and Twilight were all standing at the edge of a clearing. In the center was Spike, who stood defiant against a force possibly a hundred times his mass. He stood proud and tall because he knew he was doing the right thing. But he wouldn't survive alone. Rarity had thrown off her disguise, and rushed to Spike's aid. Fighting's not really my thing, I'm more into fashion. That was how Rarity felt right now.

But I'll rip you to pieces if you touch one scale on his cute little head! Later she had laughed about that little sentence, and so had her friends. But she had really meant it. Where that Rarity was now, she wondered deeply. Why couldn't she suck up her own fear for one moment? Twilight could very well be in the middle of an actual fire fight this very moment, and here Rarity was trying to argue her way out of even investigating the scene.

She furrowed her brow, and stood a bit straighter. "I'll go." She said, forgoing her usual eloquence in speech.

Kata smiled. "There's my girl!" She walked up to Rarity, who flinched at first, but was only assailed with a one-hoofed hug. "You know I just want you to be the best you can, right?"

"Er, I suppose?"

"I didn't mean it when I called you posh."

Rarity felt incredibly uneasy, and looked to both Ric and Häst with an expression that could only mean 'Help me.'

Ric coughed loudly. "Yes, well. You'd best get going then!"

"Alright, tough girl." Kata released the Unicorn. "Go get 'em."

--------*--------*--------*--------

BANG!

Rainbow missed. Or it was more appropriate to say Zombie dodged. He was incredibly fast, considering his name. Very quickly, Rainbow's one miss was met with a barrage of fire from the two faceless Titans, wearing rough black armour much thicker than Rainbow's. They both were using fully automatic rifles, and Rainbow found herself rather suppressed. Only a few rounds actually made their way to her form, and were blasted apart by her shields. But that wouldn't last long, Rainbow figured from watching a white bar at the top of her sight shrink with each hit.

She held her rifle off to one side, and used the power of her spark to grasp the fragile form of a bleeding earth pony. She strained herself, but managed to yank Rite behind the wall of his home, where she now stood too. Rainbow quickly poked back around the corner, and fired a few shots, one of them sparking brilliantly off of a Titan's spiked shoulder piece while he trotted to cover himself. Oddly enough, Zombie stood calmly in the open.

"Well done!" He laughed loudly. "You've just committed suicide without even pointing the gun at yourself!"

Rainbow ducked back into cover, and watched as her motion tracker indicated the murderer slowly approaching her position. She looked back to Rite, who was still clutching his wound. "How bad is it?" Rainbow asked severely.

"Think the bone's shattered." He groaned through gritted teeth. The bullet had gone through his leg, just above his ankle, and it was now bleeding heavily.

"Keep an eye on your motion tracker, we lost sight of the Titans. That rifle's old, it won't do much against these guys, try and find something else." Ghost advised quickly but clearly. "I told you not to aggravate him." He finished, with a mixture of snark and admiration.

Rainbow could still hear Zombie steadily advancing. He began whistling an unfamiliar tune, and Rainbow immediately began considering escape routes. Just about the only clear way to retreat without also breaking cover was along the back wall of Rite's home, then to bolt to the forest for cover. Alternately, she could try to sprint for the giant tree in the center of the settlement, though that would put her out of cover for at least three seconds.

As she debated with herself over the options, a hail of lead gave her an answer. From the cover of the forest, the mighty silhouette of a dark Titan emerged, and unleashed a storm on Rainbow's position. Her heart pounded against her chest harder than a bullet ever could. She turned her head away from the Titan, and toward the great tree. She coiled her legs up, to prepare for a sprint, firing a blind shot toward the Titan. She released the tension in her legs, and opened her wings all at once, and she was propelled forward.

Just as the air around her began to bleed off her velocity, she threw her wings back. A shockwave, prefaced by a rush of air and then a moment of eerie silence, rung throughout the world, and a quick flash of red light shot Rainbow forward. Her three second estimate should have been made with a seventy three percent margin of error, because she was only in the open for a bit less than a second. As she bolted, she got a glance of Zombie, who -much to Rainbow's surprise- actually looked surprised.

Shocked or not, he fired a shot at the lightning mare anyway. The first bang echoed against the walls of Rainbow's ears, but in their wake she only heard a few clicking sounds. By the time Zombie noticed this, she was already behind a root the size of a Hydra's neck. Rainbow peaked over, trying to get a couple shots on Zombie. Ideally slow him down, but she was met by her own set of clicking sounds, and she through the rifle aside with a curse.

Rainbow had seen Zombie not a few meters away from her position, just finishing with a reload. Screwed. Rainbow thought to herself, before considering the possibility of another word being more appropriately weighted. She slumped against the root, and racked her mind for things to do. She wished Twilight was there, maybe skills in things like chess could transfer to actual tactics. The pegasus was at a complete loss of what to do on her own.

As if to answer her plight, albeit in a snarky and offensive manner, a Dark Titan came from round the side of the tree opposite to Zombie. Rainbow could only assume it wasn't the same one as had driven her from behind Rite's home, because she hadn't seen that one run all the way to the other side of town just to sneak up on her. The assailant hip fired a burst toward Rainbow, and every round hit. The close range was incredibly favourable for the Titan's inaccurate but quick weapon.

Rainbow didn't have enough cover to escape, and the white bar indicating the integrity of her shields was but a sliver at this point. Adrenaline coursed through every vessel in her body, and perhaps swayed the next decision she made to a much more extreme option than most would be comfortable with. She howled with exertion, and leapt forward, barreling straight into the legs of her enemy. She knocked the stallion over in surprise, but ended up rolling off balance herself.

After the quick moment of recuperation and distraction that both Titans felt, they scrambled to begin fighting again. The clear object of admiration being the auto rifle cast a a few meters away, out of range for the most basic telekinesis. Rainbow was the first to notice that the weapon was out of the question for immediate options, and threw herself on top of her enemy. She now stood over his back, while he struggled to roll over so he may have kicked her off. Rainbow acted quickly and without much thought.

She reared up, and held her front hooves high over the head of her enemy. When she brought them down again, the full weight of her body driving them, they were accompanied with the crimson lightning she had become accustomed to. With a mighty blow, she slammed the stallion's slightly raised head back into the ground, and continued to apply downward force even after that. She heard a sickening crack, as a seam in the black helmet split open. Rainbow was stricken by awe of her own strength, and stood still in shock for just a moment.

Just a moment later, a viscous red liquid began to drain out of the split in the helmet. Snakes of red electricity arced through the pool it slowly formed. Rainbow felt a shudder run down the length of her spine, and was about to recoil in revulsion when she was distracted by the sound of a familiar revolver. "Nobody kills my guys but me!" She cringed at the unmistakable voice of Zombie. A heavy caliber projectile dissipated against her shields, and she galloped over the auto rifle, grabbing it as she went, and back around the other side of the tree trunk.

She took a gander around her cover, and watched as Zombie spat at the corpse of his former associate, then began walking back the way he had come. Rainbow huffed, and let loose a short storm of bullets at him, but only a couple had made their mark, and Zombie was out of sight before she got another chance. She scanned the area ahead of her for anything noteworthy, and didn't see anyone, or anything of interest.

"What's your angle, ass hole?" Rainbow hollered, trying her best to sound hardened.

"I'm getting what I came for." Zombiie said calmly, though in a naturally gruff voice.

Rainbow knew what he meant. He was going to kill Rite, and although Rainbow didn't have much personal attachment to the earth pony, she wasn't about to let someone get executed by an outlawed maniac with a blood soaked beard. Rainbow choked down every ounce of common sense she had, as it screamed for her to run or hide. The spark in her gut helped with that, it wrestled her fears into submission and filled her with a warming encouragement.

Just as she was about to ditch cover, and storm Zombie before he could get to Rite, Rainbow heard what sounded like a fighter jet in the distant sky. It seems Zombie heard this too, because she heard him cuss under his breath. Rainbow looked up, and saw through the tree leaves the clear silhouette of an aircraft hovering there ominously.

"Get a launcher on that ship!" Zombie roared, presumably to his remaining ally.

A few seconds later, and Rainbow heard an ear shattering explosion, and she was showered with smoldering metal. The ship above her had begun to lean, and slip out of position. Another blast racked it's hull, and it began to sail downward, before its last few engines kicked in, and had it stumbling away for the hills. Rainbow grimaced, and turned her focus back to Zombie. She threw herself over cover, and hip fired a barrage in a general forward cone, while charging toward where she last saw Rite.

"We're coming for you, Zombie!" She heard an unfamiliar voice spit in a hateful tone.

Rainbow was about to break down, crying in joy at the prospect of not being alone against this menace. But she shook the thought out of her mind, and continued to suppress Zombie, and charge his position at the same time. But long before she reached the wall he was hiding behind, her clip ran dry.

"Well don't just stand there, princess!" She heard the same voice that threatened Zombie again.

"What in Tartarus do you want me to do?" She heard another voice yell in exasperation. A familiar voice.

"Wait a second..." Rainbow skidded to a halt, and perked her ears. Looking at the north side of the tree. She definitely knew that voice. "Twilight?" Rainbow called out to the pony on the other side of the tree.

While she was distracted, she was yanked back to her situation by something hefty colliding with her chest. Following the staggering collision, she heard a repeated beeping sound that slowly rose in pitch. She looked down and saw a small metallic device embedded into her chest armour. She heard her Ghost speak over her helmet.

"Uh oh."

--------*--------*--------*--------

Twilight had heard someone call her name, there was no question about that. She had also heard the sounds of gunfire, and ponies cursing. She was very curious as to who had called for her, but she didn't want to expose herself to the rigours of combat either. Somepony knew her though, by voice as well! That meant it had to be someone she was familiar with, and she would give anything to see even the most shallow acquaintance from her past life.

She took a deep breath, and looked over the massive tree root on the south side of the tree, where she had been signaled to go. Peeking over she saw the unmistakable form of a pony, probably a mare, covered head to tail in silver-blue armour. What stood out more was her tail, and her wings. Both exposed, the latter was a piercing cyan, and the former a gradient of six definite hues, from red to purple. There was only one pony Twilight knew with hair like that.

Twilight was about to call out to the mare from behind, though she seemed oddly focused on her own chest at the time. She flinched just a bit, and then something horrifying happened. She was thrown to the ground, and cast sliding a few meters more, while a blast of smoke and a flash of light erupted from where she stood not moments ago. Twilight was hit with a blast wave, and staggered, her ears ringing. She called out a "No!" But it was muffled even to herself.

The rainbow tailed mare lay on the ground, clearly in immense pain. She slowly dragged her hooves along the ground, like she was trying to get up. Slowly little pinpricks in her armour and clothing began to soak to a dark red colouration. Twilight watched in horror, as a tall, lanky earth pony with a long grey mane and a rough beard, both filthy and unkempt, threw himself from behind a wall, toward the blast victim. He strode up quickly, and with purpose. A revolver levitating beside him the whole way.

Twilight was frozen. She wanted to do something. Yell for Crispy to stop the stallion, or to call upon her Light to do something herself. But she was truly frozen. The only part of her that would move were her eyes, which intently followed the barrel of the menacing revolver. The stallion stopped over the mare's body, and leveled the revolver with her head. The mare was far too injured to move.

BANG!

A massive, sickening dent appeared in the side of the mare's helmet, and her body jolted. Twilight was finally shaken, and about to yell something.

BANG! BANG!

Another round ricocheted off of the helmet, throwing up dust on the earth near the mare. The final shot put a dark hole into the helmet, with spider web cracks radiating off the point of impact. The pools of red soaking the pinpricks in the mare's armour had saturated their positions, and began to leak onto the earth, though not as quickly as the pool forming around her head.

Twilight whimpered. "Rainbow..."