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Guardians of Equestria's Light.
Prelude: The Birth of Darkness on Equestria...
Aries tossed his last book to the side. Thirty four books, and he had read every single one from front to back. Twice. It had been about a month when the Traveler set course for this new planet. It was so sudden, so spastic. The Ghosts didn't even know what this planet was or what was on it that made the Traveler set course there. Yet, the greed of Earth's creatures just couldn't let it go. He couldn't blame them thought. Being able to traverse across galaxies seemed like just a dream when he was revived by his Ghost. Now, he was flying along side the Voyager, one of the three colony ships that was made in preparation to follow the Traveler. He pulled out an old hand held that his Ghost had been able to repair. Something to remind him of the time before the collapse. He had to give Specter (his nickname for his Ghost.) some majorly due credit. He did a fabulous job at repairing it. He powered it up, and started playing.
After about thirty minutes, it was time for a shift change. Before he could say anything, his hunter companion radioed over the fireteam's coms. "Alright boys, lets head in. I'm starvin'!" A female voice rang over.
"Race you to the food court Kandyl. Who ever get's there last has to pay!" He replied.
"Your on!" Kandyl was actually a pretty rowdy Awoken girl, which was very rare. Yet, it gave a little variety to her. She was a Hunter, and a damn good one at that. Her rowdy attitude possibly added a bit to her skill. Or it was her strange sense of discipline with handling a blade, Aries didn't know which. Probably both.
"Then I'll see you two at our quarters." Their titan friend chimed in. Zayin-3 was an Exo. He was possibly the best titan Aries had seen, and was excellent at his job at handling large crowds. Aries and Kandyl were actually in a fireteam before they met Zayin in a crucible match. They were able to persuade him to join, after beating his team. He happily joined.
Aries is a human warlock. The first time Aries met Kandyl was when the Hive had started the ritual to train the Travaler's light. They met at the entrance to the Temple of Crota. They stuck together ever since.
He remembered how they got this position. It was actually pretty fun. Lord Saladin from the Iron Banter came up with the idea to hold a grand crucible tournament. Believe it or not, Aries' team was first at the end of it all.
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The three Guardians were now sitting in their private quarters, chewing the fat with your standard conversation. The quarters were right on the helm of the ship, and one of the largest rooms on it. Being the fireteam that destroyed the black garden's heart, killed Atheon, Crota, Skolas, The 'Kell of Kells', and Oryx, some perks were to come along. Suddenly all three of the Guardian's Ghosts appeared, and started broadcasting an emergency message from the Speaker.
"Everyone, it is with great excitement to tell you the one thing you have been waiting for. Our journey is about to end. We are nearing the targeted planet." All was silent in the room as gazes passed from one another. Finally, Aries decided to speak up.
"We're almost there..."
"I wonder what this planet will be like..." Kandyl gave her input.
"Let's just hope it's nice."
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Luna froze, just outside the door to her chambers. Her legs felt like they had suddenly been shoved into an icebox. She looked down, and the sight horrified her. She was wearing a skirt that went all the way to her ankle, but a slit was cut all the way to her knee, so she knew what she saw. Her coat was somewhat of a midnight blue, but her foot and ankle was a dark black. ...And it started rising. Like darkness was trying to climb it's way up to her. Then she felt a feeling, one she hadn't felt in a while. Her former self, trying to push back in her heart and mind. Nightmare Moon was trying to come back. Panic rushed through her after a few moments to understand the situation. She didn't know how to fight this, how to force it back. The first thing she thought of was all the good memories after coming back. She felt the darkness lift slightly. She looked down to her leg, and it was to it's former state. She let out a heave breath she didn't know she was holding. Even though the situation was very vexing, she still needed to finish her nightly duties. Maybe her sister could help her figure this out...
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Quenn Chrysalis let out another scream of agony, as she gripped her temples. This pain went past a normal headache, even a migraine. It felt like her brain was being ripped from place as another one shoved its way in. She could tell her hive mind was being corrupted, but she didn't know what was doing it. She wasn't even able to warn her subjects. After a few moments of pain, a deep, intimidating voice rang out.
"Your hive shall become mine.... The Traveler seeks this planet, for it knows I am here. You mustn't delay. Spread your darkness over the land. Oryx Demands it. Once the frightful voice had finished, she started floating, not of her own accord. A fiery blueish hue surrounded her as she was lifted. Looking like a possessed being, she started shaking violently. Her efforts were null in trying to fight back. She heard the voice once again. "You will become... MINE!!" Then a beam of light shot from her horn, as a third eye grew from nowhere, and the beam went down into her corridors of hall in her underground kingdom, and shot into every changeling. She collapsed, not able to hold herself on her own feet, and blacked out.
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Sombra continued to walk along the metal hall, following this line for time on end. He can't remember why he was here. In fact, he couldn't remember much of anything after his second defeat. He took another glance at the robots lining the walls. They were unmoving, so far as to say, lifeless. After a few more minutes, Sombra met the end of the line he was following. In front of him was what he assumed was a pad of some sort. With pure curiosity, he stepped onto the plate. For a few moments, he felt foolish as it did nothing. Then, the pad glowed red. He looked up from his stand point and saw the robots moving! He thought about running, until one of the robots bowed before him. Then the rest followed suit. The were committing to him. He smiled wickedly as one thought ran threw his mind: He would be king again. He would use these robots, if he could, to strike fear into the hearts of his soon to be subjects. First, the Crystal Empire. Next, Equestria.
His thoughts were cut short as he felt a searing pain shoot threw his feet, up his legs, passing his heart, and went straight to his head. He tried to jump back from the pain, but.... couldn't. He looked down in fright, and fright gave way to horror. All the way to his calves, his flesh and blood was replaced with mechanical parts. The parts that looked like the robots. It started climbing, rapidly. Before he knew it, his lower half was now robotic. He tried activating his magic, but his horn fizzled out, and died, just like he thought he was going to. He watched hopelessly as his stomach transformed. Then his chest. As it reached his shoulders, it spread to his arms. Finally, his vision was cut.
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Celestia shot out of bed. She was sweating profusely, and had drenched her sleep wear and sheets. She had a horrible nightmare. It was as if darkness was crushing her from every corner, and she couldn't do anything to stop it. She calmed herself, saying it was just a dream. A quick change latter, her sheets were fresh, as was her clothes, and she tried to go to sleep. She was finally able to when she made a mental note to ask Luna about it later.
...But dread plagued her...
Guardians of Equestria's Light.
Aries walked past the sliding door to the vanguard observation deck, where the three vanguards, plus the speaker, eagerly await to see the new system the Traveler was bringing them too. Ikora sensed his presence, and turned around to acknowledge him first.
"Aries. Come to see the new system?"
"Of course. Traversing space, flying with the Traveler, and heading to a new system? Who wouldn't want to see this?"
"Apparently your comrades." Cayde gave his smart-ass reply, but that was to be expected. "I wouldn't even believe that Kandyl would want to miss this view."
"Ha, you and me both. Their down in the mess hall, eating on my dime and watching out those windows."
"Kandyl won the race?" Almost every one on the ship knew about Aries and Kandyl's races. Why? Well one time, a few people were knocked over, and somethings broken. Even if they are an elite fire-team, lectures followed. That really didn't stop them.
"That's gonna take a good chunk out of your glimmer." Zavala put his hand on Aries' shoulder for condolences. Made Aries feel a bit better. Everyone's attention turned back to the the gigantic pane that the observation/ vanguard HQ/ cockpit, sported watching the streaks of stars fly by at warp speed. It gave of a beautiful hue of blue and white. If it wasn't so bright, it would be therapeutic.
"You said we were approaching the system. How much longer?"
"A few more moments." The Speaker replied.
"Has the Traveler ever been here before? Does it even know the system?"
"The system is called Equis. And it is very unique." The Speaker was very vague about where we were going, and it irked Aries in a very special way. His face contracted into a very puzzled look. This was the first time he heard the system's name. Why did it sound so familiar? Ikora picked up on this.
"Something troubling you Aries?"
"Yeah. The name of the system, Equis. It sounds incredibly familiar. I can't remember where though."
"It should. A bit of information about this system was found in the archives on Venus. The one your team recovered."
Aries almost face palmed. But if he did, he might of end up with a nasty scar. "Of course! I guess I really only got a good couple of glances at the recovered data." Ikora chuckled at his sudden outburst because of his memory.
"The Traveler is getting out of warp! Lower speed!" Every guardian's, plus Speaker's, attention was wrapped to the head pilot. "Were coming out of warp!"
"Lets see what this system looks like..." Cayde said, his comment mirroring everyone's thoughts. After a few heart pumping moments, the stars rushing by gave way to a clear image. In turn, every face in the cockpit gave way to confusion, surprise, and awe.
"That's.... impossible...."
"There is no way that is possible, but I'm looking at it with my own eyes!"
"Why hasn't this system collapse on itself?!"
"How does it even exist?!" These were just few of the numerous shouts in the cockpit. Aries caught a few of them. There was just no way this was possible.
The system only consisted of three celestial bodies. But unlike the one they recently came from, the star of the system wasn't in the center. The planet was. Plus, the sun and moon were on the same orbit track. As impossible as this should've been, Aries was awe struck. The moon and sun were perfectly across from each other, the planet acting as median. Even the light they gave off was at a perfect balance. This was..... beautiful. A perfect celestial yin and yang. Aries forced his attention away from the sight and to the vanguards.
"You do have a plan, right?" Zavala was the first to answer.
"We did, but it consisted on which planet the Traveler was going to stay on. I guess we can skip that step." Cayde gave his input on this 'next step'.
"Our next step was to send fire-teams equipped with planetary scanners so we could get a 'lay of the land', so to speak." In proper order, Ikora spoke next.
"Aries, your team is one of them. Gather your allies." As if on cue, the door slid open, and the other remaining members rushed up. Kandyl, true to her nature, spoke first.
"Aries! Can you believe the system is set up like that?! It is so beautiful!"
"I know. But there's no time for small talk, gather your gear, and head to the ships." Kandyl gave him a very peculiar look. One that had 'you can't be suggesting', but with excitement written all over it. "We're one of the first heading down there." If it wasn't for the roof of the ship, she would have shot ten feet into the air, without the double jump, letting out squeals of delight. Zayin, however, had another idea.
"Why so soon? Wouldn't there normally be precautions about first setting boots on the ground on a new planet?" Zavala gave the reply, rehashing everything Aries recently learned. With new understanding, Zayin accepted the need for this task. The two left, and as Aries was following, he turned around to ask a question, but Ikora read his mind.
"The scanner is already aboard your ship. When you've reached the point we set, your ghost will deploy it." Aries gave a half wave and a nod, signaling 'thanks' and 'I'll be going'. Cayde decided to give another smart-ass comment.
"Good luck!"
Like they needed it...
"We're going to be setting down a mile or so from our acquired coordinates. Get a couple of sight seeing in first as we make our way." Aries gave them the rundown as they headed towards Equis.
"We shouldn't dawdle though." Zayin replied. "The scanner needs to go off in time with the other scanners that are being set by other fire teams. "
"Zayin, I like ya, but calm down." Kandyl said with exaggeration. "We are the first, FIRST, fire team touching ground. We'll have a little time."
"Plus, the scanners only get a layout. We'll get the full view." Aries added to Kandyl's defense.
"As long as we stick to the scheduled..." Zayin sighed. The silence reigned for a few seconds as they approached, watching the planet grow green land from it blue surface. Light broke the silence, giving the blunt obvious.
"We're breaking orbit. Hang tight!"
Celestia was standing out on the 'celestial raising' balcony with a very puzzled look on her face. Luna and her had just finished moving their respective marks. Being a controller of one of the two massive bodies allowed her to feel magic far more than and pony, alicorn included. This excess in magic allowed her to sense thing in their galaxy. The occasional asteroid, a neighboring sun going super nova, or the rare occurrences of a black hole near by, these were all things she sensed, and felt. But this.... this was new. It was large, much larger than an asteroid, but she could tell it wasn't dangerous. When she focused on it, she felt her self being filled magic, heightening every sense she used. She felt brightened up, like her body was made of light.
After having this indescribable feeling, she opened her eyes and was shocked. Her body was shining. It was giving of a radiance that she could only think of relating it to fire. However, a thunderous boom shook her core, the glow diminishing as her focus was now stripped. That was much louder than a sonic rainboom... She thought. When her eyes viewed the heavens, she saw the source, and was shocked again. Three large metal... things flew over the castle. They were strange yes, but they wore vibrant colors, and elegant curves. They descended for a moment around the everfree forest for a moment, before the shot back past the clouds. A large array of questions came to mind, but she mainly wondered...
"Was that the source of what I felt?"
The fire team landed in perfect unison, their own ships flying away from them. After landing, however, the eyes of the three couldn't help but wander.
"Wow..." Aries gave his input first, the sight sapping him of his acute speech.
"It's even prettier up close!" Kandyl said giving a very girlish squeal, that was very
inconsistent to her usual self. "It's been forever since I have seen earth so green!"
"We need to move on." Zayin cut through their giddy feelings. "Our job still needs to be done."
"Yeah, yeah...." The said two replied, downhearted. With their feelings thoroughly crushed by their titan friend, the fire team started hoofing it to the objective.
After about a mile, the crew came to a heading, an entrance to a forest. With their way point in that forest, they gave each other a simultaneous shrug, and jogged through the entrance. With a bright flash, their motion radars went off, and all movement ceased. They created a small circle with their guns pointing in opposite directions.
"Use caution guardians. It's not impossible that this planet does have wild life." Specter said.
"The only question is, is it dangerous?" Aries commented.
Little did they know, something with three eyes, was waiting for them...
Guardians of Equestria's Light.
"Ok, not gonna lie, this forest is starting to creep me out...", Aries had sighed, passing another disfigured tree.
"Oh, calm down you big baby!" Kandyl dashed at him, "We've fought hive scarier than this. You think this forest is creeper than Crota?"
"A little bit. I don't have a sword to smash through these trees." He looked at another one and internally shuddered. "Just.... so eerie..." Aries took his gaze off of the trees. "We're here. Specter." Aries opened his palm. "Start placing the scanner."
"Affirmative."
-Princess Celestia: Five minutes earlier-
"You called for me, your highness?" Celestia turned away from the window facing the everfree forest.
"Yes, Corporal Steel Wing, I did. I assume you heard that loud boom a few minutes ago?"
"Of course. I think every one in Canterlot heard it. I also saw those flying thing." He paused, a slight realization coming to his mind. "Is that why you called me?"
Celestia softly laughed. "Sharp as ever. Yes, I want you to investigate where those things came the closes to land. Can you and you squad do that?"
He snapped a salute. "Anything for the princess."
"Hm. Go get your men, and leave as soon as possible."
"Yes, your highness."
Aries kept glancing at his motion radar, seeing if anything got too close. With the possibility of new life walking around within 25 meters of him, it took all of his willpower and judgement to not just charge the creatures and study them thoroughly. He broke eye contact with the upper left of his H.U.D to look at the progress Specter was making.
"How much longer?"
"A couple of minutes." The orb replied. "I want to make sure I don't misplace anything in trying to rearrange this thing out side your ship."
"Fair enough." Aries went back to looking at his surroundings. Their way point was in a clearing that the forest provided, giving them much needed light from the onslaught of darkness the tree's branches gave. The amount of leaves and twisted wood was a little staggering. The most recent memory of when he saw this much foliage was at the Widow's Court. He glanced at his fellow guardians and saw something a little unnerving.
Kandyl was moving her head to and fro. She would stop for a bit, look like she was listening to something, and look around again. Aries had seen this tick before, and was now a little concerned. "Kandyl, what's wrong?"
"Do you guys here that?" She gave her reply, not breaking eye contact with the forest line. Curious of her question, Aries stopped and tried to shut out all senses but his hearing.
After a few moments, he replied, "No, I don't hear anything." He glanced at the radar. "And nothing's on the radar either." Then Kandyl started the cryptic hunter talk when something is wrong in the wild.
"What's the first rule for a prey species in the wild?" Aries had never heard this question from her before. The only few times he saw her like this was when they were hunting the Silent Fang.
"I don't know." Now normally, a hunter would crack a joke about the how the warlock didn't know something, but this wasn't normal.
"The answer is, 'If a predator is near by, try to be small, and be quiet. One more question:" She turned around to look at her companions, "Why did this forest all of a sudden become quiet?" Aries took her rhetorical question to heart, as well as Zayin, as they both subconsciously switched off their safeties.
"Eyes up, Guardians." Aries went a little farther away from the scanner, to see if he could peer into the foliage better. After his third step away, he heard a rustling to his left. He turned that direction, gun raised, but only saw a fern shaking. As much as his mind disagreed, he moved towards it. Even thought his gun was raised, every muscle in his body was tense, ready to jump, glide, blink, magic, melee, throw, anything really. He was in front of the fern, as its rustling stopped. He moved the outstretched branches to the side, gun aimed right at its roots. What he saw was a small fur ball, a bunny to be more specific. He let out a sigh, along with some anxiety. Until he hear a screech, and was knocked on his back. He pushed his hands up, stopping the thrall that was trying to rip his face off. The thrashing, along with the stench of darkness oozing off of it, caused him to hold it with both hands, not risking a reach for his thorn to expose his chest. So after though, a loud shot rang out, and the Thrall lurched backwards, and turned into ash. He looked be hind him, and saw Kandyl standing with an arm stretched out, and a smoking barrel of the last word. Before any response of thank you could be said, the horde that was following the lone thrall, jumped out of the foliage, thankfully a ways away from him.
"Hive! Kill them!" He said, the obvious being thrown out there. Aries scrambled to his feet, and started shooting along with his team mates. It had been a while since Aries last heard live fire. He forgot about the symphony their combined shots made. The high pitch, rapid shots of Kandyl's Mythoclass, along with his bad juju, combined with Zayin's slow, but deep shots from his suros regime. (zoomed in of course.) Not long after they slaughtered the Thrall, surprise was really the only advantage they could have, the acolytes, along with the knights, showed up and started shooting. The fire-team split, each member scrambling for cover so to avoid a new hole in their body. Little were they aware of their spectators.
"Steel wing, sir. We need to report this to the Princess right now! Those.... Things might catch us!"
"What are they fighting? It looks like changelings, but I'm not sure..."
"Forget what their fighting, how are they killing them? Are they holding weapons.?"
"Maybe we should turn back.... This place is turning into a war zone...."
Corporal Steel wing was about to pop a blood vain. As much as he wanted to voice his opinion about these new creatures, he actually had the thought of not to say them so THE CREATURES OF DEATH WOULD NOT HEAR THEM! He turned away from the unknown aliens and softly scolded his squad, any louder and they might be found.
"Would you all shut up." They stopped talking and stared at him. "If you keep talking, and these things find us..... I will drag you out of Tartus my self and send you right back!" They all leaned back, wide eyed at the threat. When no comment was made, he let out a sigh. "Thank you. We are going to study these things a little more. We just found two new species on this planet, and we don't know if their connected to those flying things or not. So shut it, and pay attention to detail." He looked back at the fighting species. His comrades followed suit.
"There's no end to these things!" Aries shouted as he duck back behind a tree, avoiding multiple hive shredder shots. The acolytes just kept coming! Yes, he had to bring out his found verdict to handle the brave knight once in a while, but it had been two minutes of nothing but hive! "Specter, how's the scanner coming along?!" He inquired his ghost.
"Almost..... Got it! It's done!"
"Fire it!" On his word, Aries saw the green line explode from the device, and watched it leave. When it was out of sight, he turned back to the fight........ only for all the hive to be gone. "What the...?" He cautiously came around the corner, gun still raised. He made way to the scanner, his eyes darting to his motion tracker, and then back forward. "Spec, what just happened?"
"I.... don't know...." Hmmmm. Even the ghost was stumped a what just transpired.
"Any one else want to take a guess?" He inquired to his teammates.
"Well, I did just kill a witch. That might have been their leader..." Zayin commented, subconsciously rubbing the bottom of his helmet.
"There's still something here..." Kandyl cryptically said.
"What is it?"
"I don't know yet..., the mission's done, so lets look around." Specter disappeared, going back into his guardian's system. Aries then started to look around again.
Steel wing looked away from the aliens in panic. They had to get out of there, or they might be found! "Men, we've got to move!" He said quietly. "Go, back to the castle." The four took off, Steel wing in hot pursuit. Until, he stopped cold, right after a loud bang. Like the ones that had just stopped. He let out a yell of anguish, and fell to the ground clutching his leg. He looked down, and saw his white coat turning red by his leg. But pass the red waterfall, he saw something even more panic educing. His blood veins were turning a dark black. He let out another yell, now unaware of his listeners.
Aries stood stone still. He had just shot a Thorn bullet in the direction on his radar that showed movement. He also heard the scream after his shot. Nothing was said, not even his fireteam moved. "That wasn't hive..." Aries then took off in a mad dash towards the sound, panic rushing threw his mind. What did he just shoot? Was it an alien? A species that wasn't part of the darkness? He had to find out, and he let off a quick burst hover. He landed, inches away from the body. A bi-pedal, white body, with wings. And it was bleeding from its leg, with Thorn poison coursing through it's body. And It wore armor. It's species was organized, sentient. He had just shot the first alien that was not part of the darkness.
"Shit."
