Twilight followed the quickly moving lights of the UFO, noting that she would not be able to out run it if she wanted to, so she paced herself and hoped she could catch it wherever it landed. She hadn’t gone far before she heard the sound of a twig crack and she immediately turned in its direction to find…

A familiar butter – yellow pegasus with a soft pink mane and tail, who leapt backwards with a squeak, startled.

“Fluttershy, what are you doing out here?” Twilight exclaimed, as startled as the pegasus.

“Oh, well, one of my chickens got out of her coop again, so I followed her in here to lead her back home, where it’s safe.” Fluttershy responded and Twilight mentally facehoofed; Fluttershy was nervous around everypony she ever met, ever, and yet she would walk straight into one of the most dangerous places in the world without a second thought… for a chicken. “What are you doing in here, Twilight? The Everfree Forest is dangerous at night; you could get hurt or run into another cockatrice!”

“There’s something strange happening, Fluttershy; some kind of object is landing just a little ways east of here and I need to-“ There was a roar, causing Fluttershy scream, and they were bathed in blinding light as whatever was in the clearing ahead of them, took off. “Horseapples; come on, Fluttershy; we have to see what that… thing, was doing over there!”

Samson, Aveline, and Gospel stood in the center of the clearing, the Mischief Maker having just departed for the safety of orbit, and they looked around, taking in the sight. Aveline walked over to a tree and rubbed her hand on it.

“Amazing!” She exclaimed, rubbing her hand on the bark. “This tree feels so… alive! I am not sure there are many trees left on Earth that are still so healthy!”

“Do you hear that sound?” Gospel asked, and they all stopped and listened as the sounds of nightlife resumed around them. “This forest is teeming with life! What kind of world is this?”

“I don’t know.” Samson said, and then began walking in the direction of the fogzone. “The energy concentration is this way. Let’s get moving.”

They readied their weapons and forged into the darkness of the forest ahead of them, unaware of the eyes watching their every movement. They continued for some time before Aveline’s motion sensor shone briefly and she stopped, turning where it had been pinged, but saw nothing. She watched a moment more, but then she became aware that something was watching them from the shadows.

‘What’s wrong, Aveline?’ Lance asked, curious as Aveline swept her gaze around her position slowly.

“I do not know…” She replied carefully, scrutinizing the surrounding forest. “It feels like there is something out here.”

‘Probably just your imagination.’ The Ghost told her. ‘Your mind is playing tricks with you because we’ve never been in a place like this, that’s the only-’ The motion sensor lit up briefly again and Lance stopped mid – sentence. ‘What was that?’

Aveline didn’t answer; instead she aimed her gun at some foliage and advanced slowly toward the bushes, her gaze never moving. Samson and Gospel had noticed her lag behind and turned. When they saw her advance, they both raised their own weapons and swept the area, making sure nothing was sneaking up on them.

‘Am I the only one who’s got a bad feeling about this?’ Lance asked, but before Aveline could answer, she was tackled to the ground by a snarling, lupine form.

She reacted instinctively by rolling with the tackle, planting a foot under the torso of her assailant, and launching it off her, into the darkness again. She rose quickly to her feet and aimed her gun, but was dismayed to see her motion sensor lighting up in every direction around her.

“Contact!” Gospel shouted as he opened fire on another lupine form that darted out of the trees to attack him, the creature falling apart at his feet. He looked down at the debris and gawked. “The hell… what are these things?” He was unable to investigate further because more of the beasts charged out of the forest.

Twilight and Fluttershy had just made it to the clearing where they’d seen the ship land and were inspecting the area.

“This ground is charred oddly, almost like the fire was coming from above it.” She said, examining the burn marks that were left. “And the positioning is symmetrical… fascinating!”

Fluttershy wasn’t so keen on their location, particularly since there had been an alien ship in the air over it only a half hour past. She glanced around nervously, but then one of her hooves changed elevation awkwardly and she tripped, giving a startled squeak.

“Fluttershy, are you okay?” Twilight asked, cantering over to the fallen pegasus, who was rising from the ground.

“Y-Yes, I’m fine.” Fluttershy replied, and then looked at the ground where she’d tripped and her eyes widened. “Um, Twilight? Is th-that… a hoofprint?”

“Huh?” Twilight looked to where Fluttershy was indicating and saw that there was, indeed, a large, elongated imprint in the ground (slightly marred because Fluttershy had tripped on it). “I think so, but it’s unlike any hoof I’ve ever seen…” She looked to either side of it and saw there were more indentations and she trotted alongside them, Fluttershy at her side. “There’s more of them… looks like that ship wasn’t just here for show… it was dropping off some kind of creature.”

“A-Actually, there are three creatures… at least, I think there are.” Fluttershy said, looking around at the clearing and bending low as she followed some shallower hoofprints. “They’re pretty big, and it looks like they walk on two legs, Twilight.”

Twilight examined the prints at her hooves again and saw that Fluttershy was right; the tracks were too far apart to be made by any quadruped and she bristled with excitement at the thought of an alien species that walked on two legs like the humans from Canterlot High.

“It looks like they went deeper into the forest, Fluttershy.” Twilight told the pegasus. “Let’s go, I don’t think they-” She was interrupted by a popping sound coming from deeper in the forest, scattering birds. “What on Equus… I think that’s them; they sound close so let’s hurry.”

“O-Okay.” Fluttershy replied nervously, not really wanting to go deeper into the forest.

The Guardians, even caught flat–footed, were still more than a match for the pack of wolf–creatures attacking them; both sides were coordinated, but the Guardians had better armaments to compliment their teamwork.

Aveline fired several shots from her rifle and then spun in place, striking down a wolf with a quick slash from her knife. Samson was the big man in the conflict, taller than any of the others, and made good use of his weight by fighting the wolves with both shotgun and fist. One of the wolves managed to leap onto his back and bite down on his neck in a move that, on normal prey, would have been a sure kill, but instead it whined in sudden pain as it broke it’s fangs on the hardened plasteel plating that comprised Samson’s armor; the exo Titan, for his part, merely grunted in annoyance and reached over his head, grabbing the stunned wolf and proceeding to slam it into one of its kin, shattering them both.

Gospel was not fairing as well as Samson or Aveline. He kept putting distance between himself and the wolves, but they had figured out that the Warlock was not as formidable as the nimble Hunter or the nigh–invulnerable Titan and had surrounded him. Gospel fired at charging wolves in front of him and ducked a wolf trying to leap onto his back and take him to the ground, firing at it as well. A wolf leapt through the air at him and Gospel responded by performing his own leap and blasting it apart with a wave of solar energy, causing the wolf to erupt in flames briefly and disappear. He grinned at the discovery of the creature’s weakness and he spun mid – air to land…

And was greeted by the sight of a wolf already mid–pounce, its claws outstretched and its maw wide.

Even as he swung his rifle to meet the charge, he knew he’d never hit the wolf; it was too close and there was no time to aim properly. Before he could brace for the pain of inevitable death, however, there was a thunk from the side of the wolf’s head and the beast fell to pieces in Gospel’s face. He looked around and picked up the knife that had stopped the wolf, handing it back to Aveline.

“Now I really owe you a steak dinner, Aveline.” He quipped as he passed her and checked his ammo supply.

“We shall talk about that one later, Gospel.” Aveline replied, sheathing the knife and checking her own ammo supply. “Ammo check; anyone low? I still have plenty.”

“I’m good here, darling.” Gospel said.

“My reserves are good; these enemies were not that strong.” Samson replied, and then picked through the debris. “Strange, these creatures; they look like wolves to all of you?” Gospel and Aveline nodded when Samson rose and then he held up a twig. “They seem to have been made from the surrounding foliage; twigs and leaves mostly.”

“So… they were wolves made from timber?” Gospel asked, disbelieving and there was a resounding silence from the group.

“Whoa whoa whoa, hold on just one damn second.” Lance interjected through Aveline’s comm. “Are you telling me… that we just got jumped… by living puns?!”

“That… would appear to be the case.” Samson replied, dropping the twig to the ground.

After a moment of silence, the three Guardians burst into laughter at the ridiculousness of being attacked by literal timberwolves. Their laughter was short–lived, however, when they heard an ominous cracking noise from behind them and they turned to see the debris left behind by the wolves reforming into a larger, more feral looking wolf. They watched it in silent awe as its eyes lit up in animalistic rage.

“Um…” Came Gauge’s voice. “I think this is the part where we, like, run the hell away.”

The Guardians looked at each other, and then bolted into the forest, with the giant timberwolf roaring and giving chase.

As the Guardians dashed through the forest with the monstrosity hot on their heels, Samson motioned to both Aveline and Gospel and the two Guardians split away, disappearing into the forest while Samson continued running. After some distance, the Titan stopped, spun on his heels to face the oncoming timberwolf, and set his feet, bracing himself.

The giant timberwolf was too caught up in the chase and saw only helpless prey, opening its large mouth wide to devour Samson whole. It was stunned, however, when it bit down and discovered that its prey had grabbed it’s open jaw in his hands, acting as a winch holding the wolf’s mouth apart and the charge only moving the surprisingly heavy exo back a couple of feet before stopping. Samson struggled briefly with the wooden wolf before slamming it to the ground, adjusting his grip on the beast’s fangs, and then going into a top spin.

After a moment of spinning the wolf around, Samson planted his foot and released the gigantic beast, launching it into the air and the creature flew quite a distance before hitting the ground hard on its side and sliding back from the momentum.

The dazed wolf stood up groggily, but then a ball of fire exploded by one of its paws and it backed away from the angry, flickering orb on the ground that was spewing flame. It barely moved before another orb exploded, and then another and another, until the wolf was surrounded by fiery orbs of light that promised death should the wolf attempt to bypass them. It looked around, unsure, until a glowing form leapt above the flames, catching the wolf’s attention.

The wolf got a good view of Aveline holding a flaming pistol before the weapon roared and a jet of flame struck its leg, causing it to fall. The gun roared twice more, striking it in a shoulder, and then across the side of the wolf’s head, and the beast finally succumbed, bursting into flame with a roar of pain and turning to ash.

The Guardians regrouped and looked at the charred ground where the wolf used to be, the solar flames they’d channeled dying off quickly and leaving only blackened marks on the ground where the orbs had fallen.

“Well…” Aveline said, holding her steaming handcannon. “That was a thing.”

“It was a giant wolf… made from wood…” Lance remarked dryly. “It’s official. I’ve seen it all.”

“I think it’s a little early to say that, Lance.” Gospel’s voice rang out and both Samson and Aveline turned to him, seeing him standing at the edge of a rope bridge leading across a chasm into the fogzone they’d been going to. They walked up to him and as they entered the fog, a shape loomed on the other side of the chasm.

“A bridge…” Aveline said, looking at the ropes and wood. She stepped cautiously onto the planks and discovered that they held her weight. “This wood has been worked… and recently, it feels new; I think it will hold our weight, but you should wait for us to cross first, Samson.”

“Agreed. I’ll wait back here and make sure we don’t get ambushed again.” Samson said, and then turned toward the forest, his gun raised.

Aveline and Gospel crossed the bridge confidently and upon reaching the other side, sent word to Samson and he crossed, although the bridge creaked and groaned under the strain of putting up with his weight. Once they were across, they turned back to the fog – shrouded structure and approached it, the concealing grey dissipating more and more with each step until the fog finally gave way. The Guardians stopped at the base of the structure and stared up in disbelief at what they were seeing.

They had arrived at the base of an ancient castle.

Author's Note

We are now back to our regularly scheduled program; expect delays.

On another note, I feel I should explain a little something about how weapons and armor work in this story. Unfortunately, this means no Grimoire information.

Guns and armor used by the Guardians will not generally use names given in the game, such as "Up For Anything", "Atheon's Epilogue", "Hunger of Crota", etc. Exotic gear will function similarly, except that if a Guardian has something considered "Exotic", it may not share a name with an Exotic piece of gear from the game. What will make the gear "Exotic" for the story is that it will have some kind of quirk the user might have added to the weapon to separate it from others like it. This is to add a sense of immersion to a story set in a world seen in a game. Superfluous details like stats won't be included at all.

So with that said, if it's not a personal weapon of a Guardian or so on, it will be considered either "Vanguard-issue" or "Crucible-issue", with the former generally being assigned to Guardians for fieldwork and the latter being assigned for live-fire exercises between Guardians. Armor will not generally follow this rule.