Warframe: Equestria

Chapters

Chapter 1: First Contact
Chapter 2: History Lessons
Chapter 3: Lunch with the locals
Chapter 4: Tour of the City
Chapter 5: Visiting the Neighbours
Chapter 6: Uninvited Guest
Chapter 7: To be a Tenno
Chapter 8: Construction Begins
Chapter 9: Decisions
Chapter 10: The Tenno of Equestria
Chapter 11: First Test
Chapter 13: Interrogation
Chapter 14: Plans
Chapter 15: Dreams
Chapter 16: Suiting Up
Chapter 17: Hunted
Chapter 18: Resolve
Chapter 19: Training Begins
Chapter 20: Practice makes Perfect
Chapter 21: Two Weeks Later
Chapter 22: Suspicions
Chapter 23: Modifying and Sentinels
Chapter 24: Hive Assault Part 1
Chapter 25: Hive Assault Part 2
Chapter 26: Hive Assault Part 3
Chapter 27: Hive Assault Part 4
Chapter 28: A relic from the past
Chapter 29: De-frosted.
Prologue: Betrayal
Chapter 12: Unexpected Visitor

Chapter 1: First Contact

Warframe: Equestria
Chapter 1: First Contact

POV: Twilight Sparkle / Location: Equus - Canterlot

The creature says something to me but I don't know what language its using. "Please help us!" I ask it, hoping it understood me.

It just tilts its head and then looks around. I notice its gaze lingering on the quadruped that's still nuzzling Fluttershy who seems to have calmed down now that she's met a new animal.

"Hello, what's your name?" Fluttershy asks it. The 'dog' for no better term barks at her while wagging its stumpy tail. "Oh... my, I can't understand him. I've never been unable to talk to an animal before," she says with a bit of sadness. The dog whines a little and just licks her face.

The biped just stares at the display with its head tilted to its left. I shake my head and get my thoughts together, with this creature's help we can get to the Elements and stop Chrysalis! But my train of thought is interrupted when the side of the castle has a hole blown out of it with Princess Luna falling to the ground.

"LUNA!"

POV: Karn / Location: Equus - Canterlot

A large dark blue Equine falls to the ground from the hole that now sits in the side of the building, the Equines all rush off to it and I follow after them.

We arrive to see it, I'm guessing it's a female as well as the others with how pampered their hairs are, to see she's badly injured. Her fur is covered in blood and cuts, she's barely breathing.

I pull out one of the few Nanite Healing Canisters designed to repair the biological parts of the Warframe as well as other people I have and kneel beside her, I don't know if this will work on them but it's better than letting her die, so with that I pop the cap off and inject her with the serum. She starts twitching as the Nanites start to close her cuts, repairing broken bones and stop any internal bleeding.

Her eyes open and she looks slightly dizzy.

POV: Luna / Location: Equus - Canterlot Castle Gardens

'Oh... My head feels like its been used as a dance floor for one of Miss. Pinkie's parties.' I slowly open my eyes to see a large black and red creature looming over me with some sort of syringe in its hand.

I quickly react and fire a blast of magic at it and send it flying a good ten metres or so, doing that just aggravates my headache more though.

"PRINCESS! STOP! Its friendly! It saved us from a swarm of changelings!" Twilight tells me fearfully as if expecting some kind of retaliation from the creature.

I look at her with a confused expression then back to the creature, who somehow stands back up like nothing happened, not even a scratch is on it.

It sounds like its grunting in annoyance. "I think it just saved you as well, it injected you with something and all your wounds just closed," she tells me with a look of awe.

I slowly get back onto my hooves, I feel no pain, well a slight soreness like bruises but it's like I was never beaten and thrown out of a window at all.

"We thank thee for aiding us and we apologise for our actions just now," I say with a bow of my head. It just tilts its head slightly but eventually nodded in return.

"I'm sorry, Princess, but it seems like it can't understand us," Twilight informs me.

Before anything else is said, ten Changelings fly out of the hole and dive bomb at us. I try to fire off some mana bolts but my magic is drained from the battle with Chrysalis and my headache is making it hard to concentrate. I hear three loud bangs and turn to see the creature holding some sort of tool or weapon and pointing it above us.

I look back up as another seven bangs go off and each Changeling's head blows off in a spray of gore. Such accuracy and precision, it hit them all dead centre at the base of their horns, it sidesteps as the bodies slam into the floor around it.

It just killed them without hesitation, just what in Tartarus is it?

POV: Karn / Location: Equus - Canterlot Castle Gardens

I reload my Lex with a fresh magazine and keep my sight on the hole, I see a large insect with green hair and tail appear looking down at us, it also has insectoid wings and a jagged horn.

I increase the zoom of my vision and I see its expression, its very angry. It leaps out of the hole and its horn glows a bright green, it then disappears in a flash of green light. My minimap picks up something behind me so I turn around and point my pistol at the big bug, Nightshade turns and growls at the insect as well.

I set my sentinel to guard mode, in case it attacks me. It laughs with a distorted tone and then starts neighing along with other noises but again I don't understand them. The others behind me all go on the defensive, this can only mean that this is the leader of the invaders.

"I'm giving you only one chance to leave peacefully, or I'll be forced to give you another breathing hole," I threaten it in a cold tone.

POV: Twilight Sparkle / Location: Equus - Canterlot Castle Gardens

Chrysalis is just mocking the creature, but it just stands there unmoving. It spoke something in a cold dark tone that sent a shiver up my spine, but Chrysalis just laughs at it. "This is your last defence? A strange monster that can't even talk?" she giggles maliciously. "My my, you are getting desperate."

Her horn glows and so does the bipeds head but nothing happens, Chrysalis frowns and tries again with the same result... nothing.

She growls. "What's going on? Why can't I sense your emotions!" she says angrily. The dog growls back at her with more malicious intent and baring its sharp teeth.

Chrysalis fires a large bolt of green magic at the creature but he just stood there and took the blast with a slight recoil of its left shoulder.

The biped instantly lunges forward and with its left hand, punches the Queen on her right cheek. She's sent tumbling a few metres before she recovers, Chrysalis stares back with a shocked and stunned expression as green blood dribbles down her chin... That blast the creature took was strong enough to knock even Princess Celestia out!

The Queen then snarls and hisses at the biped, but again its undaunted. I can only imagine what it must have been through to be this fearless.

POV: Karn / Location: Equus - Canterlot Castle Gardens

Well I can safely say it wont go peacefully, force it is then. I aim at her head and fire two shots off as my Sentinel peppers it, the large insect reacts and surrounds itself with a green barrier or shield. The shots bounce off but leave large cracks where they hit, I fire three more shots at the same spot which shatters its defence.

The third shot just grazes its shoulder as it barely dodges, a sizzling sound is heard as the corrosive compound of the bullet erodes her chitinous like skin. My Sentinel starts clicking as it runs out of ammo.

The insect hisses in pain then takes to the air and lets out a horrid Shriek, a swarm of over a hundred smaller insects surrounds me with ill intent. The large bug is grinning down at me, if it could see my real face, it would see I'm grinning as well.

I channel my energy into my right leg as I raise it up and with a roar, slam it down cracking the cobble stone paths and sending rocks and dirt into the air along with all the insects around me. Their bodies couldn't withstand the pressure of the void energy I unleashed and cave in, all that remains is floating crippled corpses caught in my void energy field.

The big Insect goes wide eyed and flies higher, it gives me one last glare with bared teeth before it shrieks again and flies away, the others following behind it. Huh, its smart at least, it knew it was a battle it couldn't win.

I turn around to see seven pairs of terror filled eyes.

POV: Luna / Location: Equus - Canterlot Castle Gardens

By my stars this thing is a titan... It single hoofedly repelled the Changeling army. I just hope it does not turn on us next.

I gasp as I recall my sister's condition, I need to go check on her!

POV: Twilight Sparkle / Location: Equus - Canterlot Castle Gardens

The creature puts its weapons away and stands tall and proud as Luna flies up to the hole in the castle. I've never seen or heard of anything like this, it could probably take on a horde of dragons and win. The dog sits beside it and looks just as proud.

Fluttershy is hiding behind Rarity, Dash is hovering a few metres higher than normal, and Applejack actually looks afraid.

POV: Karn / Location: Equus - Canterlot Castle Gardens

"Ordis, how are the stabilizing thrusters?" I ask him.

"The stabilisers are fully functional, Operator. It's the main jump drive thrusters that are destroyed, reaching orbit right now is impossible, in both the Orbiter and Liset," Ordis replies.

"Alright, can you get in contact with Lotus?" I ask him.

"Connecting... Negative, communication link to the void has been lost, we'll need to fabricate a signal booster before we can attempt again," he tells me.

That shouldn't take too long to make. "Okay, bring the Orbiter over to my location and standby." I'm brought out of my thoughts as the dark blue equine suddenly latches onto me from behind and flies up to the hole as the others make some loud noises. I'm slightly startled, but I don't feel any ill will coming from her.

"Yes, Operator," Ordis replies.

We land on the ledge to see a larger white equine on the floor in much worse condition. I look to the blue one to see her with tears in her eyes, I guess she wants me to help the white one as I did her, I pull out the last healing canister I have on me and walk over to her. The... I guess guards are pointing their spears at me.

The dark blue one neighed loudly and they backed off. I kneel beside the white equine and inject her in the shoulder with it, the armoured equines are keeping a close eye on me but gasp as the cuts, gashes and broken bones close and heal. It takes a few minutes for her to come around but she opens her eyes.

And I'm blasted by a bolt of energy again. Only this time, it only sent me on my ass.

POV: Celestia / Location: Equus - Canterlot Castle Throne Room

I open my eyes to the sight of a large black and red being. Due to the recent fight with Chrysalis, I thought it was one of her soldiers, it does have a chitinous like cover. So I do what my instincts told me and blast it with my magic.

But my magic is very weak right now and I didn't push it away far enough. "Sister! Be still, tis an ally! It drove the Changelings away!" Luna tells me.

I look back to the being as it stands up and... dusts itself off... like it didn't even feel that blast, true it was a weakened one but it would have still blown a hole in the wall.

"What is it?" I ask my sister.

"We dost not know, Twilight and her friends first encountered it, thou wouldst have to ask her," she replies.

The being walks up to me and extends its hand, I stare at it for a few seconds and place my hoof on it. With a nod it helps me onto my hooves.

I look at its blank face with both caution and curiosity. "Erm... Hello?"

Chapter 2: History Lessons

Warframe: Equestria
Chapter 2: History lessons

POV: Karn / Location: Equus - Canterlot Castle Throne Room

I help the white equine onto its feet, she just looks at me with confusion and slight hesitation.

It neighs at me, so vocal communication is out the window, what about gestures? I point to her and flap my fingers against my thumb like a mouth, then I point to myself and shrug my shoulders with a shake of my head.

That seems to get her attention, looks like basic gestures work. She and the dark blue one start talking with each other, while they're doing that, I slip over to the hole in the wall while the guards are still watching me the whole time. I can see Ordis starting to hover where we landed, most likely running a systems check before flying over here.

I look down and notice the other six still there looking up at me.

POV: Twilight Sparkle / Location: Equus - Canterlot Castle Gardens

The creature is back at the hole looking over to the city, then back down to us. "What's it doin'?" Applejack asks.

What happens next gives me a heart attack. "OH MY GOSH!" Rainbow shouts out as the biped jumps from the castle.

Its body then glows with a red energy I'm not familiar with and its descent is slowed down considerably, almost like its floating. It lands lightly on the stone path and looks over to the city, a few seconds later the Princesses fly down and my eyes start to tear up.

Celestia looks perfectly fine now despite the blood and bruises still staining her coat, I run over to her and nuzzle her happy that she's okay. "Princess! I'm so happy you're alright," I say with a relieved tone.

She returns the gesture. "Yes my faithful student, thanks to our new friend here I am in good health," she tells me with a smile.

"So what do we do with this creature?" I ask her.

"Hmmm, well, trying to form a method of communication would be a start. It understands gestures, maybe it can read?" she replies and with a glow of her horn, she summons a scroll and quill.

POV: Celestia / Location: Equus - Canterlot Castle Gardens

Hello, can you understand this?

I wrote the simple message in hopes the being can read our language, I then tap it on its shoulder with a hoof to get its attention.

POV: Karn / Location: Equus - Canterlot Castle Gardens

I feel a tap on my shoulder so I turn around to see a floating piece of paper in front of me, I pluck it out of the air and see some strange symbols on it, must be their written language. Unfortunately, that's all it is to me, symbols.

I shake my head indicating I cant read it, the white equine sighs and takes the paper back. The sounds of the Orbiter's thrusters can be heard as it flies over to us.

The white equine takes a step back and looks wide eyed at my Orbiter, the others also have similar expressions. Ordis lowers to the ground as close as he could and opens the side door. I kneel down and use my frame's energy to leap up into the air and into the door.

Nightshade remains behind while I enter, closing the door behind me. I remove my weapons only leaving my Heat Dagger and Lex Pistol on my Warframe's thighs.

POV: Luna / Location: Equus - Canterlot Castle Gardens

This creature is full of surprises! First it saves me, it repels the Changelings, and then saves Tia from near death. It has weapons never imagined before and we didn't even get to see what the other one on its back even does! Now it has a flying vessel made of some unknown metal twice the size of a large house! What else does it have?

Wait a minute, who or what is piloting it? "Sister, dost thou believe there could be another on board? Somepony or something must have flown that vessel over here," I ask her.

"I'd have to agree with you, there has to be more then one of them, unless it uses some form of magic?" she replies.

I can see Twilight's thirst for knowledge kick in as she looks up at the vessel with intrigue.

POV: Karn / Location: Equus - Canterlot Castle Gardens inside the Orbiter

I store my weapons at the armoury and then set the on board foundry to make more ammunition for my weapons, I then walk back up to the front of the Liset and kneel on the mat. The map of the system comes to life showing the planets all around me, what confuses me is that the sun of this system revolves around the planet. How is that possible? A sun's gravity should be stronger than a planet.

I cycle through the planets to see there are three others. A frozen planet with no life on it, a planet with lush vegetation and wildlife and a planet that's a barren desert. The forest planet has two moons orbiting it while the frozen one has one.

Ordis has named the planet I am on Equus, I guess that makes sense since the locals are equines.

The others are called Tundrus, Gaia, and Ignius. Hmmm, well time to try and form an understanding with the locals. I can't read or speak their language, so good old gestures, drawings, or holo-recordings will have to do, but first I need to collect a sample of one of those insects to study.

I get up and head back to the door, though I leave my Sentinel in its charging station on standby mode with a fresh magazine loaded. I open the door and jump down while using my void energy to slow my descent to the ground.

POV: Twilight Sparkle / Location: Equus - Canterlot Castle Gardens

Oh this is so exciting! What if this is some extraterrestrial creature!? Just imagining all the things we can learn from it is giving me goosebumps.

Oh how I wish I can go inside and see all the wondrous technology and science it must have. I stomp my hoof in frustration and the door opens. I watch as the biped floats down again and then just looks down at me with a slightly tilted head.

I smile sheepishly and back up next to the Princesses who are looking at the biped's dog with some concern. The biped looks around and then walks over to one of the Changeling corpses, it then holds its left hand out with its palm facing the body. We all gasp as the dead Changeling starts to glow orange and small orange cubes break off and flow into its hand.

After about five seconds the body is gone, leaving only a puddle of green blood showing it was even there... Did it just eat the Changeling?

POV: Karn / Location: Equus - Canterlot Castle Gardens

I just finish digitising the body to my on board hard-drive so I can upload it later for Ordis to analyse. I turn to the equines and see their mouths agape and shrunken pupils... Oh, I guess they wouldn't know about digitising matter into data...

I slowly walk over to them and sit down cross legged to appear less threatening, the white and dark blue ones sit in front of me as well with some hesitation. Once settled, I pull out a small disk shaped device that can display holograms and maps.

I place it between us and open it to show the Sol System, their eyes go wide seeing it.

POV: Celestia / Location: Equus - Canterlot Castle Gardens

If what I'm seeing is correct this must be the place this being is from, there are so many planets compared to our system, but the planets are revolving around its sun, all on their own. It points to a blue and green planet much like our own, its finger touches it and the image expands into a full view. We all look at it in wonder.

It points at itself and then to the planet. Is this where it comes from? I nodded to it in understanding.

POV: Karn / Location: Equus - Canterlot Castle Gardens

The white equine nodded at me and I just notice the purple one walking over to me.

She circles me and starts taking notes in a book she got from somewhere. I turn back to the hologram and flick through the files. I play a recording from over a millennia ago. Tall buildings are shown with people walking around doing their day to day routines, then it shows the sky going dark as Grineer ships descend and fire down into the city.

The equines all gasp as they witness the destruction. Human ships flee the planet as they were caught off guard. The image changes to a few centuries ahead, of a dark and cold place set apart from normal space, the Void. Images of teenage humans in pods on Earth's moon lined up around the area.

I point to a specific pod that has me inside and then to my Warframe's chest. I then form an astral projection of my real body above my Warframe which goes limp as I am no longer controlling it for the moment.

They look at me wide eyed while the purple one is writing down what she's seeing, even a crude hastily sketched image of my real face.

I then return to my Warframe and showed them some of the missions I've been on, recorded from the perspective of my Warframe. Defence, rescue, exterminations, spying, interceptions, excavations, and one where I had to survive for forty minutes by myself while another Tenno hacked into the Grineer base's computer for information. Even some missions where I'm flying in space or on a planet, underwater with my Archwings, these ones got the cyan equine's attention. Some of them turn slightly green from the battles, even a few of their guards.

I then show them day to day life when we're not sent on a mission. Tenno just hanging out with each other playing sports and other activities at relays or a clan dojo, where we cook and eat. It's hard to get a decent meal since most of it is replicated from biomass gathered from Earth and digitised for transport. We have our own large Aeroponics facilities but it can't make enough for all of us.

It also took me two years before I could walk again, being in that pod for so long made my legs useless from lack of use.

Once its all over, it shows me and other Tenno standing proudly with weapons drawn side by side while Lotus is behind us.

I turn off the hologram and put it away. I look to them and notice Nightshade taking his nap next to the yellow equine who is stroking him with a hoof.

POV: Twilight Sparkle / Location: Equus - Canterlot Castle Gardens

That was... I have no idea on how to describe what we just saw. Here is a real alien and a warrior at that who's been through so much. I'm guessing its male from what I saw. I wonder how old he is, he looked so young.

I look at the device he put back onto his waist, oh how I would love to examine it.

I then turn to look at Princess Celestia. "So what are we going to show him in return?" I ask her.

She hums in thought as the biped just sits there with no expression.

Celestia's horn glows as she casts an illusion spell showing the history of our race. Images of the three pony tribes at war with each other, the Windigos that were drawn in by their hate for each other. Then of Discord's cruel rein over the world treating the different species as his own playthings.-

Then Images of Celestia and Luna arriving with the Elements of Harmony and the long battle that ensued. Celestia flew into the air while Luna attacked from below, bolts and beams of gold, dark blue, and yellow magic soaring at each other. After a sped up replay of the fight it slows down to show Luna getting a hit on Discord's chest, he's stunned long enough for the Princesses to use the Elements and turn him to stone.

It then shows the time of Nightmare Moon and the damage she caused, the biped looks at the image and then to Luna, then back to the image. Luna just looks away ashamed.

It shows Nightmare's imprisonment and her return where me and my friends freed her form her dark side.

It then shows scenes of daily pony life for a few minutes, as well as the other species on Equus.

Celestia's horn stops glowing and the image fades away like mist.

POV: Karn / Location: Equus - Canterlot Castle Gardens

Well, at least we've managed to exchange some history with each other. I stand up, place my right fist into the palm of my left hand and bow slightly. The white and dark blue ones bow their heads in return.

I look to the yellow one again to see a large smile on her face as she leans into Nightshade, the sight makes me chuckle which gets her attention.

Her face turns slightly red as she hides behind her hair. I look back to the white one and point to my Orbiter, then to the ground with the palm of my hand and then to somewhere behind the castle like building to ask if there was anywhere to keep it hidden for now.

POV: Celestia / Location: Equus - Canterlot Castle Gardens

I look from him to the vessel, I believe he is asking for somewhere to place it. I nodded and wave my hoof to let him know to follow me, he nodded and looks to his vessel. He says something to it and it comes to life as it starts to slowly move forward above him.

I wonder why the one piloting it did not come out as well, I'll ask to see the inside when we get to the field behind the castle.

We walked for a few minutes, during that time Pinkie bounced around him and kept asking questions like what his favourite colour, food, and games were. He just watched her while Twilight was taking more notes and Rainbow Dash was flying around the vessel.

Fluttershy was trotting beside the being's companion and trying to talk to it. Rarity and Applejack kept their distance though next to Luna.

We arrive to the large field used for outdoor gatherings like the Gala. I look to him and point at the field with my hoof, he nodded and talks to the vessel again.

The vessel flies ahead of us and lands in the centre of the field, he walks up to it and the side door opens again.

I tap his shoulder again to get his attention. He looks at me, I point to myself, then to my eyes and then to his vessel. He looks at it then to me, after a few seconds he nodded. Twilight gasps and rushes over only to have the being hold his palm out to her and shake his head.

"What!? Why not? I want to see too!" she says with a pout, the being just shakes his head again. "Awwww." Twilight looks down at the floor as she trudges away. I cant help but giggle a little, it reminds me of when she was still learning at the castle.

Luna walks up to us and the being gives her a nod allowing her in as well. "No fair!" Twilight says next to her friends causing me to smile wider.

We step inside, and what we see is nothing like we could've imagined.

Chapter 3: Lunch with the locals

Warframe: Equestria
Chapter 3: Lunch with the locals

POV: Karn / Location: Equus - Canterlot Castle Field - inside the Orbiter

The white and dark blue equines look around in awe at the cockpit of my Orbiter as the door closes behind them. I walk to a console and place my Warframe's right hand over a small scanning pad. The data of the insect flows out into my Orbiter's hard-drive and Ordis beings his analyses.

I then walk over to the mat and kneel down as the solar system shows up again.

Both of the equines gasp and sit beside me, the white one to my left and the dark blue one to my right. I tap on the planet Equus and it zooms in showing multiple locations that show some electronic and or radio signals.

All the locations but one are marked ????? since Ordis has no data to work from, but the city we are in, Ordis has dubbed the, Equus Capital.

POV: Luna / Location: Equus - Canterlot Castle Field - inside the Orbiter

I'm wondering where the pilot is but my attention is drawn to what the creature is doing.

We're looking at the image of our planet as small blue dots and what look like buttons show city locations around the world. I gingerly tap the button that's above a dot where Stalliongrad is with the tip of my hoof, it rotates the planet and zooms in on the area in question.

Additional symbols and letters appear, most likely additional information about the area, but what confuses me are the words all look like they have the same five letters except for Canterlot.

He then looks and points at all three of us, he then faces his palm to the floor, lifts it up slowly and moves it forward then points to the dot.

I look to Tia with a raised brow. "What dost thou think he wants?" I ask her.

"I am not entirely sure, but I believe he wishes to go there in this vessel," she replies.

"Would that be wise? He may not have shown hostilities towards us, but this could be an attempt to abduct us," I say.

"If he wanted to do so, I believe he would have already. I think we can trust him, besides, he saved us and left his companion behind. I doubt he would leave it here,"

Tia nodded to him and by his command the vessel takes to the air with surprising agility. What confused me and Tia is that a voice answered him. The vessel then quickly takes off towards Stalliongrad without causing us to lose our balance.

POV: Karn / Location: Equus - Equestria plains - inside the Orbiter

Odris is heading towards the location in question, we would get there sooner if the main thrusters were not destroyed. I slowly get up and wave at them to follow me.

We head down the ramp and into my armoury section, the equines look around but I wave at them to continue following. We go to the right past the armoury and into the back of the Orbiter where my real body is located, the door opens which seems to get their attention, I guess they don't have automatic doors here.

We walk in and see me with my eyes closed sitting in my open pod, though it looks more like a very large chair with glowing white cables connected to the back going down behind it. All of my Warframes are currently in pods underneath us where two circular plates on the floor are to the left and right of us which are used to raise them up, over the centuries I have fabricated new ones that are designed and I have more than twenty total with room for a few more. Though I use the Rhino and sometimes the Valkyr more than the others as they seem to fit my personality more.

The two equines walk over to my body which looks like it's asleep, I make my Warframe kneel down and disconnect from it. I open my eyes and look at the them with my green and orange eyes.

POV: Princess Celestia / Location: Equus - Canterlot Castle Field - inside the Orbiter

Just like the image he showed us, this must be his real body, compared to the large bulky armoured body he looks like he's a young scrawny colt... Then how is he controlling the other one? With magic? Technology? Is there another living being in that armour and he's using some kind of mind control on it or some kind of telepathy and issuing orders to it?

I glance towards Luna and it seems she's also thinking the same thing.

POV: Karn / Location: Equus - Canterlot Castle Field - inside the Orbiter

They look at each other and then back at me. I stand up and take a few steps towards them, while in my Warframe I was slightly taller than the white equine but now I only reach up to the base of her neck. I hold my hands out to them where they look at my hands and both place a hoof in them, I give them a gentle shake before sitting back down and reconnecting to my Warframe.

Once our face to face introduction is done, I lead them back to the front of my Orbiter as they talk to each other.

I walk to the radio wave scanner and turn it on since it seems to be picking up signals here. I hear some static as it cycles through looking for a clear signal, it stops once it picks up some equine chatter. The two equines go wide eyed when they hear it and look to each other concerned.

POV: Celestia / Location: Equus - Equestria plains - inside the Orbiter

What we hear is a cause for concern, whatever he is using is picking up signals from a magically warded Canterlot Guard unicorn signal.

"Captain sir, I have the collateral damage report from the Invasion ready," a guard says.

"Thank you, Private. Bring it to me and then return to helping the citizens," replies the Captain of the royal guard, Shining Armour.

"Yes sir."

A small bit of static later and a new signal comes in. "Sir, the delegate has returned from Gryphonia. She's now in the medical wing with two broken legs, severe cuts and bruises across her body... Her personal guard did not return with her," oh no.

"WHAT! That does it, call for an emergency war meeting with all the Captains and the Princesses now! I've had enough trying to play nice with those barbarians. Ever since that new king of theirs killed the old one and took the throne all he's done was attack our borders... Not anymore," shining replies in anger.

"Yes sir!" the guard replies.

I Look to Luna and her face has the same look of horror.

POV: Karn / Location: Equus - Equestria plains - inside the Orbiter

I'm just listening to the shouting of one of the equines on the scanner, at least I think it's shouting. The white one frantically pulls my right arm and drags me back over to the system map, she taps the button for the Equus Capitol and looks at me with worry filled eyes. I guess what she heard is what has her upset.

"Ordis, set new location for the Equus Capital," I tell him.

"Yes, Operator."

And with that we fly back, looks like exploring will just have to wait for now.

We arrive within eight minutes and land, the two equines leave the Orbiter and tell the others something before rushing off into the building.

The purple one looks at me, then to my ship with a pout still, cute. I pat her on the head which just makes her more grumpy and the others to giggle, I then walk over to Nightshade who is still next to the yellow one.

"So I take it you like her?" I ask him.

He barks and his tongue flops out as he pants happily, I then scratch him behind his ears. Well if he's made a new friend then good for him, he usually just barks aggressively when anyone but me tries to get near him.

The purple one waves a hoof towards herself and points to the building, she walks towards the doors of the building and waves again as the others follow her. I Close the Orbiter's door and follow behind them.

POV: Twilight Sparkle/ Location: Equus - Canterlot Castle

I cant believe he wouldn't let me see inside his ship! GAH! Then he has the nerve to take off with the Princesses no less! Oh well, maybe I can get a look inside later.

I wonder what has the Princesses so worried. Did they see something on his ship? Is he a threat to Equestria? The Princesses told me to keep an eye on him but what am I supposed to do?

We walk down the halls towards the dining hall, with all that has happened today I'm pretty hungry and by the sounds of it so are the others.

*GGGGUUURRRGGLLEEE* A loud gurgling rumble echoes throughout the hall. We all turn to see Pinkie giggling while patting her belly. "BWAAHAHAHAHAHAA! Oh my gosh! Your stomach seems to get louder every time, Pinkie!" Dash says calming down from her laughing fit.

"I know right! I haven't eaten since breakfast and all that running around from the Changelings didn't help either!" Pinkie replies still giggling with a few snorts as well.

"Okay, okay. Let's go get a bite to eat," I say to them while shaking my head with a smile.

We continue down the hall passing some guards and maids. Just as we arrive at the hall, there was one pony that we all wished was taken away by the Changelings... Prince Blueblood.

POV: Karn / Location: Equus - Canterlot Castle

A white equine with blond hair and a fancy collar exits the door looking smug. If I know anything from some of the colonies I've protected, it's that there are always those that think they are better than others, I believe he is one of them.

He then turns to look at us, he says something to them in a conceited tone but then notices me. I have never heard such a feminine scream come from any male before and without warning his horn glows and blasts me right in the head, it surprisingly had enough force to make me back flip onto my stomach with a loud thud, cracking the stone floor a bit.

The others all gasp and backed away as he continues to blast me. I slowly stand up and walk over to him, that first blast actually took fifteen percent off my shielding.

POV: Twilight Sparkle/ Location: Equus - Canterlot Castle

Oh no no no no no. Not now! Why did Blueblood have to be here right now!? The biped slowly stands up and walks towards Blueblood as he just keeps taking the blasts. He then with a quick movement of his right arm, grips Blueblood's horn and effortlessly lifts him into the air by a good metre and a half.

Blueblood starts to panic as he has trouble controlling his magic. I'm tapping on the biped's leg trying to get him to let go but he's ignoring me.

What really gets me worried is when his left hand grips the handle of that dagger of his, the moment he pulled it out, we can feel the heat coming off from it as the blade seems to glow. He then holds it up to Blueblood's throat and he stops struggling. Blueblood's eyes are mere pinpricks as the hot dagger is singeing his coat slightly.

As a last resort I hit him with as much force as I can into his right leg with my right foreleg, only to end up spraining my fetlock in the process.

It did the job though as he looks down at me, his expression unreadable. I lift my hoof and point it to Blueblood, then slowly lower it to the floor. He looks back to Blueblood then to me. He sighs, puts his dagger away and lets go.

Blueblood falls to the floor with an 'eep' and thud, he then scrambles behind some guards. "KILL THAT THING! ITS OBVIOUSLY A CHANGELING SENT HERE TO KILL ME!" he yells at the guards.

The guards don't know what to do, they know they'll be no match against the biped. "WELL WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR!? KILL IT!" Blueblood demands them.

"Guards, if you would be so kind as to escort Prince Blueblood back to his chambers that would be most appreciated," I ask them calmly.

They nodded and drag Blueblood away quickly. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING!? GO BACK THERE AND KILL IT BEFORE IT KILLS ME!" the so called prince screams.

POV: Karn / Location: Equus - Canterlot Castle

I frown at the display the white one is showing as he flails around and screams at me, I'm going to have to keep an eye on him. The group of equines behind me all sigh in relief.

He has no idea how lucky he is right now, attacking a Tenno is practically asking to be killed, but then again killing one of them would reflect badly upon me. I look to the others, the white and purple one is actually smiling at me, the orange one looks even more on edge, the pink and cyan ones are still giggling while Nightshade is acting as a shield between the ponce and his new yellow friend.

The purple one looks like she's about to have a nervous breakdown.

"Operator, Analyses of the insect is completed and there is one of the insectoid creatures at your location. Target has been marked," Ordis warns me.

POV: Twilight Sparkle / Location: Equus - Canterlot Castle

Oh thank Celestia that's over, not that it would be a bad thing to be rid of that stuck up stallion, but killing somepony is not the answer, nor would it make the best first impression in the castle. Suddenly the biped looks at one of the maids and without warning charges her into a wall, but before we could react he pulls his dagger out again and lightly cuts her foreleg.

The blood is green. "Changeling!" I yell and the guards surround them.

The biped is holding it by the throat with the dagger poking it in the chest making a sizzling sound. The Changeling looks stunned, probably wondering how it was discovered. Wait a minute... He did absorb one of the Changelings earlier, maybe he can now detect them? Oh I cant wait to learn about his technology!

I quickly shake my head to clear my thoughts. Oh right, the Changeling needs to be dealt with first. "Guards! Take this Changeling to the dungeon and place an inhibitor ring on its horn. Also tie it up good and with a muzzle, we don't want it to try and kill itself." I order them, one of the perks of being the Princess's personal student.

The unicorn guard's horn glows, restraints are summoned and strapped to the Changeling when the biped lets go. We'll have to check the whole castle staff then, if there's one there's bound to be more.

The biped looks to the rest of them, probably looking for any more, but he relaxes and puts his dagger away again.

"Wow, that was sooooo, AWESOME!" Dash says as she hovers in front of him. "How did you know she was a Changeling?" she asks him. After a few seconds of silence and a tilt from his head she gets why. "Oh, right. You don't know what I'm saying," she says as she floats down to the floor.

"Well, that was exciting wasn't it? But I must say I am quite parched and would like to discuss what has transpired over a delightful lunch," Rarity says.

POV: Karn / Location: Equus - Canterlot Castle

I watch as the insect is dragged away. So they can change their appearance, it's a good thing I had Ordis analyse the corpse then.

The purple one gets my attention and points to the door, I nodded to her and we enter the room. There's a long table with cushions down the length of it... Not a single chair is here.

We all sit down on a cushion. The purple one is to my right, the cyan one is to my left with the yellow one to her left with Nightshade. The other three sit on the other side with the pink one in front of me, the white one to her right and the orange one to her left.

Some sort of servant arrives and takes their orders while throwing me the odd glance or two. The purple one gives me a menu of sorts, I can't read it but the pictures of the meals look good. Unfortunately, a Warframe cannot eat or taste at all.

I hand her the menu back and shake my head, I then gesture to my Warframe and then pretend to lift something up to where my mouth would be then I shake my head, basically telling her I cannot eat while using a Warframe.

She frowns for a second before hesitantly nodding, I think she understood... I think. The servant says something to the others and writes down their orders, he then turns around and leaves the room.

POV: Pinkie Pie / Location: Equus - Canterlot Castle - Dining Hall

"Oh oh oh! So when can I throw him a welcome and thank your for saving Equestria party!?" I ask with excitement while bouncing on my cushion. I wonder if he would like chocolate or vanilla more? Maybe strawberries! Does he prefer cupcakes or muffins? Oh why does he have to not understand us? I GOT SO MANY QUESTIONS I WANNA ASK!

"Maybe later, Pinkie. First we have to help him get settled in before we do anything else," Twilight says. "From what I could tell, the back of his ship looked damaged, there was some torn and bent bits of metal." While Twilight was talking the tall guy just looks around the hall.

I get up and hop around the table and have a really good look at him, from what he showed us, he looked like a little colt. I wonder if those were from his foalhood? Even if he's an adult now, you're never too old for a party! Oh he has some kind of fancy cape or scarf!

POV: Twilight Sparkle / Location: Equus - Canterlot Castle - Dining Hall

We watch as Pinkie is examining the Biped and looking at the two long pieces of what appear to be very strong, flexible and durable material in the shape of a cape.

Our food arrives and we all dig in as our guest just watches.

POV: Karn / Location: Equus - Canterlot Castle - Dining Hall

I'll have to gather some of the food here and see if it's edible for me, I have rations and a large water supply digitised on the Orbiter, but having a renewable source would be better.

Now that things have settled down I can now observe them.

The pink one is very energetic from her constant bouncing and chatter.

The white one seems like the posh and cultured type.

The orange one is hard to figure out, but guessing from the muscle mass compared to the others she must work in physical labour.

The cyan one looks brash and boastful.

The yellow one looks shy and timid while the purple one is curious and studious, if her attempt to get into my Orbiter is any indicator.

I pull out my Lex and unload its magazine and eject the round in the chamber, I put the bullet back into the mag and Digitise the mag into my magazine hard-drive. I hold the pistol out to the purple one now that its harmless and she gasps. It's covered in a purple glow and floats in front of her face, hopefully that will satisfy her curiosity... for now.

POV: Twilight Sparkle / Location: Equus - Canterlot Castle - Dining Hall

Oh my gosh, he's letting me look at his weapon? Yes! Now let's see here, I scan the weapon with a spell that lets me see its inner workings. Wow, so many small details, the trigger is connected to some sort of hammer and.....

POV: Rainbow Dash / Location: Equus - Canterlot Castle - Dining Hall

Huh, he's letting the egghead look at his toy? Meh, I don't care about that, I wanna see those metal wing things he showed us. I nudge him and he looks at me, I point to his hips then to my wings which I flap, he looks down for a second then grabs that disk thingy again. I nodded and he places it on the table.

After a few swipes with his hands the pictures of him flying again are shown, he's flying through space between giant pieces of scrap metal with a large broad sword that's different from the one he just had. Some weird shaped metal thingies start shooting at him, he does rolls, flips, and other manoeuvres as he slices his way past them... So awesome.

POV: Karn / Location: Equus - Canterlot Castle - Dining Hall

The cyan one is now engrossed with the recordings. I turn back to see the purple one trying to dismantle my Lex so I take it back from her with a shake of my head, I really should of seen that coming actually. She whines with another pout and I sigh, maybe I can give her an empty auto injector to fiddle with later.

POV: Chrysalis / Location: Equus - Everfree Forest - Changeling Hive

"Damm that monster to Tartarus! I was so close to taking over Equestria!" In my anger I fire a blast of magic at my desk and destroy it.

When I meet that beast again, I'll make sure it'll never see the light of day!

I was about to fire off another magical blast but the door to my chambers opened. "My Queen, we've finished excavating that strange metal thing from the canyon," my drone informs me.

Well at least that's some good news. "Then let's see what we have shall we?" I say and fly out to the dig site.

The canyon is right in front of the old pony sisters castle. We fly down to see a heavily rusted green metal ship like object, it has a hole in the side. I enter with caution, there's a few skeletal remains similar in shape to that monster but the clothing or armour is different. Most of their limbs have also been replaced with metal.

Something catches my attention in the corner, it's some kind of canister with a glowing orange and blue organic mass, I start grinning.

"Now what do we have here?"

Chapter 4: Tour of the City

Warframe: Equestria
Chapter 4: Tour of the City

POV: Karn / Location: Equus - Canterlot Castle - Dining Hall

After they had their lunch, I put my Holo-Disk away and the purple equine takes me to the front of the building. She points to me, then to the others and herself, then points towards the city. I guess they want me to go with them into the city.

I look to the city and then back to the purple one, she has a bright smile on her face as she starts walking.

After a few minutes of the equines chatting with each other, we arrive at a large building that looks like some kind of old archive.

POV: Twilight Sparkle / Location: Equus - Canterlot Library

I decided to show him around the city for a few reasons. One, is to keep him occupied. Two, so he can hopefully spot anymore Changelings and three, to try and teach him our written language. So here we are at the Canterlot Library, because I'm not about to let him loose in the Castle's Archives.

"Why are we here? You do remember he can't read, right?" Dash says.

"I know, but that's why we're here, I'm going to teach him!" I say a bit too excitedly.

"BOOOOORING! I wanna take him to the hoofball stadium!" she replies.

"OH OH OH! I wanna take him to Doughnut Joe's!" Pinkie adds in.

"I'd rather take him to get a nice suit, that... Armour of his is just an eyesore. Besides, other ponies might think of him as some sort of monster... IDDDEEEAAA! I'll just make the suit myself!" Rarity says as she pulls a sketch pad out of her saddlebags and begins drawing while mumbling about the details.

Applejack just stays as far away as she can, I wonder why she's acting like that. Fluttershy is just happy with his dog.

"Well the sooner he can understand us the better!" I say to them.

I teleport a note pad to myself with a quill, I point to him and then to his head, I then point to the note pad and scribble a few words on it then look like I'm reading it.

POV: Karn / Location: Equus - Canterlot Library

I think she either wants to read, show me some books, or wants to see if there's anything I can read in there. Hmmm.

"Ordis, how long will it take to fabricate new parts for the thrusters?" I ask him, this also gets the attention of the equines.

"I believe it may take up to a month just for the Liset alone, Operator. Both ships main thrusters have been totalled and need to be fully replaced to function again. I have scanned the local area and have found small deposits of Ferrite, Gallium and Rubedo. Shall I deploy excavators for retrieval?" Ordis replies.

"Not yet, I'll have to ask the locals for permission first but the moment we get the all clear deploy them, start work with what we have for now," I tell him.

"Yes, Operator," he says.

I look back to the equines to see confused expressions. After a minute of silence I point to the building and nodded, the purple one smiles and heads for the door, the cyan one groans and lands as the others walk in as well.

POV: Rarity / Location: Equus - Canterlot Library

Oh my, this is so exciting! I'll be the first pony ever to make clothing for an entirely new species and an alien at that! So let's see here. From what I saw in those images he showed us, they wear shirts, jackets, small shorts, pants and skin tight suits. I think I can make a nice tuxedo for him.

I sit at the table as I design his suit with the rest of the girls and our guest. Hmmm, well since his armour is black and red, maybe a black suit with a red under-shirt and black tie? I could also place silver cuff links and......

POV: Rainbow Dash / Location: Equus - Canterlot Library

Arg! This is soooo boring. Oh! Maybe I can get him to show me more of those cool battles of his!

I poke him and he looks at me, I then point to his waist at the disk thingy again, he chuckles and sets it on the table and plays a new image, yeah this is more like it!

Pinkie sits next to me to watch as well. The big guy is running through a metal looking hallway with another one like him.

This must be a mare because the body shape has more curves than the big guy. They're both running towards a group of those creepy mutant looking freaks, she has a sword and dagger that look like the dagger he has on him and is using them to deflect the things their getting shot at with.

She jumps and lands her hooves into his hands, he then throws her at the freaks and what happens next makes my jaw drop. Fire covers her and as she lands, it explodes out turning the freaks into charcoal... So awesome, I wish I could do all that! It would be great for my stunts!

POV: Applejack / Location: Equus - Canterlot Library

How can everypony be so calm around this' ere fella? He's dangerous! Sure he saved us from the Changelings, but he also had no hesitation about giving Blueblood a beatin'... Or worse. Who's ta say he won't turn on us next?

Ah watch him trying to read a book but he's having no luck. Dash and Pinkie are getting way too into those battles of his that they're watching.

Ah don't know why ah'm so uneasy around him, maybe its because ah cant see his face so ah cant tell if he's being honest or just playin' with us.

That time he showed us his face he looked friendly, but ah just don't know, ah guess ah'll give him a chance.

POV: Karn / Location: Equus - Canterlot Library

I have no idea what these books say, the purple one gives me several books but each one has different languages.

"Ordis, any chance you can translate these?" I ask him.

"I am sorry, Operator. But without any data to work from, it just looks like symbols to me," he replies.

Well it was worth asking. After looking at all of the different languages I give up, I look at the purple one and shake my head. She sighs and returns the books to their proper places.

I get up and look around, I failed to notice earlier but all of the equines in the room are staring at me with wide eyes, some have even started to watch the Holo-Disk as well.

POV: Rainbow Dash / Location: Equus - Canterlot Library

I don't think my eyes have ever been this wide before, how can anypony withstand what this mare is going through? The big guy seems to have been knocked out since his head is tilted to the left and slightly looking down, but the mare is awake and not strapped to a table, but nailed to it struggling to get off with saws and drills above her.

The saws try to cut through her armour while a drill tries to drill through her forehead. Those freaks are trying to open the armour or kill the mare inside, after ten seconds the big guy wakes up and see's the table. He struggles and sees metal on his hands strapping him to a wall.

With a roar like when he fought those Changelings, he pulls his arms and rips the metal off the wall. The metal is still covering his hands so he uses them as weapons and caves in the freaks heads.

He destroys the drills and saws, but before I could see what happens next the big guy takes the disk back and turns it off.

"HEY! I wanna see what happens next!" I yell and a few others reply with an 'awwww' disappointed.

POV: Karn / Location: Equus - Canterlot Library

The cyan equine whines when I take the Holo-Disk back, she pouts with a frown and crosses her forelegs but I just ignore her.

The pink one grabs my arm and starts to drag me to the exit, the others pack up and follow behind us. Once outside, the pink one starts to bounce in front of me and neighing really fast as she points to a building down the street.

Again we walk while the equines are chatting with each other, Nightshade has never left the yellow one's side once.

"Operator, another one of those insectoids is in the area, target has been marked," Ordis warns me again.

I glance to my right to see a tan coloured equine with deep green hair on top of a roof looking down at me. My visor has it marked with a red diamond but I can't get to it due to it has wings and I don't, I want it alive for the equines to interrogate.

"Ordis, come to my position and get my Archwings ready, I'm going to have to chase it," I tell him while looking like I haven't noticed the insect.

"Yes, Operator."

POV: Twilight Sparkle / Location: Equus - Canterlot Mane Street

Well that was a total bust, I should of known teaching him with nothing to reference from would not work, its easier to learn to talk before reading.

I am brought out of my thoughts as a ship smaller than the one I saw before hovers over head with something attached underneath the tip being held by four mechanical limbs. The biped leaps into the air as the ship lets go of what looks like those wings he showed us in his recordings. It attaches itself to his waist and he pulls out a long metal thing that he holds with both hands from the right wing.

The 'wings' glow with a red energy and he lifts off the ground and gives chase to a tan pegasus who flees with speed that Dash can easily do. The wings pulse with an energy I'm not familiar with as he bursts forward so quickly that even Dash couldn't dream of taking off that fast as he breaks the sound barrier within seconds.

The tan pegasus screams as he's tackled by the biped and they fall from the mountain side.

POV: Karn / Location: Equus - Canterlot Mountain Side

I wrap my legs around its mid section and choke it with my Imperator LMG in my right hand, my left hand grips its chest and I activate the digitising sequence. It screams as its digitised and absorbed into my 'prison' hard-drive.

I quickly pull up and soar above the city, now that I am up here Ordis maps out the city and completes my minimap's layout. White buildings with deep purple roofs dot the mountain side, I spot the six equines and land beside them, the cyan one looks like she has spaced out.

I put my Imperator back into the right wing as Ordis continues to hover over us.

The purple one is looking around for something and whinnies at me.

POV: Twilight Sparkle / Location: Equus - Canterlot Mane Street

Where is the tan pegasus? "Where is he? What did you do with him?" I ask him as I use an illusion spell to make a miniature version of the pegasus.

He just tilts his head slightly and after a few seconds points to his left palm, he then places his left arm above me with his palm facing down, he then points to me with his right hand then to his left palm.

I'm stumped for a bit, but then remember the Changeling corpse he 'absorbed' for lack of a better term. So... did he kill him?

The biped whistles which makes his dog run to his side, he says something to the dog who barks back. The biped then points his palm towards the ground and it starts to glow orange, small orange cubes start to flow out and slowly the pegasus is reformed.

Once that was done, the pegasus screams and pats himself down but is stopped as the biped's dog pins him down with its jaw around its throat.

The biped then starts to examine the pegasus, things like poking it in certain spots seeing what reaction he'll get... Or I guess to find weaknesses.

POV: Rainbow Dash / Location: Equus - Canterlot Mane Street

I can't believe it! He broke the sound barrier in just two seconds! I have to dive from a very high altitude just to do that!

I look at the big guy and his metal wings. I frown just a little, at least I'm still the fastest pegasus in Equestria.

POV: Twilight Sparkle / Location: Equus - Canterlot Mane Street

I look to the biped and create an illusion of a Changeling and pointed to the pegasus to which he nodded. I call out a couple of guards from the crowd that has gathered.

"Take that Changeling to the dungeons," I order them, they restrained it and once the ring is placed onto its invisible horn its guise is dispelled, the guards then take it away.

The biped talks to himself again and the wings detach and float up to the mechanical limbs on the ship which pull it inside.

I nervously look around at the crowd of ponies thinking there might be more in there. I poke him and wave at the crowd, he looks around at them for a few seconds but then looks at me and shakes his head causing me to sigh in relief.

"Can we go to Doughnut Joe's now?" Pinkie asks as if nothing even happened.

"Yes we can go now, I just hope nothing else exciting happens today," I reply.

The biped's ship takes off back towards the castle and we head to Joe's shop leaving behind the bewildered ponies still watching us. Pinkie wouldn't stop talking about all the different doughnuts Joe has and what the biped should try first.

The biped just follows me while watching Pinkie bounce around him. Dash is flying lazily behind us thinking about something, no doubt about how fast he flew.

We arrive at Joe's and enter the shop, the bell above the door jingles and Joe looks up at us.

"Well! If it isn't little miss Sparkle! I haven't seen you in awhile!" he says with a smile.

"Yes it has been awhile. I've been living in Ponyville for some time now, I came here for Cadence's wedding which has to be rescheduled now," I reply with a smile. I used to come here when I got stressed out from a subject that baffled me during my studies.

Joe then notices the biped. "Whoa! Is this the thing that I've heard about who saved Canterlot?" Joe asks.

"Yes he is, but he can't speak Equestrian," I reply.

"Then how do you talk with him? Like passing notes in a classroom?" he asks with a chuckle.

"Nope, we have to use gestures, watch," I point to the biped which gets his attention, I then wave towards the selection of confectioneries. He looks at them then points to a chocolate filled doughnut and a glazed doughnut.

"Well, it's better then nothing I suppose," Joe says as he gets the selected items. Joe then notices the bipeds dog. "I'm sorry but no pets allowed in here," he says pointing to the dog.

"Oh its okay, he's well trained," I try to convince him to let the dog stay.

"Well... Okay, but if he makes a mess then he's gonna have'ta clean it up," Joe says pointing to the biped.

"Fair enough," I reply with a smile.

Once everypony has ordered, we sit at a table and again watch as the Biped places his left hand over his doughnuts and then absorbs them. I've been wondering why he's still in his armour, surely he should feel safe enough to come out himself.

POV: Karn / Location: Equus - Canterlot Doughnut Joe's

I digitise the food to see if it is edible, after a few seconds Ordis informs me it is and that the ingredients are similar to those from earth... How is that possible? This is an uncharted system, the similarities are very uncanny. I'll save these for when I return to my body later.

The equine in the apron returns with a sheet of paper, the purple one pulls out a small pouch with a purple glow around it and a few small disks fly out. I snatch one from the air and examine it while the purple one is watching me.

It has the face of the large white equine on one side and the face of the dark blue equine on the other. I guess this is their currency, it's a lot different from credits, there's also some silver and copper coloured disks floating in the air.

My visor identifies the metals as gold, silver, and copper, I have a small supply of gold and copper on my Orbiter's resource hard-drives to use as the conductive components for Warframe and weapon systems. I hand it back to her and it glows purple again and floats over to the apron wearing equine.

POV: Twilight Sparkle / Location: Equus - Canterlot Doughnut Joe's

That was interesting, does he not know about monetary transactions? Or is his culture where everpony gets an equal share of everything? The Images of his people showed them all sharing resources and such, not a single image of them buying something with coins, but they were trading items and these rectangle looking plates with strange markings on them, could that be their currency?

The rest of the day went by smoothly with no further interruptions, ponies came up to him saying their thanks for saving the city but the more upper crust ponies just stuck their noses up like it was his purpose to keep them safe.

We went to a few places like the theatre but he got bored really quickly so we moved on. We went to the Canterlot park where Fluttershy perked up with all the animals running around. The bipeds dog chased a few squirrels to which Fluttershy told him to stop.

We went to some clothing stores at Rarity's request but that seemed to bore him faster than the theatre did.

Dash took him to the hoofball stadium and showed him a game that was half way through, this got his attention as it looked similar to one of the sports he showed us. Once the match was over we went to a place for dinner where we had a nice lasagne.

But the dog was forced to wait outside which did not sit well with the biped who just took his plate and sat outside with his dog and handed his companion the plate. That got Fluttershy to smile seeing how much he cared for his friend.

Once that was over we head back to the castle where the Princesses were waiting for us.

POV: Karn / Location: Equus - Canterlot Castle

I watch as the purple one and the large white one nuzzle one another with smiles. After a moment of talking the white one turns to me and bows her head slightly, I bow back, confused to why she did in the first place.

The dark blue one is just smiling at us, I see the purple one talking to some small purple and green lizard like creature who's staring at me.

After a few minutes of the two talking the small lizard turns to me and hold out his hand, I lightly grip it and give a light shake. We head inside as the white one leads us back into what I'm guessing is a throne room.

POV: Luna / Location: Equus - Canterlot Castle Throne Room

Tia and I are standing at the base of the thrones with Twilight, her friends and the two creatures as Twilight tells us of the days events.

"It sounds like thou has had an interesting day! That explains why we saw a Changeling being taken down to the dungeons when we finished a meeting earlier," I say.

Twilight gives off a loud yawn and blushes from the chuckles, giggles, and embarrassment. The door to the war room opens up and Shining Armour steps out.

"Twily!" he says trying to hide the frown he just had.

"BBBFF!" Twilight yells in return and hugs her brother.

They greet each other with smiles and talking about their days, excluding the war meeting. Twilight asks how Cadence is doing to which he replies she's doing fine in the medical wing.

Shining trots over to the creature and eyes him up and down. "So this is the creature that chased off Chrysalis?" he asks as he walks around him and pokes a few times at the armour plating.

The creature just watches him, that featureless face of his makes it impossible to see what his mood is.

"He does look like he can handle himself... So how did he exactly chase them off, I don't see any weapons on him besides that dagger, and that other thing doesn't even look sharp," Shining comments on the creature's equipment.

"Oh, he's put his sword away and that thing on his hip can shoot targets from a distance with more force and precision than a crossbow," Twilight replies.

"Really? Can you demonstrate it for me?" Shining asks the creature.

"He... Erm... Doesn't understand Equestrian," Twilight tells him sheepishly.

Oh that's right, we were so focused on the Gryphonia problem that we forgot to mention the creature to the others.

This only makes shining confused. "Then how have you been talking to him?"

"With basic gestures, pointing, and facial expressions," she replies with a nervous smile.

"You mean to tell me we've been letting a dangerous creature who can't talk to us loose in the city?" he asks with a slightly accusing tone.

"He's actually been well behaved! He even caught two Changelings as well!" Twilight says trying to defend the creature.

The creatures companion stands in between him and shining as it starts growling. Shining just narrows his eyes as I spot the creature moving his hand to that strange weapon of his.

Chapter 5: Visiting the Neighbours

Warframe: Equestria
Chapter 5: Visiting the Neighbours

POV: Karn / Location: Equus - Canterlot Castle Throne Room

The white equine with blue hair is starting to get aggressive, I slowly move my right hand to my right thigh to draw my Lex if need be.

The purple one is arguing with him while Nightshade goes on the defensive, I am now holding the grip of my pistol waiting for him to make the next move. Without warning, a blue bubble surrounds me and Nightshade, I notice the white and blue equine's horn is glowing the same colour so I guess he's responsible for trapping us.

I draw my Heat Dagger with my left hand and thrust it at the bubble, the point of contact sparks with blue energy and the dagger starts to burn away at the bubble, but the equine just reinforces the bubble which makes my dagger useless against it now.

I whistle loudly and Nightshade gets behind me as I put my dagger away, I crouch down and dig my hands and feet into the stone floor, I lean back and with a roar I charge forward and slam into the shield. The energy I am emitting and the kinetic force shatters the bubble, I continue and tackle him which launches him a good ten metres away into a wall.

I draw my Lex and point it at him with a scowl on my real face, the large white equine moves in my way with a scowl of her own.

I continue to point my pistol at her but after about fifteen seconds I slowly lower it, a collective sigh echoes throughout the room, but I haven't holstered my weapon. Nightshade steps around me still growling, just waiting for the command to attack.

Surprisingly the white and blue equine groans as he wobbles onto his feet. He shakes his head and starts to glare at me but the large white one is giving him a stern talking to. How he can stand up after a hit like that I'm not sure, but he is lucky to still be breathing.

A tap on my thigh gets my attention and I look down to the purple one who looks apologetic and what I think is a thankful smile. I look back to my attacker who is nodding to the large white one, but he still looks like he wants to fight.

POV: Shining Armour / Location: Equus - Canterlot Castle Throne Room

Sweet Celestia that thing hits hard, my ears are still ringing from the tackle he gave me. If it was not for Celestia's protection spell I would be a smear on the wall right now. Celestia orders me to stand down but I know that thing is a threat to Equestria.

Before anything else is said the creature points that blunt looking object to a nearby pillar and squeezes its finger, a loud bang echoes throughout the room worsening the ringing in my ears as everypony covers their ears, a large crater is carved into the marble pillar with a hole going through it which looks like the marble is slightly melted.

Well I guess I got my demonstration, that thing could probably rip trough our armour without any resistance! If it's a show of force, then he's proved he's not one to be taken lightly.

Twily thumps his leg and lectures him about using that thing in here, Celestia looks like she's just avoided unleashing Tartarus itself.

POV: Celestia / Location: Equus - Canterlot Castle Throne Room

I am glad this did not escalate, I don't even know if I could even take him head on myself. Chrysalis managed to over power me and yet our guest drove her off with little effort.

"Now, Captain Armour. I would ask you not anger him again. For Equestria's sake and yours," I tell him sternly.

My horn glows as I pick up the pieces of the damaged pillar and slowly repair it, a few pieces are missing but they can be replaced later.

I then look to Twilight. "Twilight, can you take our new friend here to guest room number three? Maybe we can convince him to leave his vessel while Luna and I have to start with the repairs to Canterlot and check to see if anypony was taken by the changelings," I ask her.

"Of course, Princess," she replies. She taps on his thigh and waves at him to follow her. "Come on you, let's get you settled in."

The being looks from Twilight to Shining then to me and then back to Twilight, he nodded and left with Twilight and her friends.

"Princess, I still think letting him stay here is a bad idea, we don't know anything about him or what he's fully capable of or even what his motives are," the Captain warns me.

"I understand your concern, but he has proved so far to be friendly and willing to help us," I reply.

"But for how long," he mutters.

POV: Twilight Sparkle / Location: Equus - Canterlot Castle Guest Wing

I should be mad at the biped for hitting my brother, but it was self defence and my brother did provoke him. I look back to the biped and see that blank faced head of his, I wonder what he is thinking after that tussle?

We arrived at the guest wing of the castle and open the door with the number three on it. I point to the biped and then to the room, he looks inside but stops at the door frame, he looks back at me and shakes his head.

No? What does he mean no? He points to himself then waves us to follow. "Where's he goin'?" Applejack asks.

"I don't know, but it seems he doesn't want to sleep here..." I trail off wondering where he might be going.

We head back out to the fields where his ship has landed. I smile in hopes to finally seeing the inside as he opens up a door in the side.

He looks back at us and places his palms together and rests the side of his head on them then points to his ship. I guess he wants to sleep in his own ship, well, I see no harm in that. We don't want him to feel cornered or trapped in the castle.

I point to myself and then to my eyes and then to his ship, he hums in thought but eventually nodded. I squeal and follow him inside as did the others. We look around and see technology never even imagined before, even spike's sci-fi comics pale in comparison!

"Look at all this stuff! I wonder what most of it does?" Dash says and goes over to a mat that's in front of a large window... Wait... Window? I can see outside as at least half of the front is see through. I quickly go back out and look at where the window is, only to see metal.

How is that possible?

POV: Rainbow Dash / Location: Equus - Canterlot Castle Field - Inside the Orbiter

This is soooo awsome! Hey, I wonder what this thing is? I sit down on a mat and suddenly four balls surround me causing me to yelp.

The others giggle at me but I'm too focused on what I am looking at. It's an image of our world with a green dot blinking at where Canterlot is. I can see a blue dot where Ponyville is as well as Cloudsdale.

"Guys, look at this!" I say to them. Twilight comes back in and they crowd around me as we all look at it, Pinkie pokes where Ponyville is and the ball turns and zooms in on it.

Everypony 'oooooos' at it and Pinkie presses it again, the ship's door closes and we start to lift up off the ground. We look at the castle to see the Princesses at a balcony looking over the city, they turn to us with confused and worried expressions when they hear the noise coming from the ship.

Twilight quickly writes a letter and has spike send it, we see the letter appear at Celestia and she reads it, she smiles and waves at us which we wave back.

Then suddenly the ship lurches forward, but surprisingly we felt none of the g-forces. "Wow this thing is moving fast!" I say aloud.

"It sure is! I think we'll reach Ponyville in a matter of minutes! It took us two hours to get to Canterlot by train!" Twilight says excitedly.

I wonder if the big guy will let me see those wings of his... We look back to see him going down a ramp that we didn't notice before.

POV: Twilight Sparkle / Location: Equus - On route to Ponyville - Inside the Orbiter

We walk down the ramp to see another room, Inside is a few areas with different things on them. To the right is a table of some kind that has some sort of robotic arm that is building something. To the left is another table with what look like electronic chips and glowing devices.

To the left next to the chip table is a small round pod like area where the biped's dog goes over to and curls up on. To the right next to the mechanical arm table is the biped's strange floating weapon which just floats there. And in the back middle is what I can only guess is an armoury since it has a few of his weapons hung around it and he has quite a few of them.

I recognise staffs, axes, and swords, but there's a few of those strange looking ones as well. One catches my attention though.

Why would he have a bow if he has those other powerful things? I ignore it for now as I see Dash poking him and points to his waist, then to her wings. He goes over to the armoury and presses a button, the floor opens up as the metal wings are brought up. Dash gasps and hovers around them.

"They look sooo cool! Do you think he'll make me one of them?" she asks me with a hopeful tone.

"I doubt it, it's designed to fit him, not a Pony," I tell her.

"Awwww," she whines and lands next to it while the biped checks the wings over with some sort of tool.

A mechanical voice speaks up making us jump, the biped looks up at the ship and replies to it. He points to the front of the ship, so we walk back up the ramp and into the main compartment.

We see Ponyville outside with a few Ponies looking at the ship fearfully. "Oh dear," I say.

POV: Karn / Location: Equus - Ponyville

I look outside to see a few equines looking at my Orbiter with fear in their eyes. The Orbiter lands in the centre of town next to a tall cylindrical building with flags on the roof.

A belch followed by a flash behind me grabs my attention as I see a scroll fall to the floor where the purple one floats it up and reads it. She looks from the scroll, to me, then back to the scroll and smiles. I open the door and let them out first.

POV: Mayor Mare / Location: Equus - Ponyville

"What is that thing?" Colgate asks as everypony starts to gather around it with caution or fear.

I speak up to hopefully calm them down. "Everypony calm down! I'm sure whatever it is, it won't harm anypony... I hope."

Some sort of door then opens up on the side, I let out a sigh of relief seeing Twilight and the others walk off talking to each other excitedly, but it's short lived as a tall dark looking creature follows out behind them.

"AAAAAAHHH! IT'S A FACELESS MONSTER! RUN!" Roseluck screams out.

"THE HORROR! THE HORROR!" Daisy then yells as everypony starts running around.

Twilight's reaction to this was just to face-hoof.

POV: Karn / Location: Equus - Ponyville

Well this is kind of amusing. The equines are running around screaming their heads off, some are even running into each other or buildings.

The cyan and pink ones are giggling at the townsfolk while the purple one seems to be trying to calm them down... but isn't getting very far with it. I decide to wait in my Orbiter until it's safe to come back out, I close the door behind me and head over to the foundry.

I had a new weapon being fabricated. A pair of retractable Venka claws that are now completed.

They we're severely damaged during a mission and I never got around to repairing them till now.

"Ordis, I'll be in my chamber if you need me, let me know if the equines try to get my attention," I tell him and put the claws into my armoury.

"Of course, Operator."

I step into my chamber and stand in front of my body, I could do with some meditation. I sit cross legged and hover in place as I place the back of my Warframes hands on its knees, I then relax and let my mind wander to my Mindscape. A few seconds later, the familiar feeling of being pulled out of my own body happens and I'm in my Mindscape that resembles the void.

I reflect on what has happened, I'm stranded on an uncharted planet with a new sentient and sapient race who so far are willing to give me a chance here.

Greavus escaped and is now a threat to all Tenno.

I have no way to contact Lotus or reach orbit until the thrusters are back online and I have a signal booster fabricated.

I sigh and look up into the artificial void above me, I got a lot of work to do.

After some time Ordis speaks up. "Operator, the purple coloured equine is trying to get your attention," he tells me.

"Thank you, Ordis," I reply and return to my Warframe.

Once back, I lower my frame to the floor, disconnect from it and open my eyes, maybe letting them see my real body will calm them down as I don't look as intimidating as my Rhino Warframe. I can still defend myself if need be with my void power.

POV: Twilight Sparkle / Location: Equus - Ponyville

I've managed to calm the town down and knock on the ship's door, I can hear noises inside before the door opens up.

I gasp as the biped is looking down at me in the same form he showed us in Canterlot, I smile and wave at him to follow me, we then walk over to Mayor Mare. "Mayor, this is the one who drove off the Changelings from Canterlot," I tell her.

"W-Well, it's a p-pleasure to meet y-you," she stutters but looks confused.

"Its okay Mayor, he's friendly but he doesn't speak Equestrian," I tell her.

She then looks at me. "T-Then how have you been c-communicating with him?" she asks.

I point to the biped and then wave towards myself, he walks up to my side and looks down to the Mayor. She smiles sheepishly as he kneels down to eye level and smiles at her.

Everypony moves in slowly to get a better look at the previously 'faceless monster'. I hear a gasp and turn to see Lyra with wide eyes. "I KNEW THEY WERE REAL!" she yells out.

"What were real?" I ask her.

"Whatever he is! I told you about the skeletons like him I found when I got lost in the Everfree. I found that weird metal thingy with pictures and remains of creatures like him!" Lyra then frowns. "Actually, that thing looks kinda like the metal one I found!" she says pointing to the ship.

Oh now I remember, she got lost trying to get to Zecora's hut and when she finally came back she was ranting about some big metal monster with bones inside it or something, but we just thought she was seeing things.

"Do you remember where it is?" I ask, now much more interested.

She sighs and shakes her head. "It was eight months ago, I don't remember."

Oh well, that's disappointing, maybe the biped can find it with his technology.

Lyra trots forward and looks at the biped all over. "Well, now that I'm looking at him, he looks a bit different then the ones I saw... The others were much more bulkier and had greenish blue metal all over them, even some of their limbs were made of metal."

"Oh no," I say as the other girls also look terrified, she just described those disfigured aliens the biped showed us. "Lyra, did you see any of them still alive?" I ask her seriously.

She shakes her head. "No they were all just bones and metal, but I didn't stick around to find out."

POV: Chrysalis / Location: Equus - Everfree Forest Hive.

I recovered some interesting things from that metal wreck, some looked like the strange weapon that monster had on it, but this jar of orange and blue liquid is the most intriguing, I can faintly hear voices coming from it but I cant understand any of the words its saying. Still, I feel drawn to it nonetheless.

I use my magic to slowly twist the lid off, but the moment it's off the mass leaps out and starts to cover my face and forces its way down my throat. My drones try to get it off but they too fall victim to it.

I then hear a voice in my head speaking in Equestrian this time.

"Embrace us, for we are your flesh."

Chapter 6: Uninvited Guest

Warframe: Equestria
Chapter 6: Uninvited Guest

POV: Karn / Location: Equus - Ponyville

I sit down and look around at all the equines staring at me. The pink one is bouncing up and down while chatting a mile a minute. The purple and mint green ones are talking with each other while the towns folk are looking at me. Three tiny equines that reach up to my thigh run over to me and stare wide eyed.

I listen to them neigh and whinny at each other before looking back to me. I raise my right brow when they shout something out, crouch down and without warning they pounce on me, making the others gasp.

The action surprises me, I raise my hands and my void powers kick in, I grasp the three young equines with a thin layer of dark purple energy and levitate them in front of me.

They yelp and struggle a bit before going limp with pouts on their faces.

The orange one gives the kids a stern talking to while the others look like they were about to panic, probably due to the use of my void power. I smile down at the three of them as I put them down onto their feet.

POV: Applebloom / Location: Equus - Ponyville

'It can use magic?' I think to myself as we float back down to the ground

"What were ya'll thinkin'?" my sister asks us.

"Well, we thought we could get our cutie-marks in monster catching!" Scootaloo replies.

"Yeah! That thing does look a bit like a monster," Sweetie Belle says.

"He ain't no monster, although he's as strong as one. He saved us in Canterlot, so we're trying to help him settle in," my sis tells us.

The others missed it but I could tell my sis don't exactly trust him. My eyes widen when I feel something rustle my mane, I look up to see him scratching behind my ears. That feels really nice actually.

I lean into his hoof or claw and smile. The tall thing's other hoof / claw starts to scratch Sweetie's ears and she smiles as well. Scoots looks like she wants a go but her pride wont let her admit it.

POV: Karn / Location: Equus - Ponyville

So these equines like getting their ears scratched like a kubrow does? I reach out to give the small orange one a friendly scratch but she swipes my hand away with a frown. I just chuckle and leave her be.

I stand back up and I turn to the purple one and try to figure out how to go about asking if I can build a my own Dojo anywhere around here. If I'm stranded here, I'd rather have a base of operations to work from.

I tap her on the shoulder and get my holo-disk out, she looks at it as I show a picture of a planet side Dojo. The other kind is a space station style Dojo, but seeing as I can't reach orbit or have that many resources, a planet side one will have to do for now until I can contact Lotus and the Tenno.

I show her the image and swing my right hand down like I am holding a hammer, she looks confused as her horn glows showing an image of equines building a house, I nodded to her and pointed to my image then to around me, trying to ask where I could build it.

POV: Twilight Sparkle / Location: Equus - Ponyville

He waves his arm around us, gesturing to the area I think. Does he want to build that in Ponyville or is he asking where he can build it?

I create a map of Equestria with dots showing populated areas, he hums for a second before pointing to a large empty field between Ponyville and Cloudsdale. "Hmmmm, I guess that would be okay," I mumble to myself.

I hold up a hoof to tell him to wait for a minute. I conjure a scroll and quill as I write to the Princesses.

Dear Princesses.

We have arrived at Ponyville with the biped and have introduced him to the ponies here. So far it's going great, only a few started to scream and panic.

The biped wishes to build some sort of home or building in the large empty fields between Ponyville and Cloudsdale. I'm writing to you asking if he is allowed to do so.

I imprint a picture of the building I saw onto the scroll.

Here is an image of the building he wishes to construct. We await your decision.

P.S. We have witnessed him perform what I believe is some kind of magic as he levitated three fillies with a dark purple energy. The fillies are fine but his magic felt... Cold and empty to me.

Your faithful student,

Twilight Sparkle.

I get Spike to send the letter and we wait, the biped just tilts his head at that. I talk to Lyra again to see if she can remember where the other ship was but she can't remember. The Cutie-Mark Crusaders just sit in front of the biped looking at him, I smile seeing the fillies excitedly asking questions he can't answer while he just smiles watching them.

After five minutes a scroll from the Princesses appears and I open it.

Dear Twilight.

I see no problem if he wishes to build his own home. As long as it doesn't pose a threat to Equestria, he has our permission to build it. I ask you keep an eye on its construction and his Magic to learn whatever you can from them, we also ask that you report anything you might see as dangerous.

If he requires materials, he has permission to mine them from the abandoned mines in the Everfree Forest. I am sure that whatever is in there wouldn't pose a threat after what we have seen of him.

I also know you are fluent in almost every modern language used today, so I ask you to try and learn his language if you can.

We look forward to your findings and seeing this home of his when it is done.

Their royal highnesses

Princess Celestia and Princess Luna.

I smile widely. I've been looking for a new project to do and now I have a few it seems.

POV: Karn / Location: Equus - Ponyville

The purple one looks up from the scroll to me and nodded her head, I smile at her and she then creates an image of equines who swing with what seem to be old fashioned pickaxes, she then points to the dark looking forest just beyond the town.

Seems they've also given me permission to mine resources in that forest.

"Ordis, send out four titan extractors to mine any resources we can use in that forest," I order him.

"Yes, Operator," he replies.

The equines watch as the four extractors come out of the top of my Orbiter and fly over to the forest.

The purple one looks like she wants to follow them but stays put, she then looks to me and her horn glows, a book appears and floats in front of her. She points to me and mimics writing. She then points back to me then to herself and pretends to read the book.

Now I can only guess she either wants to teach me to read again or she wants to try and learn my language. I hum in thought.

"Ordis, can you fabricate a data pad with the Orokin language on it?" I ask him.

"Of course, Operator. Would you like me to do it now?" he replies.

"Yes, how long will it take."

"Ten minutes at most."

"Then get started," I tell him. I turn back to the purple one and wave at her to follow me.

She squeals again as we enter my Orbiter, we head over to the foundry and see the data pad slowly being put together.

POV: Twilight Sparkle / Location: Equus - Ponyville - Inside the Orbiter

I'm watching as that arm is putting something together. After a few minutes, I can see what looks to be a metal frame similar to a photo frame, now the arm is putting chips and wires into it.

The biped is just playing with his dog in the corner as I continue to watch this marvel of technology. Dash and Pinkie come in as well who also play with his dog.

After I guess that about ten minutes have passed, the arm stops and goes back to something else. The biped walks over and sits beside me with the new device in his hands.

He presses a button on the side of the frame and the glass on it lights up, my eyes widen as small icons are displayed on the glass. He taps one of them and the image changes to strange looking symbols, from what I've learnt of other languages, this one looks like its set up like an alphabet.

Just what is this thing? It might be what they consider books! Oh my gosh! Am I the first Pony to ever read an extraterrestrial book!?

POV: Karn / Location: Equus - Ponyville - Inside the Orbiter

The purple one looks like she's about to explode, Nightshade has the cyan one pinned to the floor and is licking her face as she struggles to get him off her.

Suddenly the light starts to dim outside, I look out the cockpit and see the sun suddenly lowering at an increased pace. I tilt my head to the right as I try to figure out what the hell is going on, my thoughts are interrupted as I yawn, noticing I haven't slept in nearly two days.

I shoo the equines out of my ship and make a sleeping gesture with my hands, they nodded, except for the purple one who is currently drooling over the data pad I gave her. On there is a program that teaches the Orokin language, just tap on a letter or word and the pad speaks it out for you. Hopefully she can figure it out and we can finally communicate.

I close the door to my Orbiter and head over to my chamber. Nightshade curls up in his incubator as I sit on my seat and place my Rhino Warframe into it's pod and lower it into the chambers below me. After that I press a button that rotates my pod into a horizontal position. I lie down in it and the pod closes. I close my eyes and drift of into a meditative sleep.

I open my eyes as I'm met by the familiar starry void with strands of energy stretching across the plain.

I cross my legs and place the back of my wrists onto my knees. I clear my mind and focus on my void energy into my Warframes to top up their energy and make sure they're all fully functional.

After two hours of meditating, something taps me on the shoulder and on reflex I quickly swing around and grab the intruder by the throat and lift it into the air with my power. It's the dark blue equine, her eyes bulge out as she starts to gasp and wheeze. I loosen my grip but not fully, you do not enter a Tenno's mind without consequences.

For the first time since I've seen her, she looks afraid. She lightly taps my hand, so I slowly put her down where she backs away and rubs her throat.

I glare at her with a neutral expression and she shies away slightly but looks around. Her eyes widen as she looks into the Void around us.

POV: Luna / Location: Equus - Karn's Mind

By my stars, he has a stronger magical grip than I do! I could do nothing to break his magic's grip from me... I'm coughing hard, trying to clear my throat. I look at him with some hesitation, how can he be having a lucid dream? Apart from a few very gifted unicorns, it is I that bestows lucidity to a dreamer. Yet he has done it easily on his own.

But what is this place he is dreaming of? It kind of looks like my night, except... Darker, foreboding, like some evil of old is lurking here.

I look back to him and see him pointing to his left, I look to see a round metal door which splits down the middle as each side slides open with a mechanical hiss, he points to me and then back to the door.

It seems he wants me out of his dream. I walk over to the door and as I reach it I look over my wither at him, he still looks expressionless but his eyes say he's angry. Without a second thought I leave through the door.

I awake with a start, never have I been hurt in a dream before. I reach up to my throat and feel the bruise that has started to form.

How is this possible?

Chapter 7: To be a Tenno

Warframe: Equestria
Chapter 7: To be a Tenno

POV: Celestia / Location: Equus - Canterlot Castle

I yawn as I slowly open my eyes, I groan as usual as I have to get up from the comfort of my bed to raise the sun. Once presentable, I head out to the balcony between our rooms where Luna and I perform our duties.

I greet the guards and maids as I walk down the hall and to the balcony. I see Luna already there with a very thoughtful look on her face.

"Lulu? Is something the matter?" I ask her.

"Hmmmm? Oh! Hello, sister. We were just thinking," she replies.

I walk up beside her with a raised brow. "About what?... Lulu, what happened to your throat?" I ask her with concern, seeing the dark purple bruise under her coat.

She sighs and looks down. "We were watching the dream realm as we always have done, but we spotted a strange and unusual dream. Turns out it was our new guest, but when we entered to observe he was just sitting there, almost as if he was asleep while asleep," she tells me.

Luna then takes a deep breath. "We approached him and tapped his shoulder, but the moment we touched him he turned and gripped us by our throat with that strange magic Twilight told us about," she looks at the sky and then looks at me with fear in her eyes. "We have never been so... afraid since before our Nightmare Moon incident."

"Maybe he thought you were an enemy and probably won't remember it when he awakens," I tell her to calm her down.

"That is the thing, sister... He was lucid," she replies.

That... That's not possible! The last pony besides Luna and I that could do that was Starswirl and a few others who barely managed to achieve it. "Are you sure Lulu?" I ask her.

"Yes and he forced us to leave. When we awoke, the bruise from his grip was on our throat," she replies.

Again that was impossible, you can't be harmed physically in a dream, this is the first time ever in our long lifetimes this has happened. If this is one of the beings abilities, I shudder to think what else he... Or others of his kind are fully capable of.

POV: Karn / Location: Equus - Ponyville - Inside the Orbiter

My Somatic Link's pod opens and I wake up from my meditative sleep, that dark blue equine really ruined my mood, so I stopped meditating and did some combat practice until my pod awoke me. I stand up and stretch, all of my Warframes are at full energy.

Ordis gets a few nutrient pills ready which I swallow with some water. They have no taste, but after a few hundred years you get used to them, I also feed Nightshade his morning meal as well.

I bring up my Volt Warframe for it's abilities to increase my speed, its electric shield and two electrical attacks. The first fires a bolt of electricity that can chain to nearby enemies while the other discharges a large electrical pulse destroying anything electronic around me. I'll use this Warframe's speed to explore the forest today.

Once the pod containing my Warframe is up, I sit back down and activate the transference.

The pod opens and I step out and move my Warframe about, it's in perfect condition so I head back to the armoury section of my ship.

I check the foundry to see how the thrusters are coming along, so far they're only three percent completed. It also seems the titan extractors have made a few trips with Ferrite, Rubedo, Gallium, and even to my surprise some Argon Crystals.

"Operator, I must inform you that last night one of the extractors was destroyed by some hostile creature, shall I start fabricating another?" he tells me and then asks.

"Hmmmm, yes make another one and send it out," I reply. "I'll have to go and see if I can recover what's left of the destroyed one, is the beacon still working on it?" I ask.

"Yes, Operator."

"Alright then, patch it through to my minimap and I'll go and retrieve it or destroy it. I can't leave something like that laying around on a low tech planet like this," I tell him.

"Then what about the data pad you gave to the purple equine?" he asks.

"That's just a data pad, not like they can use it to make weapons from it. If they managed to reverse engineer an extractor then they could make flying war-machines from it," I reply.

I walk over to the armoury and equip my Dual Skana

And my Sobek, a twenty shot automatic twin barrelled shotgun.

I also equip my Akmagnus as well, two magnum class pistols with eight shots each, the long barrels have a recoil reducer in them to make the kick almost non-existent.

I then activate my Dethcube Sentinel and set it to standby until I reach the forest.

"Nightshade, stay here and make sure no one other than me enters... Don't kill them, just scare them off, got it?" I tell him.

He barks and sits in the cockpit. "Good boy, I'll see if I can bring back any game for you."

I exit the Orbiter and activate my speed ability and run extremely fast through the streets to the forest, heading towards the beacon of the downed extractor. The equines move out of my way as I rush down the dirt and cobble streets. I pass by the pink haired yellow equine at the edge of town who 'eeps' and hides behind a bush.

I draw my Sobek and run through the forest.

POV: Fluttershy / Location: Equus - Ponyville Outskirts

"Hello, Mrs. Mouse. I've brought that medicine you needed," I say hoofing over a small pouch of powered herbs to a family of sick field mice. I then hear the sounds of static in the air but there isn't a dark cloud in the sky, I turn towards the town and see that a different tall black and red scary creature is running straight towards me!

"EEEP!" I squeak out and dive into a small bush, it stampedes right past me and enters the forest! Oh my, I better tell Twilight!

I fly to Twilight's tree and knock on the door. "Twilight! Are you there?" I ask.

The door opens with Twilight standing there with that strange thing the creature gave her and Rainbow Dash is sitting on the couch with the latest Daring Do book. "Oh, hello, Fluttershy. What brings you here today? I thought our tea time isn't for a few more days," she asks me.

"Oh... I know that, but another one like that scary creature just ran into the Everfree Forest with different weapons," I tell her.

Twilight looks down in thought. "Hmmm, maybe he has more than one suit of armour like on those images he showed us, he could just be exploring and took his weapons to protect himself? Celestia knows he'll need them for what is in there," she replies.

Dash hears us and flies over to the door. "What's going on?" she asks.

"It seems our new friend has decided to check out the Everfree forest with a new suit of armour we haven't seen yet," Twilight tells her.

"On his own?" Dash asks again with a raised brow.

"Oh no, he had that strange floating thing with him as well," I tell her.

Dash frowns. "I er... Just remembered I have to clear the clouds south side of town before noon. I'll erm, be back later for the book, Twi," she says and flies past me before we could reply.

POV: Rainbow Dash / Location: Equus - Everfree Forest

I know the big guy is strong but no one should go into that evil forest on their own! What if he ran into an ursa major? I follow some tracks that look like the same shape as his hooves. I carefully trot through the forest following his hoof steps, being as quiet as possible. I then hear five loud bangs and start flying towards the noise.

I arrive to see the big guy facing off against five manticores. One of them is laying on the floor motionless, but there's something wrong with the manticores. They have these nasty looking orange and blue sores and bubbly growths on them.

The big guy's floating thing starts firing into one of the others making it roar out in anger, I land on a tree branch and watch with awe and worry.

POV: Karn / Location: Equus - Everfree Forest

This cant be happening, why is the technocyte virus here? This is a major problem, how much of it has spread and what has it Infected? I just hope these equines don't have the genome that will make them become infected as well.

I fire three more shots from my Sobek into the face of another one of the beasts and blow its head off. I turn to the third and cast my shock ability at its chest which locks its muscles up, it then drops to the ground motionless. The forth pounces at me, which I retaliate by dropping my Sobek and drawing my Dual Skana. I swing quickly and carve it into several chunks.

I hear a shout and a scream as I turn around and see the cyan equine getting stabbed by the fifth one's stinger as she used herself to shield me, my eyes widen as I knew that she was either poisoned or worse, infected. I use another speed ability then charge at the beast and impale it through its skull with both swords.

I turn back to see her writhing on the floor, gasping for air as the virus slowly starts to take her over. There's only one way to save her, and I don't even know if it will work.

"Ordis! Get to my location NOW!" I order him with urgency.

"Yes, Operator," he replies.

After a minute, Ordis arrives and lands in the small clearing while also crushing a few trees. I quickly bring her inside, I can't risk taking her into town where she could infect the others. Nightshade senses my mood and moves to sit in his incubator area.

I place her down onto the floor and get one of the syringes of the altered technocyte virus I have left. I have twenty vials and without hesitation, I inject her in the neck with one while holding her down. Ever since a cure was found for Alad V, the Tenno have managed to make a serum that can cure it and make the one cured a sub-Tenno with a small amount of void energy. Their life span is increased by one-hundred times and they can control a Warframe, but they lack the power of the void like I do and I do not age any more.

Her eyes open wide and her pupils shrink, small strands of orange start to appear in her magenta eyes and her wound also closes as well. After a minute of thrashing and screaming she calms down and closes her eyes. I wait for five minutes as her breathing stabilises.

"Operator, the serum has successfully adapted to her DNA, the technocyte virus has been neutralised," Ordis informs me.

I look at her sleeping form, what I've just done has both saved and cursed her. She's now stronger and faster than before but she now has a very long lifespan, she'll stay young while her friends and family will fade to time.

I head back outside and digitise one of the corpses and burn the rest. I then walk back into my Orbiter. "Take us back to the town, Ordis," I tell him.

"Yes, Operator."

During the flight, I deposit the corpse into Ordis' hard-drives for analysis and then check over the cyan equine as Ordis disinfects the Orbiter. She's stable and now a Tenno. The serum's nanties also imprinted the Orokin language in her, so at least I can finally talk to her.

The question is, do I train her as a Tenno? Would she even want to be one?

We land back in the centre of town were a few of the equines watch us touch down. The purple one is out there along with the yellow one, I sigh at the thought of trying to tell them what happened, I could always just show the recording of it.

I open the door and lean out. I wave at the two to come in, they look at each other and walk inside. I lead them to the armoury section where their friend is still sleeping.

They gasp and the purple one looks furious as she shouts at me, I hold my hands out and wave them up and down trying to tell her to calm down. She still looks angry but has stopped shouting.

I get my Holo-Disk out and replay the encounter for them, the yellow one looks like she's about to cry seeing the state of the beasts.

POV: Twilight Sparkle / Location: Equus - Ponyville - Inside the Orbiter

This is horrible, the biped is running very fast through the Everfree, just looking around. When suddenly five very sick looking Manticores attack him, which he responds with five blasts from his strange two tubed weapon. The first Manticore has its front left leg blown off as well as half of its skull.

The fight continues as three more are killed. "LOOK OUT!" Dash's voice yells out and is followed by a scream. The biped turns to see Dash with the fifth Manticore's stinger impaled into her side, the biped then impales the Manticore in the head with two long thin swords.

Me and Fluttershy start to tear up as we watch Dash squirming on the floor screaming in pain. The biped speaks out with urgency and his ship arrives, he brings Dash inside and he gets a syringe from the back of his room. I watch as the needle jabs her neck and her eyes change colour as she thrashes and screams even louder as her body grows slightly along with more defined muscles until she calms down.

The images stop and I look at Dash, she looks so peaceful right now.

The biped points at us and then to the floor, I think he wants us to stay here. He then goes further back into his ship and returns after a few minutes in his real body.

POV: Rainbow Dash / Location: Equus - Ponyville - Inside the Orbiter

"Arrgh," I groan as I slowly open my eyes. I try to lift my forelegs up to rub my eyes, but I just don't have the energy to raise them. I try to look around but my head doesn't want to move either. I glance to my left and spot Twilight and Fluttershy looking at me with worry.

"Hey guys, what's going on?" I ask with a scratchy voice to which Twi and Shy look shocked.

"Do you remember what happened to you?" a stallion's voice asks me.

"Errrr..." I reply, but my eyes shoot wide open as the big guy walks into my view. "YOU CAN TALK!?" I shout at him.

"I've always been able to talk, just not your language," he tells me.

"B-But you're speaking Equestrian right now!" I say to him.

"No, I'm not. I am speaking in the Orokin tongue, just like you are right now," he says as he sits down, but he's floating a couple inches off the floor.

"That's impossible! I don't know any other language than Equestrian! You're lying!" I say slightly panicking. "And why can't I move!" I ask and then turn to Twilight. "Twilight! Help me!"

She's just staring at me with her mouth open, Shy is hiding behind Twi with wide eyes looking at me.

I look back to the big guy. "What did you do to me!" I ask him angrily.

"I saved your life, do you remember what happened?" he asks.

I frown. "I remember following your trail into the forest and then... I heard five loud bangs, then... Erm..." My pupils shrink as it all came back to me. "You were fighting five manticores that looked sick, you killed four of them and the last one was about to stab you in the back, and without thinking I flew in the way..." Was I poisoned? But that doesn't explain how I can speak his language.

Then I remembered the pain. "I remember agonising pain, and... It's all just fuzzy from there." I look at him with a scared expression. "What happened to me?"

He sighs. "You were infected by the technocyte virus," he tells me. "It would be easier to show you then tell you."

He helps me up and I wobble on my hooves. I feel different, everything looks clearer, I feel stronger and lighter.

"Are you alright?" Twilight asks me.

"Yeah I'm fine... I think," I reply. She just looks confused like she didn't understand me.

The big guy places that disk thing on the floor and he swipes his hand over a button that says 'Files'... Wait I can read it now?

A new Image I haven't watched before plays.

POV: Karn / Location: Equus - Ponyville - Inside the Orbiter

"These are Corpus and Grineer who have been infected by the technocyte virus, or just a walking mass of mutated flesh that we call ancients," I tell her.

The purple one is watching the recording while giving the odd glance to the cyan one.

"It's a collective mind, it will assimilate your body or technology into its own. It was originally made by the Orokin to fight an enemy called the Sentients, who little is known about. So in all, It's an Orokin made plague that got loose," I finish as the recording stops.

She looks at me with wide eyes. "And I was infected with that!?" she asks with disbelief.

"Yes, you were, but I injected an altered version of the virus into you. It neutralised the one inside you and now, you're just like me... a Tenno."

Again her eyes go wide. "I don't know if I should be happy or angry about that..." she mutters to herself after a few seconds.

"Well, I think introductions are in order, I can't keep referring to you as 'the cyan one' now can I?" I say to her.

"Oh! Erm, my name's Rainbow Dash," she replies with an outstretched foreleg.

I grip it with my right hand and give it a small shake. "And my name is Karn, and my Kurbow's name is Nightshade."

"Will I be able to speak Equestrian still?" she asks me with a slightly worried expression.

"Yes, it will just take a few minutes for you to get used to having another language in your head," I tell her.

"Oh thank Celestia for that!" she says and breaths out a sigh of relief.

"So who are these two?" I ask, noticing Nightshade now sitting next to the yellow one.

"The egghead there is Twilight Sparkle," she says pointing to the purple one. "and she's Fluttershy," she then says pointing to the yellow one.

"Huh, strange names you equines have," I say.

"Equines? Dude, we're ponies," she tells me with a frown.

"Sorry, I did not mean to offend. It's just the closest thing I had at the time," I say to calm her down.

She looks down in thought. "So what happens now?" she asks.

"Now? Now you have to make a choice. You're a Tenno now, that makes you an equivalent of one of your equin... pony guards," I reply, correcting myself. "You also have the ability to control a Warframe now," I tell her.

"A what?" she asks confused.

"A Warframe, it is the armour I use as a Tenno," I reply.

"What if I don't want to be a Tenno," she says.

"I wont force you to be one, I only made you one to save you. If you died, or worse became an Infected, you might have infected the rest of the town. The other 'ponies' would blame me, but all I ask is you think about it, you have the power now to protect others like I do," I tell her. "Would you like me to explain what a Tenno is and what they do?" I ask her.

She frowns in thought. "Fine, but if I don't like what I hear I can just leave right?"

"Yes."

"Alright then."

POV: Rainbow Dash / Location: Equus - Ponyville - Inside the Orbiter

I turn to Twilight and Fluttershy. "Hey guys, can you, erm, wait outside for a few minutes?" I ask them.

They just look at each other with worry filled eyes, arg! I never thought trying to talk to somepony would be so hard! Is this what Karn had to go through since he got here?

I point to them and then point to the door, I then point to myself, then to Karn and then to the ship's floor.

"Erm, you want us to leave the ship while you two stay here?" Twilight asks and I nodded in reply.

"What's going on? Why can you speak his language now!?" she asks with excitement and concern. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"I'm... fine... Twilight... I'll... tell... you... later," I manage to say in Equestrian this time. I can feel it coming back to me in pieces.

"But you were stabbed by a manticore and your eyes have changed colour like his!" she says pointing to Karn.

I look shocked and I look for a mirror or something to see my eyes with, Twilight magic's in a hoof mirror and I have a look. My eyes are still the same, just with small strands of orange in them. It actually looks kinda cool.

"And why do we need to leave?" Fluttershy finally asks.

"He... says... I need... to... learn... what a... Tenno is," I reply. Dude this is embarrassing!

"A what?" Twilight asks.

"Tenno... it's what... Karn is," I reply. Hey! I'm starting to talk normally again! "Just... Listen, Twi... I'll explain everything later, but I have to hear what he says to understand what's happening to me."

"Karn? Is that his name?"

"Yeah, Oh! Fluttershy, his friend is named Nightshade," I tell her while pointing at Karn's pet. "Said he was something called a, erm... Oh yeah! A Kubrow."

"A Kubrow? Well at least I know your name now," she says smiling to Nightshade.

"Fine, but if you're not out within an hour, I'm dragging you out. Got it?" Twi tells me.

"Yeah sure," I reply and Twilight and Fluttershy hesitantly leave the ship. "So spill it, what's a Tenno and what happened to me?" I ask him. It feels soooo freaky speaking two languages.

"A Tenno is a guardian, a protector of their people. We stand up to those that would do harm to those we protect and take down anyone who threatens them and us. You've been infused with the modified virus, thus the orange tint in your eyes and a small amount of void energy which has extended your life by a hundred times," he tells me.

I'll live how long!? I shake my head and focus for now. "Okay, so what did you mean I can control a Warframe... I don't think I can fit inside your armour," I tell him with a deadpan expression.

He looks confused for a second before chuckling. "Oh no, a Warframe is a techno-organic humanoid battle frame, I connect to it through a Somatic Link," he tells me and stands up. "Follow me, I'll show you."

I follow him into the back of his ship and we enter a large room with a chair in the back.

"This is my Transference Room, it's where I connect to my Warframes remotely," he says and sits in the big chair at the back that has these glowing pipes connected to the back of it.

"Okay, so what? You can control the armour with your mind?" I ask him as a hissing of steam to my left sounds out. I look to see something raise out of the ground with the armour he first arrived in inside.

"Sort of, I can transfer my consciousness into the Warframe and control it like is was my own body. I need to do this otherwise the void energy within me will build up and I could die or worse, explode taking out everything nearby with me, by using the frames I transfer that energy into them meaning I don't overload," he says and closes his eyes.

The door to the armour opens and it steps out. "It's with these Warframes that we fight and protect," the armour tells me and I look back at Karn sitting down looking like he's asleep and then back to the armour.

"So I can now do that?" I ask him.

"Possibly, I would let you try but I need to know your answer before I'll allow that. If you do become a Tenno, it's for life. There's also the danger of the virus that infected you still out there, where some of it shows up a Hive is not far behind. I need to find and destroy it quickly or it could spread... Having other Tenno to help will make it easier to do," he tells me.

I frown and look down, So I could use these Warframes? And now that virus could infect everypony?.. But that would mean my friends are in danger and so is everypony in Ponyville!

"So if I'm a Tenno, I can protect my friends?" I ask him.

"Not just them, but all the innocent people here," he replies.

I sigh and look at his head... I would look him in the eyes if I could see them. "Alright, I'll be a Tenno if it means I can keep my friends safe and get rid of that nasty virus," I tell him.

"Alright then, but there are some ground rules. Rule one, we follow Lotus's orders to the letter, she's lead the Tenno for centuries and I trust her with my life. Rule two, we are not to attack another race, nation, or planet unless provoked, we do not strike first unless its to stop a tragedy from happening. And rule three, betray the Tenno and your life is forfeit," he says with a grim tone. I gulp and nodded quickly.

Chapter 8: Construction Begins

Warframe: Equestria
Chapter 8: Construction Begins

POV: Karn / Location: Equus - Ponyville - Inside the Orbiter

"Okay, now we have to decide what kind of Warframe fits you, while you can use any frame there are some that fit your personality or style more. I prefer my Rhino or Valkyr frames, sometimes the Atlas as well due to their physical attributes. I take it from your fascination with my Archwings that you like flying?" I ask her.

"Hay yeah! I love flying! I'm the fastest pegasus in Equestria!" she says with pride.

"Oh really? Well then, Ordis! Take us to the open field where we'll build the Dojo," I order him.

"Who are you talki..." she says but gets interrupted.

"Yes, Operator," Ordis replies as we take off.

"GAH! Who said that!?" she yells out in surprise and looks around for the source.

"I did, Miss Dash," Ordis replies to her.

"Where are you?" she demands.

"Rainbow, Ordis is the Orbiter," I tell her.

"What's a Orbiter?" she asks.

"It's the ship we're currently on," I reply.

"You mean the ship is alive?" she says looking around.

"Yes I am, It is a pleasure to meet you," Ordis tells her.

"Erm, yeah, same here, hehe," she says with a sheepish smile.

The Orbiter shakes a little as we land at our destination. "Okay, now you'll show me how fast you can fly. I have a feeling I know what kind of frame will suit you already," I tell her.

She grins. "Sweet!"

The door opens and we step out, Nightshade decides he wants to stay inside and nap the day away. "Show me what you got," I tell her.

I don't think her smile could get any wider.

POV: Celestia / Location: Equus - Canterlot Castle

"That plot of land is under my family's name and you have the gall to build a stone wall over it!" the tan earth pony farmer yells at a dark blue unicorn.

"But have you forgotten that your family owes us for that loan we gave you a year ago, which by the way, you haven't paid back a single bit yet!" the unicorn retorts.

I have been listening to these two bicker at each other for the last ten minutes now, sometimes I wonder why I even get up in the morning anymore.

My thoughts are interrupted by a letter appearing in front of me. I smile as I take it with a levitation spell and read it, my smile fades at what is written.

Dear Princess Celestia.

I'm writing to inform you that the biped who's name we discovered is Karn, has done something to Rainbow Dash.

He showed us a recording of a fight he had with five sick looking manticores, Dash got injured by one of them when she got hit by its stinger, then Karn brought her into his ship and injected her with something. She's now considered just like him, one of these Tenno.

She can also now speak to Karn in his own language! Please come to Ponyville as soon as you're able, I don't know what to do.

Your faithful student.

Twilight Sparkle.

I frown as I re-read the letter, I then look to the two squabbling ponies. "I'm afraid something important has just come to my attention, we can discuss this tomorrow at the same time," I tell them as kindly as possible.

They glare at each other but nodded.

"Thank you," I say and head towards Luna's chambers.

I arrive at her large crescent moon adorned doors and knock on the doors and await a reply.

"Come in!" I hear Luna shout.

I open the door and step inside. "Lulu, it's me," I call out to her.

"Tia!? We art in the restroom!" she replies.

I stand by her bathroom door. "There's been an incident at Ponyville involving our guest," I tell her.

"And what would this incident be?" she asks.

"Come out and read it for yourself," I reply.

I hear her put something down onto a cabinet, she then opens the door with her magic and pokes her head out.

"Well let's see it then," she says.

I give her the letter and she reads it, she frowns and looks back to me. "What are we going to do about it, Tia?" she asks.

"We're going to go and see what has happened, we can ask Rainbow Dash to translate for us if what Twilight has written is true," I reply.

"Then let us be on our way then!" she says.

Our horns glow and we teleport to Ponyville.

POV: Karn / Location: Equus - Equestria Plains

Rainbow Dash spreads her wings and jumps into the air with a strong flap.

"WHOA!" she yells as she's catapulted into the air.

Huh, that's pretty impressive, she took off almost as fast as my Archwings. She flies right through the clouds and as soon as she passes them she broke the sound barrier and a shockwave of rainbow colours spreads out, not bad.

She flies down towards the ground with a rainbow trial following behind her, five seconds later she lands besides me, panting with adrenaline.

"That. Was. Bucking. AWESOME! I'm so much faster now!" she yells in excitement.

"Good for you, I'm now positive about what frame you'd be good with," I say.

"And what's that?" she asks.

"The Zephyr. A female based frame that's fast and agile, designed to move through the air as if she had wings. She can control air currents to increase her speed, use them to deflect projectiles, dive bomb targets without injuring herself, launch a blade of air to slice targets in two which can either explode, sending enemies flying away, or implode to pull them to the point of impact, and she can create three tornadoes," I tell her.

Her eyes widen with glee. "YES! I want that one!" she all but shouts it out, making me chuckle.

"Okay then, let's go back into the Orbiter, we need to see if you ponies can do a transference," I tell her.

"Cool, so how do I do it?" she asks as we walk back inside.

We arrive back in my chamber and I put my Rhino Warframe back in its pod, I lower it down and raise the Zephyr.

I then open my eyes and stand up off my pod's chair.

"I need you to sit there and close your eyes, then you will feel a pulling sensation to the raised Warframe and your consciousness will be placed inside it," I tell her

"Oooookay," she says and sits down on it like a human. "This feels weird, I don't see how Lyra can keep sitting like this all the time," she says trying to get comfortable.

She closes her eyes and her head slightly dips down, after a minute or two the Zephyr Warframe twitches and the pod opens up.

"Woah!" she yelps and the Warframe falls face first onto the floor.

"Hey, that didn't hurt at all..." she says and gets on her hands and knees. "Okay I take back what I said about the sitting thing, this feels weird!" she tries to stand up like I do but falls on her ass.

I chuckle and use my void powers to lift her up into a standing position and keep hold of her waist so she doesn't fall down again.

"I want you to get used to standing upright, it may take awhile but it shouldn't take long. Try lifting your left leg up and stepping forward," I tell her.

"Alright," she replies and slowly lifts her left leg up. "Oh Celestia this feels so... so... freaky! I can't feel my hock or gaskin and my fetlocks feel strange..." she says and puts her leg down.

"Yes, the new body structure will take awhile to get used to, try moving your fingers now," I tell her.

She lifts up her right hand and looks at the fingers, they slowly twitch and after a few minutes she has them flexing. "Wow, this is kinda cool once you get used to it," she says and goes back to walking again.

"What's with all these things I can see? Weapons... health... shields... a map?" she asks.

"I'll explain that later, it's just the Warframes HUD," I reply.

I smile as I watch her practice, at least the transference worked. After a few more minutes of walking she has the hang of it now and I've let go of her, she still wobbles now and then but it's good so far. "Alright then, step back into the pod and to disconnect, you just have to think about returning to your body," I inform her.

"Sure," she replies and walks back to the pod and stands inside it, the pod closes and the head droops a bit as the pod lowers back down.

Rainbow's eyes open and she blinks a few times. "Holy cow! That was awesome! When can I do that again?" she asks.

I chuckle at her enthusiasm. "Later on today, I need to begin construction of the Dojo now and I'll need my Vauban Warframe to help me build it," I tell her and she gets up.

I sit down and raise the Vauban Frame and connect to it. It has built in tools that will aid in the construction.

I step out of the pod and look at her. "I suggest getting something to eat and then come back in a few hours, I'll have the Dojo started by then. I'll also have to consider making other ponies into Tenno to help fight back the technocyte virus before it spreads too far," I tell her.

"Okay sure, see ya in a few big guy!" she says and we both exit the Orbiter, she then flies off towards the town.

Once she's gone I clap my hands together. "Now to begin construction of the Dojo, Ordis recall the Extractors and equip them with welding tools," I order him.

"Yes, Operator."

POV: Rainbow Dash / Location: Equus - Ponyville

I can't believe I'm a Tenno now, this is actually very exciting! I can't wait to see what the others think! I wonder if I'll also get a set of those... what did he call them? Ache... Arsh... Oh yeah! Archwings! I hope he'll get me a pair as well.

I spot the market below me and land in front of Applejack's cart. "Hey AJ! Got any red delicious left?" I ask her.

She lifts her head out from under her cart. "Ah sure as sugar do, RD. How many... WHAT IN TARNATION!? Rainbow, what in Celestia's name happened to ya!?" she asks looking at me.

"Huh?" I glance down at my chest and forelegs and notice they're just slightly more muscular, even my wings are slightly longer. 'Wow, how didn't I notice that before?' I look back at AJ with a sheepish grin. "I kinda got, infected by some nasty virus from a Manitcore and Karn saved me by injecting me with something and, well... yeah," I tell her.

"Wha? Who in the hay is this Karn fella?" she asks.

"It's the alien's name, he told me since I can also kinda... speak his language as well now," I reply sheepishly.

She just stands there looking like she was just told her orchard was burned down. I then wave my hoof in front of her face. "AJ, you alright?"

POV: Applejack / Location: Equus - Ponyville

I can't believe it, she looks like she could buck apple trees just as good as me and Mac! What in Equestria did that thing do to her? Force feed her steroids?

I even think she grew an inch or two...

POV: Rainbow Dash / Location: Equus - Ponyville

She shakes her head. "Yeah, ah'm fine, but what about you? Are ya feeling okay?" she asks concerned.

"To be honest, I've never felt better!" I say honestly. Sure the pain I went through was unbearable, but the strength and speed I have right now feels awesome! Even the dull ache from that time I broke my wing once is gone!

"Well, If yer sure," she says.

"There she is! I found Dash!" Huh? did I just hear somepony say my name? I look around and spot Twilight with the Princesses heading towards me from the other side of the market. Whoa, how did I mange to hear them from all the way over there?

They run over to me as Twilight starts to breathe heavily from the run.

"There you are, Rainbow Dash! *huff* We were looking for *huff* you and Karn *cough*," Twilight says in between breaths.

The Princesses are staring at me wide eyed. "Rainbow Dash, are you alright?" Princess Celestia asks.

"I'm fine, Princess. Why were you looking for me?" I reply.

They don't answer me, instead they circle me as their horns glow, I shuffle in place starting to feel uneasy.

"It can't be, she's has a new kind of magic inside her... it is faint but it is there," Luna says.

Princess Celestia also looks shocked. "But how? Rainbow Dash, what did Karn do to you?" she asks not angrily but intrigued. Well, Karn didn't say I couldn't tell anypony...

"He, erm, he changed me to be like him, a Tenno. I got infected by a virus and he cured me," I say.

"What is a Tenno?" Luna asks.

I tell them what Karn told me.

"I see, so these Tenno are the protectors of Karn's race then," Celestia says.

"And you decided to join them?" Luna asks.

"Yeah, from what Karn told me, there's a plague like virus called the technocyte spreading in the Everfree Forest. He only changed me to stop it taking over me. Karn said he may need more ponies to become Tenno to even have a chance to fight it," I reply.

"So what are you going to do now?" Celestia asks again.

"Well, Karn told me to get a big lunch because he's going to train me to use a, erm... what was it again? Oh yeah! A Warframe! Which will start in a few hours while he's building his house or wait... horseapples, I can't remember what he called it," I say with a bit too much enthusiasm.

"Warframe?" Luna asks with interest.

"Yeah, you know... his armour!" I say.

"We wonder if he'll let some of our guard become Tenno?" Luna says to herself, barely a whisper. "This way we'll be prepared for war if Gryphonia decides to attack us."

"Luna! Shhhhh, that's supposed to be under wraps!" Celestia whispers back with a stern look.

"War with Gryphonia!?" I shout out shocked.

"What war?" Twilight and Applejack ask with confusion.

The Princesses both look at me with shocked eyes. "How did you hear that? We were barely even whispering!" Luna says with worry.

"Erm, I have good hearing?" I reply with a sheepish smile.

Celestia frowns. "I'll explain later, but please keep that to yourselves. We don't need to cause a panic," she says with a tired sigh. Fortunately the market is practically empty at the moment.

"Okay, Princess. Would you like to join me for lunch? I take it you want to see Karn as well?" I ask them.

"That we do, Rainbow Dash," Luna replies.

"Lunch sounds very good right about now," Celestia replies.

We say our goodbyes to AJ and head over to Sugarcube Corner.

POV: Karn / Location: Equus - Equestria Plains

The Extractors have returned and have begun building the Dojo's entrance, I've also equipped my Soma before they arrived. The floor is about halfway done, I also have quite a few resources in my Warframe's hard-drives and with a welding torch to help with its construction.

I think it was about three hours before Rainbow returned, and she wasn't alone.

"About time you got back," I say as I finish welding one of the panels into the floor.

"Yeah, sorry about that. I kinda ran into the Princesses on the way. They erm, have some questions for ya," she replies.

"Oh? What kind of questions?" I ask looking at the two tall ponies, they look stunned at Rainbow Dash speaking my language with ease.

She looks back to them and speaks in her language, then back to me. "Well, Princess Celestia wants to know what you injected me with,"

"It was an altered version of the virus you were infected with. It augmented your DNA to adapt to it but also boosted your physical abilities as well. Now it'll take a large dose of the virus to even infect you again, so getting small amounts on you wont effect you. It was also infused with a small amount of void energy which is what allows you to connect with a Warframe," I tell her, to which she relays to them.

They speak for a few more seconds before she turns back to me. "Ok, Luna wants to know if you'd turn some of her guards into Tenno as well."

"Why?" I ask her.

"To attack Gryphonia should they decide to attack us," she replies.

I frown at the dark blue pony. "Then tell her no, a Tenno is not a tool or weapon to be used for revenge or to push others around whenever she feels like it," I say sternly which makes the dark blue pony flinch at my tone. "If I'm to make more Tenno, then I will decide who becomes one. Another reason I turned you was not only to save you, but you proved yourself by using yourself as a shield for another without regard for your own safety," I say which makes her grin.

I'm guessing the tall white one is Celestia while the dark blue one is Luna from the questions they asked. Rainbow tells them what I've just said I think, if the forlorn expression Luna is showing is any indicator.

Celestia speaks to Rainbow Dash again. "Erm, Celestia wants to know how you plan to fight this virus," she asks.

"Mainly with fire augmented weapons. The technocyte is weak against fire, by both blade and bullet, but with a squad of Tenno we should be able to destroy it as long as it doesn't spread too far. It takes awhile for it to expand but once it does its a pain to remove, so I believe we have at least three months before it'll reach here," I tell her.

She tells the Princesses but gets interrupted by a scream coming from the forest's edge. "Hey, that's Zecora!" Rainbow says pointing towards the forest.

I look to see a striped pony running towards us with what looks like twenty kubrows made of wood chasing her, they're also covered with the Virus.

"EVERYONE GET BACK NOW!" I shout back at the others, Dash tells them that and they back away. I then draw my Soma and take aim.

I throw four Tesla nervos rollers down which quickly roll off towards the wooden infected beasts which start electrocuting them, slowing them down. I then fire five shots each at ten of the creatures, the thermal tips splintering and igniting the wood they are made of making them scream out with a disturbing shriek.

Seven get really close as the striped pony runs past and I throw down a Vortex Device which creates a magnetic and gravitational field, pulling the infected creatures towards it and crushing them by the gravitational force on them.

Once those seven and the others are crushed together, the vortex dies down, letting the remains drop to the ground. I collect the Tesla rollers and the other devices and re-store them in my warframe's hard-drive.

POV: Luna / Location: Equus - Equestria Plains

Well, I now finally know what that other weapon of his does, for something so strange looking its very lethal, and those devices! What kind of magic were they using!? It is as Twilight said, its energy feels cold and empty.

POV: Karn / Location: Equus - Equestria Plains

I quickly pile up the corpses and burn them. I then turn to the group and walk over to the striped pony, I scan her body and fortunately she's not infected.

Giving off a sigh of relief I turn to Rainbow. "Can you ask her what she was doing in there?"

"Erm, she lives in there. She just told us she was gathering ingredients when those Timberwolves attacked her," she replies.

"Then tell her she can't go back in there, also we need to get you trained ASAP. I think we have less time then I thought. If you know anyone else who would make good Tenno then tell me, because we're running out of time," I tell her. 'I'm going to have to quickly build more transference pods as I can't exactly share mine...' I think to myself as I calculate how long that will take and what I'll need.

"Well, I think my friends would be good choices since we're the Elements of Harmony," she says.

"The Elements of Harmony? What are they?" I ask.

"Erm, Twilight or the Princesses can explain it better. OH! Do you remember the things Celestia showed you when we first met?" she asks.

I nodded. "Yes, what about it?"

"Remember the images of the Princesses fighting against that cruel mismatched creature?"

"Yes," I reply.

"Did you see those six floating crystals around the Princesses?"

"Yes, I take it those are the Elements of Harmony?" I ask her.

"Uh-huh, I represent the Element of Loyalty," she says with pride. "The others are Kindness, Laughter, Honesty, Generosity, and Magic."

Well that certainly is strange, virtues made manifested, but if it's true, then they would be good candidates. Question is can they and will they be able to fight, and to kill if need be.

"We'll ask them if they want to, but also tell them of the consequences of being a Tenno," I tell her. "for now we need to get started on your training."

I presume Rainbow Dash is telling the others what is going on as they nodded to her. "The Princesses would like to see how I'm going to use your armour," Rainbow says.

"No, we Tenno keep how our frames are operated and function a secret so others can't find weak spots or replicate it themselves. If they ask you how it is done, you are not to tell them. Understood?" I tell her, to which she nodded and told the others what I just said.

The others look hurt that I don't trust them enough to watch the linking process, but after what Luna wanted the Warframes for, I can't risk it.

I lead Rainbow back inside the Orbiter and close the door. "Alright then, let's head back to the transference room and get you back into the Zephyr," I tell her.

After a few minutes, I'm back in my body and Rainbow is in the Zephyr again. I've disabled her abilities for now, she only needs to train her movement and balance today.

"Alright then, let's head outside and we'll begin," I tell her and use my void powers to hover a couple of inches off the floor and head back up to the front.

"Hey! How did you do that?" she asks as she clumsily follows me.

I turn back to her while still heading towards the front. "It is my void power. When I was just a child, I was lost in a place called the void with others my age on a ship named the Zariman. The other children and I were bathed in the energy and when we were found days later, our parents and the other adults died from the void energy. The energy started to go out of control when we left the void, so the Orokin developed the Warframes which regulate our energy and allow us to utilise our power," I reply.

"Whoa... So you got super powers from that stuff?" she asks and falls on her face again. "Buck!" she yells out in frustration.

I smile and lift her up again. "In a sense, but these powers will kill me if I don't pay attention," I reply. I stop at the armoury and get my Bo Staff out.

We walk back out and survey the area; no signs of other infected, good. The others gasp when they see me and the Zephyr Warframe next to me.

They start asking questions it seems as Rainbow talks back to them which silences them quickly for a few seconds before they start chatting again. I sigh and roll my eyes and look up at Rainbow.

"So for now, I just want you to move around and get used to two legs and fingers. I'll be overseeing the construction of the Dojo for now and get your own transference chamber made," I tell her.

"Okay, so basicly walk around, easy enough," she replies.

I hold the Bo Staff out to her. "Use this to practice gripping things with your hands," I tell her and she takes it with both hands.

"Cool, so should I swing this around?" she asks and looks the staff over.

"If you want to, just make sure no one is around you if you do. Ordis will keep an eye on you while I'm overseeing the Dojo," I explain and she walks off to a clearing near the Orbiter and giggles as she swings the staff around... only to fall on her face again.

With a chuckle, I head over to the construction site where the floor is completed and watch as the Extractors slowly start building the door ways.

POV: Rainbow Dash / Location: Equus - Equestria Plains

After Karn left, I get back up and continue to swing this metal stick about, having fingers is soooo freaky yet much better than hooves any day!.. I can kinda see why Lyra wishes she had them, oh man is she gonna be jealous, though the lack of my wings is unnerving. The others are watching me from a distance after I told them to sit back.

My thoughts then drift to Karn, he's been so nice to me, he even saved my life. So why do I feel like my stomach wants to leap out of my throat whenever he's near me?

I then shake my head to clear it. "Ordis, how long have you known Karn?" I ask him. I hope I'm not just talking to myself like an idiot.

"I have known the Operator for seven-hundred and fifty-one years," he replies inside my head, creepy.

Wha? He's that old? but he looks no older than a colt... I don't know why but I can feel my cheeks heat up. "Does he have a fillyfriend?" I ask.

"I am sorry, Miss Dash, but what is a fillyfriend?" he asks back.

"Errrr, it's somepony a stallion has feelings for and who returns those feelings," I tell him, my cheeks feeling hotter.

"You mean like a lover or mate?" he asks.

"Yeah," I quietly reply.

"Then no, he does not have a fillyfriend... why do you want to know?" he asks.

"N-No reason, I w-was just wondering," I stutter my reply and then accidentally bash myself in the head with the metal stick. Thank Luna that I don't feel any pain in this armour.

The next few hours are silent apart form the occasional question from Twilight, like what it's like as a biped. Karn then returns and checks up on me. "How're you doing?" he asks.

"Okay I guess, I don't feel like I'm going to fall on my face anymore," I reply.

"Good, I'll need to fabricate you a Transference Suit, it'll help focus your new void energy into the Warframe where you can access their abilities and make the link stronger. Though you don't have enough to use the powers I possess unless you bathed in void energy like I did, which could kill you," he says.

"Yeah, as cool as those powers sound, I like living more," I reply and look down at my new body. I don't feel tired or sore at all, it's like I can do this for days...

"Well then, that'll be all for now, I need to get my Vauban back out to get the Dojo up and running as soon as possible," he tells me.

"Alright, so what shall I do in the meantime?" I ask him.

We head back inside where I get back into my body, I shake my head from the odd feeling of being pulled out and back in.

Karn gets his armour back out and we head back outside. "Come back after seven and I'll see how well you handle a pair of Archwings," he tells me.

I gasp and do a loop in the air. "Hay yeah! See ya then!" I reply and fly over to Twilight. The Princesses have already left back for Canterlot an hour ago once they were satisfied I was fine.

"So what's happening now?" Twilight asks.

"I'm going to have dinner and rest a bit before he'll teach me how to use those Archwings!" I reply with excitement.

Twilight frowns and looks at me. "What made you decide to be a Tenno and do all this?" she asks me.

I look at her few a few seconds before answering. "To make sure my friends and home stay safe," I reply.

That makes her smile as she looks to the floor. "But what if you get hurt? I mean I have so many question on how you were moving that armour," she says.

I smile at her. "You know I can't tell you, Karn said only Tenno are allowed to know... I can tell you that I can't get hurt using it though," I reply with a smirk. "Twilight, after this is done, I need to talk to you and the others," I tell her as my smirk fades.

"About what?" she asks.

"Karn says with the rate that the virus is spreading it'll be here soon, he wants to make more ponies into Tenno to fight back, but only those he can trust. I suggested that the Elements of Harmony would be a good choice," I tell her.

"You want us to be Tenno as well!?" she asks with shock.

"You don't have to, but I thought we would make a great team after everything we've already been though," I reply.

She looks conflicted. "I... I'll have to think about it... I mean, I'm not a warrior or a soldier! And poor Fluttershy couldn't even hurt a fly!" she says.

"I know, but maybe he has other Warframes that can do other things? The one I used can apparently control air currents," I tell her.

"You'll be able to control air currents!?" Now she looks interested.

"Yeah once he tells me how, he might have others that can do something else. I remember seeing one from his recordings that can control fire," I tell her.

She frowns and looks towards Karn's ship. "I really want to know more about this, but I'm not sure about being one of them. I'll think about it in the morning, it's pretty late now. I'd better get going, Spike's probably wondering where I am," Twi says.

"Okay, it'll all be fine, Twilight. You'll see," I tell her.

"I hope so," she says and then smirks at me. "Try not to have too much fun," she teases me and walks off back to Ponyville.

I head back home after waving goodbye to Karn and get myself something to eat.

Four hours pass of just lazing about my home before I return to Karn. "So, you ready to learn how to really fly?" he asks me.

I glare at him but I couldn't keep the smirk off my face.

"Let's do this," I reply.

We once again switch over and he explains the functions of the HUD.

In the top left of my vision is what looks like a map showing the inside of the ship. To the top right is a couple of bars, one red meaning the condition of the Warframe and the other blue meaning how much shielding I have left. To the Bottom right is equipment details and abilities which say empty or locked and to the bottom left is what looks like text in Orokin saying 'Systems check complete, Warframe Zephyr online'.

We're standing outside with what he called Odonata wings attached to my lower back.

"Now, Rainbow, remember these aren't like your wings, you don't need to flap them to fly nor do you need any air currents to glide on," he tells me.

"Then how do they work?" I ask.

"When folded up they'll turn off, you can then lock them in place with a thought. When outstretched they'll turn on, you just need to think of the direction you want to go and the anti-grav engines in the wings will respond to it," he tells me. "So, shall we give them a test run?" he says.

"Buck yeah!" I say excited. I never thought I'd be learning how to fly again.

He chuckles and looks at me while hovering in the air at eye level. "Spread your wings and you'll see a levelling reticle show up on your visor," he tells me.

I do as he says and see these lines appear in front of me. I think about hovering above the grass and the Archwings react. I'm lifted up quickly and stop about a metre off the ground, a gentle humming sound coming from my new metal wings. Two of the lines start to drift apart with numbers telling me how far off the ground I am.

"Whoa! This is awesome!" I say and think about going higher.

POV: Karn / Location: Equus - Above the Equestrian Plains Inside the Orbiter

For the next ten or so minutes, Rainbow slowly rises into the air and moves from side to side, forward and back, up, down and turning in place as she gets the hang of it, even doing a few cartwheels. I hover up beside her with a smile once she stops moving.

"Not bad, I crashed the first time I tried using these," I tell her.

"How do I go faster?" she asks excitedly.

"Just think like you want to sprint, but in the air. Archwings are like an extension of yourself, a part of you," I reply. "but first let's go higher up."

I get into the Orbiter and we go higher and hover above the clouds. "Okay, now do what I just told you and you'll be flying faster than you've ever done before," I say through the comms as I watch her from the cockpit.

And within less then a second, she blasts forward breaking the sound barrier instantly with two red energy trails following behind her wings.

All I hear is her yelling off into the distance. "YYYEEEEAAAAHHHHH!"

Chapter 9: Decisions

POV: Karn / Location: Equus - Equestria Plains - Above the clouds

Rainbow returns after she flew towards the pony Capital and back.

"So, what do you think?" I ask her.

"This is sooo bucking AWESOME!" she replies. "I've never been able to fly that fast before!"

"Did you even notice that you're not even tired?" I ask her.

She just hovers there for a few seconds. "HOLY HORSEAPPLES! You're right! I feel like I could fly to the moon and back without breaking a sweat!" she says with glee.

I chuckle from her enthusiasm. "Now then, go get something to eat. Then you're getting some sleep. Tomorrow we're going to begin your training, starting with how the Warframe and Archwings function, how to harness their energy and then practice your new abilities," I tell her.

She lifts her arms into the air. "OH YEAH!" she shouts.

"Let's go back down and get you out of the Warframe," I tell her and we land back on the ground.

After a quick swap, I'm back in my Vauban Warframe and we're standing outside the Orbiter.

"Oh before you go, I need to tell you about lucid meditation," I tell her.

"What?" she asks confused.

POV: Rainbow Dash / Location: Equus - Equestria Plains - Inside the Orbiter

"Lucid meditation, it'll let you practice within your own mind. Tenno can let their bodies rest or sleep while they're awake inside their own minds, either in their real bodies or as one of their Warframes. This is called lucid meditation, but be careful, that dark blue pony... Luna correct?" he asks and I nodded in reply. "She managed to infiltrate my mind last night. So if she does it to you, tell her to leave. If she doesn't then you force her out," he warns me.

"Why?" I ask.

"A Tenno's mind is their sanctuary, a place you can hone your skills on your own in a calm and tranquil state. I was interrupted during my meditation by her, which by the way really ruined my mood, so I did some combat training, which meant I was armed just in case she came back."

"So... how would I force her out?" I ask him.

"It's your mind, so whatever you imagine will happen. You have complete control over your surroundings as well as any objects within. The terrain usually reflects your personality though. If she does show up, just Imagine a door or exit to your mind and kick her out. That's what I did," he says with a slight chuckle.

"But won't she get mad at me if I did that? I mean, she is a Princess after all," I say conflicted.

"That she may be, but you are now a powerful Tenno and our minds are not for others to intrude. Not even Lotus goes into another Tenno's mind without permission... but, if she does show up try to find out what she wants before you kick her out. I got a feeling she wants something," he replies.

"Alright, so how do I do this lucid mediwhatsit?" I ask.

"Just go to sleep and you'll wake up inside your own mind, it's one of the effects from the Tenno serum. From there, you are free to do whatever you want," he replies.

"Oh, sweet. I'll just go back to my house then and see ya in the morning!" I say as I stand up.

"Sure, just make sure you're here at sunrise," he tells me standing up as well.

"Argh, at sunrise? Seriously?" I groan out, he just crosses his arms. "Fine! I'll be here."

"Make sure that you are, or I'll make your training even harder," he warns me.

"Alright alright, I'll be here!" I tell him and make my way back home.

POV: Chrysalis / Location: Equus - Everfree Forest - Infested Hive

Pain, all I can feel is pain as my misshapen'd body moves against my will.

'All will be of one flesh,' a voice in my head says.

'Release me you disgusting creature!' I demand.

'You are a part of us, we are one,' it replies.

'I do not care! Now get out of me!' I yell at it.

'Stop resisting, be one with us,' it tells me.

I managed to get a barrier spell over my mind before it took over my body. Is this my punishment for trying to take over Equestria?

I've lost track of how long I've been in this state. I can feel my magic slowly coming back to me. I just hope I can gather enough to teach this parasite a lesson it won't soon forget!

It's not the only one here who can change their form.

POV: Rainbow Dash / Location: Equus - Ponyville

I land on my house's porch and I walk up the few stairs and open the door. I yawn as I step inside, today has been an adventure and a half.

I trot up the stairs to my bedroom and flop down onto my bed, within seconds I fall asleep.

I open my eyes to an amazing sight. A bright blue sky is above my head and clouds beneath my hooves that go as far as my eyes can see.

I also notice that I'm in that Zephyr Warframe and Archwings, though they're coloured sky blue with rainbow patterns on them. I flex my new fingers and look around for a few seconds. 'Now what?' I think to myself.

Being awake while being asleep is bucking weird. Hmmm, I imagine an obstacle course with hoops, sharp turns, walls and moving objects all made from solid cloud, and to my surprise they appear in the sky.

I grin as I crouch down, then unlock and spread my Archwings. I burst forward and blow a hole in the cloud I was just standing on.

POV: Luna / Location: Equus - Rainbow Dash's Mind

What's this? A pony is having a lucid dream? I enter the dream where I'm met with the most beautiful clear blue sky I've ever seen.

I then hear a humming sound above me, I look up to see the the armour Rainbow Dash was using earlier with metal wings but coloured differently. They're flying through hoops and walls and then dodging moving objects with great speed and control. Not even my sister and I can fly like that.

POV: Rainbow Dash / Location: Equus - Rainbow Dash's Mind

I pass through the first hoop with ease and continue through the hoops doing barrel rolls and loop de loops, I go through the last loop and then weave in and out between the walls.

I've never been able to turn this easily before! I can perform ninety degree turns effortlessly now at break neck speeds! I pass the last wall and enter the moving objects section. Large balls, cubes and pole shaped clouds move and rotate as I fly past them almost getting hit a few times. I come out the other side after a few close calls but I land victoriously!

"That was AWESOME! Kinda wanna do it again!" I say to myself. I hear somepony clopping their hooves behind me, I turn around to see Princess Luna sitting there looking at me.

"Huzzah! That was most impressive!" she says.

"Princess?" I ask confused. Wait what did Karn tell me to do if she showed up? Erm. Oh right, kick her out, but first I have to know why she's here. "What are you doing here, Princess?" I ask her.

"Is that you, Rainbow Dash?" she replies.

"Yeah, now what are you doing here?" I ask again.

"This is certainly strange. You are the first pony to have a perfect lucid dream in nearly two decades," she replies looking around.

Karn's right, she wants something. "Really? Huh, well you still haven't answered my question," I tell her.

She looks back to me and sighs. "We wish to know if you'll help us with a secret mission, Rainbow Dash," she says.

"What mission?" I ask hesitantly.

"We shall tell you after you agree to help us," she replies sternly.

I frown behind my helmet. "Then no, I wont help you. If that's all you've got to say then leave," I tell her and I imagine a door to her left which opens up.

She also frowns as she looks at the door and then looks back to me. "You are a citizen of Equestria and your Princess has called for your aid. Equestria is on the brink of war and you wish to stand by the sidelines while it gets invaded?" she asks, I think she's trying to intimidate me.

Am I a citizen of Equestria anymore though? Sure it's my home, but now that I'm a Tenno, my responsibility is to protect its ponies, not to the Princesses.

I walk up to her and get right in her face, which is not hard to do in this new body. "I'm a Tenno now. I will protect Equestria should it come under attack, but I will follow Karn's rules and not attack unless provoked!" I yell at her, spreading my wings wide and making them hum loudly.

She leans her head back in surprise. "But you could end a war before it even begins!" she argues.

"Or I could end up starting one! Whatever it is you want me to do, forget it!.. I think you should leave," I say pointing towards the door. Karn was right, this does ruin your mood, I even notice storm clouds gathering over head.

She then scowls at me. "You dare speak to us in such a manner! Tenno or not, we art still thy Princess!" she says as her horn starts to glow.

I don't know why, but my instincts are screaming at me. I imagine those two swords Karn used against those manticores and they appear in my hands, I then hold them at her throat like a pair of scissors, the whole process only took a second or two. "Not if you'd try to force me to do something that could endanger Equestria or my friends!" I say coldly.

Her eyes widen and her horn stops glowing. "Leave... Now," I tell her. I swear I can see her sweating.

She backs up and quickly walks through the door without a word.

I blink as my thoughts go blank... What did I just do?

POV: Luna / Location: Equus - Canterlot Castle

I awoke in a cold sweat. Again I felt that fear from when Karn gripped my throat. I breathe heavily as I try to calm down. I need to tell Tia about this.

I get out of bed and run down the hall to Tia's room and knock loudly. The guards by the door look very confused.

"Alright! Alright! I'm up, I'm up," Tia says behind the doors. The doors open up to a tired looking Tia. "Lulu? what's the matter?" she asks and then yawns.

"Can we come inside? Tis urgent," I ask quietly.

"Errm, of course," she steps aside to let me in. I walk in and sit on one of her cushions. "Luna what's wrong? You're shaking like a leaf," she asks with worry.

I didn't notice but she's right, I'm shaking badly. "We talked to Rainbow Dash just now," I tell her.

"About what?" she asks.

"I tried to see if she could... remove the Gryphon King before a war could break out," I tell her.

If she wasn't awake before, she is now. "You. Did. What?" she asks sternly.

I think I am in trouble.

POV: Rainbow Dash / Location: Equus - Sweet Apple Acres

I yawn as I wake up, I feel very grumpy after Luna's visit to my dream... I need something with a lot of sugar in it...

I get up and take a quick shower, I look outside and notice that the sun isn't even up yet, and yet I feel more rested than I usually do getting up this early.

I pour myself a bowl of cereal and quickly munch it down. Once finished, I drop the bowl in the sink and head out to Karn's ship.

The ship comes into view and I land beside it. I see Karn outside not in a Warframe while he's watching the flying metal thingies as they build the building.

I walk up beside him and he doesn't even turn to me.

"Good morning, Rainbow. I'm glad to see you arrived early, let's get you into the Zephyr and Archwings so we can begin," he tells me and turns towards his ship.

We enter where I see his table with the metal arm building something as we pass by. I sit in his chair and after a few seconds, I'm back in the Warframe.

We step outside and the Archwings are then attached to me.

"Hold your hands out," he tells me.

"Oooookay," I slowly reply and do as he said.

He then attaches two metal plates onto the back of my hands.

"These are called Venkas, they're retractable claws that operate with a thought, so just imagine three blades coming out of each of them," he tells me.

I do so and six blades spring out with an awesome 'shwing' sound. "Oh wow! That's so cool," I say and hold them up so I can see them closer.

"Just imagine them retracting and they will, I'm giving these to you so you're not defenceless and can protect yourself for now. Now I want you to start flying around the town to continue to get used to the Archwings for a few hours before we begin the Warframe and Archwing's functions," he tells me.

I can feel myself smile and I salute at him. "Okay!" I reply which gets him to chuckle.

After that I retract the claws, take off, and fly over towards Sweet Apple Acres.

POV: Applejack / Location: Equus - Sweet Apple Acres

I wake up nice an early for today's harvest as the apples are ripe and ready for bucking. I get out of bed and pop a few stiff joints. i think I might need a new bed.

I trot down stairs and start on breakfast. Big Mac joins me a few minutes later and helps with making breakfast. Applebloom and Granny Smith then come down just as breakfast is ready.

We all eat our fill and go about our chores. Applebloom goes to school, Granny starts on her famous apple pies for supper, Big Mac heads out to plow the fields for planting corn while I head out to the northern orchard. I'm pulling a cart with empty baskets when a loud humming noise fills the air.

"What in Equestria is that?" I ask myself looking up to see a red trail flying towards me. I then hear screams coming from the CMC's clubhouse. "APPLEBLOOM!" I yell in fear for her and her friends safety before galloping off to them.

POV: Rainbow Dash / Location: Equus - Sweet Apple Acres

I grin as I fly by Sweet Apple Acres, right over AJ and towards Ponyville, when high pitched screams fills the air. I stop and look around. "What was that?" I ask myself.

"I believe that was children screaming, Miss Dash," Ordis replies.

"GAH! ORDIS! Don't scare me like that!.. Wait how are you talking to me?" I ask forgetting about the screams.

"Through your Warframe's communication module..." he replies but goes silent.

"Ordis? What's wrong?" I ask.

"Infested detected nearby. Location has been marked on your map," he warns me.

"Infested? Wait, you mean the virus!?" I look to my left where a yellow diamond shaped mark is pointing to.

"Miss Dash, Karn is busy at the moment and will take a few minutes to get there, you are the closest one at the moment and it might be too late before you can return so the Operator can takeover the Warframe. You have to go and neutralize the Infected creature before it spreads," he tells me.

Right, I'm a Tenno now. I can do this! "Right! let's fly!" I yell.

I fly towards the mark and see the CMC running from what looks like three changelings... but they're covered in that nasty orange and blue stuff. The yellow mark turns into three red ones. "Targets marked," Ordis says.

Without thinking, I shoot forward leaving a current of air following behind me as I feel energy flow through me. I break the sound barrier and slam into the changeling in front crushing it and making a small crater.

"APPLEBLOOM!" I hear AJ call out. I ignore them and stand up on my legs as I extend the Venka Claws, I swipe at the left changeling slicing clean through its head, cutting off the top with two slabs in between the blades.

The one on the right then leaps at me, I fly up out of its reach and feel a surge of power as I dive down with my claws pointing at it. I slam into the changeling and pierce its spine. It collapses but its head and forelegs are still moving. I turn around and stab it in the head a few times in rapid succession.

Once it stops moving I start to calm down and retract my claws. I just killed something, and I don't feel bad about it...

"Scanning... No further infestation detected," Ordis says.

"Thank ya so much fer yer help," AJ says to me.

"Yeah, no problem, AJ," I reply casually.

"Rainbow!? Is that you?" she asks with shock and starts walking over to me.

"STOP!" I shout at her. "Stay back or these things will infect you!" I warn her.

She opens her mouth to reply but Karn's smaller ship hovers above us as the bottom rotates showing Karn attached to the bottom. He drops down and slowly descends to the ground.

POV: Karn / Location: Equus - Sweet Apple Acres

"Rainbow are you alright?" I ask her.

"Yeah I'm fine, so is Applejack and the others," she says pointing at the four ponies.

"Good, stand still," I tell her.

"Okay?" she replies confused.

I use my void energy to destroy the technocyte on her Warframe and then burn the changeling corpses. The orange one then starts talking to Rainbow.

"Erm, Applejack says thank you," she tells me.

"For what? You're the one that saved them," I reply.

"Yeah, but you're the one who made me what I am now. So in a way, you helped save them as well," she says in a happy tone.

"So I see from the damage you did to them that you've managed to use those Venkas well... Oh by the way, what was your first lucid meditation like?" I ask her, wanting to know if Luna showed up or not mostly.

"Oh, I was practising my flying some more in this Warframe and wings through an obstacle course before Luna showed up," she tells me.

"Yeah, I thought she'd visit you." I cross my arms over my chest. "What did she want?" I ask.

"She wanted me to go on a secret mission to Gryphonia... to end a war before it even started. You were right by the way, she ruined my mood as well," she says sourly.

"And I take it you told her no and kicked her out?" I ask.

"Yup, though I think she'll be mad at me. Probably Celestia as well if Luna tells her," she replied.

"Good, that'll show that we can't be intimidated or forced to do something we won't do," I say. "Take a few hours to calm down, your Warframe is shaking from the adrenaline your real body is feeling from your fight. We'll start your training then," I tell her as Ordis lands.

"Okay," she replies.

We enter my Orbiter and Rainbow leaves back in her body, I then head back to the plains to continue construction on the Dojo in my Vauban Warframe.

POV: Rainbow Dash/ Location: Equus - Sweet Apple Acres

"So how's your morning been so far?" I ask AJ.

She just stares at me for a few seconds. "Could'a been better," she replies drily looking at the burnt husks of the changelings.

The CMC walk up to me with wide eyes. "That was sooo cool! You're like a super hero now!" Scoots says with excitement.

Yeah, I guess I kinda am, I pat her on the head with a smile and turn to Applejack. "AJ, I need to talk to you and the others about something. It's important," I tell her.

I then see Big Mac running over to us. "Ya'll alright!?" he shouts to us.

"We're fine, Mac! RD here saved us!" AJ shouts back.

Big Mac trots over once he's close enough and stands beside AJ. "Rainbow Dash? Last ah remember she was shorter," he says looking me over.

I snort unamused. "Yeah well, I had a bit of a growth spurt," I reply. He raises his right eye brow.

"So what did you want' ta talk to us about?" AJ asks.

"Karn wants to make more ponies into Tenno to fight what you just saw," I tell her.

"And what's that got to do with us?" she asks again.

"I suggested that the Elements would be good choices," I reply.

She thinks for a few seconds before she gets it. "Wait, you want us to be like you and him as well?" she asks surprised.

"You girls are the ones I trust the most and he only wants those he can trust to help. Luna tried to get me to do something for her and because of that, Karn doesn't trust her anymore, so the royal guard is out of the question," I tell her.

She looks down and then to Applebloom.

POV: Applejack / Location: Equus - Sweet Apple Acres

I look to Applebloom and think. If it weren't for Dash, she and the others would be dead right now... Or one of those things, and I would've been powerless to do anything about it. If I become like Dash, ah could keep my family safe. I look to Mac and see a similar expression of thought on his face.

I look back to Dash. "Even if ah did decide to join ya, who would look after the farm?" I ask her.

"Karn has those harvesting thingies! Maybe he can give you some for the farm?" she replies.

I look to Mac and see him nod at me. "Ah'll join," he says to Dash.

"WHAT!?" I shout out in shock.

"Ah almost jus' lost you both, ah'm not going ta sit back an' let it happen again," he tells me.

How can he decide just like that? What about the farm? And Granny?

"Great! I'll tell Karn when I see him later. I'm going to go get Pinkie and Fluttershy. AJ, can you and Mac get Rarity and meet me at Twilight's?" she asks us.

"Eeyup," Mac replies. I just stand there like I just got bucked in the gut.

Big mac tells the CMC to go back in the house and that he'll tell Cheerilee about what happened later. Mac then starts to pull me towards town.

After a minute or two, I finally have enough sense to speak. "W-What are you thinking! How can ya just decide to up and join 'em like that?" I ask him.

"We lost Ma an Pa because we were too helpless to do anything. Ah'm not about to let the same happen ta you, Bloom, or Granny," he replies.

I frown sadly and look out to the orchard. He does have a point.

POV: Rainbow Dash / Location: Equus - Ponyville - Sugarcube Corner

I fly back to town and enter Sugarcube Corner to find Pinkie. I look around and see Mrs Cake at the counter.

"Oh hello, Rainbow Dash. Can I help you?" she asks with a raised eyebrow at me.

"Hi, Mrs Cake. Is Pinkie here?" I ask her.

"My, what happened to you? You're taller now, and more muscular!" she asks with surprise.

I spread my left wing out where it's a good three hoofs longer. "Oh erm... I've been training harder," I reply with a chuckle.

"I see, as for Pinkie, she's in her room upstairs," she tells me.

"Sweet, thanks!" I say and head up the stairs, I then knock on Pinkies door.

"Come in!" Pinkie says in a sing song tone.

I open the door and walk inside. "Hiya, Dashie! Wow, you're looking buff!" she says poking me in the chest.

I chuckle a bit from her antics. "Can you meet me and the others at the Library? I've got something important to tell you," I say.

"Okie Dokie Lokie, Dashie!" she replies and bounces out of the room. Well that was easy.

I head back down stairs where Mrs. Cake is still at the counter. "See ya later, Mrs Cake!" I say and wave goodbye to her.

"Goodbye, Rainbow, oh! Those muffins you wanted will be ready at around four o'clock," she tells me with a smile.

"Alright, I'll be here then!" I reply and leave the shop. I then fly towards Fluttershy's cottage and land in front of the door and knock.

POV: Fluttershy / Location: Equus - Ponyville - Fluttershy's Cottage

"Now angel, you need to eat everything if you want to grow big and strong," I coo to him. He's being stubborn again and refusing to eat his piece of cabbage.

He picks it up and throws it at my chest. "Angel! That's not very nice!" I scold him. He just crosses his little arms and frowns at me.

My reply was interrupted by a knock at the door. "I wonder who that could be?" During my distraction, Angel hopped away.

I open the door to see who it was. "Oh, hello, Rainbow," I greet her.

"Hi, Flutters. I need to talk to you with the others at the Library, it's important," she tells me.

"What's so important that you need all of us?" I ask her.

"I'll tell ya with the others, Just come back to the Library with me," she replies.

My right flank starts itching again from where that sick badger I caught bit me five minutes ago.

POV: Rainbow Dash / Location: Equus - Ponyville - Fluttershy's Cottage

"You alright?" I ask her. She's been scratching her flank for a while now.

"Oh I'm fine, just a small bite form a sick badger I caught earlier."

I raise an eyebrow and look behind Fluttershy to see a badger with some orange and blue lumps on it in a wooden cage, I notice all the other animals are staying far away from it.

"FLUTTERSHY! GET BEHIND ME QUICKLY!" I yell at her which she 'Eeeps' in reply.

I rush past her and fly above the cage. The badger hisses and starts to spit these small little needles or spikes at me through the small gaps of its cage. I quickly avoid them and slam down onto the cage and crush the badger inside. Fluttershy screams in horror and passes out.

I look to Fluttershy and see a small orange and blue lump on her right flank.

Oh no.

POV: Karn / Location: Equus - Fluttershy's Cottage

Ordis has alerted me about a nearby infection signal, so we're now heading towards the location.

We land and I head out with my weapons at the ready. I see Rainbow holding a writhing Fluttershy in her forelegs. "KARN! You need to help her! An infected animal bit her!" Rainbow says to me, sounds like she's crying.

I quickly burn the animal's corpse, cage and all. I pick Fluttershy up and then bring her inside the Orbiter. I hold her down and once again without hesitation, I inject her with the serum.

Her eyes snap open as a silent scream leaves her mouth. Unlike Rainbow, Fluttershy doesn't build any extra muscle, she does get taller but more slender and her turquoise eyes start to show small strands of orange. About a minute later she stops squirming.

"Is she okay?" Rainbow asks me with worry.

"I don't know, we'll just have to wait and see," I tell her. The chances of mutation are higher if you've been infected already. Rainbow got out lucky.

We wait for a few minutes and Fluttershy's eyes open slowly. "Oooohh, my head hurts," she says quietly.

"Fluttershy! You're alright!" Rainbow says, trying not to cry again.

"Wha... What happened?" she asks as she slowly sits up.

"Operator, the serum has successfully adapted to her DNA, the Technocyte Virus has been neutralised," Ordis tells us.

Rainbow breaths out a sigh of relief. "Thank Celestia you're okay!" she says, even Nightshade is standing beside Fluttershy whimpering slightly.

"As to your question, you were infected. Just like Rainbow was," I tell her.

Her eyes widen. "You c-can talk? B-But then that means..." she looks up at me and whimpers.

Rainbow wraps one of her forelegs around Fluttershy's neck. "It's going to be alright shy," she says.

After a minute of silence, Fluttershy speaks. "Y-You killed him..." she quietly says to Rainbow.

I place my right hand on her shoulder. "Fluttershy, Rainbow had no choice. If she didn't, the virus would have started to spread to the other animals as well," I tell her.

"What?" she asks at me with horrified eyes.

"Once it takes over, it's almost near impossible to cure. The only thing you can do is put it out of its misery," I reply.

She looks like she's about to cry but Rainbow hugs her. "I'm sorry," Rainbow tells her sadly.

After a few seconds Fluttershy looks at Rainbow. "It's okay. I understand," she says and hugs her back.

I kneel down beside her. "Fluttershy," I say and she looks at me. "You have to make a choice now. Do you want to return to your life or help us fight the virus as a Tenno?" I ask her.

She looks scared. "B-But I don't want to fight," she says.

I place my right hand on my chin in thought. "Hmmmm, actually there is a way you could help without fighting," I say to her.

"What's that?" she asks.

"I have a couple of Warframes that might suit you called, Trinity and Titania. The Trinity specialises in healing and restoring abilities. It can restore energy, reflect damage against it back to up to three enemies linked to it, repair itself and other Warframes while also incapacitating a couple of enemies. The Titania is a fairy based Warframe that can incapacitate enemies without damage, she can draw out the energy from her targets to enhance herself, force them to gather to an enemy of her choice before they detonate and utilise small drones called razorflies that look like metal butterflies while she can also shrink herself down to the size of a pixie and fly with her built in Archwings, but they'll drain the frame's energy to maintain the size and flight, she also has a pair of her own built in weapons," I tell her.

"Yeah! They sound perfect for her!" Rainbow says with a grin.

"I-I don't know... What if I just get in the way?" Fluttershy asks.

"That's what training is for," I tell her.

"Think of it this way, Shy. If you become a Tenno, you'll be able to keep all of your animal friends safe," Rainbow says. I think she's trying to convince her with her animals, and by the look on Fluttershy's face, it's working.

"What do you mean?" she asks.

"If one of your animals has already been infected, who's to say more won't be as well?" Rainbow says making Fluttershy gasp.

"No!" she says and then turns to me. "I don't want my friends getting hurt!" she pleads.

"Then the only thing I can suggest is you train as a Tenno and protect them yourself," I tell her.

She then looks down in thought. After a few seconds she looks back up at me. "I'll do it, if it means my little friends won't get hurt again I'll do it," she tells me and I smile at her. Nightshade just nuzzles Fluttershy which she returns the gesture.

I just had a thought. "Fluttershy, would you like your own Kubrow? I have an egg in stasis that you can hatch," I ask her.

She gasps and looks at me. "Oh yes! I would like that very much!" she replies with glee.

"Karn, we need to go to Twilight's Library, the others are there waiting for us," Rainbow says.

"For what?" I ask.

"To decide if they want to be a Tenno or not," she replies.

"I see, let's go then," I say. "Ordis, set destination for the town Library."

"I do not know where that is, Operator," he replies.

"Don't worry! Just follow me!" Rainbow says.

She leaves the Orbiter and hovers in the air.

Ordis follows Rainbow over the town until we reached a large tree with balconies and windows around it, we land behind it and step out. We're greeted by Twilight and a few others waiting outside.

There's the white and purple one, the pink energetic one, a large red one just bigger than the others, Applejack, and for some reason, that white and blue one that trapped me in that bubble from the Capital.

POV: Twilight Sparkle / Location: Equus - Ponyville Library

We gasp as we see Fluttershy leave the ship, Rarity faints as her couch appears out of nowhere and she lands on it. Fluttershy looks like a yellow Cadence! We then all run over to her. "Fluttershy! What happened to you? Why are you taller?.. Wait, don't tell me he also gave you an injection!" I ask.

She talks, but it's in Karn's language. Everyponies eyes go wide as we look up at her.

"Karn had no choice, Twilight!" Dash tells me. "One of her animals was infected and it bit her. It was either inject her or let her become one of them!"

If that's true then it was a good thing he injected her. I then look Fluttershy over, she's taller then us by a few inches and she looks even prettier than before. If she didn't like being a model before, she has the body of a professional now. Her eyes also have those orange strands in them like Karn and Dash.

"I guess we should go inside. I think we're drawing too much attention," I say, looking around as ponies are staring at Fluttershy with they're jaws agape.

We head inside and I lock the door, close the blinds, and light a candle on the table. "So what happened exactly?" I ask Dash as Rarity comes to.

"I went to get Shy to bring her here while Ordis also warned Karn about an infected nearby," she says.

"Wait, who's Ordis?" I ask.

"Oh, that's the name of Karn's ship. Did you know his ship is alive?" she tells me.

My mouth opens but no words come out. Did she just say his ship is alive? That does explain how it can fly without a pilot! I'll ask about that later. "Then what happened?" I ask.

"Erm, I ran past Fluttershy and... killed the badger as it was spitting these little needles at me," she says which makes Fluttershy sniffle a bit, Rarity moves and sits beside Fluttershy giving her a gentle hug. "She passed out and I saw that she was infected. Karn then rushed over, burnt the badger's body and injected her to save her," she finishes.

"So what are these injections?" My brother asks.

Rainbow turns to Karn which irritates Shining. After a short talk she turns back to us. "I'm not allowed to say," she says.

Shining snorts and glares at Karn. "And why not?" he asks irritated.

Again they talk and again Shining is glaring. Dash turns back to him. "The Princesses," my eyes widen at the accusation.

"The Princesses wouldn't abuse that knowledge!" I say in they're defence.

"Oh really? Then how do you explain Luna asking me to attack Gryphonia in my dream last night?" she asks coldly.

"W-What?" I ask shocked. Dash then looks to Shining.

"Want to tell us about this war with Gryphonia soldier colt?" she asks Shining with a glare.

Shining looks surprised for a second but quickly recovers. "What war? Maybe you just dreamed that all up," he says.

"I can't dream anymore," Rainbow tells him. "Because of the injection, I have complete control over my 'dreams' now."

That's... That's amazing! She can now control her dreams? The more I hear about these Tenno the more I want to learn. Shining now looks worried.

"If you don't believe me then ask Luna yourself. Ask her if she spoke to me about a secret mission and see if she reacts to it," she tells him. "Now if you're done asking questions, I want to get to why I asked you all here," she says and turns to Karn, Fluttershy just listens to them, I wish I could understand what they're saying.

Dash then turns back to us. "There's a virus spreading in the Everfree Forest and It's taking over anything it touches. So far we've seen manticores, timberwolves, changelings, and small animals infected by it. It also tried to get me and Fluttershy," she tells us.

"I'm going to fight it with Karn, I'm asking if any of you would help us protect Ponyville and Equestria by destroying it," she asks.

We then all look at each other. "What makes you think the royal guards can't handle this?" Shining asks with a challenging tone.

"Fluttershy got infected by a little bite. I have to use one of Karn's Warframes just to fight them, I'm lucky that badger didn't hit me with those needles. What do the guard have? Compared to Karn's Warframes, the guards armour and weapons might as well be tinfoil," Dash retorts.

"Then why can't he just give us some of these weapons and Warframes so we can fight it ourselves?" Shining asks.

"Because Karn believes you'd use them against other nations, like Gryphonia, to have the upper hoof," Dash replies with narrowed eyes.

Shining is actually gritting his teeth. "Well excuse me for wanting to make sure Equestria stays safe! And he," he says pointing at Karn. "has the means to ensure it!"

"Maybe, but what would happen if it fell into the wrong hooves? Do you want to fight an army armed with the stuff he's got?" Dash says. No offence to Rainbow but, when has she ever been this smart? That got Shining to shut up. "Now then, who want's to help us? I've asked you girls... and Mac, because Karn asked for those he can trust. And I trust you all with my life," Dash says making a few of us smile. Shining just crosses his forelegs and humpfs.

"Ah'll help ya," Big Mac says with conviction.

"I will too," Fluttershy says in Equestrian this time, leaving us shocked. She wants to fight?

"Ooooh, buck it. Ah'll help too," Applejack says with a sigh.

"Oh oh oh! Me too! Sounds like it could be fun!" Pinkie says, she thinks fighting will be fun?

"I don't know darlings, I'm not one for violence. Also thank you for saving Sweetie Belle, Rainbow," Rarity says, but I can see her looking at Fluttershy's new physique with envy.

"Think of it this way. You could be the first pony to design a stylish Warframe and protect your sister yourself." Dash says, to which Rarity bites her bottom lip.

"W-Well, that does sound tempting, and I can't bare the thought of Sweetie getting hurt or, worse," she says.

"What about you, Twi?" Dash asks.

Shining looks at me as if saying 'Don't even think about it!'. I really do want to learn more and if being one of these Tenno means I can then... "I'm sorry, Shiny, but we have to do this. We're the Elements of Harmony, It's our responsibility to protect Equestria from any threat or evil," I tell him.

"You can't be serious!" he shouts at me with wide eyes.

I give him the most determined expression I could. "I'm more serious than I've ever been," I reply.

"How do we know he's not just trying to build a force to take over! How can you trust him so easily!" he yells.

"Shiny, if he wanted to take over, he could have done it during the changeling invasion when we were at our weakest. Why are you so against him?" I ask my brother.

He frowns and looks at Karn, who's just sitting there with that blank helmet of his looking at us.

"I don't know, Twily. Since the whole changeling invasion and Chrysalis' mind control, I've just been jumpy. Now with the threat of war from the gryphons... I guess I'm just getting stressed out," he replies with a sigh.

"It's alright, Shiny. Maybe you should go back to Canterlot and get some rest with Cadence. Celestia knows you could use a break," I tell him.

"Yeah, I guess you're right," he says and stands up. He then walks over to Karn. "Rainbow Dash, tell him he better look after Twily and the others, or he'll have me to answer to!" Shining says sternly, though Karn doesn't even budge at his harsh tone.

Rainbow I guess is telling him that. Karn looks from Dash to Shining and nodded to him. Shining nodded in return and heads for the door.

"So, we all agree to help then?" Dash asks as the door closes.

Everypony looks to each other and agrees.

Author's Note

http://www.fimfiction.net/story/245449/11/warframe-equestria/chapter-10-the-tenno-of-equestria

Chapter 10: The Tenno of Equestria

POV: Rainbow Dash / Location: Equus - Ponyville Library

Everypony agrees to help fight the virus. I then look to Karn. "They all said they'll help," I tell him.

"That's good. I'll get started on the Tenno Lab and have more Somatic Link Chairs made for the others," he replies.

"Okay, should I tell them?" I ask him.

"Go ahead. Also tell them I'll need to give them each an injection as well so that they can control a Warframe," he tells me.

I nodded turn back to my friends. "Karn says he needs to build some Somatic Link Chairs so you can connect to his Warframes like I can," I tell them.

"Somatic Link?" Twilight asks.

"It's the chair he sits in and then, erm... possesses or transfers himself into the Warframe I guess, that's what it felt like to me," I reply.

Twilight raises her eyebrows and levitates a book from the shelf over to herself.

"I've been meaning to ask," Karn says. "how do unicorns do that?" he asks me, his head pointing towards the book.

"It's just magic," I reply.

"Magic? That's a thing here?" he asks surprised.

"Errr, yeah. Everypony here has some magic. Earth ponies are super strong and can grow things better than others, unicorns can control magic with their horns and cast spells, and pegasi like me can move and walk on clouds, we manage the weather in Equestria... Oh, I guess I'm not the weather captain anymore huh?" I tell him.

"You're the weather captain?" he asks.

"Well, I guess was is more like it," I reply and sigh.

"You worried about being out of a job?" he asks.

"Kinda. How am I gonna buy food or pay the bills without any bits?" I say.

"You don't need to worry about food. I've got lots of nutrient food pills to last for a few months, and I'll also have an aeroponics facility added to the Dojo as well."

"Aerowhatnow?" I ask with confusion.

"It's a room that grows plants in an air or mist environment without the use of soil or an aggregate medium. In other words, an indoor farm," he tells me.

"Huh, that's actually pretty cool. AJ might want to see that," I say.

"But don't worry, I noticed your currency is made from copper, silver, and gold. I have a nice stock of gold for fabricating, we can use that if we need anything. I'll also be keeping you all busy with training non-stop to make sure you're all ready. That little fight you had will be nothing compared to what we'll be facing later. Remember that recording I showed you?" he says.

"Uh-huh," I reply and nodded.

"That was a walk in the park in comparison, I just had to retrieve someone there, what we'll be doing will be going into a hive which is a breeding ground where it can multiply. We'll have to fight hundreds of infected creatures to get to the five or so spawning pods and destroy them to stop them from spreading while I plant a powerful bomb at the heart of the hive to destroy what's left," he tells me.

From what I saw from that recording, that looked tough, and he's saying we'll have to do something even harder? Sweet Celestia I hope he's joking. "I can show you all a recording of one of my missions destroying a hive," he says.

"Yeah, that'd be cool," I reply.

"Okay, but before we do anything, you need to tell them, that by doing this, they'll live for thousands of years before they'll die of old age," he tells me.

"Erm, okay," I reply. "Guys, Karn wants me to warn you that by doing this you'll live for thousands of years before dying of old age." I tell them.

They gasp and look uneasy.

POV: Twilight Sparkle / Location: Equus - Ponyville Library

We'll live for thousands of years before we die? I don't know how to feel about that. On one hoof I can be with my friends and the Princesses for many years to come, I can even be there for spike as he grows older. Then on the other, I'll have to watch my other friends grow old and die, as well as my family.

I look to the others and see similar expressions, except for Big Mac who looks even more determined and Pinkie who, strangely has a big grin.

"You mean I'll be able to make new friends and have parties for thousands of years!?" Pinkie says with glee. "Sign me up!" she then says before giggling.

"Well, I guess that will mean I will be able to watch how fashion changes over the years," Rarity says with a conflicted tone.

"Ah don't know. Watchin' those around us grow old and die while we stay young..." Applejack says with a frown. Big Mac places a hoof on her wither and smiles at her, to which she sadly smiles back.

I look back to dash, "I'll still do it," I tell her. We have to do it, If we don't then the whole world will be in danger should the virus spread.

POV: Karn / Location: Equus - Ponyville Library

"They'll still do it," Rainbow tells me.

"Good, we don't have a lot of time. Tell the others to meet me in the Orbiter for their injections," I tell her.

She nodded and talks to Twilight. I stand up, walk to the Door and open it to reveal Celestia standing there. The sudden opening of the door makes her jump slightly with a yelp of surprise, standing next to her is Luna who is looking away from me.

I cross my arms and just stare at Luna, I look back to Celestia as she whinnies and neighs. Rainbow is now by my side. "She wants to come in," Rainbow tells me.

I step aside and both Princesses enter. "Rainbow, I want you to tell me everything that they talk about," I tell her.

"Okay," she replies.

I sit back down and wait while they talk for awhile as Luna gives me and Rainbow a few quick glances. Rainbow tells me that Shining told Celestia what's going on and she is trying to convince them to turn down my offer.

Celestia also speaks to Fluttershy. "It's okay Princess, I'm fine. To be honest I'd rather be like this than a monster attacking my friends," she says in Orokin which Rainbow translates for her.

Luna steps up and bows her head to Rainbow and me. "She says she's sorry for asking us to do something we didn't want to do," Rainbow tells me.

"Tell her, apology accepted, but she's got a long way to go to earn our trust again," I tell Rainbow.

Rainbow tells Luna and she nodded with a smile, Celestia looks relieved. "Right, now can you tell Celestia it's either they become Tenno, or Equestria and the rest of the world falls to the technocyte. Because me, you, and Fluttershy won't be enough. It took about ten Tenno including me to wipe out a large planet side hive, and we still lost two Warframes doing it," I tell her.

I hear her breathe in sharply with a wide eyed expression, she then turns back to Celestia.

POV: Celestia / Location: Equus - Ponyville Library

"Princess, Karn says you have to let them become Tenno. If they don't, we wont be able to fight the virus ourselves, and after Luna's attempt to use me, he won't trust any of your guards," Rainbow Dash tells me.

Luna's ears splay back and I sigh as I look to the others. Fluttershy has already been changed, Twilight, Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, and Big Macintosh have also decided to join him. I heard about the longevity that they will receive while I was standing by the door, but do they truly understand the burden of living for so long?.. Then again, it would mean there will be others I can know for longer than a few years.

But is that just me being selfish?

"Are you all certain about this?" I ask them.

"Eeyup," Big Macintosh answers proudly.

"Uh-huh!" Pinkie Pie says with a wide smile.

"Ah'm as sure as ah'm honest," Applejack says.

"I almost lost my little Sweetie without knowing it this morning. I want to make sure she has a future, as well as Equestria," Rarity says.

"As you can see, Princess, we're doing this. Please don't try to stop us." Twilight says to me with a fire in her eyes. I smile as I can feel a tear roll down my face.

I am so proud of them all.

POV: Twilight Sparkle / Location: Equus - Ponyville Library

Celestia smiles at us. "If that is what you truly wish, then I shall not stop you," she says and walks towards me. She wraps me in a hug with her forelegs and wings. "Just be careful, all of you." I smile and hug her back.

"We'll do our best, Princess," I tell her. She lets go and looks at Karn, and without another word leaves with Luna.

Rainbow coughs and gets our attention. "Now that that's over, Karn wants to get started," Dash says, I swallow hard and nodded. After we all had a large lunch, we all follow him to his ship and into the back room, It's a good thing spike is out with the CMC right now.

Karn heads into the back of his ship and then returns in his real body. "So who will take the injection first?" Rainbow translates for us.

I frown in determination and step forward. "I will," I reply.

"Alright, step onto the pod here and we'll begin," she then says as Karn waves a hand to the circle like pad to the left of his armoury and I start sweating. With a gulp I step onto it and lie down.

Karn gets a syringe out, injects me in my neck and closes the pod. I tense up and clench my eyes shut as pain spreads throughout my body

I scream as my body feels like it's burning while my bones and muscles are growing and expanding as my body increases in size. My magic then changes as agonising pain floods my body and mind making me scream louder, it feels cold and empty like Karn's but also feels stronger and my thought processes seem faster. I lose track of how long it lasted, but finally it stopped. I'm panting as the pain slowly fades away.

"Operator, the serum has successfully adapted to her DNA, I have scanned her body structure. I can begin fabricating a somatic link suit at any time. Also, it appears a mutation has altered Miss Sparkle's energy into void energy similar to yours, she's now a void born Tenno like you," I hear a voice say.

"Ooooh, my everything hurts," I groan out and can barely move.

"Don't worry, that will go away after a few minutes," I hear a deep male voice reply.

I look to the left and see Karn opening the pod making me gasp. " I can understand you!" I say with excitement. My pain momentarily forgotten.

"Yes, you can now speak Orokin. I'll give you a few minutes to get used to your new body, then I'll ask you a few questions to see what Warframe best suits you, I also need to inform you of a change to your... magic," he tells me.

'My magic has changed?' I wonder nervously. "Okay," I reply as he helps me onto my hooves. I wobble slightly and check myself over. I have a similar shape to Fluttershy, but not as much muscle as Dash. My horn even grew a couple of inches!

After a few minutes of walking around and the others asking if I was alright, I sit down in front of Karn.

"Alright, about your magic. It seems the serum has altered your magic into void energy, just like mine. So I don't know if you'll be able to use your abilities or spells anymore, the traces of void energy in the serum must have fused with your magic and converted it into a renewable source, turning you into a void born Tenno instead of a sub-Tenno due to the amount of this magic you have, you no longer age at all and you'll need to expel your energy to prevent it building up and killing you," he tells me.

I gasp wide eyed, I've lost my magic? I try use my magic to summon a mirror and fortunately, it works. It just feels cold and different with the new type of magic I now have.

"Okay, so you can still use your magic, that's good. So, first question, what's your most favourite activity or hobby?" he asks.

I sigh in relief and look at him. "Erm, I love to read books, study, and research magic and science," I reply looking at myself in the mirror again, my muzzle is longer and my horn looks like a spear instead of the blunted tip it used to be. Not only that, but I'm as tall as Princess Luna now!

"So you'd prefer using energy based weapons over using physical weapons?" he asks me.

"You mean like magical weapons?" I ask.

"No, energy weapons are weapons that use a power source or battery for its ammunition. They can fire bolts or beams of high temperature polarised ion particles that can burn through flesh or weak armour, or fire elemental bolts and beams," he tells me.

"Oh, that sounds fascinating!" I practically shout out but then cough in embarrassment. "I mean, not the burning things part, but yes, I would like those please," I say with a blush. Rainbow is just snickering at me.

"Alright, I have a Dera, Dual Cestra, and a Prova, all energy based weapons you can have. A power based Warframe would also best suit you. Now which one...." he says. He then stands up and walks over to the right side table. Images of different armours show up floating in mid air. I really want to know how that works...

He then shows me three of them. "These are female frames called Nova, Nyx, and Mag," he tells me. "Nova can manipulate antimatter, Nyx has psychic abilities like mind control, and Mag can control magnetic forces. I think one of these three would best suit you."

"Erm," I mumble as I think it over. Controlling another's mind just doesn't sit right with me. I have no idea what antimatter is, but I know a lot about magnetic forces! "I'll have the Mag please," I reply. He then presses a few buttons.

"Alright then, you'll use my Mag until we can get you your own one made," he tells me.

"Okay, I'll just walk around and get used to my new height... my balance is completely off," I reply and start walking around.

POV: Karn / Location: Equus - Ponyville - Inside the Orbiter

"Right, so while Twilight gets used to her new body, who's next?" I say waving to the pod. Rainbow tells them that and the Pink one jumps up and down.

"Pinkie wants to go next," Rainbow tells me.

Before I could reply, Pinkie hops into the pod and lies down. I shrug and inject her before closing her in.

POV: Pinkie Pie / Location: Equus - Ponyville - Inside the Orbiter

'Ohhhh this is sooo exciting! I wonder what I'll get?' I think to myself and start humming a happy tune, then I feel a pinch in my neck and my body starts to tingle and itch a little. I start giggling and snorting, feels like somepony is tickling me with feathers!

Tears leave my eyes as I'm giggling too hard. After a short while it stops, leaving me panting from it. The pod opens showing Karn just looking at me strangely. "Wowie! That felt funny, hehe," I say as I jump off and start bouncing.

Only to bash my noodle on the ceiling. "OUCH!" I yelp and flop onto the floor running in circles on my side. "Owie owie owie," I say rubbing my head.

"Erm, Operator, the serum has, well, been assimilated by her DNA, it appears she has taken it over instead of adapting, I can detect faint traces of void energy being used by her but nothing on the scale of Miss Sparkle... I have scanned her body structure. I can begin fabricating a somatic link suit later," a voice says with a bit of confusion.

"Pinkie! Are you alright?" Dashie asks me.

I sit up with a lump on the back of my head. "Yeah, I'll be just fine!" I tell her with a smile.

Karn is just staring at me. "I already know the perfect frame for you," he says.

"Ooooh ooooh! What one?" I ask getting right in his face.

"The Mirage, she can manipulate light to create illusions and prank like abilities to confuse her enemies," he tells me and shows me a picture.

"Oooooohhh! Yeah! I want that one!" I say jumping up and down, with less effort this time.

I look myself over and notice I'm taller and as musclely as AJ! Wow, I trot in place and feel muscles I never even knew I had!

"So what type of weapons would you like?" Karn asks me.

"Hmmmm, got any giant hammers?" I reply.

"Errr, yeah actually, it's called a Fragor," he says and walks over to the back of the room. He pulls out this huge black and white hammer and I start drooling at the sight of it.

"GIMMIE!" I yell and jump for it. I take it out of his hooves and lift it up, wow, this thing is light for its size. I run out of the ship on my hind legs and start swinging it around.

POV: Rarity / Location: Equus - Ponyville - Inside the Orbiter

Oh my, how could Pinkie giggle through that? Twilight screamed through hers. "Who's next?" Rainbow Dash asks.

Applejack looks worried but I step forward. "I'll go next," I say as determined as I could. Karn taps the pod and I gulp.

I step in and lay down on the rather comfy padding where Karn then injects me and I being to sweat. The lid closes and I start to panic.

I feel my neck starting to burn as I grit my teeth as tears flow out my eyes and my mascara starts running down my cheeks as the burning spreads to the rest of my body. Unable to bare the pain anymore, I scream.

The pain starts to fade and I let out the breath I was holding. "Oh good heavens, that felt simply horrid!" I say panting hard.

The lid opens and Karn begins to help me up. "Operator, the serum has successfully adapted to her DNA, I have scanned her body structure. I can begin fabricating a somatic link suit later. It also appears her magic hasn't mutated like Miss Sparkle's has and remains the same," I hear a rather polite voice say.

"Are you feeling okay?" Karn asks me. Oh my, he has a nice sounding voice, rather roguish.

He helps me out of the pod by pulling my forelegs up. "I'm fine, thank you, darling," I reply and then summon a hoof mirror with my magic to look at myself. I look just like Fluttershy, slim and beautiful, not as tall as Twilight but still. My coat even looks whiter and my mane and tail longer!

"Now then, What's your favourite hobby or activity?" he asks me.

"Hmmm?" I look from the mirror to him. "Oh, I love fashion and to design and make ensembles. As well as the occasional spa visit now and then," I reply.

He hums in thought. "How good are you with this magic stuff?" he asks.

"I'm about average, I'm no Twilight that's for sure," I reply and hear Twilight giggle.

"Alright, let's see here," he says looking through those images again. He stops on a rather elegant looking one.

"Oh my, that one looks nicer than the others. Almost looks like a fancy dress!" I say looking at it.

"This is the Saryn, She's able to infect her enemies with a corrosive poison that can slowly damage her target and dissolve armour, it can also infect other targets if the spores attached to them are popped. She can 'shed' her skin to create a body double to distract enemies and even cause it to detonate to deal damage around it. She can also coat her weapons with a toxin for a few seconds to deal more damage, or create a viral mist around her that can weaken her foes," he tells me.

Poisons? How could such an elegant design use poisons? but it does look better than the others. "Can't I have that design but with different abilities?" I ask.

"No, each frame has their own specific abilities, it's encoded and built into their designs. This is the only... fashionable female based frame I know," he tells me.

Well, poisons are not the worst powers one could have. "Very well, I shall have that one then," I say.

"And what kind of weapons would you like?" he asks me.

"Hmmm, got anything that looks elegant yet practical?" I ask.

"What about these?" he replies picking up a curved three bladed disk like thing and long thin handle-less knifes.

"What is it?" I ask pointing to the three bladed thing.

"This is a Glaive, you throw it at your target and it'll bounce off or around it hitting other targets as well. After a short time it'll come back to you. Come, I'll show you," he says walking towards the door.

We all walk outside and see Pinkie's still out here swinging that large hammer around like it was a feather. "Wheeeeeee!" she yells as she spins around with it.

"Alright, stand back," he says and lifts his right arm behind him and then swings it forward, he lets go of the 'Glaive' and it flies towards some boulders. It bounces off them a few times before coming back to Karn.

We all look worried but he catches it easily. "That's basically it, you can also use it as a melee weapon, like a dagger," he says swinging it around a few times. "Have a try using your magic, I'll catch it if you can't," he says and then holds it out to me.

I activate my magic and levitate it from his hands, oh my, my magic feels so much easier to cast now. "Alright. Well, here goes nothing," I say and make the Glaive spin, I then launch it forward and it carves right through the boulder and starts coming back at me.

I scream and close my eyes as it gets closer where I then feel my magic flare on its own. I open my eyes to see it floating in front of me in my levitation.

"Nice catch," Rainbow says.

"Erm, thank you," I reply, I didn't even think about using my magic, it just happened.

"It'll just take practice, but you did very well for your first throw, you put more spin on it than I ever could. I wonder if your magic would transfer over to your Warframe," Karn praises me and says.

"Oh, thank you darling. I must admit it does look nice and rather easy to use," I say.

"Also means you don't have to get near those nasty infected creatures too," Rainbow says with a smirk.

"Yes, there's also that," I reply.

"I have another weapon that might suit you as well but for now just practice with that Glaive, and these Kunai. You basically just throw these at your target, you don't have to worry about retrieving them, I can just fabricate more," he tells me and throws one at a tree where it gets stuck in the bark. "Alright then, who's next?" Karn asks.

POV: Big Mac / Location: Equus - Ponyville - Outside the Orbiter

"Who's next?" Rainbow says looking at me an' AJ.

"Ah will," I say.

"Sweet, can't wait to see Bigger Mac," Rainbow says with a chuckle. I just snort bemused, she does have a point though, will I get bigger than I already am?

We head back inside as Rarity continues to practice with that three bladed weapon. I remove my yoke and sit onto the strange padding.

I feel a sting in the side of my neck and grit my teeth as the pod closes. I can feel my body grow, the burning feeling dies down and I wait to be let out.

The pod thing opens up and I stand back up. I grunt as I stretch my legs, I then get off the padding. I look up to Karn and notice my eye level reaches his chin.

"Operator, the serum has successfully adapted to his DNA, I have scanned his body structure. I can begin fabricating a somatic link suit later."

Rainbow whistles at me. "Wow you're huge! You got more muscle then Bulk Biceps! And you're as tall as Luna!" Rainbow says. I look down and notice my legs are thicker than before. I feel stronger and heavier.

"Now then, I take it from your build you'd prefer a physical based Warframe?" Karn asks me. It's a might bit weird to suddenly understand him.

"Eeyup," I reply.

"Hmmm, you work with the earth and such right?" he asks.

"Eeyup," I say again.

"Then I think the Atlas would be a good pick for you, he can coat his arms in rocks made from his energy to lunge and punch his enemy hard, he can turn anyone in front of him caught in his gaze to stone, he can conjure a solid rock wall for defence and also push it forward into a ball rolling over anything in its path before detonating sending rocks everywhere, and lastly he can create two stone golems called Rumblers to fight for him, they can throw large rocks at your enemies and take a beating, they can also detonate if they're badly damaged to injure those nearby, he also is very hard if near impossible to knock over or push back," he tells me.

I think for a minute, sounds like a good match for me. "Eeyup."

"What kind of weapon would you like?" he asks me.

"Anything big an' hits hard," I reply.

"How do you feel about axes?"

"Ah've chopped a few trees before," I say.

"Then let's see if you can use this. I also want to check something," he says.

He pulls out a large two headed axe from the pod thing at the back of the room.

"Hold this," he tells me.

I take it from him with one hoof. I blink a few times, either this is made of hay or I'm stronger than I thought.

"So you can hold it with your hooves... I thought it was just Pinkie being odd," he says scratchin' the back of his head. "How do you do that?" he asks.

I look to my hoof holding the axe, then look at him and just shrug.

"I'll figure that out later, but what do you think of the Scindo?" he asks.

I lift it up and down. I stand on my hind legs and hold it with both of my front hooves. Huh, my balance is better now. I don't feel like I'm gonna fall over.

"Eeyup," I reply.

"Okay, take it outside and swing it around to get a feel for it," he tells me.

POV: Applejack / Location: Equus - Ponyville - Inside the Orbiter

By Celestia! Mac's a giant now! Karn then looks to me and points to the pod thing. I slowly nodded and lay down on it.

I start sweating buckets and feel a jab in my neck before the pod closes on me. I wince from the sting then grunt as I feel my body grow an' burn.

After awhile the burning feeling fades and I relax. The pod opens and Karn holds one of his hands out to me.

"Operator, the serum has successfully adapted to her DNA, I have scanned her body structure. I can begin fabricating a somatic link suit later," a voice says.

"Land-sakes, that hurt more then gettin' bucked off a ragin' bull," I say rubbing my head. I'll be needing some'o Granny's cure all for this headache.

"So how are you feeling?" a deep voice asks.

"Like ah've been trampled by a stampede," I reply.

"It'll fade in time. Can you stand up?" he asks.

I look up and see Karn staring at me. "Ah think so," I say.

He helps me out and I stand up, I used to be up to his waist, now I'm up to his belly. Weird thing is, I don't feel any stronger. If anythin' ah feel more flexible an' agile. I twist and turn feeling my joints bend in ways they shouldn't.

I can now scratch my own back with my forehooves, and that is freaking me out a bit.

"Huh, I expected you to have more muscle. Hmmmm, well, I'll ask you the same question as the others. What's your favourite activity or hobby?" he asks.

"Errrr, Ah like to do rodeos an apple shootin'. Ah'm also pretty good with a Lasso," I reply. I've earned a lot of blue ribbons in the apple shooting an' hog tying contests.

"Apple shooting?" he asks confused.

"It's where ah have to buck apples at targets before the timer runs out," I tell him. I'm not one to brag, but I have never missed a single shot.

He rubs his chin in thought. "I think I know a good Warframe for you," he says and shows me an image.

Kinda looks like its wearing the vests you see in Appleloosa. "What does it do?" I ask.

"This frame is a gun-slinger called Mesa. She has two Regulator Pistols that unfold from behind her forearms. She can use her frame's energy to increase her perception and reflexes to shoot targets with deadly precision. She can also charge up energy to make her next shot deal increased damage by increasing the bullet's velocity. She can put an energy shield around her that can deflect projectiles while reducing the damage she receives, and she can heighten her senses and shoot multiple enemies in rapid succession," he replies.

"Ah think ah got most of that," I say with a frown.

"As for a weapon, you said you're good with a Lasso right?" he asks.

"Uh-huh," I reply.

He heads over to the back and gets some strange looking thing.

"This is a whip called a Lecta, it gives an electrical discharge when the tip hits an object. Though I don't think you can use it with hooves, so you'll have to wait until you get your Warframe to try it," he says and puts it back. "Now all that's left is to make the links and let you all get used to your new bodies," he says.

He then turns to Dash. "Rainbow, I think you're ready for the first test."

Chapter 11: First Test

POV: Rainbow Dash / Location: Equus - Ponyville - Inside the Orbiter

"Rainbow, I think you're ready for the first test," Karn tells me.

My first test? "What test?" I ask Karn.

"Now that you're somewhat capable with a Warframe, I'm going to test you on your accuracy with a rifle," he replies and tells the others before heading back into his ship.

"Cool," I say and follow after him.

We enter the back and he gestures to his chair. "Sit down and transfer yourself to the Zephyr," he tells me.

I do as he says and sit down on the chair and after a few seconds that pulling feeling returns and I'm put into his Warframe.

I open my eyes and step out of the pod, wait... do these Warframes even have eyes?

"Alright then. Ordis, take us to a large empty area a good ten miles away from any town or city," he orders Ordis.

"Yes, Operator," he replies and the ship takes off.

After a few minutes of flying, we land in an open field with nothing around us.

"So what's this test about?" I ask him as he gets something from his weapon area before I follow him out of the ship.

"I'm going to see how well you can aim with a Braton-MK1 rifle," he replies and holds the strange looking thing to me.

"This is a rifle?" I ask as I examine the strange weapon.

"Correct, it was my first weapon when I became a Tenno, I kept it for sentimental reasons really," he replies and looks to his ship. "Ordis, please release six training drones and set them to level one," he tells Ordis.

"Very well, Operator," he replies and six round metal like balls come out the ship.

"What are those things?" I ask as I walk up to one and poke it with a finger. Having hands is both weird and so awesome at the same time!

"These will project holographic enemies which you will shoot with that rifle. I'll start you off easy and let you practice for a while before we start the test," he tells me and a blue light shines on the metal ball.

After a few seconds, images of those freaks in the bulky armour appear making me yelp and try to punch it in the face. Only for my hand to go through causing me to lose my balance and fall face first in the dirt, I'm so glad I don't feel pain in a Warframe...

Karn chuckles at me as I get back up, I so hope I'm not blushing right now. "Alright then, I'll now explain to you how that rifle works," he tells me and hovers beside me.

My heart beats faster as he's practically leaning against me.

"This here is the charging handle, pull this to put a new round into the chamber," he says pointing to a small looking lever like thing. "This is the trigger, squeeze it with your finger to fire the round in the chamber, you don't need to pull the handle back again as the next round is automatically fed in. Here is where the sixty round magazine goes in when you need to reload," he explains all the uses for the parts as well as how to fire and reload the rifle.

After ten minutes of explaining and me asking a few questions, he sets up some of those holomawhatsits and tells me to shoot them.

I place the rifle stock against my shoulder and look down the sights at the farthest left holothingy and take a few seconds to make sure I'm doing it right, I pull the trigger and the rifle pushes back against me as the bullet soars through the air and hits the freak in the chest making it shatter like glass.

"Whoa... this is so cool!" I exclaim with excitement and aim at the next one.

After shooting all six and then another eighteen of them, Karn tells me to reload the rifle so I push the button that pops out the magazine and a new one appears in my left hand which I just stare at. 'I know Karn said a new one would appear but that is cooler than I thought,' I think to myself as I fumble with it to get it in the rifle.

Once in I leave the handle alone as he said I only have to do that when it's completely empty.

"Okay, now we'll test how well you can react to moving targets," he says and the hologuys start running towards me.

I yelp in surprise and hold the trigger and spray into them making them all shatter after I think fifteen bullets.

"Don't panic and just spray and pray, take your time and focus. While the grineer take at least four to seven shots to penetrate their armour with this rifle, these will register the first hit to the head or chest. You can't afford to waste ammo during a mission," he tells me sternly.

"Sorry," I apologise and reload the rifle again.

Fifty-Four Minutes Later

After getting used to the rifle, Karn tells me he's starting my test. "All you have to do is hit each target in the head or chest, there will be fifty targets in total and they will come at you from all angles," he tells me and the metal balls spread out and surround me.

Karn gets back into his ship which takes off and hovers in the air.

"Miss Dash, the test will now begin, please prepare yourself," Ordis warns me.

I loosen my shoulders and aim the rifle ahead of me.

The first one appears and I quickly shoot it in the chest, the next shows up behind me so I quickly turn around and pop it in the head, this is easier now that I'm used to it.

Two more appear, one to my left and one to my right. I shoot the one on my left and spin on my heel to shoot the other.

"AHHH!" I yelp as I lose my balance and fall on my back. I then hear Karn chuckle making me frown and get back up as three more appear and charge at me with those fat looking knife like blades.

"Bring it freaks!" I yell and fire a shot into each of them making them all shatter.

I couldn't help but grin as I'm actually having a lot of fun.

"Don't get over excited, Rainbow. Stay focused as you need to be aware of everything around you," Karn tells me through that comms thing.

"I got it!" I reply and turn around only to be face to face with one of those ugly buckers. "BUCK ME!" I yell and squeeze the trigger putting four shots into its head while five more charge at me.

"Concentrate, Rainbow! Stop trying to be a showoff and focus on hitting your targets!" Karn tells me sternly, he's never been this serious towards us since we met him...

"Alright alright!" I reply and aim at the next charging target.

Seven Minutes Later

"Alright, Rainbow. Good work," Karn tells me as I lower the rifle and sigh.

After that freak sneaked up on me I stopped trying to show off and just focused on shooting all the targets, it took a few minutes but I got them all!

"How was that? Did I win?" I ask Karn as the ship lands next to me.

The door opens and Karn walks out. "Well, apart from the start you did well, remember this isn't about looking cool or being the best. It's about protecting those around you and putting down the threat fast and efficiently, showing off can lead to unnecessary deaths or damage," he replies and if I had my ears still they'd be folded against my head.

"Sorry. I was just trying to impress you," I tell him and look down.

"If you want to impress me then be as efficient as possible, make each shot count and put everything you have into the mission," he replies and places a hand on my shoulder. "But for your first time using a rifle I say good job, I'll have weapons prepared for you that would suit your Warframe better later, right now I need to return to building the Dojo as fast as possible," he tells me and hovers back into his ship where I follow behind him.

Chapter 13: Interrogation

POV: Twilight Sparkle / Location: Equus - Equestrian Plains - Inside the Orbiter

I let Spike go to bed early as I want to ask Karn some more questions before I go to bed myself. I make my way to his ship ignoring the stares I'm getting from the townsponies and knock on the ship's door when I finally arrive, the door opens and Ordis's voice answers me.

"Good evening, Miss Sparkle. What brings you here?" he asks me.

I go to reply but the sounds of rapid popping bangs from outside echo over the field. "What's going on?" I ask with wide eyes.

"The Operator is under attack from some infested insects, Miss Twilight." Ordis tells me.

"Insects?" I ask.

"Yes, the ones who invaded your capital city," he replies.

"You mean the changelings?" I ask confused.

"If that is what they are called, I shall add that information to my database... It appears the Operator has finished and captured a large changeling," he says.

A large changeling? The only large changeling I have seen is... Chrysalis! He caught Chrysalis!? A few minutes later, Karn walks in.

"Twilight? Well this is good timing, we're going to the capital. I need you to translate for me," he tells me.

"To Canterlot? What's going on?" I ask.

"I've captured the insects leader. I want to take it to Celestia for interrogation," he replies.

"Why do you want to interrogate Chrysalis?" I ask him.

"Chrysalis? Is that its name?" he asks with a tilt of his faceless head

"Her name, and you haven't answered my question," I reply and retort.

"I want to know what she knows about the technocyte. Those smaller insects were infected with it, and I think this Chrysalis knows why," he tells me.

"Okay, but before you... erm, let her out. We'll need to have a Magic-Nullifier ring placed on her horn," I tell him.

"Alright," he says and looks up. "Ordis, set destination for the capital," he tells Ordis.

"Yes, Operator. Setting course for Canterlot," Ordis replies.

"So what exactly are you hoping to find out from Chrysalis?" I ask as we head down to the second room.

Karn turns from looking at the pod with this strange egg in it to me. "I want to know how the smaller insects..."

"Changelings," I correct him.

"...Changelings, were infected, and if she had a hand in it, and as to why she wasn't infected as well," he tells me.

We stayed silent during the flight to Canterlot while I watch his foundry as he called it working on something. A few minutes later, I feel the ship land and Karn heads to the door while I stay behind entranced by the technology in front of me.

POV: Karn / Location: Equus - Canterlot Castle Gardens

I step out of the Orbiter and come face to face with the white and blue pony, with about ten of the pony guards. I wave him into the ship to talk to Twilight.

He snorts and walks in. I lead him to the foundry while he's looking around wide eyed. The radio scanner picks up some pony chatter which makes him stop and stare at the scanner. He then glares at me.

I just stare at him for a few seconds before nodding to the side towards Twilight. He walks in, still with his glare.

POV: Twilight Sparkle / Location: Equus - Canterlot Castle Gardens - Inside the Orbiter

I look behind me and see Shining walk in. "Shiny!? What are you doing here? I thought Karn was going to get the Princesses," I ask him.

He's just looking at me. "T-Twily... Is that you? You look like a bigger purple Cadence!" he replies after a few seconds and looks me over.

"Oh, right. It's a side effect of Karn's Tenno serum," I tell him. I think I'll withhold the 'living forever' thing out for now.

"*Ehem* Can you ask him to bring Celestia and Luna here please?" Karn asks me.

"Oh that's right. Shiny, Karn needs to see Princess Celestia and Luna right now. He caught Chrysalis just minutes ago and he wants to interrogate her," I tell my brother.

His eyes go wide with surprise. "He what? Where is she?" he asks looking around. "She's not that thing right?" he says pointing at the weird egg.

"Huh? Oh, no she's not. I think he absorbed her into his left hand. I've seen him do it before," I reply.

"He... absorbed her?" he asks with a disbelieving expression.

"Yes. So can you please bring the Princesses here, and a magic-nullifier ring as well?" I ask him.

"Errr, sure. I'll be back in a few minutes," he says and heads to the front of the ship, but not before giving Karn one last look.

"He's going to get the Princesses now," I tell karn.

"Good," he says and walks over to that floating weapon of his. He presses a few buttons below it and it turns on. "I've set my Sentinel to defensive mode, If this Chrysalis attacks, it'll open fire on her," he tells me.

"Is that really necessary? The horn ring will make her powerless," I tell him.

"I'm not taking any chances," he says.

We wait for about seven minutes and the sounds of hooves on metal echo through the ship. I see Karn nodded to somepony to my left as the Princesses walk down the ramp.

"The Captain tells me you have captured Queen Chrysalis," Celestia says and turns to me. Just like Shining her eyes widen and her jaw slightly drops.

"Sister, what art thou gawking at?" Luna asks and looks to where Celestia is looking. Her jaw also drops.

"Hello, Princess Celestia, Princess Luna." I say with a sheepish smile.

"We must say Twilight, thou look rather... Elegant," Luna says.

"Erm, Thanks," I reply as Karn speaks up.

"So where's this horn ring?" he asks.

"Oh right. Princess, do you have the magic-nullifier ring with you?" I ask Celestia.

Her horn glows and a black ring with golden inlays floats in front of her. "I do. So where is Chrysalis?" she asks.

I turn back to Karn. "Karn, the princess is ready when you are." I tell him.

He nodded. "When she's out, tell her not to make any attempts to flee or attack. Unless she wants more holes in her," he tells me and holds out his left hand. It starts to glow orange and little cubes flow out to the floor. After a few seconds a screaming Chrysalis reforms on the floor.

She pats herself over and Celestia quickly places the ring on Chrysalis's horn.

"Chrysalis, don't make any sudden movements, attempt to run, or attack us. Karn's weapon will attack you should you do so," I tell her.

"Wha... What happened to me?" she demands.

"Karn captured you," I simply say.

"Where am I?" she asks looking around.

"You're on his ship in Canterlot. Karn wants to ask you some questions," I tell her. She looks behind her to see Karn towering over her, pointing his small ranged weapon at her. Chrysalis's eyes widen as she recognises the weapon.

"And what does he want to know?" she asks. That's the first time I've heard fear in her voice.

"So, what do you want to ask her," I ask Karn.

"Tell her I want to know how her people got infected," he replies.

POV: Chrysalis / Location: Equus - Canterlot Castle Gardens - Inside the Orbiter

"He wants to know how your drones got infected," Sparkle tells me.

I glare at the monster named Karn. His grip tightens on that weapon of his, making me snort. "We found some sort of crashed metal vessel in the Everfree Forest. Inside was a container with this orange and blue mass inside it. I heard some voices coming from it and opened it. Next thing I knew, it was forcing itself into me and my drones, possessing us." I turn back to Sparkle. "I managed to place a barrier over my brain and mind, but it altered the rest of my body. I managed to gather enough magic to turn myself into a mist and escaped," I tell her.

"So you're the reason why Equus is now in danger!?" Luna yells.

"How was I supposed to know it was some sort of parasite!?" I yell back, that floating thing makes a few clicking noises and points at me.

I flinch back slightly. Sparkle then speaks some strange language and Karn replies.

"If that's true, how many of your drones were infected?" Sparkle asks.

I frown and look down as tears start to fall down my face. "All of them," I say. They may of been drones... but they were still my children.

"And what were you going to do once you got away?" Celestia asks me.

"I... I was going to, ask you for help," I say, barely a whisper.

"Oh? And what makes you think we would help you after you tried to take over Equestria?" Luna asks coldly.

"I had no choice! What would you have done? Let your ponies starve to death or do what you have to do to keep them alive!?" I glare at Luna, tears flowing down my face again. She looks stunned at my outburst. "I was going to come here to ask for your help to free them from this parasite!" I tell them.

"They can't be saved," Sparkle then tells me.

"What do you mean? I got away from it," I reply.

"That's because your magic is stronger than your drones. You managed to protect your mind from it, I take it that it took a lot of magic?" Sparkle asks me.

"Yes..." I say, realising that my drones had no such spells. "Then... there's nothing I can do to save them?" I ask fearfully.

Sparkle looks to Karn and they talk. After a few minutes she looks at me. "I'm sorry, but no. Karn says it's a miracle that you even managed to survive at all," she says with a sad expression.

Then that means only a few of my children are still alive. Those I've sent to spy in Canterlot and other towns, but all of them were females... I kept all of our males back at the hive.

Unless one survived, our race is doomed to extinction.

POV: Karn / Location: Equus - Canterlot Castle Gardens - Inside the Orbiter

"Ask her where the hive is located," I tell Twilight.

Twilight asks her and Chrysalis glares at me and says something. "She wants to know why," Twilight says.

"We're going to wipe it out. With every infected creature within it," I reply. She tells Chrysalis this.

Chrysalis starts to cry with her front legs over her face. She then says something. "She wants to go with you when you do it," Twilight tells me.

"No. I don't trust her since she attacked another nation. What does she want to do there, though?" I ask.

Again they talk. "She wants to see if any males survived in the hive. Because without them, she can't breed anymore," Twilight replies.

So, she needs a male to continue breeding... Then what about that one male I caught in the city? "Twilight, remember when I caught that changeling in the city?" I ask her.

She frowns in thought and then gasps. "That's right! He's still down in the dungeons!" She turns to Chrysalis and tells her that.

Chrysalis gasps and says something to them. She looks back to me with wide eyes and says something. "She's asking if you'll help her reclaim her home."

"No. She'll have to find another place to live. We'll have to burn that hive to the ground as well as the surrounding area," I tell her.

Twilight tells them that and Chrysalis looks defeated.

Twilight looks back to me. "Now what do we do?"

Chapter 14: Plans

POV: Celestia / Location: Equus - Canterlot Castle Garden - Inside the Orbiter

Twilight and Karn are talking to each other while Chrysalis is sobbing on the floor. I then look to Luna with conflicting emotions. "What shall we do? She does need to be punished for her attack on Canterlot," I ask her.

"We believe time in the dungeons will suffice until a new home can be found for her," Luna replies.

I look back to Chrysalis and sigh. "I agree. It will also allow us to protect them until they can relocate," I say.

POV: Karn / Location: Equus - Canterlot Castle Garden - Inside the Orbiter

With the amount of changelings I saw during their invasion, plus the creatures in that forest the technocyte must have a large swarm gathered now. I'm going to need more Tenno to fight this.

As much as I don't trust the guard to be loyal to the Tenno, I've got no choice. "Twilight. We're going to need more Tenno to destroy that hive. Do you know anyone else we can trust?" I ask her.

She hums in thought, "My brother might be a good choice. He's the Captain of the royal guard," she suggests.

"Have I met him yet?" I ask.

"Uh-huh, he's standing right behind the Princesses," she tells me.

I look behind the Princesses to see the white unicorn with the blue mane and tail glaring at Chrysalis, wait... He's her brother? "I get the feeling he doesn't like me," I tell Twilight with a sarcastic tone.

"He's just being protective of Equestria, you're a powerful alien with advanced technology. He's just worried you might turn on us," she replies.

"So, do you think he would leave his position as an Equestrian guard and follow the laws of the Tenno?" I ask her.

Twilight grins sheepishly. "Maybe?" she says.

I just sigh. "Just ask him then, see what he thinks about it," I tell her.

POV: Shining Armour / Location: Equus - Canterlot Castle Garden- Inside the Orbiter

I'm glaring at Chrysalis, who is just quietly crying on the floor. "Shiny. Karn wants to know what you think about becoming a Tenno," I blink and look at Twily.

"Huh?" I just say confused.

"I said, Karn wants to know what you think about becoming a Tenno," I stare wide eyed at her and then at Karn. He just has his arms crossed while looking at me.

I look back to Twily. "I, errr. I'm not sure. It would mean I can protect Equestria better... but what's the catch?" I reply and ask.

They talk for awhile again while Chrysalis looks intrigued. Twily turns back to me. "It would mean you would fight to protect those that need protecting and follow the laws of the Tenno," she tells me.

I frown at that last part. "Would that mean I would have to forsake the Princesses orders?" I ask.

They talk again. "Yes, you would receive orders from their leader, Lotus. Or from the leader of the clan you are a part of, In this case, that would be Karn," she tells me.

I stare at Karn and after a short pause I ask. "And what are these laws?"

Luna gasps while Twily talks to Karn. "Captain. Thou can not possibly be considering this? If what she said is true, it would mean we have lost the Elements to him," she says.

Twily speaks before I could. "That's not true. We can still use the Elements to defend Equestria against any evil that would attack it," she says to Luna. "As for the laws. Law one, Tenno never attack a nation unprovoked. Law two, Tenno will defend a peaceful or allied nation from any hostile invaders. Like he did against the changelings," she says which Chrysalis snorts at with a frown.

"Law three. If any Tenno technology or knowledge is taken by anypony not a Tenno, you will take it back by force and eliminate the ones responsible... and law four, betray the Tenno... and your life is forfeit," she says seriously.

I look from Twily to Karn, then to the Princesses. I then look down in thought. If I become one of them, I can prevent another invasion on Equestria from happening, but I would also no longer take my orders from the Princesses.

"Captain," Celestia says, getting my attention. "If you wish to join them, then you may," she tells me. I just gape at her, as does Luna. She wants me to join them? B-But what about the guard? What about the threat of Gryphonia? And if I do join, I'll have to take orders from an alien of whom we know nothing about!

But Twily thinks I'd be a good choice to join them... What do I do?

POV: Karn / Location: Equus - Canterlot Castle Garden- Inside the Orbiter

I look at Twilight's brother with doubt in my mind, who looks like he's conflicted.

While I wait for his answer, I head over to the kubrow pod and check on the egg. So far its incubating perfectly. Seems like it only needs a day or two at least.

"Karn?" I hear Twilight say so I turn and look at her. "Shiny says he would like to think about it," she tells me. I look from her to 'Shiny' and he's frowning at me with uncertainty.

"Then tell him he has three days to decide, do you know anyone else who would be good?" I ask her.

She frowns for awhile, thinking. "I'm not really sure, maybe the Wonderbolts?" she suggests.

"The who?" I ask.

"The Wonderbolts, they're the best team of flyers in Equestria. They're also the main unit of the Equestrian air force," she replies.

"So basicly just elites of the guard then?" I ask with a raised eye brow.

"Errrr, I guess so," she says. That makes me frown, I really don't want to involve the guard, I just can't trust them yet.

"No, I can't trust the guard yet. I'm giving 'Shiny' a chance because he's your brother and you vouch for him... I'm just going to have to make due with who I've got for now. Just means I'll have to train you all harder then," I tell her.

"I guess so, but what about other ponies in Ponyville? Maybe they could help us?" Twilight suggests.

"Perhaps, so what's going to happen to her?" I reply and then point to chrysalis.

Twilight turns and talks to the others which got the bug's attention. After a few minutes Chrysalis's head droops as some guards try to enter my Orbiter. I growl and storm past the Princesses and push the guards out forcefully. No one enters my ship without my permission.

They trip over themselves and glare up at me. "Karn!? What are you doing?" Twilight asks me with wide eyes.

"No one comes on board without me saying so, I don't need some curious ponies poking and prodding things they don't understand," I tell her.

"Oh..." she says and tells the others that. Celestia nodded to me and talks to shining, he salutes and a bubble appears around Chrysalis who doesn't resist. He walks past me and out the Orbiter with Chrysalis floating behind him.

After watching them leave, I walk back to the Princesses and Twilight. "Please tell the princesses they can leave now. I have to get back to the Dojo and finish its construction quickly," I tell Twilight.

"Okay," she replies and tells the Princesses. They nodded to me and I guess saying goodbye to Twilight.

They then leave and the door closes behind them. "Ordis, take us back to the Dojo and get as many construction drones made as you can. We'll need to work overtime to get the Dojo made quickly," I tell him.

"Yes, Operator."

As we take off, I head over to the foundry and see Ordis begin fabricating the drones. I then turn to Twilight. "Once we land you're free to head home," I tell her.

"Okay, I need to make sure Spike has everything set up so he can run the Library without me," she replies.

After a few minutes we land at the plains and I head out with a few newly made drones, with more on the way.

POV: Time Skip, Five Hours / Location: Equus

Karn's work on the Dojo with the drones progressed nicely. The Tenno lab is completed and is ready for making more frames. He even started work on the duelling room. The extractors continued to bring back more materials from the forest for construction as well.

Rainbow Dash has been practising her stunts and tricks while waiting for Karn to finish his work, with her new physique she's faster, stronger, and doesn't get tired as quickly now. Once she finished her practise, she also went to collect her muffins from Sugarcube Corner when it was four in the afternoon.

After she ate her muffins, Rainbow Dash went back to her home for a nice afternoon nap.

Applejack and Big Mac have been keeping an eye on their new extractors. During the time they got them, they've cleared half of the northern orchard in just over five hours. It would have taken them a few days to clear it between the two of them.

Granny Smith woke up and almost had a heart attack at the sight of the siblings, but Applejack managed to calm her down and explain the situation.

Granny wasn't exactly happy about it but accepted the reasons why. Applebloom still tried to convince Applejack to let her and the other CMC join them as well... Applejack and Big Mac had none of it though.

Pinkie Pie went back to Sugarcube Corner and continued her work in the bakery. To say the Cakes were surprised is an understatement. Mrs Cake fainted upon seeing Pinkie, and Mr Cake had to look up to look her in the eyes. Despite the physical change, she was still her bubbly self and went back to baking cupcakes.

Fluttershy went back to her cottage and was greeted by Nightshade and Angel. Angel just gawked at her, if he had trouble looking her in the face before, now he had to lean back just to look her in the eyes. Fluttershy was now Nightshade's size.

She fed her animal friends and changed the bandages on an injured beaver. She then fed Nightshade a nicely cooked fish and Angel got a tossed salad with a cherry on top.

Angel's first meeting with Nightshade was not the best first impression. Angel threw a small cup he was drinking from at Nightshade when he walked through the door, but Nightshade just took it in stride as the cup bounced off his chest. He just stared at the bunny before curling up on Fluttershy's couch.

After all the animals were fed, Fluttershy headed to the forest's edge to check on Harry, a bear who lives near the tree line with Nightshade tagging along to protect her. She arrived to find Harry nowhere to be seen so she called out to him, but got no reply. She just hoped he was okay.

She returned to her cottage and tended to her garden.

Rarity returned to her boutique and went back to a dress she was making for the next Grand Galloping Gala that was coming up in the next three months... until she realised it would no longer fit her. She screamed at the horror of it all and had a dramatic wail.

Sweetie Belle came home earlier and was in her room colouring in a picture book when she heard her sister's whining. She went down stairs to see why Rarity was whining, but was stunned when she saw her new size.

They talked for awhile as Rarity explained why she looked different. Sweetie wanted to join just so she could look like Rarity as well, but Rarity denied her. Sweetie awww'd and went back to her room.

Rarity went back to her sewing room and retook her measurements. Once done she began work on a new dress.

Twilight left the Orbiter and went home to begin preparing Spike to look after the Library for when she goes to train with Karn.

After the long hours of preparation, Spike cooks dinner and after that went for a nap while Twilight was fiddling with the datapad Karn gave her now that she could read Orokin, but she discovered it only contained a program to teach Orokin. Still, she glossed through it just to find out what the datapad could do before going back to her studying.

As the day draws to a close, the ponies settle in for the night while Karn continues to work on the Dojo.

POV: Third Person / Location: Equus - Gryphonia Kingdom Castle

In a dark candle lit stone castle, in the capital of the Gryphonia Kingdom, sat a large scarred black furred, grey feathered male gryphon with chain-mail armour, a manticore pelt cape on his back, and an iron crown on his head. His beak is also slightly chipped on the left side.

"So... how did the Equestrians react to our little... surprise?" the scarred gryphon asks.

"Oh, they were livid, especially their Captain of the Guard. Our spy says the Captain's outrage could be heard a mile away, hehehe," replies a dark brown gryphon with dirty white feathers.

The black gryphon then grins cruelly. "Good. How goes the training of the army? How long till it can march?" he asks.

"Not much longer my King, four months maybe... but there's a problem," the brown gryphon replies.

"Oh? And what problem is that?" the King asks with an un-amused tone.

"Some strange tall black and red creature fell from the sky in some strange metal vessel. It slaughtered the changelings invading Canterlot and chased off their Queen all by itself. Our spies reported it being resistant to even pony magic," the brown gryphon says seriously.

"Ah yes, the strange two legged monster," the king says while scratching his neck. "It matters not. It will fall to our might just as Equestria shall... but just in case keep an eye on it, I don't want any complications," the King tells the brown gryphon.

"Yes, my King. Shall I send our best spy?" he asks.

"Hmmmmm. Yes, and tell him not to get too close," the king replies.

The brown gryphon bows to the black gryphon and heads out the room. The King leans back on his throne with a cruel smile on his face. "Soon, Equestria shall fall to the might of the gryphons, and once they do, the rest of the world will follow," he says while leaning back into his throne grinning viciously.

A tan female gryphon with white feathers with purple tips and markings around her eyes stares wide eyed at the King through a gap in a side door. She slowly slips away and heads for the Castle roof.

She opens a set of doors to a balcony and takes off towards Equestria, unaware of a cloaked gryphon following behind her.

Chapter 15: Dreams

Author's Note

I've gone through the story again and rewritten some of it to incorporate the new Warframe Titania which Fluttershy will have.

Also fixed a LOT of errors I found along the way...

Chapter 15: Dreams

During the night while the newest Tenno were asleep, they experienced their first lucid dreams.

POV: Twilight Sparkle/ Location: Equus - Twilight's Mind

I jolt upright and look around, I know I went to bed yet here I am in some kind of vast Library or Archive. Rows upon rows of books and scrolls rest on the shelves and I start to drool at the accumulated wealth of knowledge this place could contain.

I quickly run over to a shelf and levitate a book out and go wide eyed at what's on the cover. 'Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns, first year' is the title and I open it to see events of my life in the first year I was there written down on the pages.

Looking around at the books an idea comes to mind. 'Are these all my memories?' I wonder to myself and pick up another book next to it about my second year at the school.

I levitate them both over to a single table and cushion in what appears to be the middle of my own Memory Archive and start reading and remembering my first year at school.

POV: Applejack / Location: Equus - Applejack's Mind

I open my eyes and see a large clearing surrounded by hundreds of apple trees. I take a deep breath and smell the aroma of apples all around me.

I look down to my legs and see that they're still longer. Wait... Didn't Rainbow say that I would be awake in my dreams now? And that anything ah think of would happen?

My stomach rumbles, so I close my eyes and imagine a table with an assortment of apple vittles on it. I open my eyes to see a long square table with apple pies, fritters, and many more tasty food. I start to drool slightly as I trot over to it and take a piece of pie. I take a bite out of it and sigh.

It tastes just like Granny's apple pie! I finish the rest of the slice and take another one.

Ten Minutes Later

I sit back on my haunches and rub my belly in satisfaction. That was the best brunch I think I've ever had. I look around and notice the table is now gone. I shrug, not really caring why.

I just sit here for a few minutes... What do I do now? Karn did tell us to get used to our new bodies. I remember I was able to scratch my back and I try to do it again. It feels weird, but I'm able to bend my foreleg easily and touch the middle of my back with no discomfort.

I shiver slightly at the odd feeling. I remember seeing my brother standing easily on his hind-legs and swing that axe around. I rear up and stand upright on my hind-legs. I thought I would lose my balance, but I'm surprised that I feel just fine.

I rotate my waist left to right. I even managed to lean back without falling! I might as well get some practice with that whip thingy Karn showed me. I imagine it in my right hoof and I hold it out. Karn said he'd try to make it work to my thoughts. So I think about it extending as if I pushed that button on the handle.

The head of the whip falls to the grass. I imagine it retracting and it does so. I bring my right hoof behind my head and swing the whip forward and extend the head out. A loud 'thwip' echoes throughout the orchard as the head hits the grass with a shower of sparks. I retract the head as I pull the handle back up.

This actually feels mighty easy. I decide to give this here thing a test and imagine those changelings that almost got my sister and her friends.

Three appear ahead of me, covered in those disgusting orange and blue lumps. I pull the whip horizontally behind me to my right, and then swing it forward and extend the head. It impacts the third changelings head and discharges.

The changeling falls to the floor as the side of its head caves in, I glare at the other two as I retract the whip. They both screech and then charge at me.

I pull the whip back and get ready to fight.

POV: Rarity / Location: Equus - Rarity's Mind

I yawn as I open my eyes, then gasp as I notice I am laying on the softest silk I have ever felt before. I look around and notice the red silk goes on as far as I can see. I stand up and stretch my legs.

I then sit on my haunches, wondering what to do now. Rainbow did mention she could control her dreams now. I remember that the Gala is only a few months away and I could use this time to design us some new dresses for it. I Imagine a stack of papers and pencils on a table in front of me. They fade in and I reach out with my magic.

I lift up a few sheets of paper and pencils around me and begin drawing them up.

Three Hours Later

I put down the pencils and look at the new designs. They look absolutely marvellous! I even designed a suit for Karn. I place the stack of designs onto the table and leave them there. I just hope I can remember them when I wake up so I can draw them on to real paper.

Now with that done I imagine those throwing knives that I practised with earlier. I lift one close to my face so I can look at them in detail. They're beautifully crafted with a stylish pattern along the blade.

I guess I'll keep practising with these. I imagine a set of targets like the ones Applejack used at her rodeos. Once they appear, I levitate five knives in front of me and then launch them at the targets. Three hit the middle dot and two hit the second ring.

I'll continue to practice until I wake up I guess.

POV: Fluttershy / Location: Equus - Fluttershy's Mind

I feel something land on my head as I open my eyes. I hear birds chirping as I look around. I'm in a large meadow with flowers and hills in every direction, even a small lake just to my right. There's a few trees around me with small animals in them. I look to my left to see some bunnies hopping towards me. I smile as I pick one up and nuzzle it.

"Hello, What's your name?" I ask it. It just tilts its head and stares at me. "Oh, well, you don't have to tell me if you don't want to," I say and put it down. It hops away and I look around again. I see deer, birds, bears, mice and other woodland creatures wandering around the meadow.

I stand up and start walking towards some sort of egg on the small hill ahead of me. Once I'm next to it, I notice it's the same egg that is in Karn's ship. I place my hoof on the egg and can feel a warmth flowing from it, which for some reason makes me smile.

"Hello, little one. How are you feeling?" I softly say to it. It wiggles in reply a little. I giggle and curl up next to it. "That's good. We should come up with a name for you," I say.

After a few minutes of thinking, I have the perfect name. "I know, how about... Cobalt?" I say to the egg. I'm not sure why, but that name just seems perfect for her... Her? How do I know it's a female? My thoughts are interrupted as the egg bounces a little. I just smile and nuzzle the egg. I notice some of the other animals slowly approach us.

My smile widens as I look around. This place is like a paradise.

POV: Pinkie Pie / Location: Equus - Pinkie Pie's Mind

I look at all the fun looking things around me. I'm standing on what looks chocolate grass! I see trees that look like they're made of candy canes with cotton candy leaves and rocks that look like jaw breakers. And is that a chocolate milkshake fountain!? I squeal and gallop over to the fountain. I dunk my head into it and start drinking the chocolatey goodness.

I pull my head out with a deep satisfied sigh. "Oh wowie! That was super duper! I wonder what else there is here?" I say to myself. I look around again and spot the BIGGEST cupcake I have ever seen! Its just as big as Sugarcube Corner!

I run towards it and start taking bites out of its side. I keep going and start digging a tunnel through it. I come out of the other side with a big smile on my face.

I look to my left and see another me. but I, er... I mean she has a darker coat and mane than me and looks super unhappy.

"Hello, Pinkie. It's been a while since we last seen each other hasn't it," she says in an emotionless tone.

I just stare at her with confusion for awhile. Then I remember. She first appeared when I got angry at my friends thinking they didn't like me or my parties anymore. I shut myself away and she took over.

But Twilight and the others helped me come back to my normal happy self. I thought I got rid of my pouty meanie side. B-But why is she here now? I'm not upset or angry.

"Ah, so you do remember me," she says as a large spiky hammer appears in her hooves.

She growls and swings it at me, making me yelp and quickly duck under it. I imagine that hammer Karn gave me and block her next swing. "Wait, why are you doing this?" I ask her.

"What? You don't remember? You locked me away in the darkest parts of your mind and left me there alone for months! Do you have any idea what it's like to be left alone for so long with no one to talk to or nothing to do for that long!" she replies angrily.

She pushes me away and leaps into the air and brings her hammer down towards me. I jump to the left and avoid the blow where the ground cracks where she landed.

I look towards her sadly but my thoughts are broken by somepony speaking. "We do," a mare's voice says.

I turn to see Princess Luna standing there. "Hello, Miss Pie. We're sorry for intruding, but it seemed thou were having a nightmare. Are thee alright?" she asks me while giving the other me a sympathetic look.

"You stay out of this! This is between me and her!" the other me says to Luna.

"And what will you do once you've beaten Miss Pie?" Luna asks her.

"I... I don't know, but I'm gonna make her sorry for casting me away like she did!" she growls and lunges at me, only to be stopped by Princess Luna's magic. "LET ME GO!" the other me yells as her hammer fades away.

Luna walks over and stands beside me. "We think not." Luna's horn glows but her expression turns to shock. "What? How art thou real!?" Luna asks her in surprise.

I start to tear up and slowly walk towards the other me. She growls at me as she struggles in Luna's magical grip, but she gasps as I hold her in a tight hug. "I'm sorry," I tell her.

She stops struggling for a moment. "No you're not," she says quietly.

I look her in the eyes as tears fall down my cheeks. "Yes I am. I thought you were just a meanie pants when you appeared. I was scared of what I had become and I guess I pushed you away in fear of becoming like that again," I tell her. Hugging her a bit tighter. "But if you forgive me, I hope we can be friends," I say.

She sniffs a few times before quietly sobbing on my shoulder. Luna drops her magic and the other me hugs me back. I notice her fur and tail's colour brighten slightly.

"Do you mean it?" she asks.

"Uh-huh," I reply and step back a bit. "Cross my heart hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye," I say with a smile.

She smiles back and her hair slightly curls at the ends but not by much.

"So! Do you wanna play a game?" I ask her.

Luna walks up to me. "Are thee sure about this, Miss Pie? Sharing thine mind with another?" she asks me.

I look back to the other me and smile again before turning back to Luna. "Yup!" I reply.

Luna gives one last look to the other me and smiles. "Very well then. We shall take our leave," she says and turns to the other me. "But should thou harm Miss. Pie in anyway. We shall make thee regret it," she says coldly.

The other me nodded repeatedly with wide eyes while hiding behind me. Princess Luna then smiles and leaves through a door with stars in it.

With her gone, I turn back to the other me. "Hi, my name's Pinkie Pie. What's yours?" I ask her and hold out my right hoof.

"Pinkamena," she says with a small smile and shakes my hoof with hers.

"Come on! let's go find something fun to do!" I say and start looking for something fun to do with my new friend.

POV: Big Macintosh / Location: Equus - Big Mac's Mind

I open my eyes to a large apple orchard all around me, with a red barn and farm house to my right. I close my eyes and take a deep breath as the scent of the orchard fills the air. I look around to see if there's anything else. I see a small crop field to the left of the barn with a plough next to a fence around the field.

I trot over to the barn and look inside. There's hay bales stacked up in the back. Tools line the left wall with hammers, rakes, saws, another plough and boxes of nails.

I walk over to a hay pile and lay down on my back. I place a straw of hay between my teeth and just relax till morning.

Chapter 16: Suiting Up

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

Chapter 17: Hunted

POV: Karn / Location: Equus - Everfree Forest

I'm following the waypoint marking the Extractors location with Twilight and Rainbow following behind me. Twilight has her Dera in her hands, while Rainbow is flying above us with the Imperator.

"Hostile to the right!" Rainbow shouts out and a red marker appears. She aims her Imperator at an infested changeling and fires. Ten shots rip it apart. "More on the left!" Twilight yells and three markers show up. I aim for the left one while Twilight opens fire on the right one. Rainbow then launches a missile at the middle changeling.

All three of them are killed from our attacks. "We need to move now. Whoever is taking the Extractor is sure to have heard that," I tell them.

I don't wait for an answer and continue on with both of them hot on my heels, though Twilight is stumbling now and then. Two more infested changelings attack us along the way where Twilight shoots the right one while Rainbow stabs the other with her left Venka. I wait for them to finish and then keep moving.

We reach a clearing where I see a small crater with drag marks leaving it. We follow the marks quietly for a few minutes and come across three felines with bird like heads and wings. These must be those gryphons Twilight mentioned.

POV: Twilight Sparkle / Location: Equus - Everfree Forest

We watch them as they drag it close to a cart. I can faintly hear what they're saying.

"What do you think this is? I know the King wants whatever that strange creature has, but what can we do with it? We don't even know what it does," the male black furred gryphon says.

"You don't need to worry about that, our job is just to get the stuff. The bird brains back home can figure out how it works. We need to get moving now! Whatever made that noise is getting closer, and I don't want to meet it!" the female white furred gryphon replies. "Jango, Lift this clucking thing onto the damn wagon!" she says to a large grey furred gryphon who looks as dense as a brick.

"Errr, okay boss," he replies and grips the Extractor's remains. He hefts it up and dumps it on the wagon.

"Be careful with that! We don't need it busted up any more than it already is!" the white gryphon scolds this, Jango.

"Oops, sorry boss," he says slowly.

"I want you to translate for me, Twilight. Repeat exactly what I say. Rainbow, you tell me what they say. Got it?" Karn tells us. Each of the gryphons are tagged with a red marker.

"Okay," I reply.

"Sure!" Rainbow says with a salute.

"Good, let's go!" Karn says and steps out with his weapon aimed at them.

"Put your hands above your heads and step away from the wagon!" Karn says, which I translate.

"OH CLUCK! It's the monster! And there's two more!" the black furred gryphon yells in panic.

"Jango! ATTACK!" the white one orders the big grey gryphon.

"Errr, Okay!" he replies and pulls out a large iron mace. He charges at Karn who just shoots at him. Blood and brain matter splatters over the ground as a single shot rips through his forehead. He stumbles for a few steps before falling face first on the dirt, unmoving.

The other two stare wide eyed at their colleague's corpse. Even I cringe slightly at the sight.

"You two will surrender yourselves to us. Or you too will suffer the same fate as your friend here," Karn says and I translate.

"Cluck that!" the white one says and throws a small ball at her feet. A blast of smoke blinds us, but a red outline marks the gryphon's location.

"HEY! DON'T LEAVE ME HERE!" the black gryphon yells at the white one.

Karn lunges forward and pins the black Gryphon under his hoof, er, foot. He holds his left hand over the confused gryphon who then starts screaming as he glows orange. Small cubes then break away into Karn's palm. After a few seconds the gryphon is gone.

"You two protect the wagon. Take it back to the Dojo if you can," Karn tells us.

"What about you?" Rainbow asks.

Karn then looks at the fleeing outline of the female Gryphon. "I'm going hunting," he replies as Rainbow's Archwings detach from her and connect onto Karn before he flies off after the gryphon.

"Come on, Dash. Let's get this back to the Dojo," I tell her.

"Aw come on! I hate not being able to fly!" she complains as she starts pulling the cart easily with her left hand.

POV: Karn / Location: Equus - Everfree Forest

I take off in pursuit of the fleeing gryphon. It looks back and spots me over the canopy where I hear it yelp as it tries to speed up.

I pick up speed and try to tackle it, but it takes a dive below the canopy. I quickly stop and look down. I tuck in my wings and drop down to the ground. The marker showing its location faded away once line of sight was broken.

The sounds of twigs snapping gets my attention and I see the gryphon running away on foot. I give chase and follow it as I weave through the trees. It drops something with a burning fuse, so I jump behind a tree.

A small explosion peppers the surrounding trees with shrapnel. Chipping away at the bark on the trees.

I swing my Soma to aim where I last saw the gryphon, only to find it's gone. I turn the light on my helmet on and look around. I spot a set of tracks leaving the area. I wonder why it ain't flying away... Did it injure itself diving into the canopy?

I follow the tracks while keeping my weapon aimed in front of me. I stop in front of a cave where the tracks end.

I enter the cave and look around. I notice disturbances in the moss with small specks of blood. I follow the trail and come across the gryphon staring at me wide eyed at a dead end. It squawks, then pulls out a primitive looking pistol.

It pulls the trigger and a little hammer on the side flips down. A large plume of smoke comes out of the barrel as a small metal ball bounces off my Warframe... My shields didn't even take any damage.

I put my Soma onto my back and pull out the large Veritux from the left wing.

The blade extends slightly once its out and the gryphon's eyes widen at the sheer size of it.

"Rainbow, Twilight. I've found the gryphon. How's it going on your end?" I ask them through the comms.

I hear gunfire from Twilights Dera and Rainbow's Imperator as she replies. "Not too bad! Some infected changelings are attacking but not that many!"

POV: Rainbow Dash / Location: Equus - Everfree Forest

I jump back and shoot the changeling attacking me in the head. I look to the right and see four more charging at me. I yelp as they all jump at me and in that moment of panic I feel a power course through me, I push that power out below me and I jump above the trees where another burst of power fills me as I launch myself back down without thinking, landing on two of the changelings killing them and sending the other two off their hooves.

"Okay. Once you're both done I need Rainbow over here, I need a translator. Twilight, do you think you can take back the cart on your own?" Karn asks.

I look to Twilight and watch as she hits a changeling with that electric stick of hers. It shakes from the current coursing through it and drops to the floor unmoving. She then shoots another one with that long ranged weapon of hers.

"Yes, I believe so," Twilight replies.

"You sure you can handle this on your own, Twi?" I ask her.

"Uh-huh, I'm sure I can handle this. It's not too far from the Dojo, and the map function will make getting back a lot faster," she replies.

"Alright, if you're sure," I say. "Good luck, Twi. See ya back at the Dojo!" I tell her and take off through the Forest at a fast sprint.

POV: Karn / Location: Equus - Everfree Forest - Inside the Cave

I hold my sword to my right to prevent the gryphon from leaving. I start hearing footsteps and see the Zephyr frame approaching on my minimap. A few seconds later, she walks in with her helmet light on.

"I'm here," she says.

"I want you to translate for me," I tell her.

"Okay," she replies.

"First question, who are you?" I say looking at the gryphon.

Rainbow translates it and the gryphon squawks angrily at her.

"She ain't gonna tell us anything," Rainbow tells me.

So it's a female. "Oh really?" I draw my Heat Dagger in a reverse grip with my left hand. The cave lights up slightly from the dagger's glow. I walk up to the gryphon and hold the dagger's tip near her right eye. "Feel like telling me now?" I ask again.

Rainbow speaks to it and the gryphon replies in a shaky tone.

"She won't tell us because the gryphon King will kill her if she does," Rainbow tells me.

"Tell her, I'll do much worse than that," I say.

Rainbow tells the gryphon that. She replies to Rainbow with a slight frown.

"She says, how could you do any worse than killing me?" Rainbow says.

To prove my point. I put my Veritux away and grip her throat with my right hand. I then slowly drag my Heat Dagger across her forehead. The sound of feathers and skin sizzling fill the cave as she screams.

"Rainbow. Tell her, I can do much worse than kill you. I could cut your wings off, as well as your arms and legs, then leave you in the forest for the wild beasts to have you. Or I can just let the Technocyte Virus claim you. I take it you've seen it in this forest?" I say.

They talk and her eyes widen.

"She said, nopony could be that cruel. And what virus?" Rainbow tells me.

I'm getting frustrated as we don't have time for this. I sheath my dagger and hold my left palm at her face. She screams as I digitise her into my prison hard-drive.

"We'll continue this later. For now let's meet up with Twilight and get back to the Dojo," I tell her.

"Okay," she replies. We leave the cave where I pick up Rainbow under her arms and fly to Twilight's position.

We land next to the wagon that she was dragging behind her. "Ah, you're back. Did it go well?" Twilight asks as my Archwings reattach onto Rainbow.

"Not really. I just captured her for interrogation at the Dojo," I reply.

"Oh, okay. Well, as for me. I've had no trouble so far. It seems as if the virus is keeping its distance..." she says trailing off at the end. That is strange, the virus is relentless. It doesn't give up until their prey is caught. I look around, trying to see if any of them are close by, I see nothing.

"Rainbow, cover Twilight's right side and behind us. I'll cover the left and front. Twilight, keep pulling the wagon. We're getting out of here, now," I tell them.

"Okay!" Twilight replies. "Roger that!" Rainbow says with a salute. I just roll my eyes at her antics.

We travel through the forest. Following the waypoint markers. A few more infested changelings and animals attack us along the way. I kill four changelings and a strange lizard like creature with a birds head, which Twilight tells me is called a Cockatrice. Rainbow kills three changelings and two timberwolves.

After a good ten minutes or so of jogging, we exit the tree line.

"Now then, Let's find out what they were doing here," I say as we walk up to the Dojo.

Chapter 18: Resolve

POV: Shining Armour / Location: Equus - Equestria - Canterlot Castle

I slowly walk back to mine and Cadence's room in the royal wing of the castle. My mind has been busy thinking of the offer Twily told me. Do I stay Captain of the Guard, or be one of these Tenno like Twilight and her friends? As a Tenno, I'd be able to protect Equestria even better than I currently can, but that will also mean I'll have to take orders from Karn and this... Lotus, and even Celestia is allowing me to join them?

I reach our room and open the door with my magic. I see Cadence laying on the large bed with her left wing in a cast. She looks up from her book and smiles at me.

"Welcome back, honey. You alright?" she asks with a concerned expression.

I can only smile at her. Just her voice alone is enough to make my day better. "Yeah, just a lot on my mind," I reply.

"You want to tell me about it?" she asks as she puts her book on the night stand.

I sit on the bed as I unbutton my uniform and place it in my night stand folded up. "I've been given a choice. Stay as Captain of the Guard, or become something called a Tenno. Like Twily has," I tell her. I've told her about Twilight and the others after I placed Chrysalis in the dungeons. I just left out the Tenno offer part of it though.

"So... You've been asked to join them then?" she asks me.

"Yes, but if I do, I won't be taking orders from the Princesses anymore. What do you think I should do?" I ask her in return.

She leans over and wraps her forelegs around my barrel and hugs me. "It's up to you to decide, but no matter the choice, I'll always love you," she says making me smile. "But if becoming one of these Tenno means you can protect everypony better, then what's really holding you back?" she asks.

She's right. What is holding me back? The guard failed at countering the changelings. Yet, Karn alone managed to push them back. And now a Virus is threatening Equestria and the world, and we're powerless to fight it. I originally joined the guard to protect Equestria. I'll still be able to do it as a Tenno, even if I have to take orders from Karn.

"Thanks, Cadence. I think I know what to do now," I tell her and give her a kiss.

She giggles and leans back, pulling me with her. We both cuddle together and fall asleep.

POV: Karn / Location: Equus - Equestrian Plains - Outside the Liset

"Karn? What are you going to do with the gryphons?" Twilight asks me. The sun has already set with the moon rising.

"Simple, I'm going to make them tell me what I want to know. Rainbow, I'll need you to translate for me. Twilight, while I'm interrogating them, can you teach Ordis your language? It would be good to know, so he can understand any signals he picks up," I tell her. I notice the others still practising with their weapons as my Archwings detach and fly over to the Orbiter.

"Sure, I'd be happy to teach Ordis, but how are you going to get the gryphons to talk? They didn't seem very talkative," she asks.

"By using any means necessary," I simply reply.

I walk into the Orbiter to get a few things for the interrogation. I activate my sentinel, then head over to the arsenal and get a Bolto Pistol and a single Ripka.

The Bolto Pistol fires large nail like bolts that can pin a target to another surface.

"What's that?" Rainbow asks and points to the Ripka plate.

I attach it to the back of my Left hand and extend it. It revs up as the small blades and chains spin around it. Rainbow and Twilight jump with a yelp from the sudden noise.

"Whoa! That looks so cool!... What does it do?" Rainbow asks.

"The Ripka is a hand mounted miniature chainsaw that functions just like the Venka Claws as they can extend and retract. It was originally used to cut up scrap metal or cutting through overgrown vegetation," I reply.

Twilight gasps. "You're not planing on using it on the gryphons are you?" she asks with trepidation.

I just look at the Ripka for a few seconds. I then look to Twilight. "If it gets me the info I need, then I will," I say coldly. I hear her whimper slightly. Probably thinking of the results of using it on them. I then fabricate a pack of Healing Canisters so the gryphons wont die from their injuries.

"Twilight. If you want, go home and get some rest. Tomorrow we'll start on everyone's ability training. Or you can start teaching Ordis your language right now," I ask her.

She looks from me to the Orbiter then back to me. "There's nothing I can say to change your mind is there," she asks in a sad tone.

"I'm afraid not, Twilight. I need to know why they were here, who they work for, and what they planned to do with the Extractor," I reply.

She sighs. "Alright, but please... Don't kill them," she asks me.

"Don't worry, I won't. The guards can have them once I'm done. I'll even heal any injuries they might get," I tell her.

"Okay... I'm still wide awake so I'll teach Ordis some Equestrian then," she replies.

"Alright. Ordis, you ready to learn?" I ask him.

"Yes, Operator," he replies.

With that, me and Rainbow leave the Orbiter and head into the Dojo. "So how are we going to do this?" Rainbow asks.

"I'll bring them both out in the Dojo entrance so they can't escape. The doors only open for those registered into the oracle," I reply. "I'll cover the white gryphon and you cover the black one," I tell her.

"Sure," she says as she extends her Venkas.

"Once they're out, I want you to tell them that if they try to escape, I won't kill them, but I will cut off their legs," I tell her. I hear her gulp as she nodded. "Alright then, here we go," I say and hold out my left hand.

I first reform the black gryphon, where it screams once its fully reformed. Rainbow holds her Venkas by its throat which makes him stop moving in fear. I then reform the white one who also screams.

I grip the Bolto with my right hand and point it at the white one. "Tell them," I say to Rainbow.

POV: Rainbow Dash / Location: Equus - Equestrian Plains - Dojo

"Listen up you two. If you try to escape, Karn here won't kill you, but he will cut off your legs just to stop you," I tell them. Karn then extends that saw blade thing and revs it up, scaring the horse-apples out of the two gryphons. The black gryphon just rapidly nodded while the white gryphon just growled at us.

"Ask them what their names are," Karn tells me.

"Karn want's to know what your names are," I tell the two Gryphons.

"I ain't gonna tell yo..." the white Gryphon says but is cut off by the black one.

"Lamar! My name is Lamar!" the black Gryphon quickly tells me. He's shaking slightly with my claws at his throat

"SHUT UP YA FEATHER HEAD!" the white one yells. Karn's Sentinel makes some noise and points at her. She stops yelling and frowns at Karn.

"The black one says his name is Lamar, but she wont tell us her name," I tell Karn.

Karn looks from me to the white gryphon and points his weapon at her left hind-leg. He pulls the trigger and a large metal crossbow-like bolt with a glowing white tip gets stuck in her thigh. She screams and grasps her leg in pain. Lamar just whimpers.

She breathes heavily for a few seconds then speaks up. "L-Lianna. M-My name's L-Lianna," she says shakily. She tries to lift her leg only to find it pinned to the floor by the bolt. "G-Get this thing outta me!" she yells.

"Her name is Lianna, and she wants that bolt out of her leg," I tell Karn.

"I'll remove it once I have the info I need," he replies. "Now. Ask them who sent them, and what they wanted the Extractor for," he tells me.

"Who sent you here? And what did you want with the Extractor?" I ask the gryphons.

Lamar was about to say something but Lianna stopped him. "Don't you dare say anything!" she tells him. Taking Karn's lead I lift the tip of my left claw and lightly stab Lamar in his right shoulder a few centimetres. He yelps and starts to sob.

"The King sent us! He wants what you've got!" Lamar shouts out.

"SHUT YA CLUCKING BEAK YOU MORON!" Lianna yells at him.

Karn puts his right hoof on Lianna's chest and pins her to the floor with his weapon pointing at her head. He places a finger where his mouth would be and shushes her.

"Lamar says the gryphon King sent them to take anything you have," I tell Karn.

"Really? And what does this... King, want with them?" he asks me.

I turn back to the gryphons. "And what does the King want with his stuff?" I ask them.

Lianna glares at Lamar from under Karn's hoof. "You open your beak one more time and I'll personally rip off your win... *Gurk*!" she threatens him, but is cut off as Karn adds more pressure to her chest.

Maybe I can use this! "Lamar. You tell us what we want to know, and I'll promise you'll not be harmed or sent back to Gryphonia. We'll offer you protection," I offer him and remove the tips of my claws from his shoulder. He looks from me to Karn, then to Lianna.

"D-Don't even *Cough* think about it!" Lianna warns him.

Lamar looks conflicted, but after a few seconds he sighs and looks at me. "Deal," he says quietly.

Lianna growls at him. "Traitor!" she yells and pulls a hidden knife out from her pouch on her right flank. She lunges the knife at Lamar, but is stopped as Karn's saw thing revs up and rips her talon off at the wrist. Lianna screams as her talon drops to the floor and the knife slides away.

Karn quickly rips out the bolt from her leg and injects her with one of those things he saved Luna with. The wounds on her wrist and leg close up and stops bleeding. Karn then slams the bottom of his weapon on her head, knocking her out cold.

He then looks to Lamar, who looks terrified.

Should I be worried that I didn't even flinch when he chopped her talon off? I shake my head and look up to Karn. "I made Lamar a deal. He tells us what we want to know and we offer him protection," I tell him.

"Great. I'll have a room built for him to stay in, but right now, I want to know what they wanted my tech for," he replies.

I look back to Lamar and stand back a bit, giving him some space. Though Karn is still pointing his weapon at him. "I'll ask again. What does your King want with his stuff," I ask Lamar.

Lamar looks from Karn to me. "I'm not entirely sure. We were sent to bring back whatever we could get so our engineers could look at them, but I overheard them talking about rearming the army with new types of weapons. I don't know what, but the way they said it, it must be big," he says. "That's all I know! P-Please don't hand me over to the King! He'll kill me for this!" he begs.

I tell Karn what Lamar told me. "So, they're arming up," Karn says in thought. "Ask him if they're planning to attack Equestria," he tells me.

I ask Lamar the same question. "I think so. The King has been meeting with the generals a lot lately, but I'm not sure," he says and shrugs, which causes him to wince at the wound on his shoulder.

I tell Karn what he said. Karn gets another healing thing out and injects it into Lamar's shoulder. He hisses slightly from the jab but sighs as the wound heals.

"Ordis, I need you to fabricate some ferrite cables so I can tie these two up," Karn says. He then looks at me. "Rainbow, go to the Orbiter and bring the cable back. I'll keep an eye on them," he tells me and points to the gryphons.

I nodded and head for the ship.

POV: Twilight Sparkle / Location: Equus - Equestrian Plains - Inside the Liset

Over the last half hour I taught Ordis Equestrian, he's a very fast learner. He just asked me to say a word in Orokin and then the same word in Equestrian. So far he's learnt about three-quarters of the Equestrian language.

"Oh. One moment please, Miss Twilight... Yes, Operator," Ordis says. I look over to the table on the right as the mechanical arm starts to make something new.

"What are you making?" I ask him.

"The Operator wants some ferrite cables to tie up the two prisoners," he replies.

"Does that mean he's done interrogating them?" I ask again.

"I believe so. Miss Dash will be by shortly to pick the cables up," he tells me.

I watch with fascination as the cables are made. I'll have to ask Ordis later on how that works. After a few seconds, Rainbow walks in.

"Hey, Twi. How's it going with the lesson?" she asks me.

"Pretty good. He learns very quickly," I reply.

"That's cool. At least this way, he can talk to the Princesses without any of us having to translate for him," Rainbow says.

"That's true. This will also allow Ordis to teach Karn Equestrian," I tell her. "So, how did the interrogation go?" I ask her.

"Erm, okay I guess. We found out what they were doing here and what they wanted the extractor for," she replies.

"And what was it they wanted it for?" I ask again.

"They wanted to make weapons from it to arm their army. Lamar, the black gryphon, told us they might be planing an attack on Equestria," she tells me.

I gasp. "Why would they want to attack us?" I ask. Rainbow just shrugs.

"I dunno, but it can't be good," she says.

"The cables are ready, Miss Dash," Ordis says to Rainbow.

"Sweet. I'll see ya later, Twi!" Rainbow tells me as she grabs the cables and leaves the ship.

"Shall we continue where we left off, Miss Sparkle?" Ordis asks.

I snap out of my thoughts. "Oh, right," I say and sit back down in the middle of the room. "The word for 'somepony' is pronounced..."

POV: Karn / Location: Equus - Equestrian Plains - Outside the Liset

I continue to watch over the two gryphons while Rainbow went to get the cable. Lamar is sitting very still and avoiding Eye contact with me. The other gryphon... Lianna I think, is still out cold.

The Dojo's front door opens with Rainbow walking towards me. I take the cables from her and tie Lianna up. I wrap her arms together with her legs. I then tie her wings to her sides tightly. I then remove all of the pouches and check for any more hidden weapons.

I throw her gear to the side, then walk towards Lamar slowly and begin tying him up. I tie his wrists to his ankles, then tie his wings to his sides. I also remove his gear as well. I carefully drag him to a corner and leave him there, I then drag Lianna to another corner, but not as gently.

"I'll keep watch over them till morning. You and the others go get some rest for tomorrows training," I tell Rainbow.

"What about you? Don't you need to sleep?" She asks.

"I do, but I can stay up a few days before needing sleep. I'll be fine," I reply.

She looks at the two gryphons before looking back to me. "Alright, if you say so. See ya in the morning!" she says and walks out to tell the others.

I sit down in the centre of the room and start meditating.

Chapter 19: Training Begins

POV: Karn / Location: Equus - Equestrian Plains - Dojo

The others placed their temporary Warframes into their pods and left for their homes. After meditating all night, I use my transference to literally step out of my warframe. I take a few steps away and do some stretches after sitting down for too long in my chair. The door opening gets my attention and I turn around to see Twilight entering.

"Good morning, Karn," Twilight yawns greeting me. "Ordis knows how to speak Equestrian now. I'm surprised he learnt it so fast," she tells me. "Why are you out of your frame?" she then asks confused.

"That's good. Now I can have Ordis teach me, maybe I'll be able to at least understand it. I doubt I'll be able to speak it though. As for why, I'm able to transfer myself from my chair to my warframe and vice versa," I reply. The thought of trying to neigh, whinny, and snort just sounds... ridiculous.

"Oh..." she says with a confused expression.

I just had a thought. "Twilight, remember that Data Pad I gave you?" I ask her.

"Yes, what about it?" she asks back.

"On it was a program to teach Orokin. I think Ordis can redesign it to show Orokin words with Equestrian. This way you can teach the Princesses Orokin," I tell her. This way I can talk to them on my own.

She gasps and starts jumping on the spot. "Oh! Yes yes yes yes yes YES! I'd love to teach the Princesses! Do I have to bring that pad back to Ordis?" she asks.

"No. You can keep it for yourself. I'll have Ordis make three new ones for you and the Princesses," I reply.

Twilight keeps jumping for a few seconds but stops when she looks to the corner. She walks over to the still out cold Lianna. "Karn... Why is she missing a talon?" she asks slowly.

"She pulled a hidden knife out and tried to kill Lamar over there," I tell her and point to the other corner. "He was willing to tell me what I wanted to know. She wouldn't, and what you see is the end result."

She looks from Lamar to me. "She's not dead is she?" Twilight asks.

"No, I used a healing Canister to close her wounds," I reply.

"Wounds!? What else did you do to her?" she asks shocked.

"I asked for their names. Lamar gave his, but she refused. To prove I was serious, I put a bolt in her leg," I tell her.

She looks at Lianna's leg and spots a patch of missing fur with a scar. "You're not going to hurt them anymore right?" she asks.

"No, I got what I wanted. The Princesses guards can have Lianna, but Lamar stays here," I reply.

"Why is he staying here?" she asks in confusion.

"It was part of our deal, he tells us what he knows and we offer protection. Tenno keep their word and the gryphon King would have him killed for telling us apparently," I tell her.

"Okay, but why not Lianna as well?" Twilight asks pointing Lianna.

"She didn't tell us anything apart from her name. She's done nothing to earn our protection," I tell her.

"So what did they come here for?" she asks.

"For my technology. Lamar says the King wants to arm his army with my kind of weapons... to invade Equestria, he thinks," I reply.

Twilight stays silent for a few seconds, then walks over to Lamar.

POV: Twilight Sparkle / Location: Equus - Equestrian Plains - Dojo

I walk over to this Lamar and poke him a few times with my right hoof. Rainbow told me what he said, but I want to find out myself.

He snorts as he wakes up. "Huh? Wha?.." he says as he blinks a few times, looking up at me. "GAH! DON'T KILL ME!" he yells and curls up on the floor.

I'm stunned that he would react this way. Was what Karn did to the other gryphon the cause to his behaviour?

"I'm not going to hurt you. I just want to ask you a few questions, alright?" I ask him politely.

He peeks out from between his front legs and looks at me. "So you're not going to kill me?" he asks in reply.

"Celestia no! I just want to know more about your King's possible attack on Equestria," I tell him.

"A-As I t-told the tall creatures. I-I only heard rumours f-floating around the labs under the castle. Ever since the old K-King was killed and the new one took over, the kingdom has b-been falling apart. He's obsessed with war and his war machines," he tells me.

"War machines? What war machines?" I ask him.

"I'm n-not sure. I saw some new looking cannons being placed on an airship... but other then that I don't know. I was just the guy who did what he was told to do," he replies.

"Thank you, I'll make sure you're treated well while you're here," I tell him.

"Erm, thanks?" he says. "Err, Just asking, but what will happen to Lianna? Is she alright?" he asks.

"Yes, she's fine... Apart from the missing talon, but Karn said he's turning her over to the guard," I reply.

He suddenly looks worried. "Please don't! She may be a hothead but she's still my sister! If she leaves she'll be killed... We didn't come alone," he tells me.

POV: Karn / Location: Equus - Equestrian Plains - Dojo

I just stand back, watching them talk. Twilight suddenly turns around and jogs over to me.

"Karn, we have a problem! Lamar says there's another gryphon out there, and that he or she is to kill Lamar, Jango, and Lianna should they fail in returning without the extractor or get captured," she tells me.

I frown at that. "Who's this Jango?" I ask her.

"He was the gryphon you shot in the forest," she replies.

"Ah, and how does he know that there's another Gryphon out there?" I ask.

She turns back to Lamar and they talk for a few seconds. Twilight then turns back to me. "It was part of the deal his sister made with the King. Should they return with something of yours, they get a large reward. Should they fail... they'll be killed," she tells me.

I hum in thought. I could get Ordis to scan the area for other gryphons. "Ordis, scan the area and look out for any other gryphons," I tell him.

"Yes, Operator. Beginning scan," he replies. After a few seconds he speaks up. "I've detected a faint signal, but it's being jammed by an unknown energy signature," he tells me. They have something that can block the Orbiter's scanners?

I sigh. "Keep trying. In the meantime, can you get the drones to build a couple of cells in the back of the clan hall for now? If there really is a gryphon after them, I want to keep them as safe as possible," I tell Ordis.

"Drones have been sent. Estimated time of completion, twenty minutes," Ordis replies. The Dojo doors open and the Drones fly off to the back of the Clan Hall.

"So, what do we do now?" Twilight asks.

"Did you get any sleep last night?" I ask her.

She nodded. "Yes. I went back home once I finished teaching Ordis. I've never met anypony who could learn so fast," she tells me.

"Alright then, keep an eye on these two, and don't talk to them. I'm going to check up on the others Warfames," I tell her. I transfer myself back into my somatic link chair and regain my control of my Rhino, I then head into the clan hall.

In the back right near the Oracle, the drones have started on the two cells. I probably could turn them into guest or VIP quarters after they're done holding the gryphons.

I head to the right and enter the oracle. Accessing the panel, I check the frames over and see they've been fully recharged and ready to go.

One by one the others slowly arrive and enter their pods to transfer over.

"Have you all eaten this morning?" I ask them. They all say yes in their own ways and step out of the pods now that they're in their frames. "Alright then, gather up in front of the Dojo and prepare for lessons on how to use your frame's energy," I tell them.

"Okie dokie lokie!" Pinkie says and skips out of the room, followed by a grumbling Pinkamena. The others also exit with their melee weapons as well.

I head back into the entrance and tell Twilight to get in her Mag while I watch over the gryphons.

"Karn," Twilight says getting my attention. "When exactly would you like me to bring Spike over?" she asks me.

"Now if you want. Are you sure you want him as a Tenno? From what I understand he's still young," I ask her.

"He's young but he's reliable. Besides, since he won't actually be fighting with his real body is the only reason I'm letting him do this," she replies.

"I see, very well. Go and get him once you're in your frame. We'll wait for you to return before we begin," I tell her.

She heads into the Oracle and then comes back out in her Mag frame.

We both head out and I inform the others that we'll be waiting for Spike to come before we start.

It takes Twilight thirty-four minutes to return with an excited Spike next to her.

He says something in an eager tone to Twilight then gawks at everyone present in their frames.

"So is he ready?" I ask Twilight.

She nodded and pats Spike on the head. "So he says," she replies.

"Alright, tell him to follow me and we'll give him a shot," I tell her and make my way over to my Orbiter. They both follow behind me and into the facility room where Spike is looking at everything in awe. "Alright, tell him to get into the pod and we'll begin," I tell her.

She talks to him and he nodded. Spike sits on the padded floor and then gulps when I hold the syringe up. I walk over to him and lower it to his neck. Spike clenches his eyes shut and grits his teeth as I jab him in the neck between his scales.

POV: Spike / Location: Equus - Equestrian Plains - Inside the Orbiter

Karn jabs me with the needle and I go wide eyed at the burning pain it brings. I grit my teeth and clench my claws as it spreads throughout my body.

I'm not sure how long it lasted but it finally stops and I sigh in relief. I look down and notice I've grown taller, I think I'm as tall as Princess Luna now, I also have small horns on my head!

The pod opens and I look up at Twilight who looks just stares at me, hard to tell what she’s thinking without a face.

"Operator, the serum has successfully adapted to his DNA, I have scanned his body structure. I can begin fabricating a somatic link suit at any time," I hear a voice say.

"Ouch, I don't want to go through that again..." I say and slowly stand up feeling slightly light headed.

"How do you feel?" I hear a stallion's voice ask me.

I look up and see Karn looking down at me. "Whoa, I know the others could understand you when they had their injections, but that's just freaky," I reply making him chuckle.

"So what made you want to join us?" he asks me while checking me over.

"I just wanted to help my friends, they've always left me behind since I was too little to help, but now I can help without putting myself in danger," I reply and stretch my longer limbs.

"I see, I think I have an idea what frame will suit you already," he tells me and I perk up.

"What one?" I ask with excitement.

He walks over to a table with a moving metal arm on it and presses some buttons. A floating screen pops up with an image of one of his armours I haven't seen yet.

"This is the Chroma, he's based off of dragons from human mythology. He can spray out a continuous plume
of one of four elements, fire, cold, toxin, or electric. He can also place a ward on himself and ally Warframes which changes how it functions again depending on the element he wants to use. He has a special armour that makes him tougher and stronger the more hits he takes. And lastly, he can separate the pelt on his back which will hover in the air with energy wings, it'll emit a high pitched wail stunning nearby enemies not protected from the sound and then spray out flames at anything you consider an enemy," he tells me what it can do.

I just stare at the image with wide eyes, I'll get to be that? "Yes please!" I tell him and again he chuckles.

"Very well. Twilight, please take him to the Somatic Link Chamber and settle him in a spare seat. I'll get the Chroma ready," he tells Twilight who nodded.

"Okay. Come on, spike," she tells me and I eagerly follow her out.

"Oh this is so exciting! What's it like being so tall?" I ask Twilight as we pass the others who are just talking to each other. But they stop as they spot me and just quietly watch us walk by.

Twilight leads me into the large metal building and to the back, we enter a room where I see Twilight and the others sitting on chairs like I've seen Lyra do a few times.

"Twilight?" I ask the purple mare who looks like she's sleeping while poking her in the belly a few times.

"Hey! Cut that out!" the armour says behind me with Twilight's voice.

"But, how?" I ask confused and look at what I thought was Twilight.

"It's how the armour works, you sit in the chair and it transfers your mind into the armour," she tells me.

"Oh... so I just sit in a chair then?" I ask and walk over to an empty one.

"Yes, so get on it and just relax and close your eyes," she replies.

I do so and hop up onto the chair and lean back. I close my eyes and take a deep breath. I then feel like I'm being pulled out of my scales and stuffed into something else. I open my eyes and see Karn looking at me.

"Spike?" he asks as the thing I'm in opens up.

"Yeah, wow this feels funny," I reply and take a step out. I wobble slightly from being so tall now and having much longer legs. I look down to my claws and see I have four claws instead of three now.

"At least you look like you have better balance than the others started with, let's get you outside and to the others," he tells me and walks towards the exit. I look back and see a smaller version of him sitting on a larger chair before shaking my head and following him out.

POV: Karn / Location: Equus - Equestrian Plains - Outside the Dojo

The others are all gathered and Twilight is here with them.

"Alright, spike. Line up with the others," I tell him and he walks over to them easily enough.

Twilight raises her hand quickly. "Where are the Gryphons? I didn't see them inside," she asks me.

"In the hall and in their new cells. What do they eat by the way?" I reply and ask.

"Oh. Well as for what they eat, they mainly eat... meat... but they can eat various fruits and vegetables as well," she tells me.

"Okay. I can feed them with my protein pills then. Ordis, is there a clean water source near us?" I ask Ordis.

"Yes, Operator. There is a large reservoir of spring water underground, eighty-two metres down and sixty metres to the west of the Dojo," he replies.

"Great, build an elevator going down at the back of the Clan hall. Dig a hallway to the water, then build a basic living area down there. Dormitories, Training facility, Mess Hall, Hydroponic Labs, Duelling Room, another Reactor to replace the one up here..." I look over to the door leading further in. "Proper cells as well," I tell Ordis

"Yes, Operator," Ordis replies. More construction drones fly through the front door, then into the back hall.

"I think we should feed the gryphons before we do anything, I don't think they've eaten this morning," Twilight suggests.

"Very well, come with me then to translate," I reply and head into the Orbiter to get some protein pills and water.

Once collected we head into the back of the clan hall and I open Lamar's cell first. He goes wide eyed and stiff as a board at the sight of me. I slowly hold out the pills and bottle of water. He slowly reaches out and takes them with confusion.

"Twilight, ask him if he's doing okay," I tell her.

They talk for a few seconds, then Twilight looks at me. "He's scared, but otherwise doing fine. He also says this is the nicest prison cell he's ever seen," she replies.

I guess so. It has a bed, rest room, and is always at room temperature. "A neglected, ill prisoner isn't very useful. I take it Canterlot's dungeons are damp, dark stone rooms with iron bars in front," I tell her. Maybe I should visit Chrysalis so I can get her to draw me out a map of the Hive.

She just stares at me for a few seconds. "You just pretty much described it perfectly," she says surprised.

We leave the room and the door locks behind us. I enter the next cell and see Lianna has woken up now. I hold out the pills and water to her.

She growls and tries to slash at me with her remaining talon. I drop the pills and grip her wrist. Hard. She squawks and falls to her knees.

Twilight talks to her and she calms down. I let go and hold out the bottle I'm still holding. She takes it and picks up the pills, then sits on the bed and after looking at the pills for a few seconds, she swallows them.

"What did you tell her?" I ask Twilight.

"I told her we'll offer her protection from their assassin if she just cooperates. She agreed to stop being aggressive but won't tell us anything still, I also explained those pills were her breakfast," she replies.

I look back at Lianna to see her just staring at her arm with the missing talon. She takes a gulp of water and I leave the cell with Twilight.

I order the Drones to begin fabricating the top of the elevator just to cover the gap, we then head back outside to begin their lessons.

POV: Twilight Sparkle / Location: Equus - Equestrian Plains - Outside the Dojo

Before Karn could say anything he looks up into the sky and we all look up as well to see a carriage flying towards us.

It lands and out steps Princess Celestia, Cadence, and my brother.

"Princess! Cadence! Shiny!" I say and rush over.

"Twilight?" Cadence asks confused while Shining is staring at me with wide eyes.

"Yes it's me," I reply and turn to Shining and Celestia. "Why are you all here?" I ask.

Celestia speaks up after getting over her mild surprise. "Shining Armour here has something to ask," she says, giving Shiny a little push with her wing.

He looks from Celestia to Karn, then to me. "I... I wish to join the Tenno," he tells me.

I just stare at him in shock. "You do? But I thought you didn't like Karn?" I ask.

"It's not that I don't like him. It's just that I don't know him. If I can join you now, I can get to know him better," he replies.

I look back to Karn, who is just standing with his arms crossed. "Shining wishes to join the Tenno," I tell him.

He looks to Shining and walks up to him. He crouches down and looks Shiny in the eyes with his nose barely an inch away.

"Ask him if he's ready to give up his old life to do what's needed to be done," Karn tells me.

I ask shining the same thing. He looks to Cadence, who just nodded at him with a smile. He turns back to Karn. "Yes," he replies with resolve.

I tell Karn my brother's reply. "Alright then. He'll get to see what he's getting himself into then when I start your training," he says and looks back to us. "Line up, It's time I teach you the basics of a Warframe's functions!" he tells us.

Author's Note

I've gone through the story again and replaced the Liset with the Orbiter. :twilightsmile:

Chapter 20: Practice makes Perfect

POV: Karn / Location: Equus - Equestrian Plains - Outside of the Dojo

I look at the eight equestrians now turned Tenno. "Alright. I will begin explaining basic Warframe functions. To the top right of your view is your Warframe's armour integrity and shields. Under that will be your Kubrow or Sentinel statistics. Then under that is your allies statistics," I tell them.

"Next is the top left side. A mini-map for navigation with a built in radar for seeing enemy locations. Under that will be your objectives... To the bottom right is your weapons, current magazine ammunition, and spare ammunition. Under that is your Warframe's abilities and energy... To the bottom left is a systems console. It will tell you if anything critical happens to your frame and or display vital data," I finish.

They all keep their eyes on me as I continue to teach them. "Those are the basic functions of a Warframe, now for the advanced functions. Most of the frame's functions operate from thought processes, for example." I look at Celestia and imagine a VIP escort marker on her. A Light green diamond is placed at her location and the others gasp or 'oooo' at what they can see.

"Twilight I want you to try that now. Just Imagine you want to set Celestia as a VIP escort target," I tell her and remove the marker from Celestia.

She looks to Celestia. After a few seconds, Celestia is marked with the same marker as before. "Very good, Now imagine the marker disappearing from her," I tell Twilight. After a few seconds the marker vanishes. "Perfect. Now I want the rest of you to try it now," I say to the others.

One by one they all try and succeed. "Okay. You can do the same thing but by marking them as a priority target." I look to Celestia again and a red marker appears on her. I remove it and look back to the others. They try it and wait for more instruction.

"Good. Now I'll teach you one by one your Warframe's abilities. Twilight, you first," I say, getting the smart girl to perk up.

Twilight walks up to me and awaits my instructions. "Your abilities use magnetism. Your first ability is called, Pull. It will pull targets towards you and the force of the pull is enough to do damage to your targets internal organs or limb joints," I tell her. "Ordis, please release a training drone to the empty field in front of me," I then tell Ordis.

"Yes, Operator," he replies and a small spherical drone the size of my head comes out of the top of the Orbiter. It floats over to the field and hovers there.

"Twilight. I want you to point your left or right hand at the drone. Then Imagine a field of magnetic energy at the target's location and then pull your hand towards yourself," I instruct her.

She holds her left hand out and the drone starts to distort as the magnetic field envelopes it. She pulls her hand back and the drone gets pulled towards her, but since it has circuits it shorted out due to the magnetic field and drops to the ground with a thud.

"Well done, Twilight. Your second ability is called Shield Polarize. You drain the shields of your foes while replenishing your allies..."

POV: Time Skip - Two hours Later / Location: Equus - Equestrian Plains - Outside of the Dojo

Karn told each of them their new abilities one by one, once taught, they practised on their own after Karn gave them some Energy Packs and went on to the next pony. Shining Armour just stood to the side, wide eyed with his jaw agape at what he saw, same with the princesses.

Twilight was now able to pull and even push objects around her with ease. She could also create a magnetic field around the drone that ensnared it in place while dealing damage to its circuitry, if her polarise ability is also active it'll drain the enemy's shield and cripple their armour before detonating with whatever bullets were shot at it as well which also restored ally frames shields from the pulse. Away from the group, she even managed to do her fourth ability first time. She magnetised rocks and other objects on the floor and sent them all into each other crushing them together from the sheer force placed on them.

Karn then taught Big Mac how to mentally control his golems and how to reform the energy based rock he can create. Mac did all of his abilities with ease as if he was made for the frame.

Applejack looked to the two long barrels on the sides of her forearms. Karn told her those are her frames main weapons. They fired bullets of highly compacted energy from the frame itself. She would have to learn the first skill once a weapon could be made for her, but her other three abilities could be done. She learnt to place a coating of energy around her that reduces the damage from projectiles while reflecting said projectiles back at her attackers.

She also learnt to increase her perception so when she shoots with a gun, she'll be able to hit targets more precisely.

Her final ability caused the others all to gasp. Karn released ten drones that surrounded her. She took a more balanced stance and the two regulator pistols unfolded and attached to the palms of her hands. Orange Energy swirled around her and she started twisting and bending in ways no normal human body should be able to. She fired ten shots in rapid succession hitting all ten drones in under two seconds.

Rainbow learnt how to literally cut through the air and was able to take off three times faster then she used to be able to. She also learnt that her Warframe's armour around her feet or head could absorb a massive amount of force as she dropped from the sky and cratered into the ground. The others were worried for her safety, but relaxed after Rainbow walked out of the dust cloud she kicked up upon landing. So also learnt to control the air around her to enable her Warframe to float in mid air and slowly move about.

After a few minutes of trying, she managed to create a turbulent wind in front of her making any projectile fired at her to be blown aside.

Next she learnt to launch a blade of air which detonated on impact sending rocks and loose plant matter from the impact site away. And by reversing the process, she created a blade of air that imploded pulling targets and objects to the impact site.

She was especially excited to learn how to create multiple tornadoes without having to spin on the spot continuously. She focused on Karn's instructions and released the energy. Three tornadoes the same colour as her fur appeared in front of her and started moving away from her. Rocks and loose branches got pulled in and flung away from the top of the tornadoes.

Fluttershy was taught how to use her Abilities to make a target float away, or get stunned as she rips the energy out of her target which she or her razorflies could collect to enhance her own frame.

We couldn't test her third ability due to no living targets to really test it on, but her fourth ability made her and the others gasp. The razorflies detach from her as she shrinks in size, looking no bigger than a foot and a half tall. She then spends five minutes getting used to the built in archwings as her drones fly around her awaiting her command.

Rarity reluctantly learnt how to release small corrosive spores that grew bigger on a tree as her target. She threw a kunai at one of the spore pods which burst and started growing on other trees. After about thirty seconds the pods dissolved on their own.

She also learnt how to create an empty husk that would confuse her foes and explode dealing damage to any nearby targets.

Her next ability allowed her to coat her Glaive and Kunai with a thin coating of poison that, if it doesn't kill, will weaken the enemy with a nerve killing disease until it collapses.

Her final ability allowed her to create a mist of viral gas around her that eats away at her foes flesh.

They all did well until it came to Pinkie's turn.

POV: Karn / Location: Equus - Equestrian Plains - Outside of the Dojo

"Okay Pinkie. Your first ability is called Hall of Mirrors. You can create four holographic mirror images of yourself that copy your actions. Just imagine four more of you, two on each side." I tell her.

"Okie Dokie Lokie!" she replies. A few seconds later, something unexpected happened.

She made four copies of herself, but instead of them mirroring her actions, they're moving independently.

"Oooooooh, more me's!" the real pinkie says and giggles, making the others giggle with her and yell 'yay!'

The others just stare at them in surprise. "Errrr, I take it that's not how it's supposed to work?" Rainbow asks me.

I shake my head. "No. No it's not." I reply.

I walk up to one of the clones and poke it a few times to find it's solid and not just a hologram. "Hey! That tickles!" the copy says and laughs.

My brow rises as this is completely unheard of. "Huh. First time I've seen a Mirage Hologram actually talk back," I say.

The clone pokes me in the chest with its right hand. "Who you calling a Hologram!.. Wait, what's a Hologram?" she retorts and asks the real Pinkie, the real Pinkie just shrugs back at her.

Twilight walks over to us slowly. "Pinkie... What's going on?" she asks the hyperactive pink pony.

Pinkie then gasps and then gets excited. "Imagine all the parties I can plan now!" she yells and then runs off into town with her clones hot on her heels.

The other Pinkie in the Valkyr just stares at her other self with a shake of her head. "Bloody mare can never focus on what she should be doing..." she mutters and looks to me.

I'll let her off for now and return to the other Pinkie. "Alright then, your frame is a melee focused frame, you can use a rip line to either pull yourself to a location or to pull an ally or target to you. Your second ability is able to increase yours and ally frames with an increase in attack speed, making you attack faster with melee weapons for a short time. Your third ability can drain a third of your own shields with a discharge paralysing anything not a Warframe around you. And your fourth ability puts you into a rage while creating a set of energy claws on your hands, you become faster, stronger, and can leach the energy out of your enemies to repair your own frame slightly," I tell her.

If she had a mouth, I think she would be grinning right now. "Oh that sounds fun," she replies and starts to practice as I instruct her.

After a few minutes I turn to the others. "Alright. I want you to keep practising for a few more hours. I have plenty of Drones and Energy Packs for you to use," I tell them. They agree and get back to practising. I turn to Shining and walk over to him. "Ordis, can you translate for me?" I ask.

"Of course, Operator," he replies.

"So, Shining. Think you'll be able to handle it? And just to let you know. This is only the basics. I'll have you and them doing intense training for mobility and concentration," I tell him and Ordis translates through the speaker in my Warframe.

After Ordis finishes telling him, Shining Armour looks down, then to the group who are still practising and then back to me. He neighs and whinnies to which Ordis translates.

"He said, 'Yes, I still wish to join'."

"Alright then. Tell him to follow me," I tell Ordis.

Ordis tells him and he nodded. We enter the Orbiter and the Princesses try to follow. I hold my hand up at them and shake my head. Thanks to Luna's attempts at wanting Tenno to fight for her, I won't show them the process.

Celestia and Luna sigh but nodded. The pink one frowns and Ordis tells me she just wants to make sure her husband will be okay.

I tell them that he will be just fine and it won't take even ten minutes. She grumbles but stands beside Celestia.

I walk into the Orbiter with Shining in tow. I open the pod and gesture him to get in, he does so and sits down. I close the pod and begin the process.

Chapter 21: Two Weeks Later

POV: Karn / Location: Equus - Equestrian Plains - Inside the Orbiter

I observe Shining as the needle injects him. I watch as he grits his teeth in pain, his body grows larger and more muscular, his horn also grows a few inches. After a minute or two, he relaxes as the serum finishes its effect.

"Operator, the serum has successfully adapted to his DNA. I have also scanned his body structure. I can begin fabricating a Somatic Link suit and Warframe for him at any time," Ordis informs me.

I open the pod as he gets up.

"Ooooh. Did anypony get the number of that carriage?" he mumbles and shakes his head.

"Feeling better?" I ask him.

"Huh?" he replies in surprise and looks up at me. "That's weird," he comments to himself.

I chuckle and help him out of the pod. "Well get used to it... So how are you feeling? No pain or discomfort?" I ask him.

He moves his legs up and down, getting a feel for his new body. "Actually. I've never felt better," he replies with wide eyes.

"Great. Now let's make things perfectly clear, you are no longer an Equestrian guard, you are now a Tenno of the Lotus Order. Just like the others, you take your orders from me or Lotus," I tell him. He frowns slightly but nodded. "Good. If you betray us, I and other Tenno will hunt you down. Your duty for the next five thousand or so years will be to protect the innocent and make those who would threaten them regret their actions," I say.

"W-Wait... Five-thousand y-years!?" he shouts in surprise.

"Ah, right. Twilight or the Princesses didn't mention it to you... Well, yes. You will now live for around five to seven thousand years," I inform him.

He sits down and just stares blankly at me. I roll my eyes and tap his cheek a few times. He snaps out of it and frowns at me.

"You think you would have told me that before I agreed to do this!" he says.

"This is both a gift and a curse," I tell him. "You'll be able to protect those you care for, for millennia to come. But you'll also have to watch them die of old age over and over again," I say with seriousness. "But you'll also have your fellow Tenno by your side during the long years as well."

He sighs. "Alright, I get it," he says before smiling. "At least I can be with my wife for a lot longer than before," he says with a bit more cheer in his tone. Oh yeah, I remember that alicorns are immortal and he's in a relationship with one.

"And there's a reason to accept it already. Now then, let's get you a Warframe picked out and made," I tell him and walk over to the fabrication table. "What's your favourite hobby or activity?" I ask him.

He hums in thought. "I like to practice my skills with the Recruits and other guards. And although I'm pretty good with my magic, I am a skilled swordspony as well," he tells me. His horn glows and a fancy looking sword appears next to him. I grab the sword out of the air. "Hey, be careful with that! The best blacksmith at the armoury made that for me," he warns me.

I walk over to my arsenal and get my old Skana out.

I hold his sword out with my left hand and raise the Skana with my right. I swing the Skana down and cut straight through his sword like butter.

He gasps. "What are you doing!" he yells and levitates the blade off the floor.

"That's not your sword anymore. This is," I tell him and hold the Skana out to him.

He sets the blade on the fabrication table with a frown and takes the Skana from my hand with his magic. "It's so light!" he says with awe.

"Yes. Lighter, sharper, and more durable than any blade made on this world could ever be," I tell him. "And it's now yours," I say and take it back. "I'll give it back to you when your Warframe is ready. As to your answer to my question, I think I know a good choice for you," I say and bring up the Excalibur frame blueprint on the table.

"This is the Excalibur. He's a master swordsman and is quite good at dealing with groups of enemies at once. He can close his distance to a target quickly using an ethereal Skana and quickly chain the attack between them, a sword of energy that looks just like this one," I say and tap the Skana in my hand. "He can blind everyone but fellow Tenno around him and summon javelins of energy all around him to pin his foes to any surface. But his real power comes from the ethereal Skana again as he uses it to launch blades of energy at his foes from a distance with every swing," I tell him.

He looks at the frame. "Well it looks rather plain compared to the others. At east the helmet looks like it has a horn," he says with a chuckle.

"It may look simple, but its armour is quite strong. Not as much as my Rhino's, but it's more mobile then it is. It's like a well balanced frame," I tell him.

"Alright then. Sounds good to me," he says. "So how do I get in it?" he asks pointing at the fabrication and maintenance pod.

"We'll need to take you to the Oracle and into a Somatic Link chair first, then transfer you into the Excalibur here," I tell him getting a confused expression in reply. "Don't worry about it and just follow me,"

We step outside where the pink alicorn gasps at seeing Shining. I find it amusing as her uninjured wing just spreads out on its own accord. Even Celestia and Luna's wings slowly rise.

POV: Princess Cadence - Two Minutes Ago / Location: Equus - Equestrian Plains - Outside the Orbiter

"What's taking them so long?" I ask nopony in particular, but it seems auntie Celestia heard me.

"I'm sure there's no need to worry. The others went through this just fine," she tells me.

I sigh and wait a few more minutes. The vessel's door opens again and I gasp. My unbandaged wing shoots up at the sight of Shiny. He's big... Really big, and look at all of those muscles! I can feel my heart beating faster, all those muscles ripple as he walks towards me. I... I think... I'm going to...

POV: Shining Armour / Location: Equus - Equestrian Plains - Outside the Orbiter

I walk over to Cadence who starts to breathe really fast with wide eyes. As soon as I was a few metres away, her eyes rolled into the back of her head and she faints. "Cadance!" I shout and sit beside her.

I hear Karn chuckle quietly behind me. I lightly tap Cadence on her cheek. "Come on honey, wake up," I say soothingly to her. Her eyes blink open and she smiles at me.

"Oh, hello, Shiny. I just had the strangest dream," she says and sits up. She looks at the rest of me and her good wing pops up again instantly.

"I don't think it was a dream hun," I tell her with a chuckle.

She then looks confused. "I have no idea what you just said," she tells me.

I raise an eyebrow and look to Karn. "She can't understand me?" I ask him.

He shakes his head. "Not right now. Your brain is getting used to having another language in there. Give it a few minutes or hours and you'll be able to differentiate the two. Come on, let's get you into the Excalibur. You'll be able to speak to her later," he tells me.

I sigh and turn back to Cadence. "I have to go now, Cadence. I'll see you later okay?" I tell her, only to get another confused expression. I smile and give her a quick kiss and turn to Karn. "Let's go," I say.

I follow him into the admittedly very secure building he's constructed, I look around in the hall as everything appears to be made of metal, this would take years for a skilled team of ponies to build... We head to a room in the back and enter, how these doors are moving by themselves without any magic is amazing, I have no doubt Twily is like a foal in a candy store here.

I stare in awe at all the consoles and blinking lights in the room until we reach another room where I see Twilight, Spike, and all her friends laying motionless on chairs.

"Twilight?" I call out to her and trot over to check on her.

"She's fine, she's currently in the Mag frame you saw outside, same with the others. This is the Somatic Link Chamber, here you'll connect to your Warframes until your personal armouries are built," he tells me and walks over to the last chair with no empty case in front out. "Hop on up and just relax, I'll head back to the Orbiter and Ordis will inform you when you'll be transferred over."

With hesitation, I hop up into the chair and lie back in it.

"Now just wait," he tells me and exits the room.

For a few minutes I stare at the light grey ceiling, wondering if I've made the right decision, though it's a bit late for second guesses now. My thoughts are then interrupted by a new voice.

"Mr Armour, we are ready to transfer you over. Are you ready?" the voice asks me.

"Errr, I guess so?" I reply.

"Very well, please close your eyes and just relax, you'll feel a slight pulling sensation and then you'll be in the Excalibur frame," he tells me. How this is supposed to put me into a suit of armour that isn't even in the shape of a pony I'll never know.

I close my eyes and sigh. After a few seconds a feeling similar when I first teleported washes over me and I open my eyes to see black and red walls instead of light grey.

I notice Karn to my right and I'm just as tall as he is now. The door to whatever I'm in opens up and I try to drop to all four hooves, only to fall face first into the floor with a yelp of surprise. Although... that didn't hurt at all shockingly.

Karn walks over to me and holds one of his hands out to me. "Here," he says and I hold up my right forehoof for him to grip, but I stop and notice it's not a hoof anymore, but a hand like his. I slowly flex the fingers attached to me and shiver at the alien sensation.

"This will take some getting used to," I say and place my hand onto his.

He grips my new appendage and pulls me back on my hooves... or err, feet I guess now.

"Come on, let's get you to the others and teach you how to walk before learning your new abilities," he says and helps me wobble out his ship.

POV: Time Skip - Two Weeks/ Location: Equus - Equestria

Over the next two weeks Karn trained the new Tenno. Twilight has already mastered her control over magnetic fields. Her magic has also increased significantly. She can levitate threes times more weight then she previously could. She's also quite proficient with her weapons as well.

Although, just like Karn, she needs to vent her excess void magic before it built up too much and threatened to kill her. Fortunately, she was able to do so by just firing large beams of magic into the sky harmlessly to vent the excess, unlike Karn who has to vent it through his Somatic Link Chair.

Rainbow Dash now has complete control when she's using Archwings and all of her abilities, both Warframe and Archwing. She also now uses two fourteen round each Stiletto machine pistols and a sixty round Grakata SMG along with her Venkas.

Applejack has a pair Vasto revolvers. It's a six shot revolver that is very quick to reload. Applejack also learnt how to use her ability to supercharge her next shot with the Vasto with energy from her Warframe to increase its velocity. She's also very good with the Lecta whip now, though she can't help but use it like a lasso sometimes.

Fluttershy, after a few days getting used to her new built in archwings can now fly almost as well as Rainbow Dash can. She loves how she shrinks down so she can be on a level with her animal friends. She's also still learning her abilities, but that's understandable for a timid mare like her. Fluttershy's weapons were an odd choice as she's gone with a Bo Staff and modified Castanas, a throwable kunai like weapon that can give of an electrical discharge at the user's command. She had them modified to incapacitate her target, not kill them. The holsters materialised new Castanas when she pulled out the one already in the holster.

Rarity is now very precise with her Kunai and Glaive, like pin-point accurate. Rarity also learnt to control her abilities perfectly and can control what her spores and poison effects, so allies could walk into her miasma and not be affected now.

Big Macintosh learnt to harness his now godly strength. He can lift boulders right out off the ground and hurl them a good five to seven metres away with his bare hooves. He's also well trained with his Scindo axe, able to swing it and recover from each swing quickly to attack again. His ranged weapon of choice was the Kohmak, a forty round hand-shotgun that's quick to equip and use. It's capable of increasing the amount of bullets fired per shot the longer the trigger is held, from three up to six per shot.

He can also use his Atlas' abilities effectively, though we had no targets for him to test his stone gaze ability on.

Pinkie Pie was the strangest to train, after the Party Pinkie Pie with her somewhat sapient holographic copies threw she came back to start her training. Pinkie and her four copies are quite in sync with each other like they can read each other's minds and react accordingly. Her choice in ranged weapon was the Drakgoon shrapnel shotgun.

It has a magazine size of seven shells with ten pieces of shrapnel per shell. The longer you hold the trigger, the tighter the spread will be. She picked it because she said it reminded her of her Party Cannon and the shrapnel looked like confetti.

Pinkemena on the other hand was very aggressive during her practice with her Magistar Maul. She's quick, nimble, and hits hard when she faced the grineer holograms. She's also claimed the Orgris rocket launcher for herself, much to the worry of the other ponies.

Shining Armour got accustomed to standing upright and got very aggressive when Karn told him everything he was taught as a guard was now obsolete. New tactics and rules of engagement were drilled into him as well as the others. His weapons are the Skana sword, a Braton assault rifle with forty-five rounds and a pair of Latos with fifteen rounds per magazine.

The Princesses even came by to watch the training four times during the two weeks and were very shocked and impressed at their progress. Not even their elite among the guards could do anything the new Tenno were doing. Cadence was very clingy with Shining Armour when they visited. Even mentioned ravaging his body after his training was over, which caused him to blush heavily.

Karn learnt some of the Equestrian language during the late evenings after training. He hasn't learnt much, but it's enough to understand some phrases.

The underground Tenno Base is progressing nicely. The hallway to the underground lake was completed and now they had a contained, clean source of water that was put through a purifier first. More rooms were dug out and built; Living Quarters, Prison Cells, and Aeroponic Labs were up and running, growing vegetables faster than even the Earth Ponies could. The Mess Hall was also built where the Tenno went to get their meals, though sometimes they went into Ponyville to get a proper cooked meal.

The armoury room was also completed. Inside, each pony picked their own arsenal station, registered them to themselves, and got used to how it functioned. They had their newly made Warframes -which were painted to match their mane and coat colours- and Somatic Link suits from the Tenno Lab stored into them for the first time since they began to use them.

They were all surprised as well that they didn't need to wash or use a bathroom as the suits kept them very clean and digitised any waste for disposal later.

Rainbow's feelings for Karn grew slowly over the days. She took his training to heart and did her best to try and impress him. She was disappointed when he wasn't reacting like a stallion would to her advances, but despite never trying to get a stallions attention before, she was determined to keep trying. She even moved her cloud house to float above the Dojo.

Spike, being used to standing on two legs already was able to move around better than the others. He's taken the Gorgon LMG which has ninety rounds and powerful ammunition, a pair of fifty round each Zani machine pistols, and a Gram Greatsword. As for his abilities, breathing fire was second nature to him and after a few days got the hang of the shield and ward ones, as well as controlling the pelt attached to his back. Though Twilight had to scold him to calm down after getting over excited now and then.

The gryphons - Lamar and Lianna - were moved into the newly built Prison Cells which were just as comfortable as the makeshift ones they were in previously. Lianna eventually warmed up to the Tenno, though she held a grudge against Karn for what he did to her. They were given books from Twilight to keep them entertained and treats from Pinkie to make them happy.

In Canterlot, the two surviving changelings and their Queen were placed in comfortable cells compared to the dark, dank stone ones. They discussed with Celestia and Luna about a new place to live. Karn even offered to let them rebuild near his Dojo, if only to keep an eye on them himself. Chrysalis was surprised by his offer and said she'll think about it.

The changelings, surprisingly, were kept fed by Cadence. Who forgave the changeling Queen for her actions upon learning why she did it. Although, Cadence did give Chrysalis a good bonk on the back of her head with a hoof and told her to never do anything like that again.

During these last two weeks. The female gryphon that fled the Castle of Gryphonia made it to the Equestrian border and sneaked past the guards patrolling it, with the cloaked figure following close behind her. She kept flying most of the time, only stopping to hunt for food, water, and very little sleep.

She was near Ponyville, but noticed the cloud house she was looking for was moved above a building of metal. She altered course for it so she could warn an old friend of hers about what she heard from the Gryphon King.

She screamed in pain and began to fall as a gunshot rang out over the plains.

Chapter 22: Suspicions

POV: Karn / Location: Equus - Equestrian Plains - Outside the Liset

"Alright. Take an hour break and get something to eat. We'll continue training after that," I tell them. They cheer and head back into the Dojo to switch back into their real bodies. They return and head outside with a picnic basket and set up their lunch. Nightshade sits beside Fluttershy, and her new female kubrow puppy, Cobalt, who hatched eleven days ago.

True to her name, she has a deep blue coat of fur with light blue stripes running up her back. She's currently trying to climb up onto Nightshade. I believe she thinks he is her father. Nightshade just tolerates the young kubrow's attempts to scale him.

Once lunch is finished Applejack says she's going to look at the Aeroponics Labs to check on the crops there. She's very interested in how they function and make crops grow faster, she even has a small one set up on her farm as well powered by solar panels on the roof.

The others are talking to each other while I go over what they've learned and evaluate their progress.

"Operator. Gryphon signature detected. Target has been marked," Ordis tells me.

I look to the south-west and barely see a brown furred gryphon flying directly at us. I pull out my Lex just in case it tries anything. Time seemed to slow down as a loud gunshot echoed over the plains, that didn't come from any of us. The gryphon screams and begins to fall.

"RAINBOW DASH! CATCH THAT GRYPHON!" I order her quickly.

Thanks to her new body's strengths. She quickly bolts into the sky, flying towards the tumbling gryphon.

"GILDA!?" I can hear Rainbow yell faintly.

The others seem to gasp as Ordis speaks up. "Gunshot origin located, area has been marked. Deploying Archwings, Operator."

My Archwings attach themselves to my waist and I take off towards the marked location. Rainbow soars past me and lands besides the others with the wounded gryphon.

"Operator. The signal interference is still in the area. I have managed to narrow down its point of origin. Target area has be remarked," Ordis tells me.

I alter course and head towards the forest's edge. Ordis is trying his best to track the signal but the target marker is jumping all over the place. Who ever fired that shot is moving pretty quick if they're managing to keep ahead of my Archwings.

A gleam of light from a metallic surface catches my eye below me. I spot a cloaked figure with a strange looking rifle flying through the trees, the target marker seems to be trying to lock onto the mystery gunner.

I keep following above the canopy, looking for a way through. I get my chance when he flies into an open clearing and I take aim with my Lex. I fire off five shots, the first four miss as he weaves about, but the fifth hit their left wing right near the middle joint, blowing half of the limb off.

I have to give them credit. They didn't make any sounds of pain, even when they tumbled across the ground. I land on top of it and pull their hood off. Judging from their features, it's male like Lamar. He has black fur and dark grey feathers. I can also see why he didn't make any noise. His throat has a large scar going across it.

He scowls at me and bites down on something with a loud crunch. I frown as he starts convulsing and foaming at the mouth.

"Operator. A poison has entered his bloodstream. He is suffering from heart failure and aortic ruptures," Ordis informs me. A few seconds later, the gryphon dies. I frown and examine his rifle.

It looks similar to the pistol Lianna had when I cornered her in that cave. Except this one is longer with a primitive looking scope. I place the rifle on my back where it's locked into place and put my Lex away. I check the body for the origin of the signal jammer.

"Operator, the jammer signal is coming from the amulet around his neck. Please bring it back to the Orbiter where I can analyse it and prepare countermeasures," he tells me.

I pull the amulet from his neck and examine it. It's glowing a dark purple with a tint of black. After digitising the amulet and the gryphon's corpse, I fly back to the Dojo.

I land beside Rainbow who is trying to comfort the wounded gryphon. "Gilda... You'll be alright." Rainbow says and looks up to me. "Karn! Give her one of those healing canisters!" she asks me.

I look to this Gilda and see a bullet wound in her chest, she's breathing heavily and her eyes look unfocused. I check around her to see if there was an exit wound... There isn't.

"I need to bring her into the Orbiter to remove the bullet in her chest," I tell Rainbow. I pick Gilda up and bring her into my ship. "All of you wait here, I'll remove the bullet and then bring her back," I tell them all, making Rainbow grumble but comply. I then bring her into the small infirmary to the left of the armoury and place her on the table to the right before getting some medical equipment ready.

I hear some rumbling to my left as the ship's Helminth's large mouth idly moves.

Using the scanners in my helmet, I locate the round bullet and with a pair of medical tweezers, I carefully try to extract the small ball from her chest. She grunts in pain and tries to struggle. I can't risk an anaesthetic as I don't know if she'll react badly to it. Looks like it just missed her heart and lungs. I pull out the bullet and place it on a tray and then inject her with a Health Canister.

The wound closes and she stops struggling, but still has an expression of pain on her face. I unstrap her and pick her up, carrying her back out and to the others.

"The bullet has been removed and the wound healed, but she'll need rest," I tell them all and place her gently down on the incubator's soft padding. I then hold up the projectile she was it with. It's just a simple round lead ball, just slightly bigger then a Lex bullet tip.

"Is she going to be okay?" Rainbow asks me.

"Yes. She's very lucky, the bullet just missed her heart and lungs, but one of her ribs was cracked from the bullet's entry. The Health Canister helped repair it, but she'll have to be careful as it heals itself from now on," I tell her.

While we wait for Gilda to come around, I examine the rifle I took from the dead gryphon. It's a flintlock musket with a very crude scope attached on top.

I place it on the Fabrication Table where Ordis dismantles it. Looks like a really simple one shot design where the bullet is fed down the barrel.

POV: Rainbow Dash / Location: Equus - Equestrian Plains - Inside the Liset

I sit beside the pod where Gilda is breathing heavily. Karn is looking at the rifle from the assassin he told us that's been stalking the Dojo for the last couple of weeks.

"Oooooh. That clucking hurt sooo much..." Gilda says with a groan.

"Gilda! Are you alright?" I ask her as I lean up on the table.

"Dash?" she replies with confusion.

"Yeah, it's me. What are you doing here?" I ask her.

She frowns and looks at me. "I..." She starts but blinks in thought. "I... I came here to warn you and Equestria. The King plans to invade with an army in about three months..." She groans in discomfort and places a talon on her chest. "W-Why ain't I dead. I... I was shot... Who saved me?" she asks.

I point to Karn who is now looking at her. "He did. He removed the bullet and patched you up," I tell her.

Gilda's eyes go wide. "I heard the King talking about a tall black and red creature... but I didn't think he was this big," she says looking up at him.

"Ask her how she feels right now," Karn tells me.

"He says, how do you feel right now?" I ask Gilda.

"Errr, fine I guess. My chest feels sore, but other then that. It doesn't feel like I was shot," she replies and looks around. "Where am I?" she then asks.

"Inside Karn's ship. He brought you in here to heal you," I reply. I tell Karn what Gilda told me about the King and how she's feeling.

"That's good. So she heard what they're planning to do. That means we'll have to clear out the Hive within the next month, then prepare for an invasion from the gryphons," Karn says.

I was about to reply, but a few knocks on the ship's door gets our attention.

"Operator, a dark red and white male gryphon wearing a black cloak is standing outside the ship. My sensors only just detected him. I apologise for not detecting him sooner," Ordis informs Karn.

I look from the door to Karn. "What do we do?" I ask. Gilda is just laying there with a confused expression as I speak Karn's language.

Karn pulls out his Lex and heads over to the front of his ship, we follow him as he opens it and points his pistol right between the gryphon's eyes, but the gryphon doesn't even flinch.

"Rainbow. Ask him who he is and what he's doing here," Karn tells me.

I look to the gryphon who just looks up at Karn. "Who are you and why are you here," I ask the gryphon.

He looks from Karn to me. "My name is Hawkeye. I was a spy for the previous King before he was killed, and I don't approve of our new King's methods. I want to stop him from destroying the small amount of peace we had with Equestria before it is too late," he says and looks back to Karn. "I believe helping you lot will be my best choice for that."

I tell Karn what Hawkeye said. "Hmmm. I can't take that risk right now. Tell him he'll stay in a cell until we can confirm his intentions," Karn tells me.

I look back to Hawkeye. "He says you'll be kept in a cell until he can confirm your story," I tell him.

"Very well. I knew trying to gain your trust would be difficult. If that is what it takes to earn your trust, then so be it," he replies and removes his cloak and two daggers which he places on the ground.

Karn picks up the items and places them to the side of the door. "Fluttershy and Twilight. Can you stay with Gilda and watch over her for me? I need to take this Hawkeye to the prison for now," he says to Twilight and Fluttershy.

"Okay, Karn," Twilight replies and heads back.

"Rainbow. Tell him to follow you and head for the prison. I'll follow behind him to make sure he won't try anything," Karn tells me.

I nodded and tell Hawkeye to follow me. He nodded to me and we head to the Dojo. Hawkeye looks impressed with his wide eyed expression as he looks around inside. We enter the elevator and start going down.

Hawkeye yelps in surprise as the elevator starts moving down quite fast making me chuckle at his reaction. Though we did the same when we first rode it.

We reach the bottom where I start walking forward and turn left down the third hallway. We pass Applejack as she exits the Aeroponics Lab, she says hello and eyes the gryphon curiously before heading to the elevator. I enter the prison area and head to the third cell.

As we pass the two cells holding Lamar and Lianna, Hawkeye speaks up. "I know those two. Always getting into some sort of trouble... Though I guess they got more than they could bargain for this time," he says.

"And how do you know them?" I ask him.

"I knew their father. He was a soldier in the army... until he was killed by a dragon that attacked a small village four years ago... They were never the same since, always trying to find a way to join the army to get revenge on the dragons," he replies with a sigh. "Last I heard, they were sent to get something. I guess that by being here, that something belongs to you," he finishes.

I don't answer him and open the cell door. "You'll be staying in here until Karn decides what to do with you," I tell him.

"Very well... Oh and do tell Princess Celestia that I'm here. I used to be a contact for her and the previous King. She'll be able to give me a good word," he says and steps inside. "Hmmmm, I must say. This is very nice for a prison cell," he comments as I close and lock the door.

I tell Karn what Hawkeye just said.

"Get Twilight to send a letter to Celestia saying that we have a gryphon she might know. I need to start building the next section of the Dojo," he tells me.

"Alright! See ya later!" I say and head back up to his ship.

POV: Karn / Location: Equus - Equestrian Plains - Inside the Dojo

Rainbow leaves the room and down the hallway. I turn back to the cell with our newest resident and watch him reading a book. I frown, does he really want to help or was he sent here to gather information or to steal technology. Well until Celestia can confirm his claims, he's staying in there.

"Ordis, begin construction of the Landing Craft Hanger above the Clan Hall and extend the elevator up," I tell him.

"Yes, Operator. Drones have been dispatched," Ordis replies. Good thing the Extractors brought back a lot of ferrite from the mines in the forest over the past two weeks.

I head back up and wait for the Princess's reply.

Chapter 23: Modifying and Sentinels

POV: Karn / Location: Equus - Equestrian Plains - The Dojo

I'm standing on top of the Dojo now in my Vauban frame helping in the construction of the Landing Craft Hanger. It's been fifteen minutes since this Hawkeye gryphon was placed in a cell. Gilda is still in my Orbiter's incubator pod recovering and asleep while Ordis watches over her.

I weld down a support beam and see a carriage being pulled by four pegasi guards... Must be the Princesses.

Twilight then speaks to me through the comms on the Orbiter. "Karn. I just got a letter saying the Princesses will be here shortly," she tells me.

"They're already here," I reply. Everyone then starts to gather outside the Dojo.

I have my archwings equipped to allow me to move around the construction site more easily, so I fly down and land near the carriage. The three Princesses exit the carriage and thank the flyers.

Twilight and the others exit the Dojo and greet them as Twilight hugs Celestia and Cadence.

POV: Twilight Sparkle / Location: Equus - Equestrian Plains - Outside the Dojo

"Hello, Princess," I say to Celestia.

"Hello, Twilight. So where is Hawkeye?" she greets and then asks me.

"Karn put him in a cell until he can find out his intentions," I tell her.

"I see. Can you ask Karn to take us to him?" she asks me.

"Okay, hold on a minute," I reply. I turn to Karn who's now looking at me. "The Princess want's to see Hawkeye," I tell him.

"Fine. Tell her to follow me," he replies. I notice Cadence fawning over Shining again as they kiss each other. I then see Karn looking at the others. "Break time is over! Get back into your frames and continue your training! I want you to pair up and spar with one another with the training equipment!" he tells them. We've all had blunt and harmless versions of our melee weapons made to practice with on each other.

Once the others have all gone to get their frames from the barracks, I look back to Celestia. "He said follow him," I tell her.

"Very well," she replies and follows him into the Dojo. We step into the elevator where Luna looks confused.

"What is the purpose of this small room? And why is it barren of any furniture?" Luna asks.

I couldn't help but smile at what was about to happen. Karn hit's a button on the wall next to the door and the elevator starts to move down quickly. Luna and Cadence squeal while Celestia just goes cross eyed at the sensation. I couldn't help but let out a light giggle at their expressions.

We arrive at the bottom of the elevator and the doors open. Luna stumbles out while Celestia lightly shakes her head. Cadence is gripping onto Shining to help keep her balance.

We follow Karn to the prison cells and he opens the door to Hawkeye's room. He steps aside and Celestia walks in.

"Hello, Hawkeye. I see you've been given some nice accommodations," Celestia says to him while looking around.

Hawkeye looks up from the book he's reading. "Greetings, Princess Celestia. And yes, this is rather comfortable for a prison cell," he replies with a chuckle.

"So, how did you find yourself in here?" Celestia asks with a hint of amusement.

"I do not agree with our new Kings methods, and as such have come to offer any aid I can in preventing the war he wishes to wage against the world," he replies.

I frown in confusion. "The world? I thought he wanted to invade Equestria?" I ask.

"He does. Equestria is just the first in his path to world conquest," he tells me.

"And how do you know this?" Celestia asks.

"Princess. You wound me with your words. You know full well I can listen in on anyone, and I've been keeping close to the King for a good solid month before coming here," he tells her.

"I know what you are capable of Hawkeye. So how did you plan on aiding us?" Celestia asks him.

"I planned to met with the new creature that has recently arrived and see if I could be of assistance," he replies.

"And how would you assist a creature who is practically unstoppable?" she asks.

"Hmmm, I guess I didn't think of that. I just heard from the other spies that a strong creature showed up in Canterlot and repelled the Changelings single talonedly. I didn't think he was this advanced, I was quite surprised at what I saw when I first arrived," he says.

"And what will you do should he not accept your aid? He doesn't even trust our guard to join him, the chances of a gryphon joining him is even lower," she tells him.

"I see. Well then, I shall stay here until such a time I can earn his trust," he says.

I tell Karn everything that was said.

"So they do know each other... Well I still won't let him wonder around just yet. If he's fine just waiting here until then, so be it. Please tell the Princesses that and escort them out. I've got a Hanger to build."

POV: Karn / Location: Equus - Equestrian Plains - Inside the Dojo

I head back up after the Princesses left and continue working on the Hanger. The drones and I build for an hour before I get hungry.

I decide to get something to eat and call the others together. "Alright you lot. It's lunch time, so stop what you're all doing and meet me in the Mess Hall. I've got something to go through with you all," I say through the comms.

"Okay, Karn. I'll see you there," Twilight replies. The others also agree to meet at the Hall as well.

I head down and into my Orbiter where I store my archwings and Vauban frame. I blink my eyes open and stand up from my Somatic Link Chair with a stretch of my limbs. I really need to walk around more, my limbs are stiffer than Darvo's prices for raw materials these days.

Once limber, I walk out of my Orbiter with Nightshade right behind me following along. I enter the Dojo and make my way to the elevator and then down to the Mess Hall. I make my way to the back where I see Pinkie and Applejack cooking food using ingredients both from the town and the Aeroponics labs.

"Howdy, Karn! Just a moment and I'll have this here pie ready fer eatin'," Applejack greets me as Pinkie waves at me.

"Hello, Applejack. Pie sounds very good right now," I reply and sit at the table where everyone else is waiting.

"So what did you want to speak to us about?" Twilight asks.

"Now that you're more accustomed to your warframes and weapons, I will be giving each of you your own sets of mods for your gear. These will increase the effectiveness of your equipment. Like my Lex for example." I say and pull out my holodisk to create an image of my pistol. " It's been modified to have more ammo to fire as well as a corrosive added to the bullets," I tell them.

"So what kind of mods are there?" Rainbow asks.

"Many. Some effect your shields and the strength of your frame's armour. Some add a better radar for both enemy detection and locating useful resources. Some add different effects to weapons such as; heat, electricity, toxin, and cold. These can also be combined to create a new damage type. Heat and cold can be combined to make the blast type. Your bullets or blade will cause small explosions on contact," I tell them.

"So I take it your corrosive bullets is a mix of two then?" Twilight asks.

"Yes, it's a mix of toxin and electricity," I reply.

"I see. So how do you modify weapons and warframes?" she asks again.

"You alter the mod chips at the modification table in your personal rooms, you can also increase their effectiveness with a substance called endo. Then you take the modified chips to your armoury where they can be installed or removed," I tell her. "Once we finish lunch. We'll get my box of unused mods I've saved over the years. You can go through them and pick what ones you'd like best. But you all must have a heat mod for one of your weapons to fight the Technocyte with."

"Sweet!" Rainbow says and starts stuffing her face once the food arrives.

After a few chuckles and giggles were had, we finish lunch and head up where the others get back into their frames before we go to my Orbiter. We enter and I get the box under my mod table and place it in the centre of the room. "Alright, have a look through these and see what one's you like best. Your visors will display data on what they do," I tell them.

POV: Karn / Location: Equus - Equestrian Plains - Inside the Orbiter- One Hour Later

Over the next hour, they rummage through it and talk with each other and sometimes ask me questions about some mods. Once picked, we head back to the Barracks where they'll be installed.

"Okay first. We'll watch Twilight getting her's installed first so you can see how it's done," I say and follow Twilight to her armoury. "Alright. Twilight, please stand inside your armoury," I tell her.

"Okay," she replies and stands in the circle.

"Now. Place your mods in the tray to your right," I tell her. She places the mod chips onto the tray and they get digitised. "Now think to yourself that you want to install the mods," I tell her.

POV: Twilight Sparkle / Location: Equus - Equestrian Plains - Inside the Dojo

I do as he says and I float off the floor and I'm locked in place. A list of my currently equipped gear is showing on the visor of my frame's helmet. "I see a list of my equipment," I tell Karn.

"Good. Now I want you to select your Warframe by thinking that," he instructs me. I think to myself that I want to install mods to my warframe and ten panels appear with a list of my mods below it.

"I can see some panels and a list of my mods under them," I tell him.

"Right, now I want you to imagine dragging a mod from the list into one of the panels," he tells me.

I frown and imagine the modification named Flow to the first panel. I see it move to the panel and I feel something attach to me from behind. After a few seconds, I hear a beep and whatever is attached lets go.

I see a green circle on the bottom left of the panel and text indicating that it's installed. "Okay, it's installed. Do I do the same for the rest?" I ask.

"Yes. Install all the mods for each of your equipment," he tells me.

I install the other eight mods. The Energy Siphon mod allows me to gather void energy from around me and restore my warframe's energy slowly. I then install Streamline to make my warframe more energy efficient, Redirection to increase my shields, Intensify to increase the power of my abilities, Fast Deflection to increase the recharge of my shields, Anti-Toxin to increase my resistance against the Technocyte's toxins, Natural Talent to reduce the time needed to use an ability by half, and then Stretch to increase the maximum range of my abilities.

"Okay, all of the mods are installed," I tell him.

"Now imaging going back to the equipment list," he tells me and I do as he says. "Now select your Dera and install the mods for that," he says.

I open the mod screen for my Dera and it only has four panels instead of ten. I then start installing the mods for it. A Speed Trigger for increased rate of fire, Wild Fire for twenty percent increased magazine size and heat damage, Hellfire for even more heat damage, and a Magazine Warp for another thirty percent magazine increase size.

I do the same for my other weapons as well. My Cestras have Lethal Torrent to increase rate of fire and making the bolts of energy fired split, causing the bolts to spread a bit more. Convulsion to charge the bolts with electricity, Steady Hands to reduce recoil, and Slip Magazine for increased magazine capacity.

My Prova has Shocking Touch to increase it's electrical damage even more, Focus Energy to add more Electrical damage and makes channelling energy through it more efficient, Energy Channel so when I use one of my Warframes abilities, my Prova will get charged with some of the energy to increase it's next hit.

"Okay all done," I tell him.

"Alright. Now think to yourself that your done and you'll be put back down," he says.

I do so and I float back down. I step out and notice my shields are higher and my energy has gone from one-hundred to two-hundred and fifty. I can also see a small pulse next to my energy indicating my aura mod is functioning.

"Right then. Now all of you go and get your mods installed," Karn tells the others.

POV: Karn / Location: Equus - Equestrian Plains - Inside the Dojo - Thirty Minutes Later

The others also equip mods to increase their performance. Once done, we gather in the Barracks. "Alright the only thing left is to fabricate you each a Sentinel," I tell them.

"You mean like the thing that floats around with you and shoot things?" Rainbow asks.

"Yes. My Sentinel is called a Dethcube. It's primary function is to attack all enemies on sight and can hold more ammunition than the other Sentinels. It has a Deth Machine Rifle equipped to it and a special function called Vaporise, which fires a super heated beam at a single target now and then.

"The other types are the Carrier, which has a short attack range with it's Sweeper Shotgun but can collect anything valuable that your enemies might have on them and store them in it's hard-drive.

"The Shade is a stealth type Sentinel that can cloak it's owner in a weak but effective invisibility field for a few seconds when an enemy is too close, it also has a silent Burst Laser weapon to take out foes quietly.

"The next is called the Wyrm. It looks like a living creature but is made from synthetic nano spores, it is a crowd control type that can temporarily stun enemies attacking it's owner. It comes equipped with a Laser Rifle.

"The Helios is a scanning Sentinel used to gather data and information on objects and lifeforms. But it can also defend it's owner with it's Deconstructor, a Glaive like weapon it fires using electro magnets." I hear Twilight gasp at that one.

"The last one is an odd one and it's part machine and flesh. It's called the Djinn, It's primary function is to taunt nearby foes into attacking its owner. This is good for frames like the Rhino, Valkyr, Atlas, and Excalibur who focus mostly on melee combat. It fires small poisonous needles from a stinger attached to it," I finally finish telling them.

"So you want us to pick one that would best suit us?" Shining Armour asks.

"Yes. You have an hour to decide. I'll meet you all back here when you're ready," I tell them and get my Vauban and archwings before heading back up to the roof to continue the Hanger construction.

POV: Karn / Location: Equus - Equestrian Plains - On Top of the Dojo - One Hour Later

I weld the last support beam in place and look around. It's about five percent completed so far and still needs a lot of work done.

"We've decided what ones we want Karn. We're all waiting for you in the Barracks," Shining tells me over the comms.

"Alright. I'll be down there in a minute," I reply and head back down.

I walk into the Barracks and see them all waiting for me. "So you're all sure you know what ones you want? You can have other types made for yourself later, but right now you need one for when we go into the Hive," I tell them.

"We're sure," Twilight says.

"Good. Let's head back into Twilight's room and I'll show you how to use your Fabrication Tables," I inform them and walk into Twilight's room.

We're standing around her table. "Ordis had these altered with a bigger keypad so your hooves can press the buttons easier when you're not in your frames. As you can see here, there's four arrow keys. The up and down keys cycle through the current menu list, the right key selects the item on the list and the left key goes back to the previous menu," I tell them and let Twilight operate it.

She looks through the list and scrolls down to the Sentinels. She presses the right key and then scrolls down to the Helios. I couldn't help but smirk. She then presses right again and selects Construct. The arms on the table begin to slowly put it together.

"It should be ready within twelve hours. The rest of you go to your tables and build your own Sentinels. There should be plenty of resources from my Orbiter in the Dojo's Oracle to make them all. But please ask me first if you wish to make anything else. Although you can make ammunition if you need it," I tell them.

"Sweet!" Rainbow says and rushes to her room. The others follow behind her.

"So what do we do after these are made?" Twilight asks me.

"Once you've tested them out, we'll begin preparations to attack the Hive," I reply.

"This isn't going to be easy... Is it?" she asks in a worried tone.

"No, no it won't. Before we leave, I'll show you all a video of what a Hive will look like," I tell her.

"Yeah. That might be helpful," she replies and looks at her Sentinel being built.

"Don't worry, even if your frame is destroyed, you'll be fine and a new one can be made. The Technocyte have the advantage in the Hive as it will be tight spaces and very dark," I tell her and pat her on the shoulder a couple of times. "I'll be on the roof continuing with the Hanger," I say and head out the door.

"What is the Hanger for?" she asks me.

I look back at her and smile. "That'll be a surprise," I reply.

Chapter 24: Hive Assault Part 1

POV: Karn / Location: Equus - Equestrian Plains - On Top of the Dojo

I continue to build the Hanger for another two hours before calling it a day. I've had my own room also built into the barracks with the others. It's been linked up to my Orbiter so I can have my gear transferable.

I've placed Gilda into another cell for now. She may be an old friend of Rainbow Dash, but I can't leave her unattended while we attack the Hive tomorrow. Though she's been given many books, treats, and other comforts while we're gone.

I bid the others goodnight and go to sleep in my own room. I do some mental simulations in my sleep on how best to approach the hive with what we have.

The next morning I get up and stretch and get my gear ready for the attack. My Soma, Lex, Galatine, and Heat Dagger. Along with my sentinel are ready and equipped. But this time, I've decided to go with my Ember frame for her area of effect fire damage.

I make my way to the Clan Hall where I wait for the others to arrive.

After a few minutes. They all arrive one by one. "Good morning. Today is the day where we attack the Hive. I'll first show you all a recording of what to expect so you can prepare yourselves better," I tell them and put my holo-disk on the floor.

They gather around and I open the file.

When the recording ended, they all look at each other. I don't need to see their faces to know they're nervous.

"So we just have to destroy those clusters and then get out?" Rainbow asks.

"Correct. But this time, I'll be placing a thermal reaction bomb in there as well to make sure it's all burned down. Once set, we'll only have thirty minutes to get out," I reply.

I hear a few gulps and nervous chuckles.

"Alright. So how are we goin' to attack this hive?" Applejack asks.

"In pairs of two. There is usually four to six clusters we need to destroy to interrupt the Hives network and reproducing abilities. Once they're all destroyed, I'll plant the bomb in the centre of the Hive and activate it. Then it'll be up to you to get yourselves out. I won't lie and say this will be easy. A ship infested hive is a lot easier to destroy then a planet side one due to a lack of further biomass and tech for it to consume," I tell her.

"Why not just plant the bomb and blow it all to Tartarus?" Shining asks.

"Because we won't know if all of the clusters will be destroyed in the blast, or how deep the hive goes. If even one of them survives, the hive can grow back," I reply.

"So who's going with who?" Pinkie asks.

"Alright. I want Shining, and Twilight together, Mac with Spike and Fluttershy, Rarity and Applejack, Pinkie and Pinkamena, and Rainbow, you're with me," I tell them.

POV: Rainbow Dash / Location: Equus - Equestrian Plains - Dojo Clan Hall

He wants me to go with him? I feel my face heat up and my heart beat faster. Why do I keep feeling like this?

"Agreed?" he asks. The others voice their approval while I nodded furiously. I'm having trouble just to stop my wings from spreading in excitement. "Good. You have three hours to get everything ready and to check your systems and mods are in place, so get going," he says and we all head back to our rooms.

I calm myself down and make sure all my gear is ready. My Venkas are sharp and ready. My Akstilleto and Grakata is good to go. My own Archwings are in perfect condition, and my own Dethcube Sentinel just like Karn's is ready to show that virus what for. We've all put some mods into our sentinels as well to buff them up.

I checked over everything three times just to make sure. I don't want to let Karn down or slip up while we're down there.

POV: Karn / Location: Equus - Equestrian Plains - Dojo Clan Hall

I've checked my gear and It's all ready, I'm just waiting for the others to finish their checks before we head out. I've told Nightshade to stay near the cells and make sure the Gryphons don't get out. If they somehow do, he has permission to kill them. Fluttershy's kubrow Cobalt is also with him along with enough food and water to last a few days if needed.

Rainbow was the first to arrive in her warframe and stands beside me. "W-Well, I'm ready whenever y-you are," she stutters.

I look at her with a raised brow. "You alright? You sound really nervous." I ask her.

She fidgets on her feet for a few seconds. "Y-Yeah I'm fine. It's just... um... This is our first big mission! Yeah that's it!" she replies.

I chuckle and pat her on her shoulder. "Don't worry about it. I'll watch your back while we're down there," I tell her.

I hear her sigh and her knees shake a bit as she shivers. "I know... I-I just hope I don't get in your way," she says nervously.

"You'll be fine. From what I've seen, you've trained harder than any of the others," I reply.

She then looks up at me and surprises me with a hug. "Thanks. I'll do my best!" she says and lets go.

I just look at her with confusion. She's never hugged me before or been nervous. I push the thought away and just wait for the others.

After ten more minutes, we're all in the Clan Hall in our frames and ready to go.

"Twilight, can you send a letter to Celestia and let her know we're off to destroy the Hive now. And that if she sees a large ball of fire and plumes of smoke over the forest to not worry about it. It's just the Hive getting wiped out," I ask her.

"Alright," she replies and gets a piece of parchment and a quill. Once she wrote the letter, she gave it to Spike, who just stares at her and I imagine an eyebrow is also raised. "Oh right..." she mutters in realisation before walking off with Spike to the Somatic Chamber and give it to Spike in Person.

Once they both return, I then look to everyone here. "Right then. So here's the plan. Ordis will drop us off above the Hive where he'll scan the area for the clusters. We'll then each pick a target and make our way to them and destroy them. Remember to use your heat based weapons on them. Once you've destroyed your cluster, head back to the surface where Ordis will pick you up. But if you've finished with yours and someone else calls for help, make your way over to them. Got it?" I tell them.

They all salute and we head outside to my Orbiter. We all enter and I order Ordis to go to the Hive's location.

"This is so exciting!" Pinkie says bouncing on the spot. Her other personality just shakes her head and sighs.

"Pinkie. This isn't a game you air headed mare! This is serious! If you lose your frame here then I might be pulled back with you! As much fun as the training was, this will be a battle to protect our home! Get your head on straight!" Pinkamena tells her.

Pinkie looks down and stops bouncing. "Sorry..." she replies.

The rest of the trip is in silence. Ordis brings the Orbiter to a hover over the Hive's entrance which is covered with fleshy organic growths.

I then turn to the others. "You all remember the plan?" I ask them. They all nodded. "Good. Stick together with your partner and watch each others back. Keep each other safe and I'll meet you all back here," I tell them.

POV: Twilight Sparkle / Location: Equus - Everfree Forest - Above the Hive Entrance

I nodded again and look to Shiny. "Ready, brother?" I ask him.

"Yeah, I'll keep you safe, sis," he replies. His Djinn Sentinel hovering beside him.

"Four clusters detected. Targets have been assigned to each group. The Operator and Miss Dash will head to the designated bomb site," Ordis tells us and a red marker is placed on my visor.

"Alright then, you all have your targets. Good luck in there!" Karn says and jumps out of the ship with Rainbow close behind him.

They both head into the Hive and I can hear gunfire going off.

"Our turn. Lets go, Twily," Shining says and jumps out next. I jump off after him and hold my breath. No matter how many times I did this during training. It always made my stomach turn.

Both Shiny and I activate our anti-gravity systems and lightly land on the ground. I draw my Dera and pull the bolt back to arm it.

We run into the tunnel and past the corpses of some infected Changelings. Our marker is telling us to go down the second tunnel to the left, so we both head down it as our helmets headlights turn on. For a couple of minutes, we meet no resistance while we can hear gunfire echo throughout the Hive.

My radar suddenly comes alive with red dots showing a swarm of the infected heading towards us. I level my Dera in front of me and wait for them to show up. Shining has his Braton Assault Rifle trained down the tunnel as well.

When they finally come into view. I almost panic at the sight. Over a hundred twisted and mutated Changelings and wild animals charge at us, snarling and growling as they get closer with some green fluid dripping from their sharp toothed maws. I pull the trigger and send bolt after bolt of super heated energy at them.

The bolts hit and burn holes through the infected creatures as they start dropping. Shiny fires his rifle and hot lead soars down the tunnel hitting them, causing blood to splatter on the floor and walls.

I run out of ammo and swap to my Dual Cestras while Shiny gets his sword out. I pull the triggers and the two barrels spin really fast as a barrage of energy bolts are sent into the still approaching swarm. These pistols have a heavy kick to them and even with the frames strong grip and a recoil reduction mod in the guns, I'm having trouble keeping a grip on them.

My pistols batteries then run out "Reloading!" I shout to Shiny and I start to change them.

POV: Shining Armour / Location: Equus - Everfree Forest - Inside the Hive

While Twilight reloads her weapons, I rush forward and start carving up the infested as I swing my Skana rapidly with fluid motions. Blood and chunks stain my Warframe but I don't stop.

They start to push me back so I activate my javelin ability and thrust my sword into the ground and release the energy I gathered from my Warframe. Javelins of white energy shoot out all around me and spear a good twenty of the infected to the walls. Thanks to a module in the armour, the javelins avoided Twilight.

"Done!" Twilight says and points her pistols back at the swarm. I leap back beside her and begin reloading my Braton as she unloads on the infested.

POV: Twilight Sparkle / Location: Equus - Everfree Forest - Inside the Hive

It takes a good ten minutes but we pushed our way through. We come to a room with a really nasty pink pus filled growth attached to the ceiling. The red marker pointing directly at it. "Well, we found the cluster. Let's destroy it and help the others," I say and aim my Dera at it.

"Twily look out!" Shining yells at me. I look to my left and see a creature Karn called an ancient stretch its arm at me and hits me. "Oof!" I grunt and roll across the floor as I drop my weapon.

"Twily! I'll deal with that thing! You destroy the cluster!" Shiny tells me and charges the creature with his sword.

I get back up and pull my weapon back to me with my Warframe's magnetic abilities. I aim at the cluster but get jumped by a Changeling. It starts to bite and claw at me with its mutated forelegs. My shields begin dropping rapidly and I draw my Prova and slam it into the Changelings head. The electrical discharge causes it to spasm and I push it off me.

I roll onto my feet and repeatedly bash its head in. I pant as I aim my Dera back at the cluster and pull the trigger.

POV: Shining Armour / Location: Equus - Everfree Forest - Inside the Hive

I charge at the large monster and swing my sword at it. It moves to avoid it and swings its right arm at me. I block it with my sword and pull out one of my Latos with my left hand and fire at its chest.

The bullets bury themselves into the creature but it doesn't seem affected. It roars and slams its left arm into my head and I hit a wall from the force. I groan as I pick myself back up and shoot at its head. The bullets don't seem to be doing anything so I put the pistol away and create an Ethereal Skana and start swinging it at the monster from a distance.

Blades of energy soar towards the creature as it tries to avoid them. A few cut into it while one of them manages to cut its left arm off.

I leap towards it and thrust my heat infused sword through its head, where it screeches and bursts into flames. I pull my sword out and leap off of it. It thrashes around and hits me with its remaining arm. I slide across the floor and stop next to Twilight who is firing her weapon into the cluster. The Hive seems to shake as the pus filled growth bursts into flames and explodes.

"EEEEWWWWW!" Twilight screams as she and I get covered in a pinkish yellow fluid.

I get up and wipe the fluid off my visor. "Okay... that wasn't so hard..." I say and pick up my sword.

Growls and snarls to our right get our attention as hundreds of infested run at us. "You just had to open your mouth didn't you..." Twilight says annoyed.

We open fire onto the infested as we make our way back out. "Karn! We destroyed the cluster! We're heading back out!" she says to Karn over the comms.

"Alright. Stay alert in case anyone else needs your help!" he replies over the sound of gunfire and screeching.

"Got it!" Twilight says and thrusts her right arm out with her hand spread open. A group of the infested are pushed back and some get crushed by the force.

I look up and get an idea. "Twily! Can you collapse the tunnel?" I ask her.

She looks up as well. "I can try!" she replies and holds her hand up to the ceiling. She grunts and pulls her hand back. The ceiling breaks apart and barricades the tunnel.

"Nicely done, sis! Now let's get out of here!" I tell her and we start running back to the surface.

Chapter 25: Hive Assault Part 2

POV: Big Mac / Location: Equus - Everfree Forest - Earlier Above the Hive

After Twilight and her Brother jumped out, I turn to Fluttershy. "You ready, Shy?" I ask her. She gulps but nodded her head. "It'll be alright. Ah'll keep anythin' from harmin' ya," I tell her.

"Thank you," she replies nervously.

"Let's get going then. The sooner we get done, the sooner Karn can set that bomb off," I say and jump out the ship. I land on the ground with a heavy thud and crack the dry dirt beneath me, leavin' a small crater.

Fluttershy shrinks down and gently flies down and regrows as she lands beside me. With a nod to each other, we make our way inside.

Changeling bodies lay on the ground around us and Fluttershy gasps at the sight. We come across multiple tunnels and our marker is pointing towards the farthest right.

We trot through the tunnel as gunfire echoes around us. "Ya alright, Shy?" I ask her.

She squeaks a bit. "Y-Yes. I'm fine, Big Mac..." she replies. Her Wyrm sentinel and her strange metal butterflies floating around her. Some viscous growling gets our attention as an infested Timberwolf jumps on my back. I try to throw it off me, but it's holding on tight. "Hold on, Big Mac!" shy says and she whacks the Timberwolf off me with her Bo Staff.

I quickly turn to the Timberwolf and stomp on its head. "Thanks," I tell her.

She doesn't reply but nodded rather quickly. We continue to head down the tunnel and a few more infested attack us. I hold up my Kohmak and start firing shells into them. Shy's butterflies then dash forward and start cutting up those I'm not aiming at and her sentinel starts firing off its laser as well. My Djinn sentinel is also firing off its stingers and making the infested focus more on me.

A Changeling infested tackles me into the wall and I punch it in the head hard with a rock covered hand. Its head rips off its body with a nasty squelch. I can hear Fluttershy trying not to gag or whimper.

Her Sentinel instantly turns around and start firing behind her. She yelps in surprise as some infested try to ambush her. I don't know the science stuff behind Karn's technology. But these equipment and weapons of his are downright terrifying. I'm glad he landed in Equestria and not in some other land... There'll be no chance of us standing against him if they got him to attack us, though with his rules and laws, I very much doubt that.

There's now twenty infested in front of me, so I gather the energy in my frame like Karn taught us and create a rock wall in front of me. I then command it to reform into a boulder and I push it hard down the tunnel where it slams into the infested hard, crushing many of them beneath it before it shatters into pieces sending pieces of rock everywhere.

POV: Fluttershy / Location: Equus - Everfree Forest - Inside the Hive

This is terrible. All these animals are in pain and suffering, I've felt a bit of the pain they're going through right now when I was infected... I frown and raise my Bo Staff and bring it down on the head of a poor infested fox. 'Remember what Karn told you. You're not killing them, you're saving them from their misery,' I tell myself over and over.

I swing my staff around, but stop when I recognise the bear in front of me... "Harry?" I ask with a whimper.

His face and muzzle are bloated, his claws are longer and sharper, and his eyes look like he's in agony. I feel tears flow down my real face seeing the condition of my friend.

He gurgles a roar at me and swings one of his claws. I use my built in Archwings to shrink and fly above the strike as my butterflies and sentinel start attacking him. I start sobbing as the lasers and the little metal wings tear away at his fur and muscle until he lies motionless. 'Oh Harry... I'm so sorry!' I think to myself and turn to look down the tunnel, anger welling inside me. 'I promise you. I'll make this mean virus pay for hurting you and our friends!'

POV: Big Mac / Location: Equus - Everfree Forest - Inside the Hive

I'm startled as ah hear Fluttershy scream out in anger and start shooting the infested down the tunnel with those two tiny long pistols she pulled out from her wings.

I shake my head and pull out my Scindo Axe and cleave the infested on our way down. Fluttershy and I make our way to a small room with a pulsing sac on the far wall, the red marker pointin' right at it.

"Fluttershy, can you get yer little butterflies and sentinel to destroy the Cluster. Ah'll keep an eye out for any more infested," I tell her.

"Okay," she says with anger and her butterflies start to slash and her sentinel opens fire on the sac. The outer layer starts to burn and after a few more seconds, it bursts. Fluttershy yelps and hovers in the air to avoid the flow of rancid fluids spilling over the floor. The Hive seems to shake after the sac was destroyed.

"Karn, we've taken out the Cluster. We're headin' back to the surface," I tell him through the comms.

"Good job! Rainbow watch out! Oof!.." Karn says and gunfire sounds out. "We're almost at the drop off point," he replies and grunts as the sound of flesh being ripped is heard. "Wait at the entrance and help the others if they need it," he tells us.

"Eeyup," I reply.

I stop for a second thinking we forgot something... Probably just my imagination.

Both Fluttershy and I head back the way we came and wait at the entrance of the cave.

Author's Note

A bit short but next is Rarity and Applejack's perspective.

Chapter 26: Hive Assault Part 3

POV: Rarity / Location: Equus - Everfree Forest - Earlier Above the Hive

"Let's get going then. The sooner we get done, the sooner Karn can set that bomb off," Big Macintosh says to Fluttershy and jumps out, Fluttershy following behind him.

I watch them head into the Hive but notice somepony missing. I turn around and spot Spike sitting on the floor just staring at the weapon in his hands.

"Spike?" I say, getting his attention.

"Huh?" he mumbles and looks up. "Oh, is it time?" he asks and looks around. "Where's Big Mac and Fluttershy?" he then asks us.

"They've already jumped," Applejack tells him.

"What!?" he yells and fumbles with his weapon as he stands up, but ends up tripping over himself.

"By the sounds of it, they've already gone quite far. I suppose you'll have to accompany us then," I tell him trying to hold in a giggle at his antics.

"I haven't even started yet and I'm already messing up..." Spike says to himself and sighs.

"Don't take it too hard, partner. Seems Mac and Shy also forgot about ya, so just come with us and keep Rarity safe," Applejack tells him.

He seems to perk up at that. "I guess so... I just hope Karn doesn't tell me off when this is over," he says and pulls the bolt on his gun to load the chamber.

"Yeah! Hurry up and go so we can go next!" Pinkie tells us with Pinkamena next to her.

"Then let's get going!" Applejack says.

"Yes darling. I have to agree with Big Macintosh with getting this done quickly. I do not wish to stay in such an unsanitary place for long... Just think of all the mess that will cover my clean Warframe!" I reply with a shudder.

"Oh quit bein' so fussy an’ get goin'!" Applejack tells me and has the nerve to push me out of the ship!

"WAAHAHAAA!!" I scream from the sudden drop and luckily land on my hooves, or feet as it is right now. Applejack then lands beside me. "How could you do that to me, Applejack! I almost had a heart attack!" I scold her.

"Quit yer bellyaching already and let's get in there!" she replies and runs ahead as Spike lands beside me.

"I'll take up the rear, make sure nothing sneaks up on us," Spike says. I huff with a scowl at Applejack before sighing and nodding to Spike.

I step into the tunnel and cringe at the mess already before me. "Good heavens. Just look at all the blood and gore on the floor! There's no way I'm not going to get filthy!" I say and try my best to avoid the mess.

"Rarity, ya'll be fine. It's not actually you that will be touching any of this, and you can just clean ya frame later!" Applejack tells me.

"Alright, I understand..." I reply and we head down the second tunnel to the right. I try to ignore the mess but the squelching and sloshing noises under my feet is making my skin crawl.

Growls and the sounds of hooves and claws on the floor comes from down the tunnel as a large group of nasty infested creatures comes into view.

Applejack holds out her Vasto and fires into them. I pull out ten Kunai and throw them at the infested creatures. Applejack fires six shots and quickly reloads as I keep tossing more Kunai at them.

Spike aims with his Gorgon LMG and fires a barrage of hot metal into the swarm ahead of us, tearing through them quickly.

They start getting closer and Applejack can't use her whip in this tight space. I pull out my Glaive and throw it at the swarm. The blades spin rapidly and cut through the infested with ease as it comes back to me and I easily catch it.

After a few more minutes of fighting we make it to a large cavernous room. "Sweet Celestia! It looks much more disgusting than the recording showed," I say disgusted and point to a large bloated pink sac on the floor.

"Well let's just get rid of it and go help the others," Applejack says.

POV: Applejack / Location: Equus - Everfree Forest - Inside the Hive

I take a stance as my Regulator pistols flip into the palms of my hands. I take aim at the cluster but more of the infested rush into the room. "Spike, Rarity. You pop that thing and ah'll put these things down!" I tell them.

I channel my Warframe's energy through me and time seems to slow down as infested creatures shamble towards us at a snail's pace to me. I aim to the closest one and pull the trigger, the shot of energy blasts it in the head blowing off a good chunk as I already take aim at the next.

Shot after shot goes off as I hear Rarity and Spike attacking the cluster behind me. After killing about fifty of them, my frame's energy runs out and my sense of time returns to normal.

I quickly activate one of those energy canisters Karn gave us and drop it to the ground where a pulse of energy floods the area giving me and the others some more energy.

More infested enter the chamber and I pull out my Lecta whip. "Applejack! Help Rarity pop this thing! I got these guys!" Spike says and walks over to me.

His frame roars as a spray of fire comes out where his mouth would be and into the swarm of infested at the chamber's entrance. The creatures shriek as they're burnt into husks.

"Keep it up, Spike!” I tell him and turn to face the cluster where Rarity is throwing her Kunai at it but they're just getting stuck in it.

I draw my Vasto pistol and use my frame's energy to enhance the next shot and aim at the cluster. I pull the trigger and the force of the shot makes my arm recoil, but the cluster bursts and floods the area with pus like fluid. The Hive shakes violently and the screeching of the infested echoes throughout the tunnels.

"EEEEEEEEEEEKK!" Rarity shrieks and runs away from the flow.

I just roll my eyes at her. "Karn, we got the cluster!" I tell him over the comms.

"Good job! Make your way out and wait for the others! To your left, Dash!" he replies and yells at Rainbow.

"You heard the stallion! Let's mosey on out!" I tell the others as Spike's flame breath dies down leaving only charred bodies in their place.

"Yes please! I don't want to be here a moment longer!" Rarity says and runs to the entrance.

I hear Spike chuckle before following her. I can't help but chuckle as well as I follow them.

POV: Pinkie Pie/ Location: Equus - Everfree Forest - Earlier Above the Hive

I giggle as Applejack pushes Rarity out of the ship making her scream. Applejack then jumps out followed by Spike.

I look to Pinkamena and see her holding up her Ogris Rocket Launcher.

"I don't think you'll get to use that here, Pinkamena. You might cave us in," I tell her.

She huffs and puts it on her back. "Still taking it with me," she replies.

"Okay then! Let's party!" I say and jump out the ship. "Wheeeee!" I yell and lightly land on my feet.

Pinkamena lands beside me and pulls out her maul, ready to bash some meanies!

I use my Frame's Hall of Mirrors ability and four more of me appear and start giggling. "Alright everypony! Let's go kick some flank!" I yell getting cheers from the others. Pinkamena just shakes her head at me.

"CHARGE!" I and the other me's yell and rush into the Hive. Pinkamena follows behind us as I, me, myself, the other me, and the last me run down a fork in the tunnel and follow the yellow marker on our visors.

Changelings and other poor infected animals start flooding the tunnel to block us so we all aim our Drakgoons at them and charge up our shots. We fire together and I cringe slightly as the shrapnel bounces off the walls and shreds the infested apart.

"Yuck. That's a lot more messy then I thought it would be," I say and try to stick my tongue out in disgust... Except I don't have a tongue right now, whoopsy.

"Hey! Let me have some fun!" Pinkamena says and barges past us and charges into the swarm with her maul raised.

With a swing, the multi-bladed maul slams into a changeling making its head go splat across the wall. She swings again hitting another one only to get pounced on by three others and pinned to the ground as they bite and claw at her. I charge up my Prism ability and after a couple of seconds, release the shiny ball in front of me.

Little lasers come out of the ball and start targeting the infested, slicing them apart rapidly as the ball bounces around the tunnel... I just noticed I like things that bounce a lot. Hmmm, maybe that's why I like to bounce instead of trot to places?

I file that thought away for later and start skipping down the tunnel following the light giving laser ball. Pinkamena grumbles to herself, something about getting an automatic gun instead when this is over as she trudges behind us.

I hum a tune as the disco ball of death finally runs out of energy and shatters, blinding the infested still alive.

Angry, Pinkamena roars out as pink coloured energy claws appear on her hands. She then runs quickly forward and starts clawing at the blinded infested and tears them apart. Gosh, she's really having fun now if the maniacal laughter she's letting out is any indicator.

The tunnels shake now and then followed by the cries of the infested echoing around us.

Her energy runs out as the claws disappear, leaving her to groan unhappily. Me and the other me's giggle as we enter a large room. On the back wall is a large jiggling round mass of pink yuckiness, and around it are more infested, some tall and human looking with long arms and legs.

"Hey! You can use your Rocket Launcher now!" I tell Pinkamena getting her to perk up.

"Now that's what I'm talking about!" she says and pulls it off her back.

She aim's at the cluster and pulls the trigger. The rocket enters the chamber and after a second, she releases the trigger sending a rocket into the cluster, making it pop and send nasty yellowish goop everywhere. The infested near it are blown apart from the blast while the others screech angrily.

"Time to go!" I say and pull on Pinkamena's arm.

"Hey! There's still more of them to kill!" she complains but I keep pulling.

"We can meet up with the others and stop them from leaving from there," I tell her. "Karny? We got our thingy popped and are heading back out!" I report to Karn happily.

"Well done, Dash and I are almost there, wait for us with the others up top!" he replies.

"Yes, Sir!" I say and skip quickly back out the tunnel with a once again grumbling Pinkamena while blasting more infested in our way with our Drakgoons.

Chapter 27: Hive Assault Part 4

POV: Karn / Location: Equus - Everfree Forest - Deep inside the Hive

After receiving Pinkie's confirmation on her task done, I turn my attention back on the infested blocking our path to the central chamber.

"Come on! I can do this all day!" Rainbow yells, firing her akstiletto into the charging infested. "Buck!" she then says as her magazines run dry.

I aim my soma at them and spray the infested down, giving her time to reload her guns and resume firing.

"Keep pushing forward!" I tell Rainbow before sending a quick uncharged fireball down the tunnel which explodes, setting those in the blast radius alight.

Some infested jump over their screeching allies and continue their charge towards us. I aim my Soma and fire at the infested making them add their own screeches, Rainbow adding her bullets to the barrage as well.

Once the flaming corpses die down, we both run forward and continue down the tunnels shooting any infested in our way. We pass by some side tunnels and even rooms that appear to have once been living quarters it seems. Moss beds and other wooden furniture are in the rooms, now mostly broken or covered with the virus.

We even pass a room that looks like a nursery. Small deformed and bloated infant looking changelings squirming and screeching on the floor as they try to make their way over to us.

"Oh Celestia..." Rainbow says sadly and before I can say anything, she starts shooting them in the head one by one. I just cover her by staying near the entrance and gun down any incoming infested.

It only takes her a minute to put them all out of their misery before we continue on. We pass by another room where Rainbow yelps and gets knocked off her feet.

"Ahhh!" she yelps as a fleshy cable like strand sticks to her back and an ancient pulls her into the room.

I follow her in just to see her use her Air Burst ability to slice the ancient in half, making it release her. Once she's free and away from it, I launch another fireball at the infested, burning its still alive remains

"Keep moving, Rainbow!" I tell her and head back out with her right behind me.

"Coming!" she says as we continue to make our way to the centre of the hive while gunning down any infested blocking our path.

We come to a cross section where the screeching of the infested echo around us before they start swarming four tunnels around us.

"Rainbow, use your tornadoes!" I tell her making her quickly use her ability.

Air flows around her as her energy builds and three small tornadoes form and grow until the raging winds forcefully pull in the infested, carving them up with razor air currents.

"Good, now let's go! Just a bit further!" I say as I launch a fireball into each of the tornadoes, making them change into swirling pillars of flame.

With the other tunnels now blocked, we run and gun down the last one towards the central chamber.

After putting countless abominations down, we arrive and the chamber is massive. I could fit my orbiter in here and have room to spare. I see the remains of what appear to be homes carved into the walls and ceiling, and in the centre of the chamber is a massive pulsing growth.

"Ewww, what is that?" Rainbow asks in disgust.

"Must be the main cluster," I reply and re-materialise a bomb from my frame's hard-drive.

"Let's blow this thing up already! I'm getting a bad feeling..." Rainbow says with a shiver.

I start setting the timer when the ground rumbles where a ten metre long muscly tendril bursts out of the ground followed by a roar.

"Crap..." I mutter and set the timer to go off in ten minutes.

Rainbow yelps and launches an air burst at the tendril, cutting nearly half way through before it detonates, sending the tendril flailing as it slithers back underground.

"Of course there's one here..." I say getting Rainbow's attention.

"One what?" she asks me as the ground rumbles again.

"One of the origin strains, one of the first of the infested since its initial spread. There are a few infested that are as old as I am. Lephantis is the oldest I know of. No matter how many times we destroyed its body, it always came back a few years later in another derelict," I reply as four more tendrils burst out around us. "I don't recognise this one," I say and roll to the left to avoid a swipe from one of the tendrils. Only to be grabbed by another and lifted into the air.

"KARN!" Rainbow shouts and starts shooting the tendril to no effect.

I growl and struggle before activating my Immolation ability. My energy flares up and ignites my warframe, covering both myself and the tendril in hot flames.

A loud screech echoes throughout the hive as I'm dropped to the ground. I land hard and quickly roll onto my feet as Rainbow is swatted away by the tendril behind her.

"Bucker!" she yells and slams into the cavern's wall before bouncing off. "Ooof!" she grunts and quickly gets back on her feet.

I can feel my frame getting hotter by the second, giving me more resistance to damage and increasing the damage of my other abilities. I turn and blast the two closest tendrils with a fireball each, setting them on fire and making them flail wildly.

"Rainbow! Cast your tornadoes so I can set them on fire!" I tell her and dodge the swing of a tendril at me.

"Okay!" she replies and casts her ability.

A single tornado is formed at each tendril and I use my fire blast ability to unleash a wake of fire that spreads out away from me while also reducing the total heat my frame is now regaining. Each tornado is engulfed in flames and forces the tendrils to retreat underground.

The hive shakes violently as the pulsing growth above us is hit by the blast of flame. I maintain my balance while Rainbow falls over.

A large mass of flesh and teeth bursts out from under me and bites into my frame, shattering my shields and puncturing my waist as it drags me down into a larger chamber. My frame is slowly bleeding out as I unleash another fire blast into the infested's mouth, making it howl in pain and spit me out. I tumble down to the ground and quickly pull out a healing canister and jab myself in the leg.

The thin needle pierces the armour of my frame and my frame slowly repairs the damage it took as my shields come back online and recharge. I check my ammo reserves and I have about half of my stock remaining.

"Karn! You alright!?" Rainbow asks over the comms.

"I'm fine! Head to the entrance! I'll keep this thing here so it can't get out!" I reply and duck under a swing of a tendril before diving over another and rolling back onto my feet.

"You expect me to leave you down here!?" she yells angrily.

"If I have to sacrifice my frame to make sure this thing dies down here then so be it! Now go! That's an order!" I tell her, making her growl and after dodging another swing she yells in frustration.

"FINE!" she replies and I can faintly hear her run away as my mini-map also shows.

I draw my soma and start unloading into the centre of the abomination. It has bone protrusions all over its main body with two long tendrils coming out of each side. The front has a large maw with six inch long razor sharp teeth lining both upper and lower jaws.

It doesn't appear to be able to move without the use of its tendrils as it has no arms or legs on it.

The ancient mass of flesh screeches as the thermal tipped rounds scorch and try to ignite the monster, but it starts secreting a liquid like substance that prevents it from catching on fire.

The infested roars angrily and lunges at me using its tendrils to propel itself forward.

Gathering my energy to my feet I bullet jump to the right, launching myself a good twenty feet and barely avoid it as it slams into the cavern wall, sending loose stone and infested flesh around it.

I quickly recover and activate my fourth ability, Inferno. Energy flows from me to nearby rocks and engulfs them in flames before levitating off the ground and quickly soars into the back of the infested ancient.

It wails in pain as the rocks tear into the softer flesh and start burning it from the inside. I run over to it and avoid its flailing tendrils before thrusting both my hands into the scorched holes and launch fireball after fireball into its insides. it struggles as it tries to dislodge itself from the wall before going still and bursting into flames.

I back away, my frame's energy spent and the coating of fire around me is snuffed out. I quickly collect my Soma from the ground, holster it to my back, and look up to the hole above me. I have less than five minutes to get out of here so I bullet jump onto the still burning ancient and then leap up to the hole and grab the ledge. With a grunt, I haul myself up and make a mad dash back down the tunnels.

"Everyone! I'm heading back up! Make sure no infested leaves the hive and keep an eye on the timer! Stay away from the entrance when it goes off!" I tell everyone over the comms.

"Understood! Just get back here quickly!" I hear Twilight reply along with the sound of a lot of gunfire.

"Ordis! Get ready to pick us up and provide covering fire for the ground teams!" I tell him.

"Understood, Operator," he replies and I can hear the thrusters of the orbiter outside followed by its few turrets firing into the entrance.

Four minutes.

I come across a few infested along the way and draw my lex with my right hand and heat dagger with my left. I shoot six of them before impaling the last one in the head with the dagger, burning its flesh and killing it instantly.

Three minutes.

Once dealt with, I bolt down the tunnels again while gunning or stabbing any more in my way.

Two minutes.

Closer and closer I get to the entrance as the sound of gunfire gets louder ahead of me. I jump dodge and shoot my way through the tunnels as the timer is ticking down.

One minute.

I get tackled into the wall and headbutt the changeling infested making it stagger back before shooting it in the head.

I see the light from the entrance and turn the corner quickly.

I sprint for all I've got and see the others backing away from the entrance.

As soon as I get five feet from the entrance, the hive violently shakes from the bomb's detonation. I stumble slightly and reach the opening before a blast of flames and kinetic force slams into my back, shattering my shields and sending me head over heels out of the hive.

I bounce off of Shining's frame, sending him to the ground heavily while I bounce off and slam into a tree which shatters with the force. I tumble and roll for a bit before coming to a stop.

My systems warn me of a break in my left arm and a fracture in my frame's right leg.

I stay down and look up to see the hive engulfed in flames as the whole tunnel network collapses, sending smoke and dust flying high into the air.

"Karn!" I hear Rainbow and the others as they make their way over to me.

"Ordis! Scan for any more infested in the area!" I order him as the others help me up onto my feet.

"Scanning... There are a few lingering signs, targets have been marked," he replies and five target markers appear on all of our HUDS.

"Spread out! Destroy those targets now! If they get away, the hive can recover!" I order the others, making them gasp and quickly spread out to chase them down.

Rainbow is the only one still here, using her frame to support mine.

"Cutting it a bit close don't ya think?" she asks me with a sigh.

"Even if I didn't make it, I can just make another frame. It's better to ensure that the hive is wiped out instead of risking letting it recover again," I reply and she carefully sets me down against a tree.

I watch as each target marker disappears from my hud until none are left. I then watch as Ordis launches canisters all over the forest near the hive with the disinfectant to make sure not a single cell of the technocyte remains.

"Well then... hopefully this is the only hive on this planet, I will need to get the orbiter orbit worthy to perform a full planetary scan... but at least for now this hive is no longer a problem..." I say getting a relieved sigh from Rainbow.

"So now all that's left to worry about is the gryphons," she says sounding tired.

"We'll send cloaked probes to see what they're up to, and if need be, I can infiltrate and look for any evidence or what they're doing myself," I reply and twist my left arm, getting a crack from it but setting it back the right way.

"You alright?" she asks me with concern.

I slowly turn my head to look at her. "I don't feel any pain, but my frame will need some time to repair the break and fracture."

"We got them all, Karn," Pinkie says over the comms.

"Good job, everyone. Return and let's head back to the dojo, I think a celebration is in order for your first successful mission," I reply, getting cheers in return.

The others quickly return and help me up as we head back to the dojo, Ordis is overhead providing us with cover along the way.

Chapter 28: A relic from the past

POV: Karn / Location: Equus - Equestrian Plains - Dojo

After making sure all our frames are disinfected after wiping out the hive, we finally return to the Dojo where I turn to face my Tenno. "Everyone, well done on your first successful mission. Fortunately, this Hive wasn't as bad as it could have been. Nonetheless, I'm proud of all of you for your effort and officially welcome you as fully fledged Tenno," I tell them as I cradle my broken left arm.

They all thank me in their own ways and congratulate each other before I speak up again.

"Now then, go rest up and take the rest of the day off. Tomorrow, we'll be planning defences and surveillance against the Gryphons," I tell them before looking back to the Orbiter. "Ordis, start construction of the signal booster now, hopefully we can contact Lotus and get reinforcements sent to fortify this system," I tell him.

"Yes, Operator. Beginning construction now," he replies as six construction drones break away from the hanger and slowly begin building the booster next to the dojo. "Estimated completion time is thirty-six hours," Ordis informs me.

"Good, now go and relax, I need to get this frame repaired," I tell them all and start hobbling toward my Orbiter.

I hear them heading into the Dojo, but one set of footsteps is following me. My minimap shows it's Rainbow following me.

"Yes, Rainbow?" I ask her as she jogs up beside me.

"So... Now that the Virus is gone... What happens next?" she asks as I stumble and she catches my right arm.

"Well, first I'm going to fix my Ember frame, then continue working on the hanger, then as I said, tomorrow we'll discuss setting up defences and surveillance from the Gryphons," I reply as we reach the Orbiter and enter.

We head down the ramp and take the left side of the armoury and to Helminth's room, the door opens and Rainbow gasps at the infected looking room.

"Karn... what is this? This looks like that Virus..." she says in shock.

"This is Helminth, he's responsible for repairing any major damage to my frames as well as making sure the biological components of the Orbiter are functioning properly. How else do you think there's breathable air in the ship when in space?" I reply and point to the chair in the middle. "Help me to that chair," I tell her and she cautiously helps me over.

Once placed, I can hear Helminth's voice.

"Master, I see you are injured," the low rumbling voice of Helminth says to me.

"Yeah fighting an Origin strain infested and taking a bomb blast in the back did a number on me," I reply with a chuckle. "Repair this frame, Helminth." I order him as I make sure I'm in the seat properly.

"As you wish, Master," he replies as the long spear like limbs to the left and right of the chair raise up and impale my hands to the arm rests, making Rainbow gasp then scream as one of the three above my head wraps around my neck to hold me in place while the other two impale my frame's stomach.

My frame struggles in place for a bit before I transfer myself back to my real body.

I make my way out and back to Rainbow who is staring at the display. "Rainbow?" I say getting her attention.

She looks at me with I’m sure would be disgust on her face. "The buck is this!?" she yells at me and points to the still thrashing Ember frame.

"The Helminth was made by the Orokin originally to turn people into Warframes who retained their minds somewhat and to repair Warframes if badly damaged," I reply as I watch Helminth repair the broken arm and fractured leg of my Warframe.

"Wait... you mean Warframes were once people?" she asks in shock and then to her hands.

"Yours and mine weren't, they were built off the blueprints of the originals, but the original Warframes from the Orokin era were. We find new and lost Warframes now and then from Orokin towers, derelict ships, ruins, the void, or even in other dimensions. Then we bring back their bodies to not only make new Warframe blueprints from them, but to show them the proper respect and give them their final resting place," I reply.

She's silent for a few seconds before asking. "Does that mean that thing can turn ponies or anything else into a Warframe?" she asks while slowly stepping away.

"It's possible, but we Tenno have made it a rule to never do that unless the individual agrees to go through with it," I reply. "While we were made into what we are now by the Orokin, it doesn't mean we have to be like the Orokin," I say and turn to leave the room.

Rainbow follows me and I head out of the Orbiter to see Applejack, Big Mac, and Fluttershy heading back to Ponyville.

We just stay silent for a few minutes before Rainbow speaks up. "Who are the Orokin?" she finally asks me.

I frown at the thought of the Orokin. "They're greedy, selfish, manipulative, and thought themselves masters of everything. If you didn't do as they said, or made a mistake, they made an example out of you, for instance, Ordis was once a living person, but was punished and turned into a Cephalon. Many others suffered the same fate, or even willingly became Cephalon. Their technology was very advanced, even more so than today's standards and allowed them a form of Immortality. No longer aging or able to switch bodies and some of the best medical science available kept them alive," I tell her and then turn to look at her.

"They were slavers and were the original creators of the Grineer who were used as cloned soldiers for their armies before the Warframes were created, we even think their current Queens were once Orokin themselves. But their culture was based around art, technology, and architecture. They made everything to be extravagant and opulent with ivory white and gold colours.

I even have two Nercomech war machines, these were the predecessors of Warframes but not very intelligent on their own, but void-born Tenno like me and Twilight are able to control them like a Warframe."

I sigh and look up into the sky. "There are a few Orokin still alive to this day, some we've killed and some who have changed their ways due to circumstances. The Entrati who are stuck on the moon Deimos which is completely covered in the Technocyte became infested but retained their minds and are now aiding us Tenno. They're the ones who helped me get my Necromechs," I finish telling her.

"The Orokin sounds terrible... Is it possible they could return?" Rainbow asks me.

"It could be possible, but the only real things left behind are their ivory towers and systems. They have enslavement systems in their towers capable of taking over intruders' minds and forcing them to be guardians or caretakers until they die. We call these poor souls Void Corrupted, and we don't know of a way to return their minds to them as of yet," I reply sadly before continuing.

"Only we Tenno and those that know how to shield themselves from the system can safely enter these Towers. Though the Grineer and Corpus attempt to salvage anything they can despite the risks to either reverse engineer or sell on black markets."

Rainbow looks down and then to the Orbiter before looking back at me. "Will those Grineer find their way here? I remember Lyra mentioning she found one of their ships crashed in the Everfree Forest but the Grineer inside was all dead," she tells me, making my eyes widen.

"What!? The Grineer were here!? Wait... I remember Chrysalis mentioning she found the Technocyte in a crashed metal vessel." I say in surprise and head back into the Orbiter to get my Rhino Warframe. "Ordis! Scan for Grineer signals!" I order him as I pass the foundry.

"At once, Operator," he replies as I enter my link chamber.

"Karn!? What's wrong? Lyra said they were dead!" she yells as she follows me inside.

I sit in my somatic link chair and connect to my Rhino. Once in my frame and out of the pod I run past her to the armoury and arm myself with a Boltor rifle.

The big brother to the Bolto, it's a sixty round automatic rifle of Tenno make that fires large bolts designed to punch through armour. I then take my Lex for more piercing power and for a melee weapon I pick up my Ripkas just in case I need to cut through the forest's foliage.

"Karn! Will you just tell me what's going on!?" Rainbow yells at me in frustration.

"Chrysalis said she found the Technocyte in a crashed ship, this Lyra pony says she saw dead Grineer in a metal ship in the same forest. That means Grineer somehow got here and crashed with a sample of the virus and it's possible that there could be more of it on board! So unless we go and find it to confirm there's no more, the threat of the Technocyte is still very real!" I tell her and fully stock my ammo hard-drives with the correct ammunition and head over to the console to the left of the cockpit.

Ordis brings up a map of the forest and I watch as Ordis scans for signals. I glare at the screen as not one, but three beacons show up. One is the Grineer ship's SOS beacon, the other two are faint, but infantry beacons.

"So we just need to look for and destroy any more of the virus we find if there's any right?" she asks and extends a venka claw in front of her face.

"Yes. Ordis, get Rainbow my Odonata Archwings and get me my Elytron Archwings," I tell him.

"Affirmative, Operator," he replies and I hear the Archwings launched outside.

"Come on, we need to get to that ship now," I tell her and run out of the Orbiter when my Archwings connect to my waist.

Rainbow follows me out and the Odonata wings connect to her. "Let's go," I say and take off towards the beacon.

After a few seconds of flight we're hovering over a canyon and I can make out a small heavily damaged Grineer Gokstad Crewship.

"Come on," I tell Rainbow and fly down, but a strange red eel like creature quickly lunges out of a large hole in the canyon side with intent to devour me. I fly back and fire one of thirty bloomer rockets from my Archwings which flies into the eel's mouth before I remotely detonate it, causing the head of the creature to explode in charred flesh and gore to rain down to the bottom of the canyon.

"Gross..." Rainbow comments as she watches the eel's corpse slide out of the hole and down to the ground.

I spot several other holes and as a precaution, fire six more rockets, one at each and collapse the entrances.

Now clear I land near the crewship and examine the wreckage. Seems like it was heavily damaged from battle as the signs of a Railjack's artillery cannon shot a shell through it, but missed the reactor... That doesn't explain why it's here though...

"Ordis, fly overhead and start running a more detailed scan for anything not native to this world. Grineer, Corpus, Orokin, anything, no matter how faint the signal," I order him as I make my way to a large hole that seems to have been made from the crash itself.

"On my way, Operator," he replies as I look around the totalled cargo area.

This world is lucky that the canister the Technocyte was in didn't break when this ship crashed. Judging by the overgrowth and the corpses, this has been here for at least two, maybe three-hundred years... The armour on the Grineer corpses are outdated and the broken Grakata smgs littering the wreckage are old models...

But one corpse is different, I walk over and avoid the debris and notice the armour colour, it's one of the Queens Nightwatch elites.

"Why is that one's armour black?" Rainbow asks behind me.

"It's one of the Grineer's elite from a unit called the Nightwatch. Explains why there was a canister of the Technocyte on board, they were planning to use it as a bioweapon most likely, perhaps on a colony or on an enemy ship," I reply and check for any I.D.

I find a very worn and faded I.D card reading RIDD - 093 I don't know this name and number, must be a lower ranked member of the Nightwatch or just an unknown one.

I can hear Ordis arrive above and speak up. "Commencing scan, Operator... Oh my... Sir, I'm picking up a very faint Orokin signal from a Railjack and a Tenno signal next to it buried within the cliff side next to the Grineer Crewship!" Ordis informs me by sending a marker behind me sixty feet away.

"A Railjack? Here? How?" I mutter to myself but continue looking for any more Technocyte containers, we spend a good twenty minutes looking but fortunately find nothing. The reactor, computers, and hard-drives are totalled and unsalvageable, but hopefully the Railjack's are still intact and can explain what happened here.

Rainbow and I exit the crewship where we now stand in front of the cliff face with the marker fifty feet away. I can probably blast my way through with my archwing's remaining ordinance...

"Rainbow, fly up and out of the way, I'm blasting through," I tell her and fly up.

"Alright," she replies and flies up behind me.

I target the wall and fire bloomer after bloomer into the stone. Rocks and boulders fly off in all directions as the sound of explosion after explosion rings out through the canyon, scaring wildlife away and the Grineer crewship to get partially buried but after twenty bloomers, the old blue painted front of the Railjack is visible.

"Ordis, call all available Titan extractors back now and excavate the Railjack out, this takes top priority. What's the condition of it's systems?" I order him and ask.

"Scanning... The void drive is damaged but repairable. Engines intact but external plating damaged. Weapon systems... primary guns intact but secondary will need replacing. Artillery cannon totalled, needs full replacing. Missile systems, Launcher one intact, launcher two totalled. Forges... two out of four functioning, one damaged, one totalled... Archwing slingshot... damaged but repairable. Logistics... intact. Shield generator... critical damage, but can be repaired. Multiple hull ruptures, seven in total, one is catastrophic and will need repairing for space flight. Onboard Command Cephalon Yuna... Offline but she's intact," he lists off all the systems.

Cephalon Yuna... I remember her, she was lost during a mission when a sudden void storm rolled in and we lost contact with her and a few Grineer ships. Is this where they were taken? If so, where are the other Grineer ships?

Also, what is emitting the Tenno signal Ordis found inside it?

"Rainbow, head back to the Dojo and return to your body, then get something to eat in Ponyville. I'll stay here and watch the excavation," I tell her as I stare at the dirt covered blue paint on the Railjack’s nose.

"Are you sure?" she asks me with concern.

"Yes, if you feel that worried about it, then go eat, tell the others and come back. Also, Ordis, run a continuous scan for Gryphon life signs. While they'll be unlikely to take anything from here, better not take any risks," I reply and tell him.

"Yes, Operator," Ordis says.

"Alright, be back in a bit," Rainbow says and flies off toward the Dojo.

I turn back to the Railjack and place a hand on what little of the hull is exposed. "Now then... how did you get buried here?" I ask it in thought.

Chapter 29: De-frosted.

POV: Karn / Location: Equus - Everfree Forest - Railjack crash site

I watch as the Excavators arrive and begin digitizing the stone and dirt from around the Railjack, carving out the entrance so it's big enough for the Railjack to fly out if the engines are still functional as Ordis says they are.

For two hours I watch as Rainbow flies back down with Twilight and Spike in their Warframes falling from the cliff and slowing their descent before landing with a soft thud.

"Karn! What's this about a buried ship..." Twilight asks as she sees the Railjack's hull and the first three letters of the Railjack's name which I know is called Avalon.

I turn to her and wave my left hand at the ship. "We're about to find out how the Avalon got here, she was lost during a violent void storm over two-hundred years ago and she along with several Grineer ships went missing, never to be seen again," I tell her and look back to the Railjack. "Once a hatch is cleared, I'm going in to see if I can get her running again and if Cephalon Yuna is still functional," I say and just watch as the excavators finish expanding the entrance and begin digging out the ship itself.

"This is so cool," Spike comments and walks over to the entrance and just stares at the hull. "To think an alien spaceship has been here before Ponyville was even built!"

I look from the ship to my Orbiter above us. "Ordis, deploy the Necramechs and post them as guards for the entrance. They are to attack Gryphons on sight if they are attacked first, and keep anyone not a Tenno away from here," I order him.

"Affirmative, Operator," he replies and two bays open up under the Orbiter where my Necramechs are dropped and use their hover engines to descend.

Twilight gasps as they land. "What are those!? A-Are those skulls!?" she asks in disgust as the mechs walk over to the sides of the now cave entrance.

"These are the Voidrig and Bone Widow Necramechs, designed and built by the Entrati before Warframes were made. And yes, that's a corpse in them. They're used to operate the mech in a limited fashion and it's what made them effective against the sentients and the infested back then. But the Orokin and Void-Born Tenno like you and me are capable of controlling them just like we can a Warframe," I reply as the mechs slowly look left to right in idle guard mode, each armed with a Mausolon Archgun.

"They... weren't alive when they were put in those mechs... right?" Twilight asks as she walks up to one where it just ignores her and keeps looking around.

"No, they were mostly Dax, elite warriors of the Orokin, who were killed in battle. And instead of letting their bodies or skills go to waste, they were placed in these mechs so they could continue fighting," I reply.

Twilight then proceeds to ask multiple questions about the mechs and the Orokin. So for one and a half hours I tell her what I know and that's when Ordis speaks up.

"Operator, a side hatch has been revealed, it is safe to enter the Railjack now," he informs me.

"Good job, Ordis. Let's see what's inside shall we? Ready a weapon just in case," I reply and tell the others.

"This is soooo exciting!" Rainbow says, getting her Grakata ready and loads a round into the chamber.

Twilight gets her Dera ready while Spike has his Gorgon.

We walk up to the hatch and I ready my Boltor as Ordis remotely opens the hatch. I step in and pull myself up into the middle of the ship, looking around I see corpses of the crew strewn about and the harness for the secondary guns are damaged.

Ordis then marks the three Tenno signals one in the cockpit and two near the forges.

The others gasp as Twilight speaks up. "This is terrible..."

"They died from void storm radiation, if exposed it'll kill you very quickly. Alright, follow me and keep an eye out. We're heading to the forge and cargo area," I tell them and the left side door opens as I walk near it.

More of the crew's corpses lay on the floor as I scan the room I see four of the minor hull ruptures and evidence of fires. With nothing hostile I make my way forward and down the ramp to the lower deck. Following the left side still, we make it to another door that looks broken.

"Other side," I tell the others and go around.

The right side door is functional and we enter the forge area. A couple more corpses are here and I see why one of the forges is totalled, the hull has a massive hole in it and the forge is completely torn out.

Walking to the forges, I look down and my eyes widen. The Tenno signal is coming from an array of twelve cryo pods under the forges in the cargo area. Two of the pods show life signs while the rest that have bodies in them are dead due to damage to the pods.

I head down and start looking at the data.

"Are they alive!?" Rainbow asks and looks into one of the still functioning pods which is frosted over.

"Two of them are yes, I'm looking over the data now," I reply and read the first pod's data.

"Jaani Ki' Ta, Steel Meridian gunner. Vitals are stable but has a minor wound on her left arm," I read out and then move to the next one. "Surv-Tel Tilerion, Cephalon Suda Operative Engineer. Vitals, stable and perfectly healthy. Seems only these two of the crew survived," I finish reading and begin the reawakening procedure.

The pods start thawing and the frost on the lids recede as they open up making Rainbow yelp at the sight of the Grineer defector inside.

"Is that a Grineer!?" she yells and points her Grakata at her. I quickly grab the front of the gun and push it up, making her yelp in surprise and fire off five rounds due to the action.

They ricochet a few times, one hitting the shields on the back of Spike's head. "Watch it!" he says and ducks down. While I take a hit to my back as I cover the pod.

"Rainbow, do not try that again. She's a member of the Steel Meridian, a group of Grineer Defectors who didn't want to fight or serve their Queens. We Tenno help liberate other Grineer who don't want to fight or are being used as lab rats and in return they help us. Notice her armour is white and not green?" I tell Rainbow sternly and slowly let go of her Grakata.

"Sorry..." she says and lowers her gun.

Twilight sighs while Spike grumbles as he stands back up.

I stand up straight and watch as Janni's eyes slowly blink open and she looks at me, then to the others.

"I'm... alive?" she says and slowly sits up.

I place a hand on her back and help her up. "Yes, you've been in cryo for over two-hundred years. How do you feel?" I ask her as I Carefully but quickly pull out the shard of metal stuck in her left arm and start removing the damaged armour to see a three inch deep laceration.

"Apart from my arm? Happy to be alive," she replies as I un-digitize a healing canister and inject her left bicep. "Ouch," she then says in a sarcastic monotone.

"Where are we?" Surv-Tel Tilerion asks as he sits up from his pod. He's wearing a black and grey skin tight suit with purple energy flowing through it. He has a helmet where only his nose and mouth are visible.

"You're still on the Avalon, but you're both on an uncharted planet, we're no longer in the Sol system," I inform them as Jaani's wound closes and I put her armour back on.

He hums in thought before speaking. "What about the Grineer crewships and galleon we were fighting? Did we destroy the Technocyte they had?" he asks as he shakes his head.

"There is one crewship just outside with its crew dead. I haven't seen a galleon or any other crewships yet, but as for the Technocyte, one of the locals found it in the crewship before I did and accidentally released it, fortunately, we were able to destroy the hive and all traces of the virus before it could spread," I reply and then help Jaani out of her pod where she stumbles and Rainbow helps hold her up.

"Thanks," the Steel Meridian gunner says and shakily stands up straight.

Tilerion sighs in relief. "Then our mission was a success, how many others survived?" he asks and then looks at Spike. "Help me out would you?" she asks him.

"Oh! Sure!" Spike replies and helps him out of his pod.

"Unfortunately, you two are the only survivors. I haven't checked the cockpit or the ship's Cephalon yet though," I reply to his question and wave Twilight over. "Twilight, help Jaani while I go check the cockpit," I tell her.

"Okay," she replies and takes my place.

"Head back outside and wait for me there, I'll go see if I can get Cephalon Yuna back online," I tell them, getting affirmatives from them.

They head back to the hatch while I head back to the front of the ship. I go around the right side and I see a Warframe locked into the pilot's harness just stuck there, limp and unmoving. Walking over to it I recognise it as a Protea

Coloured light blue with white trim. Sadness fills me as I know those colours, the Tenno who used them has been dead for over one-hundred and thirty years from a botched Grineer raid when they found her Orbiter and destroyed it while she was in her Warframe.

I leave it there for now and head over to the console in the middle and activate it. The screen comes alive and I let Ordis do his thing. After a few seconds, the ship's lights come back on and a holographic image of a sphere with six smaller spheres orbiting it appears above the console.

Static echoes throughout the ship as a female voice shouts loudly. "-REW GET TO THE CRYO PODS! I REPEAT ALL CREW TO THE CRYO PODS IMMEDIATELY!" she yells as alarms start blaring and the lights turn red.

"Cephalon Yuna, calm down. You're no longer in danger," I tell her and after a few seconds, the alarms turn off and the lights return to normal.

"Tenno? How did you get onboard? And where is the void storm? Where am I?" she asks in confusion.

"That was over two centuries ago, and we're currently excavating you out from under the ground. I believe the Void Storm sent you and several Grineer ships to this world, but we've only found one Grineer ship so far," I tell her.

She's silent for a few seconds. "And our mission? The Technocyte?" she asks.

"Destroyed," I tell her.

"Well, at least we succeeded... I detect multiple damages and system failures. Blast, this will take months to repair," she complains and sighs.

"We'll get you up and running again, but we've got the bare minimum here and we've been cut off from Lotus and the Sol system," I tell her.

She grumbles for a few seconds. "I noticed as I can't reach the other Cephalon in the Weave... Although I do detect one other nearby," she says warily.

"That would be my ship's Cephalon Ordis," I reply and walk over to the Protea in the Pilot's harness.

As I holster my Boltor and unlock the Warframe from the harness, Yuna speaks up. "Are there any other survivors?" she asks.

"Two, Jaani and Tilerion, they've both been escorted outside where we'll take them back to the Dojo for a medical check up and get them comfortable," I reply and haul the Protea over my Shoulder. "Just get a list of what's damaged and what is needed to repair it. Then we'll start work on fixing what we can," I tell her as I make my way back to the hatch.

"Only two survived? That's unfortunate... Alright... I'll begin collecting data and will make a list of which damages will take top priority to repair," she replies and her hologram fades away.

After exiting the hatch, I see the others waiting for me. "We're heading back to the Dojo to give you both a medical examination. Then we'll have rooms prepared for you, will you both be willing to remain as crewmen for the Avalon once we have her repaired?" I say and ask them both.

They look at each other and Jaani shrugs at him.

"Very well, it is not like we know where we are, where to go, or how this world functions," Tilerion replies calmly.

"Verywell. Rainbow, stay here and guard Cephalon Yuna and the Railjack until she's been dug out or I return to replace you. Ordis, once the Railjack is free, deconstruct the Grineer Crewship and everything in it, then retrieve the Necramechs," I order them.

"Awww really?" Rainbow whines, making me slowly turn my head towards her. She flinches slightly. "Eh he... Yes, sir..." she says and runs over to the cave.

“As you command, Operator,” Ordis replies.

I shake my head and look at our two new guests. "Jaani and Tilerion, I'll fly you both to the Dojo and we'll give you a medical check up," I tell them as I walk over to them. "Twilight and spike, you can stay here and help Rainbow guard the place or make your way back to the dojo, your choice," I tell them both.

With everything set, I wrap an arm around their waists and lift both of them as we fly off to the Dojo.

I also need to deal with our four gryphon "guests" as well.

Prologue: Betrayal

Warframe: Equestria
Prologue: Betrayal

POV: Karn / Location: Saturn - Grineer Ship Tethys

Greavus and I were ordered to assassinate a Grineer General who destroyed a new colony we had set up on Earth, a hope of reclaiming the planet from the Grineer who have destroyed or conquered everything they could since the fall of the Orokin.

We've made it to the last room after killing almost half of the ship's crew, the General's room. I was never the stealthy type, I prefer force over subtlety.

"You ready?" I ask Greavus, he just nodded in reply. I don't know why but I don't feel comfortable around him, his new Nekros warframe should never have been made in my opinion. It desecrates the dead, reanimating them with nerve controlling nano-machines to fight at his command, both friend and foe alike.

We check our weapons; my Soma Machine Gun has a full magazine and five spare, my Lex Pistol on my right thigh with ten magazines left, a Heat Dagger on my left thigh and my melee weapon the, Galatine Greatsword, all heavily modified. The Soma has increased rate of fire and recoil reduction with augmented bullets to increase damage with thermal tipped caps. The Lex has denser rounds for additional penetration with corrosive tipped Ferrite bullets and extended magazines from six shots to ten shots. The Heat Dagger has a thermal booster enabling it to melt through almost anything. The Galatine has a reinforced blade made from alloy plating giving it a sharp edge, it also has the ability to leech the life force of those it cuts while I channel energy through it.

Greavus has an Ether Reaper Scythe, a Bolto Pistol and a Latron Rifle, I don't know what modifications he has on them but once we finished checking our gear over we slip inside.

I had to leave my Dethcube Sentinel and Sunika Kubrow named Nightshade back on my Orbiter, they were not the quietest around and are the kill first ask later type.

We see the General talking to a display console with another Grineer, something about a Tenno traitor working with them. That's not good, the grineer have been trying to get Tenno tech for awhile now to adapt it to their own.

I look at Greavus and nodded to him, signalling that I'm ready. He nodded in return and we charge at the General.

Only to have Greavus knock my feet out from under me and point his Latron rifle at me. The noise alerts the General to our presence, but the grin on his face doesn't show any surprise, in fact he looks very happy.

"My my, its about time you arrived, Tenno. I was wondering if you would betray our deal," he said in a robotic tone.

That's when it hit me, Greavus is the Traitor they were talking about back there. My rage rises, betraying your brothers and sisters within the Tenno is a crime unforgivable, and to betray them for the Grineer just makes it worse.

I roar out in anger as the energy within my Warframe increases my strength. I firmly plant my feet into the floor leaving small dents and charge forward into the General hitting his midsection, ripping him in half.

There's one thing I've always done, finish the job. With that out of the way I turn to Greavus, only to find him gone.

A voice speaks up through my comms, it's Lotus. "Tenno, you cannot allow Greavus to escape. He has forsaken his oaths and must not be allowed to leave with the knowledge he has. Your mission priorities have changed, find Greavus, and kill him," she says with a slightly hurt tone in her voice.

I've known Lotus for centuries, she's like a mother to all Tenno, hearing her in sorrow enrages me further. "As you command," I reply and storm out of the room, heading back towards the Lisets to hopefully catch his warframe before he takes off with it.

Grineer are swarming the hallways, I draw my Lex and start shooting the Grineer down, The heavy magnum calibre pistol blowing fist sized holes through their armour. Five, ten, twenty, fifty they just keep coming. I've used six magazines for my pistol already and my shields are about to break, I focus my energy and with a roar, a coating of condensed void energy covers my Warframe making it look like plates of iron.

The Grineer bullets bounce off my Warframe, chipping away at the coating but it gives my shields time to recharge. I switch out to my Soma and gun down the Grineer in my path with its hundred-round capacity magazine. At this rate, Greavus will have escaped before I can kill him. The Warframe is just a techno-organic humanoid battle frame where its operator is connected to it via Somatic Link, so why hasn't he left the Warframe behind and left already? Does he still need that frame?

The Grineer are starting to surround me, I pour what little energy I have left into a mighty stomp. The shockwave shatters the Grineers legs and suspends them in the air, the ones it doesn't kill I quickly gun down.

I have three magazines left for the Soma so I switch to my Heat Dagger as the halls are too narrow to use my Galatine in.

A Grineer Scorpion fires her grappling hook at me which I catch and give a hard pull, she trips and slides towards me where I plant my dagger into her back with a hiss of burnt flesh and melting metal.

I continue down the hall downing many Grineer on the way, I finally reach the Lisets to see Greavus just about to enter his. I use the remainder of my energy to charge him and slam him into the wall, he recovers from the blow and counters with his soul punch ability, making a fist of void energy and slamming it into me with great force.

I fly across the room and hit the far wall leaving a me-sized-dent. Still stuck in the wall, I quickly draw my Lex and fire six rounds into his chest. The first four shots drain his shield while the other two sunk into him as the bullets' corrosive toxins eat through his Warframe.

His frame twitches and he clutches his chest as his left hand points to the dead Grineer in the hallway, a dark mist of nano-machines flows from him to the corpses which rise up again with a black aura around them.

Pulling myself out of the wall I draw my Galatine since I have enough room in here, the corpses rush at me, but I cut them down easily enough.

Once the last one fell, I hear a noise behind me. I turn to see Greavus's Warframe still functioning and boarding his Liset, I quickly get to mine and give chase, we jump back to our Orbiters where he gets in his first and fires a shot at my Liset, hitting one of the jump drives.

"Operator, the Liset's jump drive has been damaged," my Orbiter's on board cephalon named Ordis informs me.

"Noted, get the orbiter's jump drive ready!" I order him and he complies as my Liset docks into the orbiter. My Kubrow Nightshade barks happily upon seeing me but I ignore him for now, "Ordis, follow him! We can't let him get away!"

The console comes to life and a voice responds. "Yes, Operator." And with that we fly after him, but before I could enter the Void to follow, the Grineer ship we attacked jumps nearby and gets a shot off which hits my Orbiter's jump drive, we're blown off course as we enter the Void.

When we leave the void we're heading towards a bright planet similar to Earth, Greavus is nowhere in sight. "Operator, the main thrusters have been destroyed and we are being pulled towards the unknown planet. I recommend strapping in, prepare for an emergency landing," Ordis warns me.

I make my way over to Nightshade and strapped him down in his pod and harness, once that was done I lock my Warframe into my armoury and the Somatic Link Seat I'm sitting in the back of my Orbiter encloses and locks me in place.

The temperature increases as we enter the atmosphere.

POV: Twilight Sparkle / Location: Equus - Canterlot

I knew that wasn't Cadence and now my friends and I are fighting our way to get to the Elements before it's too late. Changelings have surrounded us and everypony is tired, my magic is running low and the way to the Elements is just crawling with them.

With a sad expression I look up to the sky, "I'm sorry, Princess, we failed. We'll need a miracle to help us now," I say as a tear rolls down my cheek, but just as I was about to give up hope, a light in the sky is heading towards the city in a ball of fire.

Is Princess Luna throwing meteors at the city? No wait, there's something metallic in it, my friends all look up at the falling object with awe and fear, a few Changelings turn to see what we're looking at and also look worried, some even afraid.

We just stand there and after a minute or two, the very large metallic object hits thirty or so metres away from us into a few houses. The shockwave it generated knocks both us and the changelings off our hooves and shatters the windows on the surrounding buildings.

When the dust settled it looks like some kind of large black metal vehicle, but I've never seen anything like it before and it looks way too advanced to be anything on Equus.

A few changelings slowly approached it, the metal on it quickly cools off as jets of what looks like steam are expelled from small vents that opened up on its sides.

After a few seconds a door on the side opens up and a tall black and red bipedal creature steps out wielding a massive sword, a dagger and other... I have no idea what they are on its hip and back. Whatever it is, it looks a lot more intimidating than the Changelings, following it out is a black furred quadruped the size of Big Mac standing to its right growling, it kind of looks like a diamond dog but on all fours. Floating to its left is a small object just slightly bigger than its head.

I can't see its face due to its helmet, at least I think its a helmet. Its head looks around at the Changelings and then to us, I can't tell but I think it's confused.

After what felt like an hour a Changeling hisses and dives at the creature, the floating object lets out a loud repeating popping sound as light flashes from the tip on its front and the changeling is filled with holes that leak out its green blood.

Fluttershy screams as a Changeling attacks her, but before we could help her the quadruped runs over with lightning speed and bites into the Changeling's neck and chomps down, ripping its head off.

The quadruped stands guard over our trembling friend as five more Changelings leap at the biped, but with one swing of its sword, they're all cut in half. Just what in Equestria is this thing?

POV: Karn / Location: Equus - Canterlot

Well this is certainly not what I was expecting, I can already tell these black insect like creatures are hostile, but I've never seen Nightshade protect someone he doesn't know, he never befriends anyone at first meetings.

I look over the rest of the Insects and take a step forward, they seem too hesitant to attack again, good thing I set my sentinel to guard mode or it would have continued to fire at them. Nightshade is just standing over the yellow and pink equine growling at the insects, daring them to get closer.

The purple one is staring right at me with a pleading expression and a desperate whinny, I've been through enough defence missions to know what's going on here, it's an invasion.

I recharged my Warframe's energy when it was docked to my armoury so I gather some energy and roar out causing the insects to cower away while filling me and Nightshade with a boost of strength. I switch my sentinel into attack mode and leap into the air, I then bring my Galatine down onto a bunch of the insects.

The ones at the impact zone are instantly crushed or sliced and the ones around it are thrown back, I start to swing my sword left and right carving into the black swarm, I just then notice that small green bolts of energy are hitting me, slowly chipping away at my shields.

With another roar I coat myself in my iron skin and sprint for the nearest group of clustered insects before sliding on my knees, once I get into range I twist my body into a full three-sixty swing slaughtering at least twenty of the bugs with the wide arc of my sword.

Nightshade is tearing into the hostile bugs savagely, I made sure to upgrade his shielding collar so he can take quite a few hits before he has to retreat. He has more shielding than I do, still I'd prefer he had is armour on right now.

My sentinel is also mowing down these bugs left and right. After a minute of fighting my sentinel's gun clicks signalling its empty, I leap back and crouch forward as my Dethcube latches onto my back where I keep a spare magazine with five hundred rounds for it. Once reloaded it detaches and continues to rain death on them.

After another two minutes of fighting the insects retreat to a tall castle or palace like structure, I turn to the six equines where Nightshade is now nuzzling the yellow one, I'd have thought it was cute if he didn't have a reputation to uphold.

I walk over to them after sheathing my Galatine onto my back and switching my sentinel to standby mode, all but the purple one shy away from me as what's left of my iron skin crumbles away.

"Greetings, I am Karn, a Tenno of the Lotus order," I greet the purple equine through my Warframe.

It just tilts its head to the side and makes a few neighs and whinnies... Well, this just got awkward.

Author's Note

And thus the rewrite begins.

Chapter 12: Unexpected Visitor

POV: Karn / Location: Equus - Ponyville - Inside the Orbiter

Once Rainbow returned to her body, I get into my Vauban Warframe and we fly back to town in the Orbiter.

We land behind the Library where Rainbow gets off still with a grin on her face.

"So what did Rainbow and ya do exactly?" the orange one asks me.

"She had her first test with a rifle. By the way, what's your name? I don't think you or any of the others told me," I ask her.

"Oh, mah name's Applejack," she says holding out her right foreleg. "Pleasure to finally talk ta ya."

I grip her hoof and give a light shake. "Likewise. Would you like to try that lecta? We can see if you can try to use it without hands," I offer her.

"Err, sure," she replies with a raised brow.

I grab the lecta and we both exit the Orbiter. "Here's how it works. You hold the grip and pull the trigger here to extend it, release the trigger to retract it," I tell her and demonstrate. I swing the whip and pull the trigger making the tip fling out and discharge at the end of the swing. I release the trigger and it reels back in. She might be able to pull the trigger since there's no trigger guard.

I hold it out for her and she wraps her hoof around it. She squeezes it tightly and the head of the whip falls to the grass. She hums and starts swinging it around like a lasso. She then flicks it forward and is rewarded with an electrical thwiping sound. She then returns to twirling it over her head.

"Ah guess ah can use it, but not the way ya jus' showed me," she tells me.

"Hmmm, we'll just have to wait and get you your own Warframe so you can use it properly," I reply. "Ordis, how's the Dojo coming along?" I ask him.

"Ahead of schedule, Operator. The Clan Hall, Reactor, and the Oracle with ten Somatic Links have been completed. Work on the Tenno Lab is at eighty percent," he replies.

"How did you build them so fast?" I ask confused.

"I halted fabrication of the Thrusters and built more Construction Drones to speed up the process. You did say time is short," he tells me.

"Good call. How's our resources?"

"Low, I've sent the Extractors back out to collect more Ferrite, Gallium, and Rubedo. I have also started making more polymer bundles with other base materials, but we'll have to search the other planets to see if they have other resources we can use," he says.

"Alright, let me know when the Lab is completed. We can make the others warframes all at once then. Also, remind me to find that wrecked Extractor later today," I tell him.

"Yes, Operator."

"Who ya talkin' to?" Applejack asks with a confused expression.

"Ordis. He's the Orbiter's A.I," I reply.

"An' what's a A.I?"

"A.I stands for artificial intelligence. He's a program designed to think for itself and he also controls all the functions on the Orbiter. Right now he is the one building the Dojo while I'm here," I tell her.

"Wait. Ya mean ta tell me that yer kind can create life?" she asks.

"In a sense. He thinks and even feels emotions somewhat, therefore he's alive," I reply as I look to the others. The white one has gotten used to the Glaive and Kunai. Pinkie is swinging that hammer around like it was an extension of herself and big red is swinging that axe with long, slow but powerful swipes.

"What's his name?" I ask Applejack.

"Oh, he's mah brother Macintosh, but everypony just calls him Big Mac," she tells me.

"And who's the white one?" I ask.

"That's Rarity," she says.

"Alright, we'll do proper introductions later," I tell her. I whistle out to get they're attention. "I'll be taking the weapons back for now until you're suited up, but until then, just go back to your homes and get ready for some intense training," I yell out.

"Awwww, can't I keep it?" Pinkie says with a pout and big sad eyes. I am a Tenno and such tactics don't work on me.

"No. Not until you're a fully fledged Tenno," I say flatly.

"Fiiiiiiiiiiine," she says and hands the hammer over where Mac and Rarity hand theirs over as well. I take them back inside the Orbiter and put them away.

POV: Chrysalis / Location: Equus - Everfree Forest - Infested Hive

I almost have enough magic to break free from this parasite.

'Why do you continue to resist? All shall become one,' the disgusting plague says.

For the last few hours I've felt my body twisting and reshaping from what ever this thing is doing to me.

But it was all worth the wait, as I now have the magic I need. So I begin to channel the magic through my body.

'What are you doing? Resistance is futile,' it tells me.

'Resist this!' I yell at it as I unleash my magic and turn my body into a mist like substance in a burst of green magical fire. The parasite falls to the floor screeching and the voice is gone from my head. I quickly head through the emergency tunnels leading to the surface and collapse them behind me.

I make it out and turn back into my normal form where I'm panting hard as my magic is almost gone. My hive and all my children are gone. I've got no choice now... I'll have to ask the ponies for... help.

POV: Karn / Location: Equus - Ponyville - Inside the Orbiter

I put the weapons back into my armoury and check on the thruster's current progress, still a long while before it's ready.

I'll also show them all that hive exterminating mission later once they've gotten used to a Warframe. "Karn, can ah have a word with ya?" I hear Applejack ask me from the door.

I turn to her and head back outside. "What do you need?" I reply.

"Me and mah brother are the only two on the farm to harvest the apples and crops. When we do this training thing, there'll be no pony to do the harvesting," she tells me.

"And what do you want me to do about it? I don't know much about farming besides the aeroponics labs," I say.

"Rainbow says that you have some harvesters that can do it for us."

"You mean the Titan Extractors?" I ask.

"If that's what they're called. She said you might lend me a few for the farm while me an' Mac help you fight this virus," she replies.

"Oh, if that's all then sure. I can lend you three of them and make some more," I tell her.

"Thank ya kindly. Ah was worried that ya wouldn't fer a second there."

"It's no problem at all, Applejack. We Tenno look out for each other," I tell her.

I then turn to look at the others. I spot Fluttershy and remember that I told her she could have her own Kubrow. "Fluttershy! Want to start hatching your own Kubrow?" I yell over to her.

She instantly perks up and runs over to me. "Oh yes please!" she says eagerly with a large smile.

We head inside the Orbiter and to the Incubator pod. Nightshade then wags his tail seeing Fluttershy.

"Nightshade, I'll be using your pod to hatch a Kubrow for Fluttershy," I tell him off-handily. He doesn't care as he sits next to the yellow pony.

I push a few buttons and the pod closes. A few seconds later it re-opens with a Kubrow egg sitting on a pillar.

"This is a Kubrow egg?" Fluttershy asks with fascination.

"Yeah, I had it in stasis so it wouldn't die," I reply.

I press a few more buttons and the pod closes and the radiators start warming the egg. "It'll hatch within two or three days. You can use that time to think of a name for it," I tell her.

"Okay, thank you," she replies.

"Can you let Nightshade stay with you while the egg incubates? He kinda doesn't have a bed anymore," I ask her.

"Oh, I would be happy to look after him," she says with a smile.

POV: Karn / Location: Equus - Two hours Later - Equestrian Plains - Inside the Orbiter

After the others left and Nightshade went with Fluttershy, I called back three extractors and reprogrammed them to harvest apples and crops. I brought them over to Applejack's farm and watched as they digitised the ripe apples from the trees. This startled Applejack and Macintosh at first, but I explained that they're simply stored in the extractors hard-drives for collection later. I even told them that while digitised the apples and crops won't spoil.

Twilight's lizard assistant Spike was also here with those three little children playing some games. The kids were shocked when they saw Applejack and Macintosh earlier when they got back from the park. They asked so many questions... even one where they wanted to be Tenno as well, but the others and I told them no.

With Applejack's help, I told Spike where Twilight was and he headed back to the Library. I then showed Applejack and Macintosh on how to operate the extractors and left them to it.

Now I'm in my Orbiter getting the foundry to make three more extractors to gather more resources.

"Operator, the Tenno Lab will be ready in eight hours, twenty-two minutes and seventeen seconds," Ordis informs me.

"Okay, once the Lab is done, get started on a large barracks. I get the feeling we'll be needing more Tenno then we have at the moment," I order him. "Hopefully we can get reinforcements once we get communications back online."

"As you wish, Operator... Warning, Insectoid creature detected at the forest's edge," Ordis replies and then warns me.

I quickly get up and switch to my Rhino Warframe before heading to the armoury. I get my Galatine and Soma and place them on my back, I also get my Heat Dagger and Lex as well.

I exit the ship and head towards the waypoint marker.

I reach the border and aim at the forest with my soma. After a few seconds I recognise the leader of the bugs that attacked the pony capital step out of the tree line.

Its eyes widen when it sees me and it lifts its hooves into the air while slightly scowling at me.

Is it surrendering? Some noise behind it makes it gasp and turn around. A large group of infested insects charges towards the large bug causing the big insect to panic and fly towards me with fear in its eyes.

I aim for the infected and start firing as five rounds find their home in each infected insect. After a few seconds, they're all down and I look around for more.

The big bug is cowering behind me looking towards the forest. I quickly turn to it, place my left hand above it and before it could react I capture it by digitising it into my prison hard-drive while it screams from the process.

I believe Celestia would like to have a word with this bug.