Radel took a look around him as he walked around the halls of an unfamiliar place, seeing various signs of abandonment. The air was thick with dust kicked up from him walking around, the tapestry and carpet torn, shredded and faded after ages of exposure to the elements. As he looked at the various banners hanging from the crumbling ceiling, Radel noticed something peculiar about the faded graphics on them. He stopped his aimless walking and closely examined the banners, seeing the graphics held some sort of depiction of the sun and moon. The design was very basic, although it somehow held an air of elegance and royalty with the use of golden colors to accentuate parts of the graphic alongside clear whites and deep blues.

Finding his curiosity of the strange banner satisfied for the time being, Radel continued walking through the abandoned halls. After what felt like hours of aimless wandering, Radel found himself walking into a large open room. The ceiling above was either crumbling or caved in above what seemed to be a small staircase leading to a platform with two thrones residing on its center.

As Radel gazed in both awe and curiosity at the ruin before him, an elderly voice spoke from behind him. “You’re standing in quite the historical place, Blessed One…”

Spinning around in a flash, Radel pulled his pistols from their holsters and aimed them at the figure standing in the shadows of the hall he had exited only a few moments before. From his position in the open room, the moonlight from outside was preventing him from getting a good look at the mysterious figure. “Step out into the light, slowly.”

The mysterious figure gave a hearty chuckle as it began to shuffle its way into the room from the hallway. “I am far from a being you’d call an enemy, Blessed One.” As the figure spoke, it finished making its way into the light in front of Radel. The figure was a stallion well into his elder years, a large greying beard covering his face and reaching all the way to the ground. He wore a simple purple robe with a purple magicians hat resting on his bald head. The stallion continued to walk towards Radel, using a wooden staff with a crystalline ball resting on the top of it. “I am one you can call a friend.”

Sensing he had nothing to fear from the elderly stallion, Radel lowered and re-holstered his pistols. “My apologies, sir. I believe introductions are in order.” Radel gave a small bow to the mysterious pony. “My name is Radel Endorian,” he then returned to a normal posture as he gazed curiously at the pony. “May I know yours?”

The pony gave him a small smile as he grabbed his hat and brought it to his chest. “My name is Starswirl, The Bearded. As of who I am, that is something better learned from the princesses.”

Radel raised an eyebrow at that statement and was about to question how he knew the princesses. However, the stallion continued to speak before Radel himself could. “I know you have many questions, but time is not on our side. For now, all you need to know is I’m here to help you.” The stallion then raised his staff, the crystalline ball at the end of it beginning to glow brightly. “You have the power within you to deal with the coming darkness. However, you lack the knowledge and experience needed to wield it.” The light emanating from the staff became so bright Radel could barely see, raising his hands to shield his eyes. “With the last of my power, I will aid the Blessed One, as it was foretold long ago.” Radel began to feel his consciousness drifting away as Starswirl continued to speak. “With my knowledge and experience in the arcane arts, may you be the guardian for Equestria against the coming darkness.”

And with a flash, Radel’s consciousness slipped away…

*******************************************************************************************************

Awake…

Suddenly, Radel’s eyes shot open as he sat up in his bed back on Ender’s Blessing, a cold sweat forming on his face. Rubbing his head as his breathing slowed, Radel began to slowly recall the dream he had awoken from. The strange scenery, the mysterious stallion, and more importantly... What he had said.

Bringing his hands up to his face, he began to gently massage his forehead as Starswirl’s voice echoed in his mind. “...blessed one…” Radel’s mind was full of confusion and curiosity, as he pondered why he was a blessed one. He decided it was better to speak to the princesses about this new development when he met with them in the Command Center and the others. With that decided, the thought of waking up with a relaxing and warm shower made Radel smile.

Suddenly, a bright light shone through the skin of Radel’s eyelids as a strange sound he couldn’t even begin to describe resounded in his ears. When he opened his eyes to investigate, he found himself looking at the knobs for the shower in front of him. Quickly taking in his surroundings, Radel found himself standing in the middle of his shower connected to his personal quarters. As he began to question what had just happened, Athena’s voice spoke through a speaker within the room.

“Commodore, are you alright? I detected a large energy surge within your room just now.”

Radel couldn’t even reply as he was too busy going through all the spells in awe that were suddenly flowing through his memory and how he could utilize them personally. Eventually, after a security drone made itself known in front of Radel, shining a bright light into his eyes, he answered Athena. “Y-yes… sorry. I just zoned out there for a moment.” He began to rub his eyes as they readjusted from the assault of the drone’s bright light.

“Sir, you were unresponsive for three minutes and twenty three point zero four seven eight seconds. Are you positive?”

As the security drone continued to hover around Radel and scan him for health abnormalities, he began to establish a neural link with his current memories of his dream and what just happened, as well as the new found spells and transferred copies of them to Athena for analyzation. “Go over those, Athena, and you’ll understand to a degree. Also, call back the security drone, so I can get on with my shower!”

“Of course, Commodore. Shall I establish a proper report of these events and spells for the princesses?”

Smiling as the security drone finally gave him some privacy again, Radel turned on the shower before answering. “That will be unnecessary. However, I would like a detailed list of the spells from my memory for them to go over.” As the warm water began to flow from the showerhead and onto Radel, he angled his head up so it cascaded over his face.

“Right away, Sir.”

And with that, Athena was back to her normal duties while establishing a detailed list on the spells that were continuously making themselves known within Radel’s head. With that taken care of, Radel focused on the warm water as it chased away the remaining drowsiness from his mind…

*******************************************************************************************************

After just finishing dressing himself and gathering his basic gear and armor, which simply consisted of a light nano-fiber mesh plating along with his dual energy pistols and sword, from his personal armory locker within his private quarters, Radel began to make his way out of his room. As he opened the door to his quarters, he came face to hoof as said hoof gently knocked on his forehead once.

With a quick gasp of shock and embarrassment, the hoof’s owner stepped back with a deep blush practically turning their face into a tomato. “So-sorry, Radel. I was just about to knock on your door to see if you’d be joining us for breakfast!”

“It’s alright, Twilight. I was, in fact, about to come grab you and the girls, but it seems you’ve beaten me to the punch.” Radel smiled down at the alicorn as she stopped looking down at the ground with her right foreleg rubbing her left foreleg.

Once she heard she wasn’t in any sort of trouble with her new friend, Twilight looked up at Radel. As she gave him a relieved smile, a loud *squee* could be heard from her. “Well, let’s hurry then. Athena has already led the girls to the cafeteria!” And with that said, she began to gallop in the direction of the cafeteria.

With a light chuckle, Radel rushed to catch up with the giddy alicorn, engaging with her in some small talk as they met up with the others.

*******************************************************************************************************

After enjoying a hefty breakfast that was surprisingly supplied by Pinkie Pie, who somehow managed to pull countless delicious confectioneries from behind her back, Radel bid the girls farewell as he made his way to the hangar bay. Leaving them to converse for a little while longer within the cafeteria, Radel couldn’t help but smirk as he recalled the last image he saw before stepping out of the room. Pinkie Pie was busy devouring a cake that had materialized in front of her out of nowhere and was probably ten times her size. Everypony and himself were all struggling to comprehend how, and before Radel could vocalize his questions on how, Rainbow Dash flew in front of him to cover his mouth and gave him the strongest 'don’t ask' stare he had ever seen.

As Radel went through the current intel they had on the hive location on his T.E.C.H., a beeping made itself known within his ear. Activating the link request, Radel answered the call of Princess Celestia. “How are preparations on your end, Celestia?”

*Going smoothly so far. We’ve assembled a platoon of forty eight of the best ponies we have available. We have them finishing gathering their equipment and gear and should have them in the courtyard within ten minutes.*

“Good, I’ll see you and Luna then.”

*See you soon, Radel.*

As they ended their call, Radel returned his attention to the intel they had on the hive and its location. It was located underground, of course, with an extensive stretch of tunnels and rooms. All they knew currently of the exterior was that around the main entrance of a small hillside cave was a large expanse of deforested field, about a mile wide in any direction from said entrance. The intel gathered from their probe before it got cut off only shows how the Changelings were digging in by erecting various structures made out of some sort of chitin. The barrier that had formed around the hive had to be bypassed or removed to allow more intel to be gathered.

Continuing to ponder the actions they could take, Radel arrived at the hangar bay and made his way to his personal shuttle. Seven androids that were the most advanced and heavily armed they had stood at attention as he made his way on board. As he sat in the pilot seat, the androids began to take their places on the shuttle, one of them even sitting in the co-pilot seat. “Good to see the Ender Squad is back in action. I thought you all had at least another week till you were all back in prime condition?”

Both Radel and the android continued running their respective system checks and start up sequences, as if they had done it together countless times. “Athena seems to be good at expediting the repair of essential assets.” The android replied before reaching over and patting Radel on his shoulder. “It’s good to be back at your side, Radel.”

Looking over to the android, Radel laid a hand of his own on the android’s shoulder. “It’s good to have you back at my side, Wisdom.” With a nod to each other, the two returned to preparing the shuttle for launch. As they finally finished system checks, they lifted off the landing pad and made their way out the side of Ender’s Blessing. As they exited the hangar bay, two transport shuttles able to carry two squads each came into formation behind Radel’s shuttle. As they began to exit the immediate airspace around the ship, four Harrier-Class Escort Fighters joined their formation.

Even though they could arrive at Canterlot Castle within the minute, doing so would bring them to their location too early. Taking advantage of the next couple of minutes before they would arrive, Radel turned his attention back to Ender-01. Ender-01, or better known as Wisdom as his code name suggests, was the second-in-command of Radel’s personal squad. Not only was the squad at his command, but they served as bodyguards as well. Wisdom was like a central processor for the squad, taking into account all of the information gathered by the rest of the squad’s vision, hearing, etc. Within seconds, he could develop a course of action for the most deadly situations. He rarely left Radel’s side, hence he was able to connect to Radel the way he did with Athena.

“How is the rest of the squad doing?” Radel cast a quick glance over his soldier at the other six androids of his squad, watching as they sat in the back transport seats, waiting for action.

Without responding vocally, Wisdom initiated a neural link between Radel and himself, showing him diagnostics of the rest of the squad. Radel looked over each one individually, Storm, Thunder, Lightning, Breeze, Quake, and Rupture. Each of their personal diagnostics showed their systems to be fully functional.

With a nod, Radel noted the combat readiness of his personal guard and squad, happy to have them back in action. Not only were they the most well equipped and diverse squad at his disposal, they were also familiar with him personally, as they had grown a bond with him over the last couple of years. Before Radel took command of the Ender’s Blessing, he led the Ender Squad in countless battles back home against rebels and terrorists, ranging from full on frontal assaults to sensitive tactical and black ops missions. Though all of Ender Squad had a similar set of gear and equipment available to them as each other, some had certain equipment and gear that gave them advantages in certain fields.

These seven androids were the best the Knights of Ender could supply, and thankfully for Radel, they were by his side now. “It’s good to have you all back in one piece again. Has Athena updated your gear and equipment for the current enemy?”

“Yes, Sir. Our shields and armor have been adjusted accordingly for the strength of the chitin blades and their powerful discharge of offensive magic. Our other gear and equipment have also been adjusted and tuned accordingly.” Wisdom was quick to answer, as various aspects of each squadmate diagnostic focused on the upgrades designed by Athena for combat against magical foes.

“Good. Try not to scare the ponies when we land here shortly.”

“We’ll try, Commodore,” Wisdom promised as Canterlot Castle’s main courtyard came into view.

As the ships made a landing approach for the open courtyard in front of the awaiting princesses, ponies in the streets of the city looked up in awe as they flew overhead. Even the guards that could see the ships throughout the city lost a hold of their stoic stances and expressions at the sight. This was to be expected, as the ponies in Canterlot had heard little about Radel and his technology yet, since he had remained in Ponyville since his crash landing.

As Radel’s shuttle and the transports following him began to land in the courtyard, the escorting fighters began to pull off and set up a small perimeter around the landing zone. They took up hovering positions, staying alert for possible danger. As Radel’s shuttle finally touched down in front of the princesses and the guardsponies with them, he turned to Wisdom beside him. “Showtime!” Getting out of the pilot seat, Radel and his personal guard formed up at the shuttle ramp as it began to lower itself. Once it was done, Radel stepped out and made his way towards Celestia and Luna as they looked at the ships and androids with curiosity. The guardsponies with them, however, were more awed and mouth agape from seeing firsthoof the androids and ships for the first time.

With a smile, Radel went up to the princesses and greeted them, “Celestia, Luna, good morning.”

With smiles of their own, the two princesses returned the greeting, gesturing towards the guardsponies behind them. Luna was the first to speak, “Good morning to you as well, Radel. This is the platoon we have gathered.” As attention was brought to the platoon of guardsponies, they quickly shook themselves out of their current state of awe and stood at attention.

With a small giggle at the guardsponies reactions, Celestia carried on after her sister. “We have four squads of twelve, each containing five earth ponies, four pegasi, and three unicorns.”

As Radel looked over each squad, he noticed how different their armor and weapons looked from the other guard ponies he saw stationed throughout the courtyard. Before he could ask about said things, a familiar and friendly voice voiced his question for him.

“I assume that look in your eye and the furrowing brow in curiosity is of the weapons and armor of these ponies?” Captain Dusk Shield spoke as he made his way out from amongst the platoon of guardsponies.

Widening his smile, Radel met the bat pony halfway before sharing a firm hand over hoof shake. “Good to see you, Captain Dusk Shield! How are the other bat ponies from that last fight doing?”

“Doing just fine. The wounds they gave those changeling bastards are way worse than the ones they got!”

"I still got got some favors to return to those overgrown insects!"

With an unamused frown, Dusk Shield pointed out the bat pony that spoke up. “And speaking of one of the bat ponies involved in that fight, that would be Lieutenant Stoneheart…”

The bat pony stepped forward, saluting to its superiors as she gave a big smile revealing her fangs. "Lieutenant Blazing Stoneheart, at your service Commodore! It is an honor to both meet you and aid in stopping the current threat to Equestria." Said mare had a shade of blue similar to Luna's coat for her own, though the little strands of her mane barely visible through her helmet were a bright white. Her eyes were a deep crimson and due to the armor, Radel couldn't guess on what her cutie mark was.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you as well, Lieutenant… At ease.” He found himself questioning the strange accent the mare had, something reminiscent of the Irish. How such similarities continued to sprout around him on this world, Radel would just chalk it up to coincidence like many of the other things hes come across so far. Seeing as the Lieutenant returned to her position amongst her squad, Radel returned his attention to the somewhat annoyed captain in front of him.

“So, since you seem to be a mind reader, please elaborate on these weapons and armor your platoon are adorning.”

With a smile, Dusk raised a hoof, and each squad came to attention and formed orderly ranks. Once everypony was settled and in formation, Dusk gave off another signal which caused an earth pony to step forward. “The weapons and armor you see on these guards are the best and most advanced we have at our disposal!”

With his excitement obviously bursting from the seems, the captain continued to point out the equipment of the pony. “The first we’ll discuss is the armor.” The guard pony stood even taller as Dusk Shield continued on. “The armor itself is not too different in terms of composition when compared to that of the normal Royal Armor found being worn by guards at the castle. It is, however, forged with a thicker metal for extra durability but also with fragments of various gems and crystals. This allows for better protection against bolts and arrows as well as negating the effects of minor spells.” The armor was a mix of gold and silver colors, looking similar to a full suit of plate armor.

Dusk then continued to point at the helmet of the guard pony, bringing the gemstone embedded within the forehead of the helm to Radel’s attention. “That gemstone in the helm holds a spell that bonds with the wearer, connecting them with the other various spells within the gems and crystals within the rest of the armor and gear carried by the wearer. The gems and crystals forged within the armor serve as a nervous system of sorts for the wearer, allowing them to send commands via brainwaves to activate various spells found on their armor or weapons.”

To emphasize that point, the earth pony in front of Radel took a defensive pose, raising one hoof with a spear and another with a odd looking metallic shield attached to their foreleg. As the guard held the shield, it began to manipulate itself into various shapes, allowing the guard to better manipulate its use based on the current situation. Out of nowhere, the guard’s spear opened up at the metallic tip, exposing a crystal that he then aimed into the sky and discharged. The guard then closed the tip of the spear before it cascaded into itself until it was a tiny cylinder he latched onto his back and extended a hoof blade on the same leg that had held the spear. He then retracted the blade before grabbing a javelin on his back and throwing it into the courtyard at their side. Before it could even reach a patch of flora, it vanished in a flash and reappeared in the small quiver on the back of the pony.

“Amazing, right!? Thanks to this magical breakthrough we owe to Princess Twilight, we are able to better equip our ponies.”

“I agree, such technology amazes me! You did such things without much little engineering through magic.” Radel noted to himself to hopefully find time to analyze this pony equipment and see if he and Athena could improve it.

With a nod from Dusk, the earth pony returned to his original place in his squad before waving for another to join them. This time it was a pegasus mare, her armor looking lighter in comparison to the earth pony’s while also having modifications for her wings. “As I can already see from your observing eyes, Radel, you noticed the lighter armor.”

“Indeed, Dusk. I assume it’s to hinder the mobility as little as possible for the wearer?”

“Indeed! Though it holds the same forging technique, it has a thinner plating to reduce the weight and strain of a flying pegasus.” As if on que, the mare took a launching stance and expanded her wings to their full mast. “They also include a highly flexible plating over the wings to protect the sensitive structure from simple slashing attacks from a blade. However they are still vulnerable to piercing attacks.”

As Radel carefully observed the mare’s wings as she manipulated them, he was amazed with how the armor plating was able to be so flexible. He also noticed a strange contraption on the tips of each wing.

Carefully watching Radel’s observing eyes, Dusk was quick to answer his mental question. “Those contraptions on the wing tips of this pegasus are one of our most intriguing weapons in terms of engineering. Those wing blades are completely controlled by the movement of a pony’s wing, no magic needed.” The pegasus mare began to demonstrate as she hardly flexed her wingtips and extended the blades and retracting them. “They are quite the deadly weapon on an experienced pegasus.”

Dusk then brought Radel’s attention to the forehooves of the mare. “However, that is not all there is available to this pegasus. She also has a retractable blade on one foreleg like an earth pony, but instead of a shield, she has a boltcaster.” The mare once again responded to Dusk’s descriptions, manipulating the blade on her foreleg and raising the boltcaster and arming it with a bolt from a small quiver on her side. “The bolts they carry can have various enchantments contained within the crystalline tip for various situations. Of course, they require the enchantments to be made by a unicorn as the bolts do not come pre-enchanted.” With another nod, the pegasus mare returned to her squad and was replaced by a unicorn mare.

From what Radel could see, the unicorn’s loadout was quite simple. It had dual blades with strange handles across it’s back while carrying what appeared to be various kinds of crystals and elixirs within their rucksacks.The armor was similar to an earth ponies, however it was still a little lighter and had a special plating on their helm to protect the horn from physical attacks.

“A unicorn’s gear and equipment is quite simple in what they have at their disposal compared to the other races. They simply have weapons meant to be held within a magical grasp and carry various crystals and elixirs for a range of magical buffs and spell casting.” The unicorn made its way back to its squad with a nod from Dusk. “These ponies are the best we have. You won’t be disappointed.”

“I’m sure I won’t be if you and the princesses are leading them.” With a smile, Radel gave the bat pony a friendly pat on the back. “Seems you’ll finally get to have that sparring match with me once we get back. We have much to learn from each other before today’s mission.”

Returning Radel’s gesture, Dusk Shield laughed up at him. “You flatter this old stallion with such praise, Radel. I look forward to the sparring match!”

Looking back to Celestia and Luna, Radel signaled them to join him and Dusk. “Celestia, Luna, are we ready to depart?”

“Yes, everypony is good to-” Before Celestia could finish her go ahead, a voice cut her off with its yell.

“YOU ARE NOT GOING WITHOUT ME!!!”

Looking towards the nearest entrance to Canterlot Castle, Radel watched a very familiar earth pony mare rushing towards them with a certain familiar spider hanging onto her mane for dear life as she continued her gallop. Said spider was almost catapulted from her mane as she came to a skidding halt in front of their group. “Good to see you again, Agent Sweetie Drops.”

“*huff*Hi*huff*Radel!” While the mare attempted to catch her breath, Luna took the opportunity to question the mare.

“I thought we told you to rest and take the day off, agent.”

Finally catching her breath, Sweetie Drops spoke up with a determined posture. “I wouldn’t miss this in the world, Princess Luna. Don’t worry about me. I’m fully rested and got my potions restocked from Flashy.”

“If you feel you are all good for another mission, then you may join us. We trust your judgment, Sweetie Drops.” Celestia smiled down at the two as Scary bounced up and down on his little perch on the mare’s head in excitement.

“Thank you, Princess Celestia!” Sweetie Drops joined Scary in his celebration by hopping side to side on her hooves.

“Well, with that taken care of, let us depart. You all will join me on my personal shuttle. Have your guardsponies split between the other transports.” With that said, Dusk made a few motions with his hoof, and the platoon split in half between the two transports.

It took a few minutes for all the ponies to be safely seated and secured within their seats before all transports gave a green light for departure. Once it was confirmed the transports were ready, Radel ensured that the ponies on his ship were seated and secured as well.

As he looked back at said ponies, he noticed Scary had been seated in a smaller version of one of the chairs in the shuttle, safely secured for intense flight. While Radel pondered with everypony else where the seat came from, a distinct fluffy and pink tale could be seen whisking away out of sight past the shuttle's ramp as it closed. Before anyone could question it, Sweetie Drops silenced them with a 'don’t ask' stare that Scary mirrored as well as he messed with the adorable flight helmet and eight eyed goggles Pinkie had put on him.

Simply shrugging his shoulders and turning forward yet again, Radel gave the final green light for launch and began the shuttle’s launch sequence. As they began to take off and gain altitude, the shuttles fell in formation with them again, as did the escort craft. Everypony down below continued to watch in awe and curiosity, as this time, the ships continued to fly higher and higher up. Unknown to them, Radel and the rest of his escort were gaining a safe altitude to break the sound barrier and arrive back at Ponyville within seconds. He didn’t want to risk any damage to the city below or any harm to the ponies within it. Just before they reached the desired altitude, Radel shouted to the ponies in back, “Everypony back there prepare for breaking the sound barrier!” And with that, all the ships, including Radel’s shuttle, launched forward at incredible speeds.

Within seconds, they began to slow down and come to a cruise speed as they regathered their orientation and b-lined for the hangar bay of Ender’s Blessing. As Radel’s shuttle and the transports began to enter the hangar bay, the escort craft broke off and returned to their perimeter duties. Radel landed his shuttle on his personal landing pad and began to exit the cockpit. Without making it two steps, he stopped as he stared with amusement at the mess that unfolded behind him. Everypony, including the princesses, were shrunken into their seats in an adorable manner as he suspected the immediate acceleration to such speeds had surprised them. “Everypony all right back here?”

After hearing Radel’s voice, everypony seemed to shake out of their stunned state and return to normal.

“Yes, we’re all good, Radel,” Dusk Shield was the first to respond as he got out of his seat, struggling on wobbly legs for a few seconds before turning towards the ramp and exiting the shuttle. Everypony else were quick behind him, seemingly wanting to stand on more solid and unmoving ground.

With a light chuckle, Radel followed them out, watching as the guardsponies exiting the transports to either side of his shuttle shared similar reactions. Giving them all a few minutes to readjust and get their bearings straight, Radel signaled for everypony to follow him. “Alright, everypony, this way please! We have much to do over the next few hours before we begin our mission.”

Author's Note

What is this, another chapter?!

Sorry for everyone who's been waiting for an update for awhile, all I can say is LIFE. Regardless, I hope to continue with more consistent updates to HG along side my other story I started about a month ago. These updates for HG shouldn't be months apart as I already pretty much nailed down the coming chapters in terms of what they'll have in them. I even know how I want to end this story and prepare the way for the sequel I plan on having as well.

So hopefully everyone enjoys this next chapter, and as always feel free to leave comments on any edits/errors I may have missed so I can attend to them accordingly!