Dark Revelations

"It's too early for this," Twilight said as rubbed her sleepy eyes.

She recently woke up to Spike yelling at her, saying that the vanguards requested her presence. Initially, she smacked the little purple and green ghost away in annoyance, but once Spike told Twilight that it was an urgent matter, she took it seriously and tended to her unkempt purple hair and the rest of her messed up look.

Twilight figured that she would be given an assignment from the vanguards, since Spike said it was urgent. So she put equipped her warlock armor, which consisted of lavender trench coat-like robe that reached to her ankles. A light, smooth, copper colored breastplate covered the middle of the robe. The sun-like decals in the back of her robe seem to hint back to a time where a warlock's thirst for knowledge was never quenched. Back when the bones of the Ahamkara sparked nearly every warlock's interest. But now, they're all extinct. If the creature somehow ever makes a return, then they will most likely seek to fill the world with teeth, like they did before. Her helmet was as dark as charcoal, hinting a spark of unfathomable power, but the light purple visor served to keep it under control. Twilight's gauntlets made her hands look like that of a surgeon's, but she liked to think of the laws of time and space as her patient. Her boots were simply made of a soft, cotton fabric, matching the same color as her robe. Twilight preferred not to have any armor on her boots because gliding was already hard enough with the damned breastplate, but she needed something to protect her whenever she got shot.

Twilight walked inside the room where the vanguards called her from. She tried her best to keep the signs of fatigue from showing. There were three vanguards standing in front of a long table, each of their jobs were to train guardians who had powers for their respective class. Cayde-6, the robotic exo Hunter vanguard, was standing to the left. The knife he always keeps at his side tells of his yearning to quit this job and go back onto the frontier, where he truly belongs. Ikora Rey, the human warlock vanguard was standing in the middle. She's had a long and colorful life. The seasoned, experienced temperament always displayed on her face always told those stories better than words ever will. Commander Zavala, the blue skinned awoken titan vanguard was standing to the right. Zavala never settled for anything less than the iron of his bulky armor, emotions only got in the way when faced with difficult decisions, which became an everyday task for him, the more there were, the more he lost.

"Is there anything you need me for?" Twilight asked with curiosity.

"Yes. I'm certain that you've heard about what happened to the Crystal Empire," Ikora said.

"No, I haven't. " Twilight stated. "How are Princess Cadance and Shining Armor?"

"The Crystal Empire was destroyed a week ago by a creature that had the characteristics of the Ahamkara," Cayde-6 said. "Although we don't know for certain whether this creature is in fact an Ahamkara."

Those words of the Crystal Empire's destruction hit Twilight like a hammer. "Were there any survivors?" she woefully asked.

"Yes, there sister-in-law Cadence was the only one that made it out alive," Ikora said with empathy in her voice. "I know your brother Shining Armor was there to help defend the Crystal Empire from the fallen incursion a few weeks ago. However, he was killed to ensure Princess Cadence escape."

The verbal onslaught against Twilight was unrelenting, she tried her best to hold back tears. A few of them managed to sneak their way onto her cheeks.

"Do you know where Cadence is?" Twilight voice broke apart.

"She's in the tower recovering over the past events," Ikora said.

"Oh, thank god," Twilight yawned in relief, at least something was going her way today.

"Don't count on being able to talk to her. She's locked the door to her apartment, letting nobody inside."

"Did we call you at a bad time?" Cayde-6 asked, detecting Twilight's fatigue.

"I'm sorry, I just woke up. I wasn't expecting this kind of news."

"Well, I hope it doesn't affect your performance. Princess Celestia requests your presence in Equestria to gather the other five guardians from the area," Zavala added. "You will be assigned to commence a raid in the Crystal Mountains, the last place where this beast was seen."

That statement only vexed Twilight, mostly because she just woke up and didn't have enough energy to fulfill her duties as a guardian. "Can't you send somebody else?" She questioned angrily, unable to control herself.

"Hmph, thought Celestia would give you the chance to kill the sonofabitch and avenge your brother," Cayde-6's uttered persuasively.

That sentence only gave Twilight a new perspective of this situation that she didn't think of, one that easily calmed her and gave her motivation to cope with Shining Armor's death. Twilight would only agree to this if she can reenact the cruel ways she recently imagined ending the beast's life, to avenge her brother, whose death was long before his time. Ikora detected this new found yearn for retribution and wanted to put a lid on it.

"You can't just go into the mountains blind with vengeance," Ikora advised. "Besides, your objective is to investigate and study the dragon, so we both know what we're dealing with."

"And if you're sure you can kill it, take that chance," Cayde interrupted, much to Ikora's dismay. "But, you're right we can send somebody else. Only if you're not interested."

"Oh, I am," Twilight assured.

If there was one thing Twilight had to keep in check during this mission, it would be her anger. If she wanted to get out of the Crystal Mountains alive, she had to be calm and collected. It was Spike who made this abundantly clear. It was because of her desire to kill this dragon that made her forget to ask where the guardians are. Luckily, Spike knew of their location, he asked the vanguards just after Twilight stormed out of the room.

"Spike, do you know for certain where these guardians are?" Twilight asked to her purple and green ghost.

"Yep, we'll find them in no time," Spike replied.

"You said that an hour ago and we still have yet to find one." Twilight said, with irritation growing in her voice. "We've been walking here for the longest time, I told you it would be a lot faster to take the ship."

"And if you took the ship, you wouldn't be able to enjoy this beautiful weather. When was the last time you were able to enjoy a sunny day?" Spike said. "You know Twilight, you gotta learn to relax once in a while. Your life doesn't revolve around reading books about aliens and shooting the same aliens in the face."

"We don't have time to relax. That Ahamkara has to be stopped before it burns the rest of Equestria," Twilight said.

"Look, Twilight," Spike said as the two were approaching a farm. "I think we're close to recruiting our first guardian."

A farm house rose at the end of what seemed to be a never ending dirt lane. It was the color of freshly painted wood, with designs of vines and apples surrounding it. The farmhouse stood tall, proud, seemingly immune to any strenuous demands time and weather had for it. Through it all, it exuded nothing but everlasting perseverance and determination. Behind of the farmhouse stood an abundant amount of apple trees, the apple that grew from there looked ripe and ready to pick. To the left were crops that rose from the well kept dirt. They stood tall and proud, ready to absorb the full and everlasting light of the sun.

Standing in front of one of the trees stood a blond girl wearing a cowboy hat. With one hard punch against the bark, the apples descended to the buckets below. Twilight looked at Spike with an irritation radiant in her eyes. She expected recruit number 1 to be wearing a full set armor.

"I asked you if we could just fly over her using our ship, but you said 'no Twilight, if we flew our ship, we wouldn't enjoy the beautiful day. It'd be better if you could just relax and walk around for once.' Well for once, it seems that you wasted my time. This person is not even wearing armor."

"You saw how the girl punched that tree. We have our Titan," Spike stated.

"Don't be ridiculous," Twilight said, not impressed by the girl's mighty punch. "Besides, who in their right mind punches trees?"

"Ugh, can you stop being so angry and give this girl a chance?" Spike pleaded.

"Oh, alright," Twilight finally succumbed to Spike's persistence. "Let's get this over with."

Twilight walked up to the blond, who was clearly proud of her work, picking up the buckets of apples.

"Good afternoon, my name is Twilight Sparkle. I'm here to..."

"Ah, so you're the Twilight I was told 'bout," The blond said. "It's a pleasure to meet you Twilight, my name's Applejack. We here at Sweet Apple Acres love makin' new friends."

She was shaking Twilight's hand in a very expedited fashion. Twilight's eyes widened at the speed their hands were moving. Spike was laughing at the spectacle. Not really, he was just mostly laughing at Twilight's facial expression.

When Applejack finally stopped, Twilight finally asked, "Wait, how do you know my name?"

"Someone told me that a guardian was comin' over here for a raid 'bout that dragon that burned the Crystal Empire to ashes," Applejack responded.

"Wait, you're a guardian? But you aren't…"

"What?" Applejack said. "You expectin' me to walk around in a full suit of armor?"

"Well, yes," Twilight responded, still confused. "Why aren't you wearing any armor?"

"I thought I'd pass the time waitin' for you by tending to the farm," Applejack said. "Now that you're here, I guess we should get goin'.

"Yep, we have so many guardians to find, so little time," Twilight said.

"Lemme take care of these apples first. Then, I gotta say goodbye to my family," Applejack said.

Applejack took the buckets and walked back to her farmhouse. Ten minutes later, after she said goodbye to every single member of her awfully big family, she came out in her full suit of armor, the orange shaded armor glistening in the sunlight. Applejack favored simplicity and that showed on the lack of decals on her armor. Her helmet was reminiscent of one from ancient Sparta, along with a purple streak that ran down the middle, which reminded Twilight that she was a defender of the titan class. In her right hand, Applejack held a shotgun with a scope at the top of it. From the rust on the scope, to the tape holding the barrel together, the weapon seemed like nothing but a junker. However, it also says that this junker, from the things it must have killed, is a beast.

A small red-headed girl followed Applejack out of the farmhouse. "Do you really have to go?" The girl said wistfully.

"Yep Applebloom, I gotta go mosey on over to that cave and slay that big scary dragon that's scarin' everyone."

"Can you bring me some scales? And a tooth too?" Applebloom asked.

"I promise I'll bring you souvenirs," Applejack said.

"Alright Twilight, I'm ready whenever you are."

"See Twilight?" Spike said, wanting to rub this in her face. "I told you we have our Titan."

The three made their way into the village known as Ponyville, named long ago for it's abundance of ponies that lived there when it was first founded during the golden age. But now, after the collapse, no one can say for certain what happened to the ponies, since they happened to disappear without a trace. There were rumors that the Fallen killed them all when they sought to invade Equestria. No one knows for sure if that's really the case, since evidence for their existence still remains. Their whereabouts however, remain enigmatic.

"The next one we should be looking for is another titan by the name of Rainbow Dash," Spike stated. "She is supposedly the fastest titan ever, even faster than some bladedancers" Spike said. "Rumor has it that every time she does a shoulder charge, the clouds move like as if they were hit."

"Well hopefully, she's useful," Twilight said.

"The girl can be full of herself sometimes," Applejack added.

At that moment, Twilight was struck and flew at the speed of a blur. When she landed, she rolled from the impact, clutching her stomach in pain. Blood came trickling down from her mouth. When Twilight finally saw her attacker, she had the urge to pull out her hand cannon, and pull the trigger, but she decided against it, as the attacker instead lend out a hand in support. Twilight grabbed onto it and rose to her feet and wiped the blood off of her face.

Twilight looked at her blue titan armor, however, a titan would consider her armor weightless. Her chest plate and gauntlets had thin holes at the sides, similar to vents one would see on a racing car, probably custom made to make sure she ran faster. She should have been a hunter if she loves speed so much, and she would've been, if not for her love of shoulder charging. She couldn't help but do it to every enemy she encountered, no matter the size. Her boots however were contradictory to the thin, sleek, racing armor look. They were silver with intricate designs, giving a sense of superiority. The distinct contrast made this titan look narcissistic, once Twilight realized this, she knew that she found her other titan.

"Are you okay?" The attacker said.

Twilight wanted to curse the person out for striking her in such a fashion, but she held back.

"Does it look like it?!" Twilight exclaimed.

"I'm sorry, you just got in my way." The attacker responded.

"You couldn't have just said excuse me?"

"Hey, I said I was sorry. Just be lucky that I didn't go into a full shoulder charge, or else I totally would've killed you."

"I take it that you're Rainbow Dash," Twilight sighed, obviously annoyed by the whole ordeal.

"The one and only. I know, I know, I'm really fast right? Some people say that I can move clouds just with a shoulder charge. Didn't you see? I totally moved those clouds, I took them from that hill to that house right behind you. Wasn't that awesome?!" Rainbow Dash boasted, her voice full of pride.

"Just what were you doing?" Twilight didn't think that was awesome.

"I was trying to see how fast I can get around Ponyville." Rainbow Dash said. "I totally would've made record time, if it weren't for you in the way."

"Yes, risking the lives of innocent people to indulge in your need for speed," Twilight responded in a condescending tone.

"Hey, I said I was sorry."

"Look, look, I forgive you. I'm organizing a raid to the Crystal Mountains to do something about the dragon that destroyed the Crystal Empire a week ago. So far, I have two, including myself. I would be very happy if someone with your skill set were to join," Twilight pleaded, hoping this would convince Rainbow Dash despite their rocky start.

"You couldn't have asked a better person. I'm gonna be such a blur to that dragon, that he won't even know what hit it."

"Don't get full of yourself Rainbow Dash, we haven't even found enough people yet," Twilight said.

"Don't take too long," Rainbow Dash said. "There's a dragon that needs killing."

"Luckily, the next three guardians supposedly live here in Ponyville, so this won't take long," Spike said.

"It better not take long," Twilight complained.

Rainbow Dash and Applejack followed the two, bickering over their accomplishments during the time when they were guardians and who was the best titan. Twilight and Spike were both in between this argument, the two came to the same conclusion that they were both useless hotheads.

"This should be Rarity's house," Spike said.

"Well, it looks certainly flamboyant compared to the other homes in Ponyville." Twilight noted.

"Rarity was always a total show-off," Rainbow Dash said.

"Well Spike, why are you just sitting there, open the door," Twilight said in jest.

"Why do I have to open every door in the universe?" Spike replied in annoyance.

"Because that's what the traveler made you for." Twilight joked.

Spike let out an frustrated sigh, like as if this type of thing happened on a regular basis.

Twilight chuckled at Spike's frustration. Sometimes she liked to poke fun at the little ghost and Spike knew it, which got him even more angry at her advances.

Twilight knocked at the door. A voice came in response.

"Who's there?!" the voice yelled.

"Uh, it's Twilight Sparkle. I'm here about the raid to the Crystal Mountains to kill that dragon that destroyed the Crystal Empire." Twilight couldn't think of anything else to say.

"Twilight? Oh, I'm coming."

"Why do random people already know my name?" Twilight muttered.

The door opened to reveal a warlock. Her robe had a medieval feel to it, with chain mail at the sides and expertly made designs near the bottom. The robe spoke of a warlock whose flames were more deadly than the fires of hell itself, however still maintained the elegance and grace a warlock is expected to exude. Twilight has seen this robe before, however, instead of it's normal maroon red and orange color scheme, this warlock had a custom white and violet shader, perhaps to better align with her well kept violet hair that did nothing but exemplify the warlock's beauty. Her bond wrapped just below her shoulder contained diamonds that always glistened in whatever light it touched. It took her hour to pick this one compared to her countless amount of other bonds she collected over the years of traveling across many of mankind's once great strongholds.

"You look beautiful," Spike uttered like a love sick puppy.

"Thank you, darling," The warlock said.

She glanced at Twilight standing with two titans behind her.

"You must be Twilight Sparkle," The warlock said.

"And you must be Rarity," Twilight said.

"Yes, it is a pleasure to meet you," Rarity said.

"Did Princess Celestia tell you everything already, considering that you already know about me?" Twilight asked.

"I got the message from someone within her ranks, possibly a messenger," Rarity said. "I agreed once I got the offer. That dragon shall pay for destroying such a beautiful castle!"

She glanced behind Twilight, noticing Rainbow Dash and Applejack who were both standing there, looking at her. She blushed at the fact that multiple people saw her losing control of herself. Applejack gave her a perplexed look whereas Rainbow Dash gave a cheeky smile to Rarity.

"Oh, please excuse my lack of manners, I just can't control myself when something so exquisite is brutally eradicated."

"Don't worry about it. I want to kill that Ahamkara as much as you do," Twilight said. "It would be nice to stay and chat, however we don't have much time before that Ahamkara sets its sights on the rest of Equestria."

"It's an Ahamkara? I thought we hunted those things to extinction," Rarity was aghast.

"The vanguards didn't confirm it, but it had the characteristics of one."

"Whatever it is, I'll make it pay for destroying such a beautiful empire," Rarity replied.

Rarity pulled out her rocket launcher and made sure she had enough shells to last. The launcher attracted stares from everyone, especially Spike. Its gold decals told of great care and legendary craft in the making of this launcher. On the top rested a wolf head with wings at the sides, sublime designs all around the weapon makes even the guardian wielding it the quintessence of a legend. Gjallarhorn was what Rarity called it, crafted from the thousands that fell in the battle of Twilight Gap. The noble roar of this beast reigns supreme over all, and just like its owner, it seeks to spread it's everlasting flame onto the darkness, ushering in a new dawn of light.

"Is that...Gjallarhorn?" Spike said in awe.

"Why yes, it is. This was given to me after I found some pieces of armor from the fallen guardians of the Twilight Gap. After I gathered enough armor, the legendary Feizel Crux himself crafted this magnificent jewel." He loved Rarity to this day for giving him the opportunity to make something as beautifully majestic as Gjallarhorn. "Isn't this weapon sublime darling?"

The only one who seemed unimpressed by the look of the rocket launcher was Rainbow Dash.

"I don't know, it looks like just another rocket launcher to me," Rainbow Dash said with indifference.

"Just another rocket launcher?!" Rarity exclaimed. "You clearly haven't seen why this thing of beauty in action. Just you wait. When we fight this dragon, you will tremble in awe as its mighty roar will make the savage beast cower before me."

"Right," Rainbow Dash sarcastically replied.

"Okay, that weapon is amazing, but we really don't have much time to waste," Twilight stated.

"She's right. There not much time before you'll cower as well Rainbow Dash." Rarity said.

"I ain't afraid of anything!" Rainbow Dash explicitly stated.

"Alright two more to go," Spike said. "All we have left are Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie, both polar opposites on the battlefield. Fluttershy is prominent for her stealth whereas Pinkie Pie always make explosions like it's some kind of party."

"Whatever stealth Fluttershy does is gonna to be ruined by Pinkie Pie and her explosions," Rainbow Dash said.

Suddenly a wolf jumped in front of four guardians. It slowly walked towards them with it's big white paws, growling in hostility, its claws and fangs ready to tear their flesh apart. Twilight took out her hand cannon, ready to fire if the wolf came any closer. The other three didn't do anything at first, like as if they knew what to expect, but gradually pulled out their weapons as the wolf wouldn't stop advancing. A hunter in butter yellow armor and a pink cloak appeared and advanced towards the snow furred wolf, petting it and calming it down. The wolf eventually relented, as its owner finally arrived.

"I'm so sorry, he's just very hostile towards strangers," The hunter said, with a soft, slightly quivering voice.

"Darling, you're going to have to put that brute on a leash," Rarity said with frustration. This wasn't the first time this happened to her.

"I'm sorry, it's just that you all came unexpectedly and Witherfang here only tries to defend his home." Fluttershy muttered with a sense of shame in her voice. "Give him time though, and he can be the sweetest thing."

Twilight couldn't help but ask, "How did you get a wolf?"

"I was.....running a mission in the Cosmodrome long ago in the winter. I found a young wolf pup in the snow, laying next to its....dead... parents," She didn't want to imagine the sight of those wolf corpses lying in their own pool of blood. "I just couldn't leave the cute little thing there all alone in the wild to be devoured by a big scary beast. So I took it with me and raised it on my own. He's so adorable isn't he?"

At this point, Fluttershy was hugging the seemingly aggressive wolf, rubbing its stomach. Witherfang cooed in pleasure to the attention he was getting from his benevolent owner.

Fluttershy had light butter yellow armor, surprisingly plain for a hunter. She never preferred to become flamboyant when it came to her gear, unlike Rarity and other typical hunters, as long as it did what armor was supposed to do, she was fine with wearing anything. The bright pink fabric that made her cloak contained a huge butterfly decal, a symbol to show that Fluttershy loved animals with a passion, particularly the little cute ones, which would explain the abundance of creatures around her cottage. However, Twilight couldn't stop looking at the hunter's gauntlets. Thin, light blue triangular shaped shoulder pads on one side and a regular shoulder pad with a jagged, curved spike on the other. More smaller spikes formed on her elbows, with small lavender wrappings near the shoulder pad. It seemed out of place from the plain look the rest of her armor gave. Perhaps the gauntlets are Fluttershy's way saying "don't touch me". Perhaps her gauntlets are the catalyst for the masterful stealth that made her such a prominent hunter.

Twilight told Fluttershy of their raid to the Crystal Mountains. She finally saw why the hunter was called Fluttershy.

"A d-d-dragon?!" Fluttershy yelped in fear.

"Well, really it's an Ahamkara, or at least that's what that vanguards say."

The change of wording didn't fool Fluttershy, "I-I don't know."

"Come on Fluttershy," Applejack said, joining in the already failing persuasion attempt. "You took on Urzok back in Old Russia and that thing was twenty times your size."

"Yeah, but he only wielded a sword, he's not a fire breathing dragon that can instantly obliterate you."

"How about this," said Spike. "You can scout ahead and search for any dangers. You can come back to us if there is any. If you get into trouble just call us and we'll come to help," Spike suggested.

"I-I don't....want to hold you guys back," Fluttershy said in her usually soft voice, rejecting the idea.

This time Rarity jumped in to try to pull of a miracle.

"Look Darling, with you being gifted at being unseen, you would make a very essential role. Besides, if we didn't deem you useful, we wouldn't be trying so hard to persuade you."

"Like Rarity said," Twilight added.  "You won't hold us back, instead, your proficiency with wild animals will help us a great deal just in case we run into something like an Ursa Minor or a Major. If you're having trouble, we'll always be here and will gladly help you every step of….."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, are you gonna join or not?" Rainbow Dash interrupted, right on cue with an excellent choice of words.

"Um.....okay, I guess," Fluttershy said.

"YAY!" A cryptic voice yelled with such excitement. Everyone turned their heads with such astonishment. They turned to look at a pink, bulky armor wearing titan with her hands in the air as if she was celebrating something. Her helmet was awfully peculiar though. The black visor of her helmet, which takes up mostly the front of it, seemed to light up constantly without any delay. Whoever decided to wear this helmet must love a good party, considering that one is already going on in her visor.

The only one who detected her presence was Fluttershy, but she figured that this titan belonged to the group that kept pestering her. She simply anticipated her turn to speak and annoy her, and when the mysterious titan spoke, she did very fast.

"So I hear you guys are going on a raid. Is that true? I love going on raids, I do them all the time. Like, this one time, I was doing Vault of Glass, we were at the confluxes, I had the relic and didn't know what to do. My team told me to stay at the conflux and kill everything in sight and so I did."

"Um, okay, just who are you?" Twilight asked.

"Oh me? I'm Pinkie Pie. I only count five of you. That means you all need one more person. Can I join please, please, pleeeeeeeease?"

"You gotta stop popping up like that Pinkie Pie," said Rainbow Dash.

"Okay fine, just shut up alright," Spike demanded, and Spike thought Twilight was annoying.

"Oh, that's easy, I'll be as silent as a mouse," Pinkie Pie exclaimed.

"Don't be annoying either," Rainbow Dash added, annoyed as if a level 31 was entering a level 32 only raid.

"Alright then, that makes six of us, so lets go find that Ahamkara," Twilight exclaimed.

"Yeah!" The others exclaimed, except Fluttershy, who weakly muttered the word in fear.

And the six guardians of Equestria ventured into the depths of Crystal Mountain, to uncover the darkness within.