Dark Revelations

It seemed like days before the six guardians made it into the cave deep within Crystal Mountains. The venture wasn't supposed to take long, but it was made interminable by the introverted hunter Fluttershy. She seemed to be stopped by every cliff, slope, and gap possible. Fluttershy could sense that her ineptitude for the terrain was annoying everyone in the fireteam, especially Rainbow Dash, whom gave a crude scowl under her helmet every time Fluttershy would mess up. Despite Rainbow Dash's insistence on Fluttershy going home, Twilight objected her concerns. Applejack then went ahead to help Fluttershy press on (she didn't believe in a guardian left behind). The hunter was assisted through every arduous climb and every daunting ledge, and worst of all for Rainbow Dash, they both tread carefully. What kept Rainbow Dash from leaving was the potential epic fight with the cryptic dragon within the cave, but who's to say that Fluttershy won't mess her up?

Setting foot inside the cave, all the guardians saw nothing but a deep, dark abyss. Luckily, Twilight had Spike make a diagram of the cave network. Without that, the six of them would be lost within the intricacies of the vast cave.

Twilight made the first steps into the darkness within, drawing her bronze colored Fatebringer hand cannon. The others followed, stepping on the broken stones single file. To Rainbow Dash's dismay once again, the others once again walked at a careful pace.

"Can we go faster? We've been here forever," Rainbow Dash complained.

"This dragon can be anywhere inside this cave, so if it detects and attacks us right here, we'll all die," Twilight added.

Upon hearing the words dragon and die, Fluttershy abased herself for ever going with them. However, she made it this far, and she was sure as hell not going back to that mountain. She crouched in fear, eventually becoming cloaked. It was her contingency plan to avoid situations such as these.

"See Twilight, you scared Fluttershy," Rainbow Dash heard the noise of Fluttershy cloaking.

"At least I wasn't mean to her every time she messed up," Twilight responded.

"Well, I told you she shouldn't have came with us."

"She has her value to this fireteam just like the rest of us."

"Yeah, crouching down all scared and going invisible." Rainbow Dash gestured towards Fluttershy, or at least where she thought Fluttershy was.

"At least Fluttershy ain't no narcissist," Applejack came to Fluttershy's defense.

This argument was deprecating to Fluttershy, who was already diffident to begin with. Nevertheless, this was better than having to go through those ledges, gaps, cliffs, and slopes all over again.

Twilight just realized what this turned into. "Look, we don't have time for quarrels. We have to work together if we want to destroy this Ahamkara."

"She's right you know," Applejack said.

"And that means no running into the brute and getting us killed," Rarity stated towards Rainbow Dash.

Twilight scowled at Rarity under her helmet, for she didn't help ease the tensions.

Fluttershy's invisibility eventually wore off, revealing her position. It turned out that Rainbow Dash gestured at the complete opposite direction, which made her look like a fool when trying to look for Fluttershy. Everyone laughed at Rainbow Dash's display of stupidity.

"I'm right here Rainbow Dash," Fluttershy said.

Rainbow Dash jumped at the moment she heard that voice. She blushed in embarrassment. Fluttershy could have done anything to Rainbow Dash during her humiliation, but she didn't.

"Oh, hehe, sorry about that," Rainbow Dash appreciated that Fluttershy didn't do anything to her.

The rocks closed in on the mane six as they made their way deeper inside the dragon's den. After ten minutes of turning, twisting, ducking and climbing through rocks, the six were finally blessed with the openness of the next section. Upon entering the vast open section of the cave, the sight of a dead Fallen vandal lied ahead of their path. It lied on its stomach with its red House of Devils banner on top of the body.

"Look, a Fallen corpse," Spike noticed. "What are they doing here?"

"I don't know, but the markings on him, they look oddly familiar," Twilight said.

Twilight stepped closer to the vandal and examined it. She turned the body over to get a good look at its face. What was on the vandal's body were no markings. Instead, there were black veins that emerged from its neck, which consumed most of its face. Its eyes shone a fluorescent green, strange considering the Fallen's regular glowing blue pupils. The whole sight was made manageable by the cloak and armor covering the rest of the body. What monstrosity could have done this?

Long forgotten memories had risen automatically.

Twilght had walked methodically inside the Temple of Crota, holding her auto rifle. It was primitive compared to some of the newer weapons, with the worn out grips and the sightly cracked sights, but it still did its job, killing things.

Upon walking inside the temple, she noticed a guardian standing in front of some sort of spire. Strangely, this guardian didn't have her helmet on, but Twilight instantly recognized that light blue hair,that purple robe decorated with stars, and that warlock bond, which sparkled within the little light this fortress held. There was only one person who held such characteristics.

"Trixie?!" Twilight yelled as she lowered her weapon. "Is that you?"

The warlock's head rose in attention, as if it was startled. She turned around slowly, with a huge malevolent smile across her face, or what seemed to be her face. The same black veins were eating away at her face and her eyes were the same fluorescent green. The only recognizable feature was her unkempt and disheveled blue hair.

This warlock was no longer Trixie.

"Oh Twilight," Trixie said in a seemingly demonic voice. "How timely of your presence."

Twilight was astonished by the monstrosity that Trixie had become. "Wha...What did the Hive do to you?"

"Oh me? They simply showed their hospitality by giving me more power than you could ever imagine."

"Why would you do this?" Twilight asked.

"To make you suffer of course," Trixie replied, with an even bigger smile on her demonic face.

Twilight glanced at the auto rifle Trixie held in her right hand. There was no paint on it, just simply the skin of the Hive. An outline of green flame surrounded the weapon. Twilight couldn't believe it, the legends of the weapons of sorrow were actually true. It was the Necrochasm. It was said that the weapon was created in the twilight after Crota's sword first cracked the moon. The weapon was said to be an altered version of a guardian's lost weapon. Twilight assumed that this weapon originally belonged to Trixie. Her assumptions were true, as Trixie only delved into the darkness of the Hive to seek a way to get more powerful, to wreak her revenge on Twilight for outclassing her.

Before then, she claimed that she could defeat Riksis, the House of Devils Archon, all by herself. She, along with the help of two cryptic accomplices, called out Riksis to the city, where everyone could witness the might of the great and powerful Trixie. Things didn't go along as planned as Riksis not only answered to the challenge, all of the House of Devils did. Trixie failed to defeat Riksis, for she was no match for the sovereign Devil Archon. Trixie's antics nearly got the city destroyed, as the titans gave their lives to defend the six fronts of the city, in what was known as the battle of Twilight Gap. After the battle, Twilight hunted Riksis to the Cosmodrome and defeated him, causing her to earn prominence as a warlock. Trixie was supposed to kill Riksis, become recognized, even feared amongst the Fallen. But Twilight stole the show, her fame, her reputation, her chance to show to everyone the power of the great and powerful Trixie. Instead, she lived in the shadow of Twilight Sparkle.

The Necrochasm used this hate for Twilight to feed on its next victim. It fed on her aggression, her lust for power, her need of acceptance, her hate for Twilight, and voraciously consumed her, physically and mentally. The Hive creation used Trixie as a vessel to quench its insatiable hunger of flesh and bone. She was now merely a puppet of the Hive's will.

Spike realized the power of the weapon too. "Twilight, the weapon she's holding..."

"I know. She's not Trixie anymore."

Trixie slowly walked towards Twilight.

"You should be grateful Twilight," Trixie said. "You get to witness the power of the great and powerful Trixie firsthand."

Twilight aimed her auto rifle at her, trembling. She can already sense Trixie's unfathomable power. Twilight fired at her, but to no effect. Trixie gave out a condescending laugh as the rounds deflected off of her body.

"HAHAHAHAHAHA! YOUR PETTY BULLETS ARE NOTHING TO THE GREAT AND POWERFUL TRIXIE!"

"I think we might want to run," Spike suggested.

"THERE WILL BE NONE OF THAT!" Trixie fired her Necrochasm, which spat green thorns in an unfathomable speed. It eradicated Twilight's shields with ease before she could take cover. Trixie walked closer to Twilight, gainging ground with each shot she took. When Twilight's shield was down, she slapped her in the face, with not only her backhand dealing damage, but her amplified void abilities.

Twilight fell hard to the ground from the blow. This was it, Twilight was defenseless, helpless, Trixie would've easily killed her right there, but she decided not to, that would too easy, too dissatisfying. She wanted Twilight to suffer and Necrochasm was hungry.

Twilight's vision had faded into black.

Twilight doubted that she could remember such a thing, considering that she tried so desperately to forget it. She couldn't remember what Trixie had in store for her, she couldn't remember how she survived this encounter, but now, she remembered the story to tell.

She remained there frozen, her racing thoughts stopped by Applejack as she walked up to Twilight.

"Are you okay Twilight?" the defender titan asked.

Twilight rose up, with her head still down. She didn't need to let the others know about what happened that day, what resulted from it, but she could at least tell them who was here.

"The hive, they're here," Twilight said.

"How do you know that?" Applejack asked with concern.

Twilight wasn't comfortable telling her why.

"I've seen them do something like this before."

"What do you mean?" Applejack asked.

Twilight and Spike looked at each other, both questioning whether the others should know. Twilight realized that they all would know sooner or later.

"Do you remember the warlock Trixie?" Twilight asked.

"That warlock that disappeared after Twilight Gap?" Applejack asked.

"Yeah, that's her."

"Whatever did happen to Trixie?"

"Trixie became corrupted by the Hive," Spike said. "Her face looked exactly the same as that dead vandal next to you."

The others glanced at the screwed up state of the vandal. Rarity grimaced at the corpse.

"So the Hive are here?" Rarity asked.

"Yes," Twilight said. "They probably have something to do with that Ahamkara."

"Great, a huge scary dragon and a bunch of space zombies." Fluttershy was having a miserable day.

"Doesn't it sound like fun?!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed.

Fluttershy scowled at her.

Small green crystals stuck out in all directions, from the desolate surface to the tons of stalactites stuck to the ceiling above. A colony of tiny pupae enclosed itself on each crystal, sticking to the wall as if it was an adhesive. They were the types of things that would be seen in the Hellmouth, or any land that the Hive inhabited. This made Applejack believe Twilight's assertion. However, she wasn't just thinking about the Hive. She, along with the rest of the guardians, were freaked out by the contrasting setting.

The Hive landmarks weren't the only thing that stood out in this section of the cave. On the walls were remnants of the machine like nature of Vex architecture, worn from its test of time. The rocks were cracked apart, the gaps filled by the wire like structures of Vex design, and in turn, the parasitic pupae of the Hive consumed the synthetic walls of the Vex like a fungus. One can jump to the conclusion that the Vex were here first and the Hive simply usurped this cave. The whole scene was illuminated by a cryptic light at the end, only the Traveler knows where that path leads.

"Finally, we're reaching the end," Spike said, referring to the diagram he made.

"This better be the end because this place is totally creeping me out," Rainbow Dash exclaimed.

"I don't think we're that far yet," Twilight responded. "We still haven't found the dragon or any enemies for that matter."

"Um, does anybody have an idea why there is vex architecture... if Twilight says the h-hive are here?" Fluttershy asked.

"I have no idea, but it looks appalling." Rarity said. "Just look at this, the little pupae surrounding the little green crystals look so disgusting, it makes me want to vomit. Don't even get me started on the rocks."

It was a cave, what did one expect?

"I reckon that aesthetics are the least of your problems Rarity," Applejack stated.

"What's over there?" Twilight asked.

"Uh ....death," Fluttershy said.

"Theirs or ours?" Applejack asked.

"Lets find out!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed as she impulsively ran towards the light.

"Wait!" Twilight yelled.

"I hate it when she does that," Rarity said, frustrated.

"Looks like fun," Pinkie Pie added, as she started to chase Rainbow Dash.

Twilight sighed with irritation as she had no choice but to run after the two striker titans, whom eventually disappeared from sight. When the other four guardians caught up to Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie, the two were seen just standing there, astonished at the scene before them.

Fluttershy was right.