Chapters Hope for the Crystal Empire was diminishing as the invader made its way closer to the crystal heart.
Princess Cadence glanced at the window adjacent to her throne. She watched as her once beautiful empire, full of love and life, was burning in a display of hell fire, becoming an empire of ash and despair. Her guardians might as well have become old toys that needed to be thrown away, as they only delayed the undying creature instead of stopping it.
This beast had the shape of a dragon. Its scales as dark as charcoal, rigid as the roughest of surfaces. Bright green eyes that screamed vengeance and blood lust. Its claws were sharp enough to lacerate the strongest of defenses. A wide snout that could smell fear from those even with the strongest will. An aura of shadow emanated from its body, poisoning any guardian that got too close. The dragon blew a flame that matched the color of its eyes, which voraciously consumed everything in its path, whether it be people, castles or hope.
For Princess Cadence, this fire was eradicating all three. Once she saw that nearly all her guardians had been killed trying to vanquish the beast, she knew it would only be a matter of time before she would join them. No matter what defense Cadence formed, every counter attack that was made, every strike that was struck when it seemed that the dragon was vulnerable, it was all futile. None of those plans resulted in a single scratch.
There can only be one thing this demon was after, the crystal heart, but why?
There can only be one person that seeks the crystal heart. This carnage must be King Sombra's doing. "He's somehow involved in this," Cadence thought. "Just when I thought I killed that malicious bastard, he always comes back. I will never let him get the crystal heart."
Cadence only spoke words of false hope. Deep down, she knew her death and the theft of the crystal heart would be inevitable. Cadence had no idea how to slay this dragon, or even make it out alive with the crystal heart. Each earth shattering step the dragon takes towards her castle is the clock counting down. She had to think of a plan that wouldn't backfire, and quick.
Shining Armor ran into the throne room with great urgency, each step of his boots clanking on the shiny crystalline floor below. His white titan armor glistened in the bright light of the room. The bulky look created by the sheer size of his chest plate and shoulder pads didn't seem to slow him down. He carried an assault rifle with both hands as he ran, with a paint that matched his armor, accompanied by a red stripe. The way the gun was manufactured indicated that the weapon was one of the newer additions from Suros, only a few of the exotics were ever made, but, a prince as prominent as Shining Armor always made sure he was equipped with the best weaponry.
"Cadence! We have to get out of here," Shining Armor exclaimed.
"How?! That dammed dragon is destroying everything we throw at it," Cadence thought he would be astute enough to know already.
"I'll distract it while you escape with the crystal heart," Shining Armor proposed.
"Are you crazy?! I'm not going to let you throw your life away!" Princess Cadence was disturbed at how quickly Shining Armor thought of that. "Besides, have you seen what that thing did to all those guardians? It can swiftly wipe out ten of them at once, why would you think you would by time for once second?!" Cadence didn't want to lose the person that she wanted to spend the rest of her life with.
"Do you have any better plan?" Shining Armor responded. He hoped she would refute this plan, Shining Armor didn't want to lose Cadence too.
However, Cadence didn't. As idiotic as his plan seemed, it was something. Every plan Cadence came up with against the dragon so far only resulted in immediate failure. It was like no mortal could possibly slay, let alone keep up with its unfathomable power.
Just as Cadence was going to accept Shining Armor's idea, the head of the beast shattered the glass windows and blew one mighty flame towards the throne room. Shining Armor ran for Princess Cadence with great speed, and grabbed her, his momentum never slowed one bit as he led towards one of the windows behind Cadence's throne. He never planned to stop as he jumped from the window. Fortunately for both, titans had the lift ability, which allowed them to make a soft landing on the crystalline ground.
The dragon followed to their location. Knowing his death was inevitable, knowing after this, he was never able to even see his wife ever again, Shining Armor took of his helmet and gave Princess Cadence a deep kiss on the lips, he wanted to savior the short time they were husband and wife. The warmth of Shining Armor's lips sent chills through Cadence's spine. Then she wrapped her arms tightly around Shining Armor, also wanting to make their last moments fulfilling, but just like that, their kiss was over.
"Go!" Shining Armor exclaimed.
"I don't have the crystal heart. I have to go get it," Cadence would rather die by his side.
"I don't care, just go while you still can! I'll have my ghost send my ship for you," It pained Shining Armor dearly to lose her like this.
On queue, Shining Armor's ghost was released, and called for their ship. It descended to the ground below, the white and blue of the phaeton class ship landed right behind Cadence. She reluctantly boarded the ship, doing her best to hide her tears. This was not how she wanted for him to die, fighting to protect her, not in her embrace. They never got to live the life they both envisioned for each other. The hatch of the ship closed as she walked inside, shutting down a lot more then just the opening of the ship. Shining Armor's ghost set its destination and the ship flew to the sky above.
Shining Armor wasn't alone when he fought the dragon. Realizing what just happened, the surviving guardians from that disastrous front line defense rushed towards the dragon to buy the princess time. Some of the warlocks nova bombed the beast, the remaining hunters activated their golden guns, the defender titans established defenses with their ward of dawns as they all fought their very hardest fighting for the Crystal Empire, no matter how futile it was.
However, the dragon was only slowed by the brave defenders of the Crystal Empire. The creature eventually made its way to the crystal heart, burning and slashing every guardian in its path with ease, and claimed its prize. Completing its brutal strike on the poor Crystal Empire, with one huge flap of its wings, the dragon flew to the mountains beyond.
"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.
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.
A legion of large cocoons surrounded the mane six from all sides, hanging down from the high ceiling above. They all looked to crack at any second. More hive? More corrupted guardians? Only the traveler knows what's hidden inside.
A colony of skulls and bones gathered on the bottom of both walls, exacerbating the already morbid atmosphere. To the distance were three wizards, whose unmistakable tattered robes encircled a heart shaped artifact, which levitated above a lone pedestal. The artifact was submerged in an aura of darkness, its light being sucked out, transferring to the wizards' bony hands.
"What in tarnation is all this?" Applejack asked.
"See, I told you...death," The introverted hunter responded.
"They look like pinatas!" Pinkie Pie noticed the cocoons. "Are the Hive having some sort of party? I want in!"
"Better yet Pinkie Pie, lets crash their party," Rainbow Dash stated as she started charging towards the Hive humanoids.
Twilight became irritated by Rainbow Dash's habits. "She really has to stop doing that."
"Darling, her impulsiveness going to get us all killed," Rarity remarked.
The wizards payed no mind as they were too entrenched the absorption of the artifact's power.
Rainbow Dash ran at such a great speed that a slipstream became visible around her. When she reached one of the wizards, Rainbow Dash elbowed it in the chest, creating a thunderous noise as the malevolent being reeled back to the other side of the room. Before it could recover, Rainbow Dash glided towards the wizard, and a shotgun blast put an end to the Wizard's short life, as it dissolved in an orange light, screaming its last shriek.
In response to Rainbow Dash's strike, the other wizards raised their left hand, screeching very loudly. The strident sharpness of the screech caused everyone to stagger back. All of the cocoons were now trembling, cracking, yearning to release their monstrosities upon the six guardians. They all cracked open, an army of thralls, knights, Fallen, and even Vex alike dropping to the ground, causing the remaining five guardians to raise their weapons.
A lone Fallen captain was in front, surrounded by what used to be his vandals and dregs. Despite having their minds twisted, their sense of honor nearly broken, the Hive still kept the idea of a captain with his crew. They even let their puppets keep their shrapnel and arc weapons, their humanoid form, even the way the Fallen operated in the battlefield; such benevolence at the hands of indoctrination. However, a few of the dregs among the captain's ranks weren't so lucky. Some of the them only had one arm, probably cut of by the captain himself for the failure to comply. The left side of the dregs' bodies were somewhat melted compared with the right side, others had large right arms while their left arm was minuscule. Why did the dregs always get the worst of anything and everything? There was one part of them however that startled Twilight.
The same black veins covered most of their bodies, their bright green eyes staring their prey down, ravenous for blood and light.
However, the true deformities were the horrible integration of synthetics and organics. In spite of having the worst among the Fallen, the dregs appreciated not becoming like the Vex behind them. Only goblins, hobgoblins and harpies were in the battle, the Hive failed to figure out how to corrupt a minotaur, it would automatically shut itself down with it sensed a disturbance within its subconscious. The Hive needed their victim to be alive, to still control their own mind, despite the effectiveness of Hive corruption, it was still flawed.
The majority of the goblins didn't even have their own head, all they could do was charge their opponent while firing, like they always did. The Hive would've scrapped them if they didn't provide a critical distraction. The goblins would be bait for their contorted snipers, the hobgoblins. The Vex never prioritized mobility, but the giant pulsating sacks on the backs of the hobgoblins prevented them from moving at all. In turn, their line rifle snipers and slap grenades would be a lot more powerful, with this extra strength deriving from their giant sacks. Their snipers would now penetrate any surface, while their slap grenades would cause shockwaves across the ground. The minimal mobility hobgoblins had was traded for power.
Just looking at the victims of corruption disgusted Rarity.
"Oh god, I'm probably going to throw up." The aesthetic warlock didn't even get to experience the smell of blood and guts blocked by her helmet.
The lone corrupted captain pointed towards the six, signaling their army of monstrosities to attack. Hoards of thrall started charging with blood lust, the headless goblins following. Some of the vandals moved to the outskirts of the battle to snipe, while the sword bearing vandals and the knife bearing dregs charged at the mane six. The dregs and thrall were easy pickings for Twilight, every headshot she landed with her Fatebringer caused a dreg to explode, killing a few more dregs who were close enough to the blast. Applejack killed the charging vandals with her Universal Remote long before they reached her. Pinkie Pie mowed down waves of thrall with her Thunderlord, charging was obviously not the best strategy to take out the six guardians. However, the Hive didn't make their puppets charge to kill.
Now the mane six would be easy targets for the snipers, who were being taken out one by one by Fluttershy, who used her stealth to sneak her way outside the chaos and snipe the snipers with her Patience and Time. Taking out the vandals wasn't challenging, the hobgoblins however, were another story. With power came sturdiness, Fluttershy had to waste a whole clip just to take out one. Another hobgoblin detected her and threw a slap grenade at her. Avoiding them were easy, they didn't stick to you and they took time to detonate, but they weren't designed to kill, those grenades were made to get the shooter out of their position, which worked perfectly on Fluttershy as her invisibility wore off. Being able to see Fluttershy stumbling from the impact of the grenade, the second hobgoblin shot her, Fluttershy narrowly avoided it.
Seeing how vulnerable Fluttershy was, the remaining captain charged at her with his swords. The corrupted Fallen slashed upwards at Fluttershy, sending her flying from the impact, rolling to the ground. Fluttershy was the luckiest guardian, her shields protected her from armor penetration. The Fallen captain walked towards the defenseless Fluttershy, her shields drained, her heart beat accelerating in immense fear. He raised his swords, preparing to finish off his prey, but in the same moment was consumed in a blast of void, his body dissolved, floating in the air until it disappeared from sight.
Standing behind what used to be the captain was Twilight Sparkle, holding her Plug One.1 fusion rifle, orange and black with the vanguard logo painted on it, which clarified where it came from.
"Are you okay Fluttershy?" Twilight asked as she extended her arm for Fluttershy.
"Uh...yeah," Fluttershy panted, she truly thought that she was going to die at the hands of that captain.
But Fluttershy was ambivalent whether getting stabbed here was better than being burned alive from the dragon.
The second wizard started firing towards Rainbow Dash with its arc projectiles. Rainbow Dash evaded the projectiles with ease as once again a slipstream formed around her. Rainbow Dash shoulder charged the second wizard, causing only its solar shield to get destroyed. Before Rainbow Dash could move in for the kill, the third wizard trapped her in a poisonous sphere of dark energy, diminishing Rainbow Dash's speed dramatically, while draining her shields. The other levitating beast recovered, her shields regenerating, and moved towards Rainbow Dash, preparing to usurp her light.
Rarity moved in with her Gjallarhorn and fired a shell at the two remaining wizards. The blast immediately killed one, but it was not done. After the blast, a group of smaller shells formed, they chased the other wizard as it tried to get away, until the projectiles caught their prey, leaving yet another explosion. No one could escape the mighty Gjallarhorn's wrath.
"I told you not to charge at these beasts and look what happened," Rarity said.
"I would've killed those wizards you know," The egotistical titan responded.
"Yes, with those two beasts looming over you while you were trapped. I'm sure that you could have held your own darling," Rarity said in a sarcastic tone.
"Wasn't that fun?!" Pinkie Pie butted in. "Did you have fun because I had fun. All those Hive things went ROOOOOAAAAARRRR! While we all went PEW PEW PEW PEW! And then Rainbow Dash went ZZZONNNCCCH! Then Rarity went PKCHOEWWWWOOOOO!" Pinkie Pie was her usual eccentric self.
Twilight was walking back towards the pedestal and picked up the heart shaped artifact. The aura of shadow consuming it started diminishing once the wizards died.
"It's the Crystal Heart," Twilight said. "Why didn't the Vanguards tell me that it was here? Did you all know about this?"
"We all thought you knew," Applejack said.
"They were obviously hiding something," Spike stated.
Twilight just came to an unsettling assertion. "Spike, what if they sent us down here, you know, to dispose of us?" She murmured.
"Why would they do that?" The ghost whispered.
"Perhaps they still think I'm corrupted, after what happened to Trixie. You know how Zavala has treated me with disdain ever since."
"Then why send us here, where the Hive can just corrupt you without their supervision?"
"That I don't know. I guess I shouldn't be surprised about the Crystal Heart being here, since the Crystal Empire was destroyed not too long ago."
Rainbow Dash became suspicious over their little discussion. "What are you two going on about?"
"What should we do with this, considering there's no Crystal Empire to return it to?" Twilight asked.
"Something as divine as that would be most safe in my hands," Rarity coaxed.
"I don't know," Twilight pondered. "You have a tendency to run out in the open with your rocket launcher, you might break it." This made Rarity's scolding of Rainbow Dash's charging hypocritical.
"What?!" The fashionably robed warlock was surprised by that comment. "Darling, I'm very careful when it comes to such shiny pieces of art such as this. I'm not as careless as some people!" She gestured in Rainbow Dash's direction.
"I was gonna kill those wizards if it weren't for your stupid rocket launcher," Rainbow Dash said, catching the insult.
"That wizard came from the moon," Pinkie Pie randomly butted in. The purple and green ghost wanted to slap her across the face for saying that, if he had arms that is.
"Sir Gjallarhorn doesn't like to be spoken to in that manner." Rarity ignored Pinkie Pie's extraneous comment. "I'd suggest you apologize this instant,"
"Sir Gjallarhorn?" Rainbow Dash said with irritation.
"Yes, this launcher has more grace and elegance than you ever will," Rarity boasted. "It can wreak havoc in a more exquisite manner than your barbaric shoulder charge."
"It steals my kills in an exquisite manner," The blue titan muttered.
"I'll give it to Fluttershy, since she always stays back," The purple robed warlock stated. "Also, she is mature enough to handle something as prominent as the Crystal Heart."
Twilight handed Fluttershy the artifact. She looked upon the crystalline surface, which glistened in the little light the cave had. She gradually became nervous about handling such a responsibility. Fluttershy did her best not to show her fear.
"Really Twilight, her out of all people?" The egotistical titan said with contempt. "The girl is scared of her own shadow. She's probably going to get scared enough to drop it."
"I trust her enough to not do that," Twilight responded. Besides, whenever there's a problem, she could just say so. Right Fluttershy? Fluttershy?" Twilight could have sworn that she just saw her.
"She's probably crouching down and hiding from her own shadow," Rainbow Dash still continues to patronize the elusive hunter.
"I'm right here," Fluttershy remarked tentatively, who was behind Twilight the whole time.
"Oh, there you are. Make sure to keep the Crystal Heart safe okay?"
"Yeah, I...I will," Fluttershy wished that she just stayed home. At this point, Angel was probably stirring up trouble in her cottage. However, the saving grace was her wolf Witherfang, who probably kept the little bastard in line(he didn't even need his daunting growl, as the quick-witted wolf eventually adapted the stare perfectly).
"Don't come crying Twilight when Fluttershy breaks it," Rainbow Dash sighed.
The pit below the bridge was huge and seemed bottomless, the hole at the end of the bridge would force the six to descend upon it. That wasn't the worst part. The bridge was already formed. In every hive bridge, whether it be on the Hellmouth or their even in their own world, a bridge of the same type would have to be built, usually by stepping on one of the plates before it. Here, there was a plate, with two demonic looking totems on each of the mane six's sides. This can only mean one thing.
The hive are leading them into a trap. But with this being the only path available, where else could they go?
"Well, this is awfully convenient," Twilight said.
"Too convenient," Applejack noted.
"This is obviously some kind of trap," Rarity stated.
"Um, I'd suggest to not j..jump down into that b...b..bottomless pit, if any of you mind that is?" Looking down was the bane of Fluttershy's confidence.
"There's no other way Fluttershy," Twilight said.
"So you're saying we're gonna have to jump down into that trap?" Rainbow Dash thought this plan was stupid. "What if they have an ambush waiting for us?"
"Do you have any other way that can lead us to that Ahamkara?"
"What's an Ahamkara?" Rainbow Dash wasn't around for the great Ahamkara hunt.
"They're basically dragons that contain magical properties originating from their bones. They're your everyday dragons, but they contain both void and solar energy. One can say the traveler created them, but I don't believe that. I'm interested in finding..."
"Okay, Twilight, I don't need to know all that," Rainbow Dash responded.
"Going down that bridge is the only way that I see that will lead to that dragon," Spike said. "After that though, only the Traveler knows what's down there."
"Y'all can't jump that, the Crystal Heart is gonna break on the fall," Applejack addressed.
"You're not going to make me j..jump that are y..you?" Fluttershy asked.
"Well then Fluttershy is just going to have to hang on tight," Twilight said.
Fluttershy squealed in immense fear.
"You don't have to, you can just find your way back, through all those tight spaces, and even climbing back down that mountain." Reverse psychology was not exactly Spike's forte, but it worked against someone as timid as Fluttershy.
"I should've stayed home," She faintly responded.
"Don't worry about it Fluttershy," Pinkie Pie said. "Pitfalls are lots of fun, see? Look." She started running across the bridge and jumped inside the hole. The eccentric titan yelled, "WEEEEEEEEEEeeeeeeeeeee" the whole time, her voice fainted as she went farther down.
"Well, lets get this over with," Rainbow Dash sighed as she went next, showcasing no fear as she jumped down.
After Rarity and Twilight went, Applejack assisted Fluttershy in gathering the courage to jump. Applejack was behind her as she jumped. At first, they both fell at a great speed, nearly giving Fluttershy motion sickness as she held the crystal heart as tightly as she possibly could. As they neared the bottom, both of their speeds dragged down dramatically, and surprisingly, both came to a soft landing. The crystal heart didn't suffer a single crack, to the hunter's astonishment.
It went all well and good, except that the room the six landed was pitch black, no one could see anything. Silence hang in the air, well maybe except Fluttershy's panting from that huge fall. Twilight broke the silence.
"Spike, do you know where we are?"
"No, I never saw this part of the map, but the cursor was leading to it, so I guess we're supposed to be here," The purple and green ghost noted.
"Do you know a way out of here?"
"Only the traveler knows if there's any."
Twilight couldn't help but think about her previous assertion about the vanguards disposing of her.
"Wasn't that fun?!" The pink energetic titan yelled. "Lets do that again!"
"No! Let's not," Fluttershy was fed up with this cave. "Um, if...that's okay with you."
Whatever beings inside the pit with them seemed to detect the noise as pairs of bright green eyes popped up in front of them. In the center was a pair of giant green eyes.
"Thanks a lot Pinkie Pie," Rainbow Dash said.
"What?" Pinkie Pie became perplexed.
Spike illuminated the room to get a better look of the denizens of this god forsaken pit.
A silhouette of a dragon appeared.
"Twilight?" Spike said, now intimidated.
"Yeah?" She asked.
"I think we've found that Ahamkara."
A thunderous roar was all that was heard.
Celestia was very displeased about recent events. Her long white fabric robe, flaming warlock bond and the long, multiple shades of green, sky blue, pink and purple of her hair displayed her standing, grabbing the attention of nearly every guardian and vendor in the proximity. The white robe was accompanied with bright yellow designs of ponies in the bottom, in a similar style to the Iron Regalia Vestments. The pony designs were in tribute to the ponies that resided in Equestria during the golden age.
She intended to talk to the warlock vanguard Ikora Rey, she was the only vanguard that she trusted. Zavala has no decency or respect for the people that she ruled over, and Cayde at times tried to pull off shady tactics. Besides, Ikora offered Twilight a spot in the Hidden, which were a group of guardians who would go behind enemy lines to serve as her eyes and ears. Some of them contained guardians who were exiled, turned away by everyone else, but Ikora still saw the light within them, and they are given a second chance. For Twilight, this was what kept her in the tower. Both Ikora and Celestia are the remaining two that still sense the benevolent light and believed that it ultimately fought off the temptations of the darkness within her.
But now, it seemed like their beliefs were being disregarded.
Celestia called Ikora to the Traveler's Walk, where there wouldn't be anyone. Whenever you wanted to appreciate the true beauty of the tower and the city, this would be the perfect place. There was no one to disturb you, except the occasional Lord Saladin hosting his monthly Iron Banner event. Whenever Celestia visited the tower, she would go here. It was her last bastion for stress relief, no place in Equestria provided this anymore, either the Fallen or the Hive inhabited every piece of land she owned. When she would make her first steps, the two emerging trees on each side would signal to her that human architecture and nature can intertwine to create something beautiful.
What claimed the peaceful nature was the stone walkway surrounded by a light stream. Flower pedals would float among the liquid surface without a care for the world. Even the smallest details made the Traveler's Walk a haven for those that wanted peace or to just get away from the hectic lifestyle of the city or their fight against the darkness.
Celestia wanted to get away from everything.
"I thought Twilight would be protected by the Hidden," Celestia said as she walked on the stone pathway.
"I thought so too, but Zavala and even the Speaker are still convinced that she has been seduced by the shadows," Ikora said.
"And you did nothing to stop them?"
"I told them as long as she remains in the Hidden, there was nothing they can do about her staying in the tower. It seemed like they heeded my words for a while."
"What did they eventually do?"
"They brought the matter to the consensus. They both share the same ideas unfortunately."
"Did they order that Twilight to be thrown into death like this?"
"No, but the majority voted for her to be removed from the tower," Ikora said. "They still see Twilight as a threat to the light, especially after what happened with the likes with Trixie Lulamoon. The resurgence of the Ahamkara was only convenient for them. They were originally going to force me to order her to infiltrate the dragon's lair alone, but they got greedy."
"So they ordered five more guardians from under my wing?" Celestia now had even more reason to hate Zavala.
"Whenever a guardian is without their ghost, they are more susceptible to the darkness," Celestia wanted to slap Ikora across the face for trying to justify their actions all of a sudden, but decided against it.
"These ghostless guardians are under my jurisdiction," Celestia stated. "They have no right to send them out into missions without my consent. Did Cayde pull off his underhanded shit again?" It took a lot for someone as calm and collected as Celestia to curse like that.
"I think he used someone from your ranks to spread the message." Celestia was having a miserable day. It it weren't for the peaceful atmosphere of the Traveler's walk, she would've snapped. She placed her hand on her face in frustration.
"Ikora, I don't know what to do," Celestia couldn't help but vent.
"What do you mean?"
"Canterlot is in shambles with constant threats of Fallen invasion. Both them and the Hive are taking Equestria piece by piece. Lots of people have died in my hands trying to defend them all. Then, when the House of Devils struck Canterlot for the first time, Luna took a sword to the chest, I...I don't even know how she's still alive," Celestia could sense tears forming within her.
"This Ahamkara everybody is afraid of is in my territory and if every guardian in the Crystal Empire didn't lay a single scratch on it, then how am I to defend all of Equestria when the beast makes its next move?" Sadness combined with anger dominated her voice.
"And now, my ghostless guardians are being targeted. I shouldn't be surprised, they're always treated like minorities." Tears threatened to escape Celestia's eyes and slip down onto her face, but she managed to fight them off.
"I'm sorry, I didn't know," Ikora said.
"I don't want your pity, I want your help."
"What do you need?"
"I need guardians Ikora. Guardians to defend Canterlot from the Fallen."
"I don't know if I can spare any of my guardians. I barely have any as it is, also, a few more of my guardians disappeared gathering information on that Ahamkara. I always have to keep a few just in case the city is attacked."
Celestia sighed in disappointment.
Ikora noticed the wrinkles under Celestia's eyes. "When was the last time you've slept?"
"I...I don't know."
Nobody knew.
"Perhaps you should get some rest."
"Then who's going to defend Equestria from the darkness? I wish I could rest, but I can't. Not when that dragon is still out there, looming over the land that I try so desperately to protect. Besides, there's no one that can take my place, Luna is still recovering from her injury, while Cadence is still coping with the destruction of her Empire. Speaking of which, how is she?"
"Cadence is getting better. She actually managed to get out of bed today, but that was all the progress she made."
"Does she still allow no one to talk to her?"
"She managed to grow more comfortable talking with me," Ikora said. "Cadence is worried about you Celestia, she recalls the last time she saw you, you seemed very stressed. She suggested that she would take your place when she feels ready to do so."
"No, that's ridiculous, she needs to recover."
"You too, we all need our rest, we're merely mortals." Ikora suggested.
"I can't while Equestria is still threatened, while that dragon is still alive."
"What if Twilight manages to kill the beast?" Ikora asked.
"As much as I believe in my most faithful student, I must be provident for the worst case scenario."
"If you don't have any idea how to fight this supposed Ahamkara, how are you going to prepare?"
"Not even the Traveler knows."
