Prologue
'So it Begins'
It was a hot Sunday afternoon. I had the windows and blinds closed to allow little light to reflect from my television screen. It was blazing outside, I had to turn on my AC and wear a hoodie over my underwear.
Elise and I were playing destiny, we were just about to finish the new expansion 'The House of Wolves'. I navigated my character to a cover away from Skolas' shots, to revive our fallen Titan. My friend, Elise, has her cloaking ability on, trying to get close to Skolas to land the last shot – or stab. You might have already figured out that she was a hunter class guardian, a BladeDancer to be exact. I, however, was a Gun Slinger.
After a decisive blow, Skolas was down. And our Titan was up. We cheered as we waited for our rewards to pop up.
"Well, that was fast! Good job everyone!" I said, stretching my arms upward while bending my back, making my chair creak. It was a rolling chair, my most favourite of all chairs! My Throne chair! I would bring it to work if I could.
"Let's see what we got I feel lucky today!" Our Titan named James said.
The rewards popped up and I saw what the game has . "I got the 'Hard light'!"
"I got the 'Patience and Time'!" Elise said, Cheerfully.
"Why does life got to be unfair?" James whimpered. I looked at his reward and began to snicker.
"That's a nice shard, mate!" I said, sarcastically.
"You sure are lucky, James!" Elise giggled.
"Yeah, yeah rub it in will you? Hey, Elise, how's your armour going?" Sure, change the subject.
"Yeah! It's going to be a bomb!" Ah! Yes, we plan to go to a con cosplayed as our guardians.
"Oh yeah! Almost forgot, I got to take some of my costumes parts from my cousin." I wasn't that good at sculpting stuff unlike Elise. So I had my cousin do it, Andrew, I promised to treat him for lunch for three days which was easy enough, and he accepted. James had his done at a local prop designer.
I grabbed a sandwich that I had prepared not too long ago. I took a bite and reclined on my 'Throne', the soft furry chair was quite odd looking, it was light brown in colour with Hello Kitty pasted on it.
"That'll be next month right?" I asked.
"Yeah, I'll be looking forward for this guy called the merchant!" James said.
"What does he do?"
"Nothing, just sells different kinds of magical items."
"Magic as in Harry potter? You know? Robes and Wands?"
"No! This is different kind of magic." I took another bite off my sandwich.
"Faht kwind op mahik?"
"Uhhh..." he said, trying to comprehend what I had just said, "Oh! He sends you to a different universe!"
"Suwch ass?"
Ha paused for a while. "You don't need to –"
"Howd twat touht," I swallowed my grub. "There's a weird message that popped up on my screen."
"What does it say?"
"The Queen needs help, will you answer the summon?"
"Must be some hidden challenge or something." Maybe.
"Why not try it and let's see if we could join in?" Elise asked. Hmmmm... I'm not sure, meh, might as well. I picked yes and then all weird stuff happened. My screen got static and I lost contact with my friends.
"H – hello? Guys? Can you hear me?" I started to panic, the world seemed to swirl around me as darkness slowly took over my sight.
I groaned as I regain consciousness, I grasp my aching head, I opened an eye to find myself in a dark room. It took some time for my eyes to adjust and took in my surroundings. I was in a bedroom, I lifted myself up only to stagger from the heels that I didn't knew I was wearing. My steps clank on the metallic floor, I cautiously moved past the bed. But when my eyes caught a body laying limp blocking the sliding door, which wasn't moving due to lack of power, maybe, I got near to inspect it. It was a female, She was wearing an ebony armour and a helmet with a dark tinted visor. There was a gash running through the woman's stomach. I raised my hand and put two fingers on the woman's neck, just beside the windpipe, to check for a pulse.
'Nothing'
I sighed. 'What have I gotten myself into?'
I grabbed the sidearm in the woman's hand and took some ammo as well, just for precaution incase the ones that killed the woman is still in the place. I bypassed the dead body and got outside the room. I inhaled the cold air that filled the place, then looked both ways. There were dead bodies here and there, though I could not see what they are in detail, their shapes show that they were humanoids same as the one behind me and others look like deformed creatures.
I turned to walk through the right passageway. Minutes passed and I saw nothing but corpses, frozen from the soft cold air that enters from the outside. I'd have to find something to cover my head, a cloth or a shawl to serve as a cloak, from the chilling breeze that might be waiting outside.
There's one thing I noticed, though, there were more of those deformed creatures than these humanoids. It seems that the creatures planned to swarm them with overwhelming numbers.
I saw an archway leading into a large room, I decided to check it out, so I went in it, my sidearm pointed downward at the ready. I surveyed the room as I slowly, and cautiously, walked inside. It looked like and armoury, that's the best at I could make out of what I could see. Thankfully, there was a flashlight in the hand of a decapitated person. I grabbed it and bended my arm, the one with the flashlight, and rested the one with the sidearm on it. Just like in the video games.
I leaned close to one of the caches, I turned around with one last sweep to see if the room was clear, satisfied, I put down my sidearm and grabbed one of the rifles, I inspected it for a while then raised it to peer into its scope. It has good stability, reload capability and an amount of ammo of forty bullets, but I was uncertain about the recoil though, better than just the sidearm. With a nod, I placed it on a nearby table. Looking at the suit cache, I only found an armoured chest plating, luckily it comes with a self-regenerating shield projector, a belt which is able to carry a few grenades, magazines and has a holster for my sidearm, and a green glow-stick; which I strapped on my belt. I strapped the flashlight on my rifle and began to stuff my belt with what I deem necessary.
There was a soft creaking sound, like that of and old wooden door, that echoed through the place. I Immediately turned around and quickly holstered my sidearm with one arm and raised the rifle, by the handle, with the other. I stayed there for a while, breathing steadily, looking at the arch of where I had entered, trigger at the ready. A few minutes later nothing came, I sighed and checked my items to see if I had everything I needed; satisfied, I walked out of the room and continued my search for the way out.
The cold was bearable but the silence is the thing that makes my spine shiver. Then there it is again, the creaking sound that made my body stiffen, and my senses instinctively heightened.
"Creaaaaaaak! Cack clack cack..."
From a round the corner came something I that I would never wished to see in real life, it was a thrall, three of them in fact. One caught sight of me when it turned my way. It screamed then dashed towards me in its animalistic way.
Quickly, I turned around and started firing. I wasn't really into guns, it was my first time firing too, I only learned much from my brother who owns a gun shop, surprisingly I could handle it with ease and the recoil doesn't seem to affect me at all!
The thralls chased relentlessly, as I took a turn away from more thralls that must have heard the scream. I continued to fire, though others fall more would show up just around another passageway. On my last turn I found an open door leading outside. I mustn't let any of this thralls to make it out. I grabbed two grenades and threw them at the oncoming horde, they stuck to their targets and soon blew up, throwing limbs everywhere and a claw barely missed my head, causing the place to lean to the side and start to slide of a cliff. I jumped out just in time as the place where I was in which was a spaceship, fell into the abyss.
I panted, kneeling with my hands touching the soft snowy ground. A gush of cold wind from the night sky brushed my hair and waked me up from my initial shock. I looked around the area, there was a lamp lighting a small vicinity around it, where crates were scattered with a remain of an awoken guard, and a few thralls lay in different positions. An Awoken flag was raised, though it was tattered.
'So, those corpses were the Awokens? Looks like I woke up in a world in Destiny. Not a universe that someone would like to end up in. Well, could get worse.'
My gaze stopped on an Awoken's helmet in front of me. I saw two blue luminescent orbs staring back at me, Mara Sov.
'Well, shite'
I sighed, and stood up. I tore a piece of the guard's cape and used it to act as a shawl, I wrap one around my nose and pulled the hood down.
There was a tablet on top of one of the crates, she walked to and grabbed it. She pressed the on button, it activated with light;showing the Awoken's logo. There was a last video log. I tapped it and the video began to show its contents.
'The Hive has taken the armoury! They're making their way into the ship's engine.' A voice came from the ship coms.
Loud gun fires echoed throughout the now burning ship as it rigidly move pass the mountains, smokes came trailing off from several parts of the ship. Screams and shrieks came from both the Awoken and the endless waves of Thralls and Acolytes. A few Awokens had set up barricades only to face a horde of vicious looking Thralls followed by their supporting Acolytes.
Ashfa was one of the Awokens on board the ship. "Ashfa!" she turned around to see her older sister, Liyoula, coming up beside her with a pistol in hand, "The Queen's Praetorian Guards are pinned outside her bed chamber. They require reinforcement in order to get her to an escape pod. Come on! Let's go!"
Ashfa nodded and turned back to her squad mates, "protect this perimeter then rendezvous with team five and retreat into the shuttle bay." They all nodded in acknowledgement.
"Alright, the two of you," she pointed at the two other guards near her, "come with me. On your command lieutenant."
They ran across the crossfires, changing routes every now and then away from large enemy forces;sometimes rallying retreating Awoken guards.
When they came to the praetorian guards only three were left, as one was getting sliced up by a Thrall who got passed the line of fire.
"Praetorians! Lieutenant Liyoula reporting."
"Good! Take some of your units to secure our right flank. The Queen has locked herself in her room. We are positioned her until she's ready to be extracted from the ship." The praetorian said.
The lieutenant nodded and ordered her troops to do so. She stopped by grabbing her shoulder, she turned around to look at her sister.
"Something feels wrong," said Lt.Liyoula, "you stay with me." She took her rifle from its clutch and began firing from the ongoing swarm of darkness. With dwindling forces Liyoula was starting to lose hope, her sister on the other hand was still faithful to her Queen. The battle rage on for a moment as the scattered Awoken forces tried to hold out, some of them routed into the escape pods and abandoned their royalty. Soon the ship began to rattle and a voice came through the coms.
'The hive swarm has reached the engine room's doors and are now trying to breach through, the Queen has ordered an emergency warp. Hang on people!'
As the ship readied itself to jump, a light came from the Queen's chambers that stretched through the ship's interiors covering it.
Liyoula grasped her sister's hand and looked at her in the eyes. A loud boom resounded across the whole place and every living thing in it was pulled down enough unable them to move.
After the warp the coms came talking again, "We've hit low altitude! We're going to hit the planet's mountains! The Hive has breached and began ravaging the engine room! We're going to crash!"
'Bzzzzztt....'
And the video ended there.
'Something tells me that what the Queen was doing had something to do with me being here.' I sighed.
I took one last look at my surroundings, snow fell from the sky, carried by the cold northern winds. I inhaled through my nose and exhaled in my mouth, making a short puff of smoke. then I walked north and started my trek through the snowy mountain. Immediately, wanting to find shelter before the weather worsen.
'life's just not fair.'
I was trudging through the snow, the weather was getting worse. I could barely see in this night as clouds had covered the sky and is now plummeting its snow with gale into the mountain tops.
I stopped when I heard a howling sound coming from a distance. I took my rifle from it's clutch on my back and readied it. Eyes darting left and right with my rifle forward, Mara cautiously moved again in a straight line.
A vicious growl resonated from my right, I fired my rifle at its direction. It was just like hunting back in the day. I even had Elise join me and her brother in our little hunt in the wilds.
With a sudden swift of a paw with sharp claws, I barely dodged it by ducking and rolling out of its way. I crouched there staring at the two glowing red eyes, floating above the ground. From the misty snowstorm came a huge dire-wolf, it bore its sharp teeth, growling, while slowly circling its prey.
I just stayed there following the wolf's movements. Every twitch of an ear, every stomp of a paw, I was ready. I will wait for the right opportunity until the wolf made its move then I will finish it with one strike.
With one last step, the dire-wolf lunged straight at me, but I was quick to think and I dove underneath the giant beast. I fired a few rounds into its belly causing it to drop and slid on the snow.
I walked closer to the dire-wolf as it convulsed and whimpered. From a distance a much smaller howl came and the dire-wolf answered with another – louder howl – then its head dropped, panting, letting out one last long breath before dying. The smaller howl continued. Curious, I decided to go and look for its owner.
As the howl got louder I was sure I was going the right way. Soon, I found myself staring at a cave. The sad howl came echoing from the inside, it might be the dire-wolf's cub for it was much squeakier than it had.
I trekked inside with my rifle forward, my flashlight lighting the way. Soon enough, I found a small dire-cub with a height barely above my knee. It was scared, I knew I could feel it...smell it. But I don't want this cub to be alone, I was the one who killed its mother after all, her blood is on my hands. It's not like it's my fault this was wild, it's eat or be eaten, kill or be killed, the simple rules of the land.
I reached out with my hand prompting the little cub to come closer, for extra measures I added some cooing sound and reassurance.
"Shhhh... It is alright, come here I won't hurt you."
The cub seemed to calm down from its short whimpers, it might have sensed the truth in my words, as it slowly took little steps towards my hand. Head low, it rubbed its furry cheeks on my fingerless gloves. I can't help but smile at the cute little thing as I scratched it behind the ears, its tail wagging cheerfully.
I giggled and took a look around the cave. It seems good enough, the inhabitant was... dead except for its harmless cub. The caves construction prevents the harsh chilling gale from the outside to ever come in and it's interior is surprisingly smooth, enough to rest upon. I laid there on a dry rock, the dire-cub taking my side. I smiled and slowly my eyes closed and I drifted to sleep.
I woke up with a wet sensation on the side of my face. Did I drool? No, something is licking me. I cracked open an eye and saw the dire-cub that I mercilessly turned into an orphan. Smiling, its tail wagging like last night, eager to start the day with his new found friend.
I decided that I will look after this cub and maybe someday it will be a good asset, and besides it is cute! Just to see if the cub can be quickly trained, I told it to stay then I walked to the mouth of the cave. I turned around to see if the cub followed, it didn't. Good
I grinned, the cub won't be a burden in the matter of survival and battle. I whistled to call the cub and soon it came running to my side.
"Lasst uns anfangen, we've got a lot of ground to cover and hopefully we find civilisation." I walked to start the search onto the opposite direction of where the mother dire-wolf's carcass laid.
After an hour of walking in a straight line I spotted something sparkling beyond the hill. I trudged over the hill and what I saw made me grin.
On my vantage point I could see a city, the sparkling spire lay atop a castle at the centre of the seemingly dull city. Above the said city was dark menacing clouds.
'weird'
Curious, I decided to tread into the city. If the residence dislikes me appearance, given me Awoken form, I could always find a way out.
A high-pitched bark came from beside me, I turned to the sound and saw nothing; I looked around me and began to wonder.
'Where is that dog?'
Then again, another bark came and I traced it to the cub, seating there beside my foot. This gave me a good name.
"You stealthy little mutt, now I have the name that suits you best..." I gave a short chuckle, " with that fur of yours I shall call you 'Jon Snow'."
Jon Snow gave a short whine and cocked his head in confusion.
"What? Too obvious?" I slid downhill and towards the city,
Jon Snow barked in agreement and followed suit. I looked pass my shoulder and at the dire-cub, narrowing my eyes.
"You know nothing Jon Snow!" I hissed. I got another bark in response.
As I entered the undefended city I could see that the houses are quite small even though mostly all of them are two storied buildings, suggesting that the residents of the city are dwarves or something else, and they are made of crystals, also the road that is made out of cobblestone seems to have its crystalline texture as well. As I trek deeper to wards the centre, Just barely out of my field of vision, I can see the city inhabitants watching through barricaded windows and closed doors, occasionally I would hear stomps or steps running away from me.
When I arrived at the city centre plaza, I could see the tall structure, held by four struts – Just like the Eiffel Tower – with double doors made out of oak tree. I kind of noticed that almost all the main roads leads to this point. I shrugged and pushed open the oaken doors. I was met by a long series of stairs.
'at least the Eiffel Tower had elevators'
After a long while I finally made it at the end. Putting Jon Snow down, who I carried halfway through the stairs. I sat there for a second after catching my breath. There before me was a huge pair of doors. I pointed a finger at Jon Snow, "Stay."
I opened the two large doors. What I saw inside completely baffled me.
King Sombra has had a good day, first, the spells that bound him in ice was weakened enough for him to disable it. And so came his precious empire, together with him, back into the mortal plain.
He sat there on his throne admiring the view of ponies shackled together and was chained to the floor. There within the ponies was his former captain of the guard, Gleaming Shield and her sister silver scroll, his useless diplomat. Today, for his return she will finally be useful.
Grinning, he freed Silver Scroll from her chains and levitated her close to him. A thousand years he hasn't fed on magic, it had kept him young a powerful for all those years, he yearned for it in his cell deep in Tartarus. The power he stole and fed from the crystal ponies helped him defeat the old monarch, surely it will help him keep the throne. He leaned his head to touch Silver Scroll's, much to Gleaming Shields pleas. However, his planned sucking of magic was interrupted when the doors creaked as it was opened.
All eyes stared at the intruder as it walk into the throne room, a bipedal creature wearing purple clothes and leather vest armour, a shawl wrapped around its neck, covering her face with only two luminescent blue eyes are visible.
"What are you creature? How dare you interrupt my feeding?" growled Sombra, "you have trespassed upon my empire! Surrender yourself worm!"
Gleaming Shield watched as Sombra took her sister away, she knew what Sombra does in his 'feed' he takes out the pony's magic and youth and drains them. She doesn't want that to happen to her little sister, no.
Gleaming Shield tried to plea, not to feed from her sister if possible feed on her instead. Gleaming felt something slowly breaking her hurt as Sombra's horn got closer to Silver's horn. Then the door opened. And caught most of Sombra's attention, he dropped Silver like a rag doll as he talked to the stranger. She tried to crawl closer to Silver, who was crying, and comfort her. Gleaming turned to see the King made his way pass the other crystal ponies and in front of the bipedal creature.
The creature was tall and slender looking, it stood two heads above King Sombra.
"FOOL!" King Sombra shouted, "I AM KING SOMBRA! RULER OF THE CRYSTAL EMPIRE! HOW DARE YOU DEFILE MY PRESENCE WITH YOUR HORRIBLE FORM!"
Much to Gleaming Shield's surprise the creature spoke, "King?" She scoffed, "you are no king, but a slaver! You have no right to be a king. The kinds of you deserves to die in the darkness."
Sombra cackled, "FOOL, I AM THE DARKNESS, I AM FUELLED BY HATRED AND FEAR!."
The creature closed her eyes, "My people fled from the darkness and found shelter in the Reef. But when it found us in the body of the Fallen, I protected the Reef and I will do the same here." She opened her eyes, her eyes was dreading, even Sombra had to step back. her eyes squinted as she frown and got ready to charge.
King Sombra who was in a state of shock grimaced and charged his horn with large amount of dark magic. The creature unholstered something from her belt and pointed it towards King Sombra. But he had already fired his magic, it hit the creature knocking her back, the cracking sound suggested that she had been knocked dead into a wall resulting into a thick smoke.
King Sombra gaved his most sinister Laugh and turned towards us, "MAY THIS BE A LESSON TO ALL OF YOU, THAT NONE SHALL OPPOSE THE GREAT KING!"
I lifted myself up from the debris of the wall, surprisingly I was not hurt, my shield must have absorb the blast. I could hear Sombra speaking towards his shivering, frightened horses.
As I stood up in the middle of the thick smoke I felt something warm in my chest, it flowed through my right arm and into my hand. A golden hand cannon materialises on my right hand, a golden gun ability?
Through the smoke I can see Sombra still doing his monologue. I slowly made my way through, my hand cannon pointed at him. I squeezed the trigger making a loud popping sound, this grabbed the attention of every being inside the throne room. But before Sombra could see me the bullet had already hit its target, leaving a gaping whole in his flank.
Sombra screamed in agony as place around the wound started to disintegrate. I fired another shot and this one he barely dodged it by jumping to his side only to scream and hold his wounded flank as he lay on the floor. I stepped closer to him pointing the gun between his eyes.
"M – m – mercy...." He said, his face full of fear.
"I do not have mercy for the darkness." I shot his head, his body jolted at the shot then limped. Sombra was dead.
His crown rolled on the floor and rested upon one of my shoes, I picked it up and the keys then casually walked in front of the throne. I looked pass my shoulder on the mare who wore silver armor.
"Are there any other heir to his throne?" The guardsmare shook her head.
I nodded and pointed at the mare who Sombra was previously levitating, who is now looking at me with both awe and fear.
"You, who and what are you?"
The mare stammered her words but still got a comprehensible response, "I – I – my name i – is S – Silv – ver S – Sc – roll, Y – your majesty." she looked at her sister with a pleading look.
The guardsmare spoke, "We're also called crystal ponies, your majesty."
I nodded. "Silver Scroll, free these ponies and tell the other... crystal ponies about what happened here, that Sombra is dead." The greyish-brown mare nodded and began freeing the other chained ponies.
"And you, guardsmare, what is your name?"
"Gleaming shield, your majesty." she bowed.
"Why do you bow to me?"
"You had killed Sombra, it is the way of the empire just like at the time of the two pony sisters."
I looked at the crown on my hand. 'Would I accept this responsibility? I never ruled before, well, this body did but I am sure that I did not!'
"And what if I decline?"
"Without somepony sitting on the throne the empire's noble houses will go into a civil war in hopes of claiming it."
"We can't have that now, can we? Very well," I sat on the throne, crossing my legs, I put the crown atop my head and leaned back by the side of the throne. "I accept."
All of the ponies inside the throne bowed before me.
At the very bottom of an abyss, the surviving Hive swarm made it's way out of the burning ship. Some are dragging dead Awoken bodies from inside and piling them in one place. A knight watched all of this happen on an elevated platform, an Acolyte walked behind him, the Knight looked pass his shoulder and nodded. The acolyte gave out a loud shriek, the Hive swarm moved like ants into the caves, carrying and dragging what they can salvage from the wreck.
