Today started off normal, well in my books at least, sun was shining, birds were chirping, and the stuff. What was I doing at the time? Well I was making the earth crack open.

It’s been about a week since Clockwork came and went so I spent the time chatting with Beta, I was right about him being a walking, or is it floating?, talking library he had literally everything in his head from all the places he been to. He even help me get a better control of my powers since for some reason he met others that can do the same thing I do so that was cool.

“You’re taking this pretty quickly if I have to say.” Beta said as I fixed the ground.

“What can I say, I’m a good learner.” I said with a grin.

“Oh dear, I just inflated your ego.” he said. I looked over at him with a frown.

“That’s rude.”

“Yes and true.” he said. I rolled my eyes as I stretched, Beta vested knowledge about… well everything so far, helped everyone in town as well. He even gave some tips to AJ about farming. The look on her face was worth a week of work.

“Right… so, do you enjoy yourself here?” I asked him.

“Absolutely. A peaceful town full friendly people is considered a rarity.” He answered.

“Peaceful? Sure… let’s go with that.” I said.

“Relatively peaceful is what I meant to say.” Beta replied. I chuckled a bit.

“Well at least you’re think that way, I still can’t get over how bright it is.” I looked around at where I was. “Like wow, the colour is so much brighter here.”

“If I were to guess, it is because you're used to seeing the colors in a way that seems darker.” Beta said, looking at me. “Of course it could also be something else entirely.”

“It’s probably that first one. I’m used to seeing everything a bit darker, nothing wrong with this place but… sometimes I don’t want to be blinded by looking at a cup of juice.” I said.

“Your eyes will settle in do time, I'd say another week.” Beta said in his usual informative tone.

“Thank you for your information.” I said. I started to walk back to town with Beta to continued the day. As I did I stopped as a shudder went up my spine, I looked behind me to see nothing behind me. I frowned at this.

“Something the matter?” Beta asked.

“Ever get the feeling that you’re being watched?” I asked him.

“Can't say I have.” Beta answered.

I looked back at where I was as the feeling stayed for a few moments before going away.

“Great~.” I said in an annoyed tone. Beta looked at me funny before looking away.

“Never get that feeling?” I asked him. “That feeling of something is going to happen and it’s bad?”

“May I remind you that I am basically a floating mechanical eye.” Beta answered in a deadpanned tone.

“By the way you talk it’s hard to see you as a robot eye.” I said with a smirk. That smirk turned to a frown as I thought about it. “I’m paranoid, must of got it from my brother.”

“Hmm.” He hummed. We continued on into town and went to Sugarcube corner. I looked up at it and thought about it.

“Is it really a building that looks like that or really a building made out of sweets?” I asked aloud.

“It's built to look like a gingerbread house, I guess to show their dedication for baking.” Beta said before looking up and down at the building in question.

“Right, I wonder how Pinkie does on Halloween?” I asked. We walked into the building and saw Pinkie working behind the counter. She smiled as she set up the display with cookies and cupcakes.

“Hi Taliyah!” she said with a wave.

“Hey Pinkie, how goes the day?” I asked. She just shrugged.

“It's been slow but I’m catching up on some things so tomorrow would be easier. Same old?” she asked.

“Yup.” I said. She pulled up some dark chocolate cookies and hand it over as I dropped three bits. I wonder why they call them bits? Was is just easier to say?

“Say Taliyah, did you get a feeling about today?” Pinkie asked as she put the bits into the register.

“What do you mean?” I asked her.

“You know, a feeling? Like for me my tail twitched and right arm shacked and brow wiggled.” I tried not to laugh as she did those things. “I never get them in that order but… I’m having a bad feeling.”

I frowned at her as I took my cookie. “I don’t know, see you around Pink.”

She waved me off as I headed back to the library. I took a bite of my cookie and tasted the dark chocolate in my mouth. I wanted to enjoy it but what Pinkie said rubbed me the wrong way.

“Maybe I’m not paranoid, maybe something is going to happen.” I said.

“Maybe, best keep your guard up in case something does happen.” Beta suggested.

I nodded as I continued on. We got to the library and headed inside. Nyx was sitting on a chair with tibbers on her lap as she watched Twilight pull more and more books out from the shelves. She had that determined look on her as a stack floated over to the stairs. I walked over to Nyx.

“What’s going on?” I asked her.

“Mom found something in the sky last night and went full on crazy.” she said.

“Oh, I see, cookie?” I asked as I offer her the bag.

“Thanks!” she said as she took out one. We watched Twilight took more and more of the books out of the shelves as she put some back. She turned to see the three of us and a look of surprise was on her.

“When did you-”

“Just now, sup.” I asked as I took another bite of my cookie. I lift the bag up. “Cookie?”

“Thanks but no thanks, I’m busy finding a book or books that can tell me what I saw last night.” she said.

“What did you see?” I asked her.

“That’s just it, I don’t know. I asked Luna about it but even she doesn’t know.” Twilight said.

“I didn’t know that you can asked her about anything, since she’s a princess after all.” I said.

“Me too but it seems she’s free most of the time, she said she was board at the moment.” Nyx said to me.

“If I may ask, what does this thing look like?” Beta asked.

“I don’t really know… here’s a picture I got from last night.” she said as she floated over a picture. It was the night sky through a telescope. What was odd was an object was blocking a bit of the sky.

“I’m not good with what the sky should look like but that doesn’t look normal.” I said to her. Beta floated over the picture and looked down at it.

“Odd. What is a Ketch doing here?” He asked quietly.

“Uhhh a what?” I asked.

“A Ketch. It's a ship used by a race called the Elinski to travel.” Beta informed us. Twilight on her part had a notebook and pen floating nearby writing this down.

“Again don’t know what the Elinski, did I say that right? Anyway, what they are but I do agree on why are they’re here.” I said.

“The Elinski are a race of scavengers. If they're here, they want something but what is the question.” Beta said.

“Should we be worried?” I asked him

“Very much.” Was his only response.

“How so?” Twilight asked. She had a look of worry as her eyes dart over at Nyx.

“They will stop at nothing to get what they want.” He said. Twilight look at me for a second as I stared at Beta.

“And we don’t know what they want.” I said.

“Exactly why we should be worried.” He replied, looking back down at the picture.

“I’m going to send the Princesses a letter of this.” Twilight said as she raced upstairs. I thought on what they would want.

“What do they want in general? Like when they want something is there a theme to the items?” I asked him.

“I don't know and that worries me greatly.” He said, looking back at me.

“This is the first time I saw you this worried before.” I said. His response was a deadpanned stare. “Hey, there’s your normal look.”

“Very funny.” He said in a bemused tone. I smiled at him as Twilight came back down.

“I got a letter back, she said that we should be prepared but nothing has happened.” she said.

“See when you say that my worry doesn’t leave.” I said.

“Well there’s no sighting of these Elinski so maybe they haven’t come down.” she said. I looked at Beta with a deadpan look.

“They are on the ground aren’t they.” I asked.

“Not that I'm aware of.” He answered before Twilight came back.

“So… any ideas on dealing with them if they do come down?” I asked him.

“I may have an idea but it'll take some time. An hour or two at most.” He said. I nodded at him.

“Well looks like I’m going to pull what my brother does.” I said.

“And that is?” Beta asked as his blue light turned green.

“Become very paranoid and look at places for defences, seriously he does that all the time.” I said as I turned to the door. “See you in a bit.”

I walked out of the place as I looked around town. I saw places that look good for holding ground but that’s all I got so far. I look at my bracelet as the stone glowed.

“Nick I wished you’re here, you’re better at this than me.” I muttered. I lowered my arm as I continued planning. I’ll call on him if things look bad, I don’t want to lean on him all the time.

After spending about an hour of planning out some things I headed back. I stopped at Sugarcube corner as I saw tables put up to the windows and a barricaded is in front of the door. I stared at it then walk up to it.

“Pinkie? Are you alright?” I called out. I saw her look up with an army helmet on.

“Shhhh!!! They can hear you!” she quietly yelled at me.

“Uhh… who can hear me?” I asked.

“The aliens, they are here! They want something and my tail is telling me they aren’t going to stop until they get it.” she said. Was she talking about the Elinski?

“Okay? Question, are you going to be okay?” I asked her.

“Yeah, I’m going to be okay.” she turned her head. “Shiro! Kuro! You ready?!”

Two beings popped up beside her. One was a white fur ball with a small horn and a wing on its right side, the other was black, two small horns and a wing on the left side. They both had army helmets on.

“Uhhhh…” I said as I watched this.

“We’re fine here, go do your thing.” and wit that the three of them ducked down into the store. I blinked a few times and shook my head. Right…

I headed back to Twilight's place and stepped in. I saw Twilight pacing. “You know that you’ll ruin the floor if you do that.”

“Well you would too if something bad is going to happen.” she said. I just shrugged as I looked around.

“Where’s Beta?” I asked.

“Down in my lab, he need space for whatever he was doing.” Twilight said. Seeing that I’m not going to get much out an overly stressed out Twi I headed down to see what Beta is doing.

In the center of the room was Beta. He was in pieces and the pieces orbited around his eye as a sonar like sound was heard.

The orbiting parts began to accelerate before quickly putting themselves back together before a flash of light filled the room. Once my vision was restored, Beta was floating in the center of the room. His once blue eye was now a light green.

“Coordinates sent. Broadcasting distress signal to nearby Guardian.” Beta said in monotone voice. His metal frame spun like a rubik's cube. “Beacon must be set on open area.” As he said this, a tube like object appeared out of thin air and onto the ground in front of my feet.

“I’m guessing this is the beacon?” I asked. The green of Beta’s eye changed back to its regular blue.

“Yes.” He responded.

“Okay, question can this be put right outside of the door or somewhere in town?” I asked, thinking that I could just place it… well right out side of the door.

“Unless you want to deal with a hole through the wall, I suggest the clearing you practice on.” Beta said. I sighed at this and nodded.

“They don’t make things easy, well guess there’s no time than the present.” I said as we headed upstairs and out of the front door. At first we walked over there but I decided to make things a bit easier and made a piece of earth come up and sat on it as it floated over at where we’re going.

“So this thing is a distress beacon for who ever you called?” I asked Beta.

“I've already sent a distress signal, that beacon is for marking an area to land.” Beta answered before floating passed me. “As for who I called, he is a friend of the Traveler.”

I nodded as we left the city line and after fifteen minutes we came to the spot where I used to train. I hopped off the floating piece of earth and jab the beacon into the ground. I took a few quick steps back to get out of the beacons way. The beacon planted itself firmly on the ground before emitting a green light.

Within second it began beeping before I heard something above us. I looked up to see a strange ship in the sky closing in on us before landing above the beacon.

“Cool~” I said. The top of the ship opened up before a person hopped out of it.

“Someone called for the cavalry?” Came a man's voice. I looked at the owner of the voice and saw a fully armored man.

“Yes, I think.” I said to him. From over his shoulder, an eye bot similar to Beta appeared. The only difference between the two was that Beta was a pure white while the other one was orange.

“Any idea what House they are?” The man asked Beta.

“House of Wolves.” Beta answered with certainty.

“Wolves, huh.” The man said.

“Remember the last time we fought them, Echo.” The Ghost above his shoulder spoke. Its voice was a bit deeper than Beta’s.

“Right.” The man said. “So where's your Guardian, little Light?” He asked Beta. The latter glanced back at me before looking back at the armored man, who I guess is Echo.

“I have no Guardian but…” Beta said, floating over to me. “I'm her Ghost.” He finished as he floated above my shoulder. The man looked at me and I felt the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end.

“Hi?” I asked nervously. There was no response from the man which only made the nervous feeling worse. His Ghost floated over to me before enveloping me in his blue light before doing the same to Beta.

“As I thought, it's Clockwork’s doing.” said the Ghost as he floated back. I leaned over to Beta.

“Should I be worried? I feel like I should be worried about something.” I said to him.

“No. They're the ones I told you about.” Beta answered before I looked back at the man.

“Great. Another one.” Said Echo with a groan.

“What’s wrong with you?” I asked him as I crossed my arms.

“You aren't the first person we've come across with a ghost of their own.” Answered the unknown Ghost.

“There are others?” Beta asked, receiving a nod from the other Ghost.

“And I’m guessing you two ran into them, a lot.” I said to them.

“No, we've been called by them. Each of them having a standard Ghost handed to them by the Traveler, Harrison Clockwork.” Echo answered.

“Huh, that’s nice to know… I think?” I said.

“Anyway about your situation, have there been any sightings of Fallen?” Echo asked, changing the subject.

“Other than the a photo of their ship, no but I been getting feelings that I’m being watched throughout the day.” I told him.

“That could either be paranoia or they've sent Vandals down. Either way, it's bad.” Was the armored man's answer.

“Speaking of Vandals…” Said the Ghost as he turned around and looked out into the forest. Echo did the same and grab hold of the weapon hanging over his shoulder.

“I see them.” Echo said before looking back at me. “You better get out of here, this a job for a Guardian.” With that he moved towards the forest with a gun in hand. I watched him go as another bad feeling went up my back.

“Let’s head back, I having a bad feeling again.” I told Beta.

“It's best if we do.” The Ghost over my shoulder responded. I turned and started to head back to the library, that feeling wasn’t going away as I walked.

Echo

Running through the treeline and loading up my weapon, I could hear the echoing growls of the cloaked Fallen. With a shoulder charge, I managed to find and hit one. The force of impact sent the Vandal flying onto a try before a loud crack and snap was heard upon impact and the Fallen dropped onto the floor.

Hearing the first shot fired, I ducked just as the beam flew passed me and hit a tree instead. Running behind a large tree, I poked my head out before firing.

The sound of another distant gun fire made me retract back behind the tree. This went on for minutes before finally the fight stopped.

“Vandals, incoming!” Centuri exclaimed as a sword embedded itself into the tree just inches away from my face. Reeling back from shock, I looked at the direction it came from and saw three Vandals.

One of them took a swing at me. I moved out away just before it could hit me and delivered a strong punch that set it ablaze. The Fallen let out a pain roar as it burned and its friends used the hilt of their blades to hit me.

Dazed by the hit, I had no time to react for the second hit and was sent flying five feet away from them. Once I regained my senses and stood back up, I could only chuckle as I felt my shield regenerate.

“Big mistake.” I said before my hand caught on fire and formed a familiar hammer. I gripped the hammer.

“Hammer!” I yelled as I threw it at them, causing it to explode and set them on fire. “Hammer! Hammer! Hammer!” With each word I said, I threw another Hammer. The two Vandals vanished into the flames, their screams echoing before I gripped the newly formed hammer in my hand and looked at the last one. A Reaver Captain.

Its mask was cracked from the blow to the head I gave it. Raising its only sword, it got into a fighting stance. Rolling my eyes, I smashed its legs with the hammer in my hand before quickly pulling out my sidearm and firing square on its forehead.

“There are more heading this way.” Centuri informed me as the hammer dissipated. “By my count, two more groups from both east and west.”

“Alright.” I said as I holstered the sidearm. “Do I still have my sword?”

Taliyah

“Are those gunshots?” I asked as we got to the door of the library. I was about to open it when I heard them.

“It appears to be.” Beta answered, looking back towards the forest. Looking in that direction I thought on what the guy said.

“He has his own ghost, guessing where you come from there’s others like them.” I asked Beta.

“In a sense. You see Ghosts were created by the Traveler in order to protect humanity. Each Ghost would set off to find their Guardians in the form of long dead people. When a Ghost finds their Guardian, they are able to resurrect them no matter what the conditions the remains may be.” Beta said, adding a brief explanation.

“Well that’s cheery, now I know if I die I come back as a zombie.” I thought about it for a second. “Maybe a zombie with a brain I guess.”

“It doesn't work that way, being turned into a zombie. I would explain to you how it works but I know how you feel about the subject of time manipulation and whatnot. To put it simply, Ghosts reconstruct their bodies as well as enhancing a few things such as agility strength and perception.” Beta added once more, this time a little irritated.

“Not a big fan of zombies I’m guessing.” I asked as I opened the door. I walked in and closed the door as Beta floated ahead of me and turned around.

“Saying that we turn people into zombies is an offensive remark towards both Guardians and Ghosts alike.” He said.

“Right, sorry.” I said as I sat down. “I kinda don’t think on what I’m talking about when I’m talking. Somethings comes out and… others get irritated.”

“I can see that, you need to work on that.” he said.

“Thanks for the insight.” I said sarcastically. As I stared at him I thought on what he said. “Wait you said you ghosts go off and find Guardians as dead people… then why are you with me if I haven’t died yet… unless I did die and you brought me back and I had a big black out between the two points.”

“Calm down, you haven't died at any point in time. I'm your Ghost because the Traveler made me for you.” He explained.

“Oh… got to say he works fast on making you for one person. Not that I’m complaining.” I said as I leaned back.

“Like I said, time manipulation.” Was all Beta said as he floated over my shoulder.

“Ah, that makes sense.” I said. I sat there for a few minutes until I heard someone whisper something, I looked around to see who it was but saw that there’s no one. “Did… did you hear that?”

“Whispers, yes.” He answered. “Though from who?”

I stood up to look around to see if there was someone here. After seeing that there was no one I started to hear them again, this time I got the feeling that they wanted me to go somewhere. Licking my lips I went to the door and headed out, odd since I got here some time ago. Following the voices I went just outside of town and stopped. I waited until the whispers came back but this time more clearly.

“... behind...you… danger…” I panicked as I spun around and sent a pillar of earth to slam into whatever. The being got sent flying away as I saw it.

“WHAT THE LIVING HELL IS THAT!?!” I yelled as the being got up and looked at me. It pointed what I could guess is a gun. I made a wall of stone erupted from the ground as I kneeled down. I punched the ground as I saw my power go through the earth like a weave and heard the creature cry out. I looked over and saw that whatever it is got turned into a stone pin-cushion. It twitched a few times then stopped. “Okay, really what the hell?”

“It's one of them, an Elinski better known as the Fallen. It's a Vandal which would explain why I couldn't detect it, they like to cloak themselves.” Beta explained as he hovered over to the body and scanned it. “Consider yourself lucky, it's armor wasn't in any condition to fight.” He said as he finished his scan.

“Nice to know.” I said as my heart was beating a mile a minute. “I’m not going to question ask why it was behind me, I’m lucky that you… wait you didn’t see it? I thought you told me that it was behind me?”

“I never said anything before seeing it.” Beta said, looking at me with his frame tilted. “Are hearing things?”

I didn’t say anything for a bit as I looked around, there was no one around me but I felt someone is near. Under my feet the ground vibrated. “... I… I don’t know… maybe?”

“We need to go, who knows how many more there are.” Beta suggested as he looked around us.

“Yeah, not arguing with you there.” I said. The both of us headed back to the library. It took less time to get back since I was jogging back. I opened the door and went to a spot where I could see the outside from a safe spot. “Do you think the other two are alright?”

As I finished saying this, a loud metal like explosion was heard coming from the forest.

“They're fine… I think.” Beta said after hearing the noise. I slowly nodded as I heard running coming from downstairs. The door opened and Twilight came in looking frantic.

“Did you hear that!?! I think it came from the Everfree!” she yelled.

“Yes, it did I heard it too.” I said.
“Who could have done that?!” she asked as she went to grab some more books.

“A friend…” I answered. Dang it, I did it again. She turned to look at me.

“A friend.”

“Yes.”

“A friend of yours.”

“Yup.”

“... I don’t know if you’re lying.” Twilight asked as she narrowed her eyes.

“You know me.” I simply said. She eyed a me then shook her head.

“Whatever, anyway the princesses are sending some soldiers here to defend the town.” she told me.

“Great, so what are you doing?” I asked her.

“Making sure the safe room is set up.” she answered.

“I see.. Wait you have a safe room?” I asked. She rolled her eyes.

“Of course I have a safe room, doesn’t everyone?” she asked. I didn’t say since I didn’t know. She then grabbed a few stacks of books and headed downstairs.

“I don’t know why every smart person, pony or not, are crazy.” I said out loud.

“Maybe it's a norm for them.” Beta said. I nodded as I looked outside again. The place looked deserted as there wasn’t anyone out there. A thought came to mind.

“I may know the answer but how is the other two going to find us or are they going to just leave when they are done?” I asked.

“They know of our location.” As soon as Beta said this, the front door opened and closed. Looking back, I saw Echo and his Ghost. Echo held the hilt of a sword and his gun was attached to his back.

“I would question why you bring a sword to a gunfight but I seen things that I question, also hello!” I greeted.

“I took care of their scouting parties but one slipped out from the fight. I would've chased it down but you came and made it a pin cushion.” Echo informed as he placed the hilt down on a table.

“I have to say I did good.” I said with some pride in my voice. “But most of it has to go to Beta here since he showed me how.”

“Right.” He said turning his gaze towards Beta. “Good work, Little light.”

“So… are there more?” I asked.

“A lot more now that we've dealt with, they're bound to send more down.” Echo’s Ghost spoke as it appeared over his shoulder.

“That’s… not good.” I said. I thought about the pin cushion guy. “I don’t think I can do much for help, after what Beta said the guy had bad armor so if I face then with okay armor…”

“I have a way to change that but I doubt you're ready.” Echo said as he crossed his arms.

“Change what?” I asked.

“Your condition to fight. You wouldn't last a second against the Fallen without proper training and armor.” Echo said as his Ghost looked over my shoulder.

“Right…” I said before looked at Beta. “What are they talking about?”

“He means he can make you a Guardian.” Echo’s Ghost answered.

“Oh, right… what?” I said. I heard Beta sighed at the which earned him a frown from me.

“It's just as Centuri says, I can make you a Guardian. A Guardian needs the Light to fight, you don't have the Light to even defend yourself.” Echo said to me.

“Unfortunately, he's right.” Beta sighed. I looked at the three of them which made me nervous. I began to fidget with my bracelet as the stone glowed a bit.

“It's your choice. You can become a Guardian to fend off the Fallen or not.” Echo said, waiting for an answer. I thought about it for a moment then stood up.

“As much as I’m going to get yelled at I going to take it, it will help protect my home so there’s not much to think about.” I said. With a nod, Echo signaled his Ghost towards me. Scanning me in his blue light, Beta floated by quietly before the Ghost was finished.

“There. You won't feel anything different now but the Light has accepted you.” The Ghost said before floating away. I looked at my hands as… well I don’t feel anything. Guess it did work… I think.

“Right… I don’t feel different.” I said as I shifted a bit.

“You will later. Now it's time for your Ghost to see what you'll become.” Echo said, looking over to Beta. “This might make you feel nauseous afterwards.”

“Oh great…” I said with a groan.

“Hold still.” Beta said as his eye shone a lighter blue. Like the other Ghost, Beta scanned me from top to bottom but once he began scanning up my legs, the beam of his light made armor and as it went up, more armor was made. All I gotta say is that this felt weird.

Once the light shone my face, everything went dark. I blinked a few times.

“Uhh…” is all I said as I hear my voice went through what I can guess is a helmet. “I can’t see.”

“You haven't turned on your visor.” Spoke the Ghost named Centuri.

“Hold on, I'm new to this.” Came Beta's voice before I was blinded by a light before being able to see.

“A Huntress? Haven't seen those in a while.” Echo commented. I blinked as I looked at myself, I saw that I was wearing armor that felt comfortable. I muttered a sorry to Twilight as I flicked my hand up to make some stone rise up. It reflected me like a mirror.

“Oooo that’s cool.” I said, striking a pose.

“And it seems you can still use your powers as well.” Beta said.

“Guess so.” I said as I looked at myself. Oddly I felt like I seen this before. “So… other than the what the name implies what’s a huntress?”

“The Hunter is a Guardian class which specializes in agility. Hunters are quick on the trigger and deadly with a blade, so much so that they have earned a fearful reputation and are known as the Masters of the Frontier.” Beta asked. I looked around but didn't see him.

“Uhh… where are you?” I asked. I thought about it and tap my helmet. “Are you in here?”

“Correct.” Beta answered. I nodded as I made the rock sink back into the ground.

“So… is there other things to know?” I asked Echo as I hopped in place.

“Yes. You'll have abilities given to you by the Light.” Echo said before he gripped his helmet before turning it and taking it off.

“Oh wow.” was all I said. I stared at him as he looked at me. “That’s both cool… and creepy.”

“Right, whatever.” Said Echo, annoyed of my comment. “I'm sure you know how to fire a gun.” He said holding a handgun.

I nodded. “A few times, I have pretty good aim but my brother is better.” I said to him. He tossed the gun towards me and I caught over my shoulder.

“Good, the next wave of Fallen are yours to deal with. Think of it as a test.” Echo said to me as he pulled out a knife. “Pass and you can keep the armor. If you fail…” With that he stabbed the table with the knife and left it there. “The armor will be the least of your worries.”

“Right.” I said as I picked up the knife. I looked at it and put in the knife holder that I have. “So… when this wave starts.”

“That's for you to find out. Head to the forest and don't lose your head.” Echo said before looking around the library. I eyed him then walked out of the place, I headed to the Everfree as I was left with my thoughts.

“Am I crazy or is it something else?” I asked out loud.

“What do you mean?” Beta asked as he suddenly appeared in front of me.

“I don’t know, just that I feel like I’m crazy.” I told him. “I’m going into a forest to fight something that I have no idea what is and most of all Echo and his ghost don’t like me.”

“I didn't think you would care if someone likes you or not.” Beta said in confusion. I shrugged.

“I don’t like others not liking me, rubs me the wrong way.” I said.

“How so?” He asked.

“Hard to explain, it just does.” I replied. Beta nodded before disappearing.

“Maybe it's just a feeling.” I heard Beta say. I nodded before hearing the rustling of leaves above me followed by a growl.

“Here we go.” I said as I pull out the handgun.

“Odd, I only sense a few of them. I'd thought they'd send more.” Beta said.

“Didn’t you say that some of them can hide from you?” I said as I took aim, muttered to myself as a memory of Nick and I used to do this.

“Yes, some not all.” He replied. I looked around at the forest to see if I can see any of them.

“Where’s the nearest one you us?” I asked.

“Above.” He answered in a nervous tone.

“Oh.” was all I said as I looked up to see something falling at me. I jumped back as the being landed where I was.

“Well, hello to you too.” I said as I aimed the gun at him, her, it. The being raised it’s gun at me to aim, I fired and hit it in the shoulder. Shit.

Growling, it charged its gun before firing. I narrowly dodged the shot only to be tackled by the thing. I looked at it as it pulls a knife.

“Oh screw this.” I said as willed the earth to punch the thing. A pillar shot out and slammed into it, sending it to a tree. Quickly standing up I pulled my knife out and threw it at it. For some lucky way it hit him in the head. It twitched a few times and fell down.

“Well… that’s one way to do things.” I said as I grabbed the gun and my knife. Looking at the Fallen I took it’s knife and looked at it. “This might come in handy.”

I started to trek through the forest to look for more of them, with gun and knife out.

“Beta, how many can you see?” I asked him.

“Three more. Though the third one seems different.” Beta informed me. I nodded at this.

“Are they close together or spread out?” I asked him, I’m really getting into this whole thing aren’t I.

“Close.” He spoke out as strange distant howls echoed through the forest.

“Joy, well looks like we got a bit of hunting to be done.” I said. I thought about it and giggled. “Good lord if Nick heard me say that he would of laughed.”

Shaking my head I headed out until I saw a clearing. The three were there and…

“I can see why the third one is different Beta.” I told him as I looked at it.

“He’s big.” I said.

“He's a captain.” Beta said before appearing in front of me. I stared at it for a minute.

“Really, why is he big? All he needs is a sign that says ‘I’m the captain, come shoot me!’ I really don’t understand why they look like that.” I said annoyed.

“Believe it or not, that is still the lowest rank among Fallen.” Beta said before looking towards the big guy. “He is merely a captain of a scouting squad. The highest ranking captains are Elders.”

“Interesting,” I said as I looked around at the clearing. “Have any ideas?”

“I got one. Move!” He yelled before suddenly vanishing. I looked as two of them pointed their guns at me.

“Oh hell!” I yelled as I moved. The large one barked out commands in a language that could only be heard as snarls and growls.

“Beta, what’s this plan of yours.” I said as I ran. I thought about what he might have in mind. “If you say shoot them, that’s not a plan.”

“What other choice do we have?” He asked in a panicked tone. I rolled my eyes and looked over at the three.

“Well I got a plan, a dumb one but still.” I said as I thrust my hand out, feeling the earth as I willed it to launch one of them into the air. It shot into the air as I took aim, shot three times and this time hit it in the head and chest. “Ha! Air kill!”

Looking at the other one I made a pulling motion and made it sink into the earth. Turning my hand I made a fist as the earth crushed the Fallen as it screamed until it went silent. Now it’s just the big guy and me.

“Err, can you tell me what you know about the captain?” I asked Beta.

“They carry two large shock swords and a battle rifle.” As Beta spoke, the captain used its two upper arms and pulled two swords from its back.

“Great…” I said as I aimed at it. “I don’t think a handgun will have a high chance to take him down.”

I sighed as I the captain just stared at me, waiting. I thought of the sounds of a old western dual song as this was happening. Then the captain charged at me. It took some swings at me but I ducked and dodged then, odd I feel a bit… faster? I moved around as the ground lifted me up and I skated around it. It’s growling became louder and more annoyed as this went on.

Letting out a roar of frustration, the captain spread its lower arms open and created a bubble shield around us. I tried moving out of the shield but found it impossible to go through it.

The shield made it increasingly difficult to keep dodging. Even with the shield keeping me trapped inside, I was still faster than the captain and it continued to miss every swing. This lasted for another minute before the shield shattered. I jumped back a bit away from the captain.

“That, was not fun.” I said. “Didn’t know about the bubble.”

“Neither did I.” Beta spoke as the captain dropped the swords and pulled a battle rifle from its back. It didn't bother to aim down the sight and fired wildly in anger.

I started to run around him as he followed me with his gun. Waiting for that moment, then I heard the clicks of his gun empty. I took the other knife out and threw it at him, hitting him in the shoulder. He was stagger at this as I bolted at him. Using the earth I launched myself at him, knocking him over. I jabbed my other knife in his neck as I took aim at his head.

“Nighty night.” I said as I took two shots. It twitched a bit then it’s arms fell to the ground. I took the knife I threw and jabbed it into it head, just to make sure. “Is that all?”

“Yes. That was the last of them, for now.” Beta said as appeared over my shoulder. I nodded as I got off of the captain. Taking back my knife I heard something coming from the forest. I turned around and aimed just to see Echo walk out.

“Good job, you did better than I expected.” Was the first thing he said. I lowered my gun and look around me.

“Well, I’m not going to say that this didn’t freak me out.” I said

“Yeah, I saw.” Echo said as he looked down at the captain. “You did well though and you proven to me that you're more than worthy of wielding the Light.”

I tilted my head up since they can’t see me smile. “Well this is nice and all but I don’t have one question.” I pointed at the captain. “As I was fighting him I felt… faster. Is that just being a Guardian?”

“No, it isn't because you're a Guardian, it's because you are a huntress.” Echo answered as rummaged through the corpse of the captain. I looked at the two knives I got and put them away. I looked at the one that was now a head in the ground. Kneeling down I flicked it in the head.

“Now you’re a fallen head.” I said.

“Please don't.” Beta spoke. I thought about it.

“Yeah, that was a bad joke.” I said as I looked at the head. “So… what do I do with you?”

“What are you doing?” I heard Echo ask.

“Wondering what I should do with this head.” I answered. “Do I leave it or do something?”

“Whatever, just hurry up. I found something that can tell us what they're after.” The robot man said before walking away. I looked at the head and decided to leave it, walking back to the others.

“So what did you find?” I asked.
“A pre recorded audio log detailing on their objective. I found it after taking care of the other Fallen groups before finding you in the library.” Echo answered, showing me a small pentagon shaped device.

“What does it say?” I asked them. Echo responded with a shrug.

“It's in Elinski. It'll take a bit before Centuri can translate.” He said as we exited the forest. As we walked another question came to mind.

“There’s more of them aren’t there, more than the Fallen I mean.” I asked.

“Yeah.” Echo said as he put away the device. I looked up at the sky and sighed.

“Well it’s good that you two came then, right.” I said.

“No, you're lucky that an Elder Vanguard is here. There are many other Guardians who would have answered your call but none of them have ever faced the House of Wolves.” Echo said in an informative tone before looking at me. “Inexperienced Guardians can be quite troublesome.”

“Elder Vanguard?” Beta asked him. Echo looked at him and nodded.

“Yes and as an Elder Vanguard, I have to lead the newer generation of Guardians.” Echo said.

“Cool.” I said. We continued walking for some time as I felt something in my head. I put my hand on it as my vision shifted a bit. What I saw was a group of armored soldiers standing in front of me.

“You all know why you are here.” a voice said. She recognized the voice, it was her brother's voice. “You’re here to protect the land from beings and creatures that want to destroy the land, that armor will protect you but know that you’re not invincible.”

He began to pace in front of them. “Keep in mind that here, you aren’t a hero, you're not here so that when you go back people with put on a parade for you. You're here to make sure that those people, family, friends, and complete strangers don’t get to see fear. We are those that stand up to fear so that they don’t have to. The ones beside you are the ones that will protect you from that fear and you do so to them. Some of them may not come back but now this, when you put on that suit, your taking the load of everyone hope with you. Understand?!”

“YES SIR!” they all yelled. My vision went cloudy as it returned back to normal. I shook my head at this.

“Something wrong?” Echo asked

“I’m fine, say how are inexperienced Guardians be troublesome?” I asked him.

“There are a lot of things that could tell you why but to keep it short, most guardians prefer to take action before anything else.” Echo said as his Ghost appeared over his shoulder.

“So, they would go off and shoot anything at sight?” I asked.

“No, they'd more likely drive up to the Ketch to deal with Fallen without delay.” Echo answered.

“And… that’s a bad thing?” I asked since I can’t tell if it was.

“Yes. If they were to die there, they're Ghost wouldn't be able to resurrect them.” Echo said, looking at the buildings around us as we passed by.

“And if they die, they are dropping the hope of others.” I said out loud, remembering the last part of the speech.

“Exactly.” Echo said looking at his Ghost. “Of course the Guardians are smart enough to try it but…”

“There's always that one Guardian.” The Ghost finished.

“Right, well I have a feeling that I won’t be that one who does that,” I looked over at Echo. “Err… I hope.”

“I really hope so.” Echo muttered under his breath. I eyed him for a moment but agreed. I chuckled as I remember something.

“Always think before you act, if you don’t you walk into something that would blow up in your face.” I quoted something Nick has said before.

“Right.” Echo said before we took a turn on a corner and saw the library. “Once we're back at the library, Centuri will begin the translating process.”

“Alright.” I said. We got to the library and went inside. I saw that most of the books were now gone, guessing the Twilight took them downstairs for safe keeping. I sat down and examined the armor on me. I knew it was new but it felt like I wore it for years, I wonder why?

Echo took out the device before placing onto the empty table before his Ghost hovered over it and began scanning it. After a few minutes of silence, the Ghost stopped the scan before looking at Echo.

“They want her Ghost. They intend to use him as a map of sorts to jump to another system.” The Ghost said. Echo looked to be in deep thought.

“A map?” He muttered before snapping his fingers in realization. “The Traveler's map, that's what they're after.” This earned a nod from the Ghost.

“Correct. They seem to have a grudge against him with what I heard. Something about a converted Vandal.” The Ghost said.

“I have no idea what you two are talking about but they aren’t taking him.” I said crossing my arms. “Map or no he’s my friend and I’ll be damned if they think they’re taking Beta.”

“Well they're coming down soon, and I mean the entire ship. They mentioned landing the Ketch where the air is cold.” The Ghost said before looking at Echo. “Once they do land, we can infiltrate the ship and take out the Kell.”

“I don’t know what Kell means but I think that’s the leader of them, take out their leader the rest will fall… maybe.” I said.

“Think of it this way, we take out the big boss and they're whole crew will collapse in on itself.” Echo explained.

“Right.” I said. I thought about the part about ‘where the air is cold.’ “Beta, can you pull up a map of the land please.”

He nodded and a blue light came out as we saw a hologram map of Equestria. I pointed at the blinking dot on here were are.

“Okay, this is where were are and here,” I moved over to point at the top of the map. “Is where it’s the most cold, if anything this is where they would land.”

Echo nodded slightly before looking at his Ghost. The latter scanned the map before looking at Echo.

“It's far, you'll need your sparrow to get there quicker but I'll need some time to set up a signal for your sparrow.” With that the Ghost floated away, leaving Echo behind. I looked at a table behind me and saw the hilt of a sword, minus the sword part.

“Uhh, I think your sword is missing something, unless it’s a energy sword.” I said pointing at it.

“Hmm.” Echo hummed as he turned to look at me. “Oh that.” He said before walking up to the table and picking it up.

“It's not an energy sword.” He said before placing his free hand on the spot the blade should be. He moved his hand away and it slowly revealed the missing blade.

“Cool~” I said. I’m not going to lie, that’s badass. “So, you fight with guns and a sword?”

“Yeah. No one expects a fucking sword in the middle of a firefight.” Echo answered, his voice filled with pride.

“True.” I said. “I think the whole ‘don’t bring a knife, or in your case a sword, to a gunfight’ is a bunch of bull, I think if you use it right then it’s useable.” I said as I remember playing Halo as I got killed by a guy with a energy sword.

“That I can agree on.” Echo spoke before a loud crash was heard downstairs. I stood up quickly and bolted downstairs. Twilight is down there and that crash gave me a bad feeling. I ran downstairs as I saw some… thing with four arms and armor. It looked like a Fallen. Twilight was on the on the ground in shock at the being. I pulled my knife and gun and aimed at it.

“Take one step and you’ll have a new hole to breath out of.” I threaten. If I could get it to attack me, it will give Twilight time to get out.

“I'd to see you tryyyy.” the being said. I blinked at it, did it...talk? Putting that in the back of my head I moved around until I was near Twilight as the being stared at me. We stayed like that until Echo came downstairs and saw this.

“Viris.” He said, gaining the Fallen’s attention. The Fallen looked at Echo and lowered its gun.

“Elder, I see that I was not the only one to respond.” The Fallen said, bowing its head. Wait… they know each other? I’m very confused.

“Taliyah?” I heard Twilight say. I looked down at her. “What’s going on?”

“I… have no idea at this point.” I said.

“I was merely just asking for a map of the local area so Little Light can scan it.” The fallen said outloud. Echoe shook his head before his Ghost floated over him and met up with a third ghost.

The two Ghosts began to converse before Echoes Ghost displayed a map, to which the other scanned.

“You need to remember that your presence alarms people, ponies especially.” Echo told the fallen before looking at me and Twilight. “She's a friend.”

I lowered my gun a bit as I looked at the Fallen for a moment, then helped Twilight up.

“Thanks.” she said. She looked at me and raised an eyebrow. “What with the armor?”

“Reasons that I will tell you later, but you gotta admit I look badass.” I said jokingly. She rolled her eyes.

“You’re the worse, have you been spending time with Rainbow?” she asked.

“Maybe~.” I said. She giggled at this. Good thing I was wearing an helmet to hid my blush. I looked back at the other two and at the Fallen. “Err… sorry about pointing a gun at you.”

The Fallen only let out a growl before heading up the stairs. I sighed and looked at Echo.

“I made it worse, didn’t I?” I asked

“That's just her way of saying she forgives you… just don't expect any backup from her.” Echo spoke with a chuckle.

“Right…” I said looking at where the Fallen went. “So I can’t tell if it’s a he or a she, I really don’t want to call… Viris a it or Fallen. Really rubs me the wrong way.”

“Viris is a female. She is the former Baroness for the house of Wolves.” Echo said, looking at his Ghost before back at me. “The same house that we're fighting today.”

“Oh fun.” I said. I thought of her name for a bit. Viris… I started to chuckle as Echo looked at me. “Sorry, her name reminds me of a friend of mine. She prefers to be called by her nickname, Viri.”

“Alright. Anyway, Centuri had just finished setting up a link to my ship and I'll be able to call out my sparrow.” Echo informed me before heading back upstairs. “We're leaving in about an hour so take the time to relax cause it's going to get rough once they land.” His voice echoed down the stairs.

I looked over at Twilight and saw that she wanted answers. I sighed as I knew that I wasn’t getting out of it so I told her the gist of it; Aliens are here for something and will destroy the world for it, if they do find it they would destroy it for giggles, the other beings are here to stop them and I’m going to help.

“Really?” she deadpanned.

“Yup.” I answered. She stared at me for a moment and shook her head.

“I know there’s more to that but… I’m not going to ask… wait, you said they are landing up north?” she asked me.

“Yeah.” I answered her. Her eye widen in fear.

“That means they are going to attack the Crystal Empire! I have to warn my brother and Cadence!” she said as she ran into her bunker. Oh yeah, forgot about them. Deciding to head on up and relax until I have to leave I started to climb the steps.

“Destroy the world for giggles?” Beta asked me.

“Hey, I was giving her the short version, that’s what I came up with.” I told him.

“It's a tad childish.” Beta replied. I shrugged.

“Call it whatever you want, I’m sticking with it.” I said as I got to the top of the steps. “By the way, what’s a sparrow, I don’t think it’s the bird.”

“It is a vehicle most commonly used by Guardians to roam around.” Beta answered, appearing beside me as he did. “I'm not sure if you qualify for one though, you're not a full Guardian.”

“I don’t know… what does it look like?” I asked him

“A standard issue sparrow looks like this.” With a bright flash, a holographic image was in the center of the room.

“Cool, but I think I have my own way to get around.” I stared at the sparrow for a moment. “Though it could be useful at points.”

“Compared to the modes of transportation of this world, the standard sparrow surpasses them all but compared to Vanguard or even custom made sparrows, the standard version is obsolete but useful for new Guardians.” Beta explained in detail.

“Right… so if and only if I do turn full guardian I’ll get one maybe, well until then I have my rockboard.” I said. “Gotten faster while using it, can get to the Crystal Empire from here in twenty five minutes tops.”

“Alright then.” Was his only response before vanishing again. I headed to the main room and sat down. After a few minutes I started to fidget. I never was on to sit still while something's up, I raised my hand and made a few pieces of stone and earth to float in front of me as I began to spin them and made each one change shape as I did. Watching this I remembered that the rest of Twilights friends, other than Pinkie, doesn’t know what’s going on. I blinked as I tried to remember where they are to day.

AJ was out in Appleloosa help her cousin out with something, Rainbow was visiting her dad's place in Cloudsdale , Rarity was locking in her shop working on something that she calls Fabulous! And Shy… is in her home doing something for three days, something to do with an animal that got hurt. I leaned back as I thought that they’re safe and Twilight would of sent them messages. I raised my hand and continued practicing.

Echo

After leaving Taliyah in the library, I had spent the next few minutes scouting the town's perimeter. To my luck, there weren't any Fallen but this also meant that there wouldn't be anything interesting to do for the time being.

“You trust her, yess?” Came the voice of Viris as she drove her velumbra at the same speed as mine. “The new blood.” She growled the last part.

“Quit the attitude.” I said, stopping the sparrow and getting off. Viris did the same before looking at me. “And yes I do trust the initiate but not fully. So far she has shown potential on becoming a Guardian but that can change at any given moment.”

“Very well, I will respect your decision.” Viris said with a bow. “But if I may ask, how will she fight without a way to tap into the liiight?”

“She has a way, though it's for her to find out. For now though, we'll need to check the forest for any Vandals.” With that I got back on the sparrow and the engine sparked back to life before thrusting forwards into the forest. Viris was not far behind.

Taliyah

“Hey Beta, can I ask you what’s this ‘light’ Echo been talking about.” I asked him after forty minutes passed.

“The Traveler's light, the very thing that gave the first Guardians a fighting chance.” Beta began as he appeared. “A Titan can use the light to create a powerful shockwave or summon a large shield. A Hunter can use the Light to empower themselves into the blade dancer's form or summon the Golden Gun. And Warlocks are able to use the Light to create a large bomb or empower themselves.”

“Huh, that’s… nifty.” I said. I then looked at my hand for a moment. “Echo said that I was an Hunteress right? So can I empower myself into this blade dancer’s form or summon a Golden Gun?” I asked him.

“You can. You wield the Light, though not as strong as other Guardians.” Beta answered. I frowned a little, others can see that now since I figured out how to take the helmet off.

“I want to say that I’m not that weak but…” I muttered a bit. I looked at my hand as my head started to go dark again as I heard voices in my head.

“You must understand, being a hunter is the most dangerous rank there is, you are putting yourself on death's door, A hunter must be able to adapt to his or her surroundings and use everything they have, be it slow or fast, make your strike count, when you attack it will ether kill your prey or you be killed.”

I blinked a few times as my sight returned to me. I looked at my hand for a moment.

“Be it slow or fast, make your strike count.” I muttered to myself as the door opened. My helmet came back on which didn’t surprise me anymore since I scared myself a few times at that, Beta was laughing at me because of it, I looked back to see Echo and Viris there.

“...Which means another week in the Crucible.” Echo finished his conversation with Viris.

“Yes, Elder.” Was Viris’ response in a growl like voice. With that Echo finally noticed and looked over to me.

“You're up and about.” He said, tilting his head a bit.

“Yeah, I get antsy when something's up so I've been sitting here practicing.” I said before showing him and Viris the stones and earth that were floating.

“Alright then we should get ready to leave in a few minutes but before we do.” Echo stopped before holding out his right hand while his Ghost hovered over it and shone its blue light on Echo’s hand. Something took form from within the blue light.

“Here's your weapon.” Echo said, holding out the large gun. I look it and did a once over. It looked like a old time rifle of a 50’ cal.

“Thanks.” I said

“A measly sidearm wouldn't do much in a larger fight.” Echo said as I took hold of it. It was heavy but and held as I got a good feel of it. It had some old style iron sights to aim with so that was good.

“Anything I should know about this?” I asked.

“No Land Beyond is a powerful yet unwieldy rifle. Just be aware of the small kickback.” Answered Echo, followed by a chuckle from Viris as the latter got on a strange bike that appeared seemingly out of thin air.

“So… that’s a sparrow?” I asked.

“Yesss, a Velumbra Sparrow. Made for racing competition but I use it for patrols.” Viris answered before the engine sparked to life and lifted the sparrow a few inches off the ground.

“Cool.” I said looking at Echo. “You got one two?”

“Every Guardian owns a sparrow.” Echo answered just as another sparrow appeared behind him. “I just happen to have made my own from scrap with some help of course.”

“Oooo.” I said as I held No Land Beyond, oddly fitting name I guess.

“What about you? Do you have a way to travel, New Bloood?” Asked Viris. I couldn't tell if she was glaring at me or not, the mask made it impossible to tell.

“I do.” I said as the ground lifted from my feet. It hummed under my feet. The two of them look at me. “What?”

“Impressive.” Said Echo as his helmet formed from the neck of his chest plate. I smiled a bit.

“Alright, if everything's ready then let's head North.” Echo said as he got onto his sparrow. “I'll meet you all there.” He said before speeding off into the horizon. Viris looked at me.

“The task at hand is suicide for a New Blood but the Elder believes that you will overcome this task, yesss.” She said, turning her sparrow towards the direction Echo headed in. “Do not prove him him, wrooong.” With that she sped off. Watching the two go I began to move out of town. As I got out of town I spread my hands out and shot forward, heading north.

Echo

After a full ten minutes of high speed traveling, the snowy land of the Frozen North greeted my sights. Both Viris and Taliyah were not far behind. A powerful blizzard made it difficult to see.

“Stop.” Centuri said. With a sudden twist of the brakes, the sparrow almost flipped over if it weren't for me balancing it out. “Fallen activity nearby. We're close.”

I got off the sparrow before taking a few steps away from it just as it disappeared. Enhancing my sight, I could see slightly through the blizzard enough to notice a few figured just ahead. To my left was the bright Crystal Empire and to my left was nothing but hills.

Looking back at the mysterious figured, I enhance my sight one more time and after wincing slightly, I finally saw the figures. Fallen and they brought a Walker.

The loud thumps of the walker was heard from afar. Once I restored my sight back to normal, I looked at my current weapons before internally frowning.

“Another change of weaponry?” Centuri asked. With a chuckle I replied.

“Do you even need to ask.” I told him. With a bright blue light, my Suros Regime was replaced by the Doom of Chelchis.

The Havoc Pigeon sidearm was replaced by The 4th Horseman Shotgun and lastly the Raze-Lighter was replaced by The Swarm LMG.

“Not what I would've chosen but I can make it work.” With that I took hold of the 4th Horseman and cocked it. “Keep me updated on more Fallen.” I began sprinting towards the moving walker and the group of Fallen.

Taliyah

As I got followed the other to into the blizzard where I lost sight of them. I stepped off my stoneboard and pulled my gun out. I walked slowly as I looked around, I saw the Empire on the way here so I knew where we were.

“Ugg, can’t see anything with this blizzard.” I grumbled a bit. “Beta, does this suit have something to make it easier to see?”

“Hold on.” Just as Beta spoke, my sight was shifting slightly and made me a bit nauseous. Once my vision stopped shifting, I could see a little more than I could before. “I'm not sure it'll be helpful but I enhanced your sight.”

“It’s better than before, thanks.” I said as I move forward. I looked around as I did until I saw something in front of me and some large thumps that shook the ground. “I hope that figure is friendly.”

Just after I spoke those words, gunfire and explosions were heard from the distance followed by loud robotic hum. Another explosion shook the ground followed by another robotic hum.

“It's not.” Beta spoke out.

“Right.” I said as I pointed my gun up and took aim. “Let's see what this can do.” I aimed until I saw one of the Fallen in view, I pulled the trigger and fired… which sent me backwards onto my ass. “Okay… that’s some knockback…”

“Echo did warn you.” Beta said, chuckling as he did.

“Yeah… didn’t think it was this much.” I said as I sat up.

“On the bright side, the Fallen was shot dead with a hole through its chest.” Beta informed me.

“Yay, now to go and make sure I don’t fall on my ass everytime I fire.” I muttered. I took aim again and saw a few more Fallen heading this way. Keeping low and more solid stance I fried at them. I missed twice but got a few of them when I saw them. “Getting better.”

“I don't want to alarm you but you did attract some big attention.” Beta said out of the blue. I looked over and saw some sort of metal spider coming towards me.

“Well shit.” I said as I moved. It tumbled onto the ground just before a large fiery hammer hit the front left leg. Looking towards the direction the hammer came from, I saw Echo holding a hammer and surrounded by an aura of fire. Another hammer appeared in his empty hand before he threw both of them at the robot spider. Another leg blew into pieces before the head of the machine slid forwards, revealing a large bright orange core. Thinking that this was a weak point, I quickly grabbed my sniper and fired without preparing myself for the kickback.

The bullet seemed to hit because the core started sparking. I saw Echo walk towards the fallen spider with a hammer in hand before standing above it and smashing the core.

“Just die already!” Echo yelled as he repeatedly smashed the core with the large hammer. The bright orange core, now smashed to pieces, shutdown and the spider ceased all movement. I stood up and grabbed my sniper.

“He’s not a fan of spiders or tanks?” I asked Beta.

“I think he just finds them annoying.” Beta answered.After Echo was done, he let go of the Hammer just as it dissipated and the aura surrounding him vanished.

“Finally.” Echo said as a Fallen appeared behind him ready with a sword before being shot in the head.

“Missed one.” Viris’ voice was heard through my helmet. I looked around to see if there’s anymore Fallen around. I couldn't see any.

“Beta, are there any more?” I asked him.

“Not in our vicinity.” Beta answered.

“The Ketch is nearby. Just a short walk from here to the east.” Echo said as he took hold of an old timey shotgun. “I do hope you'll be able to see us, Viris.”

“Clear as day.” Viris responded with growl. “The blizzard will help me hide from my brethren while I provide sniper support.”

“Good to hear.” Echo said before looking at me. “Ready to take them on?” He asked me.

“Yup.” I said holding my sniper. “I’m getting used to this.”

“Let's go then.” He said before turning around and started walking east. I followed behind him with my sniper at the ready. I saw that Echo moved off for a bit as I felt the ground go down. I saw that there was a large hole with fallen in it. I looked around and found a good sniper spot and set up there and waited.

I didn’t wait long since Echo came in with an explosion. I watched him torn though the the Fallen as I fired at some of them. I wasn’t knocked back as much but I did have to move forward a bit. I watched as the Fallen fired at Echo as he torn them apart. I continued firing until I saw something move a bit from Echo. The air shimmered a bit.

“Viris! There’s something behind Echo.” I said into my helmet. Just as I said this, the would be assailant was shot through the head and fell.

“Not anymore.” Viris replied with a dark chuckle. I rolled my eyes and continued firing. After a few shots and watching the other two did their thing, I felt a shiver up my spine. I looked behind me as the air shimmered a bit. I rolled out of the way as a Fallen tried to spear me with it’s knife. I got up and aimed but it kicked my gun away. I moved back and looked at it and saw that it was picking it up… shit.

I took out my knife and waited as it looked at me. We stayed like that as some words came to mind.

‘Be it slow or fast, make your strike count, when you attack it will ether kill your prey or you be killed.’

“Make your strike count…” I muttered as my legs moved forward. The Fallen took aim and fired, luckily it missed as it was now off balanced as I got close. I swung my knife at him and for a split second I saw a spark come off it. Then I hit the Fallen and it exploded. I looked at what just happened and binked. “What just happened?”

“Blade dancer.” Viris spoke through the coms. “You have achieved the rank of Blade dancer.” I looked at my knife and arms, some sparks jumped off me as they died down.

“Cool.” I said as I took my gun back. “My sniper.” I said as I went back at shooting. I kept going until I saw one of them that looked important. “I’m guessing that’s the leader?”

“No. It is his Guard.” Viris said just as the Fallen in question pulled out four swords. “We must end him before we can continue.” Said Viris just as she fired only for the bullet to be sliced in half by one of the four swords belonging to the Guard.

“That didn't work, any other plans?” I asked. I fired two shots at two other Fallen and one at the big one, only for him to sliced in half. Readying for another shot, I looked to see the fallen get sucker punched up into the air a few feet by Echo before he fired his shotgun at the Fallen.

“Dealt with, now to-” He stopped as we all heard the sounds of engines activating. Through the blizzard I could see that the ship was preparing to take off. “Change of plans. You two mop up the rest, I need to stop this thing from leaving orbit.” Echo said as he ran towards the large doors of the ship with a shotgun in his hand.

“Alright then.” I said as I looked around down below. “I got five where I am Viris, how many you got?”

“Sixteen.” She said followed by an another bang. “Seventeen.”

“Right…” I said as I fired a few times. Some time later I couldn’t see anymore Fallen. “I think that’s the last of them… I think.” I then heard a gunshot.

“That was the last of them.” she said. I rolled my eyes and stood up.

“You think Echo is okay?” I asked her.

“The Elder has fought worse enemies than my kind.” Viris responded before letting out a sigh. “He has faced the entire House of Wolves during my time as Baroness. He has slain a God-prince with its own sword and fought the vengeance seeking God-king.”

“Right, so… if he’s on there ship, do you think he needs help?” Not long after I asked one of the many thrusters exploded, causing the rest to flicker off and on for a second or two.

“No.” Viris answered in a deadpanned tone.

“Right… Never mind, so we wait?” I asked her and Beta.

“Yes.” Beta answered as he appeared in front of me. I nodded as I sat down cross legged to wait.

Echo

Running through the halls of the Fallen ketch was not an easy task to accomplish. It was almost as if the Fallen were coming out from the walls but no matter the amount of Fallen Dregs or Vandals sent to fight me, I continued on with guns blazing.

I ended up in the armory and was met by another Spider Walker. Aiming the cannon at me, it charged up before firing at me. Quickly reacting to this, I planted my fist onto the metal floor before a small dark bubble surrounded me and blocked the incoming tank shell.

With the shield up, I took the chance and reloaded all of my weapons just before the shield shattered. The Walker fired a volley of arc orbs. Running from the orbs, I made sure to make sharp turns. The orbs followed my every move until I made a sharp left and caused them to collide with the wall and killing the Vandals that were climbing up it. Just before running, I grabbed a body of a dead Vandal before tossing it towards the tank as it fired another shell. The body made caught the shell before exploding.

With a loud hum from the walker, it began firing the front machine guns. I decided to not dodge and spread my arms wide open as my hands were covered in Taken energy.

Just before the arc bullet made contact with my armor, they vanished and this kept going as the walker kept firing. The click of an empty gun was heard and the walker stopped firing.

With a grunt, I moved my arms and with the flick of my wrists, six Taken orbs appeared beside each leg of the walker before taken bullets fired through them. The legs crippled and the walker fell, revealing its core. Cocking the 4th horseman, I walked over to it and held down the trigger and successfully unloaded a full clip.

“Throne room should be through this door and down the hall.” Centuri said without delay. Following the direction Centuri told me of, I had managed to find the door to the throne room.

“How long till the ship leaves orbit?” I asked out loud.

“Not long, so I suggest you hurry.” Centuri answered before the doors opened, revealing the spacious throne room of the Kell and on the far side of the room sat the Kell on his throne.

With a growl, the kell stood up and took hold of his weapon before suddenly appearing next to me. Quickly moving away, I was able to avoid getting knocked back by his ground stomp. The kell exclaimed something in his language followed by laughter.

“Straight to the point, I like that.” With that, I placed my gun on the ground before my entire right arm was consumed by Taken energy. “This'll be quick.”

Taliyah

I sat on a floating rock as I waited. I looked at my sniper over a few times as I got board. The only funny part of this waiting is when Viris had a few poros around her. She asked what they were and I explained it to her.

“They are a race of cute creatures that survived that harshest of cold places.” I explained.

“These creatures annoy meee.” Viris said.

“Aww, they like you.” I said with a smile. As I heard her grumbled I felt something coming from the ship. I looked up and saw something giant grab the ship.

The giant pulled at the ship into a wormhole and disappeared.

“What… in the world...was that?” I asked.

“The Elder claiming his prize.” Viris answered with a growl. I tilted my head at this as I floated down.

“Got to say, that’s kinda cool… in a very creepy way.” I said. I watched the giant closed the wormhole and turned to face our direction. “I hope it’s friendly.”

The Giant stared at us for a second before disappearing into the blizzard and letting out a roar. With that, the area was again silent with the exception of the blizzard.

“Calmness before the storm much.” I muttered as I took hold of my gun. I heard the crunching of the snow just ahead of me and a figure could be seen from the blizzard.

“Done.” Came Echo's voice.

“Right… okay.” I said looking up. “So… it’s over?”

“Pretty much but we need to deal with the aftermath. I'm sure the sighting of the Ketch spooked a lot of people.” Echo replied with a nod. I noticed something about him through the blizzard and squinting my eyes a bit allowed me to see that Echo's armor is completely different along with the aurora of darkness that surrounded him.

“Uhh… what’s with the armor?” I asked.

“Don't ask, it'll wear off in a minute or two.” Was his answer as he walked by me and Viris. I scratched my head at what he said.

“I think I should head off to the princesses and explain what’s going on.” I said to them.

“I will come too, I need to explain to them how it was dealt with.” Echo said as his leg armor changed suddenly and the dark aura was gone. “It's wearing off.”

“Right.” I said as I looked over to the Crystal Empire. “That’s the closest place with a princess so let’s head there.”

“Viris, you head back. Now lead the way.” Echo said. I made a stone board appeared and climbed up onto it. I saw Echo get his sparrow and we headed to the Empire. As we got closer we went through the barrier that protects it from the outside, it sent shivers up my spine.

“That’s… new.” I said. We Traveled to the center of the place and saw the castle. We stopped in front of the front doors… I think, and saw guards there.

“Who are you!” One of them yelled.

“Friend of the Princess, tell her that Taliyah came to chat with a friend.” I said. They looked at each other and sent somepony in. As we waited I saw some of the guards surrounded us. Echo seemed pretty calm about this. “Guess you're used to this?”

“Yes, it's happened a lot before.” He answered back with a slight shrug. As we waited the guard came out and whispered something to another.

“Really? Alright.” he said as he looked at us. “The ‘princess’ will see you two.”

I looked at him funny as he led us to the throne room. As we returned I saw Cadence and Shining talking to one another. I took my helmet off and walked up to them.

“Taliyah, it’s good to see you, but I wished it was at a better time.” she said.

“This isn’t the time, there was something in the sky then it got sucked away by a giant, if we don’t act soon it would come at us.” Shining said.

“It won't.” Echo spoke out. Shining looked at him for a moment.

“And you know this… how?” he asked.

“Because that giant was my doing.” Echo answered without hesitation. Shining tensed, so did the guards, as he walked in front of Cadence.

“So… what do you want with us… demon.” he said coldly as his hand went to his blade.

“Demon? Is that what you call the people who help your kind?” Echo asked in calm tone. I saw Shining grit his teeth until Cadence stepped up.

“I’m sorry about my husband's behavior, he can be a bit… protective of things and it clouds his judgement.” she said shooting a glare at Shining. He grumbled as he let's go of his sword. “I, want to thank you for your help. I there anything you want as a reward?”

“Unless you have some Helium filaments, no reward is necessary.” Echo said while bowing his head. The two looked at one another for a moment.

“Uhh… I don’t know what that is.” Cadence said. With a chuckle, Echo replied.

“Like I said, no rewards necessary.” Echo said.

“Well again, thank you.” she said. With that we left the throne room and headed out.

“So… what now?” I asked.

“Now we head back to the town.” Echo answered as his sparrow appeared under him. I made a stone appeared and started to head out. It took about half of an hour to get back to town and to the library. I found a note saying that Twilight was off to Canterlot to talk to the other two princesses about what’s going on and that I have to head there to explain.

“Well, I have to say thanks for the help.” I said to Echo.

“No problem, it's what a Guardian supposed to do.” He said before heading off to his ship.

“I guess… I’ll see you around?” I called out.

“In a month or two. You still need to take an exam to register as a Guardian.” He called back. An exam… oh boy.

“Can I ask what about?!” I called to him.

“Nope!” With that he vanished and his ship took off from the ground before zooming away. I sighed as I walked back inside.

“Well… I hope this exam is straightforward.” I mumbled to myself

“Do you really believe that?” Beta asked.

“... No.”

Author's Note

Again, a crossover with Legion and Taliyah is a Bladedancer xD. Was thinking of making her a Titian but Hunter fits a bit better :P

See any problems? Let me know, thanks

See you all in the next chapter :)