A Titanic Destiny

Chapters

One: A New Beginning – Malfunction At The Junction
Two: A New Beginning – Banshees, Aliens, and Ponies, Oh My! (EDITED)
Three: A New Beginning – A Visit From Royalty
Four: A New Beginning – From Here On
Five: A New Beginning - Warriors of the Age

One: A New Beginning – Malfunction At The Junction

It was late at night at the Tower, and there were very little Guardians ambling about. One in particular, was simply sitting on the edge of a platform, watching the moon. He was a Titan, Guardians known for their silence and gruffness, as well as their strength. But even one such as he was less normal then the others. For he was an outcast, even among his own. Not just among his race, but his fellow Titans and Guardians. He only ever went down into the City to visit his condo, and that was it. A year ago, he would be out and about, traversing the City and raising a ruckus in it's bars. But that was then. He couldn't bring himself to go drinking anymore. And besides, getting rid of the waste was annoying.

"Adric? Are you okay?" his Ghost asked. He did not answer. "Adric?" After a pause, he turned to face his Ghost, it's sleek black and white shell greeting him.

"...Yeah, I'm fine. Just thinking," he replied unconvincingly. His Ghost made a noise that sounded like a sigh, knowing better than to pry.

"Well, we should get going. Variks said he wanted to see us, remember?" His Ghost reminded. The Titan said nothing for a time, before slowly getting up.

"...Yeah. Transmat me whenever," he said lifelessly. His Ghost sighed again, before transmatting them both up to his personal ship in orbit around the planet, the Waning Star. Only a scarce few Guardians had this type of ship, but he paid it no mind as long as it worked. Adric walked into the cockpit and set the coordinates for the Reef, before initiating the warp drive and disappearing from Earth's airspace. The ride was quiet, or at least, as quiet as it could be when one is bending the fabric of space to travel between areas. And for a time, everthing was going smoothly, but then the alarms started to blare. "What's going on!?"

"Running diagnostics...Oh, this is bad. Really bad!" his Ghost exclaimed.

"What is it!? What's happening!?" the Titan yelled over the din of the alarms.

"The warp drive is malfunctioning!" his Ghost cried, panicking.

"What!?" Adric shouted in exclamation. He didn't get a chance to say anything else before a tremor shook the vessel, and then, suddenly, they were plummeting towards a planet not unlike Earth. Adric wrestled with the controls, trying his best to pull up.

"Pull up! Pull up pull up pull up!" his ever so helpful Ghost repeated.

"I know, shut up and let me drive!" Adric shouted back. Sadly, he could not pull up, and they crashed.

"Twilight, can we just go to bed already?" whined the baby, purple scaled, green spined dragon named Spike, Number One Assistant and younger brother/son to the Princess of Friendship Twilight Sparkle.

"Not yet, Spike! We still have another fifty constellations to chart! I can't go to bed until they're all charted, and by extension, neither can you! You're better at drawing and charting star maps then me," Twilight replied, looking through her telescope. "Look! There's Trigon's Spear!" Spike groaned but did as he was bid to do and drew the constellation in it's new position.

"Ya know Twi, the constellations moving is not that big of a deal. Heck, they've barely moved at all!" Spike bemoaned. Twilight turned back to face her assistant.

"A few centimeters are nothing to scoff at, Spike! Even the smallest of changes can mean everything!" Twilight urged. Spike rolked his eyes. The lavender alicorn turned back to her telescope, just in time to see something streak across the sky. "Spike, are you seeing this!? Princess Luna really is going all out!" Twilight gushed.

"Okay, that is pretty cool. Wait..." Spike squinted. "Is it me or is that shooting star getting closer?"

"What are you talking about–" Twilight's eyes widened as she saw what Spike was talking about. "Oh my gosh you're right! It's headed straight for the Everfree!" As it drew closer, Twilight could feel the immense magic coming from the now identified meteor, and it gave her a massive headache. So much so that she had to clutch her head to quell the pain.

"Twilight! Are you alright!?" Spike asked worriedly. Twilight panted, before screaming in pain, as if her skull were being ripped open and her brain stabbed. She collapsed to the floor, writhing in pain. Spike immediately ran downstairs to grab a pain relieving tonic, rushing back up as fast as he could before forcing the liquid down the mare's throat. She coughed and sputtered, but managed to swallow most of it. After ten minutes, she stood back up on shaky hooves, horn aching.

"Are you okay? What was that?" Spike queried, concerned.

"Y-Yeah, Spike, I'm okay. Just a headache from a magical surge," she turned to look towards the Everfree. "Spike, I need you to gather the girls at the Everfree, tell them to meet me there. This is something big," Spike gave her a concerned gaze before he nodded and ran off to grab the other Elements.

Adric groaned as he fought to sit upright, thankful his armour had softened the blow from the crash. Taking a glance around, his optics took in the damaged and crushed hull of his ship. It wasn't terrible from what he could see, but it would definitely need repairs to the hull. And the cockpit.

"Ghost, you there?" he called out. The little light in question appeared with a crackle.

"I'm here," it affirmed.

"Where are we?" Adric asked as he got up from the pilot's seat. "Can you run a diagnostic on the ship, see what's wrong?"

"All I know is we're far from the Traveler's Light, but something else is still providing enough for us to live, strange as it sounds. I'll run some scans," it replied. The Ghost floated over to the cracked control panels and started scanning them. While his Ghost did that, the Guardian walked to the cargo bay to check on their supplies. Punching in the codes for the door, the Titan found that most of the crates were undamaged, aside from a few weapon crates, but the weapons themselves were intact. Sighing in relief (or at least making a sound like it), Adric walked back out to check back on his Ghost's progress.

"How's it look?" he asked.

"Not good. The warp drive is worthless. The engine itself is still in...managable, order, but the hull needs some, well, a lot, of work to be spaceworthy again. In short, I doubt we're getting off planet any time soon. On top of that, the radio's busted, only static and white noise," the Ghost informed.

"Great," the Guardian muttered to himself. "Well, as much as I love the fact we found a planet outside the Solar System, I doubt it will make much of a difference if there's no life here, as well as the fact that we can't tell Arach,"

"So what do we do?" his Ghost asked.

"The only thing we can do. Recon," the Titan said with a grunt as he walked back to the cargo bay to grab his guns, and a certain sword from the Taken.

"So, what we always do, then?" the Ghost queried.

"Yes," Adric replied simply. Then, satisfied with what he had, he walked over to the docking bay and opened the doors.

Author's Note

EDIT: Added more detail to Twi's headache, making a bigger deal. It's needed for what I have planned.

Two: A New Beginning – Banshees, Aliens, and Ponies, Oh My! (EDITED)

"Well...there's definitely life on this planet," the Ghost quipped, taking notice of the flora and fauna around them. The trees were covered in moss, and vines hung from their boughs, which reached out like arms to grab them. "These trees...they're like oak trees, but...filled with Darkness. No, something more than that, something more...primal."

"They're just trees. As long as they don't up and grab me, it doesn't matter what they're filled with," Adric replied. He was no Warlock. The workings of the worlds, the Light, and the Dark, concerned him little. All he cared about was surviving, and protecting the City. Albeit he was with Dead Orbit, so he didn't put as much faith into it as most Titans, but still.

"Well excuse me for being curious," his Ghost retorted.

"Whatever, let's just keep going," Adric said dismissively as he trudged through the forest, brushing aside any plant or branch that got in his way. The blade of the Taken flickered ceaselessly on his back, seeming aglow with power from the trees and flora. More than usual. In fact, it was positively brimming with power.

"Adric, the Sword, look!" His Ghost pointed out. Adric took the Sword off his back and cursed under his breath as he took in it's more than usually erratic nature.

"Great. So either there's Taken here, or there's a powerful Hive nearby," he reasoned. "Well, guess that means that we're gonna have one hell of a fight," he mused. "Come on, let's not keep whatever it is waiting."

They passed numerous unknown flowers and plants, all of which the Ghost tried to scan as quickly as possible before it got left behind. "You're mapping the area as we go, right?" His Ghost was brought out of it's thoughts on the scan it was doing.

"Huh? What? Oh! Yeah, I am," the Ghost affirmed.

"Good. We never know if we might have to make a hasty retreat or not, and knowing the territory helps with that," Adric reminded.

"That's true," his Ghost agreed. The rest of the trek was made in silence, up until the two heard a number of screams.

"HEEEEELLLP!" cried a number of feminine voices.

"Someone is in trouble!" his Ghost pointed out.

"Noticed. Let's get going. Whoever they are, they need help," Adric replied before sprinting through the brush towards the sounds of screaming.

The Elements of Harmony were gathered at the entrance to the ever so wild Everfree. No matter how many times they had made journeys into it, it still remained a daunting obstacle. The Element of Kindness in particular, was terrified of going into it. Not to mention all of them were quite tired, having been woken up so late at night.

"Do we really have to do this?" asked the cyan pegasus, Rainbow Dash, Element of Loyalty. "I'd really like to go back to sleep."

"I must agree with Rainbow here darling, a lady needs her rest," Rarity, the Element of Generosity, agreed, bags under her eyes.

"And Ah need to git up early tomorrow to feed tha' livestock," Applejack added honestly.

"Yes, Rainbow. If we don't find out what is in that meteor quickly, all kinds of things could happen. You all felt the surge too, right?" Twilight began.

"Well...yes," Rarity admitted.

"If by surge, ya mean Ah felt like mah bones were 'bout to break and had the nastiest headache, then yeah," Applejack added.

"Was that the reason my wings felt like they'd been dipped in lava?" Rainbow queried.

"Yes! This could only mean one thing! An Augur's Meteor! And an Augur's Meteor hasn't fallen since the Unification! You girls remember the stories, right?" Twilight asked.

"Ya mean tha' ol' story 'bout the meteor that had the Princesses in it?" Applejack questioned. "Ah thought that was jus' an old mare's tale."

"Exactly! A magical surge of that magnitude right as a meteor lands, along with the reactions we, and undoubtedly, every pony in a two hundred mile radius, had, proves that it's not an old mare's tale!" Twilight finished.

"But do we honestly need to investigate so late?" Rarity whined.

"Yes! If it is an Augur's Meteor, then this could change everything! If whoever is inside it gets in the clutches of anyone nefarious, who knows what could happen!" Twilight expressed.

"Well what are we waiting for? Let's go find this new pony and make them our friend!" Pinkie said exuberantly, dashing off, only for Applejack to catch her by her poofy tail.

"Hold on sugarcube, ya'll know how dangerous that forest is," Applejack warned.

"Oh, right, silly me!" Pinkie said with a nervous chuckle.

"Well, let's go, and stick together!" Twilight said, before they all set off into the Everfree. Applejack and Rainbow glanced around as they trotted, keeping an eye out for any predators. Fluttershy was hiding behind Applejack, whimpering and jumping at the slightest noise. Pinkie was hopping merrily without a care, simply happy to be on another trip with her friends. Rarity was quite the opposite.

"Oh, this mud is going to take hours to get out of my coat! And this temperate atmosphere isn't doing my mane any favors, that's for certain!" Rarity complained.

"Just push through it, Rarity. We'll be there and back before you know it," Twilight assured.

"Yeah, a lil' mud and grime won't hurt ya none," Applejack agreed.

"Applejack, darling, while I admit you wear the rough and tumble look quite well, some of us prefer to be clean and presentable," Rarity shot back.

"What's that s'pose ta mean?" Applejack said, tone dangerous.

"Nothing at all, darling! I'm just saying that not everypony likes to be covered in dirt all the time," Rarity stated matter of factly.

"Yew sayin' Ah don't wash?" Applejack asked, eyes narrowing.

"Oh no, of course not, dear! Well...maybe," Rarity admitted.

"Well not all o' us have tha' luxury to be all froo froo and fancy shmancy," Applejack shot back.

"Froo froo? Well I never!" Rarity said indignantly.

"Girls!" Twilight called.

"At least I don't prance about smelling like compost and muck!" Rarity argued.

"Oh yeah? Well at least Ah don't fuss about mah mane not being perfect every five seconds!" Applejack retorted.

"GIRLS!" Twilight yelled.

"WHAT!?!" the two mares roared.

"If you two would quit yelling, then maybe you can help us find the path again because now we're lost!" Twilight informed. Sure enough, they looked around and were unable to find the old dirt path that kept them from the predatorial hunting grounds.

"No sweat! I'll just fly up and look for the path from above!" Rainbow proclaimed. But just as she made it up above the tree line, a force knocked her back to the earth hard.

"Rainbow!" Fluttershy cried. Rainbow looked up blearily to see what looked like a solid, bipedal shadow with wings and glowing red eyes, before conking out. Only when her friends heard an earpiercing shriek did they realize what had come upon them. A Banshee. And lo and behold, from the shadows of the trees came the tall woman garbed in red, mist flowing out from under her robes and shrouding the area, while her features remained hidden in the dark of her hood. Two bony, grey arms lay at her sides, not unlike a Minotaur. She shrieked once more, and dozens of those solid shadow beings appeared from the trees.

The mares huddled close together, while Rainbow remained on the ground, shaken from her hard impact with the cold earth. Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, Pinkie, and Twilight were shaking with fear. They had faced many a terrible foe, but Banshees were the most malevolent spirits out there. They were the ones who corrupted King Sombra, and helped fell the now lost Minotaur Kingdom. They were beings of nature, not unlike Wendigoes, only they were made of doubt, of guilt, of sorrow and pain. No being to date had fought one and lived.

So, with fear and desperation gripping their hearts, the mares cried, "HEEEEELLLP!"

But none came. Tears streamed down their eyes as the shadows closed in. The shadowy figures seemed to smirk, and raised their blades.

"Please... Faust... Help us..." Fluttershy prayed.

CRACK!

A shadow's head was snapped as a gauntleted fist impacted it, dispersing the foul creature. The other creatures turned to where their brother had been to see a being not unlike them, but it looked much more menacing, being hewn from the bone and marrow of a creature so alien and surreal that all present could only gawk. It's head resembled that of a shark, but much more sharply angled. It raised an arm, allowing those present to see a strange weapon with a similar design, and a strange barrel. The being squeezed what looked like a trigger and then a deafening boom rang out and the banshee screeched, and the ponies saw a gaping hole in it's head before it dispersed into fog that retreated. The shadows retreated with their mother, leaving the ponies to the whims of the new arrival.

"St-st-stay away!" Twilight stuttered, pointing her horn at it while it slowly drew near. The being crouched down to eye level, placed it's weapon down, and raised it's arms in surrender. Then, out of nowhere, a strange floating creature appeared with a shimmering black and white shell in the shape of a cluster of diamonds, all rotating around an eye. It was much smaller than the other being, easily able to fit inside it's palm.

"I think they're scared," said a voice. The pony's eyes widened, whipping their heads around in an attempt to find the source.

"Wh-who said that?" Rarity asked.

"I did," the voice said again. The pony's glanced around again. "Over here," the voice said, and their gazes were turned to the floating eye.

"Y-you can t-talk!?" Twilight exclaimed.

"Of course I can. But I'm more surprised all of you can. Fascinating, really," the eye said.

"Y-you're not going t-t-to hurt us?" Fluttershy queried.

"Not unless you plan on attacking us, no. Right, Adric?" the eye asked it's companion.

"Exactly," came the deep answer from the larger being. A groan from Rainbow Dash drew the gaze of the two creatures. "Ghost, can you...?"

"On it," the eye replied, flying over and casting a blue light over the mare. Applejack immediately jumped to the mare's side.

"Don't yew touch her!" she snarled.

"I'm not going to hurt her. I'm just going to check her vitals," the now established 'Ghost', assured. Applejack glanced between her friend and the strange eye, before slowly letting the eye pass. The Ghost cast a blue cone of light across her body, not unlike how a unicorn would scan something.

"I-Is she o-okay?" Fluttershy asked.

"Yes, though I'm not very well versed with your kind's anatomy. Far as I can tell she just has a mild concussion, but we should take her to a doctor to make sure," the Ghost informed. The mares all sighed in relief while the Ghost flew back to the larger being.

"We should get moving," the larger being said simply as it stood up to it's full height and picked up it's weapon. "More of those things might come."

"Th-thank y-you..." Fluttershy said gratefully.

"We're not out of it yet. You can thank me when we are," the larger being said, before saying, "Ghost, where's the nearest town?"

The eye made sounds that were very much like a machine calculating something, before answering, "About half a mile to the east," and with that, the tall creature turned and started to walk away.

"H-h-hey, wait up!" Twilight called before galloping after it, the rest of her friends following, Applejack hauling Rainbow Dash up onto her back.

"Hold on, just who are you?" Rarity asked once she and the others caught up to the tall being.

"And how are you talking without moving your mouth? Or without a tongue?" Twilight queried.

"My name is Adric–9. My 'mouth', is beneath this helmet, that's how I'm talking," the now dubbed Adric explained.

"Adric...nine? Why do you have a number at the end of your name?" Twilight questioned.

"It's the amount of times he's been rebooted," Ghost explained.

"Rebooted? You don't mean..." Rarity began.

"Yes, I'm a robot," Adric finished.

"What!? But-but that's not possible! Everypony knows that sentient robots are just fictional!" Twilight ranted, mane fraying. Ghost glanced towards Adric at these words, and Adric simply sighed before stopping suddenly and turning around, muttering something about eggheads. Slowly, he grasped the edges of his helmet and lifted it off, revealing his robotic visage. His face was a mixture of black and green metal, with two metal horns poking out from his forehead, both painted a deep red along with the braces running to the back of his head. His optics were simply red lights, and he had an exposed jaw that showed more inner workings and had red lights as well.

"Is this proof enough for you?" he said in a bored tone. The girls simply stood and gaped, Twilight stuttering and stammering as she watched all his inner workings spin and whir as he talked, red lights lying behind the two pieces of his jaw that seemed to serve as a mouth.

"I think you broke them," Ghost stated. Adric sighed before raising his weapon and pulling the trigger, causing all the mares to yelp and clutch their ears in pain.

"That's better. Now, let's keep going," Adric ordered before marching off again after placing his helm back on. The mares recovered, though most were shooting the robot nasty glares. Ghost floated to their side.

"Sorry about that. He's been very...single-minded, ever since an incident that happened a few years back. More than usual for a Titan," Ghost explained.

"Incident?" Applejack asked, adjusting the cyan mare on her back so she could walk better.

"It's probably best you ask him yourself. I'm not the one liable to tell it," Ghost said somberly. It perked up quickly, though. "So, what do you call yourselves? You look remarkably similar to horses, albeit smaller and technicolored."

"Oh! Well, we're called ponies. I'm Twilight Sparkle, an Alicorn, Applejack and Pinkie Pie are Earth ponies, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy are Pegasi, and Rarity is a Unicorn," Twilight explained, pointing to each of her friends as she said their names.

"Pegasi, Alicorn, and Unicorns? That's just like the Pre-Collapse mythes..." Ghost muttered.

"What?" Twilight queried.

"Hm? Oh! Nothing! I was just noticing some similarities between our cultures," Ghost said noncommitaly.

"Like what?" Twilight asked, curiosity piqued.

"Well..." Ghost began. As Twilight and Ghost talked about other similarities in their cultures, Rarity strided forward and decided to ask their stalwart defender about his armor.

"Darling, excuse me for asking but wherever did you get such...unique, armor?" she asked.

"It is the hard earned reward I received for defeating a hated enemy," Adric said curtly, seeming to spit the word enemy.

"It seems so...brutish. Maybe I can whip up a new outfit for you? I have some lovely ideas for a design–," Rarity started.

"No," Adric interrupted. Rariy sputtered at that.

"But darling–," she tried.

"No. That is final," Adric said tersely, before striding forward. Rarity was stunned, before huffing and turning her nose up.

"Well, I never!" she said indignantly. Applejack was watching this from behind the rest of the group, and in particular she was looking at the sword on his back. It glowed an eerie purple, and shimmered and flickered a mixture of black and white. All in all, it just looked wrong. Applejack thought of this as further reason to not trust Adric. He was rude and seemed to be hiding something, and that didn't sit well with her. Pinkie had little restraint, however, and zipped up to him.

"Hi! Do you like parties? Why is your sword all glowy and wavy? What's your favorite color? Where are you from?" Pinkie rattled off.

"None of your business," Adric growled as he pushed past her.

"Well that wasn't very nice," Pinkie said with a pout.

After that, the group trekked mostly in silence, only the Ghost and Twilight still talking. Soon, they made it to the edge of the forest, and Adric stopped by the end of the treeline.

"Right, this is where we part ways," he said.

"What? You're not coming with us?" Twilight asked, surprised.

"No," Adric said simply, before turning around and heading back into the forest. Ghost glanced towards his partner, then back at the ponies.

"Sorry," it said sadly before following. The ponies were understandably nonplussed. But, seeing as they had a friend in need of care, slowly started to walk towards Ponyville. They had a lot to tell the Princesses about.

Author's Note

EDIT: Fixed a few grammar mistakes that really should have been fixed earlier.

Sorry for the long wait, my lovelies, it just took a while to get my ideas cemented. I had a basic idea of where I wanted it to go in the long run, but not all of how I would get there was structured. Now? Now it's starting to become clearer. So, expect a few more chapters soon. Also, give a big thank you to Clockworklich for proofreading this chapter for me, seriously, amazing guy, check him out. Anyway, thanks for reading!

P.S.: Sorry if the quality is a bit low, I've been really stressed lately.

—Timeless Celestial

Three: A New Beginning – A Visit From Royalty

The day after the Elements had their foray into the Everfree, Twilight sent a letter to the Princesses, detailing everything that had happened. They responded immediately, saying they would be coming to meet this Adric that they had heard of. So it was that the Royal Sisters were in their carriage, flying towards Ponyville to meet the Elements.

"Sister, what art thine thoughts on this, 'Adric'?" Luna asked Celestia. Celestia hummed in thought.

"From what the letter entailed, it would seem he has many secrets. The fact that he drove off a banshee while looking just like a creature of Shadow himself is more than enough to worry me. His intentions are unknown. Furthermore, there's the correlation between his appearance and the Augur's Meteor, something of which is even more troubling. All in all, we simply do not have enough information," Celestia summed up.

"What should we do, then?" Luna queried.

"Play it by ear, I suppose. Maybe we can negotiate with him," Celestia responded.

"If thou art certain, then," Luna conceded. The small town of Ponyville eventually came into view, and within minutes they had touched down on the outskirts, where the Elements were waiting. They climbed out of the carriage, and Twilight shared a hug with her old mentor.

"Princess! I'm glad you came!" Twilight said as they broke the embrace.

"So am I. Though I'm afraid this isn't a social visit," Celestia said.

"Indeed. We cam'st here to speak with this 'Adric', thou spoke of," Luna concurred.

"Right. Like I said in the letter, we had to abandon our mission to get Rainbow a doctor, but I managed to pinpoint the most likely area that the Meteor landed," Twilight began, turning serious as she pulled out a map of the Everfree with an X marked deep within it.

"Well done, Twilight. This should be very helpful. Hopefully, wherever this Meteor is, Adric won't be far behind," Celestia praised with a motherly smile.

"We suggest that thee remain here with thine friends. The Elements would do little without one of their bearers," Luna suggested, causing the mares heads to lower as the thought of Rainbow came into their heads.

"How is Rainbow faring?" Celestia asked.

"She's fine, but the doctor said she'll need to keep from any strenuous activity for a while," Twilight explained, tone somber.

"I see," Celestia said with a slight frown, before her smile returned. "Do not think that any of you are at fault. You had no way of knowing that a banshee had taken refuge in the Everfree. All you can do now is be there for her." The mares simply nodded before heading back to town. The sisters watched them go for a short time before turning to the dark forest that was the Everfree.

"Well...shall we?" Luna prodded.

"We shall," Celestia nodded. And thus, they began their trek through the forest.

"You know, you could've been more polite to them. Plus, that was basically first contact with a new alien race. Kinda needed to make a good impression," Ghost told Adric, who was currently working on repairing the hull of his ship.

"So?" Adric replied.

"So why weren't you? We have no idea what they'll do now! They could arrest us or capture us for questioning or worse!" Ghost expressed. Adric was silent. "Well?"

"I don't need to explain myself," Adric replied sharply. Ghost sighed deeply in frustration.

"You know what? Fine. Be grumpy and ruin our chances of having aliens as allies for once," Ghost said irritably before disappearing in a crackle of particles. Adric said nothing and continued to work. Hours passed, and eventually, he noticed something heading towards him on his radar. Two somethings, in fact. With a sigh, he put down his tools and turned to face whoever was coming his way.

He didn't need to wait very long before two ponies, as they had called themselves, emerged from the treeline. They were both larger than the other ponies, especially the white one, and appeared to be alicorns as well. What gave Adric pause was the fact that their manes shimmered and moved in an unseen wind. The white alicorn's mane was a mixture of pink, sea green, and violet. The midnight blue one had a mane that twinkled like the night sky. Adric simply crossed his arms as he waited for them to speak. They quickly took notice of him, and the white one smiled in a friendly manner.

"Greetings. Are you the being known as Adric-9?" she asked, her voice like silk.

"I am," Adric said simply. "And you are?"

"I am Princess Celestia, co-ruler of Equestria along with my sister, Luna," she introduced, gesturing to the alicorn next to her.

"Greetings. We came here in search of a meteor, as well as to have a chat with thee," Luna explained.

"Meteor?" asked Ghost, appearing in a puff of electrified particles.

"Yes, it is imperative that we find it," Luna glanced behind Adric, seeing the ship, and gaped at the vessel. "What in the world of Equus is that?" Adric glanced behind himself.

"That's my ship. I crashed here just yesterday," he explained. "I was in the middle of repairing it, until you two showed up." Luna seemed slightly dazed at the robot's lack of manners, but her sister placed a hoof on her shoulder to placate her.

"Did you say you crashed?" Celestia asked calmly. Adric nodded. In her mind, Celestia knew this meant that there was no Meteor, but the fact that Adric's crash had caused such an effect on Ponyville's residents said volumes about his power and capability. She knew that they would need to settle things peacefully, or else things could turn ugly. It seemed Luna had realized this as well, for she had that same look of apprehension upon her face. Celestia cleared her throat.

"Yes, well, we are sorry to interrupt your business, but we would very much like to ask you some questions," Adric sighed deeply. Ghost turned to the rulers.

"Could you give us a moment?" it asked. The diarchs slowly nodded, before the Ghost floated over to it's partner. They talked for a number of minutes, perhaps twenty, maybe thirty, and it got more heated as it went on. But finally, they seemed to have resolved something, and Adric turned back to the ponies.

"Alright, I'll answer your questions, but!" he said, raising a digit. "If I don't want to answer, then I won't answer. Got it?" The diarchs glanced at one another for a few tense moments, a silent conversation seeming to go on between them, before they turned back and nodded.

"Very well," Celestia agreed. "First, why do you carry weapons that resonate with dark magic?" Celestia asked, face a neutral yet stern mask.

"They are made from the bones and energy of a race in-tune with the Darkness," Adric answered. The sisters looked disturbed by that answer, but continued.

"We did not ask what they are made of. We can tell what they are made of quite clearly. We're asking why you carry them. Do you not know the danger of having such equipment?" Celestia asked sternly.

"I carry them for the same reason any soldier carries a weapon. To protect myself and others. As for the danger, there is none. This, 'dark magic', you speak of is just energy. No magic involved," Adric said with a slight growl of irritation. Luna growled in return.

"Alright, I see this is getting us nowhere, so let me just ask you this; what is your intent?" Celestia asked, placing a placative hoof on her sibling's shoulder.

"My intent? Honestly, I don't know. I have no way off this planet, not without professional help, so it's up in the air at the moment," Adric admitted, voice softer as he seemed to sit and ponder for a moment.

"Maybe you'd like to work with us?" Celestia asked.

"Sister, thou cannot be serious-!" Luna began.

"He saved the Elements, Luna. That shows he has kindness," Celestia interrupted, before whispering in her sister's ear, "And should anything go wrong, we can stop him before anyone gets hurt." She turned back to Adric. "So? What do you think?"

"...Fine. I'll do it," Adric accepted.

"Wonderful! Could you come with us then, please? We'll need you to sign some papers to make it official, as well as give you a few tests," Celestia said with a smile.

"Fine."

And thus began Adric's new career.

Author's Note

A little sloppy in my opinion, but that's how it'll be for now. Hope you all enjoyed the chapter, and thanks for reading!

—Timeless Celestial

Four: A New Beginning – From Here On

Adric was annoyed. Not just because his Ghost had persuaded him to go along with these "ponies", but because he would now be forced to deal with them for some time if this went through. Now, he loved company as much as any, but he preferred not to be disturbed when he had much more important matters to deal with. Like fixing his ship. Or his communications system. Or even maintaining his guns. He let out an agitated sigh as he followed the two rulers out of the forest, his Ghost floating beside him.

"Come on, Adric, lighten up! We're about to make a breakthrough in relations with these ponies!" said Ghost implored.

"Something that would've happened once I was good and ready," Adric grumbled.

"You mean never," his Ghost replied wittily. Adric lightly swatted the Ghost. "Hey! That was uncalled for!" Adric said nothing as they continued to walk through the Everfree. The Ghost harrumphed. Meanwhile, the Princesses listened to their conversation with interest as they lead the two out of the forest.

"You two are an... interesting, duo," Celestia noted.

"If you call having an abusive relationship interesting, then yeah, I guess we are," the Ghost replied.

"And yet thou'st some bond, deeper than friendship," Luna pointed out.

"That would have to do with me bringing old grumpy pants here to life after being dead for centuries," Ghost told them.

"... You do not mean necromancy, do you?" Celestia asked, tone dangerous as they walked, turning her head to face them.

"You mean like cultists? No. I resurrected him by re-encoding his corpse into a living body. Basically, I took elements from around the area into the predefined structure that I've always had. No real magic involved, just science," Ghost explained. Celestia and Luna blinked owlishly a few times.

"I... see. Well, I'm glad it's not necromancy, at least," Celestia said, before they continued walking. She and her sister made further mental notes to keep an eye on the Ghost and Adric. After a short while of walking, they finally arrived at the outskirts of Ponyville. "Well, here we are. The town of Ponyville." Adric and his Ghost gazed out at the simple homes with shock and disappointment. Their thatched roofs, the mundane cobbled streets, and the myriad of ponies walking about, was, to them, underwhelming.

"It's very... Homey," Ghost downplayed.

"You mean sadly inefficient and simple," Adric corrected him.

"Oh? And what knowest thou of city planning?" Luna asked in an obviously irked tone. Her sister placed a hoof on her shoulder, and Luna slowly calmed.

"We've had to make do with what we had at hoof, what with the war still raging," Celestia informed.

"War, huh?" Adric mused. He shared a look with his Ghost before turning back to the rulers. "With who?"

"The denizens of Shadow. They appeared about two years ago, swiftly eradicating most of the populations of each country. The few who survived fled here, to Equestria. Since then, we've been fending off the denizens of Shadow, but they are always encroaching on our borders," Celestia explained. Adric and his Ghost shared another look. This was exactly like back home. An entire planet, lost to hostile forces and chasing the remaining natives to one spot. Adric was deep in thought, and if the way his Ghost was making noises was any indication, so was it. Adric, while he was thoroughly annoyed by these ponies, didn't feel right just letting them be slaughtered. His Ghost was of the same mind. Finally, they both came to a conclusion.

"I think we can help with that," his Ghost said. The two Princesses seemed surprised at this.

"You would risk your life for a people you do not know?" Celestia asked, surprised. Adric nodded.

"My duty is to protect others. Whether that's my team, my home, or innocents I don't even know, doesn't matter. I'm a Titan. We are the Wall that our enemies break upon," Adric told them.

"Exactly. Besides, we aren't likely to get off of here anytime soon, what with our ship unable to take off," the Ghost continued. The Princesses were, understandably, taken aback, but quickly recovered.

"Well, that is most unexpected. Tis not often that we art witness to such selflessness," Luna praised.

"Indeed," Celestia agreed. "And now that you have shared that with us, I believe we have a position that would befit you."

"And that would be?" Adric queried, crossing his arms.

"We've been in need of a Special Response team towards incursions from the Shadow, and no one will take the position of commander for the team. How would you like to be that commander?" Celestia offered.

"Sounds reasonable to me," Adric's Ghost noted.

"Wonderful. But, for now, let us continue on our way to Ponyville. We can discuss more about what you are up against on the way," Celestia said.

"Right. Lead on, your Highnesses," the Ghost urged. With that, the four continued their trek into the small town.

Soon after arriving in the small town, which the Princesses had informed Adric was called Ponyville, him and his Ghost took immediate notice of the many looks that were sent their way.

He assumed it was because he was different, and after coming to that conclusion, shrugged it off and let them think what they wanted.

His Ghost was more conscious about the stares. Most of them were fearful. Some were just curious. Either way, Ghost didn't like it.

The Princesses also noticed the stares, but kept quiet, just glad their citizens didn't run in fear like they'd heard Ponyvillians typically did over new and frightful things.

Regardless, in time they reached a building made completely of crystal, standing strong and looking like a tree of sorts, only, well...crystal. It had a few smaller, more house-like portions in it's branches, and a set of large, golden double doors for an entrance.

A number of barricades and makeshift towers of wood lay around it, with what Adric assumed to be pony soldiers patrolling around them, if their armor and spears were any indication. They arrived at a large wooden gate, where two guards sat in front of, and two more were on towers above.

A guard on the tower looked down, saw the Princesses, and yelled, "Halt! We need to check and see if you are who you appear to be! Stay put!" Adric and Ghost watched in interest as what they could only describe as an insectoid pony, complete with black chitin, bug wings, and strangely enough, fangs and a horn, glided down from the walls, wearing sleek black armor that didn't cover much, likely for better movement, Adric supposed.

The bug pony lit up it's horn with green magic, scanning the Princesses, before looking back up to the guard up top once done and nodding.

"Alright, head on in, your Highnesses! Sorry for the trouble!" The guard called down as the gates opened.

"It's no problem, Blue Chevalier, we understand," Celestia said kindly as they walked through the gates. While they were walking through the camp of tents and guards and such, Adric decided to make a comment.

"Semi-efficient defenses, but it could use work," he noted idly as he gazed around. Luna opened her mouth to retort, but a look from her sister stopped her short.

"We would be pleased to hear more on what you have in mind, but perhaps it would be best to do so at a later time," Celestia told Adric.

Adric simply grunted in acknowledgement. Once they made it to the golden double doors, Celestia and Luna opened them, and they all walked in. Ghost was beeping and whirring and making many a small chirp as he took in the interior of the castle, noting the crystal it was made of in particular.

A large lobby greeted them, but Adric paid it little mind, seeing it as simply old and outdated decorations and luxuries. They walked through the lobby in silence, until they reached another set of doors and opened them, revealing all the mares from that night in the forest.

"Hiya!" Pinkie chirped, in Adric's face now. He pushed her away.

"Don't do that," he said coldly. Pinkie deflated a little, falling to the ground with a plop now that she wasn't using her physics bending powers to keep herself up.

"I just wanted to say hi..." she said solemnly. Adric sighed.

"Then don't get in my face to do it," he said, tone a touch warmer, yet exasperated.

"Princess, why is he here?" Twilight asked.

"And can I fight him?" Rainbow queried with an eager grin.

"You would lose," Adric said simply. It wasn't anything less than a statement.

"Oh yeah?" Rainbow said, flying up to his face. Celestia pulled her away with her magic.

"Rainbow, you must recuperate and rest, still," she reminded. Rainbow pouted.

"Fine..." she said, crossing her hooves. "But I get first swing at him when I'm better!"

Celestia chuckled. "Of course," she turned to the others. "Girls, Adric here is going to be the new captain of the Special Response team." Applejack gave him a once over.

"Yew sure, Princess? He don't seem all that trustworthy," Applejack said.

"Whether you trust me or not doesn't matter to me. I'd still kill those...what did you call them?" Adric said. He snapped his digits. "Denizens of shadow, right. I'd still kill them. They're too dangerous to be left alone and fester like an infection."

"My, that's very noble of you," Rarity complimented. Adric shook his head.

"Just the truth," he said simply. Rarity smiled.

"Modest as well? How unexpected," Rarity tittered. Adric sighed.

"Why am I here again?" He asked the diarchs, turning to them with exasperation clear in his tone.

"These mares are going to show you around your new base of operations," Celestia explained. Adric sighed once more.

"Right, right..." he looked to them all. "Well, let's get it over with, shall we?" Twilight got up from her seat, the others doing the same.

"Follow us, then," she said, walking out of the room.

"We will be in Canterlot in the meantime. Stay safe, all of you," Celestia told them, before her and her sister disappeared in flashes of light. Adric stared at where they were for a moment before sighing, chalking it up to more bullshit magic. His Ghost idly scanned the area as he followed his Guardian with the mares.

They lead him all over the castle, showing him the dining room, the kitchens, bath house, and much more until they reached one of the guest rooms.

"This is where you'll be staying," Twilight told him.

"Thank you, Twilight," Ghost said appreciatively. Adric just sighed and pushed the door open, walking inside and closing it behind him. His Ghost let out a sigh as well. "Sorry about him. He probably has a lot on his mind. I'm sure he'll warm up to you all eventually."

With that, he disappeared in a cloud of blue particles, leaving the girls to look on with varying looks of sadness or distrust.

Author's Note

Sorry for the long wait, my lovelies. I was wracking my brain and researching things to make sure everything fit correctly, and a few times other life-related things got in the way. Like working at my local fair.

Anyways, hope you all enjoyed this chapter, and thanks for reading!

—Timeless Celestial

Five: A New Beginning - Warriors of the Age

Lully, lullay, Thou little Child,

Bye, bye, lully, lullay.

Lullay, thou little tiny Child,

Bye, bye, lully, lullay.

O sisters too, how may we do,

For to preserve this day

This poor youngling for whom we do sing

Bye, bye, lully, lullay.

Herod, the king, in his raging,

Charged he hath this day

His men of might, in his own sight,

All children young to slay.

That woe is me, poor Child for Thee!

And ever mourn and say,

For thy parting nor say nor sing,

Bye, bye, lully, lullay.

Lully, lullay, Thou little tiny Child,

Bye, bye, lully, lullay.

Lullay, thou little tiny Child,

Bye, bye, lully, lullay.

Adric was currently cleaning his guns, and had been since he first arrived in the room last night. Now it was morning. His Ghost had been keeping itself busy as well, reading the books in the room that were originally on the bookshelf, but were now spread out along the bed which went unused throughout the night.

"Find anything useful?" Adric asked, taking a rag out to clean the barrel of his hand cannon.

"A bit. Apparently, there are more diverse races on this planet then there ever were on Earth. There are the Changelings, with six different subspecies. The Minotaurs, then the Sirens which apparently only returned ten years ago, with two subspecies. The Deer, the Buffalo, and the Yaks with one subspecies. The Zebras, then the Dragons with six different subspecies, and finally the Ponies with five different subspecies," Ghost explained. Adric hummed in thought.

"I'll have to learn about each race and their subspecies if I want to know what I'm going to be working with..." he mused and grunted as he placed the now clean barrel down and checked the chamber next.

"I can teach you as we go," his Ghost offered. Adric grunted again.

"Fine," he said as he finished cleaning. A knock came from the door.

"Hello? Mr. Adric?" came a female's voice. "I-I have breakfast for you-" as a scaly pink clawed hand gripped the doorknob and opened the wooden portal, Adric and his Ghost slowly turned to the door, Adric only turning his head. The door opened, and in walked a bipedal pink dragon with sleek features and an apron, carrying a tray of soup, utensils, and a cup of coffee. "Oh! I-I didn't know you were awake!"

Adric turned back to his gun, looking it over a final time as he replied, "Been awake all night." His Ghost looked over the female dragon, noting her green underbelly and golden eyes with small horns trailing the upper sides of her head.

"Hello, who are you?" Ghost asked. She seemed to stare at him in slight awe before blushing as she realized she was staring.

"O-Oh! I-I'm no one important, j-j-just a maid. My name is Sh-Sh-Sh-Shine Bright," the dragon introduced with a stutter.

"No need to be scared, Miss Bright. My friend here is a big softy on the inside, I assure you. Just have to get to know him," Ghost said warmly.

"O-Oh, um, o-o-okay," she said, placing the tray down on a table. "W-Well, here's your food! E-Enjoy!" she said before scampering out of the room.

"She seemed nice," Ghost commented as the door was closed. Adric just grunted again. His ghost stopped from reading a book to look at the food. "Are you gonna eat any of that?" Adric grunted again, placing the gun down and going on to the next. "No, then." His Ghost sighed.

After a good while of relative silence, broken only by the sound of Adric disassembling and reassembling his gun, there was another knock on the door.

"Hello? Mr. Adric? I'm here to take you to your team," said a male voice as the door opened, revealing a Guard like the ones from the gate.

"Right," Adric said, putting his gun back in it's storage with a cloud of blue particles, the hand cannon on his other hip as the sword remained on his back. Adric turned to face the guard, towering over him. "Let's get this over with," he said, motioning for the guard to take the lead. His Ghost disappeared in another cloud of blue particles.

The guard nodded and lead them out of the room and down the hall. As they walked, the guard would occasionally look back at his escortees, but quickly turn away whenever Adric glanced at him. Ghost would simply look between the two at this, not saying anything, despite what must have been a twinkle of something in it's optic.

Finally they reached a set of doors, which the guard opened for them. The outer camp sprawled out before them, and the guard once more took the lead, bringing them over to a rather large tent where a familiar bouncy pink pony was waiting and waving cheerily. The guard saluted Pinkie before trotting off to do some other duty.

"Hey Addy! Glad you could-" she began with a chirp, but it was replaced immediately with a wide-eyed expression as Adric cut her off.

"Don't EVER. Call me Addy," he hissed coldly.

"Wha-? B-But-!" she tried again, but once more she was interrupted by him leaning down and getting in her face in the span of a second, making her fall to her plot with a light squeak.

"E-V-E-R. Ever. Got it? Say it one more time and I'm punting your plush pink head into the dirt," he growled.

"O-okay, s-sorry..." she said quietly, mane deflated. Adric stood up again.

"Good," he said with a simple nod.

His Ghost looked rapidly between the many faces of those around and Pinkie's own, and nervously spoke, "Uh... Sorry about that folks! My partner has a bit of a temper is all, nothing to see here!" The mutterings and murmurs echoed around them for a time, then slowly died down, though the stares and glances did not. Ghost quickly whirled to face Pinkie. "So! What did you need from us?" He asked quickly.

She blinked a few times, then shook her head, her mane slowly returning to it's regular poofiness. "Oh, uh, I thought I would just show Add-" A brief look to Adric stopped her short, and she soon resumed with, "-I mean, you and Adric around the camp where you'll be working for a while." She managed a smile as she stood back up. "I even got your new work buddies together so you could have some fun! I mean, who doesn't like fun?" She put a hoof to her chin. "Well, I guess the shadow meanies, but still! What good pony, er, person, doesn't like fun!? You'd have to be a total meanie pants to not like fun, like those meanie pants shadow ponies and stuff! And let me tell ya, those bullies are just so gosh darned mean! Like, I offered them a cupcake, and they just tried to eat me! Who does that? And then there was that time where-!" Adric placed a finger against her lips.

"You talk too much. Fix that," he said curtly. "I understood it the first sentence in." Pinkie frowned, but nodded and pulled back.

She then raised a hoof like she was checking her watch, and sure enough, there was a watch on her forehoof. "Oh! Look at the time, gottagoseeyalaterbye!" She then sped off in a cloud of dust. Adric watched her go for a short few seconds before shaking his head and walking into the tent, assuming his new teammates would be inside.

"Well... At least I could salvage the situation somewhat..." Ghost said with a sigh before floating in the tent after Adric.

"Hi! Are you our new squad leader? You look pretty mean, do you kill a lot? Ooh, ooh, how do you do it? Do you sing when you do it? Do you, do you?!" asked a peppy yet honeyed female voice out of the blue. It came from what seemed to be a buffalo with brown fur with silvery streaks in it, a single gold band tightened fast to her left horn, and green eyes. A sling of sorts rested around her barrel, holding an ornate flanged mace mixed with an iron-wrought axe at the end. It's handle appeared to be made of solid granite, with the head being simple steel.

"Shut it," Adric said simply. The cow frowned.

"That's not very nice," she said, pouting.

"Forgive her sir, Stonecall likes to make a stir," came a similarly honeyed yet more baritone voice, and Adric and Ghost turned their sights to what seemed to be a zebra stallion with a simple green scarf around his neck along with a silver and gold clasp on his right hoof, a pure gold clasp for his long tail, and a green beetle holding a spiral, tribalistic orange sun tattooed on his flanks. His mane was done in a short warrior ponytail. He saluted. "Aberash, here to clash and smash." He had a pure black lucerne held in the crook of his free forehoof, the weapon looking to be made from segments of various bones, like arms and legs with a hoof as the hammer part, but it was polished to a sheen and still looked sound structurally.

"I'm Lullay Twinkle the Air Siren, sir, happy to meet ya!" came the warm, soft yet slightly reverberating voice of a strange female creature. She looked like a mix of sea serpent and dragon with blue scales, bearing leathery and strange purple wings with talons that doubled as hand-like claws, though there were suction cups in the palms. Furthermore, she had purple feathers on the top of her head, a short bluish-blackish beak and heterochromatic green and red slitted eyes. She held a very ornately designed repeating crossbow in her grasp, polishing it's beech wood surface that was littered with ornate silver framing with silver leaves covering it's edges.

Adric glanced at them all, then their weapons, and then grunted. "Your weapons are primitive. If you're really going to be on my team, you won't be using those..."

"What?! How dare you! My Shiny is-!" Lullay began, but Adric held a hand up and stopped her with a cold stare.

"I wasn't finished. You won't be using those as your primary weapons," he continued. His Ghost looked to him.

"Umm... Are you sure, Adric? Our weapons are kinda... Ya know, advanced, for this civilization. It could cause unforeseen problems," the little robotic eye warned. Adric nodded to his companion.

"I'm sure. Either we give these guys a real fighting chance, or we head back to the forest and fix the ship and leave," he said firmly. Ghost sighed, front segments lowering a bit, as if deflating.

"Alright, if you say so..." he replied.

"Umm... Excuse me for stepping out of line, sir, but what are you talking about that might give us advantage with any bout?" Aberash queried.

Adric would've smirked if his mechanical face could. "Simple. Guns."

Author's Note

Welp, here it is, the fifth chapter of the story. Hope it was good for you guys, I know I had a blast writing it. Though it did take a good few tries and a bit of researching. Well, a lot, but hey, knowledge is power, right? Also, do let me know what you all think of the new intro down below.

Anyway, thanks for reading folks.

-Timeless Celestial