The next day Mordecai and Dawn went sightseeing, visiting the different areas of the Crystal Empire. The Crystal Ponies were actually very nice to the duo, making them feel very welcome.

After eating dinner with the Princesses and saying goodnight, the pair went to the Ambassador suites to spend the night. The following morning, they would be leaving the Empire and heading back to Canterlot.

All was well, until it wasn't.

My sweet Vedalia, wake up. It's time to make our move. Vedalia opened her eyes, awakened by her Queen using the Hive Mind to contact her.

What will you have me do, my Queen? She asked obediently.

Your body has been charged tremendously with the Love produced by the Crystal Heart. Your Magic will be several times more powerful than normal, and your body will be more resilient as well. Your mission Vedalia, is to capture Mordecai's companion, end Mordecai and return back to the Hive. Vedalia's brows furrowed together in confusion.

How would I do so my Queen? Mordecai is a very powerful combatant. She asked her Queen, who responded back in a annoyed tone.

I have sent five Battle-Master rank Changelings to help you ambush him in his room. He somewhat trusts you, so you will approach him with more questions about the link between him and his Rain. One Battle-Master will break in through the window, and you will use this distraction to imprison Rain in Changeling gel. You will engage Mordecai with the other three, while another Battle-Master will put Rain in a Containment Bubble. She will teleport out of the room and by then, I hope the dreaded alien will be dead by then. Do not mess this up Vedalia, for you will be banished if the Battle-Master returns empty-hooved.

Vedalia gulped, knowing banishment was almost a death sentence for any Changeling. She quickly went over all of her offensive spells before leaving her room. She was next door to Mordecai's room, making her job of getting to his location easy. She could see the four Battle-Masters down the hall, disguised as maids. They nodded at her, and she entered his room.

Mordecai was instantly woken up the sound of his door opening and he looked at her with alert eyes. "Dawn? What are you doing here?

"We Thestrals are normally nocturnal, and I just wanted to ask more questions about your Light. I hope I didn't come at too bad of a time?"

"Nah, it wasn't like I was sleeping or anything." He said sarcastically, before turning his body towards her. "Whatcha wanna know?"

"How does the mind thing work with Rain? You never went into detail how that worked." Mordecai brought his hand up in the familiar motion of summoning his Ghost. Vedalia's heart sped up at seeing his companion who stared at her with his single eye.

"Take it from here Rain." Mordecai said and he put his hand over his mouth as he yawned.

"Well Dawn, as you know both Mordecai and I have our own individual pools of Light to pull from. A Guardian Candidate on their own cannot use their pool of Light, which is why we Ghosts need to link our pools with theirs to make a connection. With their pool unlocked, they can wield the Light on their own. Our Light is connected to our Guardians' soul, and that allows us to read each other thoughts. Is there more you want to know?"

"Can you come closer so that I can examine your beautiful shell? It's so intricate and I never really got a good look at you." She said, luring Rain closer to her. The Ghost, suddenly full of pride because of the compliment, got right in her face and began spinning in a attempt to show himself off.

Vedalia sensed the Changeling outside the window suddenly dive towards it and she prepared herself. The Battle-Master crashed through the glass and curtains in a shower of shards that rained on everyone inside. Mordecai pulled out his Eyasluna to fire but the Battle-Master was faster and fired a Disassembly Spell at the weapon. The hand cannon fell to pieces in the Guardian's grasp, making him curse. Still holding the handle he threw it towards the attacker, who ducked under the thrown handle.

Vedalia gathered a large amount of Changeling gel in her mouth and spat it with accuracy at Rain who had turned his back on her. The Ghost was enveloped in the sticky gel and fell to the ground helpless.

"Rain!" Mordecai yelled when he turned around and saw what happened to his Ghost. The other four Battle-Masters came in through the door, horns lit, ready to fire. One of them picked up Rain in a Containment Bubble and quickly teleported herself away, leaving everyone else in a standoff.

Mordecai had drawn two knives and he looked at Vedalia with a mixture of hurt and anger. "If you don't tell me where you took Rain, I'm reducing your bodies to dissipated Arc energy." He said to them. They all responded by dropping into combat stances, with their hooves bent ready to pounce and horns readied to unleash dangerous Magic.

"No can do big guy, the Queen wanted your contraption and she will have it. Unfortunately for you, she has no need for a dead thing that should've stayed that way." The Battle-Master that had crashed through the window said. They sensed the pure rage that came from him and the grip on his knives was tightened.

A searing hot pain in her side made Vedalia scream out in pain and her hooves threatened to give out. Her eyes widened in fear when she realized Mordecai didn't strike her, but one of the Battle-Masters behind her did. "Ww-why?"

The female Battle-Master looked at her with pity. "There's a reason the Queen scarcely sends Changelings to the Crystal Empire. Too much exposure of Love from the Crystal Heart not only makes a Changeling more powerful, but also starts our Evolutionary Matrix to overload and can make a Queen out of any female Changeling here. All it takes is 36 hours, and you've been here longer than that."

The Battle-Master's face softened. "Sorry Vedalia, but know our Queen is only doing this to protect the Hive." The softness hardened and she fired a offensive spell at her. Vedalia cast a barrier spell around her and dropped to her knees as she used a lot of Magic to maintain it.

Mordecai used this distraction to throw a knife at the Changeling near the window, which nicked its neck as it dodged to the left, firing a spell at the Guardian. Mordecai quickly jumped to his right, and while holding out his empty hand, activated Blink.

Exiting the hole in space, Mordecai felt all the Arc energy inside him rage, wanting to be let out. Who was he deny it? He pushed the Arc energy inside of his body to his knife, which elongated the blade and enveloped his body in sparkling electricity.

Three Battle-Masters starting firing offensive spells at Mordecai, while the fourth continued to shoot at Vedalia's dome shield. Mordecai danced between the spells that were fired at him, which left sizzling holes in the walls. He Blinked towards the Battle-Master near the window, which raised a barrier to protect himself.

He gasped in shock as it only took Mordecai one strike against his barrier to completely shatter it, and the next strike cut off his head. His body and head was charged with so much Arc energy that it was converted to the element and promptly dissipated against the wall, staying true to Mordecai's word.

Mordecai grunted as one of the spells found its mark in his chest. He was wearing his normal civilian clothing, and even though the Arc flowing in his body made it tougher, the spell that was fired at him was very powerful. The Magic had burned off a considerable amount of flesh from his side, showing the bone of his ribs.

The Guardian did his best to evade the other spells flying at him, when the Arc energy around him and his knife died. Alarmed that his super had ended quicker than it normally had, Mordecai dived inside of the entrance to the bathroom to take cover. He hissed as he landed on his side, but ignored the pain as he got out of the way of incoming Magic.

Vedalia's barrier had started to crack from the barrage of Magic. Sweat was dripping down her face and her body as she tried to keep it up.

Mordecai reached into his subspace backpack and pulled out the Suros PDX-45. Peeking out from behind the entrance, he fired 6 rapid bursts at the Changelings. One of the Battle-Masters dropped as a burst found its mark in his head and neck while the other two raised up barriers. Seeing her chance Vedalia dropped her shield and charged up the most powerful blast of Magic she could muster. She fired it at the female Battle-Master's barrier, which obliterated it.

Mordecai saw this and charged the now defenseless Battle-Master. He spun out of the way of a incoming spell and activated Blink-Strike, teleporting himself close in front her. She had no time react as Mordecai's knife found its way into her skull through her eye. With the knife still in the Changeling's head, he used the blade to pull all the electricity formerly powering her body and brain and transferred it over to him. The wound on his chest started healing, powered by the Arc.

Another useful perk of being a Blade Dancer, was Hungering Blade. Kills with Arc Blade or Blink-Strike transferred a being's electrical energy over to his body and would start healing any wounds he received. However, Mordecai's wound didn't completely heal, having only regrown the muscle and tissue but not the skin. The Guardian knew it was because of his Ghost being taken away, which restricted his pool of Light.

The remaining Battle-Master dropped his barrier and blasted Mordecai out of the room into the hall. He hit the wall hard enough to hear something crack and his vision swam with dark spots.

The Changeling saw Vedalia trying to get to her hooves when he pounced on her. Grabbing her wing with his teeth, he ripped it out, making Vedalia scream murder as her appendage was dropped by head. Picking her up with telekinesis, the Battle-Master bucked her out the broken window.

Desperately trying to hold on to consciousness, Vedalia flapped her remaining wing in an attempt to slow her fall. She slammed into the ground with enough force to crack open her body's shell, but her organs remained inside of her body. Her world was overwhelmed with pain and she blacked out.

Mordecai got to his feet only to raise his gun to block a overhead strike from the Battle-Master. His opponent had constructed a blade made out of Magic. Another blade was materialized in front of him and thrust towards Mordecai. He twisted his body so that the blade only cut his side, not impale his stomach. With his strength starting to give out, Mordecai kicked the Changeling in the snout, breaking his focus and constructs.

Mordecai tried to fire his gun only for it to jam, having been damaged from the construct. The Battle-Master picked him up telekinesis and began applying pressure to Mordecai's body, making him cry out in pain as he was slowly crushed.

With the bones in his body starting to crack, The Changeling smiled at the human only for it to be wiped off his face. He dropped Mordecai to the ground, and then he fell to the floor in half, having been cut down the middle of his body.

Mordecai weakly looked to his right and saw none other than Princess Luna standing there, a massive black scythe with a gleaming silver blade held in her Magic. Behind her was Shining Armor and some guards, all looking in hate and disgust at the dead Changeling in front of them.

Luna rushed to his side and started healing him. "Thou must stay awake, do not fall asleep." She commanded strongly, pumping massive amounts of Magic into his body.

"D-dawn...Changeling....window...save....n-no....kill...Ra-ain taken." Was all Mordecai could get out before the pain made him black out.

"Mordecai!"

"Approach Sectar." Queen Chrysalis said to the Battle-Master in front of her. In Sectar's Magical grasp was Rain, still trapped in the Changeling gel. The Battle-Master knelt in front of her Queen and offered the Ghost.

Taking it in her hoof, she inspected the little machine. Vedalia's questions about the Guardian and his Ghost was useful, and she planned to exploit it.

"My Queen, I can no longer sense my fellow Battle-Masters. I fear that the Human has killed them, and Vedalia's link to the Hive Mind still lingers. What will you have me do?"

"Nothing. While Mordecai and Vedalia may live, that will not be an issue. The human is mortal without his little machine, and as for Vedalia..."

The Changeling Queen closed her eyes, finding Vedalia's connection to the Hive. She rarely banished Changelings, but when she did, she would gently remove the link connecting them to the Hive Mind. Doing this would block their connection, thus kicking them out.

In Vedalia's case however, Chrysalis grabbed the connection and severed it as violently as she could. The feedback from such a violent rip would usually make normal Changelings comatose, trapping them in their own minds. Chrysalis hoped this was the case for Vedalia, for any information she had could be used against them.

Chrysalis hid the sinking feeling that Vedalia's mind could have gotten stronger from the overexposure from the Crystal Heart. In case her plan went awry, the Queen decided her next action would have to be done quickly. Turning the Ghost to face her, she gave it a predatory smile.

"Hello Little Rain."

Author's Note

The beginning was a obvious reference to the line made at Destiny 2's exposition cut-scene at the start of the game. I think it fit very well here . I also changed how long everyone was staying at the Empire for plot reasons.

Anyway if you guys have any ideas for members of Mordecai's fireteam/other Guardians appearing in the future, please go to my blog post about it or message me. More details will be inside the post. Hope you guys enjoy.