As the three Guardians entered the ruined Empire, Fen, Spyre, and Ness were scanning everything, their blue cones of light giving off eerie illumination. The buildings were in fragments, and shadows pocked every corner. Slug Rifle holes were in every surface, and Rook could feel an atmosphere of fear and death.

"I can't believe this was once a prosperous city." Ness sighed. "The Red Legion are monsters."

Leo shook his head sadly, agreeing with his Ghost.

"Wait, up ahead." Spyre said suddenly. "What's that?"

They walked over to the beacon that Spyre had set, and to their surprise, lay a deactivated Vex Goblin unit, its "juicebox"
dark.

"Vex?" Ness asked, confused. "What are they doing here?"

"I'll see what I can get off its data core." Fen said, beginning to scan it.

"That's odd...This Vex was merely a scout." the Ghost said, returning to his Guardian. "However, I've got some coordinates

for a location near here. Let's get moving."

The Guardians trekked into the mountains near the Empire, their weapons jumping from shadow to shadow.

"You hear that?" Casiana asked. "Sounds like…"

"Gunfire." Rook finished. "Herald, double-time!"

The Guardians broke from the path and made their way towards the sounds, which came from a valley crevice nearby.
Casiana, Rook, and Leo crawled to the edge and looked down at a veritable warzone of Vex fighting Cabal.

"So...anyone know why the Vex are killing the Red Legion?" Rook asked. "They're wasn't any trace of Vex when we arrived here."

"So it would seem." Casiana replied. "Though, I get the feeling we're being watched…"

As to answer Casiana's statement, there was a crack, a roar, and the area was flooded with bright orange light. The Guardians took to cover, and Rook peeked over the edge to see a human clad in feathered orange robes cutting the Cabal and Vex down with a Daybreak. And on the precipice behind him…

Was a pony in a cloak, armed with a long rifle.

"That's our target." Leo said. "But who's that Guardian?"

"I don't know." Casiana said. "But it's a Warlock, for sure."

As they watched, the last of the Vex and Cabal were killed, and the cloak-clad pony slid down to rejoin the Guardian.

"Well, a bit flashy for my taste." the pony said.

"Flair makes things a bit more fun." the Guardian replied. "Sagira, are we clear?"

"We're clear." a Ghost replied, coming out. "Though I still don't get why the Forest brought us here."

"I think I do." Osiris said, looking at the boulder where Casiana, Leo, and Rook were hiding. "You can come out. We are allies and friends, Guardians."

Fireteam Herald slowly came out, not sure where this was going.

"Ah, more Guardians!" the human said. "I wondering how the Forest will handle this…"

"What Forest?" Rook asked. The Guardian looked at Rook with a raised eyebrow.

"That complicates things." the Ghost replied. "Have you heard of the Infinite Forest?"

"No." Rook said.

"Panoptes, Infinite Mind?"

"Nope." Leo replied.

"The Red Legion?"

"Yeah, but we've only fought them on this world." Casiana finished.

"So the Red Legion didn't attack the City and capture the Traveler in this timeline?" the Ghost mused. "That's quite a fascinating divergence from the original history!"

"Wait, what?" Rook asked in shock. "The Red Legion captures the Traveler and the City? What's all that mean? Who are you?"

"I'm Sagira." the Ghost said. "And my Guardian here is Osiris."

"And our companion…" Osiris said. The cloaked pony shed his hood, revealing his sickly gray coat and blue mane, with a
large piece of Vex tech in his chest.

"Shining Armor...Reborn."

Sol System
Last City
Vanguard Room

"No way." Cayde said, watching the feed and audio stream from The Far Road Home's satellite camera, which was currently locked onto Fireteam Herald.

"Impossible." Ikora said in disbelief. "Osiris has returned?"

Zavala was silent, quietly thinking.

"He was banished from the City centuries ago." he finally murmured. "How could this happen?"

"Search me." Cayde said. "That's the thing about Vex Tech. It's wild and unpredictable."

"And it can break the rules of time, space, and reality." Ikora added. "Zane, can we still contact the Far Road Home?"

"Negative, Ikora Rey." Frame Zane-76-31 replied. "A solar storm is blocking our communication attempts to Guardian
Fireteam Herald. I will continue to connect and alert you if I achieve a sustainable connection."

"Thank you, Zane." Ikora replied. "Stay on it."

"I'll notify the Speaker." Zavala said, starting to head out.

"I would not." Ikora replied. The Titan Vanguard turned to her in disbelief.

"Why?" Zavala asked.

"Because I know Osiris. This could merely be another time's Osiris, or an Osiris belonging to no time at all. Zavala, this is not something we should concern the Speaker with."

Zavala shook his head and looked at Ikora.

"Are you sure?" he asked.

"Dead sure." Ikora replied. Zavala walked back to the head of the table and sighed.

"What else do we have?"

Cayde shrugged at the resuming of frantic activity. For the Vanguard, there was no rest.

After a while, Osiris, Sagira, and Shining brought the Guardians to a small camp inside of a cave. Shining shed his cloak, revealing several slug rifle wounds and more pieces of Vex Tech embedded inside him.

"What happened?" Casiana asked.

"You can thank Osiris." Shining said gruffly. "He brought me back, though I'm not the same."

"Shining Armor is essentially a cyborg, half pony, and half Vex." Sagira clarified. "And being brought back through Vex tech isn't exactly a painless process."

Shining growled at the Ghost.

"As she said." he scoffed. "Right now, I'm just in some sort of limbo between not really living, and not really dead."

"And since we travel across realities every day…" Osiris said. "We decided to pay a visit and see what has changed in this timeline."

"One thing, though." Casiana said. "How does Ghaul manage to capture the City, and the Traveler?"

"He cages the Traveler." Sagira said. "He strips the Guardians of their light, and scatters the Vanguard. A fireteam of three Guardians manages to regain their Light, reform the Vanguard, and end Ghaul. That's the timeline we just came from."
Rook was about to speak when Fen came into view.

"Rook, we've got an incoming transmission from the Resistance base! Emergency!" the Ghost yelped.

"Put it through!" Casiana said.

"Guardians, you there?" Flash's voice cried.

"What's happened?" Rook asked.

"The Cabal found us!" Flash yelped, and Rook could hear Caster Rifle and Slug rifle fire in the background. "They blew the
hill out, and we're under sustained assault! Get back here as soon as you can...SHIT! GET HERE NOW!"

"Roger, on our way!" Rook cried, just as the line went dead. "Herald, get ready!"

"You'll need transport." Osiris said, pulling out three small cubes inscribed with Vex symbols. A few twists and turns, and a
portal appeared in front of the three Guardians.

"That portal there will take you straight into the action." Sagira said. "Move!"

"Roger that." Rook said. "Osiris?"

"Yes?"

"Thanks. I hope we meet again." Rook said. Osiris nodded, and as both groups vanished into Vex portals, Shining Armor took one last glance at Equestria before he returned to the Infinite Forest.

Sagira wasn't wrong when she said the Guardians would enter straight into the action. Upon arriving, Rook had to punch the helmet off a Legionary. Helping his fireteam to their feet, he loaded and cocked his Auto Rifle.

"Over here!" a Minotaur cried, bearing an axe. "They're coming in from the roof!"

The Guardians nodded and followed the Minotaur into a veritable scene of carnage. A massive hole had been blown in the roof of the hill, and Cabal were entering through it via Harvester or Drop Pod. A thick line of Resistance fighters, led by Flash Sentry, were holding the line, but it was clear they wouldn't last.

"Flash!" Rook cried, hurling and sticking a Centurion with a Magnetic Grenade. "Sitrep!"

"We're outnumbered and outgunned!" he cried. "Valus Cur'an is escorting Flurry Heart to safety with a few other fighters!"

"What about Twilight?" Leo asked. Flash shook his head in anger.

"She was captured." he growled. "Hold the line, nothing gets past!"

Rook placed down a Ward of Dawn while Casiana and Leo used Daybreak and Arc Staff. Their use of the Light forced the
Cabal back, but they quickly surged forward.

"What's the plan now?" Rook asked. "I'm running low on ammo."

"Same here!" Casiana and Leo added.

"And more Cabal troops are incoming." Spyre said. "We need to leave. Right now!"

Flash hesitated, then nodded.

"Get my fighters out of here!" he said. "There's an evac tunnel to our secondary base over there! MOVE!"

"What about you?" Leo asked, firing his Hand Cannon at an Incendior.

"I'll buy you all the time I can. I'm not going quietly" Flash said, grabbing a sword. "Go. Now!"

Rook covered with his Machine Gun while Casiana and Leo led the few remaining Resistance troops to the Evac tunnel. Rook soon followed, and the last thing the Titan saw of Flash Sentry was him reloading his Caster Rifle, to face the coming horde.

Flash stood on the bodies of the deceased as the Cabal advanced. Hurling an axe into a Centurion's face, he dodged and killed a Gladiator with a shot to its liftpack. The explosion killed it, but two more took its place. Three Slug rounds hit his leg, sending him to the ground. Flash continued to fire his Rifle, scoring a few final kills before he was forced to the ground. Flash hurled himself into the fray, bearing a sword. Smashing in the head of a Phalanx, his last sight was of a volley of Slug rounds coming right at him.

"Twilight...I'm sorry." he groaned as his body was peppered with rounds, carving multiple holes in his chest, though he still breathed. A Centurion ended his misery with a final shot to the head, upon he lay still. The Cabal turned to the direction the survivors had fled, only to find the supports had caved in, sealing the tunnel and the survivors away safely.

As the Survivors entered the backup base, Rook walked over to the wall of the cave and threw a punch, cracking the granite.

"Rook!" Casiana scolded. "There's no need for that!"

Rook sighed and turned to the Warlock.

"You're right." he groaned. "Where's Valus Cur'an?"

"Right here."

The three of them saw the purple-and-gold clad Centurion appear.

"Flurry Heart is safe." he said. "I wanted to return to assist as best I could. Seems I was too late. My condolences."

"All good." Leo said. "How many did we lose?"

"I estimate 80 percent of our troops have died or been captured." Cur'an said. "Our situation is dire. But there is good news."

"What?" Rook asked. Cur'an handed him his medallion, and touched the Emperor's sigil in the center. A hologram
appeared of a well-dressed Cabal, wearing golden and purple robes and armor. He was fat, fatter than a normal Cabal, but Rook could guess who he was.

The Cabal Emperor.

"My liege, Calus." Cur'an said. "Emperor of the Cabal."

Rook, Casiana, and Leo nodded.

"You do not bow in my presence?" Calus said. "Quite impressive."

"Our apologies, Emperor." Rook said.

"Your apology is accepted." Calus replied. "I have heard from Valus Cur'an of your mighty deeds, Guardians. I extend my power to you. As I cannot leave my Leviathan, I am sending to you Primus Thuras, leader of the Loyalists and my Legions. They are yours to command, as you see fit. Grow fat in your strength, Guardians. If we are to ever meet in person, I will show you power beyond the Light. As our traditional send off would be unfitting, I shall simply say...Good luck."
The Guardians bowed as the hologram faded.

"So, the Loyalists are sending forces, Valus?" Leo asked.

"Indeed. But we will need more allies to defeat the Red Legion." Cur'an replied. "What of the scavengers to the north?"

"The Fallen?" Rook asked, unsure. "They're good fighters, but how will we contact them?"

"We go to them." Cur'an replied. "And hope they accept us. I will remain here to greet Primus Thuras and his troops. You must go."

"We'll be back as soon as we can." Rook said. "Hopefully with the Fallen on our side."

"I hope so, Guardians." Cur'an replied. The Guardians radioed the Far Road Home, and soon they flew off towards the Griffon lands.

Author's Note

Update!

Next time-The Fallen are a tough group to persuade, as the Guardians find out. And Ghaul interrogates Twilight for information about Magic.