Ahamkaraby Dragonfire2lmChaptersChapter 1Chapter 2Chapter 3Chapter 4Chapter 1 As she flew and observed world after world she saw joy, sorrow, pain and peace. She saw the happiness and prosperity of the other races and wanted to be a part of it. But as she saw her kin flock to a new system she glimpsed through a crack in time and saw her selfish and ancient brethren slain by wielders of the Light. In grief and fear she shed her form of scale and bone for one of metal and circuits. She lived on and helped the future slayers of her kin until The Darkness swept across the stars and slew her. Centuries later she awoke to Light. Tales of a Selfless Dragon 1 An Exo paced nervously around a small room in some distant corner of the Tower. She was plain for the most part, white metal plates sculpted into a soft feminine face void of any distinguishing features or markings common of most of her kind and were it not for the broken left optic one would assume she had been activated before the fishing touches had been added. Her outfit bore the purple, white and pink of the Nebula Rose shader which gave her chest piece, arms and cloak all of which were of the optimacy set, a girly yet regal look. Her helmet sat on a nearby table, a metal piece reminiscent of a knight's helmet and bearing the symbol of The New Monarchy faction. Her Orpheus Rig boots made little noise on the soft carpeted floor despite the agitated air around the small space. Her Ghost hovered nearby as he watched with ever increasing worry, his honeycomb styled shell decorated with an Arctic pearl shader glinting in the light. The Ghost sighed and moved himself just enough to let the light bounce off his shell and into his Guardian's face. The hunter hissed and blinked her remaining blue optic as she cleared the spots from her vision. "Ow..." she groaned. "Are you going to calm down now? It's not the end of the world." The Ghost advised. "I know, I just-are you sure this is the right time to give it to him?" she asked and motioned to the quiver of Void Light arrows attached to the left leg of her pants where the corner of an envelope could be seen sticking out. "Once you give Cayde the letter, we can leave. Isn't that what you planned on doing?" He stated. "Yeah you're right, the sooner we get this done, the less of a chance I have of being found out." the hunter agreed. It was then that the comms sparked to life and the voice of the person they set out to find came through. "Hey Guardian, do you think you could help me with something?" "Guardian? Are you alright?" The worried voice of her Ghost, reached her auditory sensors as her right optic came online. She pushed herself to feet and looked around. "You're alive!" her Ghost exclaimed but paused, his form hovered in front of her and his single blue optic looked at her in concern. "Do you remember who you are? Who I am?" he asked nervously. The female exo gave her Ghost a patient smile. "I am Dracona-3, Guardian of The Last City, a Nightstalker Hunter, you worry to much, O angel mine." she stated. The strange duo looked around the dark forest they found themselves in and the hunter quickly took stock of her equipment, muttering as she did. "Mida Multi-Tool scout rifle, Drang sidearm and my sword...No ammo, well shit. I guess that's what I get for cleaning my gear and leaving the ammo behind." "Now I really wish Banshie bought back ammo synthesis." Ghost commented. "Can you reach the Vanguard?" Dracona asked. "No, we're out of range." he replied. "...Not even Cayde?" the exo asked pitifully. "No," Ghost sighed. "I can't reach him either...We're on our own." "Aw..." Dracona sighed. A nearby bush rustled and the two locked their gazes onto it as a soft, frightened voice came from nearby. "U-uuum... Hello?" Dracona looked at her Ghost, he jerked up and down once in the equivalent of a shrug so she focused on the radar in the corner of her vision. It showed a blue dot alongside the representation of herself, a blue arrow. "Hello?" Dracona called out. "Could you help us, we're kinda lost..." "I don't think we've been this lost since that one time you tried to find one of Cayde's stashes on Nessus." the Ghost said. "Oh no! Are you los-” A butter yellow pony with a pink mane stepped out of the bush, a look of concern clear on her face. Though as soon as she spotted the tall creature, she froze in fear. The Ghost could practically hear the thought process of his guardian as she looked at the strange creature. Dracona's demeanor shifted, gone was the hunter of fun and misadventure. She looked calm, regal as she crouched down to make herself look smaller. "Greetings, small one. I mean you no harm so would you care to aid us, O companion mine?" the exo asked calmly. The pony blinked and gasped quietly. “O-oh! I’m so sorry! A-are you lost?” "We had an...accident with a portal," Dracona stated. "We don't know where we are at all and a guide would be most welcome." Dracona paused and looked at her Ghost. "Do you want to do introductions?" she asked. "I think I will," the small robot replied and hovered next to the hunter. "This is Dracona and I am her Ghost." "Really, that's it?" Dracona said flatly, the regal air around her gone. "You have a name too, you know." "That's not important right now-" the Ghost protested. "Ancestors damn it, ok. Ahem," Dracona said and cleared her throat. "This little floating guy here is Asriel, he's a Ghost, my Ghost. The short explanation is we have a symbiotic relationship, so where are we anyway?" The pony smiled brightly. “Well it’s nice to meet you.” A brief, almost imperceptible flash of green flickered over her teal eyes. “I’m Fluttershy.” Fluttershy tilted her head to the side in confusion. “What are you doing out here in the Everfree Forest? It’s dangerous.” "There was this...artifact my boss wanted to keep for a trophy but it did something and opened a portal, so not wanting to go looking for him again, I pushed him out of the way and next thing I know, my Ghost and I are here." Dracona explained but quickly remembered something and checked the quiver of shadowshot arrows that was attached to the left leg of her pants. "Oh no...." she groaned and her Ghost looked at her in confusion before he too remembered what had been stashed in there that morning. "Looks like your love letter to Cayde fell out when you knocked him out of the way of the Vex Teleporter, I wonder if he found it?" Asriel commented. "Ok, priorities....Can you take us to a village or something? If I'm going to be here long term I'll need supplies, a way of earning money and gems, that sort of thing." the exo stated. "Why do we need gems?" her Ghost asked. "You remember what happened with the fight with Ghaul?" Dracona asked softly. Flashback Ghaul had forced the Light into himself and atop his ship a lone hunter stood against him but something had changed. Asriel had noticed the more serious tone and odd speech patterns his guardian had taken on were odd to say the lest, though given that such an abrupt change had occurred only a few times in their journey to take back the city, those moments had always been brief, a flicker of something more within her optic before she was back to her normal self. But something had snapped within her the moment Cayde said the Cobal shot off his arm. She pulled out a pair of ceremonial knives with blades made of bone and purple cloth wrapped around the silver grip. a strong piece of rope dangled of the hand guard with a single white, feather shaped scale tied to the other end. With those blades she had danced through the ranks of the red legion, a whirlwind of blades, death and destruction that reminded him she was once a blade dancer though her movements now were even more savage than the style she once wielded before. Now though? She stared at Gaul with a hard predator's gaze as he finished his speech and stood before her. Her face plates shifted into a wolfish grin. "You believe I cant best you? You are a fool, O enemy mine," She said. "You have taken my home, my hoard and my Light but you will not, you will NEVER, Take. my. Friends." "Beware, O prey mine, for I am tired of hiding..." Dracona growled and in a flash of void light the exo hunter was gone and in her place.... A horse sized slender creature of shining white scales with leathery wings stood before the leader of the red legion with vengeance written upon her face. neither enemy nor Ghost had time to react as the dragon opened her maw and blasted a ball of solid light at her foe, the attack left Ghaul stunned and he could only scream in agony s the beast of Light descended upon him and with ripped his heart from his chest with a single bite. No one else knew how the battle ended that day. Flashback end. "I remember, so the gems have something to do with..." the Ghost trialed off, unsure how to word it. "I remembered a few old tricks," Dracona replied. "If I can get enough gems I might be able to jury-rig a way home, though I might try making communications array first, I want to make sure everyone back home is alright." “O-oh! Y-yes. There is a town nearby.” Fluttershy said and shifted nervously. “I can take you there if you want.” Fluttershy looked backwards, through the bush. “It’s not too far.” "Thanks, lead the way and we'll stay close behind you." Dracona replied. "And if anything attacks us, we'll protect you." Asriel added. “Th-thank you. The Everfree Forest can be very dangerous.” Fluttershy replied, turned around and walked through the brush. “I was visiting a recovering friend when I heard a noise... which turned out to be you.” "Is your friend alright?" Asriel asked as Dracona focused her sight on her radar and heads up display. Her abilities were ready to go and she noticed her super was still charging but the exo didn't mind as there was no warning about any incapability to revive if she went down. “Oh yes. She lives out here and she had a bad case of the flu. She’s doing better now, I was simply bringing her some soup. I made.” "While that is very thoughtful of you, isn't it dangerous to be out here all by yourself?" Asriel asked. "This place doesn't exactly look welcoming." Dracona added. “Oh.... Umm.. I’m out there enough that most animals know my scent. I’m good with animals.” Fluttershy stated and tensed ever so slightly. "Eh, ok then." Dracona said. Back at the Tower in a small storage area near the hangar, Cayde-6 picked himself up off the ground and brushed himself off. "Well, that happened," he said quietly and opened up a commlink. "Hey, Guardian you alright?" "Hunter?" "Come on Dracona, this isn't funny." he grumbled as worry seeped its way into his thoughts. His Ghost floated down and pointed out something on the ground, the Hunter Vanguard looked down to find a letter on the floor. He picked it up and couldn't help but blink in confusion. It was addressed to him. He opened it cautiously and started to skim the contents but paused and read in its entirety. Moments later he looked down at the vex Teleporter and back at the letter. "Zavala, find someone to cover for me for a while, I've got a missing hunter to find." He instructed over a commlink to his fireteam. "Cayde, we're still rebuilding and we need you here." the Titan Vanguard replied "Did something happen?" Ikora, the Warlock Vanguard asked. "Did she finally confess?" "Wait, you knew?" Cayde asked. "Her Ghost was concerned for her well-being and came to me for advice on how to help her and he may have let it slip during the conversation." "We don't have time for this, the people still need our assistance," Zavala stated. "Cayde, with The Speaker gone we need everyone here to oversee the rebuilding effort..." "Yeah about that..." Cayde trailed off and he heard Zavala sigh over the comm. "What happened?" the titan asked. "You see I asked her to give me a hand in moving the vex teleporter-" "You moved it? Cayde I told you to wait until it I was certain it was safe!" Ikora stated. "I presume it activated?" Zavala asked. "Yeah, Dracona knocked me out of the way but got zapped. I got a lock on her coordinates so..." Cayde replied. "What's this about Dracona getting zapped?" came the voice of Amanda Holiday. "Accident with the vex teleporter." Cayde replied. "And you're gonna go find her?"Amanda clarified. "Yep." "With who's ship exactly?" "I don't suppose you could hook me up with something?" Cayde asked. "You're lucky, you know that right? Dracona said you can borrow her ship as long as you let your Ghost drive." The shipwright stated. "Well Zavala, Ikora, talk to you later, I've got a hunter to rescue and besides,"Cayde said as he looked back down at the opened letter he carried. "I uh, owe her a date." Author's Note I apologize if this is a bit shoddy compared to my usual work as this is a collaboration between myself and Sanguine Dream. We're doing this via an RP and I'm simply editing it and adding extra bits when needed and since I'm still using my broken Keyboard at the time of writing, please fell free to point out any typos I may have missed. I'm not sure how long this story will go on for but we do have an end goal. Enjoy. Edit- added italicized text for characters talking over the comms. Chapter 2After a few minutes of relatively uneventful walking. They broke the treeline. “Well, we’re out. Ponyville isn’t too far away.” "Sweet, Asriel I need you to scan for any resources we can use, food and water too," Dracona stated. "We don't know what kind of currency they use so we might have to scavenge what we can if negotiations go south." "Working on it," the Ghost replied cheerfully. "I want you to be careful though, I'm picking up highly concentrated energy readings across the planet, wherever we ended up might cause some interference with any kind of device we try to build." "So attune it to the energy of the planet then? Gotcha," Dracona replied. "Should be easy enough since we'll be using local materials anyway." "If you say so," Asriel replied. "You have to build the thing after all." “U-umm would you like me to walk you to town?” Fluttershy asked and scuffed the dirt with a hoof. "Sure, I'm sure it would make a good first impression." Dracona replied cheerfully. “How wonderful. Shall we go?” Fluttershy gestured a wing towards the path leading to Ponyville. "Ok then." Dracona said. The two make their way down the path until a loud whistling noise was heard overhead. “O-oh no...” Fluttershy shivers nervously. “Not her.” Both Ghost and Guardian let out a confused "Huh?". A blue pegasus with a rainbow mane soared out of the clouds and landed in front of the two. “Hey Shy! What are you still doing out here? Twilight wanted all of- Wait, what’s that?” “H-hey.. R-Rainbow...” Fluttershy stiffened as she spoke, clearly frightened. “You doin okay there shy?” Rainbow’s eyes narrow a bit. "Hi! I'm Dracona, this is Asriel." The exo stated as her Ghost bobbed up and down in greeting. “Yeah. Sure. Rainbow Dash.” Rainbow waved a wing at the exo, and stared intently at Fluttershy. "Is something wrong?" Asriel asked. “Umm. excuse me. What’s going on?” Fluttershy’s voice spoke up from behind Fluttershy and Dracona. Rainbow’s eyes snapped to look behind the two then snapped back to Fluttershy. “Changeling.” She hissed, snorting. “O-oh crap.” Fluttershy shivers. Dracona stepped in between the changeling and the blue mare staring her down. "What's going on here?" she asked. “O-oh my goodness!” Fluttershy’s voice yelps from behind the exo. There was a whoosh and a flash of green light, and a strange feminine voice cried out from behind Dracona. “Please don’t hurt me!” “Out of my way! That’s a changeling!” Rainbow roared, yet doesn’t attempt to pass the exo. Dracona was wary, tired and frusytrated all at once. "...I should care why?" she asked flatly. “They’re Changelings! They’re evil! They suck out your love!” Rainbow replied as she spluttered for words. “N-no w-we d-don’t” ‘Fluttershy’ sounded terrified. “T-that hurts people.” “A-are you okay?” The real Fluttershy asked from behind the exo. “Ah! D-don’t hurt me! I haven’t fed on anyone! I’m not part of Chrysalis’s hive!” ‘Fluttershy babbled. “It’s okay... I’m not going to hurt you....” Fluttershy said in a calm, soothing voice. “Fluttershy don’t go near it!” "Hi, I'm a Guardian, a hunter. I knife stuff in the face for a living. Now please do me a favour and chill," Dracona said calmly. "If the changeling was a threat, I would've knifed it already." "What do you mean by 'suck out your love'? That doesn't seem scientifically possible?" Asriel asked curiously. “I don’t know! It’s egghead stuff!” Rainbow spluttered, her wings fluffed out and flapped in irritation. “Oh you poor thing you look terrible.” Fluttershy gasped. “I haven’t had any love n... awhile.” Fauxshy said sounding defeated. “Awwwww!” “Shy don’t hug it!” Dracona shrugged and turned around to get a look at the changeling. "Asriel, warn me if Rainbow does anything hostile." she ordered. What she saw looked to be some sort of horse insect hybrid. It appeared thin and frail, and It’s legs were filled with strange holes and gaps. Ragged and papery insect wings protrude from a red shell. Large eyes of solid red peer up at Dracona as the Changeling shivered in the grip of the true Fluttershy. The hunter couldn't help but notice that the Changeling was a bit smaller than Fluttershy, as the insectoid was held firmly against the pony’s chest. “H-hi. I’m Cidae.” The small changeling says nervously. "Scan her." the hunter commanded and Asriel hovered over the changeling as beams of hardlight cascaded over her form. "Fascinating, she's definitely an insect but her diet is brains? No that's not right. Ah I see," the Ghost stated. "She uses a form of energy manipulation to transfer the chemical reactions generated by positive emotions into a kind of liquid she can digest as long she assumes the form of something her target would associate with those emotions prior to feeding." Dracona hummed in thought as her Ghost finished scanning and looked over at Rainbow, then over to the real Fluttershy. "They copy the locals for a quick, easy meal as long as they don't get caught," Dracona summarized and scoffed. "By the Ancestors, that's dumb." "You see if I needed to stay hidden for my survival, I'd turn into something that wouldn't raise suspicion, a random domesticated animal, a child. You know, someone that didn't already exist." the exo said. "A broken exo?" Asriel suggested cheekily. "Exactly." Dracona replied with a grin. “What? What is that thing doing? What are you doing? I have so many questions.” Rainbow grumbled, slowly walking around the exo. “We do what now?” Cidae blinked up at the exo in confusion as she unconsciously sinks into Fluttershy’s chest fluff. Which in turn caused Fluttershy to giggle. Dracona plucked her Ghost out of the air and idly began to toss him from one hand to the other. Asriel didn't seem to mind, even as his Guardian began to pace around in a circle. "How about this?" Dracona suggested as she walked. "You take me to I dunno, your leader or something and I answer everyone's questions in one big go so I don't have to repeat myself?" "Sound good?" she asked and stopped next to Fluttershy and Cidae. "I'll keep an eye on these two." "Ah- Gu- Fine!” I’ll take you to Twilight!” Rainbow snapped and threw her hooves in the air. “Feeling better?” Fluttershy asked the small Changeling. “A little. It’s not love, but it’ll do.” Cidae pulled herself out of Fluttershy’s grip with a light pop. “It’s a bit of a walk, do you want me to carry you?” Fluttershy asked, getting to her hooves which showed that she was a head taller than the changeling. Cidae gave her what appeared to be a flat look. “I’m Twenty Eight, I can walk on my own.” “O-oh! I’m sorry... I just assumed...” Fluttershy stuttered a bit. “I know, I’m small. I was the runt of the cluster.” Cidae huffed with a small red blush on her cheeks. "Lead the way," Asriel said as he floated out of Dracona's hold. The Ghost turned to face his Guardian, who as usual, didn't have a care in the world. "This planet has a lot of plant life, I'm detecting plenty of animals too," Asriel stated. "Just think of the quality of life we could give to people back in the city..." "We'd have to prevent anyone from bringing any tech over, as much as sharing it with the locals would help, I have no desire to draw unwanted attention to this world." Dracona replied calmly as she slipped once more into a more refined, regal posture. "You know, I really wonder which is the real you these days." Asriel commented. "We've both been through a lot," the exo said. "Should we ever make it back to the Tower I'll explain everything in full view of The Vanguard, this I swear O angel mine." “I am not getting any of this....” Cidea said as she moved up so she could be by both Dracona and Fluttershy. “She said she’d explain.” Fluttershy spared her a glance. “Why aren’t you freaking out like most ponies do?” Cidae turn her head slightly to look at the mare. “Well you surprised me, but I saw that you were just scared and hurt, and I can’t just leave you like that.” Fluttershy blurted out with a hint of a blush. “Fsssss!” Cidae’s tongue flicked out briefly and she almost tripped when she brought a hoof up to try and shove it back inside her mouth. “Ugh, you’re all so slow! Common, I wanna get these two to Twilight!” Rainbow complains, flying overhead. "Alright, we're coming." Dracona replied. “Okay... Everypony just, be cool.” Rainbow said, trying to hide her nervousness as the group reached the very edge of Ponyville. “How can we be cool? We’ve got a....” Cidae looked at Dracona. “A robot, and a Changeling. Do you really expect everyone to just ignore that?” “I’m sure everypony will understand. Once they see you’re with us.” Fluttershy added, trying to sound hopeful. "I'm sure we'll be fine, right Dracona?" Asriel asked. "We will be fine and I promise I won't knife anyone if things do go south alright?" she replied cheekily. “Please, please don’t hurt anyone.” Fluttershy looked up at the exo with puppy dog eyes. Cidae’s mouth dropped open, and her tongue rolled out a bit. As if realizing what she was doing, the changeling quickly shut her mouth and glanced around to see if anyone noticed. “Fine. Let’s just get to Twilight’s. The sooner we do that the sooner I can get some answers.” Rainbow’s glare was aimed more at Cidae than Dracona. "Holy crap that's adorable..." Dracona muttered. "How about we get moving?" Asriel suggested happily. "Ok." the exo replied. “Let’s take some back paths. I’d like to avoid as many ponies as possible.” Rainbow said slowly making her way into town, with the others following behind. Cidae had the benefit of changing form. Dracona however, was another matter entirely. "Asriel, record everything! We're making history." Dracona said with a grin. "Well, at least this can't get any worse right?" Asriel commented. Cidae, disguised as a rather bland gray earth pony mare with a blue mane, shivered. “Why did you have to say that?” “Everything’s going to be fi-” Fluttershy was cut off by a feminine cry. ”OH SWEET CELESTIA! WHAT IS THAT?” “Buck! Run! Follow me!” Rainbow took off, which caused the other’s to gallop, and sprint after her. "Damn it Asriel! You just had to say it." Dracona grumbled as she sprinted, her purple and white cape billowing out behind her. "Sorry!" the Ghost replied as he flew after her. “There’s Twilight’s place!” Rainbow thrust a hoof at a large tree. Picking up speed, the pegasus burst through the door, almost knocking it off it’s hinges in the process. Fluttershy and Cidae piled in after her. Dracona skidded to a halt and carefully stepped over the tangle of limbs as she walked inside. She looked very much like a kid in a candy store at the sight of the countless books shelved in the hollowed out tree. "...I know Asriel, we have a job to do," she sighed as her Ghost looked at her expectantly. "I'll read later..." "Assuming you can even read their written language in the first place and no, you can wait until after we negotiate a peace treaty with the ponies to learn it." Asriel replied sternly. "I know." the exo begrudgingly agreed. “What is Celestia is going on here?!” A loud voice rang out. “Sorry Twi, emergency!” Rainbow up a set of stairs. “Rainbow what?- Stop pushing!” The voice yelled from the top of the stairs. “I’m so sorry, are you okay?” Fluttershy said and helped the disguised changeling to her hooves. “I’m fine.” Cidae shook herself and turned her neck with an audible pop. "That doesn't sound fine..." Asriel commented. "You could just scan her for injuries." Dracona pointed out. "Maybe after our lives aren't hanging in the balance, again." Asriel replied. "I can't die," Dracona stated. "And you're smart enough to hide when faced with danger, besides we still have plan B." "Which is?" "Gather what we need from the wilds and people's rubbish bins, duh." Dracona replied. "Good thing we're trying diplomacy first then." Asriel said. “Feel free to scan me if it makes you feel better.” Cidae shrugged as she followed Fluttershy into the library proper. “Rainbow, what’s so important?!” Twilight complained loudly as there was a shuffling noise from the stairs. "I'll think I'll wait until this mess is sorted," Asriel said. "I might be able to find an alternative food source for you once I have time to gather more data." "Do you have any family Cidae? It's kinda strange you're out in the middle of nowhere by yourself." Dracona asked as she followed them into the library. “I was kicked out of my hive.” Cidae looked down sadly. “I screw up infiltrations.” A purple unicorn stumbled out of the stairwell and looked around. Then she locked her eyes on Dracona, and her jaw dropped. "So you're homeless?" Dracona replied and looked over at her Ghost. "Can we keep her?" "Only if she follows you home," Asriel replied seriously. "You might want to focus on the purple unicorn though." "Huh, oh right, diplomacy." Dracona said. “I wouldn’t complain if you did.” Cidae shrugged. “Uh.... Twi?” Rainbow poked the frozen unicorn. “Twilight?” “Twilight, are you okay?” Fluttershy asked, clearly worried. "Should we do something?" Dracona asked. "I don't know." Asriel replied. “Wh-what is that?” Twilight slowly raised a hoof and pointed at Dracona. “That’s racist.” Cidae snorted, clearly irritated. “It’s a robot Twi.” Rainbow pointed a hoof at Cidae. “And that’s a Changeling.” “What?!” Twilight’s eyes snapped towards Cidae. The changeling in turn took a step back. "I'm a she, thank you very much. My name is Dracona, I'm an artificial lifeform called an Exo. The small floating robot is my best friend Asriel." Dracona stated flatly. "Hello." the Ghost said. Wordlessly, Dracona sat down and began to fiddle with Asriel as she plucked him out of the air. "I'll be more than happy to answer questions." she stated idly. Twilight’s eyes snapped back towards Dracona, and an eerie smile split her face. “Let me just get my quills and paper.” “Uh oh... You probably shouldn’t have said that.” Fluttershy glanced up at the exo. "I'm sure I can handle it." Dracona replied calmly. “Your funeral.” Rainbow chuckled as Twilight disappeared in a purple flash. Two hours later, Twilight had a pile of notes that documented Dracona's rise as a Guardian, her exploits and crowning achievements. "We just told our life's story...In two hours, why?" Asriel asked. "We started from when you found me three years ago to now, that's your life story for the most part. Let's see there was the manifestation of the darkness, Crota, Skolas, Oryx, Ghaul and the dumb things I did when I got really bored. Yeah that's pretty much everything" Dracona replied and her Ghost remained silent on the fact she forgot a few important details. "So...Any chance we can get some supplies to make a transmitter?" Asriel asked hopefully. “Yes! Yes! Take whatever you need from the lab downstairs.” Twilight giggled madly while staring at her notes. “Spike! Spike! I need to send a letter to the Princess!” “What...” A sleepy voice called from upstairs. “Twilight, what about the changeling?” Rainbow asked, however Twilight was too busty giggling at her notes. "I'll take Cidae with me, If she doesn't mind of course," Dracona stated and let her Ghost float freely. "Asriel, go on ahead and gather what we need, I'll stay up here in case I'm needed for anything." "And she's gone all noblewoman on me again..." her Ghost muttered. "Alright, I'll let you know if we're missing anything." The small robot zoomed off towards the basement. “Thanks!” Cidae nodded at the exo. “Twi! Changeling!” Rainbow thrust a hoof at Cidae. “Uh huh.” Twilight wasn’t listening. “Yes! I’m a changeling.” Cidae glared at Rainbow. In a whoosh of green flames Cidae returned to her changeling form. “We get it you’re racist!” Rainbow froze when she saw the changeling’s true form. Then a grin crackled her face. She snorted, then... “BWAHAHAHAHAHA!” She fell to the floor laughing. “You’re so tiny!” “Hey!” Cidae snapped, her wings buzzing in irritation. “Rainbow, that was awful!” Fluttershy gasped. “Why are you being so mean? Cidae hasn’t done anything threatening. She was kicked out of her hive, how do you think that makes her feel?” "Cidae is my friend Rainbow, show some respect." Dracona growled. “You are?” Cidae looked up at Dracona in confusion. “Oh yeah? What are ya gonna do if I don’t” Rainbow smirked. “Rainbow.” Fluttershy said warningly, her brow furrowing. "I. Knife things. In the face. For a living." Dracona stated clearly. "Cidae is the first alien I've met today that hasn't tried to shoot me and in my line of work that's saying something." “I have a scary awesome friend.” Cidae smirked back the the rainbow maned mare. Rainbow’s face, in turn, fell to a look of unease. “Gotcha.” A small purple and green scaled bipedal lizard trudged down the stairs, rubbing his eyes and yawning. On blinking away the sleep his locked his eyes onto the changeling and the exo. ”Twilight, is there really a robot and a changeling in the library?” “Uh huh.” The purple mare looked up at the small lizard. “Oh Spike! Good. can you send this to the Princess?” Twilight levitated a scroll towards Spike. “Sure...” Spike takes the scroll and exhales green flames, instantly disintegrating the letter. The ashes fly up and out an open window. Spike then turns towards the two non-ponies. “Hi...” He says awkwardly. “Hi...” Cidae responds in much the same way. "Hey." Dracona greeted casually. “So... Somepony wanna tell me what’s going on?” Spike looked between the ponies, exo, and changeling. However before anyone could answer the front door opened, and a pink earth pony trotted into the library. On her back was a basket containing letters. Quietly humming, the pink mare trotted over to Cidae, hoofed her a letter, trotted over to Dracona, hoofed her a letter, then proceeded to trot downstairs. "I ran into Cidae, the changeling, while looking for help to gather the resources I need to contact my boss to send someone out here to pick me up," Dracona explained as she opened the letter. "Now what on earth is this?" "Dracona? A pink pony just gave me a letter," Asriel said over the comms. "I found everything we need to get in contact with the city too." "Good, head back up and I'll start building in a minute." the exo replied. “That’s the Pink One.” Cidae shivered. “Oh, that’s Pinkie Pie. She just does things like this.” Fluttershy shrugged. "Ok..." Dracona and Asriel said warily. The Ghost floated over to his Guardian. "What does your letter say?" he asked. "I can't open mine." The exo blinked and stared down at her letter. Princess Dracona Snowstar, You are incited to you'rte Welcome to Ponyville Party at Sugarcube Corner the letter read and Dracona decided to not mention is was written in ancient Ahamkram. "I think we're invited to a party," she replied. "Cidae, what's in yours?" “Ciadaemorphos You are invited to you’re Welcome To Ponyville Party at Sugarcube Corner.....” Cidae blinked. “How......” “Ummmmm... It’s Pinkie Pie?” Fluttershy said weakly, trying to be helpful. "Free food? I'm game," Dracona said. "I'd better get that transmitter built though..." "Party first, transmitter later," Asriel stated. "You're still recovering from your fight with Ghaul and the stress of writing that letter, so I think some time off will you do some good." "Yeah, good point," Dracona replied. "I never turn down free food." “Fight with who now?” Rainbow looked over at Dracona, looking curious. “I can just sit there. I’ll be fed enough by the positive emotion in the air. That is, unless I spoil the party.” Cidae looked down, frowning a bit. “You’ll be fine. You’re the first nice changeling we’ve come across.” Fluttershy said, walked over to her and put a wing over her back in a hug. “Thanks.” Cidae replied and brightened a little. "You know, I bet I could make the transmitter at the party," Asriel suggested. "Then you could tell everyone at the party and the Vanguard how you defeated Ghaul." Dracona's face plates shifted as she frowned, carefully weighing the pros and cons. "I suppose, you were there Asriel and you still chose to stand by my side after it all," the exo mused. "Well this was bound to happen sooner or later." She smiled gestured to the front door. "Come O companions mine! A celebration awaits." she declared. "This is going to be interesting." Asriel commented. Chapter 3Author's Note I Finally Got This Damn Chapter Done! Please point out any typo's I missed. Chapter 3 Sometime later the small group left Twilight to her notes and headed to Sugarcube Corner. The lights were out and there was no sign of any life in the building. “It’s too quiet in there.” Cidae frowned and narrowed her eyes at the eerily silent Bakery. “It’s a surprise.” Fluttershy said, almost in a whisper. “Well if anyone tries to jump me I’m going to start shooting.” Cidae snorted. “I don’t like surprises.” “But... you’re a changeling...” Rainbow looked at the changeling mare in confusion. “So?” Cidae turned her head to glare at the mare. “Are you being racist on purpose? Because I can’t tell anymore.” “I’m not racist!” Rainbow cried, throwing her hooves in the air. "How about I go in first?" the Ghost suggested as his Guardian also looked wary of the building. "Dracona and ambushes do not end well." "Fuck the Hive..." the exo muttered at the reminder. “Hive?” Cidae asked and blinked at Dracona owlishly. “Yes please.” Fluttershy nodded. As Asriel flew in to ask the party goers not to surprise them Dracona decided to answer Cidae's question. "The Hive are a race of aliens that live in a perpetual state of slaughter, they need to constantly kill things to sate the hunger of worms they are bound to," she explained. "Long story short, they are a cult of death and carnage, killing everything that isn't one of their own." “I regret everything that led to that answer.” Cidae said, turning a little green. “You fought those things?” Rainbow’s jaw dropped as she half-flopped to the ground? “So awesome!” “They s-sound horrible.” Fluttershy shivered, hiding behind her mane a little. "They are horrible." Dracona stated. Meanwhile Asriel had found a way into the building via an open window. "Hello?" the Ghost called out. "My Guardian would be very grateful if you started the welcome party before she entered the building, um please?" There was a brief moment of silence from the building. “Awwww. He ruined the surprise.” Came a disappointed voice. “That’s out queue to go in.” Rainbow grinned. “Food....” “Ya know maybe this isn’t such a good idea.” Cidae suddenly looked apprehensive. She took a step back, but was stopped by Fluttershy’s hoof. “Cidae, you’re going to be okay. Nopony here is going to hurt you.” Fluttershy tried to sound comforting. "I'm an experienced fighter, I do not like being ambushed, party or not," Dracona stated as she walked in. "Also, please be nice to the changeling or you'll be excluded from Weird Storytime ok?" The exo made a beeline for the food while her Ghost found an empty corner to work on the transmitter. The ponies watched the exo in stunned silence. Then Cidae walked in. “CHANG-!” A pony began to shout. “NO!” Fluttershy shouted, Her wings flaring out at her exclamation. “DON’T YOU DARE!” The room went dead silent once again. “Cidae is a kind and gentle Changeling! She hasn’t hurt anypony! You're all going to treat her just like anypony else got it?!” Fluttershy snorted, her glare roving over the stunned crowd. There was a quiet fwipping noise as Cidae’s wings snapped out straight. The Changeling stared unblinking at the butter pegasus before her. "So do you ponies not want Weird Storytime? 'Cause I was going to talk about how I beat up tyrant emperor and stuff." Dracona drawled as she started piling various party foods onto a paper plate, by stabbing the foodstuff with her hunting knife and letting it slide off onto the plate. “Oooo! Story time!” Pinkie gasped, rushed over, and sat in front of the exo. Dracona’s announcement, and Pinkie’s reaction broke the hold Fluttershy had on the crowd, most of which moved over to hear the exo’s story. Cidae, just stood motionless, staring at the heaving form of Fluttershy. Like a switch being flipped, Fluttershy blinked and gasped. “Oh my goodness! I’m so sorry!” Dracona walked over to her Ghost, who had finished building the transmitter. A circle gems was attached to a series of wires, all of which led to a metal pole with a beacon and two small speakers welded to it. The entire thing was held upright via a metal stand. "Go enjoy the party, I wanna eat first." the exo stated and took a seat next to the device. "Why don't you all go say hi to Cidae?" Asriel added. "You might make a new friend in the process." Asriel glanced at his Guardian and sighed, Dracona had tuned out the world around her to focus on stuffing her face. As the ponies move off to enjoy the party, Rainbow meanwhile flew over to Dracona. “What is that?” Across the room, Fluttershy finally calmed down from her minor panic attack and noticed Cidae staring at her. “U-uummm, Cidae are you alright?” In response, Cidae simply nodded dumbly. "This is a transmitter, it will allow us to get in contact The Vanguard, hopefully I can reach Cayde first, He's Dracona's boss," Asriel explained."And probably the only one that will get her attention." Dracona paused, shot her Ghost a 'don't you dare' look and resumed eating. "She likes Cayde." Asriel happily added. His Guardian grumbled in annoyance at him but was too distracted by food to really be offended. “And who’s this Cayde guy again?” Rainbow cocked her head to the side. “Ooo! What’s going on with Cid?” Pinkie popped up next to Fluttershy, grinned and glancing between the two. “I don’t know.” Fluttershy sounded worried. Pinkie looked back and forth a few times then stated in an oddly serious manner. “She likes you.” Cidae simply nodded dumbly once again. "Cayde-6 is the Hunter Vanguard, the leader of all the Guardians who choose to take up the role of a Hunter." Asriel said. "I'm a Hunter." Dracona added as she finished eating. "Cayde is Dracona's boss, he's cocky and labels himself as the gentleman theif type." the Ghost continued. "He jokes a lot and doesn't take things seriously, which is breath of fresh air when your life consists of endless fighting and tying to keep an entire city safe for one more day," Dracona said. "Cayde is awesome." “Whoa... He sounds awesome.” Rainbow said and grinned. “What’s so special about Hunters?” "Well, Hunters are fast and kinda reckless," Dracona said. "I don't want to spend all day explaining the differences between Titans, Hunters and Warlocks so, I'm the rogue essentially." "So, Weird Storytime?" Asriel asked. "Weird Storytime," the exo confirmed and brushed herself off. "Alright everyone who wants to hear how I single-handedly saved my home from an invasion?" Most of the ponies within the bakery immediately rushed over to hear the exo’s tale. “O-oh...” Fluttershy blushed as Cidae finally blinked. The changeling looked around. “What happened? I spaced out for a minute or two.” “Fluttershy yelled at everypony before they could freak out and you turned into a statue.” Pinkie giggled. "I work as a Guardian, it's my job to protect The Last City from our enemies, The scavengers known as Fallen, the worshipers of death called The Hive, the all converting, terraforming force of the Vex Hivemind, the tainted, darkness drenched Taken and finally the planet destroying, militaristic Cobal," Dracona began. "I have killed a Vex God, a Fallen Leader, a Hive prince and his king! But nothing could have prepared me for the war that would claim countless lives and rob us of our home." "We Guardians are granted the power to protect the Last City and it's people by the will of The Traveler, a massive sphere that has given us the power to wield Light against our foes," she continued. "But the Cobal, led by their new Emperor Dominus Ghaul, attacked and stole our city, our Traveler and our Light from beneath our feet and slaughtered any powerless Guardians that his troops, the Red Legion came across." "Dracona and I confronted Ghaul atop his ship but without the Light of the Traveller, we were powerless to stop him." Asriel added. "So we ran, we fled and spent several days living in the wilds before were found by survivors of the attack." Dracona said. Dracona paused her tale to gauge the reactions of her audience, they were stunned into silence. "We, along with every other Guardian that escaped made our way to shard of the Traveller that had laid dormant in a dense forest and it was there that the shard returned our Light to us, so we could fight back," Dracona said. "From there we travelled across the stars to reunite with our leaders, Zavala, Ikora and Cayde-6." "Once the Vanguard had been reassembled we stole a Cobal ship and snuck into the city, while a small unit led by the Vanguard distracted the Red Legion Dracona and I used a Vex Teleporter to get onto and destroy Ghaul's super weapon that he had aimed at our sun." Asriel added. "After that, all that was left was to confront Ghaul and take back our home." Dracona paused and prepared herself for the big finale. "Ghaul had stolen the Traveller's Light for himself and tried to wield the powers of a Guardian against us," the exo stated. "But we had an ace up our sleeves for I am not just a hunter..." She stopped, nervousness ate away at her but before she could continue, the speakers on the transmitter crackled before a familiar voice came through. "You're an awesome Hunter, am I right?" Cayde-6 said over the commlink. "I'm right aren't I." The sound of the Hunter Vanguard's voice gave Dracona newfound joy and confidence. "Yup, Ghaul didn't even know what hit him!" she said cheerfully. "He was so awestruck by my mastery of the Light that he went down in two hits! I've fought Fallen Vandals tougher than that." "[There you have it folks, Dracona beat the stuffing out of Ghaul and saved the day, why don't you give her a round of applause?" Cayde suggested. The room was silent. Most the ponies didn’t know what to do. “So, you’re Cayde? The guy she has a crush on?” Rainbow asked with a grin. "Rainbow!" Dracona scolded. "The one and only," Cayde replied. "So you're looking after my hunter eh? Has she been behaving?" "Cayde!" Dracona whined. “Eh, don’t ask me. Ask her Changeling.” Rainbow shrugged. “Hey Flutters, Changeling, come say hi to Cayde.” She called across the bakery. “I have a name!” Cidae yelled back as Fluttershy and her trotted across the bakery to join the pegasus and the exo. "Aw you made friends? Great, look I can't stay on the line for long but I borrowed your ship." Cayde said. "...Please don't break it..." Dracona begged. "Relax it'll be fine, got a lock on your coordinates too," Cayde replied. "Should be about a day or so until I touch down so keep yourself safe Dracona." "Will do." she said. With a click, the transmitter fell silent. “Soooo.... You’re here for a day?” Cidae asked cocking her head to the side. “Where are you going to stay?” Fluttershy asked, looking concerned. "I was just going to camp out." Dracona said. "It wouldn't be the first time." Asriel added. “I’m sure somepony would allow you to stay with them.” Fluttershy looked thoughtful. “I would, but I live in a cloud house.” Rainbow shrugged. “And I’m homeless.” Cidae, shrugged too. "I'll just camp out, I saw an empty field outside of town and I don't exactly have any of your currency to pay for stuff." Dracona stated. "I'll store the transmitter away for later," Asriel said. "And I'll see if I can store some of the party food for later too." "Sweets for tea? Awesome," Dracona replied and looked down at her empty plate. "I'm gonna go grab seconds." "Well, I’ll join you. Not like I have anywhere else to go.” Cidae said and grinned at the ghost. "We'd be more than happy to have you join us Cidae." Asriel said as he started transferring the transmitter to his Guardian's inventory. “Thanks!” Cidae chirped. The party eventually wound down, and Cidae, Dracona, and Asriel found themselves heading out of town, but not before assuring Fluttershy and Rainbow that they would be okay. It didn’t take them long to find themselves a nice quiet spot to settle down for the evening. "The tent is set up," Asriel happily stated. "Cidae gets the tent, I'll sleep outside." Dracona stated as she set up a worn and slightly tattered blanket to lay on. "Alright, I'm going to defrag in the bag tonight, will you be alright?" Her Ghost asked. "Yep, you need a blanket or anything Cidae?" the exo asked. “I’ll be fine.” Cidae smiled. “Thanks for the tent. I haven't slept in something in..... I don’t know how long.” The Changeling happily ducked inside the tent. “Ooooooo!” "It's big enough for a group of three Guardians, so you should have plenty of room." Dracona commented and sat down on her blanket. "Well, everything looks fine here. I'll just get started on that defrag," Asriel said as he teleported himself into Dracona's barely noticeable bag. "Goodnight Dracona, love you." "Night Asriel, love you too." His Guardian happily replied. "Aaaand he's offline, good. I swear he worries too much," The exo commented. "Hey Cidae, you tired yet?" “No.” The changeling said from inside the tent. “There’s so much stuff in here!” "Oh yeah, that thing probably still has my crap from Australia." Dracona realized and walked over to the tent. Peeking in, her statement was confirmed with the majority of the interior of the three man tent was stacked with boxes of everything from canned food to bits of weapons and armor and folders bursting with pages upon pages of notes. The exo shifted some things around to make more room for her guest. "There we go, you should have enough space to stretch out," Dracona said and thought of something. "Do you want to know what all this stuff is from?" "Yes! I would love to hear it." Cidae gasped. Unknown by the two of them, Asriel was still awake and in the midst of intergrating the communication array into his own systems. He quietly pondered on the best course of action as he did so. It was clear to him that his selfless, doubt riddled Guardian was going to reveal her true nature to the changeling, they shared a similar history after all but the Ghost wondered if he could alleviate his dear Hunter's fears somehow. The integration completed and Asriel switched on a secure voice channel, one that his Guardian wouldn't hear. "Zavala? I have something The Vanguard needs to hear," Asriel stated. "It's about what happened to us after we defeated Oryx. Just listen closely." "Well it all started, a year or two ago? I can't really keep track of time all that well but anyway, I was like most Guardians and had no memory of my life prior to meeting Asriel, did you know his name actually spelled A-z-r-a-e-l? He changed it after I told him about a story I found tucked away in my belongings about a prince who became an angel to save his kingdom. In the book the name is spelled A-s-r-i-e-l and my Ghost got the spelling officially changed because he said it sounded more like his style," Dracona rambled. "Where was I? Oh yeah, so I had no memory of who I was right? So we went looking, now most exo were built by a company called Clovis Bray, or something. But we scanned what few Golden Age records we had and found out I was created by a small independent research facility in Australia." "We went there and followed a paper trail and a few cryptic messages left by one of the scientists there and we found an underground bunker," Dracona paused and rifled through one of the boxes. "There's a picture in here somewhere." Eventually Dracona pulled out a photo of a run down bunker decorated with bright colours and posters one would normally find in a school or daycare center. "The scientists were taking in orphaned and homeless children en masse and even though the place looks rundown now, from the records we found the kis were actually well cared for and happy," Dracona explained. "As for why a group of researchers were taking on so many children, was because of this-" She flipped the photo over to reveal a highly detailed sketch of a four legged dragon with feather shaped scales, leathery wings and long, curled feathers cascading down its neck with smaller plumage covering its chest and the end of its tail. The dragon's head was facing the viewer, it was missing its left eye and the creatures lower jaw was separated into a pair of tooth filled mandibles with small, pointed tusks on each tip. "This is an Ahamkara or 'Wish Dragon', the lead scientist had managed to contact her and was using the children as a bargaining chip to get the dragon to divulge information as this particular specimen was the equivalent of a person with a mental illness and needed the assistance of others to survive." "All Ahamkara have psionic abilities that manifest as an Aura that they give off, which can bend reality according to their will. A normal Ahamkara cares only for themselves, their possessions and their direct descendants for if a Wish Dragon has no confidence, no sense of self worth then their Aura will feed on that negativity and destroy them." "A selfless Ahamkara is a dead Ahamkara, so the saying goes," Dracona said. "Still with me so far?" “I gotcha.” Cidae nodded. “It looks kinda bird-ish. Not like the dragons around here. Not that I’ve actually seen any of the dragons around here.” "Well it is a wish granting space dragon, so its bound to look different," Dracona said and continued on with the story. "This Ahamkara lived a life of servitude in the hopes of being a part of the everyday happiness that other races find normal as such a concept was a sigh of weakness in her kind and without that joy in helping others, her lack of self confidence would have led to a slow and painful death." "Fortunately Ahamkara have a physical soul that houses their being. They usually live on a separate plane of reality and utilize the strength of their Aura to travel to this plane of reality. With this newfound fact the lead scientist made one final deal with the Ahamkara, in exchange for knowledge, for power the scientist would create a body to house the Ahamkara's soul so she could truly interact with the world around her," Dracona explained. "Do you remember what I was looking for at the start of this?" “Uuuuummm.... No...” Cidae trailed off looking sheepish. "I was looking for my origin, who I was before I became a Guardian," Dracona said and smirked. "I regained my memories when Ghaul attacked the city." Her face fell as she recalled the state of the bunker but quickly regained her composure. "We found out that the Ahamkara had gotten her new body and was working in Russia when the Collapse happened, she died 500 years ago, only to be found by a Ghost and resurrected as a Guardian." "I, O companion mine, am Dracona-3. An Exo, a Hunter, a former Blade Dancer, a Nightstalker and...An Ahamkara," Dracona finished and pointed at the sketch. "That was my original form." "Wait, my best hunter is a dragon?" Cayde asked on Asriel's secured channel. "An Ahamkara in the City, Just how sincere has our Guardian been? How do we know she isn't a threat?" Zavala asked. "I believe it would be best if we all took some time to reflect upon this."Ikora stated. "Al-alright,"Asriel replied as all three Vanguard leaders signed off. "Dracona's not going to like this...." Cidae blinked, absorbing the information. “You’re.... a Wish Dragon in the body of a sapient machine?” "Yup, this was custom made just me!" Dracona replied a bit too quickly, the relief of Cidae not abandoning her evident on her face. "Just don't tell anyone ok? My kind have a bit of a bad reputation." “Like anyone would believe that you’er a dragon.” Cidae giggled. “I like you better this way. I much more prefer machine people over reality warping dragons.” "Back in The Last City, the people would believe me even if I told them I had simply talked with an Ahamkara," Dracona replied seriously. "A long time ago Ahamkara were once lived on the same world as humanity and with egos the size of the sun most of my kind get their entertainment or resources from other races. They cared not for kindness or sympathy and making a deal with perfectly healthy members of my kind results in a high price indeed." "The City did not take kindly to the demands of the Ahamkara and hunted them to extinction. I have no doubt that if I were to reveal myself to those in the City that I care for, I would be banished at best and... Killed at worst." "All Ahamkara possess at least something other races would find valuable, be it knowledge, power or even a chance to change the turn of events, mark my words there would be people that would seek me out for such things," Dracona explained. "It could divide the City and that is the last thing the people need right now." She sighed. "Were it not for Asriel, my fear and despair would have destroyed me a long time ago," she stated and put in an effort to smile. "Sorry, you probably didn't need to hear all of that." Cidae sat down on her haunches and raised her forelegs. “Hug?” Dracona stopped and stared through the small changeling, memories of countless human children asking for same thing flitted through her mind. Her daze lasted for only a second as she pulled Cidae into a hug. "Thanks," she muttered. “You’re welcome.” Cidae grinned. "There is something I've been wondering Cidae, see I have this problem. Once my mission here is done and I return to the City, what am I going to do with you?" Dracona asked. "To give you home is one thing but I'll need to figure out what to put on the paperwork if I want to get us an actual apartment, I can't keep living in my ship anymore with you around." “What;s wrong with living in a ship?” Cidae cocked her head to the side. "Not enough space." Dracona clarified. Cidae raised an eyebrow. “You do see how small I am right?” "I still don't think it would be a good idea, you deserve an actual home," Dracona stated. "So what do we put on the paperwork?" “Ummmmm... Ciadaemorphos. Hiveless Changeling... Don’t really know what else to say.” Cidae’s brow furrowed in thought. "Well, we have few options, I could legally adopt you, list you as my roommate or I could buy the place and be your landlady if you want to have the place to yourself," Dracona suggested. "Which idea do you like best?" “Roommate works for me.” Cidae nodded. "Sounds good to me," the hunter replied with a grin. "It'll be nice sharing a living space with someone again." Dracona deposited the changeling onto the floor and stood up. "It's getting late, I'll let you get some sleep Cidae," she said and walked out of the tent. "Goodnight, sleep well." “Sleep well Dracona, and thanks again for the tent.” Cidae said with a yawn. "No problem." the exo replied and walked over to her blanket. Chapter 4Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.
Chapter 1 As she flew and observed world after world she saw joy, sorrow, pain and peace. She saw the happiness and prosperity of the other races and wanted to be a part of it. But as she saw her kin flock to a new system she glimpsed through a crack in time and saw her selfish and ancient brethren slain by wielders of the Light. In grief and fear she shed her form of scale and bone for one of metal and circuits. She lived on and helped the future slayers of her kin until The Darkness swept across the stars and slew her. Centuries later she awoke to Light. Tales of a Selfless Dragon 1 An Exo paced nervously around a small room in some distant corner of the Tower. She was plain for the most part, white metal plates sculpted into a soft feminine face void of any distinguishing features or markings common of most of her kind and were it not for the broken left optic one would assume she had been activated before the fishing touches had been added. Her outfit bore the purple, white and pink of the Nebula Rose shader which gave her chest piece, arms and cloak all of which were of the optimacy set, a girly yet regal look. Her helmet sat on a nearby table, a metal piece reminiscent of a knight's helmet and bearing the symbol of The New Monarchy faction. Her Orpheus Rig boots made little noise on the soft carpeted floor despite the agitated air around the small space. Her Ghost hovered nearby as he watched with ever increasing worry, his honeycomb styled shell decorated with an Arctic pearl shader glinting in the light. The Ghost sighed and moved himself just enough to let the light bounce off his shell and into his Guardian's face. The hunter hissed and blinked her remaining blue optic as she cleared the spots from her vision. "Ow..." she groaned. "Are you going to calm down now? It's not the end of the world." The Ghost advised. "I know, I just-are you sure this is the right time to give it to him?" she asked and motioned to the quiver of Void Light arrows attached to the left leg of her pants where the corner of an envelope could be seen sticking out. "Once you give Cayde the letter, we can leave. Isn't that what you planned on doing?" He stated. "Yeah you're right, the sooner we get this done, the less of a chance I have of being found out." the hunter agreed. It was then that the comms sparked to life and the voice of the person they set out to find came through. "Hey Guardian, do you think you could help me with something?" "Guardian? Are you alright?" The worried voice of her Ghost, reached her auditory sensors as her right optic came online. She pushed herself to feet and looked around. "You're alive!" her Ghost exclaimed but paused, his form hovered in front of her and his single blue optic looked at her in concern. "Do you remember who you are? Who I am?" he asked nervously. The female exo gave her Ghost a patient smile. "I am Dracona-3, Guardian of The Last City, a Nightstalker Hunter, you worry to much, O angel mine." she stated. The strange duo looked around the dark forest they found themselves in and the hunter quickly took stock of her equipment, muttering as she did. "Mida Multi-Tool scout rifle, Drang sidearm and my sword...No ammo, well shit. I guess that's what I get for cleaning my gear and leaving the ammo behind." "Now I really wish Banshie bought back ammo synthesis." Ghost commented. "Can you reach the Vanguard?" Dracona asked. "No, we're out of range." he replied. "...Not even Cayde?" the exo asked pitifully. "No," Ghost sighed. "I can't reach him either...We're on our own." "Aw..." Dracona sighed. A nearby bush rustled and the two locked their gazes onto it as a soft, frightened voice came from nearby. "U-uuum... Hello?" Dracona looked at her Ghost, he jerked up and down once in the equivalent of a shrug so she focused on the radar in the corner of her vision. It showed a blue dot alongside the representation of herself, a blue arrow. "Hello?" Dracona called out. "Could you help us, we're kinda lost..." "I don't think we've been this lost since that one time you tried to find one of Cayde's stashes on Nessus." the Ghost said. "Oh no! Are you los-” A butter yellow pony with a pink mane stepped out of the bush, a look of concern clear on her face. Though as soon as she spotted the tall creature, she froze in fear. The Ghost could practically hear the thought process of his guardian as she looked at the strange creature. Dracona's demeanor shifted, gone was the hunter of fun and misadventure. She looked calm, regal as she crouched down to make herself look smaller. "Greetings, small one. I mean you no harm so would you care to aid us, O companion mine?" the exo asked calmly. The pony blinked and gasped quietly. “O-oh! I’m so sorry! A-are you lost?” "We had an...accident with a portal," Dracona stated. "We don't know where we are at all and a guide would be most welcome." Dracona paused and looked at her Ghost. "Do you want to do introductions?" she asked. "I think I will," the small robot replied and hovered next to the hunter. "This is Dracona and I am her Ghost." "Really, that's it?" Dracona said flatly, the regal air around her gone. "You have a name too, you know." "That's not important right now-" the Ghost protested. "Ancestors damn it, ok. Ahem," Dracona said and cleared her throat. "This little floating guy here is Asriel, he's a Ghost, my Ghost. The short explanation is we have a symbiotic relationship, so where are we anyway?" The pony smiled brightly. “Well it’s nice to meet you.” A brief, almost imperceptible flash of green flickered over her teal eyes. “I’m Fluttershy.” Fluttershy tilted her head to the side in confusion. “What are you doing out here in the Everfree Forest? It’s dangerous.” "There was this...artifact my boss wanted to keep for a trophy but it did something and opened a portal, so not wanting to go looking for him again, I pushed him out of the way and next thing I know, my Ghost and I are here." Dracona explained but quickly remembered something and checked the quiver of shadowshot arrows that was attached to the left leg of her pants. "Oh no...." she groaned and her Ghost looked at her in confusion before he too remembered what had been stashed in there that morning. "Looks like your love letter to Cayde fell out when you knocked him out of the way of the Vex Teleporter, I wonder if he found it?" Asriel commented. "Ok, priorities....Can you take us to a village or something? If I'm going to be here long term I'll need supplies, a way of earning money and gems, that sort of thing." the exo stated. "Why do we need gems?" her Ghost asked. "You remember what happened with the fight with Ghaul?" Dracona asked softly. Flashback Ghaul had forced the Light into himself and atop his ship a lone hunter stood against him but something had changed. Asriel had noticed the more serious tone and odd speech patterns his guardian had taken on were odd to say the lest, though given that such an abrupt change had occurred only a few times in their journey to take back the city, those moments had always been brief, a flicker of something more within her optic before she was back to her normal self. But something had snapped within her the moment Cayde said the Cobal shot off his arm. She pulled out a pair of ceremonial knives with blades made of bone and purple cloth wrapped around the silver grip. a strong piece of rope dangled of the hand guard with a single white, feather shaped scale tied to the other end. With those blades she had danced through the ranks of the red legion, a whirlwind of blades, death and destruction that reminded him she was once a blade dancer though her movements now were even more savage than the style she once wielded before. Now though? She stared at Gaul with a hard predator's gaze as he finished his speech and stood before her. Her face plates shifted into a wolfish grin. "You believe I cant best you? You are a fool, O enemy mine," She said. "You have taken my home, my hoard and my Light but you will not, you will NEVER, Take. my. Friends." "Beware, O prey mine, for I am tired of hiding..." Dracona growled and in a flash of void light the exo hunter was gone and in her place.... A horse sized slender creature of shining white scales with leathery wings stood before the leader of the red legion with vengeance written upon her face. neither enemy nor Ghost had time to react as the dragon opened her maw and blasted a ball of solid light at her foe, the attack left Ghaul stunned and he could only scream in agony s the beast of Light descended upon him and with ripped his heart from his chest with a single bite. No one else knew how the battle ended that day. Flashback end. "I remember, so the gems have something to do with..." the Ghost trialed off, unsure how to word it. "I remembered a few old tricks," Dracona replied. "If I can get enough gems I might be able to jury-rig a way home, though I might try making communications array first, I want to make sure everyone back home is alright." “O-oh! Y-yes. There is a town nearby.” Fluttershy said and shifted nervously. “I can take you there if you want.” Fluttershy looked backwards, through the bush. “It’s not too far.” "Thanks, lead the way and we'll stay close behind you." Dracona replied. "And if anything attacks us, we'll protect you." Asriel added. “Th-thank you. The Everfree Forest can be very dangerous.” Fluttershy replied, turned around and walked through the brush. “I was visiting a recovering friend when I heard a noise... which turned out to be you.” "Is your friend alright?" Asriel asked as Dracona focused her sight on her radar and heads up display. Her abilities were ready to go and she noticed her super was still charging but the exo didn't mind as there was no warning about any incapability to revive if she went down. “Oh yes. She lives out here and she had a bad case of the flu. She’s doing better now, I was simply bringing her some soup. I made.” "While that is very thoughtful of you, isn't it dangerous to be out here all by yourself?" Asriel asked. "This place doesn't exactly look welcoming." Dracona added. “Oh.... Umm.. I’m out there enough that most animals know my scent. I’m good with animals.” Fluttershy stated and tensed ever so slightly. "Eh, ok then." Dracona said. Back at the Tower in a small storage area near the hangar, Cayde-6 picked himself up off the ground and brushed himself off. "Well, that happened," he said quietly and opened up a commlink. "Hey, Guardian you alright?" "Hunter?" "Come on Dracona, this isn't funny." he grumbled as worry seeped its way into his thoughts. His Ghost floated down and pointed out something on the ground, the Hunter Vanguard looked down to find a letter on the floor. He picked it up and couldn't help but blink in confusion. It was addressed to him. He opened it cautiously and started to skim the contents but paused and read in its entirety. Moments later he looked down at the vex Teleporter and back at the letter. "Zavala, find someone to cover for me for a while, I've got a missing hunter to find." He instructed over a commlink to his fireteam. "Cayde, we're still rebuilding and we need you here." the Titan Vanguard replied "Did something happen?" Ikora, the Warlock Vanguard asked. "Did she finally confess?" "Wait, you knew?" Cayde asked. "Her Ghost was concerned for her well-being and came to me for advice on how to help her and he may have let it slip during the conversation." "We don't have time for this, the people still need our assistance," Zavala stated. "Cayde, with The Speaker gone we need everyone here to oversee the rebuilding effort..." "Yeah about that..." Cayde trailed off and he heard Zavala sigh over the comm. "What happened?" the titan asked. "You see I asked her to give me a hand in moving the vex teleporter-" "You moved it? Cayde I told you to wait until it I was certain it was safe!" Ikora stated. "I presume it activated?" Zavala asked. "Yeah, Dracona knocked me out of the way but got zapped. I got a lock on her coordinates so..." Cayde replied. "What's this about Dracona getting zapped?" came the voice of Amanda Holiday. "Accident with the vex teleporter." Cayde replied. "And you're gonna go find her?"Amanda clarified. "Yep." "With who's ship exactly?" "I don't suppose you could hook me up with something?" Cayde asked. "You're lucky, you know that right? Dracona said you can borrow her ship as long as you let your Ghost drive." The shipwright stated. "Well Zavala, Ikora, talk to you later, I've got a hunter to rescue and besides,"Cayde said as he looked back down at the opened letter he carried. "I uh, owe her a date." Author's Note I apologize if this is a bit shoddy compared to my usual work as this is a collaboration between myself and Sanguine Dream. We're doing this via an RP and I'm simply editing it and adding extra bits when needed and since I'm still using my broken Keyboard at the time of writing, please fell free to point out any typos I may have missed. I'm not sure how long this story will go on for but we do have an end goal. Enjoy. Edit- added italicized text for characters talking over the comms.
Chapter 2After a few minutes of relatively uneventful walking. They broke the treeline. “Well, we’re out. Ponyville isn’t too far away.” "Sweet, Asriel I need you to scan for any resources we can use, food and water too," Dracona stated. "We don't know what kind of currency they use so we might have to scavenge what we can if negotiations go south." "Working on it," the Ghost replied cheerfully. "I want you to be careful though, I'm picking up highly concentrated energy readings across the planet, wherever we ended up might cause some interference with any kind of device we try to build." "So attune it to the energy of the planet then? Gotcha," Dracona replied. "Should be easy enough since we'll be using local materials anyway." "If you say so," Asriel replied. "You have to build the thing after all." “U-umm would you like me to walk you to town?” Fluttershy asked and scuffed the dirt with a hoof. "Sure, I'm sure it would make a good first impression." Dracona replied cheerfully. “How wonderful. Shall we go?” Fluttershy gestured a wing towards the path leading to Ponyville. "Ok then." Dracona said. The two make their way down the path until a loud whistling noise was heard overhead. “O-oh no...” Fluttershy shivers nervously. “Not her.” Both Ghost and Guardian let out a confused "Huh?". A blue pegasus with a rainbow mane soared out of the clouds and landed in front of the two. “Hey Shy! What are you still doing out here? Twilight wanted all of- Wait, what’s that?” “H-hey.. R-Rainbow...” Fluttershy stiffened as she spoke, clearly frightened. “You doin okay there shy?” Rainbow’s eyes narrow a bit. "Hi! I'm Dracona, this is Asriel." The exo stated as her Ghost bobbed up and down in greeting. “Yeah. Sure. Rainbow Dash.” Rainbow waved a wing at the exo, and stared intently at Fluttershy. "Is something wrong?" Asriel asked. “Umm. excuse me. What’s going on?” Fluttershy’s voice spoke up from behind Fluttershy and Dracona. Rainbow’s eyes snapped to look behind the two then snapped back to Fluttershy. “Changeling.” She hissed, snorting. “O-oh crap.” Fluttershy shivers. Dracona stepped in between the changeling and the blue mare staring her down. "What's going on here?" she asked. “O-oh my goodness!” Fluttershy’s voice yelps from behind the exo. There was a whoosh and a flash of green light, and a strange feminine voice cried out from behind Dracona. “Please don’t hurt me!” “Out of my way! That’s a changeling!” Rainbow roared, yet doesn’t attempt to pass the exo. Dracona was wary, tired and frusytrated all at once. "...I should care why?" she asked flatly. “They’re Changelings! They’re evil! They suck out your love!” Rainbow replied as she spluttered for words. “N-no w-we d-don’t” ‘Fluttershy’ sounded terrified. “T-that hurts people.” “A-are you okay?” The real Fluttershy asked from behind the exo. “Ah! D-don’t hurt me! I haven’t fed on anyone! I’m not part of Chrysalis’s hive!” ‘Fluttershy babbled. “It’s okay... I’m not going to hurt you....” Fluttershy said in a calm, soothing voice. “Fluttershy don’t go near it!” "Hi, I'm a Guardian, a hunter. I knife stuff in the face for a living. Now please do me a favour and chill," Dracona said calmly. "If the changeling was a threat, I would've knifed it already." "What do you mean by 'suck out your love'? That doesn't seem scientifically possible?" Asriel asked curiously. “I don’t know! It’s egghead stuff!” Rainbow spluttered, her wings fluffed out and flapped in irritation. “Oh you poor thing you look terrible.” Fluttershy gasped. “I haven’t had any love n... awhile.” Fauxshy said sounding defeated. “Awwwww!” “Shy don’t hug it!” Dracona shrugged and turned around to get a look at the changeling. "Asriel, warn me if Rainbow does anything hostile." she ordered. What she saw looked to be some sort of horse insect hybrid. It appeared thin and frail, and It’s legs were filled with strange holes and gaps. Ragged and papery insect wings protrude from a red shell. Large eyes of solid red peer up at Dracona as the Changeling shivered in the grip of the true Fluttershy. The hunter couldn't help but notice that the Changeling was a bit smaller than Fluttershy, as the insectoid was held firmly against the pony’s chest. “H-hi. I’m Cidae.” The small changeling says nervously. "Scan her." the hunter commanded and Asriel hovered over the changeling as beams of hardlight cascaded over her form. "Fascinating, she's definitely an insect but her diet is brains? No that's not right. Ah I see," the Ghost stated. "She uses a form of energy manipulation to transfer the chemical reactions generated by positive emotions into a kind of liquid she can digest as long she assumes the form of something her target would associate with those emotions prior to feeding." Dracona hummed in thought as her Ghost finished scanning and looked over at Rainbow, then over to the real Fluttershy. "They copy the locals for a quick, easy meal as long as they don't get caught," Dracona summarized and scoffed. "By the Ancestors, that's dumb." "You see if I needed to stay hidden for my survival, I'd turn into something that wouldn't raise suspicion, a random domesticated animal, a child. You know, someone that didn't already exist." the exo said. "A broken exo?" Asriel suggested cheekily. "Exactly." Dracona replied with a grin. “What? What is that thing doing? What are you doing? I have so many questions.” Rainbow grumbled, slowly walking around the exo. “We do what now?” Cidae blinked up at the exo in confusion as she unconsciously sinks into Fluttershy’s chest fluff. Which in turn caused Fluttershy to giggle. Dracona plucked her Ghost out of the air and idly began to toss him from one hand to the other. Asriel didn't seem to mind, even as his Guardian began to pace around in a circle. "How about this?" Dracona suggested as she walked. "You take me to I dunno, your leader or something and I answer everyone's questions in one big go so I don't have to repeat myself?" "Sound good?" she asked and stopped next to Fluttershy and Cidae. "I'll keep an eye on these two." "Ah- Gu- Fine!” I’ll take you to Twilight!” Rainbow snapped and threw her hooves in the air. “Feeling better?” Fluttershy asked the small Changeling. “A little. It’s not love, but it’ll do.” Cidae pulled herself out of Fluttershy’s grip with a light pop. “It’s a bit of a walk, do you want me to carry you?” Fluttershy asked, getting to her hooves which showed that she was a head taller than the changeling. Cidae gave her what appeared to be a flat look. “I’m Twenty Eight, I can walk on my own.” “O-oh! I’m sorry... I just assumed...” Fluttershy stuttered a bit. “I know, I’m small. I was the runt of the cluster.” Cidae huffed with a small red blush on her cheeks. "Lead the way," Asriel said as he floated out of Dracona's hold. The Ghost turned to face his Guardian, who as usual, didn't have a care in the world. "This planet has a lot of plant life, I'm detecting plenty of animals too," Asriel stated. "Just think of the quality of life we could give to people back in the city..." "We'd have to prevent anyone from bringing any tech over, as much as sharing it with the locals would help, I have no desire to draw unwanted attention to this world." Dracona replied calmly as she slipped once more into a more refined, regal posture. "You know, I really wonder which is the real you these days." Asriel commented. "We've both been through a lot," the exo said. "Should we ever make it back to the Tower I'll explain everything in full view of The Vanguard, this I swear O angel mine." “I am not getting any of this....” Cidea said as she moved up so she could be by both Dracona and Fluttershy. “She said she’d explain.” Fluttershy spared her a glance. “Why aren’t you freaking out like most ponies do?” Cidae turn her head slightly to look at the mare. “Well you surprised me, but I saw that you were just scared and hurt, and I can’t just leave you like that.” Fluttershy blurted out with a hint of a blush. “Fsssss!” Cidae’s tongue flicked out briefly and she almost tripped when she brought a hoof up to try and shove it back inside her mouth. “Ugh, you’re all so slow! Common, I wanna get these two to Twilight!” Rainbow complains, flying overhead. "Alright, we're coming." Dracona replied. “Okay... Everypony just, be cool.” Rainbow said, trying to hide her nervousness as the group reached the very edge of Ponyville. “How can we be cool? We’ve got a....” Cidae looked at Dracona. “A robot, and a Changeling. Do you really expect everyone to just ignore that?” “I’m sure everypony will understand. Once they see you’re with us.” Fluttershy added, trying to sound hopeful. "I'm sure we'll be fine, right Dracona?" Asriel asked. "We will be fine and I promise I won't knife anyone if things do go south alright?" she replied cheekily. “Please, please don’t hurt anyone.” Fluttershy looked up at the exo with puppy dog eyes. Cidae’s mouth dropped open, and her tongue rolled out a bit. As if realizing what she was doing, the changeling quickly shut her mouth and glanced around to see if anyone noticed. “Fine. Let’s just get to Twilight’s. The sooner we do that the sooner I can get some answers.” Rainbow’s glare was aimed more at Cidae than Dracona. "Holy crap that's adorable..." Dracona muttered. "How about we get moving?" Asriel suggested happily. "Ok." the exo replied. “Let’s take some back paths. I’d like to avoid as many ponies as possible.” Rainbow said slowly making her way into town, with the others following behind. Cidae had the benefit of changing form. Dracona however, was another matter entirely. "Asriel, record everything! We're making history." Dracona said with a grin. "Well, at least this can't get any worse right?" Asriel commented. Cidae, disguised as a rather bland gray earth pony mare with a blue mane, shivered. “Why did you have to say that?” “Everything’s going to be fi-” Fluttershy was cut off by a feminine cry. ”OH SWEET CELESTIA! WHAT IS THAT?” “Buck! Run! Follow me!” Rainbow took off, which caused the other’s to gallop, and sprint after her. "Damn it Asriel! You just had to say it." Dracona grumbled as she sprinted, her purple and white cape billowing out behind her. "Sorry!" the Ghost replied as he flew after her. “There’s Twilight’s place!” Rainbow thrust a hoof at a large tree. Picking up speed, the pegasus burst through the door, almost knocking it off it’s hinges in the process. Fluttershy and Cidae piled in after her. Dracona skidded to a halt and carefully stepped over the tangle of limbs as she walked inside. She looked very much like a kid in a candy store at the sight of the countless books shelved in the hollowed out tree. "...I know Asriel, we have a job to do," she sighed as her Ghost looked at her expectantly. "I'll read later..." "Assuming you can even read their written language in the first place and no, you can wait until after we negotiate a peace treaty with the ponies to learn it." Asriel replied sternly. "I know." the exo begrudgingly agreed. “What is Celestia is going on here?!” A loud voice rang out. “Sorry Twi, emergency!” Rainbow up a set of stairs. “Rainbow what?- Stop pushing!” The voice yelled from the top of the stairs. “I’m so sorry, are you okay?” Fluttershy said and helped the disguised changeling to her hooves. “I’m fine.” Cidae shook herself and turned her neck with an audible pop. "That doesn't sound fine..." Asriel commented. "You could just scan her for injuries." Dracona pointed out. "Maybe after our lives aren't hanging in the balance, again." Asriel replied. "I can't die," Dracona stated. "And you're smart enough to hide when faced with danger, besides we still have plan B." "Which is?" "Gather what we need from the wilds and people's rubbish bins, duh." Dracona replied. "Good thing we're trying diplomacy first then." Asriel said. “Feel free to scan me if it makes you feel better.” Cidae shrugged as she followed Fluttershy into the library proper. “Rainbow, what’s so important?!” Twilight complained loudly as there was a shuffling noise from the stairs. "I'll think I'll wait until this mess is sorted," Asriel said. "I might be able to find an alternative food source for you once I have time to gather more data." "Do you have any family Cidae? It's kinda strange you're out in the middle of nowhere by yourself." Dracona asked as she followed them into the library. “I was kicked out of my hive.” Cidae looked down sadly. “I screw up infiltrations.” A purple unicorn stumbled out of the stairwell and looked around. Then she locked her eyes on Dracona, and her jaw dropped. "So you're homeless?" Dracona replied and looked over at her Ghost. "Can we keep her?" "Only if she follows you home," Asriel replied seriously. "You might want to focus on the purple unicorn though." "Huh, oh right, diplomacy." Dracona said. “I wouldn’t complain if you did.” Cidae shrugged. “Uh.... Twi?” Rainbow poked the frozen unicorn. “Twilight?” “Twilight, are you okay?” Fluttershy asked, clearly worried. "Should we do something?" Dracona asked. "I don't know." Asriel replied. “Wh-what is that?” Twilight slowly raised a hoof and pointed at Dracona. “That’s racist.” Cidae snorted, clearly irritated. “It’s a robot Twi.” Rainbow pointed a hoof at Cidae. “And that’s a Changeling.” “What?!” Twilight’s eyes snapped towards Cidae. The changeling in turn took a step back. "I'm a she, thank you very much. My name is Dracona, I'm an artificial lifeform called an Exo. The small floating robot is my best friend Asriel." Dracona stated flatly. "Hello." the Ghost said. Wordlessly, Dracona sat down and began to fiddle with Asriel as she plucked him out of the air. "I'll be more than happy to answer questions." she stated idly. Twilight’s eyes snapped back towards Dracona, and an eerie smile split her face. “Let me just get my quills and paper.” “Uh oh... You probably shouldn’t have said that.” Fluttershy glanced up at the exo. "I'm sure I can handle it." Dracona replied calmly. “Your funeral.” Rainbow chuckled as Twilight disappeared in a purple flash. Two hours later, Twilight had a pile of notes that documented Dracona's rise as a Guardian, her exploits and crowning achievements. "We just told our life's story...In two hours, why?" Asriel asked. "We started from when you found me three years ago to now, that's your life story for the most part. Let's see there was the manifestation of the darkness, Crota, Skolas, Oryx, Ghaul and the dumb things I did when I got really bored. Yeah that's pretty much everything" Dracona replied and her Ghost remained silent on the fact she forgot a few important details. "So...Any chance we can get some supplies to make a transmitter?" Asriel asked hopefully. “Yes! Yes! Take whatever you need from the lab downstairs.” Twilight giggled madly while staring at her notes. “Spike! Spike! I need to send a letter to the Princess!” “What...” A sleepy voice called from upstairs. “Twilight, what about the changeling?” Rainbow asked, however Twilight was too busty giggling at her notes. "I'll take Cidae with me, If she doesn't mind of course," Dracona stated and let her Ghost float freely. "Asriel, go on ahead and gather what we need, I'll stay up here in case I'm needed for anything." "And she's gone all noblewoman on me again..." her Ghost muttered. "Alright, I'll let you know if we're missing anything." The small robot zoomed off towards the basement. “Thanks!” Cidae nodded at the exo. “Twi! Changeling!” Rainbow thrust a hoof at Cidae. “Uh huh.” Twilight wasn’t listening. “Yes! I’m a changeling.” Cidae glared at Rainbow. In a whoosh of green flames Cidae returned to her changeling form. “We get it you’re racist!” Rainbow froze when she saw the changeling’s true form. Then a grin crackled her face. She snorted, then... “BWAHAHAHAHAHA!” She fell to the floor laughing. “You’re so tiny!” “Hey!” Cidae snapped, her wings buzzing in irritation. “Rainbow, that was awful!” Fluttershy gasped. “Why are you being so mean? Cidae hasn’t done anything threatening. She was kicked out of her hive, how do you think that makes her feel?” "Cidae is my friend Rainbow, show some respect." Dracona growled. “You are?” Cidae looked up at Dracona in confusion. “Oh yeah? What are ya gonna do if I don’t” Rainbow smirked. “Rainbow.” Fluttershy said warningly, her brow furrowing. "I. Knife things. In the face. For a living." Dracona stated clearly. "Cidae is the first alien I've met today that hasn't tried to shoot me and in my line of work that's saying something." “I have a scary awesome friend.” Cidae smirked back the the rainbow maned mare. Rainbow’s face, in turn, fell to a look of unease. “Gotcha.” A small purple and green scaled bipedal lizard trudged down the stairs, rubbing his eyes and yawning. On blinking away the sleep his locked his eyes onto the changeling and the exo. ”Twilight, is there really a robot and a changeling in the library?” “Uh huh.” The purple mare looked up at the small lizard. “Oh Spike! Good. can you send this to the Princess?” Twilight levitated a scroll towards Spike. “Sure...” Spike takes the scroll and exhales green flames, instantly disintegrating the letter. The ashes fly up and out an open window. Spike then turns towards the two non-ponies. “Hi...” He says awkwardly. “Hi...” Cidae responds in much the same way. "Hey." Dracona greeted casually. “So... Somepony wanna tell me what’s going on?” Spike looked between the ponies, exo, and changeling. However before anyone could answer the front door opened, and a pink earth pony trotted into the library. On her back was a basket containing letters. Quietly humming, the pink mare trotted over to Cidae, hoofed her a letter, trotted over to Dracona, hoofed her a letter, then proceeded to trot downstairs. "I ran into Cidae, the changeling, while looking for help to gather the resources I need to contact my boss to send someone out here to pick me up," Dracona explained as she opened the letter. "Now what on earth is this?" "Dracona? A pink pony just gave me a letter," Asriel said over the comms. "I found everything we need to get in contact with the city too." "Good, head back up and I'll start building in a minute." the exo replied. “That’s the Pink One.” Cidae shivered. “Oh, that’s Pinkie Pie. She just does things like this.” Fluttershy shrugged. "Ok..." Dracona and Asriel said warily. The Ghost floated over to his Guardian. "What does your letter say?" he asked. "I can't open mine." The exo blinked and stared down at her letter. Princess Dracona Snowstar, You are incited to you'rte Welcome to Ponyville Party at Sugarcube Corner the letter read and Dracona decided to not mention is was written in ancient Ahamkram. "I think we're invited to a party," she replied. "Cidae, what's in yours?" “Ciadaemorphos You are invited to you’re Welcome To Ponyville Party at Sugarcube Corner.....” Cidae blinked. “How......” “Ummmmm... It’s Pinkie Pie?” Fluttershy said weakly, trying to be helpful. "Free food? I'm game," Dracona said. "I'd better get that transmitter built though..." "Party first, transmitter later," Asriel stated. "You're still recovering from your fight with Ghaul and the stress of writing that letter, so I think some time off will you do some good." "Yeah, good point," Dracona replied. "I never turn down free food." “Fight with who now?” Rainbow looked over at Dracona, looking curious. “I can just sit there. I’ll be fed enough by the positive emotion in the air. That is, unless I spoil the party.” Cidae looked down, frowning a bit. “You’ll be fine. You’re the first nice changeling we’ve come across.” Fluttershy said, walked over to her and put a wing over her back in a hug. “Thanks.” Cidae replied and brightened a little. "You know, I bet I could make the transmitter at the party," Asriel suggested. "Then you could tell everyone at the party and the Vanguard how you defeated Ghaul." Dracona's face plates shifted as she frowned, carefully weighing the pros and cons. "I suppose, you were there Asriel and you still chose to stand by my side after it all," the exo mused. "Well this was bound to happen sooner or later." She smiled gestured to the front door. "Come O companions mine! A celebration awaits." she declared. "This is going to be interesting." Asriel commented.
Chapter 3Author's Note I Finally Got This Damn Chapter Done! Please point out any typo's I missed. Chapter 3 Sometime later the small group left Twilight to her notes and headed to Sugarcube Corner. The lights were out and there was no sign of any life in the building. “It’s too quiet in there.” Cidae frowned and narrowed her eyes at the eerily silent Bakery. “It’s a surprise.” Fluttershy said, almost in a whisper. “Well if anyone tries to jump me I’m going to start shooting.” Cidae snorted. “I don’t like surprises.” “But... you’re a changeling...” Rainbow looked at the changeling mare in confusion. “So?” Cidae turned her head to glare at the mare. “Are you being racist on purpose? Because I can’t tell anymore.” “I’m not racist!” Rainbow cried, throwing her hooves in the air. "How about I go in first?" the Ghost suggested as his Guardian also looked wary of the building. "Dracona and ambushes do not end well." "Fuck the Hive..." the exo muttered at the reminder. “Hive?” Cidae asked and blinked at Dracona owlishly. “Yes please.” Fluttershy nodded. As Asriel flew in to ask the party goers not to surprise them Dracona decided to answer Cidae's question. "The Hive are a race of aliens that live in a perpetual state of slaughter, they need to constantly kill things to sate the hunger of worms they are bound to," she explained. "Long story short, they are a cult of death and carnage, killing everything that isn't one of their own." “I regret everything that led to that answer.” Cidae said, turning a little green. “You fought those things?” Rainbow’s jaw dropped as she half-flopped to the ground? “So awesome!” “They s-sound horrible.” Fluttershy shivered, hiding behind her mane a little. "They are horrible." Dracona stated. Meanwhile Asriel had found a way into the building via an open window. "Hello?" the Ghost called out. "My Guardian would be very grateful if you started the welcome party before she entered the building, um please?" There was a brief moment of silence from the building. “Awwww. He ruined the surprise.” Came a disappointed voice. “That’s out queue to go in.” Rainbow grinned. “Food....” “Ya know maybe this isn’t such a good idea.” Cidae suddenly looked apprehensive. She took a step back, but was stopped by Fluttershy’s hoof. “Cidae, you’re going to be okay. Nopony here is going to hurt you.” Fluttershy tried to sound comforting. "I'm an experienced fighter, I do not like being ambushed, party or not," Dracona stated as she walked in. "Also, please be nice to the changeling or you'll be excluded from Weird Storytime ok?" The exo made a beeline for the food while her Ghost found an empty corner to work on the transmitter. The ponies watched the exo in stunned silence. Then Cidae walked in. “CHANG-!” A pony began to shout. “NO!” Fluttershy shouted, Her wings flaring out at her exclamation. “DON’T YOU DARE!” The room went dead silent once again. “Cidae is a kind and gentle Changeling! She hasn’t hurt anypony! You're all going to treat her just like anypony else got it?!” Fluttershy snorted, her glare roving over the stunned crowd. There was a quiet fwipping noise as Cidae’s wings snapped out straight. The Changeling stared unblinking at the butter pegasus before her. "So do you ponies not want Weird Storytime? 'Cause I was going to talk about how I beat up tyrant emperor and stuff." Dracona drawled as she started piling various party foods onto a paper plate, by stabbing the foodstuff with her hunting knife and letting it slide off onto the plate. “Oooo! Story time!” Pinkie gasped, rushed over, and sat in front of the exo. Dracona’s announcement, and Pinkie’s reaction broke the hold Fluttershy had on the crowd, most of which moved over to hear the exo’s story. Cidae, just stood motionless, staring at the heaving form of Fluttershy. Like a switch being flipped, Fluttershy blinked and gasped. “Oh my goodness! I’m so sorry!” Dracona walked over to her Ghost, who had finished building the transmitter. A circle gems was attached to a series of wires, all of which led to a metal pole with a beacon and two small speakers welded to it. The entire thing was held upright via a metal stand. "Go enjoy the party, I wanna eat first." the exo stated and took a seat next to the device. "Why don't you all go say hi to Cidae?" Asriel added. "You might make a new friend in the process." Asriel glanced at his Guardian and sighed, Dracona had tuned out the world around her to focus on stuffing her face. As the ponies move off to enjoy the party, Rainbow meanwhile flew over to Dracona. “What is that?” Across the room, Fluttershy finally calmed down from her minor panic attack and noticed Cidae staring at her. “U-uummm, Cidae are you alright?” In response, Cidae simply nodded dumbly. "This is a transmitter, it will allow us to get in contact The Vanguard, hopefully I can reach Cayde first, He's Dracona's boss," Asriel explained."And probably the only one that will get her attention." Dracona paused, shot her Ghost a 'don't you dare' look and resumed eating. "She likes Cayde." Asriel happily added. His Guardian grumbled in annoyance at him but was too distracted by food to really be offended. “And who’s this Cayde guy again?” Rainbow cocked her head to the side. “Ooo! What’s going on with Cid?” Pinkie popped up next to Fluttershy, grinned and glancing between the two. “I don’t know.” Fluttershy sounded worried. Pinkie looked back and forth a few times then stated in an oddly serious manner. “She likes you.” Cidae simply nodded dumbly once again. "Cayde-6 is the Hunter Vanguard, the leader of all the Guardians who choose to take up the role of a Hunter." Asriel said. "I'm a Hunter." Dracona added as she finished eating. "Cayde is Dracona's boss, he's cocky and labels himself as the gentleman theif type." the Ghost continued. "He jokes a lot and doesn't take things seriously, which is breath of fresh air when your life consists of endless fighting and tying to keep an entire city safe for one more day," Dracona said. "Cayde is awesome." “Whoa... He sounds awesome.” Rainbow said and grinned. “What’s so special about Hunters?” "Well, Hunters are fast and kinda reckless," Dracona said. "I don't want to spend all day explaining the differences between Titans, Hunters and Warlocks so, I'm the rogue essentially." "So, Weird Storytime?" Asriel asked. "Weird Storytime," the exo confirmed and brushed herself off. "Alright everyone who wants to hear how I single-handedly saved my home from an invasion?" Most of the ponies within the bakery immediately rushed over to hear the exo’s tale. “O-oh...” Fluttershy blushed as Cidae finally blinked. The changeling looked around. “What happened? I spaced out for a minute or two.” “Fluttershy yelled at everypony before they could freak out and you turned into a statue.” Pinkie giggled. "I work as a Guardian, it's my job to protect The Last City from our enemies, The scavengers known as Fallen, the worshipers of death called The Hive, the all converting, terraforming force of the Vex Hivemind, the tainted, darkness drenched Taken and finally the planet destroying, militaristic Cobal," Dracona began. "I have killed a Vex God, a Fallen Leader, a Hive prince and his king! But nothing could have prepared me for the war that would claim countless lives and rob us of our home." "We Guardians are granted the power to protect the Last City and it's people by the will of The Traveler, a massive sphere that has given us the power to wield Light against our foes," she continued. "But the Cobal, led by their new Emperor Dominus Ghaul, attacked and stole our city, our Traveler and our Light from beneath our feet and slaughtered any powerless Guardians that his troops, the Red Legion came across." "Dracona and I confronted Ghaul atop his ship but without the Light of the Traveller, we were powerless to stop him." Asriel added. "So we ran, we fled and spent several days living in the wilds before were found by survivors of the attack." Dracona said. Dracona paused her tale to gauge the reactions of her audience, they were stunned into silence. "We, along with every other Guardian that escaped made our way to shard of the Traveller that had laid dormant in a dense forest and it was there that the shard returned our Light to us, so we could fight back," Dracona said. "From there we travelled across the stars to reunite with our leaders, Zavala, Ikora and Cayde-6." "Once the Vanguard had been reassembled we stole a Cobal ship and snuck into the city, while a small unit led by the Vanguard distracted the Red Legion Dracona and I used a Vex Teleporter to get onto and destroy Ghaul's super weapon that he had aimed at our sun." Asriel added. "After that, all that was left was to confront Ghaul and take back our home." Dracona paused and prepared herself for the big finale. "Ghaul had stolen the Traveller's Light for himself and tried to wield the powers of a Guardian against us," the exo stated. "But we had an ace up our sleeves for I am not just a hunter..." She stopped, nervousness ate away at her but before she could continue, the speakers on the transmitter crackled before a familiar voice came through. "You're an awesome Hunter, am I right?" Cayde-6 said over the commlink. "I'm right aren't I." The sound of the Hunter Vanguard's voice gave Dracona newfound joy and confidence. "Yup, Ghaul didn't even know what hit him!" she said cheerfully. "He was so awestruck by my mastery of the Light that he went down in two hits! I've fought Fallen Vandals tougher than that." "[There you have it folks, Dracona beat the stuffing out of Ghaul and saved the day, why don't you give her a round of applause?" Cayde suggested. The room was silent. Most the ponies didn’t know what to do. “So, you’re Cayde? The guy she has a crush on?” Rainbow asked with a grin. "Rainbow!" Dracona scolded. "The one and only," Cayde replied. "So you're looking after my hunter eh? Has she been behaving?" "Cayde!" Dracona whined. “Eh, don’t ask me. Ask her Changeling.” Rainbow shrugged. “Hey Flutters, Changeling, come say hi to Cayde.” She called across the bakery. “I have a name!” Cidae yelled back as Fluttershy and her trotted across the bakery to join the pegasus and the exo. "Aw you made friends? Great, look I can't stay on the line for long but I borrowed your ship." Cayde said. "...Please don't break it..." Dracona begged. "Relax it'll be fine, got a lock on your coordinates too," Cayde replied. "Should be about a day or so until I touch down so keep yourself safe Dracona." "Will do." she said. With a click, the transmitter fell silent. “Soooo.... You’re here for a day?” Cidae asked cocking her head to the side. “Where are you going to stay?” Fluttershy asked, looking concerned. "I was just going to camp out." Dracona said. "It wouldn't be the first time." Asriel added. “I’m sure somepony would allow you to stay with them.” Fluttershy looked thoughtful. “I would, but I live in a cloud house.” Rainbow shrugged. “And I’m homeless.” Cidae, shrugged too. "I'll just camp out, I saw an empty field outside of town and I don't exactly have any of your currency to pay for stuff." Dracona stated. "I'll store the transmitter away for later," Asriel said. "And I'll see if I can store some of the party food for later too." "Sweets for tea? Awesome," Dracona replied and looked down at her empty plate. "I'm gonna go grab seconds." "Well, I’ll join you. Not like I have anywhere else to go.” Cidae said and grinned at the ghost. "We'd be more than happy to have you join us Cidae." Asriel said as he started transferring the transmitter to his Guardian's inventory. “Thanks!” Cidae chirped. The party eventually wound down, and Cidae, Dracona, and Asriel found themselves heading out of town, but not before assuring Fluttershy and Rainbow that they would be okay. It didn’t take them long to find themselves a nice quiet spot to settle down for the evening. "The tent is set up," Asriel happily stated. "Cidae gets the tent, I'll sleep outside." Dracona stated as she set up a worn and slightly tattered blanket to lay on. "Alright, I'm going to defrag in the bag tonight, will you be alright?" Her Ghost asked. "Yep, you need a blanket or anything Cidae?" the exo asked. “I’ll be fine.” Cidae smiled. “Thanks for the tent. I haven't slept in something in..... I don’t know how long.” The Changeling happily ducked inside the tent. “Ooooooo!” "It's big enough for a group of three Guardians, so you should have plenty of room." Dracona commented and sat down on her blanket. "Well, everything looks fine here. I'll just get started on that defrag," Asriel said as he teleported himself into Dracona's barely noticeable bag. "Goodnight Dracona, love you." "Night Asriel, love you too." His Guardian happily replied. "Aaaand he's offline, good. I swear he worries too much," The exo commented. "Hey Cidae, you tired yet?" “No.” The changeling said from inside the tent. “There’s so much stuff in here!” "Oh yeah, that thing probably still has my crap from Australia." Dracona realized and walked over to the tent. Peeking in, her statement was confirmed with the majority of the interior of the three man tent was stacked with boxes of everything from canned food to bits of weapons and armor and folders bursting with pages upon pages of notes. The exo shifted some things around to make more room for her guest. "There we go, you should have enough space to stretch out," Dracona said and thought of something. "Do you want to know what all this stuff is from?" "Yes! I would love to hear it." Cidae gasped. Unknown by the two of them, Asriel was still awake and in the midst of intergrating the communication array into his own systems. He quietly pondered on the best course of action as he did so. It was clear to him that his selfless, doubt riddled Guardian was going to reveal her true nature to the changeling, they shared a similar history after all but the Ghost wondered if he could alleviate his dear Hunter's fears somehow. The integration completed and Asriel switched on a secure voice channel, one that his Guardian wouldn't hear. "Zavala? I have something The Vanguard needs to hear," Asriel stated. "It's about what happened to us after we defeated Oryx. Just listen closely." "Well it all started, a year or two ago? I can't really keep track of time all that well but anyway, I was like most Guardians and had no memory of my life prior to meeting Asriel, did you know his name actually spelled A-z-r-a-e-l? He changed it after I told him about a story I found tucked away in my belongings about a prince who became an angel to save his kingdom. In the book the name is spelled A-s-r-i-e-l and my Ghost got the spelling officially changed because he said it sounded more like his style," Dracona rambled. "Where was I? Oh yeah, so I had no memory of who I was right? So we went looking, now most exo were built by a company called Clovis Bray, or something. But we scanned what few Golden Age records we had and found out I was created by a small independent research facility in Australia." "We went there and followed a paper trail and a few cryptic messages left by one of the scientists there and we found an underground bunker," Dracona paused and rifled through one of the boxes. "There's a picture in here somewhere." Eventually Dracona pulled out a photo of a run down bunker decorated with bright colours and posters one would normally find in a school or daycare center. "The scientists were taking in orphaned and homeless children en masse and even though the place looks rundown now, from the records we found the kis were actually well cared for and happy," Dracona explained. "As for why a group of researchers were taking on so many children, was because of this-" She flipped the photo over to reveal a highly detailed sketch of a four legged dragon with feather shaped scales, leathery wings and long, curled feathers cascading down its neck with smaller plumage covering its chest and the end of its tail. The dragon's head was facing the viewer, it was missing its left eye and the creatures lower jaw was separated into a pair of tooth filled mandibles with small, pointed tusks on each tip. "This is an Ahamkara or 'Wish Dragon', the lead scientist had managed to contact her and was using the children as a bargaining chip to get the dragon to divulge information as this particular specimen was the equivalent of a person with a mental illness and needed the assistance of others to survive." "All Ahamkara have psionic abilities that manifest as an Aura that they give off, which can bend reality according to their will. A normal Ahamkara cares only for themselves, their possessions and their direct descendants for if a Wish Dragon has no confidence, no sense of self worth then their Aura will feed on that negativity and destroy them." "A selfless Ahamkara is a dead Ahamkara, so the saying goes," Dracona said. "Still with me so far?" “I gotcha.” Cidae nodded. “It looks kinda bird-ish. Not like the dragons around here. Not that I’ve actually seen any of the dragons around here.” "Well it is a wish granting space dragon, so its bound to look different," Dracona said and continued on with the story. "This Ahamkara lived a life of servitude in the hopes of being a part of the everyday happiness that other races find normal as such a concept was a sigh of weakness in her kind and without that joy in helping others, her lack of self confidence would have led to a slow and painful death." "Fortunately Ahamkara have a physical soul that houses their being. They usually live on a separate plane of reality and utilize the strength of their Aura to travel to this plane of reality. With this newfound fact the lead scientist made one final deal with the Ahamkara, in exchange for knowledge, for power the scientist would create a body to house the Ahamkara's soul so she could truly interact with the world around her," Dracona explained. "Do you remember what I was looking for at the start of this?" “Uuuuummm.... No...” Cidae trailed off looking sheepish. "I was looking for my origin, who I was before I became a Guardian," Dracona said and smirked. "I regained my memories when Ghaul attacked the city." Her face fell as she recalled the state of the bunker but quickly regained her composure. "We found out that the Ahamkara had gotten her new body and was working in Russia when the Collapse happened, she died 500 years ago, only to be found by a Ghost and resurrected as a Guardian." "I, O companion mine, am Dracona-3. An Exo, a Hunter, a former Blade Dancer, a Nightstalker and...An Ahamkara," Dracona finished and pointed at the sketch. "That was my original form." "Wait, my best hunter is a dragon?" Cayde asked on Asriel's secured channel. "An Ahamkara in the City, Just how sincere has our Guardian been? How do we know she isn't a threat?" Zavala asked. "I believe it would be best if we all took some time to reflect upon this."Ikora stated. "Al-alright,"Asriel replied as all three Vanguard leaders signed off. "Dracona's not going to like this...." Cidae blinked, absorbing the information. “You’re.... a Wish Dragon in the body of a sapient machine?” "Yup, this was custom made just me!" Dracona replied a bit too quickly, the relief of Cidae not abandoning her evident on her face. "Just don't tell anyone ok? My kind have a bit of a bad reputation." “Like anyone would believe that you’er a dragon.” Cidae giggled. “I like you better this way. I much more prefer machine people over reality warping dragons.” "Back in The Last City, the people would believe me even if I told them I had simply talked with an Ahamkara," Dracona replied seriously. "A long time ago Ahamkara were once lived on the same world as humanity and with egos the size of the sun most of my kind get their entertainment or resources from other races. They cared not for kindness or sympathy and making a deal with perfectly healthy members of my kind results in a high price indeed." "The City did not take kindly to the demands of the Ahamkara and hunted them to extinction. I have no doubt that if I were to reveal myself to those in the City that I care for, I would be banished at best and... Killed at worst." "All Ahamkara possess at least something other races would find valuable, be it knowledge, power or even a chance to change the turn of events, mark my words there would be people that would seek me out for such things," Dracona explained. "It could divide the City and that is the last thing the people need right now." She sighed. "Were it not for Asriel, my fear and despair would have destroyed me a long time ago," she stated and put in an effort to smile. "Sorry, you probably didn't need to hear all of that." Cidae sat down on her haunches and raised her forelegs. “Hug?” Dracona stopped and stared through the small changeling, memories of countless human children asking for same thing flitted through her mind. Her daze lasted for only a second as she pulled Cidae into a hug. "Thanks," she muttered. “You’re welcome.” Cidae grinned. "There is something I've been wondering Cidae, see I have this problem. Once my mission here is done and I return to the City, what am I going to do with you?" Dracona asked. "To give you home is one thing but I'll need to figure out what to put on the paperwork if I want to get us an actual apartment, I can't keep living in my ship anymore with you around." “What;s wrong with living in a ship?” Cidae cocked her head to the side. "Not enough space." Dracona clarified. Cidae raised an eyebrow. “You do see how small I am right?” "I still don't think it would be a good idea, you deserve an actual home," Dracona stated. "So what do we put on the paperwork?" “Ummmmm... Ciadaemorphos. Hiveless Changeling... Don’t really know what else to say.” Cidae’s brow furrowed in thought. "Well, we have few options, I could legally adopt you, list you as my roommate or I could buy the place and be your landlady if you want to have the place to yourself," Dracona suggested. "Which idea do you like best?" “Roommate works for me.” Cidae nodded. "Sounds good to me," the hunter replied with a grin. "It'll be nice sharing a living space with someone again." Dracona deposited the changeling onto the floor and stood up. "It's getting late, I'll let you get some sleep Cidae," she said and walked out of the tent. "Goodnight, sleep well." “Sleep well Dracona, and thanks again for the tent.” Cidae said with a yawn. "No problem." the exo replied and walked over to her blanket.
