Ryuji stood at the bridge of the orbiter as the ship slowly circled around the earth. He had just woken up from a much-needed rest and felt better than he had ever in months. Having had his personal quarters furnished comfortably, he now had his home in the stars as it always had been. And not only that, he felt he weighted about six hundred pounds lighter. Not because he was in space. Because he could now be upfront and honest with the two rulers of the kingdom that he had come to inhabit before he got his orbiter up and running, and they, in turn, would show him the same courtesy. And not only that. He did start to feel a deep bind slowly but gradually start for with Celestia. Her kind words and warmth certainly had a wonderful effect on the tenno. Before he had left the planet, he gave Celestia a communicator he had crafted in his foundry and taught her how to use it. And they seemed to be speaking over it quite a bit. Nearly every morning and every night before they went to bed, they’d talk about their day and asked each other what they’ve been up to. However, the usual time never came. And for some reason, it put Ryuji on edge. And he did not know why.

“Ordis, send a call to Celestia. I don’t know why, but something seems...off today.”

“Contacting Celestia now, Operator.”

The coms made a few beeping sounds as he waited for a pickup. He waited and waited until there was no answer and the coms ended. He didn’t know why, but there was a feeling in his gut that told him to get to Canterlot and quickly. He made his way to the arsenal and inside of Hydroid. He grabs his trusty arca Plasmor shotgun, his akstiletto primes, and of course, his nikana prime, his most valued sword. He makes sure he has plenty of ammunition on hand and a few specter orbs should he need them. Ordis watched Ryuji move around in haste. The cephalon was wondering what had his operator in such a rush.

“Operator? Is something amiss?”

“I don’t know, Ordis. I need you to prep the landing craft though. Something is bothering me about Celestia not answering. Be ready for me to call you should I need a carpet bombing though.”

“Of course, I shall be ready to-DESTROY YOUR ENEMIES- help you in any way possible, Operator.”

The dropship flew from the orbiter at high speed, making its way to the point that Ryuji set it’s destination too. Something told him that he had to get there fast. And from what he could see as he closed in on Canterlot, it wasn’t looking good. He had to act fast. Or else things could get bad for everypony in that city, and possibly Ponyville.

--Late Night Before--

Celestia was sleeping soundly in her bed after a long day of doing her royal duties. She had just gotten done speaking with Ryuji as part of their nightly and daily ritual. She was so very happy to hear his voice before she went to bed. She couldn’t help but feel her heart beat quickly when they spoke together like that. Almost as if she was a filly with a crush on her school sweetheart. She clung to a pillow that rested against her breasts in her arms and nuzzled into it with a goofy grin on her face as she talked in her sleep with a heavy blush on her face.

“Oh, Ryu...you are just the sweetest stallion ever. Of course, I would be happy to…”

She giggled as she slept. Suddenly Luna bursts through the door with a look of worry on her face. She yelled at her sister in worry. Something was clearly going on just down the stairs of Celestia’s tower. The commotion could be heard from Celestia’s room.

“Sister, sister wake up! We are under attack!”

Celestia shot up from her bed in shock as she heard Luna say those words. She was quick to get to her younger sister’s side as guards made their way to surround and protect them both. Ponies wearing a form of armor that was black and dark purple started their way up the stairs trying to fight past the royal guards that were blocking there way. One of the squad leaders that were with the group protecting the princesses started to give orders on getting them to safety. They did as they were told and used one of the many secret passages laid out through the castle to move them to the royal throne room. As they sneaked about, Celestia asked to see if Luna or even any of the guards knew what in all of Equestria was going on.

“Sister, do we know what is going on? The armor those ponies were wearing weren’t of any enemy lands I know of.”

“I don’t know myself...but they have captured the bearers of the elements and are holding them hostage. Where that is we do not know. I remember some of them saying they were part of some kind of cult...a very ancient one. And they believe it is there duties to make sure that the flow of history and future remains unaltered. But why would they-.”

It hit both sisters at the same time. They both knew who these ponies were really after. It looks like the Fates made good on their promise to come after Ryuji, but in more ways than one. The plans must have been to take his new Ponyville friends hostage and now the princesses as well.

“We must not let them obtain us, sister. Should they do so, they will most definitely be waiting for Ryuji to come and find us.”

Luna nodded in agreement. Just as they made it into the throne room, however, company was waiting for them there. A massive group of armored ponies and one heavily armored with a cloak on her back. She was a tall, heavily built mare with plenty of muscle. And the weapon of choice was a two-handed hammer. Her white mane and tail were long and straight, and her crimson eyes stared at the princesses as a wicked smile curled on her muzzle.

“Good evening to you princesses. We had a feeling you’d be coming here.”

After a struggle, the princesses were now bound and their horns rendered useless by anti-magic rings. The ponies threw them to the ground in front of their throne and the larger mare chuckled darkly as she leaned forward with her hammer resting on her shoulder, then she paced back and forth in front of them.

“Now then, once he realizes that you are all in trouble, he will come running. And then I will personally kill him myself and the Fates will reward me and my comrades. Beings like him do not belong in our world. And you of all ponies sanction him? I am quite disappointed in you, Celestia.”

She spoke with a heavy Russian accent. The only place in all of Equestria had ponies with that kind of accents. The Mareland. Celestia’s eyes widen as she made her plan known to wipe Ryuji from existence. She struggled and tried to get to her hooves. Even Luna wasn’t happy to hear about this.

“NO, I won’t let you hurt him you bitch! Don’t you dare lay a hand on him!”

She screamed out as she got to her hooves only to fall back to her knees. She glared up angrily at the grey mare who only laughed at Celestia’s struggle. She reached down and grabbed under her chin to lock eyes with her. A wicked idea passing through her head.

“You seem rather fond of this creature. Perhaps I will slowly torture him in front of you before I deliver the final blow. Or maybe I should just mentally torture him by inflicting pain on you and your sister. After all, our goal isn’t to kill you. Our goal is to kill him. And the Fates have demanded it be a slow and merciless death. So that he can be made an example of.”

Celestia’s glare remained, but tears started to flow down her cheeks as she kept struggling. The fact that she was powerless to do anything to prevent this now tore her up inside. She had made a promise to protect Ryuji. And the fact that she couldn’t do so now was hurting her on the inside. All she could do was hope that by some miracle, he would triumph over this. And she had faith that he would be fine. After all, with his tales that he had been sharing with her of his battles, this shouldn’t be a problem for him.

“You will not prevail...he is stronger than you think he is. I know full well he will destroy you without a second thought. You and your damned cult followers. Your Fates are nothing but little children when their plans are derailed.”

The mare snorted and slapped Celestia across the face as she spoke those words, leaving a large handprint and even drawing blood in the process. That clearly touched a nerve with the large mare. Celestia lets out a cry of pain as she is hit.

“I may not be allowed to kill you, princess. But I will hurt you more than that should you not watch your tongue.”

--Present Time--

Ryuji walks up the main courtyard steps as he scans his surroundings. Right out of the gate, he is met with a small army of the same ponies that had invaded the castle earlier. They all had weapons drawn and pointed directly at Ryuji. One of them shouted out to him as he pulled back on his bow.

“Give up now and your loved ones won’t have to suffer a slow and cruel death! You are our true target! So make it easy on yourself and die with honor, creature! And we will release your Ponyville friends and the princesses!”

Ryuji stood there for a moment and chuckled darkly. He looks up to the sky and begins to speak in a dark tone. Which sat the ponies off a bit and put them on edge. They may know who he is and his weaknesses. But they don’t know what kind of being this tenno is when those he cares about is threatened.

“Ordis, smear their blood on the ground and leave their corpses burning.”

“As you wish, Operator.”

The sound of his dropship roaring through the sky could be heard by many. And as it flew closer missiles flew passed Ryuji and directly into the large crowd of armored ponies. And the armor certainly did not help them at all. A few large explosions couple with the screams and wails of pain could be heard from outside the castle as the guard and invaders continued to fight. Enemies laid they're either completely dead and destroyed or ponies struggling to stay alive with missing limbs and bleeding profusely as they struggled to crawl away from the now approaching warframe. Ryuji drew his akstiletto prime and began finishing off the survivors as he approached the castle and made his way in.

“You are all going to die for this…”

He said as he walked into the castle and began to shoot down all the charging ponies with deadly accuracy.Memories of those he had lost from the orokin, the grineer, the corpus. Those he cared about started fueling his dark murderous intentions. He soon switched to his arca plasmor shotgun which when shot, it released a small compact wave of radiation that vaporized the enemy unfortunate enough to be in its way. The guard only watched on in both awe and horror as they watched the invaders fall so easily to Ryuji’s weapons.Soon enough, he had run out of ammo for his weapons. And just as he finally got into the throne room. There was a few more groups of guards and the larger armored mare waiting for him. He saw both Celestia and Luna were exhausted and had quite a bit of injuries on them. She must have kept her word and inflicted pain on them both. This did not sit well with Ryuji at all. What rage he had now turned into pure hatred for these ponies.

“Ah, the guest of honor has arrived. We knew you’d come eventually. The Fates demand it after all.”

Ryuji drew stopped as the few groups closed in on him. He squeezes his hands into fists and growls in an angered tone. The sight of Celestia and Luna covered in blood and bruises was enough to push his mind into the darkest parts of his mind...where the doppelganger could influence him greatly.

“I am going to make sure you all die slowly for what you have done to them. I will not let you take them from me nor will I let anyone else!”

He drew his sword and charged forth with a rage-filled warcry as he slashed his way through the oncoming troops who caught fire from the burning blade. He then sinks into the ground and forms a large wave of water that swallowed the group next to him and rushed forward, slamming them into the wall that they were flung to. They all watched in shock as he took the form of….water?! They soon had a sword rammed through their chest before they could get up from the sudden drag. Ryuji then turned his attention to another group and threw large heavy orbs of water at them which seem to penetrate through their armor quite well. At least it left them with a great amount of pain. But Ryuji soon made it worse by impaling them with his blade as well.

With all the rest of them out of the way, Ryuji dashed toward the larger mare who was still in shock at the creature’s abilities. Unfortunately for her, that was going to be her downfall as Ryuji moved in quickly and didn’t give her time to react. Ryuji was fueled by rage and anger for what had this enemy had done. And he wasn’t going to let up until she was dead. He moved around her quickly, sliding the tip of his sword under her armor and severing the leather straps that held it in place. The swinging of the large-headed hammer was easy enough to spot coming and was easily dodgeable. After a while, the mare was now vulnerable to his fiery sword which he began to attack using quick cuts and stabs. He danced around her as he attacked the tendon of her legs to get her to drop to her knees, slashing at her back, sides and anywhere he could land a lethal blow. His speed only increased as the resistance decreased from the mare. Soon enough he gave one more final slash before sliding his blade back into its scabbard with a loud click. Blood started gushing out of the larger mare’s body as he eyes widen in pain before she collapses and dies in front of him.

“Fuck your Fates, and fuck their plans. I will kill them to if I have to. You will not take the ones I care about from me. Never.”

Author's Note

Yes, I know, overpowered for a first boss fight. But that's how the warframe is introduced! There will be challenges for Ryuji further in the story. But for now, just enjoy the slaughter :3

May the darkness grant you peace.