Equestria Girls Alter: Warframe

Chapters

Chapter 2: Peace during Strife
Chapter 3: Unexpected
Chapter 4: Progress
Chapter 5: Combat
Chapter 6: Strategy
Chapter 7: Assault
Chapter 8: No Quarter
Chapter 9: Going Home
Chapter 1: Not in Equestria Anymore

Chapter 2: Peace during Strife

First day/ two remaining before way back closes

The slow humming of the ship as it floated in space created a smooth atmosphere as the mane six and Spike slept in the storage bay. There wasn’t any real luxury’s inside the ship, so the group had no choice but to sleep on the floor. Of course they object to this, but Hayden said there wasn’t really anything he can do about it. When they asked about his sleeping situation he said his was unique but not the bed they’re looking for. So after much debate they ended up here.

“*Yawnnn...*” Twilight is the first to wake up as she got off the metal floor sore and cracking in a few places as she tried to readjust her limbs and shake out the general grogginess of sleep. Though mentally she still can’t believe this all happening for real as the day they went through the portal was still unreal, but her and her friend’s transformed bodies are all the proof she needed to tell her that it has happened. Finally getting the last of sleep off from her body she made her way to the door of the storage bay and knocked on it. In response to this, a small hologram of a slightly cracked cube appeared before her.

“Oh? You’re awake already?” Ordis said with a rather surprised voice.

“Yup, is Hayden awake too?” she asked politely.

“The operator is indeed awake but he is currently doing his early morning routine of stretching and mild exercise. He asked me himself thatno one-shall pass!” The cephalon’s erratic speech both worried and intrigued Twilight as the being itself can feel and express emotion.

“Can I explore the ship while I wait for him?”

“Honestly, in most circumstances that would be-stupid as all-unwise. But your mannerism and overall behavior is most welcoming considering-that as-operator can be a bit rude. So, against my better judgment I’ll let you explore the areas that are available to you. If you have any questions don’t be afraid to ask me.”

“Okay, thanks Ordis.”

“It’s no problem…really it isn’t,” Like that the door opened on its own and Twilight found herself in a hallway before finally reaching the cockpit of the ship were they first gathered when they were first rescue by Hayden. However, the first thing that caught Twilight’s eye is the door ahead of her which has strange growths coming from it.

“Umm…Ordis?”

“Yes?”

“What’s in that room with the strange growths?” the former mare asked curiously. Ordis stayed silent for a moment before answering.

“Uhh…sorry I can’t say. But what I can tell you it’s nothing you want to get close to that’s for sure.”

Twilight did get a sense of uneasiness the longer she looked at the door and decided to take Ordis's advice. Taking the upward ramp she found herself in the armory where there are many complicated machinery and tech that far exceeds anything Equestria has developed. Though, the first thing that caught her eye is the warframe that Hayden used standing there in a circular platform acting like some form of center piece to the entire room. She walked up to the suit and began to examine it head to toe as it still looked like someone is wearing it.

“Ah interested about the warframe are we?” Ordis said suddenly earning a small yelp from Twilight.

“Uh…yeah I mean how does this suit work? I remember when he was saving us he got his leg harpooned by some strange creature, but yet he was walking like nothing happened. How does that work? Does the suit have some form of rapid healing?”

“Well to be fair it isn’t a ‘suit’ per say it’s a warframe though I can see where the confusion lies. But, to answer your question, yes the warframe has a healing factor; however, it’s very minor and requires specific orbs to recover from major damage. Another thing to note is that there are a variety of different warframes each specified to a different use. This one, the Excalibur warframe is easy to use. It’s essentially an all-a-round type of frame that is perfect for most combat situations. It’s capable of dashing and slicing targets, blinding all enemies with a set radius, impale all enemies with a set radius, and summon a sword made up of pure void energy that can decimate armies like a hot knife through butter.”

“I see…so can anypony wear these warframes?”

“You’re not very-no only the Tenno can use the warframes.”

“How come?”

“The warframes are used to help direct the Tenno’s power, for you see all Tenno that live today have a connection to the void. What kind of connection I’m not sure, but the warframes themselves have set abilities that can only be invoked by the use of void energy. As for ‘wearing’ them…um…how do I explain this? Er...they don’t at least not in the way you’re thinking.”

“So do they do it?”

“If I remember correctly it has something to do with a phenomena called transference.”

“Transference? Does he just teleport into the warframe?”

“Yes and no…it’s complicated to explain. You should ask the operator for more details when he’s done with his morning routine.”

“Okay…I guess,” Twilight still had questions, but like the cephalon said it’s probably better to let Hayden explain those details for her. Moving on from the warframe she moved into the cockpit area of the ship, where the full view of space lay before her. It was awe-inspiring to say the least to be up here among the stars she observed through a telescope. However, admiring the view can wait as she headed to the computer that Hayden once looked through while Twilight and her friends were messing around in his ship.

“Ah…the database. The operator may not look like it, but he often scans wildlife and enemies in order to study them and develop plans of attack to deal with them. Er…the enemies anyway…”

Twilight gave a confused side glance as she laid her eyes upon the keyboard as it is similar to a typewriter, but it was more futuristic. She attempted to use her newfound fingers to use the interface but more often than not she found herself pressing the wrong button, “Um…a little help?”

“*Sigh* you ponies are quite archaic creatures if you don’t know how to work a simple computer.”

“It’s not like our kind has reach this form of advancement in technology! Honestly, I’m not even sure if anypony is even developing this kind of tech.”

“Savages!-Well you can’t speed up progress…but anyway I can help with the interface. What do you need to know?”

“About this world…I asked Hayden about it yesterday, but he just skimmed the details…”

“I’m guessing it’s because the operator wanted to protect you from the harsh reality of the world we live in. Though, I’m not sure how conflict works where you’re from, but here war is a constant as the Grineer, Corpus, and the Infested factions combat each other for domination of this system. Innocents are often caught in these battles and this is why the Tenno exist, to protect the innocent and destroy evil were it lies. Hayden himself is among the first Tenno to awaken from sleep and start his duty.”

“So the Tenno serve as the protectors’ of this universe hmm…what about...”

“What about, what?” Spoke out a familiar voice as Twilight turned to see Hayden already suited in the Excalibur warframe.

“Oh Hayden! I’m guessing you’re done with your morning routine?”

“Huh, Ordis told you? Yeah, waking up from deep sleep can put a real stiffness in your joints. Well I guess you can relate since you had to sleep in the storage bay after all. Anyway, Ordis was helping you learn more about this crazy insane world we live in. Well, what I can tell you is that besides the Tenno, civilians, and defectors; the three other factions Ordis just told you are just plain bad news.”

“I imagine from what you told us yesterday. The Grineer are terrible beings that serve their queens with no question what’s so ever. The Corpus are greedy monsters that think of nothing but profit, and the Infested were once a weapon used by the Orkin, but backfired and became a threat itself.”

“That sums them up in a nutshell and that’s all you need to know about them. So…are the others awake?”

“No, just me for now. But I would think they’ll be getting up soon.”

“Good, good, because today we’re going information hunting.”

“Umm…how? Sunset hasn’t been here for very long, I doubt anyone in this universe is even aware of her right now.”

“Let’s just say I know a guy who is quick to gather information and sell said information for a decent price.”

“Okay, if your ‘guy’ does have the information like you said where do we find him?”

“Twi, you’re about to see how people live in peace during all this strife. Ordis set coordinates to the nearest relay.”

“Right away operator!”

The engines of the ship roared to life and lurched as it aimed at one direction in the seemingly endless void before suddenly taking off and nearly knocking the two back into the nearest wall. “Ow…”

“Oops…I forgot the countdown again didn’t I?”

“Eeyup…”

Location: Strata Relay

After a few seconds of traveling the ship slowed down as a large space station came into view with multiple ships coming in and out of the structure. Twilight was amazed to see such a building floating out here in the void of space with such commence as well, “Park us Ordis,” Hayden said causally.

“Park your as-affirmative operator.”

Slowly the ship came into the port before leaning back enough to the point of placing the ship vertically and locking to the parking slot where the ship came into an entire stop. Once the entire ship settle Twilight was shocked to see that they’re still standing normally despite the ship being completely vertical. The humanized mare was about to ask some questions, but Hayden quickly walked away and beckoned her to follow him. After some walking, the duo made it to the deployment room as the all too familiar man-shape hole stood before them.

“You know how this works. I’ll be waiting for you on the other side,” With that said Hayden stepped into the indent in the door before it turned and released him in the other side. The door returned for Twilight and like the Tenno before her she stepped inside before the door turned and revealed to her the outside of the parking lot his ship landed into.

“Whoa…” she said with awestruck eyes as she stepped off the man-shaped indent and examined the new environment around her plus the living inhabitants that ran or walked around, “Are those? Tenno as well?”

“Eyup, more and more Tenno wake up every day yah know? But other than Tenno there are some civilians that find work or even live here as a form of sanctuary from the evils outside. But, I can tell you about that later. First I need to introduce you to Darvo and Clem.”

“Darvo and Clem? Are they friends of yours?”

“You can say that. I’ve done Darvo some favors and since then we’re good business partners as for Clem he’s just a nice pile of simple that I couldn’t help but enjoy his presence.”

“They sound like nice people.”

“Well one’s a former Corpus employee that started his own business without harming the universe and the other is a failed Grineer clone that won’t bow down to the queens. Essentially, we’re bunch weirdos that congregated and became friends.”

“Wow, that’s ironic.”

“It is isn’t it? But, it goes to show that not all the guys I meet are trying to kill me.”

Twilight gave a small nod, acknowledging the information, “That’s good to know, so where are they in this…relay you called it?”

“Second floor, door on the left. Just follow me and everything will be quick, c’mon,” Twilight gave another ‘okay’ before the duo took off to meet with Darvo. Along the way Twilight got to see more of the inner environment of the relay. She saw more variations of the warframes the Tenno use and various civilians chatting the day away as they passed through. She herself got a few strange looks, but mostly she was ignored. She was surprised by the large crowd surrounding a strangely dressed man who was handing out strange artifacts in trade for credits and strange currency. Twilight being the curious mare she is asked Hayden who that person was. The Tenno explained that he is Baro’kitteer and he is a void trader. Give him credits and ducats and in return he’ll give you rare items that only he can find.

Walking away from the large mass of Tenno the duo made their way to a large elevator. The two stepped inside and to Twilight’s surprise a thin plate of energy appeared below them and suddenly took them up before stopping shortly at the second floor. The two stepped out and headed toward the door on the left. The door opened to their presence and finally Twilight got to see the two beings Hayden talked about recently. A man dressed in blue and flipping though a advanced notepad took quick notice of them along with an armored Grineer who was just staring out into space.

“Ah, Tenno! It’s good to see you again, and I see you brought a friend,” Darvo said with happy tone in his voice.

“Clem?” was the only thing the Grineer said in addition to Darvo’s notice.

“Hey Darvo, hi Clem, it’s nice to see you both again.”

“Heh, you and your rhyming, so who’s your friend? You’re not the type to bring someone along to my shop.”

Twilight walked up to the merchant and offered a hand, “My name is Twilight Sparkle, I’m a…err…friend of Hayden’s.”

“Clem?” The simpleminded Grineer said while tilting his head with confusion.

“Heh, you’re right Clem. She’s not a very good liar is she?” Darvo said with a small fit of laughter, “But seriously what’s your name and where did you come from?”

“Okay…but you’re not going to believe me,” With a deep breath Twilight continued, “My name IS Twilight Sparkle and I’m a recently crowned princess from another world called Equestria.”

“…”

“I know what you two are thinking, but in all seriousness. She’s telling you the truth and not pulling some form of joke on you,” Hayden clarified.

“I see…huh…well. Hmm…anyway what brings you two here?”

“I’m here on business. You see my friend here is looking for a thief that stole a precious artifact from their world and is hiding out in our world. I was hoping that you may have heard something during your journey to collect more wares.”

“Clem, Clem?”

“Hmm…I may have heard something…but of course like you said this is business. Do you have the funds to buy such information out of me?”

“You know I do pal,” Hayden said pulling out ten thousand credits and handing them over to Darvo.

“Heh, thanks for your patronage Tenno. Now that you mention it, not too long ago a Grineer transport ship was stolen on earth, by who I do not know but a brief transmission from a Grineer claimed it was armorless female Tenno before it was cut off.”

“Female Tenno? Hmm…I doubt it, but if it is Sunset Shimmer then how the hell did she managed to steal a Grineer transport ship?” Hayden asked.

“The heck if I know. You Tenno and you’re crazy powers, but it doesn’t seem like she works for your Lotus.”

“Do you have the location where that transmission was last sent?”

“Er…maybe. Since the ship is on the move I can’t accurately pinpoint its location, but the last sector the broadcast was emitted from was in Earth space.”

“I see…thanks Darvo. We need all the information we can get our hands on.”

“Eeeh…what are friends for huh?”

“Right, see you later Darvo and Clem.”

“Clem!”

“Haha, see you later Tenno.”

With the conversation at an end Hayden and Twilight walked out of the room and made their way to the elevator in order to get back to the ship. The transformed mare herself was quite surprised at the colorful friends Hayden has in those two. Though she herself was relieved that now that they have some sort of lead to go on. However, along the way she can’t help but ask how Hayden met Darvo and Clem.

“So how did you meet those two?” Twilight asked with curiosity.

“Those two? Well Darvo and I go way back, he’s the reason I was able to stay armed when I first woke up from my slumber. He’s a business man for sure, but he’s has a good heart and is willing to help our cause out for a price. Also for the really tough work he can’t do on his own he usually calls me to lend a hand. So you can say our friendship is a beneficial one that works for both of us.”

“What about Clem? He’s a…interesting character.”

“Oh Clem? Heh, Like I mentioned earlier he’s a Grineer clone that wouldn’t bow down to the queens and is also a contractor of Darvo’s. I met him when Darvo asked me to save him from his executors. It’s true that the only things he can say are his own name and Grataka, but he’s a lovable guy with penchant for violence. Heh, you should see him in action, there is no man that I know that can effectively wield dual Gratakas as much as he can.”

“Really? I didn’t get that vibe from him in that room.”

“Yeah, the childlike innocence is one of his charms. He’s a simple man who has simple needs and every once in while I join a job with him just to wreck havoc on all the Grineer and Corpus that get in our way. I guess we simply bonded over our mutual love for creative violence…and explosions. Void…there just something so beautiful about blowing things up,” Hayden said with nostalgic remembrance as he recalled placing explosive rounds into his Hek and watching everything fly in a small explosion.

Twilight gave a nervous chuckle as Hayden’s love for violence honestly scared her a bit as she never knew anypony who was so relax with taking another beings life without having any qualms with it. It’s almost disgusting to be honest, but then again she know nothing about Hayden himself or what he has been through that resulted in him being casual about taking a life. Maybe she should ask him, “So…Hayden.”

The Tenno jumped a bit from his name being called as he was too busy reminiscing the glory days, “Oh err, what? Sorry I was reliving some fun moments of my life.”

“I was just wondering. What’s your story?”

Hearing this question froze the Tenno in place much to Twilight’s surprise, “Oh! Sorry, did I touch a sensitive subject? I didn’t mean to bring back any bad memories!” In the midst of her apologizes Hayden immediately brought a finger to her face telling her to shush.

“It’s alright…it’s just…I have a hard time figuring it out myself.”

“Wait…you don’t know?!”

“I didn’t say that. It’s just…hard to explain. Honestly, there still some pieces of my history I’m not clear about, but when we get back to the ship I’ll explain what I do know and how did I came to learn about my own pieces of history. Because, my history is all the Tenno’s in the universe.”

Meanwhile in the Uranus space zone, Sunset was starting to lose her patience. An entire crew of Grineer under her dominant hand and still they couldn’t find a place where she can hide out for the rest of her days. Although, the knowledge that wearing the crown grants her the use of her magic is a plus as she used some of it to dispose one of the metal men who tried calling for help. Though it seems that these metal beings can understand her, however, she can’t make heads or tails what they were saying.

“(We’re near the Uranus space-zone,)” Whispered a Grineer to another.

“(Start a broadcast, if we’re lucky somebody in the base will hear us.)”

“What are you two whispering about?” Sunset asked with narrow eyes as the two Grineers quickly stood up straight when hearing the voice of their young captor.

“(Uhh…we wanted to listen to the radio?)”

“(We thought some music will help lighten the mood.)”

Though it didn’t look like it, the Grineer themselves are sweating in their armor in complete nervousness. Thankfully, Sunset simply raised a brow, “Well it doesn’t sound like insubordination. But, if you try anything remember what’s waiting for you,” To exemplify her point Sunset created a ball of fire in her hand before tossing it at a nearby wall as it exploded into brilliant explosion that can easily wipe out a small squad. The two Grineer gave two nervous gulps as they both nodded their heads in agreement.

“Good, now only if we can find a place with decent grub around here,” she said before walking off. Not knowing that the Grineer she left behind breathe a sigh of relief before nodding to each other and turning on a broadcast channel.

Deep within the watery depths of Uranus a restless and tireless Grineer researcher infamously known to Tenno as a butcher and a deadly foe, but to his kind a brilliant scientist and the sole hope to his kind’s stability; this is Tyl Regor. His appearance is very distinct from other Grineer as he is taller the usual breed and have navy blue armor with his helmet sporting a handle bar crest with an upside down mask. Body wise it doesn’t look like he as much left that is organic as cybernetic limbs and parts dominate his entire body, “*Sigh*…damn it.” He said calmly as he was experimenting with a Petri-dish with a sample of Grineer D.N.A. his growing frustrations in trying to recreate the formula that created the tube-men has so far have been met with failure. He hated failure; he hated failure almost as much as the Tenno who destroyed his research and the tube-men. They have taken his life more times he was willing to count, but thanks to the power of cloning he can still continue his research. However, he knew it was only a matter of time before his own clones start to degrade.

Another injection of a solution he was working on seemed to stabilize the sample, but he knew better to get his hopes up. As he expected the sample quickly shrank and rotted leaving him with no sample to work on, “ERRRAGGH!!!” Taking out his favorite axe, he quickly brought it down on the failure and destroyed it along with his work station.

The researcher after transferring his frustration on the innocent furniture calmly composed himself before touching a button behind his helmet, “Ragnor, I need a new work bench. Get me one a.s.a.p. alright?”

“(Broke your bench again?)” Called a voice from his inner speaker.

“Indeed I have…”

“(Alright, I’ll order a new one right now.)”

“Thanks.”

“(You’re welcome,)” with that the connection was cut and Tyl Regor was left with nothing but the drawing board. His entire kind depended on him to get this right and ever since the death of one of the queens the pressure was really building up mentally to create more healthy and powerful soldiers.

“Cursed Tenno, cursed Lotus. If they knew what was good for them then they should have never interfered with my research. *Sigh* If only I can remember how I did it the first time, then I’ll be on my way on becoming a hero again. But, for the endless life I have I cannot remember at all! There’s a reason we take notes people, and it’s not just so we can get them torched. I need a clean sample, a clean strand of non-degraded human D.N.A. to work off from in order to jump start my work again. Because the last thing I need is to end up like Vor, and Vay Hek, those narrow minded buffoons wasted plenty of resources just to get rid of the Tenno and their allies. Heh, who am I to talk? By this point I’m simply grasping straws, it’s only a matter of time before the remaining queen decides to cut my funding.”

*Beep, Beep!*

“Hmm? Now what?” An insistent beeping of a broadcasting signal got caught by his communications which means he now has to answer it much to his dismay, “Better not be another stupid advertisement I swear I’ll use the men behind it as my next test subjects,” Clicking the button he was able to listen to the signal and to what he heard caught his attention.

“(Mayday, Mayday!)” The emergency in the Grineer voice that spoke was a bit contradicted by the whispering manner it was told in.

“(We’re a Grineer transport crew and we have been taken over by an armor less female Tenno who is only keeping us alive for her own needs.)”

“(We are currently flying over the Uranus space zone. If anyone can hear us please send help!)”

“Armor less…Tenno?” Tyl Regor could feel a smile spreading underneath his mask as he replayed those words in his head. Saving the Grineer on that transport ship is none of his concern, but the fact there is a Tenno without their armor on that same ship felt like a sign from the void itself. So he decided to answer the pathetic soldiers call, “This is Tyl Regor, I got your call. I will inform the pilots on planet to converge on your location, with me attending the boarding party.”

“(Thank the queens! Tyl Regor himself is coming to save us!)”

“(Thank you sir! We’ll try to keep the ship from moving too far from the planet as we inform the others of your rescue party.)”

“Good, don’t let the Tenno suspect a thing. We’ll want to keep this a surprise for our friend.”

“(Sir yes sir!)” Shortly after saying this, the transmission cut off.

Pressing the button again Tyl Regor connected to the intercom, “Listen up all pilots! We have an overtaken transport ship within our space-zone. Your, fellow Grineer on that ship are prisoners to a Tenno. I need a boarding party stat along with a couple of fighters to help disable the ship, oh and make sure to leave a seat for me, for I’ll be joining you for this mission. Well? Get a move on!” ending his broadcast the Grineer researcher walked over to his ax and pulled it out of the rubble that was once his desk.

“Tenno D.N.A….heh heh ha ha! If there is a god out there then he is smiling on me today! Now…time to get to work.” Picking up his shield and his knux fists, the once down Grineer researcher found a light of hope in that one broadcast as he left the room with a spring in his step.

Back at the ship, after returning from the relay Twilight explained to her friends what she learned from Hayden about the Tenno, “Whoa…so for the longest time he was controlling his armor with his mind? That’s so cool!” Rainbow Dash said with excitement.

“I guess? Honestly, I don’t completely understand it myself. He calls it transference but on how he is able to pull it off is hard for him to explain. He mostly thinks that the void energy in his body is what allows him to pull it off.”

“Uh, void energy? Twilight ah hate to be that mare, but what is that?” Applejack asked with confusion.

A smile grew the violet girl’s face much to the dismay of Rainbow Dash, “I’m glad you asked! According to the only sources I can refer from, which is Hayden and Ordis. Void energy is a source of power that originated in a place simply called the void. Apparently, Hayden was once part of a small group of people sent into the void before an accident gave him and others the power to wield the energies, but the same accident killed many others or transformed them into monsters.”

“Yikes, this sounds like a super hero origin story in my comics,” Spike said before scratching himself behind the ear, “Oooh…that feels good.”

“It would seem, that his ungentlemanly demeanor is not completely unfounded then,” Rarity added.

“I heard that!” Echoed Hayden’s voice from down in the workshop.

Twilight ignored the invading voice and continued, “He remembered fighting tooth and nail to protect those who haven’t activated the void’s power yet. With this in mind I would assume that the power he emits is similar to magic back in Equestria, but far more destructive.”

“So…it’s magic, but at the same time it isn’t? How does that work?” Pinkie said as she scratched the back of her head.

“The energy itself is extremely malleable, but need one of the warframes to change that energy into another form or different use. Without those suits Hayden’s power pallet becomes very limited but useful powers that can be expanded on with further training.”

“You mean if he wears a different suit…then his powers will change fitting the suit itself, right?” Fluttershy said putting the two together.

“Exactly, the reason for this according to Hayden is the warframes act as a form of buffer in order to control the energies and manipulate them. This was apparently necessary for the Tenno in the early years as they didn’t have a good handle on their powers and thus their powers ran rampant until their creation,” Her friends gave thoughtful nods for various reasons, one of them being that they didn’t want to hear any more information before it starts to get boring as they knew that if she keeps going then they’re going to be here forever listening to her.

Thankfully, they didn’t have to listen to her any longer as a new figure stepped into the room surprising everyone, “Alright, I think I have a plan to put us on the hot trail left behind Sunset Shimmer,” Everypony jumped in surprise as a short horned being colored in mostly grey shades appeared before them.

“Whoops, did I scare everyone? Sorry, I just changed warframes specifically for the next part of this mission.”

“Cool, can we come?” Rainbow Dash said hoping that he’ll let her in on the action.

“That depends, how good are you at stealth? Because there’s a reason I changed my Excalibur to the Loki warframe.”

“Stealth? Pfft…I’m known as the fastest flyer in Equestria. I doubt they’ll see me coming.”

“Pride before the fall, but whatever. Anybody else? Because I’m only allowed to bring two more, everybody else will have to play mission control,” The remaining humanized ponies looked at each other and only two raised their hands; Twilight, and Pinkie, “Great…well as incredibly stupid as it is to bring three ponies that just became human yesterday into an important sneaking mission. The Grineer grunts down where we’re going are the runt of the litter, so they shouldn’t be too bad. So…do any of you know how to handle a weapon?”

The response he got was a universal no, “Right…uh…and you’re not the type to kill either…*sigh*…can any of you use your magic?”

“Well Twilight and Rarity are the only ones that can use magic, but…” Pinkie began to trail off as she tried to avoid eye contact with Hayden.

“But…what?”

“Since they got turned into humans I’m not sure if they can use their magic at all!”

“*Sigh*…” Hayden found himself growing ever frustrated as his usual method of dispatching enemies isn’t going to fly with these girls and since magic is off the table this only left the violent Tenno with one choice, “Alright…I heard enough. It’s plain to see that we have to compromise, so those of you who are coming with me on this mission, follow me into the workshop. The rest of you…do whatever you want,” As much as he hated the idea Hayden knew he’ll have to modify his weapons into non-lethal variants of themselves which haven’t existed in the history of his life. But, little did he know that these ponies turned human are chock full of surprises that’ll make his day.

Chapter 3: Unexpected

/
“We’re heading towards the mission area operator,” Ordis stated as Hayden’s landing craft passed through the atmosphere.

“Great, just don’t make too much noise once and this mission will go smoothly,” Hayden said with confidence.

“So…how I always been doing it since your awakening.”

“…Was that sass I hear?”

“Don’t ask st-yes…er…I’ll rectify the problem when I can.”

Hayden only shook his head and laughed mildly to himself at his friend’s behavior. He wouldn’t admit it but Ordis’s odd and quirky personality is always something that brings him a form of happiness in his life. Of course his new quote on quote new ‘friends’ are perplexed by his odd behavior and sudden mood swings. Truthfully that only made Ordis more interesting though his past is a mystery to the Tenno. Speaking of his new friends…

“Alright! Can wait to deal with some of those tin cans!” Rainbow Dash said as she played around with the modified Dex Furis pistols. Hayden mentally cried as he had to rework such pistols to use knock out rounds. They won’t kill anymore, but they will leave the Grineer with such a headache when they wake up. In addition the weapons are silent, so their enemies won’t hear them coming.

“Rainbow Dash be careful with those! Remember we’re just borrowing these weapons, so please don’t break them,” Twilight chided as she adjusted the Dex Sybris on her back. The weapon was once originally modified to pierce multiple targets and eat through armor, but this too had to be changed to suit the ponies non-lethal methods.

“For a friend we must treat their stuff with respect!” Pinkie declared as she wielded the newly made Ogris much to Hayden’s dismay. The energetic girl gave him an ultimatum of letting her borrow either the Hek or the Ogris so the Tenno made the painful decision of letting her use the newly crafted weapon and letting her mod it to suit her tastes.

“My baby…” Hayden cried mentally, but tried to think of the gun he did save from that choice.

“Landing zone incoming get ready everyone!” Ordis exclaimed.

“Alright everyone, do you remember the small tutorial I gave you on those weapons?”

“Yup.”

“As much as I can.”

“I just aim and hold the trigger right?”

“Stealth is going out the window isn’t it?” Hayden mentally groaned as he checked his weapons; Dread, the sinister bow of the stalker, a silenced Lex pistol, and finally a glaive in order to confuse enemies. This set of weapons is as silent as he can get and isn’t something he normally use since most of the time his fellow tenno foregoes stealth and just kill everything that moves. However, the fact the people going along with him on this mission is not tenno gave him some form of hope that this will actually be stealthy for once.

“Drop off point reached, please deploy now,” Ordis stated.

“Alright everyone one at a time…me first,” Hayden said cheekily as he positioned himself on the person shaped indent as it turned around and dropped him off at the designated area leaving the three ponies turned human to line up and do the same. Pinkie was the next one to go as she excitedly jumped into position and shouted in joy as it dropped her off. Rainbow Dash being the daredevil of the three was the next and couldn’t hold her joy as she shouted with a ‘Yahoo!’ when it dropped her off. Twilight being the last in line didn’t know what to expect so she just braced herself for what came next, but nothing could have prepared her for the drop that was waiting her on the other side.

“Wahh!!!” She screamed and panicked as she flailed through the open air before being caught by Hayden and placed on her feet safely without harm although she was still trying to calm her heart after that terrifying surprise. “You just drop eight feet from the air!? How do you even manage to land from that height?!”

“One, shush! Do you want the metal heads to hear us? Two, I do this on a daily basis and also the warframe absorbs the impact from the fall. Three, I knew you girls wouldn’t be able to stick the landing so of course I went first so I can catch you all when you deploy,” Hayden explained with an annoyed undertone.

“Oh…well thanks for being considerate.”

“You’re welcome, now let’s just get this over with,” The tenno pointed to the tunnel up ahead, “The Grineer base where the ship was taken is just through this tunnel. No doubt the tin cans will be on alert since the event so I want you guys to follow what I say and do what I say. If we get into a fire fight I’ll do my best to do aggro control and make sure those guys won’t kill you. Unlike me, you girls aren’t semi-invincible so if you find yourself in trouble do your best to defend yourself, these guys don’t know the meaning of mercy.”

“Right.”

“Meh.”

“Okey dokey!”

“Good now let’s do this as quietly as possible,” Hayden said as he took point, leading the team down the fairly lit tunnel as the overgrowth seemed to boxing them in. After a few minutes Twilight spoke up.

“So this is Earth? It looks all run down…”

“I don’t know too much on the history of the planet but from what I gathered there used to be a civilization here. However, it’s gone now and as of now this place is full of Grineer bases trying to harvest materials from the planet to make their weapons. But as you can plainly see Mother Nature isn’t taking that sitting down and fighting back as the plant growth is slowly overtaking these bases.”

“I see…I wonder what it used to look like?”

“Yeah you can wonder about that all you want but honestly I don’t really care since these guys don’t plan on leaving this planet alone anytime soon,” Silence befell the group as they continue onward noticing the split in the tunnel due to the rock formation, but that wasn’t the problem. The sound of footsteps coming from the right direction gained the groups attention; it would seem that they have company, “Everybody hide, it sounds like…three, four? Five, a five man squad coming our way,” The girls complied and took the other direction and hid behind a few containers. Hayden on the other hand took out his bow and readied it as he took a position. Slowly, he aimed at the line of Grineers heads starting with the man in front and quickly he let go of the arrow causing it to fly quick and true as it decapitated all the Grineer in one go. One by one the bodies fell to the floor lifeless as their heads landed beside them in morbid fashion.

“Clear,” Hayden proclaimed as the ponies turned human walked out of their cover and nearly gagged at the sight of the bodies. The arrow cleanly cut through their necks fast and quietly; they never saw it coming. Blood began to leak out of the open cavities as they passed the bodies; even Pinkie was shocked at the quick display of death laid out for all to see.

“You…decapitated them?” Twilight asked with a mixed of shock and curiosity, “With an arrow…how?”

Hayden showed Twilight the arrow head causing her and the others to be surprised as the head was a curved blade edge, “As you can tell, this ain’t a normal arrow head. This weapon is a copy of the stalker’s own original weapon and I have been on the receiving of these things for a time. As you can see they are meant to cut through targets, but Grineer armor is tough so I had to modify this bow and arrow to fire with much more force so it can cut through them like butter.”

“No kidding” Rainbow Dash said as she touched a body with her foot, “I mean I’m all for taking out bad guys but killing them? Not me…”

“I know…I cannot change my ways but it doesn’t mean you have to change yours. This is why I went through the effort of making the weapons you wield non-lethal…much to my own pain and internal suffering…”

“I guess it’s one of those you do things your way and we do things our way right?”

“Exactly, you knock out your target, and leave to the killing to me. If we’re lucky we won’t have to leave too many bodies behind,” Hayden then sprinted forward quickly catching the girls off guard as they told him to wait up as they ran to catch up with him. The group ran in order to quickly exit the tunnel and save time. It wasn’t long until they reached the exit and with a new challenge in front of them.

“And…we have an outpost,” Hayden dryly as he quickly leap upward and onto a tall tree.

“I’m guessing that means that there are more of those tin cans walking around right?” Rainbow Dash muttered to herself as she readied her guns.

Hayden activated his comm. and linked it to his allies, “Pretty much...” he said surprising them.

“What the? How can I hear you so clearly from up there?” The rainbow hair girl asked in confusion.

“Maybe he has a walkie talkie!”

“Wouldn’t that mean we have walkie talkies as well?” Twilight said straightly, shooting down Pinkie’s theory.

“I’m psychic…no in reality I’m using my comm. device on my warframe to link up to your outfits and talk to you girls. It’s silent to anyone who is not linked up to us so I can talk to you guys without anyone over hearing us. Anyway, I just got a good look of the area and we got about twelve guys roaming the area. Two snipers on upper part of the outpost, and ten riflemen on the ground, we could sneak past the grunts but those snipers will no doubt see us for sure so we need to take them out. I can take out one of them with my arrow but the other one will no doubt start running once the other is dead, so Twilight I need you to sneak in close enough so you can have a clear shot at one of them. There should be a path you can use to sneak by and out of their line of sight.”

“Right, got it. But what does the path look like?”

“The one littered with bushes and logs use them to your advantage and as for the rest of you I need you both to get ready to use your weapons just in case this tactic goes south.”

“Wait you don’t believe Twilight can do it?” Rainbow Dash asked with slight offense.

“Hmm…let see, a bunch of mares turned human given guns and a few minute tutorial on how to use them is going to be already an expert on firing said gun. Now tell me you don’t think that has no chance of going south.”

“Right, right…I see your point sheesh…but at least have some faith in us alright?”

“If I didn’t then you three wouldn’t be here. Twilight, are you in position?”

“I can see the back of the head of one of them from here and I’m pretty close for a good shot, are you ready?”

“Arrow primed and ready, on a count of three…we both fire at the same time, and remember Twilight don’t hesitate…or think about it. Just put your focus on the target and fire.”

“Right…I can do this.”

“One…two…three!” As soon as he said the last number Twilight pulled the trigger on her weapon firing the high impact rubber bullet from the barrel completely silently much to her surprise as the bullet hit the sniper from behind the head with a ‘dink’ noise causing the target to fall forward and hit the railing as it slumped onto the ground unconscious. As for the other sniper Twilight didn’t hear a reaction out her and can only assume that she is decapitated like her fellow Grineer in the tunnel.

The former mare felt her hands trembling as she felt the adrenaline after taking that first shot on an actual living and breathing target. She was taking deep breaths until Hayden cut in, “Nice work, I know you’re trembling right now so stay there and we’ll regroup on your location. Take this time to steady yourself for this is something you’re going to have to get used to from here on out.”

It didn’t take long for Twilight’s friends and Hayden to regroup at her location with the latter finishing off the unconscious Grineer much to the girls’ surprise. The Tenno explained that he might as well kill the Grineer or else she might wake up in the worst of times and pull the alarm on them. Although despite this explanation the girls could only describe the way he straight up murder the unconscious sniper as quick as it was heartless. Hayden can feel their eyes judging him for the action but metaphorically rolled his eyes as he knew this will be a common problem with them.

Having dealt with the snipers the group sneaked passes the rest of the troops as they went through another tunnel that was straight forward and one way. Along the way more Grineer showed up forcing the group to incapacitate them or in Hayden’s case kill them. Unlike the sniper Hayden let the unconscious Grineer live as they continue onward much to the girls confusion. More and more as they headed deeper into the environment and gradually the jungle they were in turned more mechanical as rusted metal walkways, walls, and fans which they had to navigate through. The smell of environmental destruction was strong here making it harder to breath the deeper they went for the girls.

“Ugh…you weren’t kidding about the Grineers mining operations,” Rainbow Dash complained.

“Yeah I don’t think Fluttershy will like these guys very much,” Pinkie added.

“The environment is nothing more than a nuisance to them. They only came here to take what they want and set up a couple of bases. As you can already tell, the environment is paying for it and there isn’t much wildlife as far as I can see. I may have met some friendly Grineer who are not like their brethren, but still…these guys are a deplorable bunch,” Hayden said with a tone of venom in his voice.

“You really hate them don’t you?” Twilight inquired.

The Tenno sighed as he recalled major event’s in his life that involved the Grineer, “I hate everything that tries to kill me. So they aren’t special on my to hate list, but if you are wondering the Orokin and the Sentients are on top of the list. The latter for being annoying and hard to kill, while the former is the source of many problems in my life.”

“…Is that why you don’t have qualms with killing? You simply just lock your heart away and strike without mercy?”

“Not exactly…from what I can remember I was a simple kid before the incident in the void took place. However after it, things changed…I changed…and when the Orokin found us…well that’s when I stopped being a child.”

The girls could hear the anger underlying his voice as he said this out loud, “Okay okay, I get it! You had a troubling childhood and were turned into a killing machine after the incident.”

Hayden took a few deep breaths as he calmed himself, “It’s more complicated than that but…that’s another story all together.”

“That sounds rough...I hope things will turn out better for you,” Rainbow Dash said.

“Thanks…it’s the reason why I keep fighting; hoping that it will eventually end.”

The group returned to silence as they entered a large base with ships coming in and out of it. Of course taking the sneaky route they entered through the air vents. It was a bit cramped but they managed to squeeze through until eventually Hayden kicked down a ground facing vent allowing him to jump down and stretch his limbs as the others came after him albeit less gracefully.

“You girls alright?”

“Fine…” Twilight and Rainbow Dash said simultaneously.

“Wee! Let’s do that again!”

Hayden stifle a chuckle as he turned to face the multiple doors that awaited them, “Well ladies, here we are; the hornets’ nest. From here on out we must be extra careful for one tin can seeing us can set off the entire place and we’ll be up in our necks in metal heads and even I don’t think this frame can protect all of you from that many bullets.”

Twilight, and the others gave a nod in agreement as they ready their weapons, “We just need to find out which direction the transport headed using the data here. Once we do that we just need to get out of here and analyze our findings,” The violet human said.

“Essentially every spy mission I’ve been on. Pinkie, again don’t fire that weapon unless it’s absolutely necessary.”

“Aw…then why give me this weapon? I wanted to show you the new modification I made to it!”

“Don’t remind me…that was supposed to be my baby…”

“Well whatever you planning with it I can happily tell you that you’re going to like what I did to it.”

“If it involves explosions and something spectacular I might forgive you for tearing my new weapon apart.”

Pinkie in response to this slight threat gave a starry eye smile as in hoping for the chance to show her new friend what she did to the powerful launcher. Hayden on the other hand was mentally hoping that there could be a way to reverse the modifications the fluffy haired girl has made so he can have his weapon back.

“Anyway…this is where Loki shines. Stealth is a tool of trade for this frame and trust me when I say this, you’re all probably going to be laughing once you see this thing in action. However, before we can get a move on…Ordis?”

“Yes operator? Can you update our objective? I need to know where the terminals are so we can find the data involving the stolen transport ship.”

“Okay I’ll do a quick scan…scanning….scanning…ah found it!”

“Where is it buddy?”

“I’m putting the terminal locations on your hud right now. Also the girls on the Orbiter are hoping for your safe return.”

“Tell them that they got nothing to worry about. I’ll make sure to bring their friends back safe.”

“Oh good, I’ll relay the message as soon as possible then.”

“Great.”

Hayden ceased his communication with Ordis as he got his weapon ready, “Alright everyone follow me I know where the terminals are.”

“Got it,” They all said.

Taking the middle door the group did their best to avoid conflict as they went with them managing to avoid most of the security in open rooms by knocking out the Grineer that got in their way. The girls themselves were amazed by the warframe’s ability to turn invisible making it easier to deal with some patrols, but this still did not stop the Tenno from killing the troopers much to the girl’s displeasure but on the positive side he didn’t murder the troopers that they knocked out along the way. It wasn’t easy knocking out the troopers but the girls found ways with Twilight taking out the farther more isolated troopers and Rainbow Dash and Pinkie surprising and grabbing passing by Grineer. Normally they would have shouted for help but they were quickly silenced by a quick hard shot from Rainbow’s guns to the head had them counting sheep.

“Hey these guys are easy. I mean how many did we take out already?” The rainbow haired girl said with her usual cocky attitude.

“I think thirteen already if we are not counting the ones Hayden killed,” Twilight responded, “But we shouldn’t get too full of ourselves since Hayden did say that they’re the runt of the litter. So they’re not as big of a threat compared to the higher ups.”

“Well that’s true, but still…these guys are kinda weak.”

“Comparing to the normal personality of their kind. I would guess they’re supposed to be cannon fodder.”

“Whatever…hey Hayden how’s that door coming along?”

“Just one more rotation and…bingo. Okay this room should hold a terminal but there are a butt load of security measures to deal with. So I’ll need you three to stay here while I go and sneak in and steal the data. Do not call attention to yourselves…the last thing we need is a Grineer setting off the alarm.”

“So stay here and make sure no metal head make their way into the area?”

“Yes Rainbow Dash, and feel free to knock them out,” With this said he quickly turned invisible and left the three by themselves.

“So…what do you think?” Rainbow said as she faced the door.

“Think of what?” Pinkie asked curiously.

“Hayden…honestly to me he’s a nice guy and all but when it comes to his enemies he doesn’t hold anything back.”

“Yeah, his methods are…extreme to say the least. But we have to consider what Hayden went through in his life. No doubt he spent a large portion of his life fighting and killing which I wish we can change but it doesn’t seem like that’ll be happening anytime soon,” Twilight said as looked downwards, “The sad thing is he isn’t a bad person, rude yes but bad no. But despite all he had told us about himself I still feel like he’s hiding things from us.”

“Well…he did say this world is filled to the brim with people fighting each other. Maybe there are things we shouldn’t hear about…” Pinkie uncharacteristically said smartly as she cradles the Ogris in her arms.

“He did say that a lot…but c’mon we faced Nightmare Moon, Discord, and Chrysalis’ army. I believe we can handle whatever this world can throw at us,” The colorful haired girl said confidently.

“Actually, we only managed to beat Nightmare Moon. Discord beat us pretty soundly when we first met, it was only through Spike and the letters I sent to Celestia that pulled us through. As for the changeling army, we put up a good fight but they managed to overwhelm us with their sheer numbers,” Twilight corrected.

“Oh yeah! I remember using your tail like a crank and suddenly you where firing off magic bolts like a machine gun!” Pinkie recalled.

“Yeah…I never really knew how that worked in the first place, but speaking of magic I wonder if I can use mines in this world?” Twilight pondered about this question as Pinkie spoke up.

“I can see how it can be a problem. You’re missing your horn! Unicorns and Alicorns use their horns to channel magic so maybe you just need to focus your magic somewhere else,” The cotton candy haired girl said smartly much to her friend’s surprise.

“Somewhere else?”

“Yeah, like your hands or your feet!”

“Or maybe your rifle,” Rainbow Dash added.

“Well…I never really tried it before so maybe it’s worth a shot but I’ll try it when we’re out of here.”

“Sounds like a plan, and maybe Hayden won’t see us as much as a burden if it works. Because honestly, I think he plans on going alone for later missions and leave all of us to sit down and tweedle our newly acquired thumbs.”

“Tempting offer…but I rather not have my guests be bored out of their mind,” A voice interrupted, causing the girls drop their conversation as a familiar horned figure phased back into vision surprising everyone but they managed not to shout.

“Uh…how long were you listening?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“I started at the magic bit. Anyway I got the data and you wouldn’t believe what I found.”

“What, what is it?” Twilight asked urgently.

“I found out a transport ship made an unscheduled departure very recently. According to information found here it was last seen heading towards Uranus space.”

“Well good, then let’s get back to your ship and head there as soon as possible!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed.

“Trust me I fully intend to, but for an entirely different reason.”

“Which is…what?” Pinkie said curiously.

“That entire planet is under the command of the last Grineer I wanted her to run into, Tyl Regor…”

Sunset cursed herself as she should have known those Grineer morons were up to something when she found them. The moment that a squad of ships showed up and surrounded her ship the Grineer she intimated into working for her immediately rebelled. She blew them away when they tried capturing her and nothing remained of them but charred corpses.

“So much for loyalty and fear…” she muttered to herself as she hid behind a bunch of large containers as another patrol of higher ranked Grineer soldiers passed by, “These guys aren’t like the ones I found on that planet I was on. It’s obvious that someone of higher rank is leading them because I haven’t seen these guys so motivated before…”

“Come out come out where ever you are…”

A new voice caught Sunset’s attention as she quietly listened in to it.

“Hmm…she’s playing cat and mouse with us. Cover all the exits! I want her alive so when you see her, don’t aim for any vital areas. I want my new test subject!” The new voice yelled out to his subordinates.

“New test subject? Forget that…” Sunset muttered as she heard the Grineer troops agreeing to the new voice and taking different directions leaving the new voice by himself. She heard him pacing slowly as he continued talking himself.

“So close…I can almost feel my cold metal hands sampling that precious D.N.A. heh heh…if you’re listening Tenno there is no escape! You will be mine!” shortly thereafter the owner of the voice left leaving Sunset plenty of feelings of danger now knowing full well to avoid the owner of that voice. Though she cursed herself for not taking a peek at who it was who planned on using her as a science project. Well that doesn’t matter now she needs to get off this ship and her only hope is the escape pods, but no doubt like that voice said they will be guarded. However, it shouldn’t be a problem with her magic as long as she doesn’t alert everybody on the ship. She may be powerful but not even she is sure that she can take down all these metal soldiers.

“Got to play it smart…like I always has been.”

Coming out of her hiding spot she decided to use the various vents to get around undetected. It was cramped, giving her enough room to crouch. Honestly, she doesn’t know her way around the ship at all, but she had no choice but to wing it if she wanted to escape. So she spent a few minutes wandering through the maze like structure of the vents having a few close calls from some of the troopers pausing and listening for her. She stood still and held her breath each timed this happened until they finally left. Eventually, she felt the need to get out of the vent to check her surroundings and in her eyes it feels like she didn’t even get very far as the corridor she found herself didn’t look too different from others she has been in.

(“Any signs of the tenno yet?”) Spoke a nearby Grineer.

(“None so far, but she’ll need to come this way eventually. She doesn’t have a ship of her own so no doubt she’ll go after the escape pods.”)

Sunset made herself scarce as she took cover behind a nearby crate and peeked over to see two dark blue Grineer troopers scanning the area they’re in while protecting what looks to be an opening that leads into a small pod big enough to fit one person.

“Bingo,” she said to herself as she charged a fireball in her hands. Remembering their position Sunset leaped out of her cover and tossed the blazing ball of heat at one of the Grinner before immediately taking cover again behind a barrel. The two Grineer were taken by surprise by the sudden attack as one of them got blasted by the fireball and knocked to the ground as the other readied his gun as he aimed it near the last position he saw her take. He walked slowly to her position and once he was close enough he took a big step and fired behind the barrel but after a few shots he realized she was not here.

(“What?!”)

“Peek a boo!” Sunset shouted as she suddenly reappeared out of a vent above the Grineer and blasts him backwards as he tripped over the barrel. The armored soldier was disoriented for a moment before it noticed that his armor smelled a bit funny. His eyes widen when he noticed that he has fuel on his body, “You’ll make a nice campfire,” Sunset smiled cruelly as she lit a small fire and tossed it onto the Grineer setting him ablaze as he screamed in pain before eventually dying to the flames. The flamed hair girl took a moment to reflect on her work as she looked back at the barrel and noticed that none of its contents were spilled in the scuffle, but that detail would have to wait as escape was so close.

She made her way to the pod and was about to take a step inside until she heard something flying though the air right at her. Quickly she rolled to the left as an ax crashed into the pod destroying the controls.

“No!” Sunset shouted as she heard metal footsteps coming her way.

“Oh I’m sorry…but I cannot allow you to escape,” Said a well spoken yet cold voice, the same voice that Sunset immediately recognized, “Well well well well well! So this is what a Tenno looks like without their Warframes. Nothing more than a mere child…how insulting.”

Sunset gritted her teeth as the Grineer speaking to her came into view surprising her with how different he looked from the others, no doubt in her mind that this is the leader of the force that attacked her. The Grineer in question walked towards the pod causing her to back away from him as he pulled his ax out of the machinery and turned to face her.

“Who are you?!” she demanded causing the Grineer to laugh lightly at her question.

“You must be really green behind the ears if you don’t know who I am but I will give you the courtesy. I am Tyl Regor a…’scientist’ of the entire Grineer army and you child…are my key to achieving greatness.”

“Fat chance I’m not going to be some tin man’s lab rat!”

“Oh ho oh! Did I say you had a choice in the matter? Oh no…I’m afraid you don’t.”

Sunset hated being talk down to, but she knew just by looking at him that she is outmatched just by looking at his imposing figure. Smartly she decided to turn tail and run getting a sinister laugh from the high ranked Grineer as he made chase after her. Despite the fact that a walking bulk of metal is chasing after her, Tyl Regor turned out to be surprisingly fast as already he was closing the distance on her. Thinking fast she looked around the hall she was running down and saw two Grineer soldiers in the way and not noticing that they were coming their way. Seeing her opportunity she charged a small fireball before calling the two soldiers attention.

“Hey morons!” she taunted as she tossed the fire ball straight at the face of one Grineer as he was turning around causing him to panic as Sunset slid between the legs of the distracted Grineer as she continued to make a break for it hoping that Tyl Regor would stop and help his fellow men. However, much to her shock and horror he simply batted the two out of the way as he continued to chase her not caring what happened to his own men. Never before she has see someone so driven and heartless but she can mull over that later when she finally lose him.

“Ha ha! Yes! It feels so cathartic to have a Tenno running away from me for once!” Shouted Regor as he continued chasing the fire haired girl.

Sunset wanted to retort but it would be a waste of air as the large metal man was getting within arm’s reach of her. But fortune smiled on her today as she saw a decently sized vent closing in front of her and it was leading downward. She didn’t know where it led but it was better than being close to this guy. With another slide she busted through the vent and slid downwards as the vent took her to a lower part of the ship. She can hear the frustrated roar of the high ranked Grineer along with the sound of pounded metal. Sunset smiled devilishly as she knew her luck hasn’t ran out yet. She slid for a few minutes before crashing downward into a new room where the vacuum of space was closer than ever before.

“Where am I now?” she asked herself quietly as she slowly got up and dusted herself off as she looked up only to quickly hide back into cover as she saw numerous Grineer guarding multiple escape pods compared to the single one she saw on the upper floor. But how is she going to deal with all them is a better question, she knew she had to think fast because no doubt Tyl Regor is going to find her if given enough time. “What if I?” she trailed off as she looked at right her hand and focused large amounts of magical power into it. She felt her hand getting warmer and hotter the more she focused her magic into her hand, after putting as much magic as she could into her hand she leap out of cover immediately gaining the attention of all Grineers in the area.

“Here goes nothing!” She shouted as she rammed her fist into the ground causing a large wave of fire to spread around her engulfing and knocking back every Grineer in the area. Cries of pain and agony erupted in the room as all soldiers are now flailing and rolling in a vain attempt to get rid of the fire. Sunset however doesn’t have time to be amazed at her power as she quickly made her way to the nearest escape pod and hopped inside. At first she was taken aback by the controls but noticed a button that said eject and pressed it without hesitation.

Immediately the hatch door leading inside the pod closed and with a sudden lurch Sunset felt the pod detach from the ship and propel itself to the closest planet available; Uranus.

Meanwhile on the ship...

(“Sir! An escape pod has been reported leaving the ship!”)

“Really now? I haven’t noticed…heh heh.”

(“Sir should we intercept?”)

“No…let her go, she’s heading towards our base after all. I want all remaining soldiers to surround her predicted landing zone. That Tenno is not escaping us.”

(“Sir yes sir!”)

Tyl Regor closed communications as he smiled at the sight of the escape pod leaving the ship and heading towards the planet, “Heh heh ha ha…out of the frying pan and into fire.”

It was supposed to be a simple stealth mission and so far everything went according to plan. The girls listen to orders and performed fairly well all things considered, so why? Why are the alarms blazing loudly and they’re running for their lives from untold amounts of armed Grineer soldiers? Well it wasn’t the girls’ fault that’s for sure and how does Hayden know it wasn’t their fault? One simple answer, explosive tip arrows…Hayden forgot to remove the mod from his bow and unfortunately when they were trying to sneak their way out of the base, one of his arrows exploded on his target and alerted every Grineer in the area.

“Waahh!!!” Shouted Twilight as she tried her best to avoid the bullets from the Grineer behind them while trying to keep pace with the others.

“Holy hay! No wonder you wanted us to be careful, there’s practically an army in here!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed as she fired a few side glance shots behind her.

“How are they are not hitting us?” Pinkie asked confused as she skipped along somehow keeping up with the running group, “You would think with all those guns they would be hitting at least one of us.”

Hayden could only grumble in his own head as another bullet shot into his body causing him to grunt in pain, “Gee…it’s like they have recognizable enemy who should be taken out first because he has a history of ruining their plans.”

“Hmm…I wonder who that can be?” Pinkie said innocently earning a look from the constantly pelted Tenno.

“Hayden! You got a plan to get us out of here?” Rainbow Dash asked as she fired more shots behind her actually hitting a few grineer from the blind fire.

“Of course! Ordis is waiting for us at the extraction zone, we just need to get there and we’ll be in the clear.”

“Where’s the extraction zone?”

“It shouldn’t be far, it should be just…” Hayden found himself being cut off as they exited the base and was nearly blinded by the sunlight that poured in. However, what he saw next didn’t help the situation at all. There forcing all of them to a screeching halt was a whole platoon of Grineer already readying their arms.

“Shit!” Hayden thought to himself as there were too many for him to deal with at once. Sure he could just get rid of all of their guns with Loki’s ultimate ability, but he can already see more metal heads coming their way. It didn’t help that his weapons aren’t very good at dealing with crowds. Making his situation worse is that these girls are going to get killed in the crossfire, “Shit! Shit! Shit! What can I do? Loki is not good for this situation! Am I going have to do something incredibly stupid?” He turned to his companions and saw the mixed looks of panic, defiance, and bewilderment.

“Aw, fuck it…” gathering his void energy he activated Loki’s final ability; Radial Disarm. In a quick flash of void light a large circle of the Grineer who surrounded them had their firearms disappear from their hands causing massive confusion among the firing squad, “Pinkie if you’re going to impress me with the modifications, do it now!” Hayden yelled.

“Yippee!” The fluffy haired girl shouted with glee as pull and held the trigger of the ogris slowly charging it up before firing its payload. Much to Hayden’s surprise, the projectile fired didn’t look like the normal iron looking ball of destruction but instead a colorful light blue and pink ball that slammed into the face of the Grineer who failed to dodge out of the way. “Now everyone take cover!” she shouted in response as the ball quickly shook erratically.

Hayden’s eyes widen as he did quickly as she told them to hit the dirt. No less than a few seconds after shaking the orb exploded in a massive pink explosion as confetti, streamers, balloons, cake, and candy scattered in multiple directions pelting and knocking out the remaining Grineer who weren’t already K.O.ed by the initial explosion itself. Shortly the shock wave subsided as the group slowly got up and dusted themselves off.

“So what do you think?” Pinkie said with excitement waiting to hear Hayden’s input on her mods.

The bewildered Tenno simply stared at her momentarily before placing both hands on her shoulders, “Pinkie…you got to show how to do that, for that was the most beautiful explosion I had ever laid my eyes on.”

“I don’t know…the Pinkie instant party surprise isn’t meant to be used as a machine of death. How will I know that you won’t modify it to fit your killer tendencies?”

“Uh…I can give you my word?”

“Not good enough…I want a pinkie promise out of you mister!”

“Oh…well okay.” Hayden then proceeded to stick out his pinkie finger much to Pinkie’s confusion.

“What are you doing?”

“A pinkie promise, this is how we do it here. Why is there another way of doing it?”

“Yes silly! Like this!” Pinkie then began to do a small jig as she ritualistically voice out, “Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye!” She then stopped her jig then pointed to Hayden, “Now you try it!”

The Tenno didn’t know what that embarrassing display was about but he wanted to know the secret of making an explosion like that again, so if he must make a fool of himself to do so then so be it, “Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye!” He said with similar energy to the girl.

“Good, I’ll tell you when I have time and away from prying eyes, but know this mister. Don’t ever break this sacred promise or may Celestia help you should you do!” Pinkie said in a dramatic voice that seemed thunderous.

Suddenly, Hayden felt small to the girl as he looked behind her at her friends who both mouth to him to never break the promise. The Tenno gulped now thinking that he may have been too rash with the agreement.

...few minutes later

After crossing the party fallout, caused by the P.I.P.S. which is the new name of the modified Ogris, the group managed to reach the extraction point without further problem as they were picked up one by one by the landing craft before it shortly shot back into space. Once settled Hayden found himself being berated by the rest of Twilight’s friends for making that stupid mistake that put their lives in danger. But it quickly cooled over as the conversation went more back into the mission.

“So what did four managed to find?” Applejack asked as Hayden inserted the data into a port in the computer.

“Hold on, Ordis?”

“Yes operator?”

“Analyze the data; I need to know where that stolen grineer ship went.”

“Right, here we go…analyzing…analyzing…analyzing…there I found it!”

“Way to go Ordis! Where was that transport ship was heading?”

“It was heading to…oh my…Uranus space,” The cephalon said grimly.

“Oh crap…” Hayden said as he was given a few confused looks from the others.

“What is it? What’s wrong Hayden?” Twilight asked with great concern.

“Uranus is a grineer controlled planet led by Tyl Regor A.K.A. the last person we wanted to find you guys.”

Some of the girls gasped while others simply gave dark looks, “Then we need to go there now! She could be in trouble!” Twilight exclaimed with great worry.

“Sorry Twilight…even if we head there now we don’t know where exactly she is on the planet. Besides there is nothing but bases on that planet; we’re going to need a plan.”

“Your right, then we should scout the area as soon as possible.”

“That I can agree with. Ordis set course to Uranus space we’re going to do some field work.”

“Aye aye operator!”

Hayden ignored that sudden ‘aye aye’ thing Ordis just spouted right now as he took a meditating pose and blocked out all distractions including the chatter of Twilight and her friends. He does this occasionally to gather his mind.

“Well we almost managed to pull it off without alerting the guards…but at least Pinkie’s mods really saved the day there. I don’t think I would be able to stop all of them from firing if I didn’t put my faith in her work. But…I sensed something in the projectile she fired…it felt similar to the void energy I use in the Warframes but at the same time it isn’t. I also felt trace amounts from both Twilight and Rainbow Dash as well but they didn’t exhibit any powers in that mission. I would guess there wasn’t a need at the time but I wouldn’t put it past my gut feeling that this ‘magic’ they told me about is still within them, they just don’t know how to unleash them. Hmmm…I should explore this further for their sakes and my sanity. As for Sunset Shimmer…I never thought I would say this but stay safe you big moron. Out of all the places in the universe to head to you picked the one where the head honcho would take you apart.”

Meanwhile back at the Grineer base...

“What is all this pink stuff all over MY LAND!?!?” Screamed a furious Vay Hek as he scanned the carnage left behind by P.I.P.S.

(“W-We have no idea sir but it tastes sweet and delicious. You should try it!”)

“Really now? Bring me some NOW!” Shouted the Grineer commander as the trooper quickly ran off and gathered a decent amount untainted by the environment before bringing it to Vay Hek. “Now let’s see what all the fuss is about with this ‘sweet’ substance.” Unmasking himself he extended a small thing robotic hand and brought a small sample to his mouth before tasting it.

Nothing could prepare the normally violent and warlike Grineer for the great deliciousness he tasted in his once thought dead taste buds took it in. His eyes widen with surprise as the siren in his body shot out and started blaring as he shouted to the world, “THIS IS THE BEST THING I EVER TASTED!!!”

Chapter 4: Progress

Sunset was having a bad day and in her mind she doesn’t see it getting any better as she walked through the base she found herself in. The girl remembered when she first landed onto this base and had to fight her way into the base as a welcoming party greeted her. She barely managed to kill them all and decided to take one of their weapons. Though she has no experience with using such a weapon or know what it is at all.

“I knew when I took the crown I would be on the run but never did I think I will be chased by a bunch of morons in tin cans. Suddenly being apprehended by royal guards seems like a better choice than being inside a base filled with guys trying to kill me,” Sunset said to herself as she continued to reflect on her situation. A low grumble in her stomach gave away that she is hungry and haven’t eaten in a while, “Oh quiet you.”

With food for thought she started searching some of the lockers she stumbled upon in a desperate attempt to find some packed lunches that will fill her belly in some way. Thankfully, fortune smiled upon her as she found a small metal box that she quickly opens to find some crudely made sandwiches. It wasn’t any sandwich she as ever seen as the ‘bread’ was much darker brown than normal. The main part of sandwich seemed to be made of greens native to the planet she was previously on along with some strange leaves that doesn’t look like it belong anywhere. Her stomach growl again, reminding her that she needed to eat and considering that sandwiches in front of her didn’t look like it will kill her she decided to take the plunge, but stopped when she smelled something odd in the sandwich.

Opening up the food item she found a layer of meat which made her sick to her stomach. Peeling the offending substance off the sandwich she went along and ate the entire meal greedily before moving on and repeating the process with the second sandwich. After swallowing the meal she tossed the container to the side before taking out a thermos out of the same locker and opening it up. She pour out the contents for a second to check what was inside and seeing that it was water she drank it all without hesitation.

“Thank you Celestia…” She said while aware of the irony of what she said. Sunset threw the thermos to the side as she continued exploring the base while trying to remain out of sight as much as possible.

Sometime later after leaving the area, two Grineer troopers walked into the room while conversing with each other, (“Man I hate these cool downs on our alarms. Just an hour of no contact with the intruder and all of a sudden we turn the alarms off and go back to our daily routine. I mean I heard horror stories of Tenno messing with our alarms just to make us lower our guards.”)

(“I know how you feel…and with this one armor-less Tenno in our base along with the appearance Tyl Regor himself is putting everyone on edge.”)

(“Yeah…he really wants that Tenno for his research, so there isn’t much we can do but keep our guard up and hope we come across that Tenno.”)

(“Roger that…huh?”) The second Grineer noticed the metal container and thermos scattered on the floor and bumped his fellow trooper in the shouder, (“Hey pal…is that your lunch scattered across the floor?”)

The first Grineer was confused at first until he looked to where his ally was looking at and began to freak out, (“AH!!! I was saving that for my break! What kind of dead man steals another mans lunch?!”)

(“Maybe somebody who dislikes meat?”) The second Grineer said as he pointed to the two layers of meat lying on the floor.

(“Whoever it is…they will pay! PAY!!!!”)

…elsewhere…

Sunset felt a shiver follow up her spine as she entered a much colder area of the base. As she continued to explore the frigid area she can’t help but feel that someone just swore revenge on her. Then again she can think of a couple of people who would do such a thing.

“There it is…Uranus, home to one infamous Tyl Regor,” Hayden said grimly as he had Ordis stop the ship so the girls can take in the appearance of the planet.

“And current hiding place of Sunset Shimmer,” Rainbow Dash added as she crossed her arms and took in the view of the planet, “Honestly for a place taken over by those metal heads it doesn’t look too bad.”

“Ah’ have to agree with Rainbow Dash on this one as it looks quite pretty,” Applejack said as she scrutinizes the entire planet.

“Well that beauty is skin deep, or rather only on the surface as this entire planet is made up of water with very minimal land masses. Mostly aquatic operations happen here in the many bases that litter the planet though most of them are mining operation as there are rare minerals that can be found here that they use in their weapons and tools,” Hayden explained while mentally worried about Sunset Shimmer as he has been told many times by the head honcho of this planet that he enjoys live dissection. With that in mind he knew they were running on borrowed time and if Tyl Regor got his hands on her then the entire system will be in danger.

“Uh Hayden are you alright?” Spike asked.

“Oh sorry Spike I was processing some things through my brain at the moment, but let’s do what we came here to do. Ordis, let’s run some scans on the planet but let’s do so discreetly…the last thing we want is a bunch of Grineer ships trying to shoot us down,” The cephalon agreed he made the ship flew somewhat closer to the planet before putting the entire ship in orbit.

“We are in orbit operator. I shall scan the planet as requested but I must ask…is there anything specific I’m looking for?”

Hayden began to think back on what Sunset Shimmer was considered among the Grineer. If it’s true then maybe they can find her, “Yes, scan for any Tenno life signs on the planet.”

“I see…I shall add this to my search parameters. I shall inform you of my findings when the scanning is done,” With this said Ordis went silent as he went off scanning the planet.

“Okay Hayden?”

“Yes Twilight?”

“Why did you set the scanner to look for Tenno life signs?” The girl asked with a really confused expression on her face.

“Well it’s just a hunch but if Sunset is able to use her magic then it may be possible that the scanner may pick up on her life signs due to how similar your magic is to Tenno’s control of the void energy. It’s just a hunch but it may work, in addition, after our first mission together I felt traces of your magic going off but it was faint.”

“Wait, are you saying I can still use magic?!”

“Technically yes though it seems a bit altered. So, right now I’m curious because it’s not just you Twilight who is able to use magic, but the rest of your friends are emitting the same strange power. Heck Pinkie over there actually super charged the grenade in the Orgis with magic and in addition to whatever modifications she did to it.”

“Th-That’s amazing! In our world Unicorns are the only one capable of casting spells while Pegasus’s and Earth Ponies have their magic infused into their bodies. But if we’re able to use magic then how are we going to ‘awaken’ it for lack of a better word,” Twilight asked while taking a pondering posture.

“Now for that…that’s where the fun part comes in. You see, I’m going to put all of you through some sparring practice against me so I can get a better feel on your fighting styles and combat ability. Through this I may be able to guess what your magic may have turned into and perhaps I can help you control it from there,” Hayden said with an unseen smirk.

Most of the girls grew excited from this idea except for one as Fluttershy voiced her dislike for violence and of course told Hayden she would pass on that offer, “Right…meek, shy, pacifist I get it but hear me out Fluttershy. If I can help you find out what your power is then you can help support your friends should we get attacked by all sorts of trouble.”

“But do we really have to fight each other? Isn’t there another way?”

“Flutteryshy, Fluttershy, Fluttershy…no there isn’t another way. Only through combat will your body react and respond with your natural defense mechanisms. So in order to find the truth of your power…you must go through a trial…or rather that’s what those Aribiter of Nexus guys keep telling me. In a nutshell you won’t activate your magic by sitting around doing nothing, but of course it won’t matter if I traumatize you in the process, so don’t worry about me overdoing it on you. Besides I’m what you call an expert on this type of thing so you are all in good hands.”

“W-Well…if you say so…”

“Good! Now that everyone agrees to this, who would like to go first?” Hayden asked enthusiastically and unsurprisingly Rainbow Dash volunteered to go first, “Alright go to the simulation room on the ship. It should be down the same path to the storage bay but instead of going straight take a left and go down that hall until you see the last door near the end of the hall. Simply go through that door and wait for me there though it won’t take me long to catch up."

“Okay, but just so you know I can be a bit impatient so you better not make me wait too long,” Rainbow Dash said as she cracked a cocky grin at the Tenno before heading off.

Hayden was about to take his leave as well until he was stopped by Applejack who wanted to warn the Tenno about the former Pegasus, “Ah’ don’t think you need me to tell you this, but watch out for Rainbow Dash’s ego as she can usually back up the things she claims.”

“Well that may be true for her in your world but in my world let’s see how much of that ego she can back up. Also I think I have an equalizer…” Hayden said semi mischievously as he had just the Warframe in mind to spar with Rainbow Dash. The rubbed his hands together in anticipation as it has been a while since he used ‘that’ frame. With nothing else to say he left the group in order to get ready.

“Um…did any of you girls get a bad feeling from him when he said, equalizer?” Applejack said as she adjusted her hat.

“Nah, I’m sure he didn’t mean anything bad by that,” Pinkie said as she made a cheery smile.

“Ah’ sure hope so.”

Rainbow Dash gave a small yawn as she stood in the rather vast yet empty room bored as she took the walk time to get to the room as a chance to see how fast she can run in her new human body, and to her own surprise she can still go pretty fast but she was unsure if she can still pull off the sonic rainboom. The halls are long enough, but it is simply too dangerous to attempt since it may damage the ship and Hayden will probably kill her for that.

“Ugh…what taking him so long?” She complained despite it being just a few minutes since she got there.

As in response to her complaints the door leading to the room opened as a bird like figure walked into the room dressed in colors similar to the sky itself. Seeing this grabbed Rainbow Dash’s attention as she knew this is Hayden but considering that each Warframe she witness showed off different powers she wondered what this one can do specifically.

“Sorry to keep you waiting Rainbow Dash, but I took a moment to get a feel for this Warframe again since it has been a long time before I had to use this thing. It’s like putting on an old suit that you bought and never had a chance to wear. Anyway, this Warframe you’re looking at is named Zephyr. This baby is capable to manipulating winds and creates storms with them, usually in the form of multiple tornadoes.”

Rainbow cringed a bit at the name of the Warframe but decided to ignore the name for the sake of the sparring practice, “Hey that sounds like something a Pegasus is capable of doing. In our world Pegasus are able to move clouds and even stand on them. Heck we actually have a division of Pegasus’s who actually make sure when it’s time to send off a rain cloud or a snow storm. In wider picture we basically run all the weather in Equestria, but just Equestria as we don’t really mess the weather anywhere else.”

“Interesting…then I suppose those powers would put you on equal footing with Zephyr. However, since you haven’t unleashed your magic power yet let’s keep things simple with hand to hand combat, oh and don’t worry; I’ll go easy on you.”

Rainbow Dash smiled at this comment as she likes a challenge, “Hey, that’s my line!” she said jokingly as she took a battle ready stance, “Let’s see what your bird suit can do!”

“Hey don’t let me take the wind out of your sails.”

“You did not just make that joke!”

“I just did…what are you going to do about it?” Hayden taunted as he took his own combat stance.

“Well don’t blame me for what happens next,” Rainbow Dash smiled as she quickly ran up to the Tenno to deliver a swiping kick to Hayden’s head but found her attack stopped in its tracks as Hayden blocked it effortlessly with his right arm, “What the?!”

“Why are you surprised? It’s not like you had any actual combat training before you met me. Even if you did I doubt it would carry over into your human body,” After saying this he immediately grabbed her leg with the opposite hand and picking her up by the same leg.

“What the hay?! You’re picking me up by one arm!”

“Funny thing, this isn’t even the physically strongest frame. Drill that into your noggin as we continue this session,” Hayden said as he tossed the girl a foot away from him causing her to land on her back.

Rainbow Dash got up from the throw and went back into her stance, “Alright then…time for a different strategy.”

“Oh please do…I would like to see what the great Rainbow Dash is capable of doing when she actually has to plan for once.”

“Are you insulting me?!”

“Maybe…”

“That’s it, time to put you on your flank!” Rainbow ran in to deliver a quick punch but instead of making contact with Hayden she instead found herself seeing the ceiling as the floor and the floor as the ceiling before landing hard on her back again, “Ow…”

“Alright, I think I know what to do with you…”

“Ugh…what are you talking about?!”

“Basically I already see the problems with you fighting style. You’re quick to rush in and strike your opponent in full force without having a thought for a follow up. Another, is your head strong brashness which leads you believe that you can take any opponent down without thinking of a strategy or plan of attack.”

“Says the guy who forgot to remove his explosive arrows,” Rainbow Dash reminded the Tenno as she got up from the floor.

“That’s beside the point, and finally to top it off your susceptible to taunts and insults. You wouldn’t believe how many times my enemies sling insults and taunts in order to get under my skin, yet I didn’t let it get to me. Mostly…”

“Okay, but what does that have to do with my hidden magic?”

“Simply really, like your pride, your powers are too proud to manifest themselves as they believe you’re not worthy,” Hayden said while trying to be cryptic.

“What?! My powers believe I’m not worthy? Now I know you’re making stuff up!”

“Alright alright you got me, in actuality all you need to do is tap into your power like I how tap into the void.”

“So how do YOU tap into the void?”

“Discpline and focus.”

The girl stared at Hayden with a ‘are you kidding me?’ look showing the Tenno her impatience. Hayden sighed as he knew that this girl is going to take some time but has potential in the end. His end goal for her today is to at least help her manifest the basic power from her body. With some luck and perhaps a lot of effort he can make her into a warrior yet, but when he think backs to her friends he can only wonder how long it’s going to take him to properly train these girls since he has no prior teaching experience and instead have bet taught by multiple people so far in his life.

“However, since you’re a woman of action we’re going to make this a trial by fire. So this time I’m going to attack you and your job is to survive at least five minutes. Do that and I’ll end this training session early, but fail then we will do it over again until you will be unable to walk, Understand?”

“Oh I see where this is going...you’re going to put me under pressure until I somehow unleash my power right?”

“You said it, not me. But as all training go’s…” Hayden put both of his hands behind him as wind that came out of nowhere began to pick up behind him, “It starts now!” The Tenno released the wind behind him launching him forward and flying through the air at high speeds much to Rainbow Dash’s surprise as she quickly rolled to the side as Hayden zoomed past her.

“Holy hay that was fast!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed as the Tenno suddenly flipped through the air and propelled himself straight at the girl again.

“Focus Rainbow Dash…” Hayden said simply as he took the girl by surprise as he kicked her to the ground while still remaining in the air.

“Argh…dang it!” Shouted the girl as she got on her feet before ducking immediately to avoid another strike from Hayden. “So this is what it’s like to be on the receiving end of my flying. Now I understand why ponies avoid trying to get into a fight with me.”

The training session continued to be one sided as Rainbow continued to avoid Hayden’s vicious assault but only by a small margin as she was nicked or kicked to the ground ever so often. Thankfully the five minutes are almost up but Rainbow didn’t want it to end until she got at least a hit in on the speeding Tenno. It was hard to get a handle on him but Rainbow notice that Hayden this whole time has been creating an artificial wind to propel himself at her. To create artificial wind in her world Pegasus’s would flap their wings to create a breeze or a decent wind to blow away clouds.

“The flapping of wings…” Rainbow Dash slowly repeated to herself as she focused on the image of the wings of a Pegasus. She kept repeating this sentence like some sort of mantra as she felt something release inside of her. After this Rainbow stood up as Hayden made another beeline for her, but unlike all the other times; this time she is ready.

“What’s the matter Rainbow Dash? Have you finally figured out how to hit me?” Hayden semi-taunted as he closed in on her, but as he got closer he noticed something different with Rainbow Dash. The first thing he noticed that she was muttering something to herself that he couldn’t quite catch at the speed he was going, but the second thing is the cyan blue outline of energy that popped out of her back in the shape of feathered wings. As he got closer the wings opened up and created a large gust of wind that propel Rainbow Dash out of his path. This of course took the Tenno by surprise as he landed on the wall and stuck to it in order to find his target.

He made a quick scan of the room but failed to notice the rainbow blur coming his way. He didn’t have enough time to react as he was kicked off the wall by Rainbow Dash and sent tumbling towards the ground as the girl landed on the wall and jumped off of it and onto the ground quietly. Hayden groggily got up from the ground as the proud girl stood over him triumphantly.

“Yes! I actually got a hit on you!” she shouted in victory.

“Yeah, and you took me by surprise too. I had a feeling that you would be able to use Zephyr’s first ability if I push you hard enough, but what I didn’t expect was the speed of your propulsion. That and the outline of energy that came out of your back, but that’s not important right now. What is important is that you managed to invoke your first ability. This is a step in the right direction for you and me since now I have proof that the magic in your body is copying the Warframes abilities. In your case you’re copying Zephyr’s abilities and with further training you can most likely unlock all the moves but that still some time from now. In the meantime you managed to survive the five minutes and hit me, so that means your training is done for today.”

“Great! So who’s next on your list for training?”

“The next will be your friend Twilight, after her is Pinkie then the rest I will go down a from strongest to weakest in my eyes.”

“Really now? Strongest to weakest you say? Heh, good luck pal,” Rainbow said as she finally left the room leaving Hayden to think of the next training session for Twilight.

“Things are not going my way,” Sunset whispered to herself as she continued to hide behind a large machine. The rouge girl was trying to find a nice place to relax and take a breather but had to hide behind some machine when she heard Tyl Regor’s voice coming down one of the halls. There are many things on Sunset’s to do list but to be caught is not one of them so she quickly looked around for a way to get out of the area she is in unnoticed. It wasn’t that hard for her as many machines littered the area so she can hide behind those when they’re not looking but she had to be careful of the puddles since if she accidentally steps in one too loudly it would no doubt catch Tyl Regor’s attention and his associates. With this in mind, she sprang into action hiding behind various Grineer machinery while the group hunting for her patrolled the area. The tech weird her out as she never saw any of it in Equestria before but tried not to let it bother her as she continue onward.

However, her luck ran out when she stumbled upon a large tank of what she presumed to be water. Curiosity took her as she glanced at the glass, seeing some sort of machinery moving inside doing who knows what. She took a closer look and was shocked to see only the head of a Grineer that’s part of the machinery. She made a yelp and fell backwards landing on the metallic floor with a small thud. Unfortunately, the nearest Grineer in the area heard her yelp and already immediately alerted the others. This forced her to run like crazy as multiple Grineer chased her down with Tyl Regor in the back shouting at her.

“Dang it, dang it, dang it! Things are really not going my way!” she shouted as multiple Grineer started firing on her.

“Aim for the legs! I need her alive for my research to be fruitful!” Hearing this made Sunset panic even further as bullets came flying after her. Knowing that she needed to fight back she charged a fireball in her hand and threw it behind her in hopes that it will slow them down. Thankfully it hit one of the Grineer chasing her and exploded; taking out the Grineer next to him. However, this left Tyl Regor who seem entirely unfazed by the explosion, “Not this time!” he shouted at her as he threw his ax at her which eerily mirrored their first encounter and missed her barely again ,but this time it hit the control panel ahead of her and set all the alarms a blazing with no way to shut it off. “Heh heh ha ha ha!!!” The Grineer researcher laugh an insidious laugh that unnerved Sunset and giving her the motivation to run faster.

They both eventually passed the control panel with Tyl Regor reclaiming his ax while running. Sunset knew she had to find a way to escape him and fast since she herself is running out of breath while the metal man behind her is shorting the gap steadily. What really didn’t help matters was a group of Grineer gunners and troopers showed up and started firing on her. This forced her to take another path to the right to avoid being filled with holes. With things escalating the way they are Sunset would have rather deal with Twilight Sparkle, any of her friends, heck even Celestia and Luna combined than these guys.

“Take her down!” Tyl Regor shouted to someone that she couldn’t see but didn’t care as she ran through another door and found herself in a larger room with a large body of water in the middle of it all. However, she didn’t get time to take in the room as the door behind her suddenly closed and locked along with the other doors in the room.

“No no no no no!” Out of the frying pan and into the fire Sunset now found herself locked in the room with no way to escape. Desperately, she looked around for a way out but found nothing as the sealed nature of the base prevented her from finding any openings big enough to crawl into. Suddenly a loud noise assaulted her ears as the voice of the man she was avoiding started speaking.

*Caught you now Tenno. As you can plainly see there is no escape for you as we have sealed off all exits. Now just sit there as my men ahem ‘escorts’ you to my office for experimentation.*

Being proud of course Sunset would not go quietly, “No way! I’ve gone through too much and too far to be turn into some walking trash can’s science project!”

*Oh ho! Again you think you have a choice, but alas I must repeat myself…you do not have a choice in the matter…* Regor said lowly.

As if on cue Sunset felt something ran past her but when she turned around nothing was there. This put her on edge as another pair of footsteps ran past her or was it the same footsteps as she couldn’t tell. This continued to happen until suddenly something hit the poor girl on her head hard; knocking her out instantly and causing her to fall to floor motionless. The being that knocked her out looked over her with erratic movements that seem animal-like.

*Good work...now bring her to my lab I want to make sure she’s awake before I can get started.*

The strange being covered in his fellow Grineer masks gave a quick nod of approval as several more of his kind appeared and picked up her body; carrying her to what might be her final destination.

Meanwhile, on the other side with Tyl Regor, the Grineer were celebrating their victory over the assumed Tenno that invaded their base. Regor himself was extremely ecstatic as now he is now one step closer to achieving his goal once again. Though he also aware that no doubt that The Lotus will notice that one of her ‘children’ will be missing so he’ll have to be prepared for any other Tenno that’ll come his way, so he’ll have to do his research fast while putting up the heaviest defense possible to ward off all kinds of attackers.

“Yes yes I know we won against this Tenno but everyone I want you to be on guard. That accursed Lotus is going to figure eventually that we have one of her own. So I want the best defense set up as soon as possible. In addition call up The Gustrag Three I need the best to protect this base and my research because when I find out how to add that Tenno’s D.N.A. to our own we will become an unstoppable force that will propel the Grineer Empire to its true glory!”

All the Grineer in the area shouted with thunderous applause as the thought of becoming stronger and perhaps less ugly motivated them greatly as they all ran off to do what Tyl Regor said and more.

Meanwhile back at the orbiter. Hayden’s training took longer for the other girls as part of it was answering the question why he was in an obviously female form much to their confusion. The Tenno had to explain to Twilight, Pinkie, and Rarity that his transference allows him to use these frames regardless of gender as he put it in words that Pinkie can understand ‘it makes me like a ghost that possess certain things’.

He trained Twilight with the Nyx warframe as he felt the two are similar in some way; it took some time but he managed to help her unlock her first two abilities which are the same as the warframe much to his surprise. Pinkie took a lot of his time as he couldn’t tell if she already unlocked some abilities already as she managed to confound him more times than he liked even when he was using the Mirage warframe which was meant to confuse his opponents. Applejack, he felt that girl is pack fill with raw physical power so he used the Rhino warframe to train her. She struggle the most in invoking her magic since the first ability of Rhino is the charge which in a normal situation required energy to propel the user forward before stopping them with surprisingly excellent brakes. She eventually got it down and actually got into a pushing contest with Hayden which was fun in his eyes. Rarity he wasn’t expecting much due to her fashion minded nature and knack for identifying precious gems as she explained to him. For her it was tricky to find an appropriate frame to train her with but decided to use the Mag Warframe to train her and surprisingly it worked as she discovered the ability to pull object toward her with great force and stop them before they can hit her as she practiced on the Tenno.

With them done that only left the pacifist of the group Fluttershy left to be trained. She reluctantly decided to join him. Having since agreed to not do anything too violent in their training Hayden figured that her magic may have been altered to be more supportive. With this in mind he used the Trinity Warframe for this training exercise, “Alright Fluttershy you’re the last one for today. Also before you ask yes I’m aware I’m talking from a female body, so if you want an answer its best to get it from your friends as I do not have the patience to explain again for the fourth time, anyway…onto training. So far I was able to correctly guess what each of your friends’ magic has copied into in my universe. I’m going to assume I did the same with you so let me lay down the basics. Trinity here is a supportive Warframe that support her allies through the toughest of fights. Her first ability is ‘Well of Life’ which turns an enemy target into a healing punching bag.”

“I-I’m not sure I like the sound of that,” She said nervously while still being mentally confused by Hayden’s ability to be gender fluid.

“Oh don’t worry about it, you’re not hurting anyone. You’re just painting a bull’s eye on their back that’s all.”

“Okay then…but how do you do it?”

“Simple really or rather for me it is. I usually point my arm at the enemy target of my choosing and expend some energy to turn them into a piñata of healing. Here let me show you,” Hayden pointed his arm straight at Fluttershy which caused her to close her eyes in panic as she did not know how it’s going to work on her but too her surprise no pain came to her. Slowly the nervous girl opened her eyes and found herself glowing in a rather pleasant green light, “See? No pain.”

“I…don’t feel any different…” Fluttershy said as she looked over herself.

“That’s because I targeted you as an enemy and because of that you are surrounded in a green light which tells allies that the enemy is a pool of healing ready for them to use, so if anyone were to hit you or hurt you right now then they will be healed part of the damage done to your body. The ability can wear off after some time has passed so make sure to inform allies you did that. Anyway, it’s time for you to try, just remember what I told you and if you managed to make me into a Spring of Life then we can move on to a more basic lesson. You’ll know it worked if you managed to coat me in a green light so keep that in mind,” Hayden took some steps forward before taking a meditating stance and floated in place.

“Okay…just point your hand at you target and release your power right?” Fluttershy mimicked the presentation Hayden showed her earlier and tried to release a flow of magic into Hayden but nothing happened to the Tenno as no green lights surrounded him or his body. This disappointed the girl but she remains determined to try again, “Alright…again!” she repeated her action again with the same results happening from the first attempt. She continued to repeat this process of failure until suddenly she felt some force of magic shoot out a bit from her hands in her latest attempt. While it didn’t make Hayden glow like she wanted it‘s still is progress and she was happy to know that she is improving with each attempt.

Four more shots of magic later and finally on the last shot a light green magic ball shot out of her hand and into Hayden. She saw how the ball of magic harmlessly went into the Tenno’s body which in turn suddenly broke him from his meditation as he fell onto the floor with a thud and covered in green light, “Whoa what happened?! I was meditating for so long I actually fell asleep.”

“I did it! I managed to turn you into a Well of Life!” Fluttershy celebrated as she ran up to the Tenno to help pick him up off the ground.

“Hey you did it! And I didn’t actually have to do anything that time!”

Hayden decided to wrap the lesson up for today as he saw it has been a long training day and no doubt the girls needed time to get used to their powers. Fortunately he ended the training session with good timing as Ordis called Hayden and informed him that they have scanned the entire planet and is waiting for him to come to the cockpit to share his results. Hayden did so with Fluttershy running off ahead giving the somewhat tired Tenno time to switch frames and go back to Excalibur as the girls was waiting for him.

“Finally!-Good to see you again operator I can assume the training went well?”

“Pretty much as basics go but let’s cut to the chase. What have you found Ordis?”

“Right, I’ll bring it up on the screen,” Ordis brought up a large flat digital screen which showed a the planet before zooming in on the planet enough to see multiple bases with one large one in the center being the main point of focus, “It was a long scan time operator but during one of my orbits I picked up on an energy signature coming from this base in the center of the screen. Though the energy dispersed is faint I picked up enough to tell you while similar the energy is not Tenno in origin. I would assume the person you’re looking for is emitting such energy?”

“Indeed she is Ordis and I’m going to take wild guess and say that Sunset Shimmer is inside Tyl Regor’s base?”

“You would be guessing correctly operator,” Collective gasps came from the girls which annoyed Hayden to some degree.

“Shit” Hayden cursed mentally as he knew Tyl Regor is smart man and as such is already cornering the poor thief in his base, “Alrighty then…Prepare the landing craft. I’m going in…”

*Splash*

“What?! Huh?! Where am I?!” Shouted Sunset Shimmer as she forcibly awoken by a large body of water splashing into her face along with the noise of a bucket hitting the floor.

“Well Well finally awake are we? Good…it’s more fun when they’re awake,” Spoke Tyl Regor’s voice which caused the girl to panic and try to move but quickly found out that she is unable to move due to being restrained to a table. However, this didn’t stop the desperate girl from struggling against her bonds, “Struggle all you want but you won’t be getting out of those bonds anytime soon.”

“What are you planning to do to me!?!” She screamed at her captor which earned a small fit of laughter from the Grineer.

“Oh don’t worry…I’m not going to kill you…I’m just going to borrow some D.N.A. and for me to do that I must keep you alive as long as possible. However…that doesn’t mean my methods are painless…” The Grineer said as he brought up a large cleaver to scare the poor girl. “You know…I always learn a lot from live dissection…heh heh heh,” Sunset couldn’t help but scream for help as the maniacal Grineer started laughing at her fear and despair.

Chapter 5: Combat

Location: Uranus (Titania)

*Splash*

“Operator…I read multiple grinner forces inhabiting the base. More than normal…this worries me operator…”

“Tyl Regor is amassing his forces to protect his prize. No doubt he’s bringing out the big guns to stop anybody from interrupting his research. I’m going to have to expect the worse as I make my way through the base looking for Sunset Shimmer.”

“They have an arm-umbers don’t mean a thing to you operator but I suggest exercising caution as they can still overwhelm you.”

“Got it, do you have a reading where Sunset may be in the base?”

“She’s in Regor’s lab which is deep inside the base; I have also set up a marker on your radar so you don’t get lost.”

“Thanks, starting mission now,” The Tenno closed off communications for now as he glided through the ocean waters with the help of his arch wing Odatta. His mind is focused on the task at hand as now things have taken a dangerous turn now that Regor has Sunset in his labs. The girls wanted to help him on this mission, but he told them they can’t as it will be very dangerous. Despite being a researcher and a scientist, Regor is a violent man and has been known to resort to desperate tactics just to kill his opponents. Hayden has fought the Grineer before and won but it wasn’t an easy fight as his skills with his ax and shield easily matched and in some cases over powered the Tenno in some clashes.

Knowing things are going to get chaotic once he steps into that base Hayden made sure to dress his best and arm himself accordingly. He brought the Hek, the Talons, and the Nikana in order to hit hard while keeping his mobility, and in addition he went with his Excalibur Warframe as its abilities can get him out of a pinch. As for mission objectives his only one is to rescue Sunset Shimmer and if he has to, destroy all of Regor’s research again as her D.N.A. will really send his progress forward by leaps and bounds; he knows that and so does Regor which means he have to work fast or else.

“If these girls’ magic powers have been converted into abilities similar to the warframes…that would mean the new clones created will share those properties. I got to move fast but I can’t put the entire base in an uproar or else I’m going to be tossed around like salad,” The Tenno thought to himself as suddenly his comns went up again.

“Why hello Tenno…I was expecting you to come.”

“Regor…”

“No doubt you’re here to save your ally but I wonder how long that’s going to take? As you know Tenno I’m a very busy man and right now I’m already working with a test subject as we speak,” Tyl Regor said with his usual calm yet disturbing tone of voice.

“AAAHHH!!!” Screamed a voice in the background which put Hayden on edge.

“Ah such a healthy scream…how I longed to have one of your own at my mercy. I guess dreams do come true after all heh heh heh ha ha!”

“You’re not getting away with this! I’m going to stop you and destroy your research like I did before.”

“Oh Tenno…I’ve learned from my last mistakes and of course I already developed countermeasures…right now I have already discovered many interesting things in this single skin sample I have procured already from your fellow Tenno.”

Hearing this angered Hayden as he promised the girls to bring their thief back in alive, “You kill her and I’ll…”

“Ha! You really think I’m going to kill off such a rare specimen just to spite you? No…she is far too valuable to die, but don’t worry I’ll make sure she gets a taste of my hospitality,” The tone in his voice gave Hayden the hint of what is in store for Sunset as the Grineer cut off the communications leaving the Tenno even more reason to hurry as he breached the surface and landed on a nearby platform. Time is of the essence and currently the clock is counting down.

Wasting no time Hayden starting sprinting through the first door he saw and already two Grinneer infantrymen barred his way, but they were caught off guard as they didn’t expect to see a Tenno running straight at them out of nowhere. Using this to his advantage, Hayden pulled out two of the Talon explosives and planted them straight in their faces as he ran passed them. The two soldiers looked around in panic and confusion before the small explosives detonated and blew off their faces completely.

Normally explosions excited the Tenno, but he ignored the carnage and moved onward as this is merely the beginning of the threats he’ll be facing.

“Yes…yes! The D.N.A. is merging with sample perfectly…the melding is happening much faster than my normal formula. Yes…with this I will be able to make a stronger army beyond my imaginative threshold,” Tyl Regor said out loud as his sample of Grineer flesh grew healthier in appearance.

“Ergh…ah…why are you doing this?” Sunset asked with pain as she was still reeling from having a piece of her skin on her right arm be surgically cut off. Thankfully Tyl Regor hold true to his word and bandaged up the wound after disinfecting it so she wouldn’t get an infection and die.

“Ah my dear…have you ever felt like you are supposed to serve a greater purpose then rot with the muck of mediocrity?” Tyl Regor asked as he continued experimenting with his sample of her skin. Sunset was about to say something but the words got caught in her throat as she too shares this feeling but she didn’t want to admit it to the metal monster using her as lab rat, “Of course not…you’re Tenno. All about honor and saving the innocent but nothing more…the problem with you Tenno is that you lack ambition and the drive to move you forward in life. Not that you had any to begin with as you all listen to the beck and call of The Lotus.”

Sunset remain silent as the metal man looked back to her with what she presumed with contempt as his masked face made it hard to see what emotion he was expressing. However, his voice made it clear that he that he was between neutral and livid.

“Ah but that is hypocritical of me to say isn’t it? I mean I serve the Queens with the purpose of strengthening our army with healthy soldiers so we can conquer this system and beyond. However, this role I play aligns with my passion of seeing how everything works on everything living. Truthfully Tenno…I am a curious mind who envies those superior to me, so instead of wallowing in the shadows of those greater than me I instead improvise and conquer them so only I may stay on top. Being called a hero to my people and having my name written in the history books is secondary compared to the satisfaction I get from doing it all. I hate to admit it little Tenno, I was at my lowest point until you fell into my radar and of course like any good opportunist I leapt at the chance to regain everything I lost and gain so much more.”

Sunset rolled her eyes as Regor continued talk on and on with his monologue. Being strapped to an operating table and having a piece of her skin removed was bad enough already but hearing this guy drone on with his own life story was just making her already horrible day agonizing. In addition to this she lost the Element of Magic to the same guy as she saw the tiara holding the magical artifact across from her on a desk.

“Oh yes…I nearly forgot. One of your fellow Tenno has stormed my base and as we speak on his way to rescue you. I bet that fills you with hope doesn’t it? Well I suggest you don’t get your hopes up. I have prepared myself this time so even if he does succeed in rescuing you I won’t lose anything from his victory, and considering how smoothly my research is going along…I believe it’s time to for this new discovery to bear fruit.”

Hearing this didn’t help Sunset’s feeling of dread as she heard it multiple times from this manic that he planned to use her D.N.A. to make an improved ‘Tube Man’ as he like to called it. It sounds stupid when it passed through her ears but it must be dangerous if he’s so excited about it.

Moving over to a strange machine that Sunset couldn’t describe accurately even if he tried as Tyl Regor took a mixed solution he made from the gene fusion from the two samples and poured it into a slot causing the strange machine to activate. The machine buzzed and whirled a bit until suddenly an empty tube next to the machine started filling up with an unknown clear liquid as the machine pumped something large into the tube. The pony turned human wondered what it was before regretting it as a fetus was shot into the tube and floated in the middle of the tube in suspended animation. Seeing it made her want to barf as this thing was made with her genes and whatever gene these guys had.

“Yes…” Tyl Regor said in an unnerving voice as he looked at the recently created being in the tube, “Look at what you help me create Tenno…this is the future of the Grineer army. My new line of Tube Men starts with this one and perhaps…something more,” Tyl Regor trailed off as he looked over to the rest of his solutions seeing that he has only three left to create only three soldiers, “But that can wait my dear…as you’re not going anywhere anytime soon.”

Sunset gulped as she knew this meant more pieces of her body being harvested to further his experiments. She doesn’t know who’s coming to rescue her but she can only hope that come and save her fast as right now she rather deal with the people Celestia sent to find her than be with this nut job any longer.

(“Kill the Tenno!”) Shouted one of the Grineer as a whole firing squad had Hayden pinned down behind cover. Things didn’t take long for things escalate as the entire base already went on high alert as soon as the Tenno made it past a few rooms. No doubt because Tyl Regor wanted to delay him as much as possible so he can gather as much data as he needs.

“When he said he was bringing the heavy artillery he was kidding!” Hayden said to himself as he brought out the Hek. Taking a quick step out of cover he quick fired the Hek’s four shots into the same number of Grineer which thankfully exploded the rest with his explosive rounds. However this left the only the Heavy Gunner left as she brushed off the explosion. Seeing this caused Hayden to swear under his breath as he rolled back into cover just as the Heavy Gunner starting firing again, “I don’t have time for this!” Switching to his Talons the Tenno jumped out of cover and threw two of the mini explosives at the metal soldier’s feet and detonated them causing the female Grineer to fall over out of balance as Hayden went straight for the kill with his Nikana as he impaled her with the katana through the chest, ending the last soldier of this squad.

“Annoying arse…I don’t have time or patience to deal with you people!” Hayden shouted in frustration as he ran down the hall behind the gunner. He managed to pass two rooms before landing in a bigger room filled with complicated machinery. The Tenno didn’t even get a few steps in until nearly thirty soldiers popped out of hiding and opened fired on him. Using the Nikana Hayden managed to deflect a chunk of the bullets fired at him but some passed through his quick defense and managed to nail him a few times in the chest and in the legs. Though it wasn’t enough to knock him down Hayden still felt the pain from the bullets and quickly took cover, “Hell that went straight through my shields! I need to think of something fast while conserving my void energy for bigger threats.”

The rapid shot of gunfire are a steady reminder that those Grineer soldiers aren’t going to wait for him to come out of hiding, “C’mon Hayden, I need a plan that won’t end in me being littered with bullet holes?” The Tenno asked himself hoping that an idea will pop in his head. As he was thinking a voice came through the communications in his head.

“Hayden, above you!”

Hearing this new voice made Hayden jump and immediately look up to see a soldier pointing his rifle at him. The Tenno cursed as he immediately sprang up into the air and flew across the room like a giant flea as all the Soldiers and Gunners changed their aim to follow him, “Shit, I spaced out…I nearly got shot there.”

“You’re telling me…pay more attention next time!” shouted the new voice as Hayden landed into another convenient block of cover.

“Well I’m sorry…but I’m trying to make sure that one of my enemies doesn’t unlock the potential to conquer the entire system! By the way who is this?”

“It’s me Twilight! The girls and I asked Ordis if there was any way to for us to help you on your mission. He told us there is a lack of mission control on the orbiter so we decided to help you through that.”

“So he allowed you to follow me via camera or something so you can help out? Well I suppose that is better than waiting for me to come back.”

“Ton’s better…anyway we have a small camera following you around which is how we were able to warn you about that Grineer.”

“I appreciate the warning Twilight. Now for the more important part of this conversation.”

“Important part?”

“Yes…like can you give me a view on where those metal heads are hiding? I didn’t get a good look when I dived into cover.”

“Hold on I got you covered,” The comns went silent for a few seconds as Hayden spotted the camera they were using which just happens to be his old Helios companion. It made a few scans until returning to Hayden and revealed a hologram of the entire area, “Here you go!”

“Thanks,” Hayden said as he looked over the hologram quickly and saw the multiple red dots all over the place, “Dammit…I should have brought the Ogris for this mess,” He said with an annoyed tone in his voice as he gestured the Helios to stop showing him the hologram.

“I hoped that helped.”

“It did actually. Though it also reminded me how horribly outnumbered I am despite packing firepower that topples a small army. Also by the way…how the heck did you girls figure out how to use my tech?”

“Ordis helped out in that department. Without him we wouldn’t make heads or tails of these interfaces or screens.”

“You’re welcome-oh…it was nothing; Ordis just wants to help out the operator as much as possible,” The Cephalon said semi embarrassingly as he wasn’t used to such praise.

“Thank’s Ordis, it’s always nice to have extra pairs of eyes watching over you,” Hayden said with pure gratefulness which caused the Cephalon to mutter gibberish, “Alright enough shoulder pats, time for some heads to roll.”

“Good Luck!” Twilight said before cutting off.

Reloading his Hek shotgun the Tenno leapt out of his hiding spot causing the Grineer to start firing again as he flew over two Grineer and dropped on top of them. Using the Nikana and gravity he impaled one Grineer soldier while the shockwave from the landing knocked down the metal soldier next to him. Not wasting time he switched to his Hek and blew away the head of the second Grineer before diving next to a nearby large rock to avoid nearby gunfire. Hayden growled a bit as switched to the Talons as he figured that there is more than one person firing on him. Deciding on how to deal with them he jumped straight into the air and threw the Talons at the five Grineer firing on him. He took a few small hits but none of them were bad as he landed back into cover and detonated the small bombs causing metal and blood to fly from the spot he threw at.

“That should take their numbers down to size,” Hayden commented as he looked around for the doorway he should take to get closer to his objective. Hayden then saw the marker pointing behind multiple machinery and no doubt multiple Grineer to a doorway that looks very inviting, “Of course it’s behind the more heavily armed forces why wouldn’t it be?” Hayden sardonically said as he channeled his inner grasshopper and leapt again into the air while throwing all the Talons he had on him before switching to his Hek and opened fire. The longer ranged shotgun slugs exploded onto one Grineer while triggering the Talon explosive causing a chain reaction to go off as all remaining four explosives blew up. The rapid explosions blew away and or killed the Grineer blocking Hayden’s way to the doorway however there was still a hefty amount of Gunners and Soldiers opening fire on him, so he invoked his favorite power from this frame and raised his weapon into the air and emitted a sharp bright light that blinded all remaining forces allowing the Tenno to pass them without being shot at.

“Sorry guys and gals but I don’t have time to deal with you,” Hayden shouted as he made it into the next hallway and later the next few areas. There were much lesser offensive forces in those areas so Hayden cleaved through them effortlessly. After some more plowing through more defenses the Tenno found himself in a large room fitted to look like an arena. Seeing this surprised Hayden as suddenly the doors shut and locked behind him and ahead of him, “Oh boy…” to add to the Tenno’s growing dread the comns went on again but this time it is Tyl Regor calling.

“Tenno Tenno…it would seem the extra help I scourged up is proving to be less than effective…” he said with a hint of disappointment in his voice, “However, this means ‘they’ won’t be bored anymore. I’m sure you’re familiar with them as you killed them before but of course this means the pain will last longer.”

“Don’t tell me…you got The Grustrag Three to help you?!”

“Hired them to be more accurate, but that doesn’t matter as they have been itching to pound you into a bloody pancake.”

The door on the other side of the arena unlocked then opened, allowing three tall menacing figures to walk into the arena carrying their weapons of choice. Hayden heard Regor laugh on the comns before cutting off leaving the Tenno to face the three Grineer monsters in front of him.

“TTTenno” The greenish one growled who Hayden recognized as the leader Vem Tabook.

“Tyl Regor hired us just to take out one Tenno? This is a waste of my time,” The navy blue one said with arrogance who clearly revealed who he is; Shik Tal.

“Doesn’t matter to me, he looks fun to play with,” The dark brown one said as he adjusted his Manticore Axe in his hands. Hayden having fought this moron before knew him very well including his name; Leekter.

“Oh great and here I thought I didn’t have enough problems. Now you three stooges show up just to make my life even harder.”

“Shut uuup. We were pppaid top credit for your head,” Vem said as he readied his own Hek at me.

“Honestly, we should have charged more if you’re this much of a big deal,” Shik added as he too readied his weapon which happens to be a modified Marelok.

“Enough talk! The game starts now!” shouted Leekter as he suddenly dashed forward towards Hayden which forced the Tenno to roll out of the way as his ax slammed into the spot Hayden used to be standing. However the assault wasn’t done as the whistling of a rocket can be heard forcing Hayden to again to roll out of the way.

“You see? This is why we don’t meet up for play dates!” Hayden shouted as he brought out his Talons and started tossing them onto the more melee focused member of the three. This obviously doesn’t faze the aggressive Grineer as he again charged at Hayden while more missiles are also fired at him; courtesy of Shik. Seeing opportunity Hayden waited for a small bit, letting Leekter get closer before sliding between his legs and letting him get bombarded by his own teammate’s rockets.

Hayden wanted to laugh at the friendly fire but instead he quickly switched to his own Hek and spun around to face Vem who already had his Hek aimed at the Tenno, “My wwweapon is better, Tenno.”

“Is it now? Then I wonder how skilled the owner is then,” Hayden mocked despite knowing that there is now way he could get out of this close range combat unscathed. So considering the circumstance he has to take the hit, he just mentally hopes it wouldn’t hurt as much as the damage his own shotgun is capable of. The two didn’t think as they both pulled the trigger on their weapons; blasting out both of their weapons first shots as they made impact with their bodies. Hayden was given a full dose of pain from the enemy’s ten shot burst as it both blasted him backwards and electrocuted him. Inversely, Hayden’s own slug made an impact on the metal man’s armor as it blew up upon impact and knocking him onto the ground.

“Hayden! You took a serious hit, are you okay?!” shouted Twilight through the comn.

“Do you have to ask?!” Hayden shouted back as he jumped back onto his feet to dust himself off before shortly being gored by Leekter’s ax and slammed onto the ground hard, “Ow…”

“Don’t turn your back on an opponent Tenno. Especially with me…” the Grineer trailed off as he raised his ax over his head ready to pound Hayden into the dirt. Not wanting to turn into a pancake the Tenno detonated the Talon’s on the large Grineer’s body which exploded on his body. This forced the marine to drop his weapon from the sudden explosions and lose his balance.

Hayden, despite the pain he endured, quickly got back up just as a few missiles came his way and crashed into the ground, “Your life is slipping Tenno. Not just anybody can take Vem’s ten shot burst at close range and Leekter’s ax to the spinal cord like that…much less my own rockets,” Shik said menacingly as he continued to fire rockets at Hayden, forcing the Tenno to go on the defensive as he rolled and slide his way out of each rocket’s path. Bringing out the Talon’s explosives as he got close he started throwing them at the marine. All of the explosives hit their mark on the Grineer’s chest as Hayden detonated them; blowing the metal man backwards.

“I’m still standing aren’t I?” Hayden taunted before turning his attention back to the recently recovered Vem and Leekter who already which set their sights on him. Hayden switched to the Hek and started unloading the remaining slugs in the chambers into Leeker’s head which stopped the marine from charging at him but not enough to down him as he remained standing looking only more angry than normal, “Damn it…don’t you know eating too much lead is bad for you?”

“Then I should work off the extra metal…” Leekter growled as he resumed his charge while Vem dashed into a new position behind the Tenno and opened fired on Hayden with his own Hek.

Hayden felt like caged kubrow as he felt like his movement options are becoming more limited as he rolled out of the way only to be blasted to the side by a missile. The explosion nearly knocked the Tenno out which would be bad for him as these guys are infamous for sticking a Grustrag Bolt in defeated Tenno which hinder their abilities against the Grineer. Hayden hasn’t had this happen to him before and wasn’t planning to today. Ignoring the pain, Hayden quickly got back up only to be met with a flash bang which blinded him and allowed Leekter to gore the Tenno with great force which sent him flying and crashing into the wall behind him.

The impact left Hayden dazed as he slowly got back up, “I-Is that the b-best you got?” he said drowsily as the three marines laughed at the weakened state he was in.

“Oh look, a Tenno barely clinging to life, no surprise there,” Shik said as he aimed his Marelok.

“PPPathetic, accept your death so we can move ooon with our lives.”

“Another broken toy to the pile…”

Through the fog of his mind Hayden knew he was screwed unless he starts using his powers. However, he didn’t want to burn through his energy supply too quickly so there was only one power he can rely on at this moment. Seeing no other option he clapped his hands together before opening it up and creating a light blue ethereal sword as he open his hands, “Ugh…I just had about enough of you guys. So now you get the receiving end of this sword and trust me it’s not going to feel pleasant at all.”

The trio didn’t respond with words but instead let their weapons do the talking as Vem and Shik fired while Leekter charged forward ax in hand. In response to this Hayden super leap over the group and landed a few feet behind them before swinging his sword a few times which caused the blade of energy to fire out large slash projectiles that phased through the trio causing them great pain and creating slash marks on their armor. Hayden didn’t care for their feelings and after a small spin of the sword he started swinging the sword like crazy; creating multiple projectiles that force the marines to go on the defensive except for Leekter who decided to tank the hits and charge at Hayden head on; big mistake. The multiple projectile slashes whittle away the marine’s armor as he did not notice that his armor was getting weaker before it suddenly broke and the slashes made contact with his clone flesh cutting clean in two as he fell to the ground sliding a bit as a blood puddle began to form.

“UUUseless!”

“You’re going to pay for that Tenno!”

Hayden didn’t respond to their anger but instead continued his barrage on the others forcing Shik to bring up his shield to block the incoming damage but failed as the projectile still phased through the defense though now much weaker due to the mitigation, “This is nothing!”

Vem using the distraction to his advantage got into position and open fired on Hayden. Some of the shots hit their mark which hurt Hayden greatly but wasn’t enough to completely down him as he still stood strong and instead looked over to the marine who shot him before widening the length of the slashes. Vem attempted to get behind his ally but found that his feet were cut off causing him to fall over onto the ground shortly before being decapitated by another projectile.

“Now you’re really making me mad Tenno!” Shik shouted as he peeked out of cover to fire more missiles at Hayden only to be met with a bright flash of light that blinded him completely which caused him to fire wildly. The Grineer’s vision eventually returned along with a sudden feeling of pain as he look down to see the same glowing sword poking out of his chest before it was forced upwards and split his upper half in two. The marine could do nothing as his vision went two different directions as he fell forward dead.

With the deed done he closed his hands together with the sword between them and closed them on the blade causing it to disappear entirely. Shortly after doing this Hayden put his hands on his knees while standing has he panted like an average man who ran a marathon for three days straight.

“Hayden, are you okay?! Those guys really pushed you to your limit!” Twilight shouted through the comns as Hayden adjusted his posture.

“Truthfully…there is a reason it’s ill-advised to fight those tin heads by yourself and what you saw right now is the main reason why,” Hayden said tiredly as he stretched a bit to shake off the soreness on his body.

“Holy hay! Hayden that was awesome! You just created a sword out of nowhere and used it to turn those guys into noodles!” Rainbow Dash butted in annoying Twilight a bit, “How come you didn’t do that earlier?”

“Rainbow, that sword you saw is Excalibur’s ultimate ability and while the initial cost of the power starts small but using it for prolongs periods of time can really drain my energy reserves and leave me without any to spare for my other abilities. In some cases that can leave me very vulnerable to counter attacks and thanks to my current damage I’m feeling more winded than normal.”

“Oh yeah, that is a bad thing,” Rainbow said before being pushed to the side by Twilight.

“Speaking of damage, you took some serious hits in that battle. Can you still continue the mission? It’s okay if you back out now to recover from your injuries since we don’t want to lose you so soon. We need you as much as you need us.”

“I’m fine; I can still continue the mission. Besides I’m getting very close to the target location and I still have a great amount of energy left so I can still take on Tyl Regor when I run into him.”

“Okay, but please be careful alright?” Twilight said lastly before cutting off the comns.

Hayden breathed a sigh of relief as that was a spot of unneeded worry on him. Truthfully, that battle took more out of him than intended but he wasn’t going to tell them that since there wasn’t any real danger in his near dying state, “Alright…let’s do this.” The Tenno said after cracking his limbs a bit before moving onward as the door unlocked in front of him allowing him to proceed forward. Though the next thing he ran into the next room is a long elevator shaft that leads even deeper into the base. Hayden gave a deep sigh as there are two ways to go down these shafts; the fun way or the boring way. Considering that he’s not at one hundred percent anymore, he doubt he’ll be taking the fun way as he most likely would end up flat on his face. So he chose the more sensible route; the elevator.

Pressing a nearby button Hayden heard the noise of the lift coming his way so he position himself near the landing spot as it came up empty allowing him to board it safely. He pressed the button on the platform which caused it to descend and give time for Hayden to think about a few things. “I wonder how that girl Sunset is holding up? No doubt she may have already lost something important like pieces of her skin or something else among those lines as Regor is not a patient man when he finds something of great importance to his line of work. In my current state it’s going to be an uphill battle against the guy. I doubt I’ll be able to destroy his research at the same time as once I take him down I’ll be swamped with Grineer tin heads ready to do me in. I have to be smart about this…especially since I’m running out of Talon’s to throw at people.”

His ride slowly came to a stop and thankfully there wasn’t any Grineer to slow him down so he opened up some containers nearby in order to find ammo for his weapons. He was fortunate enough to find more shotgun shells for his Hek but he couldn’t find anything he could have converted into more Talon’s. Although on the bright side of things he was now a few thousands credits richer as he stole some of the money from some unfortunate Grineer soul. Knowing this made Hayden chuckle a bit as he can only imagine what their reaction would be once they stumbled upon their looted locker and container.

The eerie silence as he made his way deeper in the base put Hayden on guard as this was unnatural compared to the heavy forces he met at the start of his mission. The opening noise of each door to the next room always made him flinch as he had his Hek out just in case there was somebody around the corner, but once again there was nobody in sight or around. Hayden kept his guard up until he entered the familiar area he hasn’t been in for quite a while; the original site where Regor kept his original tube men project. The place has since been repaired and the machines are now dormant as they waited for the day they would be used again. Hayden remembered the first time he fought a tube man and was genuinely surprised by the resilience of the new breed of Grineer. What was even more surprising is the fact it was just a trooper as well which gave the Tenno full incentive to destroy the project in the first place.

However, things are not all as it seems as he picked up on the humming from one of the machines and discovered that it was running. This didn’t do Hayden any favors as he followed the machine to a single clone tube which inhabited something that the Tenno thought he would have never see in his entire life; a Grineer version of the Ember Warframe.

“The hell?! It looks like the Ember Warframe!” Hayden shouted to himself as suddenly the windows in the room opened up to reveal Tyl Regor and the currently hostage Sunset Shimmer struggling against her bonds.

“Exactly…” Tyl Regor said as he looked down at Hayden from the window, “Thanks to your Tenno friend’s D.N.A. I was able to create a new breed of Tube Men. With the accelerated aging process I quickly found out my new Tube Man now shares the fire abilities of your Ember Warframe. So I recreated the armor you Tenno use and placed it on her as a way of showing that she is one of ours.”

“No way…” Hayden couldn’t believe it…it was his worst nightmare come to life when the enemy created a Tenno of their own to use against them.

“Although besides the usual abilities scans I have no clear record on her combat capabilities as she is the first of her kind. That’s where you come in Tenno…you’re an excellent target for this test, so...don’t die too quickly. I want a full scale examinations of my new…Tube Man Salamander,” Regor slowly said sinisterly as he pressed the button which open the tube and released the bastardized frame as it fell to the floor on all fours before slowly standing up and giving off a loud roar as her hands ignited into roaring balls of fire.

“Shit,” was all Hayden can say as he aimed his weapon at the abomination as Sunset shouted at him to kick its flank and save her.

The Salamander didn’t waste time throwing fire at Hayden which he easily dodged as he unloaded slugs into the false Tenno creation which did knock it back a few paces but also angered it as she automatically activated her ‘World on Fire’ ability which created multiple explosions in the ground which made traversing the fighting area harder than normal. Hayden got caught by one of the explosions and was tripped up, giving the Salamander enough time to him with her ‘Accelerant’ ability. The force when she applied this ability sent him flying backwards out of the small area and into the wider outer area where the machines are.

“Damn it! I got to avoid getting hit by another fire attack or else it’s going to hurt!” Hayden said to himself as the false Tenno roared before sprinting over in order to follow up with her attacks. Hayden, acting fast threw a few more Talon’s at her feet before getting up from the ground and made a large leap away from her in order to put more distance between them.

“My my…is the Tenno actually having trouble? Then again you do look a little worse for wear, I guess The Grustrag Three really did a number on you did they? Heh, this just makes things more interesting,” Tyl Regor said through the comns as Hayden ignored the obvious taunt in order to focus on making a plan. So far all he got was blasting it to hell with all he got but then again shooting it just made it angrier and more determined to kill him. What make things worse is that she appears to be more durable than the average Ember. Hayden may have to use his ‘Exalted Blade’ in order to do real damage to the being. Obviously, this will use up the last of his energy but desperate times call for desperate measures.

After combining his thoughts together, the Tenno turn around to see the Salamander already catching up with him. Needing to have more time to reload his Hek he detonated his Talon’s on the abomination which tripped it up. Seeing his chance Hayden quickly reloaded his shotgun and unloaded them into the false Tenno which kept the monster down longer as the explosive rounds went off on her back. Using this to his advantage he landed on top of the Salamnder and drew the Nikana quickly before thrusting downward and impaling the false Tenno.

Hayden dug the sword deeper as the acid mod combo worked its magic and eat through the armor and cloned flesh. The creature struggled wildly before releasing a burning wave of fire that both ignited the accelerant on Hayden’s body but also knocked him backwards causing him to let go of the Nikana as he was seriously damaged by the fire. Sunset couldn’t help but watch in horror as her only hope of getting out of here is starting to become bleaker.

“Ow…that bu- er never mind,” Hayden groans to himself as he slowly got back up painfully as he patted out the remaining small flames on his body, “Only one thing left to do,” The Tenno said as he clapped his hands together and opened them to create his ethereal blade again just as the Salamander came out of the smoke holding his Nikana in her hands. Hayden only gave a deep sigh as he quickly went on to swing his sword rapidly which in turn created multiple projectiles that damaged the monster greatly but what surprised Hayden was the fact it was taking all the hits while still charging at him with his own sword. The amount of damage it took was astounding as it continues to charge through despite losing an arm in the process, “Oh you got to be kidding me!” Hayden shouted as he desperately increased the motions he made with the sword but to no avail as the false Tenno hit her mark and stab Hayden through the chest with his own sword.

The Tenno’s eyes widen before narrowing with anger as he brought his ethereal sword down on the abomination cutting it in half as the scientific monster fell down into two separate pieces. With the false Tenno killed Hayden proceeded to remove his own sword from his body which was an agonizing process he quickly pulled it out which caused him fleeting pain as some blood spit out briefly, “Shit…that was close…if this frame get’s damaged like that any further then I won’t be able to pick myself up again for another go,” Hayden said to himself as he leaned against the wall for support. The Tenno looked over to Sunset in the distance behind the observer’s window struggling even more with her bonds as she seem to be shouting something at Hayden but he couldn’t hear what the girl was saying until he noticed a familiar shadow looming behind him.

The Tenno swore under his breath as he turns around in order to face Tyl Regor, “Well well Tenno…you survived. I’m impressed I really am while also really grateful for all the combat data you provided me today. This only gives me high hopes for others of her kind as I create them to be even better than the prototype I had you fight,” Regor gloated as he raised his ax for the killing blow.

“You won’t get away with this Regor…I will put an end to your research like I did before!”

“Oh but not today…and even when you do come back and face me again I will already have the kinks ironed out. Now to put you down for good,” Regor said coldly as he swung his ax at the Tenno’s neck, completely severing it from the rest of his body as said body fell to the ground unmoving as a harsh red light consumed it and its weapons. After seeing the body is gone Regor began to laugh hysterically at his victory over Hayden.

Twilight could only drop to her knees in despair as the video feed watching over Hayden was cut out by Ordis. The girls each expressed in their own way how defeated they feel after seeing their only guide and expert in this world be killed in front of their very eyes and being helpless to do anything about it. Without him to guide them in this new world they truly felt lost. The entire room went silent as nobody dared to say anything, not even Ordis who despite everything made himself absent from the group. A few minutes passed since the initial mission failure and suddenly Ordis made himself known again to the group.

“Good news everyone! The operator is safe and sound!” the Cephalon declared which caused confusion among the girls.

“Uh, are you on the fritz or something? You’re operator is dead! We all saw him die with our own two eyes,” Rainbow Dash said annoyed.

“How can you say he’s fine if we just saw his head come off?” Applejack added while being confused and annoyed by the entire situation. The other girls agreed and shared the same sentiments until Ordis shouted at them angrily.

“Quiet! You du-my operator wishes to speak to all of you personally,” He finished as the girls heard footsteps coming into the bridge as small suited figure colored in all black appeared before them and was no taller than three fourth’s the size of Hayden. Questions from the group immediately arise as they all asked the common question of ‘who are you?’

The figure sighed as to everyone’s amazement the hooded mask peeled open like a banana and revealed the face of a young man with dark brown hair, slightly dark skin, and glowing light blue eyes with what appears to be half frame glasses over them. He couldn’t be possible be any younger than they are in their current bodies. The young man gave them a resolute look before speaking, “Girls…we’re going to need to think of a new plan of attack.”

Chapter 6: Strategy

“So…this is what you really look like?” Pinkie asked for the umpteenth time.

“For the last time…YES! This is what I look like without my Warframe,” Hayden responded harshly and with great annoyance. The moment he reveal his true body to the girls he was bombarded with countless comments and questions, with the latter mostly coming from Twilight herself. Thankfully, the commotion calmed down and Hayden was able to get the entire situation under control, “Alright, from the top, girls as you already saw things have taken a turn for the worst. Regor has managed to make a successful prototype and from personal experience it was tough to take down. So just imagine, should he managed to mass produce those Tenno knock offs then the entire universe will be at the mercy of the Grineer Empire. Times are going to get desperate and no doubt Regor is already making his move so I’m going to have to accelerate your training girls. If one prototype is enough to give me trouble then I’m going to need a squad to help me take this entire operation down.”

“Right, we get that part kid, but we’re going to need something to protect ourselves with or else we are just going to be filled up with holes,” Rainbow Dash said with a mix of wit and worry.

“Don’t call me a kid!” Hayden snapped causing everyone to take a small step back. The Tenno took a moment to realize he shouted and recomposed himself before talking again, “Anyway…the lotus has already thought ahead and already started working on making armor for you girls, so you’re going have to sit on that until it comes around. Before it does, I going to make you all at least decent warriors so we can stand a chance against our enemies. So saying that…and dropping the formalities…get your rears into the training room asap!” The Tenno yelled in a commanding voice, however nobody moved. Instead the young man was met with some disapproving stares, “What?!”

“You know there is a nicer way to tell all of us to move our flanks to yer training room.” Applejack said, earning a mumbled groan of anger from Hayden. The other girls agreed to this with Twilight adding even further that if they’re going to be partners in this mission then they must treat each other much more kindly.

With a defeated sigh Hayden took a deep breath, “Okay, Okay…fine…would you please get to the training room so I can prepare you for the battles ahead?”

“That’s much better,” Applejack said with a smile as she walked past the Tenno with others following along. Twilight was the last to walk past the Tenno but stopped before placing her hand on his shoulder.

“Look, I know you been fighting for all of your life, but you need to ease up a bit. We’re neither soldiers nor warriors...but we’ll do all we can to protect everyone back home and we are willing cooperate as long as your being reasonable okay?” she said with a gentle tone in her voice.

“I know…I know…it’s just I mostly did all my missions alone for a good reason. That reason being that a majority of my fellow Tenno has a tendency to rush in head first into enemy territory and a chunk of the time I have to cover their sorry as-er butts and pull their weight for them. I have seldom seen competent Tenno in my line of work with some making me feel like the weakest link, but I rather have that feeling then deal with a bunch of morons who get the rest of us killed.”

Twilight blinked a couple of times in surprise, “Oh…um…thanks for sharing.”

“Yeah…it’s nice to vent every once in a while, however we still have a universe to save and a little chit chat is wasting what precious time we have.”

“Right, I’ll join up with the others while you do what you need to do,” With this said, the transformed mare followed after her friends leaving Hayden with his thoughts. He never said it to Twilight or her friends but the Tenno never wished to put what he considers civilians in harm’s way yet they will gladly join the danger for the sake of their home.

“Operator? Oridis wonders…what are you thinking about?” The Cephalon said with a slight worried tone in his voice.

“Nothing much…just trying to remember the last time I had friends.”

“Aren’t I your friend operator?”

“Oridis…you are the closest thing I have to a best friend in this god forsaken void.”

“Get in there.” Regor said coldly as he tossed Sunset Shimmer into a cell; complete with a less than comfortable bed and barely used toilet, “You will be staying here until we reach the base on Saturn. You best take this chance to rest Tenno as you will never experience such comforts again,” He walked away laughing as the door closed and locked, leaving the girl in her isolation.

The once proud mare sighed in defeat as she checked her arms and lightly examined all the bandaging and stitches the vile Grineer gave her in order to keep her alive. The wounds themselves are still recent and she can still feel the pain the metal man delivered as he cut into her flesh. There was hatred and malice behind his cuts and he made sure that she felt every single searing sting of pain that came from it. This isn’t the life she has envisioned for herself when she stole the Element of Magic, but it would seem karma payed her back in full for her selfishness. Now…she really wished the ponies that Celestia sent to find her would really find her and get her out of this situation. It didn’t help that the crown which held the element is with Tyl Regor for examination as he found the jewel to be interesting.

“Well…if Celestia was here then she would have reprimanded me for my actions before saving me. Oh how I would rather be yelled at than be used as a science project by that freak,” She said to herself as she began to examine her surroundings. There was nothing spectacular about the prison cell she was in though the air vents on the ground below her shows some promise for a possible escape but the lack of knowledge on the layout of the ship will make it hard for her to find a way out of the ship entirely. In addition, she can’t leave the Element behind as she fears what can happen if that manic discovers its power, “Well it doesn’t hurt to try…” she mumbled to herself as she got off her bed and made her way to the grating covering the vent.

Upon closer inspection, she discovered that some of the screws keeping the grate in place are loose and with a small smile she went to work on the other screws, “Maybe my luck hasn’t run out just yet…” she said in a low voice as she finally unscrewed the last of the loose screws with her fingers. With this done she pulled out and pushed to the side the metal grate before looking into it, the fall into the passageway didn’t look too deep so she could probably make her way down without making a sound. As soon as she made contact with the ground she went to work and places the grating back in its original position, “Not that it matters if this is back in place since tin man is going to freak once he notices I’m gone.”

Silently and quietly Sunset made her way through the maze like vents. No doubt the vents covered the entire ship but where she would end up is anyone’s guess. She spent a few minutes slowly walking through the vents until she heard Regor’s voice. The next grate in sight must have led into one of his rooms but which one she’s unaware of.

“Ahhh…nothing feels better than killing a pesky Tenno and have all my research back on track,” He said while unaware of the girl’s presence, “Yesss…my neo tubeman project is going smoothly and this new batch will far surpass the prototype,” The clinking of his metal feet signaled that he was moving over to something and basing off the context of his words it must have been a clone tube. Sunset felt sick to her stomach by the thought that these monsters are a byproduct of her D.N.A. “Though, my D.N.A. pool is only limited to her and because of it I can only make my Salamander models. The body of the dead Tenno yielded no results as the innards are completely…different…and is unusable because of it. It’s frustrating but I’ll have to make do with what I have. Persevering some of her skin samples will help making her last in the long run as being the only source of usable D.N.A. makes her valuable and I can’t afford to lose her because of an infection. Until I can get my hands on more Tenno D.N.A. this is what I’m stuck with.”

More clinking of metal feet was heard before the sound of a soft groan was heard along with the sound of something straining, “And of course I have you…” Sunset’s eyes widen as she began to listen closely, “Err…whatever you are? I found you with the Tenno so you must have some importance to her, hmmm…” The girl couldn’t help but feel nervous as this is the exact scenario she feared would happen. She could do nothing but listen in anticipation as she heard the metal man turning over the priceless object and fumbling around with it. Thankfully, the next thing she heard from him nearly caused her to faint from relief, “Bah, it’s just some Tenno treasure. I was hoping that there will be something more to this trinket but I suppose the Tenno herself is treasure enough.”

(“Whew…”)

“I’ll probably have it melted down for material, save for the gem; I perhaps can reap some credits for its unique design.”

(“And…it got worse.”)

“I’ll get it all sorted out once I land at the nearest stronghold. Saturn may not be the most ideal place to continue my research but knowing the Tenno who attacked my base it’s the only move I can make to throw him off my trail. Hopefully the rabble will have accommodations ready when I get there. Until then…it would be best that I sleep as a tired intellect is a wasted intellect,” With a yawn he stood up and left the room while leaving the element on the table in the room. Seeing her chance, Sunset climbed up to the grate and attempted to move it but it wouldn’t budge; the screws are too well tightened. The girl growled in frustration as she gave up on trying getting the element back and dropped back to her original position.

“I need to find another way around to get the element back. Nothing left to do but to keep exploring until I find another loose grate,” She said to herself as she continued to walk through the original set path. While a fire ball no doubt could blast the grate off its hinges, she knew that would be a very bad idea since it would get Regor’s attention and put her back at square one with the exception that she would be beaten and battered. The girl spent another five minutes wandering around the vents until finding another loose grate. Repeating the same routine in her cell, she unscrewed the remaining screws and slowly moved the grate out of the way.

She pulled herself up and returned the grate back to its original place before looking around. She found herself inside a rather large room with some very big containers, she could only assume that this is the cargo hold and inside the containers is Regor’s lab equipment. Seeing a nearby door she carefully walked her way near it as it opened in response to her presence. She mentally thanked Celestia despite being in this predicament due to a disagreement with her; she ignored the irony and continues onward into the devil’s den. The hallways/ corridors of the ship seem to match those she found back on other ship she was on and the base back on Uranus. This means that she’s most likely going to get lost and perhaps stumble upon something that can get her into trouble.

“Okay, I need to find the room that has the element of magic, lay in wait for the ship to land at the stronghold and sneak my way out before that metal monster notices I’m gone. It’s not the perfect plan but it’s the best I can muster right now,” Now with a crudely made plan she made her way through the halls while examining nearby rooms she came across. She found nothing special save for what most likely important parts for propelling the ship forward, why would there be so many rooms for this is beyond her but not something worth thinking over. More time passed and eventually Sunset stumbled upon a spilt pathway and upon looking at her options, with one path leading to a door being guarded by a strange security system that involves an odd light going up and down no doubt scanning for anybody that wasn’t Grineer. The girl had a feeling what she was looking for is behind that door but she had no way of getting pass that security so the other path was her only real choice. Taking the longer corridor she found herself in a familiar path as she found the large doors that lead to her prison cell.

“Here and back again…which also means Regor shouldn’t be too far away. If he’s taking a snooze then this ship must be on auto pilot like in those science fiction novels back at home. *Sigh* my options are limited here…maybe there’s a radio I can use or something? There have to be much friendlier faces then these metal heads flying around in space. Ergh…I hate to admit it but if I managed to make contact with my pursuers from my world then no doubt they will find a way to save my sorry flank. Where am I going to find a radio/ communications device on this rust bucket…it’s going to be in cockpit isn’t it? I mean where else it’s going to be?”

After taking a quick look around she continued to move forward. Despite being one of two occupants on this ship Sunset couldn’t help but feel a tinge of paranoia as the Grineer researcher has left quite an impression on her and some of the corridors made it feel like he could pop out of nowhere. A growling stomach reminded her that she needed to eat also but considering that this metal manic wears a mask twenty four- seven she doubted that he would have any locker worth looting for a quick meal. Carefully, going around a corner she noticed a large double door in the middle of the corridor. Seeing this filled her with hope that she managed to find what she was looking for. Heading towards it, it opened like all the other normal doors she seen before as she stepped inside to see a rather expansive room with a single seat with numerous controls and a window in front of it. There seem to be many more various doodads that she couldn’t make sense of but the large planet she saw through the window told her that she was running out of time. Giving the room a thorough examination she didn’t see anything that would count as a radio. She sighed in defeat as she leaned on a nearby wall; only to accidently activate a small machine that created a small orange orb that seemed to vibrate with a small noise. Curious at her new discovery she closely looked at the machine only to see six buttons on it including a knob. Trying the knob first, she quickly found out that it’s the volume control when the noise became more pronounced and she could understand what was being said…well kinda.

“We as Grineer must come together and fight hard against the Tenno menace and their accursed Lotus! We must not let them*brzzt*”

And like that she found the buttons that changed the channels, “Well that was obnoxious…I wonder what kind of blowhard these metal heads use to make this propaganda?” Sunset asked herself as she sifted through the channels but found nothing noticeable or helpful. Looking at the other buttons she found a single red one, which upon being pushed suddenly caused the entire radio to go silent. For a moment she thought she pressed the power button, so she released her finger in order to press it again but to her surprise the radio went back to playing the channel again. The girl, from noticing this, concluded that the button she pressed was the record button or something similar. Either way, she has found what she needs to get her message out. Pressing the button again she decided to speak into the silence, “Hello, is anyone out there? I need help! This Grineer metal head named Tyl Regor has me trapped on his ship and we are heading towards the planet Saturn. I don’t know where in the planet is he taking me but he said it was some kind of stronghold. Please, if there is anyone who can help me send help! I’m not sure how long I can last under these conditions but the sooner the better! Please, I need help!” Finishing her message she released the button and pressed the only labeled button on the machine which said ‘SEND’ in white letters.

“I sure hope somebody heard that message,” Sunset said with some form of relief as she now looked back to the door and remembering that she still needed to find a place in the ship to stay low until the ship landed. Turning the radio off she exited the room and thought about her choices before settling on the cargo hold as it gives her many places to hide in including the vent she used to get in there in the first place. With that being her best plan she started making the trip back while doing her best to remember which path led her back to her destination. Like her original trip to find the cockpit, it took her nearly ten minutes to find the cargo bay again. Looking around she decided on hiding in the vents as it would take a while for the metal man to find her when he notices her disappearance from her cell. Moving away the grate and jumping into the vents she can only hope that her message reached somebody that can help her.

Meanwhile…at the Strata Relay

“…Please, I need help!”

“Clem?”

“Yeah that’s a distress call alright Clem. Sounds bad too…to be stuck with Tyl Regor of all people.”

“Clem! Clem!”

“Yes, this definitely sounds like a job for the Tenno, and Steel Meridian. So…should we contact the Tenno or should we let Steel Meridian do it first?”

“Clem…”

“Or the Lotus as she seems to intercept most of these emergency transmissions.”

“Clem”

“Okay, Okay…I just hope that we don’t fill up the Tenno’s mailbox trying to help this poor soul.”

“Clem, Clem.”

The girls fell to the floor, both defeated and exhausted at the near hour long training session with Hayden. Since having being told prior that it would be a while before he could use Excalibur again, he would use another Warframe as a substitute. What they didn’t expect was him to bring out the frame known as Volt for training. At first the exercises were standard weapon training and firearm training at a target, most of them had a hard time using said weapons either due to weight or general skill. The Tenno had to step in a couple of times to correct their posture and stance with the weapons. It was brief but helpful as at least some of them can now use the firearms with more skill and accuracy than they previously had. Once the basic weapon training was done Hayden decided to put what they learned to the test and started a sparring session.

It was a long and drawn out fight but ultimately the girls were defeated by Hayden despite their best efforts to beat him with teamwork. But their attempt ended with them smoking and being filled with non lethal doses of electricity.

“Alright, that’s enough training for the night girls. Though your teamwork is superb as you managed to catch me off guard with a few tactics, but in the end you still lacked the power to actually hurt me even with the powers you are given.”

“Well it doesn’t help that you have more combat experience than we do,” Twilight said before slowly getting up from the ground. “But then again, with everything in this world trying to kill us it would be considered normal to know how to fight.”

“Oh how I wish that was true. But you wouldn’t believe the number of innocents that still don’t know how to fight and suffer because of it. The Grineer don’t know the meaning of mercy and won’t hesitate to kill should you cross their crosshairs and this applies to their prisoners as well.”

“Yikes, those guys really don’t mess around do they?” Rainbow Dash said as she stretched out some of the pain in her limbs.

“Doesn’t sound like it…” Applejack added before cracking her spine.

“What about Clem though?” Twilight said as she recalled the friendly yet odd Grineer trooper, “He’s not like the other Grineer, so is there a chance that they’re more Grineer like him?”

“More like Clem? Eh…no but you’re right Twilight, there is more Grineer that turn traitor on the queens and fight the good fight. You probably saw them on the strata relay; they’re called the Steel Meridian faction. They’re a group that fights for the innocent and weak while making up for the sins of their past fighting for the queens. They’re good people and honestly they’re the only friendly Grineer you’ll find in this system.”

“Well that’s a relief. It’s good to know that there are still reasonable people among those violent people. Do you think that they’re willing to help us in fighting Tyl Regor?”

“No doubt about it. They hate the sickos that make up the Grineer chain of command and would do anything to be a thorn in the side of the Grineer Empire. Hmm…I should contact them to see if they are willing to lend some men in our fight. Anyway, you girls should go get yourselves cleaned up and get ready for bed…and that includes you Spike as well.”

The in pain dragon turned Kubrow groaned a bit in pain until Ordis spoke up, “Why don’t you let me take care of filthy creature operator? I’ll make sure-they never find the body.” Spike made a whimper in response to hearing the Cephalon glitch into the more threatening voice.

“Sure why not? I only got one shower on this ship and I really don’t want animal hair in it so go ahead.”

“Right away operator! Now come here you filthy creature!” Ordis said with unusual enthusiasm as a robotic claw hand popped out of the wall and grabbed Spike who cried in panic as he was dragged into the wall and disappeared behind the opening as it closed.”

“Oh my…is Ordis going to be gentle with him?” Fluttershy asked with worry.

“Eh he’ll be fine. I’m more worried about you girls so chop chop!” The girls looked at each other with unsure faces before walking off through the door or in some cases limping. The girls though beaten began to converse with each other after leaving the room. Hayden could only smirk before he opened his menu screen to do some checks on the ship until suddenly getting three notices on his screen, “Huh? What’s this?” Opening up his mailbox he saw he received three importance mails from Darvo, Steel Meridian, and The Lotus. “Oh boy…this is going to both be good and bad isn’t it?” Opening the messages up he could easily sum up what the messages are saying to him as they pretty much had the same message, “Yeah…I’ll tell the girls about this later.”

Many showers later the girls were given sustenance in the terms of food and water. Ordis did his best to make them as comfortable as possible despite not having any blankets or cushions. As a matter of fact there weren’t any seats as well, which is something the Cephalon remembered to tell the group, he resorted to using some large cloth and even flags as some kind of blanket for the girls.

“I’m sorry but this is the best I can do…” Ordis said dejectedly.

“It’s quite alright Ordis, knowing Hayden I kinda figured that he wouldn’t own any comforts,” Twilight consoled as she attempted to make herself comfortable.

“Well the Tenno never really had any down time…or at least to my knowledge. The operator sleeps by meditating in the cockpit so he never really needs a bed or a chair for that matter.”

“Well we don’t really know anything about the Tenno either pal. But apparently their way of training new recruits is intense!” Rainbow Dash added as she lay on her back.

“Weed out the-er…formal Tenno training is a mystery to me as I do not have any record of it. The operator possibly had training before going into a deep sleep but how rigorous it could be can be up to debate. However, what Ordis does know is that even after being awakened from a deep slumber the operator’s-killing efficiently-never faded. It was like second nature to him and honestly that does scare me a bit.”

Applejack whistled upon hearing this, “Yikes, ah’ knew a few times Granny Smith would put me and Mac through the wringer if we didn’t listen to her. It sounds like this training was drilled into their heads from the day they were born!”

“That is a possibility…a very scary possibility…” Twilight shuddered as she recalled how young Hayden looked and how killing and ending lives is no longer an issue with him. She could only wonder what kind of people who use people at a young age as weapons to kill.

“Do Tenno’s even have birthdays? Did Hayden ever even have a surprise party? Aah!!! Just thinking about it is killing me!” Pinkie shouted as she stared at the ceiling.

“Pinkie, I believe that’s because this world is in a constant state of conflict. With all these ruffians attacking and maiming each other I doubt there is time of luxuries such as birthdays, fashion, or even comfort for that matter. The contrast with our world is quite jarring actually.”

“*Gasp* you mean he never had a birthday?! That’s a crime! It’s a crime against birthday celebrations everywhere! This must be corrected…tomorrow because *yawn* I’m tired,” Shortly after saying this, the fluffy haired girl fell asleep leaving the rest of her friends confounded on how fast she fell into a deep slumber.

“Well that happened.”

“Well Pinkie is Pinkie, so it’s best not to think about it too much on how she works. Trust me…” Twilight said to the cephalon with an unusually serious tone in her voice.

“Noted.”

“Hey Ordis!” Spike shouted and calling attention to himself, “I know I was transformed into something you hate but did you really have to scrub so hard? I still feel physically violated from that forced bath.”

“Silence you little-sorry about that it’s just I really hate and I emphasize the word hate on this, all furry creatures that shed and defecate inside of me. While you are a special case as you are intelligent enough to speak and think like a human being I must warn you that the moment you go one or two anywhere but the toilet and the operator steps in it. I will gladly shoot you out the airlock without a single thought or care in the world. Are we clear?”

Spike blinked a couple of times at the surprising threat coming from the normal voice of the Cephalon, “Uh…crystal.”

“Good, now will you excuse me the operator needs me, so good night!” With this said the Cephalon left the group leaving them together to dwell on their thoughts together.

“I never thought I would say this but now I’m afraid of a talking cube…” Spike said as he took a comfortable position on the floor near Rarity.

“I never thought I would meet somebody who would threaten to shoot an animal from an airlock. That’s just cruel!” Fluttershy said as found her voice to speak.

“I hear you Fluttershy, he may sound like a nice guy but boy…I never thought hearing his normal voice when he made that threat would be so chilling,” Rainbow Dash added as the conversation shifted over to Twilight in order to change the subject.

“Well considering he’s the ship let’s just assume that he’ll make good on his promise, so…changing the subject we need a plan for tomorrow.”

“For what darling?”

“For the challenges ahead, I mean we only have tomorrow and the day after that to complete our mission and return home before the portal closes and trap us in this world before the portal can open again. We need to adapt to this worlds rules and become stronger in order to survive, and I believe to accomplish we need to train more with our new powers,” Twilight said as she gazed over to her friends, “According to Hayden our powers are similar to some of the Warframes used by him. So far we have the basics down as I was able to fire out magic like projectiles but I have no idea what the first ability does as it doesn’t work on Hayden.”

“Well sugar cube…we’ll figure it out soon enough. I mean like you said, we need to adapt to this strange world and that Tyl Regor varmit is proof that it takes no prisoners…er kinda.”

“Eh, compared to Discord and Queen Chrysalis he’s not so tough.”

“You do realize that we barely made it out of those problems by the skin of our teeth right Rainbow Dash?”

“Uh…well…never mind.”

Twilight could only sigh at the quick shut down, “Well regardless…since there is a chance we might run into Tyl Regor in a future mission we need to plan around how he fights. Rainbow Dash, Pinkie, and I have seen how some of the normal troopers fight and they fight as well as most trained soldiers would. However, there are some that charge recklessly into battle with just a melee weapon. Despite how suicidal that is it, it can quickly catch an unexpecting enemy off guard. Since we can’t take hits as well as Hayden, it would be our best in our best interest to find cover before counter attacking should we find ourselves in a fire fight. If the armor the lotus is making for us is as good as the Warframes then we should be well protected from major harm but that doesn’t make us invincible, so avoid constant enemy fire when possible.”

“That’s a given darling, let be aware of that horrid Regor as he took Sunset and is using her to make those disturbing clones. If he sees us no doubt he would try and foalnap us and use us for the same experiments.”

“Good point, from little what we saw of his capabilities we know he is much tougher than the others and considering that he managed to cut Hayden’s Excalibur Warframe head off he is most likely a close combat fighter. However, since we don’t know the full extent of his capabilities it would be best to avoid him at all cost and let Hayden take care of him while we provide support fire.”

“Sounds like a plan…*yawn* maybe Hayden has some pointers for us tomorrow,” Rainbow said while showings signs of sleepiness.

“I agree…though the thought of fighting scares me,” Fluttershy added before yawning as well. The girls began to laugh a bit before deciding they should follow Pinkie’s example and go to sleep as well. They all said their goodnights before attempting to go to sleep, thought Rarity took a small whiff of Spike’s odor.

“Oh Spikey, say what you want on how rough he washed you, but you smell great!”

Spike felt conflicted by the comment due to experiencing the washing horror at the metal hands of Ordis, “Uh…thanks? I guess…”

As the girls slept, Hayden stayed awake in the cockpit as he finally finished the last email sent to him, “So Saturn huh? Well the recording didn’t say where on Saturn they were heading but there is only one place on Saturn that holds a solid stronghold…but that would mean dealing with one of the most annoying mother effer I have met in the Grineer army. Ugh, you really like buying time for yourself don’t you Reggy?”

“Is there a problem operator?”

“Oh nooo…no problem at all. It’s just that I most likely have to deal with freaken Sargus Ruk in addition to Regor. I mean I dealt with them before but unlike Regor, Ruk cannot be harmed until he reveals his weak point; his armor is that good.”

“I see…that is very troubling. Especially, since the next operation you plan to execute will involve all the girls and Steel Meridian. It’s basically all out war you’re waging here-I like it…”

“Indeed, other powerful Tenno are being called for this by The Lotus’s order as mass production of these Grineer-Tenno knockoffs would spell disaster for the rest of the system. Though I must admit…if it wasn’t for Sunset’s broadcast for help then we wouldn’t have known where Regor was heading after the failed rescue mission. I should head to the Strata relay and talk to Steel Meridian for further planning since they see this as a chance to hit the Grineer Empire where it hurts.”

“What about the girls?”

“I’ll have them stay close to me...I rather use myself as a meat shield then let innocent people from another world get hurt or worse. Hopefully, the armor The Lotus is sending is strong enough to protect them because we’ll be diving into the deep end once the plan starts. No floaties or safeguards, they’ll have to learn and adapt on the fly.”

“I see…”

“Ordis, take this ship to the Strata Relay and leave it parked. I’m going to sleep and once early space morning hits I’m going to disembark and meet up with Steel Meridian.”

“Alright, I will do that operator, have a nice rest and-don’t let the infested bite.”

“Good night to you too Ordis.” The Tenno said as he took a seat on the ground before taking a meditative pose and began floating in the air. The ship fell silent as Ordis did as he was told to do and headed towards the Strata Relay. Before actually drifting off to sleep Hayden thoughts drifted to the girls and the world they came from. Noting from his experience with them so far it was plain as day that they don’t have any formal combat training but he assumed that it is natural they don’t know how to truly fight since their world according to Twilight is much more peaceful. “Peace…” He thought silently, the word itself held great meaning but was also a goal for him and all others Tenno to achieve. Though a part of him reveled in the violence and destruction of his enemies, another part wants to help and support others. These conflicting ideas in his mind reminded him that he is still thinking and sentient being, and not a weapon of war.

This drive to make sure they get back home is all he needs to see this mission to the end. They have families to go back to, friends and loved ones who will miss them should they die or go missing. There are many things in his world that can do that and he felt that he is the only thing protecting them from that fate. As for him, he didn’t have many true friends aside from Ordis, Clem, Darvo, and The Lotus. Every other Tenno he met was mostly touch and go, and less said about the incompetent ones the better. Perhaps it’s time for him to increase his range of friends…he knows the Lotus would agree with the idea.

Location: Strata Relay

Time: 6:27 A.M. / One Day left

Hayden was the first to wake up as he broke out of his meditation stance by slowly opening his legs and stepping onto the floor. There was a time when the Tenno discovered that he was sleeping for a good chuck of his life upon his ‘awakening’ at the hands of Captain Vor. It was a shock but he figured something was off when he was able to switch between male and female Warframes. This caused him to question his own identity at one point but eventually he ignored it for the sake of his duty to the innocent. When he finally saw who he really was, he wasn’t too surprised that he wasn’t what he thought he was but it also caused many questions to arise about his existence. Hayden has long since found some answers to these questions or dropped the question entirely from simply not caring, he is a Tenno and whatever he did in the past is already done and set in stone. He’ll continue to fight the good fight, which is why he’s meeting up with Steel Meridian today.

Stepping out of his ship and began walking toward the meeting place of the syndicate. Having since associated himself to their cause before, it didn’t take long for him to find them in the relay. Walking through the marked door he was greeted by Clem who immediately lead him to the leader of the syndicate; Cressa Tal.

“Tenno! Good of you to join us!” The female Grineer called out, with her recognizable white armor a symbol of their difference to the regular soldiers of the Grineer Empire.

“Well considering the entire problem found me, I suppose it’s only natural that we’ll be working together again,” Hayden responded professionally as he entered the circle of Grineer defectors, “Well I don’t need to explain why we’re here for. But what I can do is elaborate on the details, as we are all aware a girl has been taken by Tyl Regor and has been taken to Saturn. However, what you guys don’t know is that this girl’s name is Sunset Shimmer. A few days ago a group of girls along with a purple Kubrow appeared before me during one of my missions to the void from a portal. These girls are named Twilight Sparkle, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, and Fluttershy, the Kubrow’s name is Spike. They say they’re from another world and Sunset is a thief from their world who has taken a crown with a special jewel call an Element of Harmony. I know this sounds ridiculous and made up but I’m serious here with the names but I digress. Anyway, Sunset has been taken by Tyl Regor for reason of experimentation and harvesting of her D.N.A. Her D.N.A is similar to a Tenno’s and thanks to this Regor is able to create a new deadly batch of Tubemen with Tenno abilities.”

Multiple gasps were heard from the forces as they now know the seriousness of the situation, “I see now…so this isn’t simply a rescue mission. If that’s the case then we need to make a plan to both rescue this Sunset girl and smash any progress Regor has on his new Tubemen project. That we can settle on but do you have any idea where on Saturn they were heading?” Cressa said with intrigue and mild excitement in her voice.

“While I don’t know exactly where they were headed, I do suspect that he is heading towards Tethys. While only a possibility I have every reason to believe that Tyl Regor will seek the help of Sargas Ruk to keep us at bay while he gains more time to perfect his Tubemen.”

“That makes sense Tenno, but it still grasping straws. I need to know exactly where this girl is before I can send in troops for support. I’m not wasting good men by sending them on a possibility.”

“That’s what the extra Tenno are for. It looks like they couldn’t make it but I assume it’s because the Lotus is giving them a mission already as we speak. Anyway, let’s make an actual plan that we can use once we find out the location for sure.”

“Now that we can agree on. You see I been thinking that you and a couple of my men will take the sneaky route via the pipes while a small portion of our fleet will lay in wait for a surprise attack once you trip the alarm.”

“When I trip the alarm? Uh…may I ask why?”

“Tenno…let’s be honest. You and I both know that you are terrible at stealth but at least make it to Tyl Regor before getting the alarm raised okay? That moment you hit them in the heart of his operations every Grineer in the stronghold will be alerted to your presence, but they won’t be expecting us. So when the alarm goes off we will attack and confuse the enemy forces while another strike force will land in another part of the stronghold and attack the base’s essentials in order to cripple future operations.”

“Huh, Ordis was right it’s like waging all out war.” Hayden commented as he mulled over the presented plan, “Anyway…overall I agree with your presented plan of attack but I would like to change your soldier escort to the girls I been training recently. They may be new at this but I assure you they can pull this off.”

“So…instead of letting some experienced soldiers follow you into battle, you want to let six rookies with no real battle experience what so ever to fight Tyl Regor of all people!? Tenno I know you done some crazy things in the past, some of which you did for us but this seems suicidal for both you and the rookies.”

“Don’t worry I been training them, they should be able to fight competently. Anyway it doesn’t matter if I chose to bring them or not, they want to fight and save her despite what she has done. There is nothing I can do to convince them out of it.”

Cressa gave a defeated sigh, “Fine but watch over them Tenno. While I do encourage those to fight the good fight, but there is a fine line between bravery and recklessness.”

“You don’t have to tell me to do my job twice.”

“It’s just a warning Tenno, if this operation works we’ll strike a major blow to the empire.”

“I know, I know, you just focus on your plan of attack and I’ll do mine.”

“Alright, any disagreements anyone?” Everybody listening simply said no and saluted, “Great, once we get the location of the stronghold we will put the operation in action, so until then prepare yourselves for the battle ahead. They all grunted in dauntless resolution until they spread off to do their own thing. Cressa herself walked over to Hayden before lightly punching him in the chest in a friendly manner, “You’re nuts you know that right?”

“Well considering that I like to plunge myself into danger on a daily basis I would like to think I’m not sane since no normal person would consider fighting a guy who just killed them before.”

“Whatever, but make sure those girls are battle ready because I don’t want to hear or see you crying over one of their dead bodies; alright?”

“It’s a promise I have already made with myself and I don’t plan on breaking anytime soon.” Hayden finished as he turned to leave while Cressa looked at the Tenno with a smile while shaking her head.

“Heh, a blockhead as always.”

Hayden after leaving the room headed back to his ship while playing multiple scenarios in his head how it would all play out. However, the thoughts remained incomplete as he had no idea where the battle is going to take place. It didn’t help that he may have to lighten up training a bit so they can be ready for the battle once the other Tenno came back with information. A large scale battle is going to take place and Hayden wonders if he and the girls are ready for it. These thoughts continue to haunt him as he step back into his ship as it disengaged from the docks and flew back into the void in order to stay hidden from prying eyes. He deeply sighed as he made his way to meet up or wake up the girls but instead was stopped in his tracks as he heard the sounds of blasting, grunting, and smack talk coming from the training room. Opening the door leading into the room he was met with the near chaos of the girls using their powers on hologram targets recreated from the data he scanned over the years.

As the soon the girls notice his presence they stopped and greeted the Tenno before the Tenno pulled out his Hek and blasted a Grineer target that was charging at one of them, “Great, you girls really do need my guidance in training. Alright, let’s try this again but this time…the right way."

Chapter 7: Assault

“Again!” Hayden shouted as Rainbow Dash charged at him with closed fists. She swung her fists in quick succession at almost lighting fast speeds much to the amazement of her friends. The Tenno smiled as he quickly defended himself by blocking each of her blows with the correct block positions. Her attacks made contact with his armor while also creating a mini sonic boom as her fist landed; doubling the damage she was creating. Hayden smiled as she has since improved her physical capabilities once they started training seriously. She definitely was a more close combat fighter as her quick attacks and reflexes have proven, truthfully the Tenno could have swore that she was getting faster. However, not wanting to be outdone Hayden decided to activate Volt’s ability ‘Speed’ in order to keep up with her attacks. It didn’t take long before the two became a blur as the rest of the team watched with awe as Pinkie and Fluttershy cheered on for their friend.

“Hee-yah!” a quick change in her combo, Rainbow Dash ended her barrage with a powerful roundhouse kick that both took Hayden off guard and broke it. Now seeing an opening the girl smirked as she followed up with another kick straight into the chest of the Tenno before sending him flying into the wall behind him. Her friends cheered as she dusted herself off, “So? Was that better than last time?”

Hayden, slowly getting up from the ground mumbled a small ‘ow’ before responding to the girl, “Yup, you have vastly improved since I first taught you the Grim Fury combat stance. Honestly, how fast you adapted the style to your way of fighting is actually quite scary, and that’s not even mentioning how fast you were attacking. I’ve seen a few other Tenno use the same stance but none has ever reached the speed you were going at right now. I say you’re tied on the power department when I compare you and Applejack with each other.”

“Oh please, I’m sure I made you dent that wall harder than she did,” Rainbow said with tinge of arrogance until the girl in question spoke up.

“Well, sugar cube…correct me if I’m wrong but ah’m sure it took me less punches and kicks to send poor Hayden flying into the wall.”

“Pfft…whatever,” Rainbow said as she walked towards her friends and joined them as the last of them stepped into the ring for their close combat test.

“I guess it’s my turn then,” Twilight said as she took a deep calming breath to cool her nerves as she pulled out her weapon of choice; the Bo staff. She was training with a specific stance for this weapon and practiced it a bit before Hayden brought them together for simulated combat training. Though she was quite worried for the Tenno as he had to play the role of the punching bag she was still surprised how he still managed to get back up despite all the damage done to him, “Uhm…Hayden are you sure you don’t want to take a break? I mean you really took a serious beating from Rainbow Dash, not to mention from everyone else.”

“Twi, if you knew the dangerous situations I been through, you should know that this is nothing compared to those said situations.”

“Well I did get a taste of it when you brought us on that sneaking mission,” The violet girl said with a deadpan voice which slightly ticked off the Tenno.

“Right…right…” Hayden said while biting his tongue to avoid saying something snarky. Getting up from the ground he stretched a bit as he took out a Bo Staff of his own, “Anyway, time for your test. As you might recall, the stance I taught you that works with this weapon is called Flailing Branch; it’s a stance that uses lifting strikes and whirlwind combos to batter down your opponents.”

“I am well aware. I’m ready when you are.”

“Good, now come at me as you would an enemy. I expect no holding back as I won’t be either…okay maybe just a little bit since I don’t want to accidently kill you,” Hayden said with a little chuckle as he twirled his staff effortlessly. This however didn’t stop Twilight from gulping as she took her stance, “Now…begin!”

Quickly, the two ran at each other as their weapons clashed against each other with a loud ‘clack’. Shortly, the two broke away from the clash and quickly began to use the various attacks that went with the stance. They both started with the battered thread combo as their attacks collided with each other, but Hayden proved to be slightly stronger as his strikes had more force within them, “Don’t always expect to overpower your opponent Twilight. Recognizing the difference in strengths can help you form a plan around them,” Hayden said as he immediately knock’s the girl’s weapon into the air before delivering a solid kick that sent her tumbling back a few feet.

“Ow…” Twilight groaned a bit in pain as her weapon ‘clacked’ onto the floor in front of her.

“It’s good to see that you know the attacks of the stance, but it’s not enough to beat an enemy who surpasses you in raw strength; fight smarter, not harder. I been told this many times myself and I learned it the hard way when I ran into Vay Hek himself.”

“Right, I can do this!” Twilight said as she pumped herself up before picking her weapon back up, “I’m ready!”

“Alright, again!” The Tenno shouted as they both charged at each other yet again. Their weapons clashed once again but this time Twilight took his word and focused less on trying to overpower him. Instead she attempted to deflect his strikes in order to throw him off balance. However, it was easier said than done as the Tenno wasn’t thrown off easy and has great control over the force of his weapon. To makes matters worse it seemed that she was making little headway as he immediately changed his attack into a thrust that took Twilight off guard before stopping close to her forehead, “Better…but deflection tactics only work if your opponent is giving it their all in their attacks as they are more vulnerable to missed strikes especially ones wielding heavy weapons,” Hayden pulled his weapon back as Twilight finally released the breath she was unintentionally holding, “Moreover, don’t expect your opponent to commit to the same attack that is coming to a stalemate. Just like you, they are also finding ways to get around attacks or catch you off guard; you just need to beat them to the punch.”

Twilight nodded as she tightly gripped her weapon before taking a deep breath, “Okay…I think I got this.”

“No thinking, either you got this or not. There is no between,” Hayden said strictly as he tapped his staff on the ground.

“R-Right! I can do this! I know I can!”

“Better, now…again!” Hayden shouted as the battle started up again. This time Twilight fought with more vigor and energy as she repeated her first move before switching up with another combo that ended with a sweeping move that forced Hayden to hop back to avoid being tripped up. The Tenno smirked as he put more effort into defending himself from Twilight’s attacks as she went on the offensive. Her technique improved as she was trying to catch him off guard with specific attacks unique to the stance. Dodging and avoiding her strikes Hayden chose his attacks carefully as he made a few thrusts into her assault which forced her to stop and avoid the attack before trying to regain the pressure she was piling onto the Tenno, “Suddenly, I feel like I should have used the Wu-kong frame for this sparring session.” Hayden thought to himself as he parried Twilight’s thrust and went for a sweeping attack.

Twilight struggled to regain her balance and quickly noticed the incoming attack. Desperately, she made a small hop that caused her to fall on her back but she managed to get back on her feet and deflect an incoming thrust from Hayden; allowing her to get close. Drawing strength from both the void and her magic she opened palm pushed the Tenno with great force that nearly caused him to stumble after knocking him away a few feet, “Let’s kick up the difficulty!” Hayden shouted as his body sparked up with white energy as he used the ‘speed’ ability again. The purple girl mentally said ‘uh oh’ as she steeled herself for the next attack from the powered up Hayden. However, nothing could prepare her for the blinding fast bullet of a man that came at her and clashed his weapon against hers. The increased speed added more force to his strikes and made his follow up attacks a near blur which made it hard to defend against.

“The training wheels are off Twilight, think fast and act even faster!” Hayden shouted as he pushed the girl back with his successive strikes. Twilight felt her arms getting weaker as she barely defended against each strong hit but then she remembered that deflection would be best in this situation. Acting quickly she smacked Hayden’s next strike to the side which thankfully caused the Tenno to be thrown off balance due to the increase force. Unable to recover in time Hayden was assaulted by a full rising falls combo from Twilight before she ended it with the autumn leaf combo that hit home on the Tenno’s cranium.

Twilight’s friends cheered as Hayden immediately became dazed and unable to defend himself as the girl gently poked him with her staff and caused him to fall over.

*Ding, Ding, Ding*

“That’s it the session is over on the account that the operator-got knocked the fuck out,” Ordis said through the speakers as Twilight look over the unmoving body of the Tenno.

“Uh oh…did I hit him too hard? Maybe I shouldn’t have aimed for the cranium,” Twilight said to herself as her friends joined her on the sparring ring to look over his body.

“Ooooh…do you think he’s okay?” Pinkie asked with worry as she gently moved Hayden’s arm.

“Well he did say that he has taken worse, so…maybe?” Rainbow Dash added while not knowing what to actually do.

“He may have said that but a hard knock to the noggin is enough to put anyone to sleep,” Applejack said with her own worried look.

“You don’t think he suffered a c-concussion?” Fluttershy said with fear in her voice which by extension filled Twilight a sense of guilt.

“I hope not, we need him if we’re going survive the upcoming assault on whatever base Sunset is hiding in,” Rarity said as she resisted the urge to bite her thumb.

“Not to mention our only ticket back home,” Spike added as he sniffed the helmet of the Warframe and picked up faint smell of dried blood, “Uh…is it bad that I can smell blood on his helmet?” Everyone froze in shock at this news but Twilight remembered that Hayden isn’t in the frame.

“W-wait! Hayden should be fine! He isn’t really inside the Warframe so he probably didn’t even feel it!” Twilight exclaimed in an attempt to reassure everyone and herself. Suddenly, the door to the room opened as the actual real body stumbled into the room before falling forward onto the ground.

*Hayden!* they all shouted as they scrambled over to the Tenno as they turned him over as his helmet peeled away like a banana.

“Ow…Twilight?” Hayden said with a slight pained expression.

“Y-Yes?”

“I felt that all the way to my pod…didn’t think you had it in you.”

“Uh…thanks?”

The Tenno gave a single thumb up, “That’s all…ow…maybe I’m a better teacher than I thought? Whooo…” Hayden trailed off before passing out much to the panic of the girls and Spike.

“Its okay girls, the operator is simply out cold and not dead. He’ll be out of action for a while but let’s hope the call to action doesn’t knock on our door,” Ordis said optimistically as an email popped into his systems, “Hmm? Oh! I received an email from The Lotus. It must be the armor that the operator requested for you,” The cephalon went silent for a few moments in order to read the mail as suddenly sheets of paper were phased into existence and gently fell to the floor, “Uh…are these blueprints?” Ordis said as Applejack walked over and picked one of the sheets off the ground.

“Eeyup…these are blueprints alright,” The cowgirl said as she examined the paper closely, “Says here that’s it’s going to take at least a day to completely build them,” The rest of her friends were about to complain until a certain Tenno beat them to the punch.

“WWWHHHHAAATTT!!!!!” Hayden said with an ear splitting shout as he suddenly woke up from his head injury. Everyone was surprised at this as the Tenno got up and walked over to Applejack and snatched the blueprint from her hand to look at it for himself. The young man looked like he wanted to explode as he quickly took a deep breath to attempt to calm himself but it failed, “Out of all days I have to wait for something to be built this isn’t one of them!”

The girls could do nothing but watch the angry Tenno rant on and on despite waking up from a head injury. There was something amusing to see the sudden shift from being out cold to being suddenly awake and raving like a madman. Twilight herself gave a sigh of relief as the Tenno continue to yell at the air in rage which was annoying for sure but at least he was still alive and well, if not extremely furious for the fact he’ll need to pay platinum to get their armor done and ready for today. Needless to say, now would be a good time for a break.

Location: Tethys Base

“I will tear this entire base into pieces if it means finding her! I want this entire base on lockdown and zero chance of escape for her! My entire research depends on her! I mean sure I already have some samples already and can clone a couple more tubemen but she is the main component, so if any of you find her bring her back alive! I don’t care how many of you die in the process just have her tied and by my feet before the day is over now go!” Tyl Regor was beyond furious ever since he woke up and discovered Sunset has escaped from her cell. Of course since he’s completely livid the entire Grineer force stationed on the base scrambled like ants. This left the researcher alone with the General Sargas Ruk, “Rrah!!!” Regor roared in anger as he punched a nearby wall and dented it.

“I’ve never seen you so angry before Regor. But from what you told me you it’s also reasonable.”

“General…can you imagine being stronger than you already are? The power of the Tenno within our soldiers and within us? Her D.N.A. is the key to total supremacy of this entire system and beyond not to mention the prevention of the decline of our race.”

“You’re onto something special Regor. I’ve seen the Tenno fight and fallen to them a couple of times through their powers. They are powerful warriors and to have their strength in our soldiers is a brilliant idea. Your Salamander report even proves that they can match the Tenno in power.”

“Indeed, but we must tread carefully. She may not have her armor on but she can still use her powers and is quite crafty. She may prove troublesome and might bring unwanted attention so we must prepare ourselves for a possible attack from the Tenno forces.”

“Of course, they’re honor bound to save their own from death. I wouldn’t expect any less from them, so I thought ahead and made some preparations just in case they come.”

“Good…as for me I’ll make do with the remaining samples I have to make more Salamanders…and perhaps something more,” Regor felt a smile creep on his face as an insidious idea popped into his head, “Yes…yes…I know exactly what to do.”

Sargas looked at his fellow Grineer with a slightly perturbed look as the way he trailed off with his words was unsettling in its own way. However, he was also curious what the researcher could possibly cook up in his lab, “Do what you need to do Regor, for the glory of the Grineer Empire!”

“Yes, for the empire,” Regor said with a dry tone of voice as Sargas left him alone, “*Sigh* Things are going to escalate from here on out I just know it…hmm…I better start working on my secret weapon now if I’m going to perfect it for later use,” Tyl Regor took another breath to calm his nerves as he made his leave from the room, “You can run all you want Tenno…but we’ll find you and any sort of mercy I have will be gone as I make sure the next procedure is as painful as possible,” With this said he punched another wall in anger as he headed towards the direction of the docks.

Elsewhere, deep in the base, Sunset Shimmer was doing the only thing she could in order to stay hidden from view; crawling in the vents. The girl heard the base go on high alert for her and sighed as she knew her escape won’t be easy as she’s going to need to avoid the Grineer soldiers looking for her around the base. Thankfully, she doesn’t need to worry about Tyl Regor hunting her down, but Sargas definitely somebody she’s got to look out for as the large armored man as he looks just as brutal as Regor.

“Okay…I’m stuck on a base on high alert, without the crown, and waiting to be rescued by what I hoped to be those Tenno I keep being mistaken for. Well…I could wait here out of sight for help to arrive but I need to get that crown back. But how in the world am I going to get past that security? Not to mention Regor? *Sigh* I don’t think I’ll be able to at this point, but I might as well get a feeling for my surroundings while I’m here,” Reaffirming her objective Sunset started crawling through the vents once again…a movement that she has gotten used to by this point.

Hayden grumbled to himself as another set of armor was complete as he placed in another order for a variant meant for a different girl. Once the construction project started to get moving the Tenno would immediately shove over one hundred platinum into the compartment; that super charged the machine into speeding up and making the armor in record time. Each set completed made Hayden feel deader on the inside as it took him a long time to gather so much of the prized material but here he is using them like they were going out of fashion. The girls looked at the Tenno with worry as they can hear him mumbling to himself, “Uhm…Hayden are you okay?” Twilight asked carefully but winced as the man growled.

However the Tenno quickly caught this and sighed, “Sorry, this is one of those things that simply urks me time to time, and if you’re going to ask why forget it. I’ll just go on a rant so it’s best not to go there.”

“Okay…so whose armor is whose?”

“They’re colored coated to match the Warframe that each of you have power similar to. These armors should provide some quality defense and provide a shield that should protect you from most damage before it gets blown out from continuous damage. Should that happen, find cover until it regenerates as it is your first line of defense against your enemies. Also according to the Lotus, these armors should additionally increase the power of your abilities,” Hayden picked up one of the armor’s colored in grey to cyan color which matched Nyx’s color scheme and tossed it over to Twilight, “This one is yours Twi. It’s more lightly armored compared to your friends but the shield generation on it should match the original Nyx Warframe.”

Twilight took the suit in hand and realized that it’s going to be a bit skin tight but noticed the armor plates covering parts of the legs, chest, back, arms, and neck. In hindsight it kinda looks like a pajama onesie as it looked to be baggy despite the flesh like material on the rest of it; it even came with its own footwear, “So…I just put it on?”

“In your current body suit I would say yes, but uh…remove your foot wear first. You should be in your socks as I doubt it would be comfortable to wear two shoes at once.”

“Right…” Twilight said unsurely as she removed her foot wear which wasn’t part of her suit. “Okay, here goes nothing…” The purple girl said with an unsure voice as she stepped into the feet of the suit which surprisingly felt comfortable as she stuck her arms through the sleeves but after that she was confused as there was no way to zip up the back end of armor, “Wait how do I cover up the back end of the armor?”

Hayden, instead of responding merely pulled out three fingers and started counting down. Everyone was confused by this until suddenly the baggy armor glowed to life with green lights as it immediately covered her back side and retracted all the baggy parts of the armor into one form fitting suit. Twilight was about to say something but then more flesh like mass popped out of her back and covered her head which caused her to freak out a bit until it quickly formed a smooth teardrop shaped helmet that both covered her entire head and hair.

“Huh, that’s pretty much how I imagine that wearing a Warframe looks like if it was an actual suit,” Hayden commented as Twilight began looking at her body in mild panic until she realizes that she’s completely fine.

“I uhm…fine? Whoa…this feels strange,” Twilight said as a hud appeared on her helmet showing her life signs and how much shield she has.

“Looking good Twilight,” Hayden said as he took some amusement from her examination of her own physical form.

“Now that’s cool! Where’s my suit?” Rainbow Dash said as she beamed with excitement at the idea of wearing the outfit assigned to her. Soon the other girls are questioning about their armors and Hayden was all too happy to give them their specifically made suit.

Applejack was the most surprised about her armor as it more bulky and heavier than the others. Putting it on, it repeated the same process of sealing itself onto her body and creating her helmet, and in just a few seconds she basically looked like the female equivalent to Rhino if such a thing existed, “Hoo-wee, I feel powerful in this thing!”

Pinkie’s follow suit and she let a shiver as the entire armor covered her body. It was a strange feeling that she doesn’t dislike but now she can see why Twilight reacted the way she did. Her armor was lightly padded to maintain flexibility but armored in the right places so she won’t be vulnerable. Like the Warframe it was based off of it sported a two tone color of pink while the more armored parts sported a bone color as her helmet sported a jester like look, “Whoa, I feel like I can break more than physics!” She said with an unseen smile as she made a little spin.

Rainbow Dash said an ‘Oh Yeah’ as her suit covered her body. Unlike the others, Rainbow’s suit doesn’t have the same armor plates as the others in order to keep her lightweight. Her arms sported the same wing like form as the Zephyr Warframe though her suit made it less feather like and more solid as the rest of her body was designed to cut through the air with its sleek design. Her helmet also followed this design as it didn’t take the bird like design but instead replaced with a sleek small winged jet like design, “Alright! This suit almost makes me feel like a Pegasus again!” She shouted with joy before leaping into the air and hitting her head on the ceiling, “Ow…maybe I should’ve waited until we we’re in a more open room before trying to fly.”

Fluttershy was the most nervous of her friends when it came to putting on the suit as she wasn’t sure she was mentally prepared for the suddenness of it all. The black red suit had more armor plates than the most of her friends with the exception of Applejack. Nervously she put on the suit as her friends did but once the suit shrank to fit her body she gave out an ‘eep’ with a flushed expression on her face that was quickly covered up when her helmet formed, “I don’t know how to feel about this…” she said shyly as she tried to cover herself.

Rarity was the last as she slipped on into her suit. Navy blue all around and lightly armored to boot, the girl looked on with awe as the suit did its job and fit itself to her frame. As this was happening she had a confident smirk on her face as the helmet covered her beautiful features, “Oh my, it fits snuggly. I always had ideas to make a suit similar to this but I didn’t go through with it because it only caters to a small group of ponies. All in all, how do I look?” She said striking a pose that caused Spike to howl in excitement.

Hayden could only laugh at the Kubrow as the dragon turned canine immediately realized what he just did and began to hide his face in shame, “Oh that was priceless…” the Tenno said as he wiped a non-existent tear from his face, “Anyway, these suits should have enhanced your physical attributes so you can leap as far as I can and protect you from most environmental hazards. Let’s give them a little test run in the training room shall we?” The girls agreed to this idea as they too thought they need some time to get used to their strengthen physical finesse or in Rainbow Dash’s case; a reason to go buck wild, “Good, now let’s go and have some fun. Because to be perfectly honest I like to mess around with these powers as well.” Hayden said with playful shrug.

“Uh…operator?”

“Yes Ordis?”

“Please be gentle with the training room…I’m not sure I handle so many Tenno powers being activated at once.”

“I’ll be mindful Ordis.”

“Thank you operator.”

Quick break aside, the group returned to the training room to test out the suits and enhanced powers given to the girls. Needless to say, the room was left in shambles as more of their powers were unlocked. Hayden did his best to minimize the damage and help the girls understand the new powers. It took another hour to get the girls used to their additional abilities and newly found acrobatic skills. All in all, the suits work like they’re supposed too and now Hayden could rest a little easier knowing that he did the best he can to prepare them for the battle ahead. He taught them gunplay, rifle training, ability training, and close combat training based on his own experiences. After all the chaos that was caused by the test the group took another break to rest and recoup, during this break, Hayden pulled out data profiles on the various Grineer found around Saturn. He especially gave warnings about General Sargas Ruk as the man was more tank than man. The Tenno briefly gave them a story on how he first met the armored general and how he had a hard time trying to hurt the man. He told them where to aim when they meet him but if they find themselves being overwhelmed then they should run.

“Unlike Regor, Sargas holds some kind of warrior honor system but he is still without mercy. Knowing Tyl Regor he might have got his help, so we may end up fighting both of them at the same time,” The thought was terrifying to the Tenno as he recalled a similar situation with Captain Vor and Lt. Lich Krill, but if he had to compare Regor and Ruk seemed more dangerous in his eyes. He explained more on the best weapons to use against them but then suddenly the learning session was interrupted by a call from Cressa, “Put her on Ordis,” Hayden said with a commanding tone as the Cephalon did what he asked.

“Tenno! We found the origin of the signal and it’s on Tethys! We have already started mobilizing our attack forces. We need you to do your part of the plan, so bring your squad and do what you need to do!” The female Grineer said as she noticed the girls, “So these are the rookies? I see you have them suited up as well, but armor means nothing if there is no skill behind it. No doubt the Tenno already explained to you how big this operation is going to be, so stay aware of your surroundings and stick together. I already told the Tenno to watch over you young bloods so don’t do anything reckless to make his life hard. Anyway, get to the base as fast as you can Tenno, more of your kind are already making their way and I need everyone to play their part; Cressa out.”

“You heard her girls. Your first taste of a large scale battle is going to happen now. Steady your nerves because we’re about to make history. Ordis! Get this ship to Tethys as soon as possible!”

“Right away operator!”

Quickly and with haste the ship pointed to a single direction in space and immediately flew in that direction. Twilight and her friends along the way did their best to keep their composure as this wasn’t the first all out war battle they participated in, but that was against changelings and no one died. Twilight herself was unsure that they could handle the horrors of war as they are going to see things that may disturb them or worse. Looking over to her friends the girl spoke to her friends, “Everypony, we’re about to head into a battle that we have never seen before. I’m going to be honest we’re going to see people die and there is nothing we’ll be able to do about it. All we can do is look out for each other and cover each other the best we can, Hayden is here to look over us but we can’t rely on him forever. He trained us for a reason and that reason is because he has complete faith in us. Rainbow Dash, Pinkie and I have seen how dangerous the Grineer are and was nearly killed if it wasn’t for some quick thinking. Teamwork is the only way we’re going to get out of this alive and get back home. So keep your wits about you and don’t panic, remember the training Hayden has given us and everything will be fine.”

*Right*

“Now let’s do this for not just Equestria but Hayden’s world as well!”

*Yeah!*

“Nice speech and all Twilight but we aren’t there yet…okay now we are,” The Tenno said with a dry tone of voice as the ship found itself in a space battle as multiple Steel Meridan ships are attacking the giant battle ship base Tethys, “Eeyup that’s a space battle if I ever saw one. Ordis, sneak us in and prepare the landing craft.”

“RAMPAGE!!!- er…right away operator.” The cephalon then maneuvered the ship through the battlefield as various ships are destroyed by both sides. The girls could only watch in shock and awe as missiles and laser fire whizzed through the open space as the entire ship avoided the crossfire. They saw another ship that looked exactly the same as Hayden’s and immediately assumed it belonged to another Tenno. The other Orbiter deployed their landing craft which charged into battle. Meanwhile the ship they’re in took a sneakier route that lead under the great battle ship, “I am close as I’m able to get operator. Please depart as soon as you can as I’m not sure how long I can stay here before they notice us and-kill us all!”

“Right, ladies I have already converted some of my rather impressive weapons to non-lethal variants of themselves, so let’s get you armed and ready to fight,” Hayden said with an unseen smile, “But if that isn’t enough…Excalibur should give us an edge.”

Sometime later the group found themselves crawling through the vents after successfully infiltrating the battle ship. Eventually, the group stumbled upon a grate and after checking to see anyone was around kicked out the grate and jumped down from the opening. The Tenno was the first to drop to the ground without a problem, but his allies had less success in sticking the landing. Hayden sighed as he got a call from Cressa, “Tenno, what’s your status?”

“We managed to sneak in successively I doubt they know we’re here.”

“Good, no doubt you’ll run into some stray soldiers down there thanks to the chaos we’re causing up here. Anyway your objective is to locate and destroy Regor’s research and find the person who sent the distress call. If you run into Tyl Regor or Sargas Ruk along the way then you have full permission to terminate them if you can. We’ll draw the main forces away, but I’m not sure how much damage the giant ship can take so stay on your toes Tenno.”

“Will do,” Hayden ended the call as he turned to his new friends.

“What’s the word Hayden?” Rainbow Dash asked as she played around with her dual furlis.

“The word is that we need to find Sunset Shimmer, and locate Tyl Regor’s research in order to destroy it and prevent him from creating more Tubemen.”

“Sounds like a plan but where do we start?” Twilight asked before being interrupted by a gunshot.

Hayden had shot a nearby fan with his Vasto before holstering it, “I know the way, Ordis has already marked several Tenno-like life signs on the ship. He should be sending the data to your helmets now,” True to his words yellow and white marking appeared on their helmets to let them know which direction those objects of interest are and how far they are.

“Oh wow! Now I can see where they are now as well!” The purple girl said in surprise as she quickly noticed that one of the objective markers is moving slowly, “Hey look! One of the markers is moving. That must be Sunset Shimmer!”

“And the unmoving ones must be the new Tubemen Regor is working on. Shit…I see five of them; if they are awakened then this entire cluster fuck is really going to hit the fan,” Hayden cursed as suddenly Pinkie appeared before him and punched him in the gut, “Ack! Guh…w-what was that for?!”

“I told you no swearing!” she shouted with an angry expression.

Hayden recovered from the blow while a small bit of anger boiled up within him but he let it subside for now, “N-Not the time! Anyway we should locate Sunset before she runs into trouble.”

“You’re right, let’s mobilize now!” Twilight said in confidence as her friends agreed.

“That’s what I like to hear, alright let’s do this girls!”

“And guy,” Spike quickly interjected which slightly killed the mood.

“Right, anyway let’s just do this,” Hayden said with an annoyed look on his face as he jumped through the hole left behind after he shot the fan out. The others followed him down the same hole, making the same length drop but this time sticking the landing. They ended up in a large room that had three doors that lead different directions. Following the marked target on their screens they headed left and ended up in a corridor. Carefully, they silently stalked through the hall as Spike sniffed the air just to see if he can pick up on the scent on any nearby Grineer but had a hard time separating the smell of industry from the metal men.

“Ugh…I’m starting to wish I didn’t have a sensitive nose.” Spike complained as his ears suddenly picked up on some metallic footsteps heading their way, “Guys, we have some guys heading in our direction!”

“Where?!” Hayden asked in urgency in his voice.

“From the door ahead of us, uh…sounds like there are two of them.”

“Just two and nobody else?”

“None that I can hear.”

“Then Hekky here can take care of them,” Hayden said with a sinister smile as he pulled out his famed Hek shotgun and aimed it at the door in front of them. No sooner than he did two Grineer soldiers ran through the door in a hurry only to jump back in surprise as they quickly noticed Hayden aiming straight at them.

(“Shit!”)

(“Fuck!”)

With that being their last words Hayden pulled the trigger and blew the two away as a giant hole appeared where their torso used to be, “Heh, and that’s why this gun is my favorite,” Hayden said with a smile as the rest of his allies looked at him with a perturbed look.

“I don’t know…that seemed a bit overkill,” Rainbow Dash said as she saw the carnage for herself.

“This? Overkill? Maybe…if the explosive rounds kicked in.”

“Explosive?!”

“…Aw…son of a…never mind,” Hayden said as he felt like slapping himself as he again forget to remove the explosive rounds to his gun, “Let’s just keep moving…”

Making their way through the door and the next room. The group thankfully found most of the areas little in troops as most of them are at the front lines. They managed to sneak by most of them but in the situations that they couldn’t avoid confrontation the girls quickly incapacitated them with their non-lethal variant of their weapons. A few close calls later they ended up much closer to their target.

“She’s in the next room, but she stopped moving. I hope she’s okay,” Twilight said as she saw the marked position on the radar.

“Only you would be worried about a thief Twilight…scratch that only you and Fluttershy would be,” Rainbow Dash said with a rather annoyed voice.

“She’s been through a lot Rainbow Dash. It doesn’t matter if she stole crown anymore, she was used as an unwilling donor of D.N.A. to fuel a madman’s plan. If anything she must be humbled by now.”

“…eh I can’t argue with that. I mean I never met the girl but she must have a selfish reason for taking the crown in the first place.”

“I hate to say it too Twilight but Rainbow Dash has a point.” Rarity added with a little bit of unsureness in her voice.

“*Sigh* Look you guys can deal with her when you meet her okay? Besides anyone who has to spend a few days with Regor must have dropped any motive for stealing anyway,” Hayden said as he just finished a call from Cressa, “Besides we’re running short on time here.”

“How so?” Applejack asked with concern.

“Our guys attacking from space are taking heavy causalities. If things progress any worse than they are now then they’re going to retreat and leave only the Tenno to finish up the mission.”

“Heavy casualties? Ooo…that doesn’t sound good,” Pinkie said with a sadden look on her face.

“They’re good men and they’ll be remembered fondly, but not by us if we don’t finish up this mission soon.”

“Sheesh…no pressure or anything.”

“Let’s just move on,” Twilight said with absolution. Everyone agreed as they made their way into the next room. Once they entered the room they saw nothing substantial but the readings said Sunset Shimmer is indeed in this room, “Umm…Sunset? Are you in here?” Twilight shouted in order to get the girl’s attention.

Thankfully it did, “Huh? Twilight?” Spoke the voice as a flame haired girl appeared through the grating.

“Oh thank goodness you’re okay. How are you feeling?”

Sunset was taken aback by the girl’s concern, “Uh…fine? You…you were worried about me? Even though I stole the crown from you?”

“That doesn’t matter right now. We’re here to rescue you.”

“Rescue…me,” Sunset repeated the two words for a brief moment as if it was something foreign to her, “Heh, how ironic…me being saved by the pony I wronged,” She said as she kicked the grating off the vent and dropped down to meet the team, “Though I have to ask…what’s with the suits?”

“This? Uh, long story short this is supposed to protect us from harm and amplify our new powers.”

“You too huh?” Sunset said as she created a ball of fire in her hands which alerted everyone. She messed with it for a while before tossing it to the side, “Anyway thanks for coming to my rescue. That metal freak has been using me to create his stupid soldiers and well…I still got the bandages to prove it,” Moving the sleeves on her suit she made everyone gasp in horror and shock as they saw the various bandages and stitching that covered her arms, “I was almost rescued by another guy but that stupid Regor snuck up on him and cut his head off. *Sigh* man I feel sorry for that guy.”

“Umm…yeah that would be me,” Hayden spoke up catching Sunset off guard.

“Wait what?! No you’re lying, nobody can come back after having their head chopped off! Besides you’re wearing completely different armor compared to the other guy!”

“Not unless you’re a Tenno then you’ll be surprised what we can accomplish.”

“I still don’t believe you.”

“Look it’s a long explanation and we don’t have the time to go into detail right now. Anyway do you still have the crown these girls are looking for?”

“Yeah! Do you?!” Rainbow Dash chimed in with a shout.

“Uh…no I…lost it…”

*What?!*

“It wasn’t on accident mind you! That stupid metal man took it away from me, it’s on his ship right now, but I couldn’t get to it because of some kind security system.”

“Security system? Meh, I can handle it but the fact it’s on his ship just makes our job much easier.”

Sunset looked at the Tenno with confusion, “How so?”

“Because we need to destroy Tyl Regor’s research and his remaining tubemen. So considering everything important right now is in one place just makes life easier for all of us,” Hayden explained as he adjusted the marks on his display, “So buckle up sunny, things are going to hectic.”

“Why’s that Hayden?” Twilight asked in confusion as they did a pretty good job getting by without raising the already blaring alarm further.

“Because the route we’re heading through is going to be thick with those metal heads. We cannot avoid an encounter even if we tried. It doesn’t help that our chances of running into Regor and Ruk are pretty high, but if we’re lucky the Tenno sent into the thick of the fight are keeping them busy. Time is of the essence and the guys in our way are out of it,” The Tenno checked his gun and ammo reserves before cocking it.

Sunset looked back at Twilight with a miffed expression, “How come you and your friends managed to find a capable fighter that was able to train you in less than three days while I got stuck with a crazy guy who’s planning to raise an army?”

The purple girl shrugged, “Well it helps to have friends.”

Sunset narrows her eyes before mumbling under her breath, “Lucky…”

“Enough talking ladies, because the real fun is about to start…well fun for me as the rest of you are against killing,” The girls nodded with the exception of Sunset as she only whistled. Exiting the room they took another path and eventually ended up at a large door with two control panels that glowed yellow. Hayden quickly explained how these work and had one of the girls press a button on the panel as he went to the other one and did the same. With a click, the door opened and unexpectedly a large explosive wave staggered the group as the war torn scene finally revealed itself in full. Waves upon waves of Grineer are fighting back the Steel Meridian forces. The girls stood at shock and awe at the sheer number of the forces fighting as the bodies began to pile up.

“W-We h-have to g-get t-through them?!” Fluttershy managed to stutter out.

“Eeyup…” Was all Hayden can say as his trigger finger grew itchy.

“But we can’t take them all on! We’ll be overwhelmed!” Sunset shouted as she looked at the Tenno as if he lost his mind.

“Ah hate to agree, but she ain’t wrong,” Applejack agreed despite the protection her armor gives.

“Not getting cold feet are you? And here I thought I made you girls honorary Tenno,” Hayden said playfully, “Besides…it’s feels like Tuesday all over again.”

*What?!*

“We’re going to cut through that army. While we’re at it we’ll thin the enemy’s numbers to give our friends a fighting chance. However, once we start going this death train has no stops so everybody I need you keep moving until you hit that door up ahead. Applejack you have abilities similar to rhino so you and I will lead the charge.”

“W-What?! Me?”

“Come on cowgirl, you are an unstoppable force and immovable object wrapped up into one body. Now are you with me or not?”

“I’m with you.”

“What? I couldn’t hear you!”

“I said I’m with you!”

“Louder!”

“I’m with you!”

“Then charge!!!!”

“Yee-ha!!!” Applejack shouted in excitement as her brown suit suddenly became coated in a metal like shell as she took off straight into battle. Hayden smiled as he holstered his weapon and created the exalted blade before giving off a war cry of his own.

“RAMPAGE!!!” he shouted with energy before running off to join her. The girls looked at each before deciding they didn’t want to be left behind and rushed after them. To many of the girls surprise the blitzkrieg tactic worked as many of their enemies were caught off guard by the spearheaded assault as Hayden and Applejack pretty much pulverized all in their path as the girl pushed away and trampled all in her path while the battle crazed Tenno was slicing those unlucky enough not to be pushed to the ground. Some grineer attempted to fire upon the group but found themselves being shot at from above courtesy of Rainbow Dash. Pinkie threw what many could consider a disco ball at another group of enemies, but instead of killing them it forced the soldiers to dance against their wills. Rarity confiscated many of their firearms by using her magnetic abilities to snatch them from their hands and forcing them to attack by using their batons, however this was thwarted when Fluttershy drained their energy and their will to fight. Twilight and Sunset both started some chaos with the former causing the remaining opposing forces to attack each other barehanded while the latter set the world on fire as eruptions blasted away the distracted enemies. As for Spike, he just tried to keep up as the chaos happened all around him.

After five minutes of pure destruction the group eventually made it to their destination of the other side and looked back to see their work. Piles upon piles of bodies lay on the ground either dead or unconscious as some still danced while others punched themselves in the face only adding to the body count. Cheers could be heard from the Steel Meridian army as they thanked the team before heading off to their destination. Spike and the girls were panting in exhaustion once it was all over since they never did something that wasted all the energy before.

“Oh hell yeah! I was waiting for a moment to pull off that rampage all day, and considering the carnage we left behind…well I say we did more than thin the herd as I don’t think we left anybody standing,” Hayden said happily as he admired the work they did, “Honestly, I think this is the reason why The Lotus doesn’t let more than a squad of four into battle. If this is the type of damage we can do together then I wouldn’t be surprised if we ended up destroying this entire ship.”

“Yeah…I think I rather avoid that if that’s okay with you Hayden,” Twilight finally said as her breath returned to her.

“Heh, then let’s hope we don’t run into another army,” The group took a small pause to catch their breath and regain their senses before moving onward. Many minor combat encounters later the group finally closed on the marked location and found themselves in front of a large ship parked in the docks.

“We’re here…” Hayden said as he stared the personal ship of Tyl Regor, “And it’s surprisingly unguarded too…that’s not a good sign.”

“Well even if it’s a trap we might as well finish the job. Besides as long as Regor, and Ruk aren’t here then it gives us less things to worry about,” Rainbow Dash said with confidence.

“Not wrong there…but just to be safe. Applejack, Twilight your with me, the rest of you stay out here and keep watch,” Hayden commanded which didn’t sit well with Rainbow Dash but she understood why they needed to stay outside.

“Be careful in there guys, and Hayden…just call and we’ll come rushing in.”

“I’ll keep that in mind. You girls just keep an eye out for trouble.”

“Will do.”

With nothing left to be said Hayden along with the two girls entered the empty ship. With them gone the remaining girls and boy decided to get to know each other, “So…Sunset you used to be a student of Princess Celestia?” asked Spike as he looked at her with a raised brow.

“Eeeyup…”

“So what happened?” Rainbow Dash cut in with a hint of venom in her voice.

Sunset sighed as she knew that the loyalty fueled Pegasus would despise her more for her criminal actions, “We…didn’t agree on a certain subject and well…I simply left and go on my own.”

“Well that’s vague; you aren’t trying to hide something from us are you?”

“No no its…just something stupid really.”

“Try us, we seen many things today and honestly I doubt your excuse is going to be anything but surprising.” Rarity said with a dry tone in her voice.

“*Sigh* Well…long story short my pride blinded me to the lessons Celestia was trying to teach me. Honestly, I actually thought some of her lessons were a waste of time including the one about friendship and all that jazz. My thought process at the time was that I needed no one but myself as I felt my power alone is all I needed. But then she cut me loose and well…here I am now.”

“Yes…here you are. Scarred and used as a test subject for another ruffian’s ambitions that will spell doom for this world should it get out of hand,” Sunset has no words as she knew that it was indeed all her fault that this world is at risk. Granted she wanted a position of power in this world and had an entire world domination plan in the works, but that was quickly dashed when the people in this world had her at their mercy. She wouldn’t admit it, but when her D.N.A was being harvested she indeed wished that somebody would come by and save her but deep down she knew that nobody would save her as she had nobody to rely on. Her wish was almost granted in the form of Hayden, but his defeat killed her hopes at the time.

“You know Sunset, you and Twilight are more alike than you think,” Spike said breaking the girl out of her trance.

“R-Really? How so?”

“Well…before she became to Ponyville she was obsessed with her studies and also thought making friends was a waste of time.”

“But then she met us, and Nightmare Moon showed up causing us to work together and become friends in the span of one adventure,” Pinkie added as she bounced around.

“Indeed, and we only became closer as time passed,” Rarity said as she tried to give a warm smile but her helmet obscured the gesture.

“And we always looked out for each other, giving each other support and at times learning lessons together,” Fluttershy continued.

“We may get on each other’s nerves time to time again and it might cause our friendship to waver a bit, but we always stick together through the thick and thin,” Rainbow Dash said while crossing her arms.

“It’s because we understand each other that allows our friendship to last. You wouldn’t believe the amount of ponies I met since I came to Ponyville and they’re all nice people. Princess Celestia wanted you to experience these things for yourself so you can have a life outside of your studies and not be isolated from the world,” Spike finished as Sunset quietly absorbed all they have said.

Truth be told she didn’t know how to feel right now as she partially hated the fact she was compared to Twilight who was more successful than her, but their words hold water. The fact that the second chosen student of Princess Celestia was once like her was a big surprise though. But unlike her she found friends to rely on and became a better person because of it. Considering all the horrible things she was subjected to she can at least say it was a humbling experience but can she really turn over a new leaf? While she is still unsure of the entire subject of friendship itself she at least is a bit more open to the idea as they did come here to rescue her despite stealing the element of magic.

“I see…I’ll…think about what you said,” Sunset said as she walked away from the group and simply sat down a few feet away from the group, “Maybe…I should give it a chance…”

Location: Tyl Regor’s Ship.

“So this is the security system Sunset was having trouble with,” Hayden said as he stared down the normal bio-scanner that he has seen many times before.

“So how are we going to get past it? You gonna use some sort of hacking thing?” Applejack said as she marveled at the rustic looking tech.

“Something like that…” Hayden replied as he pulled out his Vasto and shot the scanning eye; destroying it and deactivating the barrier in one go. Twilight and Applejack looked at him with a surprised look before the Tenno explained how did that work, “Yeah…for some reason the security field’s power is connected to the scanner so destroying the scanner will kill the barrier. I don’t know why that works but it does,” Hayden proceeded to move into the room with the two girls shrugging before following him in.

Upon entering the room the group was met with five large tubes; all containing the tubemen Salamanders, “Yikes…I know I only seen it through the camera but these things are even more terrifying up close,” Twilight said as she closely observed the suspended beings.

“Best not poke the sleeping rattlesnake Twi. The last thing we need are these monsters breathing down our necks.”

“Not that I have anything to say about it,” Hayden said as he walked up to the nearby computer and noticed a metal trinket sitting by, “Hey, is this the element you girls were looking for?” The Tenno said as he picked up the tiara and showed it to them.

Twilight’s eyes lit up, “Yes! That’s the Element of Magic! It’s a powerful artifact that we used to help protect our home along with the other elements.”

“Then it’s safer in your hands then mine,” Hayden said as he placed the tiara in the girl’s hands, “Don’t lose it this time,” The Tenno said in a semi-jokingly manner before turning his attention back to computer, “Now to make sure Regor can’t use this research anymore,” Hayden then pulled out a cipher and injected it into a port on the machine. The computer roared to life as countless data files are deleted thus ruining any chance of it being used again. Once the last file was deleted Hayden pulled out the cipher before proceeding to use it as a blunt object to destroy the screen of the machine as all the tubes powered down. However, what Hayden wasn’t expecting was a sudden transmission call.

“Hello Tenno…” It was Tyl Regor and to the Tenno’s surprise he didn’t sound angry at all.

“Regor…I erased all your files and killed the life support on your tubemen. Your plan is officially dismantled you metal head.”

“So you think. I always have a backup plan Tenno and I knew that you’ll come to destroy my research again, so I came up with some counter measures.”

“Ergh…of course you do. Because that would have been too easy now wouldn’t it?”

“Ah… then you understand what comes next then?”

“*Sigh* Girls, we need to move now!”

“You know me so well…”

Twilight and Applejack were at first confused by Hayden’s urgency to move but once they saw the tubes activate once again and open they fully understood why they needed to leave. Running away as fast as they can the trio left the room and ran down a nearby hall as animalistic roars and cries were heard behind them. The salamanders were awakened and they already knew who their prey is. Hayden knew that fighting the hybrid monsters inside the corridors of the ship would be a bad idea due to the limited space available to them. Thankfully the exit to the ship wasn’t too far ahead but of course he had to warn everyone who was waiting outside. So when they neared the exit Hayden shouted, “Everyone get ready, we have some Salamanders on our tail!”

Voices of surprise were heard but of course by the time they knew what was going on. Hayden, Twilight, and Applejack already exited the ship just as a fireball shot out after them. The girls quickly went on guard just as the first Salamander showed up and saw the group. It hissed just as the girls fired upon it. They managed to score a few hits in before the monster got out of the way and the rest of sisters joined in.

“Holy cow! You really brought the party!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed as she did her best o avoid the animalistic strikes from the one who targeted her.

“Regor set a trap and well now we have to deal with these things personally,” Hayden said with frustration as he pulled out his exalted blade and started going on the offensive, “Applejack! Use your stomp!”

Nearly dodging an attack, Applejack was at first confused by the request but then remembered the power the Tenno told her, “Right, coming right up!” Charging her power to her feet the girl raised her foot into the air and slammed it into the ground. The shockwave vibrated through the ground and picked up three of the salamanders off the ground and froze them in mid air while the others avoided the attack by jumping to higher ground.

Deciding to push the advantage that was created Hayden called out to Twilight, Sunset, and Rarity to focus fire on the ones caught in the stomp. They quickly responded and joined the Tenno in the combined assault as they blasted the three monsters with the combination of the exalted blade strikes, psychic bolts, fireballs, and Polarizing bolts mixed with magnetize bolts. The combined attack did serious damage to the creatures; nearly killing them in the process. Once their frozen free fall finally ended they fell to the ground with a hard thud. Hayden was nearly surprised at the amount of damage they caused to the sturdy monsters.

“Whaddya know…teamwork really does make the dream work!” He said with a smile as he knew that they had the advantage. The remaining two roared and both used the world on fire ability at the same time, causing multiple fire pillars to erupt out of the ground, “Shit, spoke too soon!” Hayden shouted as he turns to his team, “Everybody fall back! We’re going to need more breathing room if we’re going to take on these things!” Some of the girls agreed while Applejack and Rainbow Dash disagreed, thinking they can finish off the weakened ones but quickly changed their minds when a column of fire erupted in front of them and around the down bodies of the other salamanders in an effort to protect them.

Running back they headed back to the hanger’s entrance but to their surprise the doors opened and a missile was fired at them. The group quickly avoided the attack and once they recovered they were met with the imposing figures of both Tyl Regor and Sargas Ruk.

“Why hello Tenno…” Regor said sinisterly as he brandishes his signature weapons, “I see you’re having fun with my new tubemen. Though it seems you like to play rough considering that you and your friends already downed three of them. It would seem my creations will need a durability boost but I say that will be a quick fix considering you found my lost property.”

“The girl doesn’t belong to you Regor!”

“I’m afraid you don’t have much choice in the matter…” Regor said as all five salamanders appeared behind the team.

“Surrender Tenno! You have no hope of winning this fight!” Ruk shouted as he readies his weapons.

“Heh, I remember you saying that on our first encounter Ruk. Last I checked I killed you, so I say we have a pretty good chance of winning,” The general growled in anger before Regor stepped in.

“Oh if you only knew what I have in store for you and this entire system Tenno,” Regor then pressed an unseen button on the back of his head which suddenly caused his ship to roar to life and leave the hanger in a hurry. Hayden and the gang was confused by this but before the Tenno could get a word out he was blindsided by the Grineer’s shield as he rammed into him with a rocket propelled charge, “This ends now Tenno!”

Hayden in response to this surprise attack grabbed his shield and in an incredible feat of strength managed to push himself off the madman as he rolled to the ground just as Regor stopped his charge, “That’s my line asshat…” Hayden said as he took a battle ready stance. As this was going on the girls and Spike were left to deal with Sargas Ruk and the Salamanders as they too got ready for battle themselves. A decisive battle is about to take place and the fate of two worlds are on the line.

Chapter 8: No Quarter

Location: Tethys (Docking Bay of the Warship)

Hayden and Tyl Regor continued to stare each other down as they circled each other; they dared not take their eyes off each other. Hatred was high between the two men before Tyl Regor suddenly teleported out of sight which in turn caused Hayden to narrow his eyes before suddenly rolling to avoid an axe strike from the grineer as he appeared behind him. After dodging, the Tenno retaliated by firing some shells at the metal man, but Regor simply brought his shield up to block the attack but to his surprise the shells exploded and pushed him back. Continuing the explosive assault Hayden fired off a few more shots before Regor teleported again but this time in front of the Tenno and bashing him to the side with his shield.

Hayden quickly recovered just to avoid a thrown axe, courtesy of his opponent. The tenno attempted to face his opponent but was quickly blindsided by another shield strike to the back of his head after the grineer did another teleport to throw off Hayden while trying to retrieve his axe. The Tenno rubbed his head in pain while trying to remember how he beat the mad man the first time. However, his thoughts were interrupted when he heard a not so subtle ‘die tenno!’ from Regor which spurred him to draw out his own melee weapon, the Nikana, and stop the incoming axe strike.

“A new sword tenno?”

“Just had it made, and right now it’s looking for blood,” Hayden then kicked the metal man away from him in order to get some more space and stand back up, “Oh yeah that reminds me…if memory serves me correctly I kicked your metal tin can just by hitting you over and over again with my swords.”

The two immediately clashed again as Regor started burning holes into Hayden’s head, “Don’t remind me…”

Their battle began to pick up as the two began the clash over and over again as blades clanged against each other. It was almost a dance between two different styles of fighting with Regor representing a more brutal method of combat and Hayden being more controlled and efficient with precise strikes. The two managed to harm each other in their assault as they took serious hits from each other as blood and sparks fly everywhere. Despite the impressive display Hayden was having a hard time getting past the metal man’s shield. Deciding that he needed to get some distance the Tenno planted his foot on Regor’s shield and pushed in order to put some space between them.

“You’re not getting away!” The grineer shouted as he did another teleport in order to close the distance, however, Hayden already stuck up his sword into the air and created a flash of light that immediately blinded everyone who saw it; that included Sargus Ruk and the salamanders as screams of pain can be heard.

“Gah!!! I always detested that stupid ability of yours!” Regor shouted in annoyance as he waited for his vision to return. Meanwhile Hayden took full advantage of this as he delivered a hard kick into his head that knocked him onto the ground hard. Hayden attempted to follow up with a downward stab but Regor quickly reacted and deflected the attack with his shield and impaled Hayden with his axe before lifting him into the air and slamming him into the ground, “Try again Tenno!” he shouted before kicking Hayden to the curb.

“Ergh…I plan to,” The Tenno said before standing back up and checking the wound that slowly healed before his eyes. He then grunted with anger as he did his quick slash ability to quickly close the distance between him and Regor which took the Grineer off guard as it made a deep cut into his armor.

“Grah! You wretched cur!”

“Oh please that’s just a flesh wound compared to the axe you ran through me!” Hayden shouted as the two clashed once again into blade fueled frenzy. Their blades continue to spark against each other until one equally strength blow from each other sent both skidding away from each other before they ran straight at each other and clashed into a deadlock, “You’re ambition dies here Regor!”

“Something will certainly die today Tenno.”

The two attempted to overpower each other with their own strength and by the looks of it none of them seemed to be winning the battle of physical strength. This kept up for a minute until suddenly a voice shouted out, “Watch out!”

Both Hayden and Regor looked in the direction of the shout only to see a missile heading straight towards them. Both the Tenno and Grineer looked at each other with some form of common agreement, but it was too late as they were both blasted by the stray rocket and sent tumbling out of the docks much to the panic and shock of the girls and Spike as both men are now floating in space and still fighting each other to the death.

“Hayden!” Twilight shouted before quickly dodging an incoming strike from a salamander.

“You should be more worried for yourself than your ally Tenno!” Sargus Ruk taunted as he released a torrent of fire from his flamethrower. The girls quickly evaded the stream of flames only to run into the salamanders. The moment the battle begins the girls had a hard time keeping tabs on all their enemies as two of the girls were needed to hold off just one salamander. It didn’t help that Sargus Ruk’s armor proved to be nigh impenetrable and his weaponry is as formidable as it was crude. Rockets and flamethrowers are just the tip of the iceberg with this grineer despite being quite slow in movement, although, the salamanders themselves proved just as dangerous with their fire abilities and feral attacks. Everyone was doing their best to stay alive from the various attacks that came from all sides with the teachings given to them by Hayden with the exception of Sunset as she simply did her best to avoid everything while trying to find an opening to counter attack with her own fire.

“These guys are tough!” Rainbow Dash shouted as she narrowly avoided a crimson fireball and retaliated with gunfire.

“Now I can see why one nearly took a lot out him. These maniacs don’t hold their punches!” Applejack shouted as she tanked a couple of blows with her iron skin ability before ramming into the same salamander as it was distracted from Rainbow Dash’s gunfire.

“Then it’s a good thing two of them are already weakened,” Twilight said as she fired psychic bolts at one of the slower salamanders. The homing projectiles hit home on the creature as it shrieked in pain before glowing red and lunging at Twilight.

“Twilight look out!” Shouted Sunset as she shot out a much stronger fireball at the fake tenno and blasted it to the side before it reaches the girl.

While she didn’t expect the salamander to suddenly lunge at her, Twilight was more surprised by Sunset’s response to help her, “Thanks for the assist!”

“Don’t mention it. Just pay more attention to enemies next time!” she shouted as the salamander screamed in rage.

“Aaahhh!!!” Screamed Fluttershy as she ran across area with two salamanders chasing her down in an animalistic frenzy.

“Don’t worry darling! We got your back!” Rarity shouted as she used her magnetic pull ability to pull away one of the salamanders, “Spike now!”

“Got it!” the dragon turned Kubrow shouted as he jumped into the air and kicked the pulled salamander in the head before it was grabbed by the legs as a metallic looking whip shot out and slammed the monster onto the ground. Spike then followed up with a pounce and started clawing at the creature before it pushed him off and broke away from Rarity’s grasp.

As this was happening the second weaken salamander joined the other in chasing Fluttershy but their chase was interrupted Pinkie appeared and fired a much weaker version payload of the modified Orgis. Cake batter and confetti splattered her friend’s pursuers as they struggled against the sticky bonds that held them in place. They attempted to escape by heating up their bodies but to their surprise and annoyance the batter started to cook and rise; trapping them in the soft yet sticky cake, “That was a special recipe of mine I hope you two enjoy it!” Pinkie said with a smile as left the two to struggle against their delicious bonds.

“Thanks for the help Pinkie I don’t think I would have been able to take on both of them.”

“No problem!”

“Then take me on Tenno!” roared Sargus Ruk as a section of his armor opened up and fired a missile at the two girls causing them to go wide eye and dodge the attack, “Your pathetic weapons cannot penetrate my armor! What hope do you have in beating me!”

“Pinkie did you see that?”

“Yeah his armor opened up.”

“If we can’t penetrate his armor maybe we can attack those exposed parts when he attacks.”

“I don’t see why not let’s do it!”

Sargus scoffed at their attempts to be brave and readied another missile that opened up his arm. Seeing their chance Fluttershy brought out her Cernos bow and fired it at the open space made by the projectile. The blunt arrow tapped the warhead causing it to explode in the grineer’s arm and causing him to shout in anger as he switched to his flame thrower. Pinkie saw her chance and fired another low power cake grenade into the exposed exhaust port on his left shoulder. The party filled grenade circled into the port before exploding and gumming up the inner works of Ruk’s body.

“What the?! Is this some kind trick Tenno? I thought you were warriors!” he shouted before attempting to use his flame thrower only for it to jam as cake bread slowly expanded out of the gaps, “What is this substance?! Some new compound you Tenno have been developing?!”

“It’s call cake. And maybe you wouldn’t be so angry all time if you had some every once in a while okay?” Pinkie said with a rarely seen serious expression on her face.

“Had some…? You mean it’s edible?”

“Eeyup!”

“Stop messing with me Tenno!” The metal grineer shouted as he readied another rocket but this time he was prepared for Fluttershy’s arrow as he quickly side stepped before firing. Seeing the incoming projectile the two rolled in separate directions as the missile exploded between them and sent them both flying in separate directions. With a smirk he prepared another missile and was about to fire until something hit him hard in the back and throw off his aim which caused him to accidently fire the missile in the direction of the trapped salamanders. The projectile exploded and caused cake pieces to fly everywhere as the fake Tenno fell to the ground with a hard thud, “Who dares?!”

His question was answered with a hard kick to the face by none other than Applejack, “I dare you walking tin can!” The country girl shouted as she delivered another kick into Ruk’s face before he shoved her away to get some distance away from her.

“Grrr…I had enough of you Tenno!” he roared as his chest plate opened up as a ball of fire gathered in his right arm before slamming it into the ground and creating a shockwave of fire that hurt both friend and enemy alike. Applejack braced herself as she resisted the blast but everyone else wasn’t as lucky as they got knocked down by the wall of flames. Once the fire subsided Applejack was the only one to remain standing with the exception of Ruk as he gathered another ball of fire in his hand, “Endure this!” he shouted as he slammed it again.

“Erk…ah didn’t think he had this up his sleeve!” Applejack shouted as she was caught in the fire wave.

“Applejack!” Pinkie shouted, “Hit him in the chest! It opens up when he’s about to attack!”

The country girl looked at the chest plate in question and noticed what her friends noticed earlier than her, “Got it!” she said as she charged at the metal man just as he was readying another fire slam. Her charge thankfully interrupted his attack and capitalizing on his stunned condition she released a fury of strong punches and kicks before ending it with a strong haymaker. The blow damaged the inner chest core but wasn’t enough to completely destroy it. However, it did allow her friends to recover from the previous assault as they slowly got up and shaking off the slight amount of soot that covered their bodies.

“Argh…curse you Tenno!” He screamed as sparks peeked out of the gaps in his chest plate.

“Not so tough when we know where to hit you!” Applejack taunted as she crashed her fists together.

“It’s not over yet!” he shouted as he got ready for another slam. Applejack attempted to stop him but was quickly tackled by three salamanders to the ground. Thinking fast the remaining girls opened fired on the chest reactor. The two remaining salamanders attempted to block some of the bullets with their bodies while throwing fireballs at them. However, this was in vain when Twilight aimed carefully and fired one last shot that passed both of them and straight into the reactor. The non-lethal bullet was strong enough to finally break the core and instead of the fire working like it’s supposed too. It instead exploded and sent the grineer flying back as he hit the ground hard. However, he wasn’t down for long as he quickly got back up and was even madder than ever, “I will burn you all to ashes!”

As the battle raged on the docks so did the one in space, Hayden felt his lungs choke as air became limited the moment he entered cold void with his enemy, “What’s the manner Tenno? Running out breath?” The mad metal man shouted as a giant metal fist punched Hayden away from him.

“Operator! Operator! Are you okay?!”

“Running out of air here! Send out the Odonata ASAP!”

“You got it operator!”

With help on the way all the Tenno had to do was just conserve air until it arrives. In his mind he took comfort that Regor couldn’t fight him anymore due to space physics, but boy was he wrong. No sooner that thought passed his mind the grineer in question appeared before him and punched him again hard in the stomach causing Hayden to lose all of his air in his lungs, “Surprised Tenno? After our last battle in flooded waters of my base I knew I had to adapt to my environment. So I had rockets installed in order to grant me flight in the heartless void along with oxygen tanks,” Hayden couldn’t respond as his lungs desperately cried out for air as seen with him physically writhing in pain, “Oh what’s the matter Tenno? You look like you need something…well what is it? You can tell me…” If Hayden was able to talk his only response to the Grineer would be an ‘f-bomb’ to his face, “Aw…do I have to force it out of you? If you insist!”

With no restraint the vile Grineer savagely punched the Tenno in the stomach as he was sent flying further into the void of space. Hayden couldn’t do anything as he starts to choke from the lack of air. His lungs burn as he writhe in pain as another punch came from the mercilessness grineer. This repeated a couple of times until Regor delivered one more punch that sent the Tenno flying into the void. Regor smiled as the Tenno began to stop moving while flying towards oblivion; the grineer was about to turn away from the body until suddenly a small ship unknown to him appeared and launched a small package at the presumed dead body. The package attached itself to the lower back of the Tenno before opening up into large wing-like appendages. Regor stared in confusion as he seen those contraptions before, but they were only out for a mere second before disappearing. However, his confusion was replaced with surprise when the unmoving body of the Tenno suddenly spring to life with a flash of light.

“Argh…thanks Ordis…though a little earlier on that delivery would be nice,” Hayden said as he pulled out a sword that expanded into a ridiculously large telescopic great sword; this was Veritux.

“Stop complaining and kill the f-scum operator!” Ordis shouted with righteous anger.

“No need to tell me twice!” The Tenno shouted as he pointed his blade as Tyl Regor, “Hey Tyl Fisto let’s try this again, but this time I’m going to rip your metal fist out of its socket and ram it into your stomach so I can rip out your metal spine!”

“That’s a nasty threat coming from you Tenno. Here I thought you Tenno are more honorable than that and wouldn’t resort to threats?”

“Oooh…a threat? No…I don’t make threats…I make promises, and just to add to the fun I promise that every time you hit me I will hit back twice as hard.”

“I’m shivering in my armor Tenno,” Regor mocked as he slams his fists together, “However, it matters not because you’ll be just another piece of space debris when I’m done with you.”

“Okay enough tough talk, let’s just do this.”

“Agreed.”

Both fighters gave out a war cry as they charged at each other in the dark void of space with the large grineer ship in the background acting as a backdrop. Before they knew it they clashed once more and went into a rapid barrage of attacks. It was quite a spectacle to behold as each successful hit made on each other separated the two briefly before they went back at it again. The speed of their attacks was near blinding as the weightlessness of space made their impractical weapons as light as a feather.

“Heh, I must admit Tenno, this is kinda invigorating!” Regor managed to say during the rapid clash before scoring a punch to Hayden’s head which caused him to back flip at incredibly fast speeds. However, the Tenno countered by sticking his blade out and hitting the grineer on the upward swing. This sent Regor flying upwards until he stopped himself with the jets in his armor, “However, your refusal to die is souring the mood.”

Hayden corrected himself as well before responding, “I just live to ruin your fun Regor,” Hayden said with an unseen smile before firing a volley of rockets out of the arch wings that locked onto the grineer.

“What the?! Just how many tricks do your toys have Tenno?!” Regor shouted in surprise as he attempted to punch away the missiles only successful on hitting three before the rest swarmed him and blow him away. Each impact increased his velocity as he was sent careening towards the side of the large battleship before crashing and denting the large military weapon.

“More than you’re willing to figure out.” Hayden taunted as he sped up and charged towards the grineer. Tyl Regor shook off the dizzying impact and noticed the Tenno coming at him fast but when he tried to move he found himself stuck in the dent he made.

Thinking fast Regor decided to only focus his mechanical strength on pulling one of his arms free. It was a desperate maneuver on his part but it was well worth it when he finally wrenched his right arm free and pointed his fist at the Tenno just as he came within range. Hayden couldn’t react fast enough when the metal man fired his fist straight into Hayden’s face. Everything went in slow motion for the two as Hayden’s vision immediately went red as the snaps of neck bones were muffled by the soundless void of space. The Tenno’s body crumpled from being a physical representation of the phrase ‘an unstoppable force meets an immovable object.’ Regor had to take a double take just to make sure that he wasn’t imagining what just happened as his desperate attack actually paid off by knocking the Tenno out cold. Freeing himself from the self-made dent and recalling the fist back to his arm the grineer noticed that the Tenno’s body was twitching and regenerating, “Oh you got to be kidding me! Is there anything these Tenno don’t come back from?”

His complaint is warranted as the Tenno he was fighting is quite tenacious and stubborn. Regor only wished that he had his D.N.A. so he can make an even stronger variant of Tenno-Grineer tubemen hybrids. However, he could not sample any usable material from the fallen Tenno’s body. It was unfortunate but those were the facts, however, at least to him there will be nothing lost should he utterly destroy the Tenno’s body. Opening his large metal fist, he grabbed hold of the Tenno and began flying towards one of the firing cannon’s of the ship. During their intense battle the two seem to have forgotten the battle happening outside, so this opened the opportunity of using the large cannons to blast Hayden’s body to smithereens. Even if his body does survive the blast it would also send his body at alarming speeds across space.

“It was fun while it lasted Tenno but it ends here. I don’t know if this will be enough to put you down for good but at least you’ll be out of my hair. No doubt the combination of my Salamanders and the power of General Sargus Ruk are already tiring your fellow Tenno. Their situation is only going to get worse once I drop in. Their D.N.A. will make me numerous new tubemen each inheriting a power from you Tenno and once the Grineer Empire take over this entire system I will personally knock down the door your beloved Lotus is hiding behind and kill her slowly with my own two hands,” The vile grineer researcher was about to toss the body of the down Tenno until suddenly the Tenno’s arms gripped his arm much to his surprise. “What?!?”

“That…hurted…asshole…” Hayden was finally able to spit out as his archwing roared to life and emitted a large pulse that blasted Regor away from him. The grineer flew a fair distance away while cursing at the Tenno much to his amusement, “Ah…ow…didn’t expect him to launch one of those freakin metal fists at me. Shhhh…yeah I’m going to feel that for a week,” Hayden complained as the warframe continued to repair the broken parts of its body. Unfortunately for Hayden, he didn’t get much time to recover before Regor charged at him again with renewed anger and rage.

“Die Tenno!!!” he roared as he launched one of his fists at Hayden while still charging in with his other fist.

“Oh for the love of…” Was all Hayden said he deftly dodged the metal projectile before planting himself on Regor’s chest while grabbing his remaining arm, “I just had enough of you pal, so let’s just skip to the climax!” Pulling with all his might Hayden attempted to pull off cybernetic arm while Regor quickly recalled his fired arm and started punching the Tenno.

“What the hell are you doing?!” Regor screamed as he continuously punched Hayden over and over again in a desperate attempt to remove the Tenno off his arm but unknown to him he was unintentionally helping the Tenno, “Let go of my arm!”

“Sorry but I’m afraid I’ve grown attached,” Hayden said jokingly among the sea of ows’ for each punch that hit home. After a few minutes of pulling and punching Hayden finally ripped out the mechanical limb as sparks quickly died in the airless space.

“Argh!!! You little worm! Leech! Lizard! Parasite!!!” The grineer roared in anger as he fired his remaining fist at Hayden.

“Go to hell tin man!” Quickly messing with a few wires Hayden fired the fist on the arm he stolen straight at Regor. After that he fired another volley of missiles not at Regor but at the fist. Each successive missile hit the back end of the fist and propelled it faster at him. The Grineer found himself staring wide eyed as the fist’s speed was faster than he can maneuver. Within that moment the evil researcher only smiled behind his mask as his own fist punched a hole through what was left of his own stomach and out his back; taking a piece of his spine with it, “Knowing how valuable you are to the remaining queen. There is no doubt you’ll come back again but when you do I’ll make sure to bury you again with the rest of your scrapped bodies.”

“Heh heh heh kek ack!”

“What are you laughing about?”

“*Breathes* You’ll find out in time…*breathes* Tenno…savor your victory while you can…as it will be me who will have…*breathes* the last laugh…” with a final weak fit of laughter the Grineer researcher Tyl Regor finally died.

“Shit…it’s never good when the bad guy laughs. But what was he talking about?” Hayden pondered about this for a bit until he remembered the ship that left the docks before the battle started. “What did you do Regor?” The Tenno asked himself angrily before his thoughts drifted towards his team, “Oh shit Spike and the girls need my help. Hopefully they’re holding on while I was fighting Regor.” With this said, Hayden flew towards the docks hoping that his new friends are holding their own.

“Waah!!!”

“Aah!!!”

Cries of pain and panic were screamed out as it would seem Armageddon itself consumed the area as pillars of fire erupted everywhere while being shot in various directions. Spike and the girls did their best to avoid the roaring flames but thanks to the wall of fire the amount of space they have to run is limited. Needless to say the enemy has turn the tide when the salamanders all activated the ability ‘world on fire’ on the group along with Sargas Ruk’s fire pillar attack. Twilight looked for an opening but each time she stood still another volcanic eruption would occur at her feet. Her shields thankfully protected her from the worst the fires had to offer but it won’t protect her forever. To make things worse her HUD told her that her friends’ vitals took a hit from a powerful fire blast.

“This isn’t good! We can’t keep going on like this!” The girl said to herself before dodging a fire ball that was aimed at her.

“You got that right!” Sunset shouted as she ran to Twilight’s side before counter attacking with her own fire, “We’re going to need a plan Twilight because I might as well be throwing air at them at this point,” The girl shouted before pushing to the side as another mini volcano erupted beneath them.

“I’m trying! But according to Pinkie and Fluttershy the only way we can damage Sargas is hitting the open parts of his armor when he attacks but there isn’t any more places we can hit him! To make things worse the salamanders are becoming more aggressive and seem to be grouping around him for organized attacks.”

Sunset cursed under her breath as more fire came their way and the two were forced to move, “Twilight, I think we may already found the answer to the problem.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well it’s just a hunch but what if those salamanders are grouping up with him not just because their combined attacks are more powerful but because they are aware of Ruk’s desperation?”

Twilight absorbed Sunset’s words carefully and after thinking about it she may be right. The salamanders must have become more aggressive for a reason and by the looks of it they don’t seem keen on leaving Ruk’s side. It didn’t take long for the girl to come to a theory, “I think you’re on to something Sunset. By the way they’re sticking close to him I think his last weak spot is on his back.”

“Sounds about right, I mean how else is he venting all that heat he creates? But, if the weak point is on his back then we need to do something about those salamanders,” Sunset looked over to the vile creatures born from her D.N.A. and noticed three looked to be weaker than the other with two of them far tipsier than the sole third. “I think I found our weakest links in that formation.” The fire haired girl said with smile before turning back to Twilight, “Twilight how good is your aim?”

“It’s a work in progress but its far better when I first started using this gun.”

“Good enough, anyway I need you to nail those three over there by shooting them in the head. They’re much weaker than the other two and if I’m right a well placed shot to the dome should put them out of commission for good.”

“Sounds like a plan but I’ll need some cover because as soon as I take aim at them they’ll focus fire on me.”

“You leave that to me; just focus on aiming on the weaker salamanders.”

“Got it.”

“Alright here I go,” Quickly facing the horrid creatures Sunset fired off a few fireballs that did little damage to the salamanders but it did get their attention. They opened fire without rest as she drew their attention. Given the opening she needed Twilight brought up her rifle and took aim. Quickly scoping out the weaker salamanders Twilight open fired and hit one of them in the head; which immediately knocked it out. The other two salamanders quickly noticed their downed sister and immediately opened fired on Twilight who already had her sight on the other weaker sister and fired. The purple girl quickly jumped out of the way when the fireballs came her way and managed to avoid them completely, but unfortunately for the salamander she aimed at they couldn’t avoid her shot and in turn was knocked out like her clone sister before her.

The remaining three salamanders shrieked in rage much to the annoyance to Ruk who simply fired another pillar of fire at the offending girl, “Not good not good!” Twilight shouted in a panic as she began to run away from the incoming wave of flames.

“Get behind me Twilight!” Shouted Applejack as she ran past Twilight and reactivated her iron skin ability. Twilight agreeing with the idea got behind Applejack as the large wave of fire passed through them. The purple girl let out a sigh of relief before thanking her friend for the assist, “You’re welcome Twi but we can pat each other’s backs later. We still got some ornery salamanders to deal with.”

Twilight nodded in agreement as she resumed her attack and opened fire on the salamanders once again. She managed to fire off a few more shots that downed the last of weakened creatures that left only two salamanders and Ruk to deal with. The firepower was cut in two but what remained was still consistent. However, thanks to the focus fire on Twilight, Rainbow Dash and Pinkie were finally able to counter attack as they fire their weapons at the remaining salamanders. Fluttershy activated her energy vampire ability and drained the energy from the monsters and adding them to her friends. Slowly but surely the Grineer-Tenno hybrids fire began to fade until finally running out. The creatures panicked as they noticed their fire power was gone due to the lack of energy available in their bodies. With the tide turning in their favor Rainbow Dash unleashed a swarm of tornados that scattered and snuffed out the flames that remained; including the wall that locked them in.

Ruk locked himself to the ground to avoid being sucked up by the tornados, but the salamanders weren’t as lucky as all of them were dragged by the fierce winds and let vulnerable to attack. Rarity and Pinkie capitalized on this as the former used her magnetic abilities to magnetize the group and locked them together while the latter charged up a bigger shot from her weapon before firing. The payload exploded upon contact and covered the defeated monsters in cake batter, candy, and various party decorations. Once the winds subsided the group gathered around the lone Sargus Ruk. The Grineer general gritted his teeth as he prepared one last fire pillar attack which in turn opened the armor on his back. The group saw this and almost immediately Pinkie fired another payload into the exposed back and gummed up the works.

“Graah!!!” Sargus shouted in pain as his armor sputtered and exploded internally as the flames had nowhere to go. Smoke and the smell of burnt clone flesh emitted from the gaps of his armor as the girls took a step back in surprise as the Grineer fell to the ground dead as flames began to leak through his armor no doubt using his body for fuel.

“Whoops…eh…I think we shouldn’t have covered all of his venting ports,” Pinkie said sheepishly while trying to ignore the fact she just killed a man.

“Well that takes care of him I guess…but what do we do with them?” Rainbow Dash said as she pointed to the trapped salamanders.

“They’re abominations created from my D.N.A. I think they should be destroyed,” Sunset suggested as she herself has a personal issue with the creatures existence.

Despite the logic behind the suggestion Twilight was still hesitant as none of them had it in them to end the life of another, “Hayden probably would have said the same thing, but…”

“But what? Don’t tell me you guys don’t have it in you to kill something even if it deserves it?” Sunset said with utter surprise as the girls nodded.

“It’s not how we operate. We never intentionally kill our enemies’ heck we haven’t really killed anypony up until Mr. Armor pants went up in flames,” Rainbow Dash said while given Sunset a stern look.

“Then how did any of you managed to survive in this world?!”

“It’s because they had my help,” Sunset nearly jumped from the calm voice of Hayden as the Tenno walked towards the group, “I’m guessing from the tone of your voice Sunset you have blood on your hands,” Some of the girls gasped at the accusation but Sunset didn’t flinch as she stared at the Tenno with mixed emotions.

“I…I did to survive okay?! It was me or them and there is no way in Tarterus I was going to let them kill me!”

“Hey I’m not judging. Heck when push comes to shove you do what you need to do in order overcome the odds. But…these girls and dragon turned Kubrow aren’t killers; that was made clear when I first met them. It’s jarring to say the least to meet people that won’t kill people who are trying to kill them and it was annoying to modify my own weapons to fit their nature. Honestly, it would’ve been easier to just leave them in my ship and for me to do all the hard work.”

“But you didn’t because…what?”

“They’re driven, like me to see a mission through to the end. You of all people should appreciate that as even though you stole the element of magic they were worried about you when they learned that Regor was using you for his research,” Hayden took out his Nikana and raised the blade over the knocked out salamanders, “They’re good people who are unwilling to end another person’s life and honestly I respect that. You all came from a world far more peaceful than my own and thus have more freedom to choose how many of your battles end, but for me I can’t fully remember my childhood or birth for that matter. All I knew was conflict and at times a weapon of war until The Lotus saved me from that fate. Blood will always stain my hands and weapons but at least now I do it for a more righteous cause. I’ll have you know Sunset that once you end another beings life…it becomes easier to end another. I didn’t want these girls to stain their hands if there was a way to avoid it all together.”

“Wow…you’re a really compromising person are you?”

“I’m more than a warrior and a bringer of death; I’m also a peacekeeper. Perhaps you should think about who you are in the grand scheme of things.” In one quick swift motion and with no emotion behind it the Tenno cleanly sliced through the necks of all the salamanders and ending their artificial lives. The cut was so clean that none of the decapitated heads moved from their spots as blood leaked from their necks, “Let’s go, your ticket home comes tomorrow and we have some time to burn.”

*Growwlll…*

The sound of numerous stomachs growling filled the area as the girls looked at each other in embarrassment, “Yeah that’s our cue to leave. Ordis! Come pick us up!”

“I hear you loud and clear operator!” Suddenly the Tenno’s landing craft flew into the docks and after landing opened up to reveal a way inside.

“Heh, ladies first?” Hayden said with an unseen smile as everybody headed towards the ship. Once everyone was inside the shipped closed the boarding platform and rose into the air before shooting out of the docks at high speeds which also disturbed the perfectly set heads of the salamanders and caused them to fall off.

On their way out of the system they got a call from Steel Meridian with thanks and the overall mission report. Of course the mission was a success and with Tyl Regor and Sargus Ruk dead again along with the serious damage to the battleship itself it was also a victory for Steel Meridian. With the conflict finally behind them the group decided it was a time for celebration.

Sometime after the large scale battle; Tyl Regor’s personal ship still flew through the void of space heading towards his place of control. However, the ship was no longer on auto-pilot and was now being hand steered and controlled by non mechanical hands. In the driver seat was a naked muscular male figure still covered by the liquid he was born from. Nothing was notable about the man except for his hair which was grown to reach the back of his neck. His hair was colored black but streaks of red, orange, and yellow highlighted one side of his head. His cold calculating amber eyes stared at his computer screen before smiling to himself.

“Let’s see what this new body can do…” the figure said with a chillingly sinister voice before breaking out into laughter. A new evil has been born into the world.

Chapter 9: Going Home

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

Chapter 1: Not in Equestria Anymore

Author's Note

Well here it is! A cross over story with Equestria Girls and the game Warframe. This story was originally posted on fanfiction.net and was a story requested by a user named retro mania who of which I haven't heard from in a while. Surprisingly this story get's a lot of views on the original sight having currently over 3,000 views. Not sure how it's going to fair here, but I thought to give anybody who is interested in my works something to read while I'm working on fixing my first story. Anyway I hope you enjoy this story and give my other story a chance while I fix it up. It was originally created and posted on January 17, 2014 after all and my first work, so there's a bit of trivia for you.

Chapter 1: Not in Equestria Anymore

Deep in the outer reaches of space a lone ship drifting in place among the stars; away from all the war and violence for a moment of rest. Inside the black gold colored ship resided the sole occupant of the ship; a Tenno named Hayden. Despite having the appearance of a child, he was far from one. He has all the experience of a veteran warrior and as such he had seen his fair share of death, carnage, loss, trumph, and truth. Though, there are still questions that have yet to be answered to young Tenno, but like many things in life; it will come to him in time…like his new Ogris explosive launcher which is currently being built.

“Aww….c’mon!!! Why can’t you be built faster!” shouted Hayden as he stared longer at the assembly workshop as it continued to slowly and carefully assemble his new weapon.

“Operator…why are you yelling at a piece of me?” spoke a kind yet blunt sounding voice.

“Ugh…sorry Ordis. I just really want this weapon so bad! I’ve seen those tin headed Grinneer use them before…I think; but anyway I got a nice mod to go with it and it’s sure to increase the blast radius of the explosions! Oh, and it causes fire to spread where it exploded, so that’s a plus too.”

“Stingy little-oh then why don’t you use some platinum operator? You know that speeds up assembly process right?”

“I know, I know! But, almost everything I have on this ship run’s on plat and I rather save it for a new warframe or something.”

“I see…well there are some missions available for you to do operator in order to pass the time.”

“Hmm…well I do need more argon crystals for that new prime warframe part, but it also need a bunch of other things as well…wow there is a lot of things I need to do.”

“Then get your a-then shall I take you to the void so you can ‘farm’?”

“I might as well, my trigger finger been itching and the only cure is the various methods of death I can deal with the weapons I obtained.” Hayden then began to reminisce the day when he first got his hands on the Hek shotgun, it was the happiest day of his life especially when he mod the ammo to become explosive, he never seen so many enemies fly off in the distance before.

“Are you visualizing a bloody battle operator? Me too…”

Hayden gave an unhinged smile, “Ordis, take me to the void, I plan on causing mayhem and littering the floor with bodies.”

“Good choice operator, now-hang on for your life!” Quickly the engines of the ship roared to life as it speeds off into the distance before quickly disappearing in a flash of light.

But, unbeknownst to the rather bloodthirsty Tenno; a dark colored ship was floating in the distance before quickly doing the same warp.

Quickly ripping a hole into the void, Hayden’s ship who is also Ordis began to slow down a bit in order not to over shoot and crash into Orokin relics of the past, “We have arrived operator. Shall I prepare the teleporter?”

“Sure Ordis just take me to the one with the most activity.”

*RING, RING*

“What the? Ordis, what’s going on?”

“Operator, we have a call from the Lotus, I’ll put her on right now.”

Pushing his normally bloodthirsty side in the back burner Hayden took a serious stance when the space mother showed up on his comm, “Tenno, something has come up.”

“Like what? An alert or something?”

“No, an anomaly has popped up in the void.”

“Anomaly? You mean those Grineer are ripping another hole again?”

“Not exactly, but it was something I kept an eye on after it happened before a few days ago.”

“Wait, wait…it happened before?”

“Like the Grineer, something or someone has ripped open a portal into the void, but this first anomaly quickly vanished as soon I got a read on it. This second anomaly seems to be similar to first and I need you to investigate before it disappears as well.”

“Hmm...Alright, I’ll go check it out.”

“Thanks Tenno, I’ll send the coordinates to Ordis.I can’t wait to see what you’ll find, but if things get bad don’t be afraid to pull out.”

“Don’t worry Lotus, I’ll come back with answers.”

“Good Luck Tenno.”

“Ordis, are the coordinates set?”

“All set operator, what set will you be going out with today?”

“Ol’reliable.”

“So…Excalibur, Hek, Vasto, and Broken-War, got it. You will be teleported with the equipment operator.”

“Alright, I’m going in.” Hayden was then taken by a strange whirling noise as he disappeared in a bright flash of light.

In another whirling flash of light the once childlike Tenno was now replaced by a full adult size being covered in a ‘suit’ with white and red colors dominantly covering the shell. However, one notable mark stands out on the ‘suit’ as a large glowing scar on the right bicep of the ‘suit’. Holstered on the back of the of the ‘suit’ with the large four cylinder shotgun known as the Hek being taken out for battle ready use. With the shotgun removed the large sword broken off from a large sword glowed with void energy as the former evil presence was now gone from it, this is the Broken-war a powerful weapon taken as a trophy for the hardships Hayden endured while waking up from the second dream. On his upper thigh remained a small yet quick firing pistol named the Vasto though weak really helped Hayden out on a few scuffles before.

“Ordis, can you pin point the anomaly’s location?”

“From my current scans…it’s still in the portal room. Hmm…that’s strange…”

“Found something Ordis?”

“I’m finding some bio-signs…seven of them.”

“Huh? Seven? Are they corrupted morons?”

“I…can’t tell…but I suggest you-get your a-mobilize at get to them as soon as possible.”

“Got it, moving out!”

Hayden wasted no time sprinting into the first room, already meeting a large group of enemies made up of corrupted grineer and corpus wasting no time firing upon him. “Oh hey, look at this a whole bunch of enemies in one room. It’s like you guys want to be a shooting gallery…welp say hello to my party cannon and trust me…this will be one hangover you won’t be waking up from.”

“(Kill him!)”

“Yeah…I can never understand what you guys are saying.” Cocking the Hek the Tenno went to work by shooting the nearest corrupted enemy sending the unfortunate cannon fodder flying straight into the nearest wall before he pointed the shot to the next, and to the next, and one more before running out of shots and reloading while the remaining enemies started firing back. “One…two…three…four. There we go, back to killing again!” Spotting a gunner on a higher elevation than he is Hayden super jumped to the unfortunate man before slicing him into two separate pieces with his sword. Another gunner opened fired on Hayden scoring a few hits on his armored body before being promptly blown apart by six shots courtesy of the Tenno’s vasto.

“Ah huh, that’s what I thought.” Hayden said as he reloaded his gun, “If it’s alright with you guys I’m going to simplify the maiming process because I got somewhere to be and I don’t want to get distracted any longer than I should, so….hold still.”

*Crash*

*Bang*

*Clank*

“(ARGH!)”

*Slam*

*BOOM!*

“Well that was fun. Moving on!” Hayden sprinted deeper into the complex destination clear, and body count rising.”

Light headed and disoriented Twilight felt that head was going to explode after traveling through the magic mirror in order to chase down Sunset Shimmer. What she didn’t expect is Princess Celestia allowing her friends to join her in the mission. Though, Princess Celestia did told her that she has no clue where Sunset Shimmer went after stealing the element of magic, but the princess of the sun managed to get the mirror to set on the last location the rouge unicorn went found out that there is no risk to the balance of their worlds should they go in. However, she only had three days to locate Sunset in whatever world she ended up and retrieve the element before the way back closes up forcing her and her friends to wait another thirty moons before the way back would open up again. Considering she was heading into uncharted territory it was natural her friends will join her in order to look out for her. And now, they were off to a brilliant start by being nearly disorientated and met with a cold metal floor. Just where are they?

“Ow…my aching head…” she complained by rubbing her temple with her….hoof? An unfamiliar touch graced her head, “W-What?”

“Can you turn it down Twilight? I’ve got a wicked headache here.”

“You’ve got a headache? Ah’ got one as well, so can y’all stop talking until it goes down?”

“(What the? We have intruders in here!)”

“(Kill them as well! They’re probably with that Tenno intruder.)”

“What was that? Did you guys say something? My eyes are still a bit woozy from the trip,” Pinkie said as her eyes rolled in her head.

“Ouch…can you please not talk very loudly Pinkie?” Fluttershy said as her ears flinched in pain.

“Darling, I think we should just keep quiet until this passes because I don’t feel like taking anymore of this then we should.”

“Argh…who knew passing through a mirror can give you a headache?” Spike added unknowingly having a gun pointed to him as his voice spooked their executioners.

Twilight sight is the first to return to her, but the first thing she saw was the barrel of a gun as a strange being with a box like head aimed and was ready to fire. “Aah!?!” Twilight shouted in surprise as the mystery being was about to pull the trigger, only to be blasted out of sight by a large noise that ringed in her ears painfully. “Who, what, where?” the usually considered leader of the mane six said in the confusion as a few more loud shots rang out causing further pain to both her and her friends.

“What the hell? When the Lotus told me there was an anomaly in here I didn’t expect to run into six teenage girls and a kubrow,” The new voice confused Twilight as the sound of a weapon reloading immediately put her on edge.

“Whoever you are please don’t shoot! We mean you no harm!” She shouted as her friends immediately began to notice the new presence among them.

“Well I wasn’t planning to anyway, but it’s comforting to know that you come in peace strange purple girl.”

“Purple girl?”

More footsteps were heard rushing into the area they’re in all readying their weapons by the sounds of cocking firearms, “Oh great…you guys again. Look I know what you’re thinking…should I shoot this guy? And the answer will surprise you…”

Twilight was about to open her eyes until a bright flash of light blinded her causing her to fall over in pain, “Ah!”

“Whoops…I forgot to tell you to look away. Uh…I’m sorry?”

“Twilight? What’s going on?!”

“Ah’ think we’re in trouble!”

“Yah think?”

“Ladies, will you all shut up? I’m taking care of it.”

“Who’s there? What do you want with us?” Fluttershy said in near panic.

“Oh boy…give me a second.” A loud ‘shing’ noise was heard as the next few seconds was filled with pained screams and groans as bodies was heard dropping to the floor before another ‘shing’ was heard. “Okay, first answer my name is Hayden second answer I was sent to investigate an anomaly which just happens to be you guys.”

“Anomaly?” Twilight said as her vision returned to her to see their savior for the first time, only to freak out again as she saw his blank face.

“Twilight, what are you freakin-oh.”

“What the hay…”

“Eeek!”

“Oh hi! What race are you?”

“Maybe I shouldn’t have that red wine before we left.”

“Whoa…”

The strange being tilted his head at them as he was slightly confused by their reactions, “Not the reaction I usually get when saving people…usually they’re thankful.”

“Hayden right? Just what are you?” Twilight asked curiously.

“Look as much as I love to play one million questions…I need to get you guys out of here. Because you know…a void tower isn’t exactly what I call a ‘safe place’ considering those morons I’ve took care of are going to come back and make life hard for me. So, get up on your feet and let’s get moving I’ll cover you from the idiots that want to kill you so stay close and don’t do anything stupid.”

“Uh-okay, wuh wah!” Twilight attempted to stand on all fours but a new change to her weight distribution threw her off causing her to land on her face, “Ow…”

“Seriously? Did you forget to walk when you came through that portal?” Hayden said annoyed.

“Look it’s normally not that hard it’s just…what…?” The usually normal mare just noticed the strange new limbs in front of her entirely different from her normal hooves.

“AHH!!! What happen to us?!?”

“What she said!”

“We’re not even ponies anymore!”

“Whoa…this is weird even for me.”

“Ah! What the hay am I? Last time I check dragons don’t have fur!”

With all screaming of surprise another corrupted corpus crewman showed up to investigate the disturbance, “(What the?! THER-AH!…)” Before he could call out to his friends the crewmen’s cries were cut short by a single blast of the Hek by an extremely annoyed Hayden.

“Not NOW….” He growled angrily as he turned his attention to the group of teenage girls and Kubrow fumbling around like they were born yesterday, “*Sigh*…alright since apparently you can’t function like a normal evolved human beings you’re only going to make my job harder.”

“Hey! Cut us some slack! We didn’t look like this before!” Spike shouted out of his new hairy snout.

Hayden wasn’t sure if it’s the craziness of this entire situation pushed him over the edge finally or he was so angry that he was failed to notice that the Kubrow was talking, until now, “Right….that just happened. So, can you all please learn to stand so we can get this over with and I can relieve some stress by firing a couple of rounds into some morons.”

“Okay, Okay…just give us some time alright?”

“I’m going to be waiting a while aren’t I?”

Speaking the future Hayden spent the next thirty minutes helping the girls learn how to walk much to his annoyance. In his opinion they do look like nice people, but the problem is that he isn’t the nicest person in the world. Then again you wouldn’t be if your daily routine is leaving millions upon millions of bodies in your wake and not bat an eye. Though, to be fair he is morally just in all of those situations.

“Okay, I think we got this new way of walking down,” Twilight said though still feeling a bit wobbly with the new method of movement.

“Fantucking fastic…now stay close and don’t do anything stupid. I’ll get you guys to my ship and once we’re out of here then we can play the question game.”

“Goodness, can you be at least more gentlemanly as your helping us?” Rarity said with a little huff.

“I’m sorry princess…” Hayden said with sharp sarcasm, “Do you want tea and crumpets with this rescue?”

“I can do without the sarcasm darling.”

“Just…stay behind me…”

Doing as he said the mane six along with Spike stayed close to the growingly furious Tenno while avoiding ticking him off further as the number of armed forces piled on as they tried to the stop the group from escaping. However, to the manes six surprise and shock Hayden gunned down the opposition effortlessly all the while leading them pass the carnage and bloodshed of organic and mechanical parts.

“Sweet Celestia! Did you kill those guys?” Rainbow Dash as she got a closer look at the motionless corpse.

“I’m sorry…should I stop and ask politely for them not to shoot us?”

*Scree!!!* screeched a corrupted moa machine which only irked the Tenno as he pointed his shotgun at it.

*Bang!*

“Err…”

“Less criticism more movement got it?”

The transformed ponies fell silent as they continued to follow the strange yet easily irritated being through more giant and extravagant halls laced with gold and various strange designs that was alien to the former ponies. Rarity herself thought she was in a various form of heaven if it weren’t for the constant splashing of blood and bodies that continue to litter the somewhat sacred looking area. Twilight herself wondered about the history of the place and its importance due to the alarming frequency of guards that show up to stop their escape. While the rest of the gang are completely dumbfounded on what’s going on.

After a few more minutes of running and taking cover from incoming fire the group managed to enter another large room with a large set staircases coming from the right, “Great! My ship is just up those stairs. Girls, once you reach the top you should see a man shape hole in the wall. When you do just step inside the hole and Ordis will do the rest.”

“Whose Ordis?” Twilight asked confusingly.

“Just get up there!” Hayden yelled as he saw numerous enemies heading towards them through the door. An corrupted ancient healer among them and this one today looks very grabby to the Tenno especially when the infested monster in question readied its harpoon to fire at the new guests he was protecting, “Move it now!” He shouted as he pushed the pink teenage girl behind him just as the harpoon fired and shot the Tenno in the leg and pulled him into the previous room much to the mane’s six surprise.

*Hayden!* they all shouted in shock as suddenly the door closed behind him; locking itself and preventing the rest of the group from doing anything to help him.

“Is he going to be okay?!” Fluttershy said in worried voice.

“Erh! Erh! Erh!” the continuous shouts and firing of a large gun put the girls at slight ease if not slight disgust as the sounds of something large slammed into a wall with a large smack. Hearing this, the girls decided they should head toward the ship before anything else could go wrong. Climbing the numerous stairs the group eventually reached the top where the man shape hole was awaiting them like Hayden said.

“So…do we just step in? Or…” Rainbow Dash said unsurely whether they should or should not fit into the hole.

“Ooh! Ooh! Let me try!” Pinkie said excitingly as she quickly jumped into the hole. As she fitted herself the hole then turned and clicked for a short while before turning back and revealing itself to be empty.

“Whoa! Where did Pinkie go?”

“She must be inside the ship. I guess it’s waiting for the rest of us to get in as well,” Twilight explained as best as she could, for this technology isn’t something she’s familiar with.

“Well if that’s what it wants. Then what are we waiting for?” The rainbow haired girl said before jumping as well and having the same process done to her before resetting.

“When in Manehattan?” Rarity simply said as she gracefully walked into it and having the hole turn again. This repeated two more times with Fluttershy and Applejack leaving Twilight and Spike the remaining two left as suddenly a loud crashing noise came from the door Hayden was locked behind. The duo turned to see the commotion only to see Hayden slowly getting up as a black and red colored being similar to the Tenno appeared, charging at him with a large sword as big as the owner’s body.

“Ow…that was a first…” Hayden said with a slight groan before quickly noticing the being and jumping out of the way as the large sword crashed into his last location. “Well as much as I love to stick around Stalky I have some teenagers to question…what?!” The easily irritable Tenno was surprised to see Twilight and Spike still there watching the entire fight go down. “What are you two still doing here?! Get in the ship dammit!” he yelled snapping them out of their stupor as he quickly dodged another strike from his assailant.

“Tenno…” the attacker said lowly as it threw a small device that hovered in the air as it fired numerous beams before spinning.

“Not the disco ball of death! You know I hate that move!” Hayden complained as his attacker charged in for another attack.

As the battle raged on, Twilight finally managed to fit Spike into the hole as it finally took him as well before returning to its empty position allowing Twilight to step inside. Before the process started the purple skinned teenager shouted, “Hayden! I’m the last one in!”

The Tenno looked up to see the girl being brought inside his ship causing him to smile as he returned his gaze to his attacker, “Looks like playtime's is over Stalker. Sorry but I have to go.”

“You…will….not…escape…”

“Say’s you,” Saying this Hayden put away his shotgun and quickly leapt away to his ship with the Stalker in hot pursuit. “Ordis, the moment I get in position I need to you to detach from the tower, got it?”

“Operator, you normally don’t make commands like that unless…oh…right. Right away operator!”

Quickly avoiding the incoming strikes of the persistent killer Hayden managed to put enough distance between them as he made one last leap and landed perfectly into the man shaped hole. As he planned, Ordis quickly detached the ship from the tower leaving the Stalker behind much to Hayden’s enjoyment as he pulled inside of his ship as it warped away in triumph and a mission well done.

The Stalker himself simply planted his sword in front of himself and took a meditating position while uttering words only heard within earshot, “There is….no…escape from…your sins….Tenno…”

“Whew…that was hectic…” Hayden said as he entered his ship only to see the teenage girls examining his entire ship head to toe with Ordis himself constantly showing his displeasure.

“Can you please stop looking at me at me weird? I’m-not an animal!” The cephalon said with extreme displeasure.

“Yep that’s definitely the ship talking,” Rainbow Dash said with confirmation.

“Fascinating…” Twilight added.

“Can you girls please stop poking around with my stuff? Ordis will appreciate it very much,” Hayden said with a small shake of his head.

“Oh so this is Ordis…Hi Ordis!” Pinkie said with glee.

“Ah, yes…hi strange pink girl. Um…operator, just who are these girls….and Kubrow,” The cephalon dragged out the last part of his sentence showing his disdain for the furry creature inside his body.

Hayden cracked and stretched his limbs a bit before answering, “Hold on, wait until The Lotus calls.”

“The Lotus?” Twilight asked.

“Three, two, one…”

*Beep, Beep* “Oh, operator…The Lotus is call right now. I’ll bring her up right now.”

“Bring her on the screen, Ordis. She’ll want to see this.”

As on command, the cephalon pulled up a small virtual screen which immediately revealed a masked female whose entire helmet covered her face save for her nose and mouth, “Tenno, I see that you came back from your mission safe and sound. What have you managed learn about the anomaly? Hmm? Tenno, who are these girls?” she asked questioningly.

“Lotus, I introduce to you the source of the anomaly if not the results that came out of it. Honestly, I wasn’t expecting to see oddly colored girls in body suits to come from the anomaly.”

“Nor do I. Tell me, what are your names young ones?” The Lotus asked curiously.

Twilight is the first to step forward and introduce herself, “My name is Twilight Sparkle, newly crowned Princess of Friendship and these are my friends Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, and Spike.”

Each of the named individual called out when their name was mentioned giving the Lotus a good idea who’s who as she carefully examined their mannerisms and made notes on future interactions with them. “I see…wait…did that Kubrow just talk?”

“Is that what I am? Honestly, I thought I was a kind of dog or something.” Spike said as he continued to look at himself and wondered what this body is capable of.

“He’s not normally a Kubrow he’s usually a baby dragon if you know what that is,” Twilight explained.

“Hmm…the only closest things to a dragon would be the Warframe Chroma and to a lesser extent the Wyrm companion. Anyway, where did all of you come from? I asked this because the location where you were found has a portal and no doubt all of you came out of it. Can you tell us where you came from?”

Twilight pondered if she should tell them where they came from, and more importantly would they even believe her? They seem like a serious bunch that might disregard their true origin as them trying to cover up, “Okay…but you’re not going to believe me when I tell you.”

“Hah! That’ll be a first,” Hayden said sardonically earning a few glares from Twilight’s friends.

“Don’t mind him. Hayden at worst may be a…jerk to some, but he has a heart of gold and I relied on him for many important missions.”

“Okay, my friends and I come from another world called Equestria, and believe it or not we’re actually ponies not…whatever we are now.”

“Ordis can you do a biometric scan?”

“Right away operator!”

Suddenly a small contraption pokes out from the ceiling of the ship and emitted a wide thin beam that scanned Twilight from head to toe before returning back to the ceiling, “Scanning….scanning….oh my…”

“What is it Ordis? You found something interesting?”

“Half of the genetic makeup is unknown to my database, but the other half is…human.”

“Say what now?” Hayden said with actual surprise.

“Ordis, send the data to me,” The Lotus said urgently.

“Right away!”

“Human? What is a human?” Twilight asked in confusion.

“They may not exist from whatever you’re from, but in this world the human race has far since split and evolved differently losing the purest form of D.N.A. in the process,” Hayden explained with a firm tone of voice, “The closest thing to being human is the normal populace, the Tenno, and the Corpus. The Grineer however used cloning technology so much that their current D.N.A. set deteriorated over time as a result they look very…disgusting. One of their goals is to obtain purer D.N.A. in order to create much more healthy soldiers…more powerful soldiers like the tube-men project led by Tyl Regor.”

“So what you’re saying is these Grineer guys are bad news, right?” Rainbow Dash said with a raised brow.

“Pretty much, but I have one question…why are all of you are here in the first place? Twilight right? You said that you’re from another world then you and your friends must have a reason for coming here,” Hayden looked at them inquisitively while drawing his own conclusions.

“I too would like to know the reason why beings from another world came to ours,” The Lotus said with interest.

Twilight gave a small sigh, “Well long story short, we’re currently trying to track down a fellow pony that goes by the name Sunset Shimmer. She stolen an important artifact from our world and is no doubt hiding out somewhere in your world.”

“Another of your kind? Hmm…” The Lotus suspicions proved correct. The first anomaly was caused by the thief from their world entering theirs, but that was some time ago. She wonders where in the system she could be.

“Huh, a thief situation. Sounds simple enough, alright I accept,” Hayden said suddenly as he presented his hand to the transformed mare.

“Er what?! Accept what?”

Hayden gave a small sigh, “Look your situation sounds like a mission to me and let’s face it. You’re a fish out of water lady and I’m the only one who knows his way around this violent world, so just shake my hand because starting today we’re working together. Any objections Lotus?”

“I don’t see any reason not to help them Tenno. Besides this is a discovery of a life time that must remain secret. If this Sunset Shimmer is running around the system then no doubt she may have attracted unwanted attention.”

“The Grineer…” Twilight said grimly.

“Exactly, she may be a thief but no one deserves experimentation from the Grineer.”

“Also there’s one more thing…”Twilight said with a serious tone, “We only have three days to complete our mission and return home or else we’ll be stuck here for another thirty moons before the portal back home opens up again.”

“But…that shouldn’t be a problem with you around hey big guy?” Rainbow Dash said semi mockingly.

“Lay off of him Rainbow Dash, like he said we need him just to get around this crazy world,” Applejack chided.

“Who knows maybe we get make more friends along the way! Oooh…I should make something to celebrate our future meetings!” Pinkie said with excitement.

“That is if they want to be our friends Pinkie dear. But…I do see potential inspiration in the works,” Rarity said as she gave quick glances to their suits and Hayden’s armor.

As the others began to speak their mind Hayden gave a small chuckle as he knew things were going to get interesting from here on out. Living a life of violence and general badassery is fun and all, but helping people out was his duty and life. Though, the three day time period somewhat worried him he’ll do all that he can for them. The Tenno was ruminating on what to do for tomorrow until he heard a sudden ‘ding’ coming from main workplace of the ship.

“*Gasp* My Ogris is ready!” Hayden said with excitement throwing off everyone in the room as he rushed down to the assembly at a speed that’ll give Rainbow Dash a run for her money.

“His what now?” Applejack said with a dumbfounded expression.

“Oh that’s just the operator’s new weapon. He’s been-insufferable-all day until it was finally completed just now.”

“Weapon huh…just what kind of violent world did you come into Sunset?” Twilight said with concern as her friends continued to strike conversation with their new friends.

The once beautiful landscapes of earth now currently lay in a horrible mix of pollution and technology as the Grineer attempt to suck out every resource they can find on the planet. Although, despite this some forms of fauna and life managed to grow amidst these harsh conditions, but something else didn’t belong here on this ravaged planet. In a small makeshift tent made from the local greens, one flamed hair color girl sat in silence as Grineer patrols scoured the area looking for her.

“Damn it…it was all for nothing…” she said to herself quietly as she remembered her attempt to steal possible food from these strange armored beings only to find out that they had none at all. Not long after finding that important fact she was quickly spotted by one of the ugly freaks and was quickly chased down as they fired upon her with weapons she never had seen before. This bleeds into her current predicament as she silently hopes that they don’t find her tent.

“(Did you find her yet?)” She heard one of them say overhead.

“(No, keep searching. If you find her our orders are to capture her on sight and imprison her for later execution.)”

“(Why bother? Why can’t we just kill that little thief here and now?)”

“(I don’t know! Just do it!)” They left shortly after the other’s outburst leaving Sunset with her thoughts.

“To think this is my life now…on the run from Princess Celestia’s new favorite student and trying to survive in a strange new world with very hostile beings.” She said with venom in her voice as she brought Twilight’s crown to her face as the element imbedded in it glistens in the moon light. “You don’t belong to her…you were meant for me and me alone,” Sunset slowly smiled as she held the sacred treasure in her hands like a thief would normally do before letting out a deep sigh, “But first…I need to find a way to survive better, if not find a way off this planet entirely. Hmm…maybe I can use one of their ships?” A crooked smile began to form on her mouth as she hatched a plan to escape this wretched planet for something far better and perhaps more luxurious?