Destination of the Traveler - Guardians of a new Golden Age.

I had been looking forward to this convention for a few years now. Most people wouldn't have thought of something that far out. But for me, I had been excited about this for a long time. I have been a fan of Destiny for a few years now, and after saving up the funds to do it. I had finally managed to put together a fantastic cosplay. Since I wasn't restricted by the game IRL, I had managed to assemble quite the arsenal. Every single piece was an Exotic replica. From my Crown of Tempests down to my Lunafaction Boots. In Total, I was rocking quite the set.

I ended up painting them with a similar shader color so that they matched just a bit, but it was kind of hopeless to get them to mesh well, but hey, I was doing this for bragging rights, not for looks. The 3d Printing involved took over 300+ hrs of work alone, not to mention the custom tailoring I did for the chest and the boots. But it was complete.

My full set contained, Crown of Tempests, Ophidian Aspect, Chromatic Fire, Lunafaction boots, and the Iron Symmachy Bond. To accompany it, I had built three weapons as well. The 1:1 replicas of Lumina on my right hip, Riskrunner on my left, and Whisper of the Worm on my back drew a lot of looks. It seemed like every five minutes, I had been asked to take a photo with someone. As I walked around, I ended up in the Artists Alley. While looking around at various booths and answering questions about my setup, I noticed someone familiar.

The shadowy merchant Xur stood in the corner of the alley, his booth covered with merch from a few different shows and games. I approached the booth and looked over the various merchandise. Xur looked at me, and in an imitation that was almost spooky at how close it was, he asked, "Hello Guardian, the Nine send their greetings. I have acquired goods for trade if you have need."

Smirking at the roleplay, I answered back, "Greetings Xur, I last saw you on Io, let me see what wares you are offering this day?" Looking down at his booth, I took note of a few things, one item was a white pendant that had what seemed to be a crest on it. Looking closely at it, I realized that it was a representation of the Elements of Harmony, smirking to myself, I set it down and looked at a few more things. Items that came from various shows took my interest at first, Ichigo's sword from Bleach, Luffy's hat from One Piece, a stuffed Happy from Fairy Tale. But the items that drew my attention the most were the Data Pad that had the three Guardian symbols on it, as well as a model Ghost. I had realized only two days ago that I had completely forgotten to make a Ghost for this cosplay to be complete, and the one that he was offering was an exotic shell as well.

The Future Perfect Shell. It was one of my Favorites, and I regularly ran with it equipped. Looking at the price tag, I chuckled at first when I noticed that the Dollar sign had been replaced with Legendary shards. It read 75 Shards. Hissing at the price, I stepped back from it. Xur must have noticed my reaction when he spoke again. Mayhaps we could make a deal for the item. I can tell you you genuinely want the piece. What if I throw in the Datapad as well as that pendant for a total of 80? What do you say to that then?"

Looking over at the other two items that had drawn my eye, I realized that the pendant was listed at 20, and the Datapad was at 15. I could save 30 bucks and get three unique items. Making my decision, I nodded, That's a deal. Are Dollars acceptable, I left my shards on my drop ship." I chuckled as I took out my wallet.

The Xur chuckled and nodded saying, "That will work wonderfully Guardian. May the Nine smile on you." After giving him the money and taking my items, I turned away and walked towards the entrance of the alley, but just behind me, I just barely heard, "Don't worry, Guardian, the first time is the worst." Whipping my head around, I looked back only to find that Xur was gone, along with his boot. A shiver ran down my back as I quickly left the venue, intent on getting away quickly and getting something to eat to calm my stomach. I should have noticed the car coming, but I was distracted with getting away, I imagine that I made quite the news story. Cosplayer in full Destiny 2 costume mowed down by a car. I could just see it now; I'm going to be a meme. Just imagine it Guardian gets Splatter killed. Halo wins.

All I remember at first is darkness, all-encompassing darkness. I felt the weight of the universe compress my soul as it pressed against me, threatening to snuff me out. When seemingly from nowhere, I was surrounded by light. So bright was this light that my vision was filled, but it was not harsh, it did not sting my eyes, but it felt warm. Like the embrace of a friend, a lover, a family member. I could swear I could hear a voice calling a name out. But that was strange, it wasn't my name. My name was…

"GriffinStorm! Wake up! I have a reading on a platoon of Fallen two clicks north of here. We need to figure out what it is that they are doing on this planet!"

Looking up at the little ball of light floating in front of my face, My eyes went wide. The Shell that I had just purchased was floating in front of me. With it's Light lit and his voice clear. A voice that I had come to know quite well. A voice that came from a video game. Shooting up, I looked around and noticed that my armor felt heavier on my body, but beyond that, I felt terrific. Like no pain at all. Like there wasn't even the memory of pain. I think that everyone has that lingering bit of pain of some kind. Either you have a bad back or stiff knees or arthritic hands, something usually hurts on the human body just from use. But now, there was nothing. Getting to my feet, I looked around the area that I was in and noticed how vibrantly green everything was. I hadn't seen this level of green since I had gone out east and seen the forests on the banks of the Mississippi.

I quickly tried to come up with an answer that would explain what was going on. Thinking to myself, okay, first off, I remember being hit by that car, Don't think I would have been able to survive that, and even if I did, I would likely be in a coma or brain dead. Body shattered and probably a vegetable for the rest of my life. Which would mean that this is all happening in my head, and I'm imagining this? The only issue is that no voice line exists that says my on-screen name, so there would be no way for my mind to invent a way for my Ghost to say it. Maybe something close, but not exact. Also, the lack of body pain in any form is weird. Like I have never felt this good in my life before. Not that I can remember. So I'm ruling out this being in my head. Possible that I died, and for some reason, this is my version of heaven? Reasonable, but I don't imagine that my personal heaven would consist solely of me transcending to be my Guardian for the rest of eternity, and I wasn't a good enough person to have earned something like that anyway.

Thinking for a moment more, I came to another theory, one that might just have merit in the concept of the Multiverse theory, I met Xur before this happened and purchased items from him. I am no stranger to Isekai and Displaced stories, I have read quite a number of them in my time. And as a wise man once said, once you've ruled out all other options, the remainder, however unlikely, must be the truth. I think I may have been Isekaied. Realizing that, I looked back at my GhostGhost, not sure what to call him.

I must have transmitted my confusion on what to call him when he sighed and answered "It's Peter, you think after all the time that we have spent together you would bother to get my name down. After all, I am your Ghost."

Smirking under my visor and scratching the back of my head out of habit, I responded, "S-sorry about that Peter. I promise that I won't forget it again. You have my word. But uh… Could I ask some questions first before we go? Or is it urgent?"

Peter made a few sounds that I had always associated with him thinking about something before responding "It's not super urgent, from what I can tell on the scans, they aren't doing much, just milling around really, looks like they might be scouting the area for a drop. So we don't need to leave right now, but we shouldn't be too long."

I nodded, "alright, um… First off, do you know where we are or how we got here?"

Peter shook his eye back and forth to signify that he did not and added, "I have no idea how we ended up here. We were making a jump drive, too fast I might add, when we hit some kind of turbulence. I'm not sure what happened after that, I came too on this planet and had to resurrect you. We must have hit the ground quite hard."

Looking down at the area beneath me, I noticed that there was an impressive dent in the stone that was the outline of my body. "Hehe," I chuckled to myself, "Just like a cartoon." Looking back up at my Ghost, I continued with my next most significant concern, after all, I spent thousands of hours grinding for loot and Light, I needed to make sure that my investment was still available. "Hey Peter, how Is my collection doing, do I still have access?"

He sighs with exasperation again. "Yes, Griffin, you have full access to your arsenal, all weapons and armors are available as always, including your fleet of sparrows and drop ships. I know how important your loot is to you. You will be happy to know that my display bug has worked itself out, as well. You glimmer reserves are properly showing now at 14 trillion, with your Legendary shard reserves at 100k+. All of your Masterwork cores are stored safely as well as additional weapon parts. If there is anything I have learned about dealing with you, is that you love your loot."

I smirked at the information "Sweet well then, let's get this show on the road, Quick refresher How do I summon my sparrow again?"

Peter must have been getting annoyed with me again because he retorted in a short burst, "Focus on it with your light and call to it. You have done this literally millions of times by now."

Rolling my eyes, I focused on the Image of the Sparrow that I wanted, Figuring I would go with the Burnout model. The fiery beast warped into existence as it always did in the game. Mounting it like I would a Motorcycle, I found my balance quickly. The thing felt smooth as it floated in the air. Figuring that If I died that Peter would always bring me back, I slammed the gas and took off. The wine of the engine brought me back to racing through the ruined roads of the EDZ. As I flew over the ground, dodging trees as I moved, I noticed that the foliage was beginning to thin out.

Bursting from the tree line, my vision was filled with something that I never thought I would see IRL. The Massive mountain of the Catterhorn from MLP FIM, complete with the city of Canterlot hanging off of it, stood. But what made it even more surprising, was that at the tip of the Catterhorn, sat a completely healed Traveler. Its once scared outer shell, damaged from the invasion of Gaul, now sat whole. Peter Commented on as much, "Griffin!! It's the Traveler! I can feel it's light. What is it doing here? What happened to the last city?!"

Shrugging as I continued on, I responded: "I have no idea what is going on, Peter." Looking forward, I saw a contingent of Pony guards defending against a platoon of Fallen. Looking at the fight before me, I noticed one set of armor that was different from the rest. Purple with Golden highlights. His white coat and Blue mane were eye-catching among the sea of Silver and fallen. They were being pushed back. As I looked down at the fight as we moved ever closer to help, I took note of the House of Devils emblems that the Fallen combatants wore.

As I made it to the outskirts of the fight, I leaped from my sparrow, letting my body move on autopilot. I ran with a fluidity that I have never held before. This body knew what to do in a fight, and how to move, the best thing I could do right now it let myself be taken away by muscle memory and go with the flow and my instincts. After rolling to my feet, I pulled Lumina from my hip and fired off a few rounds aiming down sights as I would In the game. Each one aimed at a Fallen combatant's head. I didn't see any numbers pop up but with the burst of their heads, a mote of light held in the air. As I moved forward, the motes few to me, each one filling me with its light. After collecting a few motes, I hip fired a round aimed at Shining Armor. The sudden burst of light from my gun made the Fallen around me jump back.

Shining who had just taken a shot to his left foreleg was about to be bested when the round hit him. Filled with its healing light, he rolled out of the way of the shock blade that was about to take his life. Not taking a chance to let it happen again. He swung his spear and stabbed the Fallen in the chest, killing it instantly. After taking a moment to take a breath from his near-death experience, he looked at me with confusion and distrust in his eyes. Just as he was about to open his mouth, I fired an aimed shot at the Marauder that had been sneaking up on him, intent on ending the Captain.

Seeing that the Fallen in the immediate area had been taken care of, I placed my Lumina on my hip and turned to face the Captain of the guard. Rather than thank him for the assistance, Shining Armor took an aggressive stance, holding his spear in his magic, ready to attack if needed. "I am Shining Armor!, Prince Consort to Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, Brother to Princess Twilight of Equestria. Throwdown your weapons and state your name!"

I had raised my hands as he started to shout at me. But just as I was about to answer him, A massive Fallen Vandal fell from a drop-ship that had snuck up on us as I was getting yelled at. His Massive Molten Welder held on his shoulder, I could barely believe it as my GhostGhost spoke "Yalsis, the Igniter! We Killed you on Nessus ages ago! How are you here?!"

I noticed that black wisps were coming from his body. Almost as if he were one of the Taken, but that was impossible. He wasn't entirely taken, It wasn't like you could be half taken, right? Not wanting to see what would happen if Yalsis managed to fire off that Welder, I slammed my fist into the ground to open my empowering rift before summoning forth all of my light. I felt that same warmth that had embraced me before, that all-consuming, all-loving light. And from that light, I drew the storm.

Lightning began to ripple from my body as a shock wave burst from my feet, wiping out some of the dregs that had dropped along with Yalsis. Calling forth my lightly, I took a very familiar pose as I shouted, "Unlimited! Power!" My lighting spurting forth to rip through his shield. But I was distracted, As I managed to cut through his shield and was beginning to damage him directly, a shot rang out. The kind of shot that I had grown all too familiar with, the sound of a vandal sniping.

Shining Armor watched at this insane creature that had just suddenly jumped off of some kind of weird, fiery log thing, roll to its feet, rip through all of these monsters, and then burst into lighting. All the while, it had been sending these weird orbs of light that had been healing them and making them stronger for a short time. But now, he watched as this seemingly invisible warrior was shot down. Its body dropped to the ground and ceased to move. The giant monster began to laugh as I picked itself up and walked over to crush the head of their savior. The sickening crunch left no doubt that the hero was dead.

It then turned to the soldiers and spoke in a chittering voice that made Shining Armors skin crawl. It reminded him of something he would rather have forgotten. "Puny Guardian, I have no idea why we don't just wipe you all out. It seems easy enough. We will take this world and have the Great Machine returned to us." Looking down at the ponies that had huddled together, "And there is no one to stop us this time."

Shining put himself in front of his stallions, "We will stop you. You monster! And if not us, there somepony else, but you will be stopped!"

The Kell laughed derisively, "You and what army, the only reason you survived was because of that corpse, this world is ours."

At that moment, there was a flash of Light behind the Kell, followed by a loud retort of a massive rifle. Lowering the scope from my eye, the smokey body of the rifle giving off the feeling that it was connected to the darkness, yet harnessed in light. Muttering to myself, "Goddamn stupid fucking Vandal bullshit. Always get me when I tunnel the boss." Turning around and putting Whisper on my back, I spoke up. "That is where you are wrong, Kell! I will always stop you! For I live, I die, I live again!" Dropping my arc grenade at my feet, I pulled out my Riskrunner as it shocked me. I kept back ready to go when the Kell spoke again.

"You crazy Guardian, what kind of warrior hurts themselves just to take out one enemy!?"

I smirked under my visor, "The kind that needs to activate a perk! GG Bitch!" squeezing the trigger, the hail of Arch Charged bullets ripped through the Fallen Vandal. Tearing him to shreds before he fell to his knees. As he fell forward, his body beginning to dissipate into the light I heard a whisper "Oryx lives" My blood ran cold as that name was felt more than heard. As it evaporated into nothingness, a fallen chest spawned on the spot where his body dropped. Mildly amused in my horror, I chucked and muttered, "Self-cleaning and comes with loot. Cool, I guess."

But my shock was short-lived as I was set upon by questions from the crowd of Stallions. Interestingly enough, Shining's head stood at about my waist level, so while I did have to look down to speak to them, it wasn't too terrible. Shining shouted at the troops to quiet them down as he looked at me, clearing his throat, he spoke, "I guess Thanks are for all that you have done for us… Um, Stanger. That…Monster called you a Guardian? What is that? And who are you? If you don't mind me asking?"

Thinking for a moment, I decided that I was best if I just go with GriffinStorm; after all, that is what Peter called me. Clearing my throat in return, I pointed up at the Traveler. "I am GriffinStom, Guardian, and servant of The Traveler."