Warframe - Majesticby Mkchief34ChaptersChapter 1 - Reaching Out, Part TwoChapter 2 - Reaching Out, Part ThreePrologue -Reaching Out, Part OneChapter 1 - Reaching Out, Part Two"Ordis?" "Yes, Excalibur?" "I have never seen a planet like this before. How can this be?" Excalibur said, his breath stolen at the sight of the verdant, unspoiled world before him and his team. Patches of white suggesting snow, a large desert, and above all, vast stretches of green showed a world untouched by the Orokin and their technology. "I do not know,Excalibur." Ordis replied. "The Tau system was still largely unexplored even in the days of the Orokin. This planet is in pristine condition, and it is inhabited. A perfect place to begin our efforts." "Inhabited?" Volt Prime asked, as she approached, accompanied by the rest of the team. "There is sapient life here?" "Indeed." Ordis replied. "Sapient life on a scale so large, my scans have not yet finished cataloging all possible lifeforms. I cannot seem to identify what you may encounter, as our technology is based on the lifeforms of the Origin System." "However, I would recommend you deploy on your Railjack and investigate on the ground, starting from this location." The navigation hologram appeared, and zoomed in on a large city, surrounded by snow, and adorned with a tall spire. It glistened like a gemstone, even through the hologram. "Then that's where we'll start." Rhino Prime said, retrieving his Corinth Prime shotgun and chambering a shell. "Should we expect trouble?" "No." Excalibur replied. "I doubt we will face hostilities, but if we do…we must be prepared. Remember what the Lotus has taught us. We only fight unless we must." "Right." Rhino Prime replied. "You almost had me there, Umbra." Excalibur rolled his optics, knowing how Rhino Prime's Operator could be so very straightforward, and yet so…reckless at times. To have him be more passive was a welcome sight. "Cephalon Cy has our heading secured and a landing zone identified." Zephyr Prime chimed in. "We should go." "Agreed," said Oberon Prime. "It is time to see what this world has to offer." "Then let's get moving!" Rhino laughed as he headed for the Railjack's docking port. The other Tenno soon followed, after retrieving their weapons of choice. Excalibur sheathed his blade, the Skiajati, and took the Nataruk Bow off of a mount he had made for it. The bow, gifted to the Operator by the Shadow Stalker, was one of the finest weapons in his arsenal, and though he had not mastered it, Excalibur knew it was close to achieving that personal goal. As they boarded the Railjack, which soon descended towards the planet with Excalibur at the controls, the vastness of space soon gave way to an atmosphere, then clouds, then falling snow. The Tenno admired the icy landscape, which was pristine, unlike some of the other ice moons they had been on back in Origin. Most of those were occupied by the Grineer, Corpus, or in some rare cases, the Infested. "Where are we landing, Cy?" Excalibur asked. "Just outside the city, at this plaza here." Cephalon Cy replied. "My calculations lead me to believe the locals will not take kindly to a fully-armed Railjack landing in their midst so suddenly." "Tread lightly, Tenno." "Understood." Volt said as she prepared her Braton Prime assault rifle, the other Tenno followed suit with their own weapons, minus Excalibur, who guided the Railjack to the marked landing zone. "I'll keep the engine running." Cy replied. "Be careful." "Aren't we always?" Zephyr joked as the docking ramp lowered. From the main viewport, Excalibur could see the locals, which appeared to be multi-colored quadruped equines, had formed a crowd around the Railjack. Some of the equines wore pastel blue armor, and were equipped with spears and shields. Excalibur noted some had a horn, others had a set of wings, but in the front of the crowd…a pink-colored equine, a female by the looks of it, had both. She stood next to an ivory-coated male wearing his own set of armor, and six other females. A small, lizard-like being stood on the back of another winged and horned equine, who stood next to the first. As Excalibur took the point position, he gave a quiet huff. "For Origin?" Volt Prime suggested. "No. For us." Excalibur shrugged, and they descended to a myriad of shocked gasps and whispers from the crowd. The armored ones came forward in a protective, half-moon formation around the nine in front, including the two horned-and-winged ones. Excalibur reasoned they were the leadership of this race, and judging by how the others were staring at them both… …his assumption was likely correct. Excalibur stepped forward, hands in a passive stance, and looked down at them silently. The other Tenno were quiet, not sure how he planned to proceed. "Hello?" one of the equines, the second horned and winged one, asked. "Can…can you understand me?" Excalibur tilted his head in curiosity, as he could understand them. When he realized they were waiting for him to respond, he nodded. "Okay…that's good to know." the other horned and winged one sighed. "My name is Princess Cadance, I am a pony of Equestria, and the Alicorn of Love, Ruler of the Crystal Empire. My husband is Prince Shining Armor, his sister and my sister-in law, Twilight Sparkle, Princess of Magic. There others are the Elements of Harmony, and Spike the dragon, a Hero of the Empire." "Who are you?" Excalibur stepped forward, with the others following his lead, and he bowed respectfully before speaking. "Tenno." A ripple of shock and disbelief flowed through the crowd, and Shining Armor approached, not sure of what they were speaking, or what the term "Tenno" meant. "Is that your name?" he asked. "Or a title?" "It is what we are." Excalibur replied. "We are Tenno of the Origin System. I am known as Excalibur Umbra. This is Volt, Rhino, Zephyr, and Trinity Prime. We are here in peace, searching for a beacon from a lost civilization." "You mean this?" Twilight Sparkle asked, producing the artifact that contained the map they had seen in Celestia's office. Excalibur took it from her, and upon scanning it, asked Ordis what it was. "This is an Orokin Navigational Index." Ordis replied. "It was used on colony ships such as the Zariman Ten Zero in order to register the ship's location, status, and if needed, broadcast a distress signal back to Origin. To see one intact and present here raises a great many questions." "Indeed." Excalibur replied, attaching the Index to his waist. "My team and I are more than willing to answer whatever questions you all may have…but we request that it be in private, and away from this crowd. We do not mean any offense, for it is what we are used to." "We understand, Excalibur." Shining Armor replied. "We'll take you to the Palace, but be warned, should trouble arise, we will defend ourselves.." "As you wish. And we would expect nothing less." Volt replied. As the Tenno followed the nine Equestrians to the central spire, the crowd parted to allow them safe passage. Their eyes showed fear, but there was also curiosity, wonder, admiration. "They seem intrigued by our presence." Zephyr said, sending scans and video feed through his Warframe back to Ordis. "Who wouldn't be?" Rhino replied. "I doubt they've seen Orokin technology before that Index. Which leads me to ask…how'd they find it?" "I'm not sure myself." Oberon noted. "There's no sign of a colony ship here, and if there was, we would have detected it via our scans earlier." "We'll deal with that later." Excalibur replied. "For now, let us see what the Equestrians ask of us, and what we can ask of them. We are here in peace, as we have said to them. We must not go back on our word." "For all we know…there could be danger here that we do not see yet." Author's Note Update! Next chapter - A first contact discussion, and a one-on-one meeting with an Element Bearer and a Tenno. Celestia and Luna also receive word of the Tenno's arrival... Chapter 2 - Reaching Out, Part ThreeAs they were escorted through the crowd towards the Crystal Palace, Excalibur Umbra and the other Tenno were silent. They could hear the whispers of the populace that were directed towards them. Some were, of course, fearful, but others were words of astonishment or even admiration towards their appearance. “It’s strange, isn’t it?” Volt Prime asked the group, communicating through telepathy. “I believed at first that we would be facing a far more dangerous first meeting. Now, it seems they place much of their faith into their leaders. I expected there to be more of an uproar regarding our arrival.” “I agree that it is unusual.” Oberon added. “The soldiers here seem to be in more of a peacekeeping role, rather than that of a true warrior. I can sense their trepidation about us, yet they stay silent.” “Maybe they don’t know what to say, or don’t wish to say something out of fear.” Zephyr mused. “Perhaps they are more fearful than we realize.” “That could be it, Zephyr.” Excalibur nodded. “Yet they refuse to give way to that fear and show it openly. There is much we can learn here, from both this world and from the Equestrians. Let’s not provoke or offend them, as we also don’t know how they will respond.” Each of the Tenno nodded, and as the Equestrians brought them into the palace, and then into a large conference room, the Guards stepped outside and closed the doors behind them. “So…Excalibur, what exactly are you? What does “Tenno” even mean?” Shining Armor asked. “That…is a long story.” Excalibur replied. “In order for you to be able to understand who we are, you must know how we came to be. Allow me to start from the beginning.” Excalibur Umbra held out his hand, and from his armored palm, projected a star-map of the Origin System for all to see. “In an age long past, on the planet Earth, humanity was ruled by a caste known as the Orokin. The Orokin were masters of biotechnology and genetic tinkering, and through their efforts the race now known as the Grineer came to be. During this era, when the Void was discovered, the advancements of the Orokin rose leagues higher than ever before, transforming the once impossible…to possible." "These Orokin sound quite impressive." Shining Armor mused. "I would not be so quick to praise them." Excalibur said in a sharp and immediate tone of rebuke, causing the ponies to flinch. "The Orokin were not the paragons they would seem to be to an outsider at first glance." "The Orokin were tyrannical in their ways, as their rigid hierarchy kept those at the top firmly in power and bathed in luxury…and the vast majority were left to suffer under the lashes of their cruel masters. Those who served the Orokin were exploited and often used as fodder for cruel experiments with no compensation." "This structure would later give prevalence to the teachings of Parvos Granum, whose teachings would later form the backbone of the faction known as the Corpus." "The Orokin ruled through extravagance, and perpetually sought youth to avoid their impending deaths. However, when the Orokin first discovered the Tau System, they sought to colonize it. They had long polluted and consumed their worlds in Origin, and they wanted everything in Tau to fuel their empire." "This is around the time when the Zariman Ten-Zero incident occurred, and thus instigated the beginning of the end of the Orokin Empire." The Tenno looked at each other in a strange manner as Excalibur finished speaking, causing the Equestrians to gaze at them in a confused manner. Princess Cadance, though, managed to gather that whatever transpired in this incident, that it would not be pleasant to hear. "One day, the a military colony ship, named the Zariman Ten-Zero, was sent into the Void in order to travel to the Tau System. It was soon declared to have been lost, but it reappeared some years later." "Well, that's good, right?' Rainbow Dash asked. "Wait…did something happen aboard that ship?" "Yes, and we still today bear the scars of what happened." Excalibur said, confirming Princess Cadance's mental worries. "While the ship was trapped in the Void, the adults aboard the ship descended into madness, becoming little more than feral animals." "The children on the other hand, became something else, something that still haunts us to this day." "The children developed uncontrollable powers through the Void, and were able to stave off and…kill their deranged parents. Their minds were forever scarred as a result of their actions." The jaws of every Equestrian dropped to the floor. Fluttershy began to cry quietly, Pinkie's mane and tail deflated, and Applejack hid her face behind her hat. Everypony else was simply too horrified to speak. "It doesn't end there." Excalibur continued. "When these children were rescued, the Orokin fearfully called them dangerous, and they were kept imprisoned and in hiding. The Orokin called them the "Void Demons". They would later become known as the first Tenno, from the ship's designation of Ten-Zero." "But when an Orokin Archimedean named Margulis discovered the children, she took pity on them, sympathizing with their struggle and the scars they bore, it seemed things would be better. She took them in as her own children, and sought a way to allow them a normal life." Those words made the Equestrians perk up a bit, and Fluttershy stopped crying upon hearing this. "Her lover, Ballas, pleaded with her to stop her research, but she continued. Margulis created what are known as reservoirs, a gateway into the Dream. The Dream is a state of consciousness where the children's powers were far more controllable. Margulis was blinded during this time, but she never gave up hope." "During this time, the Orokin plan to colonize the Tau system was spearheaded by a race of synthetic beings that would later become known as the Sentients. They were made to terraform entire planets, and could develop-near instantaneous resistance to any injury or harm. They were perfect for this task, as their adaptability knew no bounds." "I take it that something went wrong with them?" Shining Armor asked, remembering how he had been mistaken in his first view of the Orokin. "You are correct." Excalibur nodded. "There was a great risk that the Sentients, with their adaptive traits and reproductive capabilities, would rise against the Orokin. Imbuing the Sentients with true thought was against Orokin law, however. There was also the fact that the Void was poisonous to the Sentients, and thus, the Orokin felt safe." "They could not have been more wrong." "The Sentients realized that Tau would eventually be destroyed by the Orokin, and they traveled through the Void to Origin. They made the journey successfully, and the Void did not kill the Sentients as the Orokin hoped, it only sterilized them. "Now united under the Sentient leader, Hunhow, the Sentients began a system-wide rebellion that would become known as the Old War." "So…how bad was it?" Pinkie Pie asked. "It was Indescribably horrific." Volt replied. "The Orokin's attempts to fight back failed in nearly every way, from their outpaced technology to militarizing their Grineer slaves. The Corpus then rose to prominence at this time, developing and selling everything needed for the war effort." "From the autonomous war machines called Necramechs, to unleashing the Technocyte virus that later developed into the Infested, it seemed the Orokin were running out of ideas." "Then Ballas, the lover of Margulis, used a version of the infestation to develop Helminth, which was instrumental in the development of the first Warframes. However, though their initial use was successful, these Warframes were unpredictable and just as eager to turn against the Orokin." Volt finished. "They needed a way to control them." "Thus, the once-exiled Tenno, through the power of Transference, became the wielders of the Warframes." "Transference?" Twilight Sparkle asked. "Transference is the ability to merge and synchronize one surrogate body with another mind." Zephyr replied. "Margulis, with the help of Silvana, another Orokin Archimedean, were able to develop Transference therapy for the children of the Zariman." "The Warfarmes bonded with the children through their shared trauma, becoming the Operators. The Orokin pressured Margulis and Silvana to further develop the Operators as living weapons to use against the Sentients. Margulis refused, commiting the crime of Apostasy in the process. She was tried, found guilty, and to Ballas's horror, Margulis was executed by the Jade Light." Volt added. The Equestrians again dropped their jaws, and Fluttershy began to cry once again. Excalibur waited for her to settle down before continuing. "Ballas, bereft with grief, betrayed the Orokin, siding with Hunhow to bring down the Orokin Empire. While the Tenno, as they were now properly known, managed to turn the tide, Ballas's eventual betrayal would stop this advance cold." "Ballas knew of the Reservoir, the hiding place of the Operators, and how they were unprotected and vulnerable while in Transference. Thus, the Sentient Natah adopted the likeness of Margulis, and infiltrated the Orokin backlines." "She used the Tenno against the other Sentients, and Hunhow was apparently destroyed over the waters of the planet Uranus. Hunhow's son, Erra, pleaded with Natah to return, Natah refused, and was imprisoned, but she soon retaliated." Excalibur said. "How so?" Princess Cadance asked cautiously. "When the high-ranking Orokin gathered on Pluto to celebrate, the Tenno struck them down, one by one, as revenge for Margulis. Thus, the Collapse of the Orokin Empire began." Excalibur replied. "Natah was ordered to destroy the Tenno, but she refused and took up Marguli's mantle and became the Lotus, the Tenno's matron and guide. She hid Lua and the reservoir in the Void, and thus, ordered the Tenno to enter cryogenic sleep. The Old War may have ended, but some Warframes took part in missions to kill the remaining Orokin." "Attempts to recreate the empire would fail, as the Grineer militarized and became a new force, powered by the cloning technology of their ancestors. The Corpus also militarized, and fighting between them continues to this day. There is still more to our story, if you wish to hear it" Excalibur paused, sensing clearly that the Equestrians were in need of time to process what they had just learned. Eventually, Shining Armor spoke up. "I think it would be wise if we could discuss your tale amongst ourselves. It's not that we don't believe you, it was just so much to take in." "We understand completely." Excalibur replied. "We also would like to return to our ship, and report what has happened to the Lotus. We will return at dawn tomorrow, if that is something we can agree on." "Absolutely." Twilight Sparkle replied. "We'll see you then." As the Equestrians and the Tenno exchanged goodbyes, and two Crystal Guards escorted the Tenno to the entrance hall, Shining Armor turned to his wife, sister, and the other Element Bearers. "We need to tell Princess Celestia and Princess Luna about this." he said in a steady tone of voice. "Also, I think I could use some rest. I feel rather dizzy after hearing all that." "I wholeheartedly agree." Cadance added, and the other Element Bearers nodded. Twilight volunteered to handle writing the letter to both Princesses in Canterlot, and all were soon shown to guest bedchambers to rest. At the same time, the Tenno boarded their Railjack, and after deciding that returning to their Orbiter would take too long, they began to meditate. While Ordis and Cephalon Cy began sending their message to the Lotus, the Tenno soon turned still, and lowered their heads to sleep, awaiting what the next day would bring. Author's Note Update! EDIT - 12-4-2022 - Completely rewrote the chapter, including information that I did not previously know about the story of Warframe. Should be much more lore-accurate now. Prologue -Reaching Out, Part OneTwilight Sparkle, the newly crowned Princess of Friendship, had a lot of things on her mind on this day in Equestria. There were plenty of things to bring up in terms of positives, such as the clear sky, mild weather, and a bright, welcoming sun. A perfect day to spend outside with her friends, and enjoy the picnic lunch they had been planning for nearly a week. However, it would not be so for Twilight, because at the last minute, she had been called to Canterlot in order to attend a party, at the request of both Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. However, the party was being exclusively attended by nobles and some of their relatives, and there was no clear reason made to Twilight other than "Why not?". And it was not like one of Pinkie Pie's parties, Twilight mentally lamented, as this party was formal beyond her tastes. She was wearing a pale blue dress, thankfully one designed by Rarity, so the clothing she wore wasn't one of the problems she faced. Rather...it was the ponies present she found issue with. She barely knew any of the nobles in Canterlot besides Fancy Pants and Fleur-de-lis, and to a lesser extent, Prince Blueblood. In the case of all the other ponies, she knew each of them only by name and title. And as much as Twilight wanted to simply excuse herself and teleport back to Ponyville...every time she attempted to do so, a noble would always interrupt her to introduce themselves, a relative, or simply to talk with her. And Twilight Sparkle, for all her strength, was nearing her limit with how many long stories she had been told, the number of noble stallions that wanted to give her a gift or introduce their son, or been offered a horderve. "Thank you for your time, Lord High Glass" Twilight said, feigning pleasantry to an older stallion, who bowed and departed respectfully. She was about to teleport herself home when Celestia caught her charging her horn covertly, and showed her to a side room. "I'm sorry, Celestia." Twilight sighed. "I was completely unprepared for this. And I already had plans made with my friends." "I know, Twilight." the Solar Princess replied. "And I'm sorry I had to drag you away from the Elements at such short notice. You know the nobles, they protest to no end until they get their way. Some even lose their voices doing so. Keep that between us, though." They both chuckled, and Celestia embraced Twilight with her wing. "I know this has been stressful. How much longer can you stick it out?" she asked. "Not much longer." she replied. "I need to head home." "Then do so, Twilight. You don't need to ask for my permission." Celestia nodded. Twilight charged her horn and teleported back to Ponyville, and Celestia soon exited the room to return to the party. Twilight arrived back at her new castle in Ponyville, and once she was changed, headed downstairs to join her friends at Ponyville park. Only to find her friends waiting for her in the entrance hallway, with all the necessary accoutrements of a picnic ready and waiting. "Hey, Twi!" Applejack greeted her warmly. "Did that thing in Canterlot go fine?" "As fine as I could've hoped for." she replied, then she remembered her previous commitment.. "Did you all wait for me to get back so you could be with me?" "Yeppers!" Pinkie bounced gleefully. "I kept everything warm and ready! Besides, it's only Two o' clock! We've got plenty of time!" "Indeed!" Rarity chimed in. "How'd the dress fit?" "It was perfect, Rarity, thank you." Twilight smiled, feeling her stress melt away. "Now, let's go have our picnic." As they all exited her Castle and headed straight for the park, Twilight gave a giant sigh of relief. "Are you feeling tired?" Rainbow Dash asked. "A little." Twilight replied. "The party was so exhausting and just…slow in general. And nopony except for Celestia seemed to be able to take a hint that I needed to go home." And at that, they heard the sound of running steps from behind them, and Spike sprinted up to them, out of breath. He handed them a newly-arrived letter from Celestia, and upon seeing it, Twilight groaned very audibly, and started to swear, only for Applejack to cover Twilight's mouth with her own hoof. "Sorry." she sighed. "Let's see what this is all about." "You just left, though." Fluttershy piped up. "Could something have happened so quickly in between the time you left Canterlot, and now?" "Apparently so." Twilight said. "And it's not just me that she needs in Canterlot, but all the Elements, and surprisingly, Spike as well." "Really?" the young dragon asked. "That's cool, I never get to tag along on the adventures you go on." "Well, I'd better teleport us all there, then." Twilight said. "Get ready." "Why can't we take the train?" Rarity asked. "Is it that urgent?" "Yes, and I can tell, because she not only wrote the word "Immediately" in bold size, she double-underlined the word enough to dent the paper it was being written on with her quill." Twilight said, showing the markings in reference. "Looks like we'll have to take a rain check on that picnic, girls." "Alrighty, then!" Pinkie said, stuffing the basket into her mane. As the seven of them teleported to Canterlot, they soon reappeared inside Princess Celestia's office. To their surprise, Princess Cadance and Prince Shining Armor were present, along with Princess Luna. "What's going on?" Twilight asked. "Is it something bad, like Tirek-level bad?" "That's the thing. We don't know just yet." Celestia replied. "Cadance, I'll let you explain, seeing as the reason for this summons,, as sudden as it was, all began in the Crystal Empire." "Okay…" Cadance sighed. "While you were here in Canterlot, Twilight, in the Crystal Empire, we noticed something going on with the Crystal Heart. Normally it glows white, but this time, it was glowing an odd shade of bluish green. Before we could examine it to see if something was wrong, a portal opened in front of it…and this object came out." Shining Armor produced a oblong case about the length of his leg, made from a shimmering ivory material. Bolted on were rings and frames of a golden metal, and a blue screen-like finish lay on the top of the case. "What is that? I don't think it's some fancy makeup box like one that Rarity would use." Rainbow Dash said. "No offense, Rares." "None taken." Rarity replied. "I've never seen anything quite like it before. What's it made of?" "We don't know." Shining said. "Even the Empire's best archivists, who, might I add, have been cataloging and studying artifacts since before even King Sombra's time, haven't been able to figure out what it is, what it's made of, or even what it's supposed to do." "So…what's this mean for us?" Twilight asked. "Because there's one thing we haven't tried yet." Princess Luna replied. "What's that?" Applejack asked. "This." Princess Luna replied, sending a powerful beam of magic at the black section of the case. It shuddered for a few moments, before projecting a holographic map in the air above them. It greatly resembling a star chart of some kind, as Twilight could see a sun, multiple planets, and their accompanying moons and planetoids. "That's something." Shining Armor said, spinning the map around by moving his hoof. "It's a star chart of some kind." "That's very accurate, but I don't recognize any of these worlds." Twilight said. "I mean, our solar system is partially geo-centric. This is completely heliocentric." "And for those who aren't versed in Astronomy, it means that the planets in this solar system rotate around their sun naturally, so no one there needs to raise or lower the sun and moon like Celestia and Luna do here. It happens naturally on its own every day and night." she added, seeing the unknowing look on her friends' faces, particularly that of Rainbow Dash. "Our Solar System is different. Because we have to raise and lower our Sun and Moon each day and night, our planet's orbit coincides with that need." Celestia added. "So this solar system map can't be our own." "So…aliens?" Rainbow Dash asked, almost hopefully. "Possibly." Celestia said. "If this map made it here, then it's very well likely that others could follow. Which is why I need you to be ready if that indeed happens and we receive…visitors." "So what's the plan?" Twilight asked. "Go to the Crystal Empire alongside Cadance and Shining Armor, and see if anything happens." Celestia said. "We will handle things here. And Spike shall go with you, as I can send messages to him and receive from him faster than any other method of communication we have." "Alright, then!" Applejack said. "Let's get to it!" As the nine ponies teleported out, taking the map with them, Celestia and Luna sighed and turned to the window. "Do you think it could be…her?" Luna asked quietly. "I don't know." Celestia replied. "She did say that her emissaries would come, but when that would be was never mentioned." "But if it is…we must be ready. We witnessed what her offspring was capable of doing to their enemies during their War against…you-know-what." Luna replied. "And now that so much time has passed after that…what could have changed? Are her offspring still the nigh-invincible warriors we saw?" "I don't know. Who can know?" Celestia sighed as she began to lower the sun. "But what I am sure of, is that if they come…Equestria will change forever. What path we shall take…" "...Has yet to be determined." ==== Across the stars, and through the boundary between the Origin System and the Tau System, a lone Railjack gunship lay anchored to a vessel known as an Orbiter. And at the helm of the Orbiter, five beings known as Tenno sat in a circle as a hologram message from their returned mentor, the Lotus, faded out. One of them, an Excalibur Umbra, colored royal blue, white, and gold, stood up and powered up the navigation systems. "Is everyone ready?" the Excalibur's Operator asked, speaking through the telepathic link that Tenno used to communicate with each other privately, one of their advantages from being exposed to the Void aboard the Zariman Ten Zero. "We're good." replied a Trinity Prime, with the other Tenno, a Volt Prime, a Zephyr Prime, and a Rhino Prime, stating their affirmation as well. "I still can't believe we've been assigned this mission. The Lotus isn’t taking any chances with this." "I agree." Zephyr Prime replied. To send us to Tau, so soon after the collapse of Narmer and the deaths of Ballas and Erra. It is a little…unbelievable." The Tenno were silent for a few moments, out of respect for the Sentient that had turned against Ballas and had aided them in defeating the Orokin tyrant ruler of Narmer. Though Erra had not survived to see Ballas's death, the Tenno respected the Sentient for his sacrifice. After the death of Ballas and the collapse of Narmer, the Sentients had vanished, with Hunhow and the Shadow Stalker promising to find them, wherever they now lurked. The Tenno's brief and hasty alliance with the Grineer and Corpus had was summarily ended, and now both factions were occupied with hunting down the remains of the Narmer loyalists, along with fighting each other once again. This suited the Tenno just fine, as they had other work to do. This team had been meditating when the Lotus alerted them to an Orokin beacon activating in a previously unknown section of the Tau System that was reachable from Origin. This portion had been seemingly revealed by the actions of Ballas, and now, the Tenno intended to travel there themselves. But this time, they would be ready for whatever conflict should arise. "Are we set?" Excalibur Umbra asked Ordis. "We are ready and waiting to…jump to certain death…depart for Tau, Excalibur Umbra." Ordis replied, his speech tick as present as ever. “All supplies are stowed, and systems on the Railjack are one hundred percent.” "There’s no turning back now." Excalibur continued, turning back to his team. "This is your last chance to stay behind." There was no response, as the Tenno knew what they had been tasked with. One by one, they took their seats, ready for the jump to Tau. "Then we're set. Ordis...you're clear." Excalibur nodded. "Confirmed! Initiating Void jump!" As the Orbiter and the coupled Railjack blasted off into the Void, the Tenno heard a voice speak in their minds, a voice that belonged to the Lotus. "Good luck, Tenno." Author's Note WARFRAME IS BACK! Yeah, I wanted to be absolutely sure that this story would start off strong. And after finishing the New War questline and defeating Ballas...Oh, my god it was so worth it to get this finally written. Next time - The Tenno arrive in the Tau System, discover Equestria, and upon landing in teh Crystal Empire at the source of the Orokin Beacon...things take a rather unforseen turn...
Chapter 1 - Reaching Out, Part Two"Ordis?" "Yes, Excalibur?" "I have never seen a planet like this before. How can this be?" Excalibur said, his breath stolen at the sight of the verdant, unspoiled world before him and his team. Patches of white suggesting snow, a large desert, and above all, vast stretches of green showed a world untouched by the Orokin and their technology. "I do not know,Excalibur." Ordis replied. "The Tau system was still largely unexplored even in the days of the Orokin. This planet is in pristine condition, and it is inhabited. A perfect place to begin our efforts." "Inhabited?" Volt Prime asked, as she approached, accompanied by the rest of the team. "There is sapient life here?" "Indeed." Ordis replied. "Sapient life on a scale so large, my scans have not yet finished cataloging all possible lifeforms. I cannot seem to identify what you may encounter, as our technology is based on the lifeforms of the Origin System." "However, I would recommend you deploy on your Railjack and investigate on the ground, starting from this location." The navigation hologram appeared, and zoomed in on a large city, surrounded by snow, and adorned with a tall spire. It glistened like a gemstone, even through the hologram. "Then that's where we'll start." Rhino Prime said, retrieving his Corinth Prime shotgun and chambering a shell. "Should we expect trouble?" "No." Excalibur replied. "I doubt we will face hostilities, but if we do…we must be prepared. Remember what the Lotus has taught us. We only fight unless we must." "Right." Rhino Prime replied. "You almost had me there, Umbra." Excalibur rolled his optics, knowing how Rhino Prime's Operator could be so very straightforward, and yet so…reckless at times. To have him be more passive was a welcome sight. "Cephalon Cy has our heading secured and a landing zone identified." Zephyr Prime chimed in. "We should go." "Agreed," said Oberon Prime. "It is time to see what this world has to offer." "Then let's get moving!" Rhino laughed as he headed for the Railjack's docking port. The other Tenno soon followed, after retrieving their weapons of choice. Excalibur sheathed his blade, the Skiajati, and took the Nataruk Bow off of a mount he had made for it. The bow, gifted to the Operator by the Shadow Stalker, was one of the finest weapons in his arsenal, and though he had not mastered it, Excalibur knew it was close to achieving that personal goal. As they boarded the Railjack, which soon descended towards the planet with Excalibur at the controls, the vastness of space soon gave way to an atmosphere, then clouds, then falling snow. The Tenno admired the icy landscape, which was pristine, unlike some of the other ice moons they had been on back in Origin. Most of those were occupied by the Grineer, Corpus, or in some rare cases, the Infested. "Where are we landing, Cy?" Excalibur asked. "Just outside the city, at this plaza here." Cephalon Cy replied. "My calculations lead me to believe the locals will not take kindly to a fully-armed Railjack landing in their midst so suddenly." "Tread lightly, Tenno." "Understood." Volt said as she prepared her Braton Prime assault rifle, the other Tenno followed suit with their own weapons, minus Excalibur, who guided the Railjack to the marked landing zone. "I'll keep the engine running." Cy replied. "Be careful." "Aren't we always?" Zephyr joked as the docking ramp lowered. From the main viewport, Excalibur could see the locals, which appeared to be multi-colored quadruped equines, had formed a crowd around the Railjack. Some of the equines wore pastel blue armor, and were equipped with spears and shields. Excalibur noted some had a horn, others had a set of wings, but in the front of the crowd…a pink-colored equine, a female by the looks of it, had both. She stood next to an ivory-coated male wearing his own set of armor, and six other females. A small, lizard-like being stood on the back of another winged and horned equine, who stood next to the first. As Excalibur took the point position, he gave a quiet huff. "For Origin?" Volt Prime suggested. "No. For us." Excalibur shrugged, and they descended to a myriad of shocked gasps and whispers from the crowd. The armored ones came forward in a protective, half-moon formation around the nine in front, including the two horned-and-winged ones. Excalibur reasoned they were the leadership of this race, and judging by how the others were staring at them both… …his assumption was likely correct. Excalibur stepped forward, hands in a passive stance, and looked down at them silently. The other Tenno were quiet, not sure how he planned to proceed. "Hello?" one of the equines, the second horned and winged one, asked. "Can…can you understand me?" Excalibur tilted his head in curiosity, as he could understand them. When he realized they were waiting for him to respond, he nodded. "Okay…that's good to know." the other horned and winged one sighed. "My name is Princess Cadance, I am a pony of Equestria, and the Alicorn of Love, Ruler of the Crystal Empire. My husband is Prince Shining Armor, his sister and my sister-in law, Twilight Sparkle, Princess of Magic. There others are the Elements of Harmony, and Spike the dragon, a Hero of the Empire." "Who are you?" Excalibur stepped forward, with the others following his lead, and he bowed respectfully before speaking. "Tenno." A ripple of shock and disbelief flowed through the crowd, and Shining Armor approached, not sure of what they were speaking, or what the term "Tenno" meant. "Is that your name?" he asked. "Or a title?" "It is what we are." Excalibur replied. "We are Tenno of the Origin System. I am known as Excalibur Umbra. This is Volt, Rhino, Zephyr, and Trinity Prime. We are here in peace, searching for a beacon from a lost civilization." "You mean this?" Twilight Sparkle asked, producing the artifact that contained the map they had seen in Celestia's office. Excalibur took it from her, and upon scanning it, asked Ordis what it was. "This is an Orokin Navigational Index." Ordis replied. "It was used on colony ships such as the Zariman Ten Zero in order to register the ship's location, status, and if needed, broadcast a distress signal back to Origin. To see one intact and present here raises a great many questions." "Indeed." Excalibur replied, attaching the Index to his waist. "My team and I are more than willing to answer whatever questions you all may have…but we request that it be in private, and away from this crowd. We do not mean any offense, for it is what we are used to." "We understand, Excalibur." Shining Armor replied. "We'll take you to the Palace, but be warned, should trouble arise, we will defend ourselves.." "As you wish. And we would expect nothing less." Volt replied. As the Tenno followed the nine Equestrians to the central spire, the crowd parted to allow them safe passage. Their eyes showed fear, but there was also curiosity, wonder, admiration. "They seem intrigued by our presence." Zephyr said, sending scans and video feed through his Warframe back to Ordis. "Who wouldn't be?" Rhino replied. "I doubt they've seen Orokin technology before that Index. Which leads me to ask…how'd they find it?" "I'm not sure myself." Oberon noted. "There's no sign of a colony ship here, and if there was, we would have detected it via our scans earlier." "We'll deal with that later." Excalibur replied. "For now, let us see what the Equestrians ask of us, and what we can ask of them. We are here in peace, as we have said to them. We must not go back on our word." "For all we know…there could be danger here that we do not see yet." Author's Note Update! Next chapter - A first contact discussion, and a one-on-one meeting with an Element Bearer and a Tenno. Celestia and Luna also receive word of the Tenno's arrival...
Chapter 2 - Reaching Out, Part ThreeAs they were escorted through the crowd towards the Crystal Palace, Excalibur Umbra and the other Tenno were silent. They could hear the whispers of the populace that were directed towards them. Some were, of course, fearful, but others were words of astonishment or even admiration towards their appearance. “It’s strange, isn’t it?” Volt Prime asked the group, communicating through telepathy. “I believed at first that we would be facing a far more dangerous first meeting. Now, it seems they place much of their faith into their leaders. I expected there to be more of an uproar regarding our arrival.” “I agree that it is unusual.” Oberon added. “The soldiers here seem to be in more of a peacekeeping role, rather than that of a true warrior. I can sense their trepidation about us, yet they stay silent.” “Maybe they don’t know what to say, or don’t wish to say something out of fear.” Zephyr mused. “Perhaps they are more fearful than we realize.” “That could be it, Zephyr.” Excalibur nodded. “Yet they refuse to give way to that fear and show it openly. There is much we can learn here, from both this world and from the Equestrians. Let’s not provoke or offend them, as we also don’t know how they will respond.” Each of the Tenno nodded, and as the Equestrians brought them into the palace, and then into a large conference room, the Guards stepped outside and closed the doors behind them. “So…Excalibur, what exactly are you? What does “Tenno” even mean?” Shining Armor asked. “That…is a long story.” Excalibur replied. “In order for you to be able to understand who we are, you must know how we came to be. Allow me to start from the beginning.” Excalibur Umbra held out his hand, and from his armored palm, projected a star-map of the Origin System for all to see. “In an age long past, on the planet Earth, humanity was ruled by a caste known as the Orokin. The Orokin were masters of biotechnology and genetic tinkering, and through their efforts the race now known as the Grineer came to be. During this era, when the Void was discovered, the advancements of the Orokin rose leagues higher than ever before, transforming the once impossible…to possible." "These Orokin sound quite impressive." Shining Armor mused. "I would not be so quick to praise them." Excalibur said in a sharp and immediate tone of rebuke, causing the ponies to flinch. "The Orokin were not the paragons they would seem to be to an outsider at first glance." "The Orokin were tyrannical in their ways, as their rigid hierarchy kept those at the top firmly in power and bathed in luxury…and the vast majority were left to suffer under the lashes of their cruel masters. Those who served the Orokin were exploited and often used as fodder for cruel experiments with no compensation." "This structure would later give prevalence to the teachings of Parvos Granum, whose teachings would later form the backbone of the faction known as the Corpus." "The Orokin ruled through extravagance, and perpetually sought youth to avoid their impending deaths. However, when the Orokin first discovered the Tau System, they sought to colonize it. They had long polluted and consumed their worlds in Origin, and they wanted everything in Tau to fuel their empire." "This is around the time when the Zariman Ten-Zero incident occurred, and thus instigated the beginning of the end of the Orokin Empire." The Tenno looked at each other in a strange manner as Excalibur finished speaking, causing the Equestrians to gaze at them in a confused manner. Princess Cadance, though, managed to gather that whatever transpired in this incident, that it would not be pleasant to hear. "One day, the a military colony ship, named the Zariman Ten-Zero, was sent into the Void in order to travel to the Tau System. It was soon declared to have been lost, but it reappeared some years later." "Well, that's good, right?' Rainbow Dash asked. "Wait…did something happen aboard that ship?" "Yes, and we still today bear the scars of what happened." Excalibur said, confirming Princess Cadance's mental worries. "While the ship was trapped in the Void, the adults aboard the ship descended into madness, becoming little more than feral animals." "The children on the other hand, became something else, something that still haunts us to this day." "The children developed uncontrollable powers through the Void, and were able to stave off and…kill their deranged parents. Their minds were forever scarred as a result of their actions." The jaws of every Equestrian dropped to the floor. Fluttershy began to cry quietly, Pinkie's mane and tail deflated, and Applejack hid her face behind her hat. Everypony else was simply too horrified to speak. "It doesn't end there." Excalibur continued. "When these children were rescued, the Orokin fearfully called them dangerous, and they were kept imprisoned and in hiding. The Orokin called them the "Void Demons". They would later become known as the first Tenno, from the ship's designation of Ten-Zero." "But when an Orokin Archimedean named Margulis discovered the children, she took pity on them, sympathizing with their struggle and the scars they bore, it seemed things would be better. She took them in as her own children, and sought a way to allow them a normal life." Those words made the Equestrians perk up a bit, and Fluttershy stopped crying upon hearing this. "Her lover, Ballas, pleaded with her to stop her research, but she continued. Margulis created what are known as reservoirs, a gateway into the Dream. The Dream is a state of consciousness where the children's powers were far more controllable. Margulis was blinded during this time, but she never gave up hope." "During this time, the Orokin plan to colonize the Tau system was spearheaded by a race of synthetic beings that would later become known as the Sentients. They were made to terraform entire planets, and could develop-near instantaneous resistance to any injury or harm. They were perfect for this task, as their adaptability knew no bounds." "I take it that something went wrong with them?" Shining Armor asked, remembering how he had been mistaken in his first view of the Orokin. "You are correct." Excalibur nodded. "There was a great risk that the Sentients, with their adaptive traits and reproductive capabilities, would rise against the Orokin. Imbuing the Sentients with true thought was against Orokin law, however. There was also the fact that the Void was poisonous to the Sentients, and thus, the Orokin felt safe." "They could not have been more wrong." "The Sentients realized that Tau would eventually be destroyed by the Orokin, and they traveled through the Void to Origin. They made the journey successfully, and the Void did not kill the Sentients as the Orokin hoped, it only sterilized them. "Now united under the Sentient leader, Hunhow, the Sentients began a system-wide rebellion that would become known as the Old War." "So…how bad was it?" Pinkie Pie asked. "It was Indescribably horrific." Volt replied. "The Orokin's attempts to fight back failed in nearly every way, from their outpaced technology to militarizing their Grineer slaves. The Corpus then rose to prominence at this time, developing and selling everything needed for the war effort." "From the autonomous war machines called Necramechs, to unleashing the Technocyte virus that later developed into the Infested, it seemed the Orokin were running out of ideas." "Then Ballas, the lover of Margulis, used a version of the infestation to develop Helminth, which was instrumental in the development of the first Warframes. However, though their initial use was successful, these Warframes were unpredictable and just as eager to turn against the Orokin." Volt finished. "They needed a way to control them." "Thus, the once-exiled Tenno, through the power of Transference, became the wielders of the Warframes." "Transference?" Twilight Sparkle asked. "Transference is the ability to merge and synchronize one surrogate body with another mind." Zephyr replied. "Margulis, with the help of Silvana, another Orokin Archimedean, were able to develop Transference therapy for the children of the Zariman." "The Warfarmes bonded with the children through their shared trauma, becoming the Operators. The Orokin pressured Margulis and Silvana to further develop the Operators as living weapons to use against the Sentients. Margulis refused, commiting the crime of Apostasy in the process. She was tried, found guilty, and to Ballas's horror, Margulis was executed by the Jade Light." Volt added. The Equestrians again dropped their jaws, and Fluttershy began to cry once again. Excalibur waited for her to settle down before continuing. "Ballas, bereft with grief, betrayed the Orokin, siding with Hunhow to bring down the Orokin Empire. While the Tenno, as they were now properly known, managed to turn the tide, Ballas's eventual betrayal would stop this advance cold." "Ballas knew of the Reservoir, the hiding place of the Operators, and how they were unprotected and vulnerable while in Transference. Thus, the Sentient Natah adopted the likeness of Margulis, and infiltrated the Orokin backlines." "She used the Tenno against the other Sentients, and Hunhow was apparently destroyed over the waters of the planet Uranus. Hunhow's son, Erra, pleaded with Natah to return, Natah refused, and was imprisoned, but she soon retaliated." Excalibur said. "How so?" Princess Cadance asked cautiously. "When the high-ranking Orokin gathered on Pluto to celebrate, the Tenno struck them down, one by one, as revenge for Margulis. Thus, the Collapse of the Orokin Empire began." Excalibur replied. "Natah was ordered to destroy the Tenno, but she refused and took up Marguli's mantle and became the Lotus, the Tenno's matron and guide. She hid Lua and the reservoir in the Void, and thus, ordered the Tenno to enter cryogenic sleep. The Old War may have ended, but some Warframes took part in missions to kill the remaining Orokin." "Attempts to recreate the empire would fail, as the Grineer militarized and became a new force, powered by the cloning technology of their ancestors. The Corpus also militarized, and fighting between them continues to this day. There is still more to our story, if you wish to hear it" Excalibur paused, sensing clearly that the Equestrians were in need of time to process what they had just learned. Eventually, Shining Armor spoke up. "I think it would be wise if we could discuss your tale amongst ourselves. It's not that we don't believe you, it was just so much to take in." "We understand completely." Excalibur replied. "We also would like to return to our ship, and report what has happened to the Lotus. We will return at dawn tomorrow, if that is something we can agree on." "Absolutely." Twilight Sparkle replied. "We'll see you then." As the Equestrians and the Tenno exchanged goodbyes, and two Crystal Guards escorted the Tenno to the entrance hall, Shining Armor turned to his wife, sister, and the other Element Bearers. "We need to tell Princess Celestia and Princess Luna about this." he said in a steady tone of voice. "Also, I think I could use some rest. I feel rather dizzy after hearing all that." "I wholeheartedly agree." Cadance added, and the other Element Bearers nodded. Twilight volunteered to handle writing the letter to both Princesses in Canterlot, and all were soon shown to guest bedchambers to rest. At the same time, the Tenno boarded their Railjack, and after deciding that returning to their Orbiter would take too long, they began to meditate. While Ordis and Cephalon Cy began sending their message to the Lotus, the Tenno soon turned still, and lowered their heads to sleep, awaiting what the next day would bring. Author's Note Update! EDIT - 12-4-2022 - Completely rewrote the chapter, including information that I did not previously know about the story of Warframe. Should be much more lore-accurate now.
Prologue -Reaching Out, Part OneTwilight Sparkle, the newly crowned Princess of Friendship, had a lot of things on her mind on this day in Equestria. There were plenty of things to bring up in terms of positives, such as the clear sky, mild weather, and a bright, welcoming sun. A perfect day to spend outside with her friends, and enjoy the picnic lunch they had been planning for nearly a week. However, it would not be so for Twilight, because at the last minute, she had been called to Canterlot in order to attend a party, at the request of both Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. However, the party was being exclusively attended by nobles and some of their relatives, and there was no clear reason made to Twilight other than "Why not?". And it was not like one of Pinkie Pie's parties, Twilight mentally lamented, as this party was formal beyond her tastes. She was wearing a pale blue dress, thankfully one designed by Rarity, so the clothing she wore wasn't one of the problems she faced. Rather...it was the ponies present she found issue with. She barely knew any of the nobles in Canterlot besides Fancy Pants and Fleur-de-lis, and to a lesser extent, Prince Blueblood. In the case of all the other ponies, she knew each of them only by name and title. And as much as Twilight wanted to simply excuse herself and teleport back to Ponyville...every time she attempted to do so, a noble would always interrupt her to introduce themselves, a relative, or simply to talk with her. And Twilight Sparkle, for all her strength, was nearing her limit with how many long stories she had been told, the number of noble stallions that wanted to give her a gift or introduce their son, or been offered a horderve. "Thank you for your time, Lord High Glass" Twilight said, feigning pleasantry to an older stallion, who bowed and departed respectfully. She was about to teleport herself home when Celestia caught her charging her horn covertly, and showed her to a side room. "I'm sorry, Celestia." Twilight sighed. "I was completely unprepared for this. And I already had plans made with my friends." "I know, Twilight." the Solar Princess replied. "And I'm sorry I had to drag you away from the Elements at such short notice. You know the nobles, they protest to no end until they get their way. Some even lose their voices doing so. Keep that between us, though." They both chuckled, and Celestia embraced Twilight with her wing. "I know this has been stressful. How much longer can you stick it out?" she asked. "Not much longer." she replied. "I need to head home." "Then do so, Twilight. You don't need to ask for my permission." Celestia nodded. Twilight charged her horn and teleported back to Ponyville, and Celestia soon exited the room to return to the party. Twilight arrived back at her new castle in Ponyville, and once she was changed, headed downstairs to join her friends at Ponyville park. Only to find her friends waiting for her in the entrance hallway, with all the necessary accoutrements of a picnic ready and waiting. "Hey, Twi!" Applejack greeted her warmly. "Did that thing in Canterlot go fine?" "As fine as I could've hoped for." she replied, then she remembered her previous commitment.. "Did you all wait for me to get back so you could be with me?" "Yeppers!" Pinkie bounced gleefully. "I kept everything warm and ready! Besides, it's only Two o' clock! We've got plenty of time!" "Indeed!" Rarity chimed in. "How'd the dress fit?" "It was perfect, Rarity, thank you." Twilight smiled, feeling her stress melt away. "Now, let's go have our picnic." As they all exited her Castle and headed straight for the park, Twilight gave a giant sigh of relief. "Are you feeling tired?" Rainbow Dash asked. "A little." Twilight replied. "The party was so exhausting and just…slow in general. And nopony except for Celestia seemed to be able to take a hint that I needed to go home." And at that, they heard the sound of running steps from behind them, and Spike sprinted up to them, out of breath. He handed them a newly-arrived letter from Celestia, and upon seeing it, Twilight groaned very audibly, and started to swear, only for Applejack to cover Twilight's mouth with her own hoof. "Sorry." she sighed. "Let's see what this is all about." "You just left, though." Fluttershy piped up. "Could something have happened so quickly in between the time you left Canterlot, and now?" "Apparently so." Twilight said. "And it's not just me that she needs in Canterlot, but all the Elements, and surprisingly, Spike as well." "Really?" the young dragon asked. "That's cool, I never get to tag along on the adventures you go on." "Well, I'd better teleport us all there, then." Twilight said. "Get ready." "Why can't we take the train?" Rarity asked. "Is it that urgent?" "Yes, and I can tell, because she not only wrote the word "Immediately" in bold size, she double-underlined the word enough to dent the paper it was being written on with her quill." Twilight said, showing the markings in reference. "Looks like we'll have to take a rain check on that picnic, girls." "Alrighty, then!" Pinkie said, stuffing the basket into her mane. As the seven of them teleported to Canterlot, they soon reappeared inside Princess Celestia's office. To their surprise, Princess Cadance and Prince Shining Armor were present, along with Princess Luna. "What's going on?" Twilight asked. "Is it something bad, like Tirek-level bad?" "That's the thing. We don't know just yet." Celestia replied. "Cadance, I'll let you explain, seeing as the reason for this summons,, as sudden as it was, all began in the Crystal Empire." "Okay…" Cadance sighed. "While you were here in Canterlot, Twilight, in the Crystal Empire, we noticed something going on with the Crystal Heart. Normally it glows white, but this time, it was glowing an odd shade of bluish green. Before we could examine it to see if something was wrong, a portal opened in front of it…and this object came out." Shining Armor produced a oblong case about the length of his leg, made from a shimmering ivory material. Bolted on were rings and frames of a golden metal, and a blue screen-like finish lay on the top of the case. "What is that? I don't think it's some fancy makeup box like one that Rarity would use." Rainbow Dash said. "No offense, Rares." "None taken." Rarity replied. "I've never seen anything quite like it before. What's it made of?" "We don't know." Shining said. "Even the Empire's best archivists, who, might I add, have been cataloging and studying artifacts since before even King Sombra's time, haven't been able to figure out what it is, what it's made of, or even what it's supposed to do." "So…what's this mean for us?" Twilight asked. "Because there's one thing we haven't tried yet." Princess Luna replied. "What's that?" Applejack asked. "This." Princess Luna replied, sending a powerful beam of magic at the black section of the case. It shuddered for a few moments, before projecting a holographic map in the air above them. It greatly resembling a star chart of some kind, as Twilight could see a sun, multiple planets, and their accompanying moons and planetoids. "That's something." Shining Armor said, spinning the map around by moving his hoof. "It's a star chart of some kind." "That's very accurate, but I don't recognize any of these worlds." Twilight said. "I mean, our solar system is partially geo-centric. This is completely heliocentric." "And for those who aren't versed in Astronomy, it means that the planets in this solar system rotate around their sun naturally, so no one there needs to raise or lower the sun and moon like Celestia and Luna do here. It happens naturally on its own every day and night." she added, seeing the unknowing look on her friends' faces, particularly that of Rainbow Dash. "Our Solar System is different. Because we have to raise and lower our Sun and Moon each day and night, our planet's orbit coincides with that need." Celestia added. "So this solar system map can't be our own." "So…aliens?" Rainbow Dash asked, almost hopefully. "Possibly." Celestia said. "If this map made it here, then it's very well likely that others could follow. Which is why I need you to be ready if that indeed happens and we receive…visitors." "So what's the plan?" Twilight asked. "Go to the Crystal Empire alongside Cadance and Shining Armor, and see if anything happens." Celestia said. "We will handle things here. And Spike shall go with you, as I can send messages to him and receive from him faster than any other method of communication we have." "Alright, then!" Applejack said. "Let's get to it!" As the nine ponies teleported out, taking the map with them, Celestia and Luna sighed and turned to the window. "Do you think it could be…her?" Luna asked quietly. "I don't know." Celestia replied. "She did say that her emissaries would come, but when that would be was never mentioned." "But if it is…we must be ready. We witnessed what her offspring was capable of doing to their enemies during their War against…you-know-what." Luna replied. "And now that so much time has passed after that…what could have changed? Are her offspring still the nigh-invincible warriors we saw?" "I don't know. Who can know?" Celestia sighed as she began to lower the sun. "But what I am sure of, is that if they come…Equestria will change forever. What path we shall take…" "...Has yet to be determined." ==== Across the stars, and through the boundary between the Origin System and the Tau System, a lone Railjack gunship lay anchored to a vessel known as an Orbiter. And at the helm of the Orbiter, five beings known as Tenno sat in a circle as a hologram message from their returned mentor, the Lotus, faded out. One of them, an Excalibur Umbra, colored royal blue, white, and gold, stood up and powered up the navigation systems. "Is everyone ready?" the Excalibur's Operator asked, speaking through the telepathic link that Tenno used to communicate with each other privately, one of their advantages from being exposed to the Void aboard the Zariman Ten Zero. "We're good." replied a Trinity Prime, with the other Tenno, a Volt Prime, a Zephyr Prime, and a Rhino Prime, stating their affirmation as well. "I still can't believe we've been assigned this mission. The Lotus isn’t taking any chances with this." "I agree." Zephyr Prime replied. To send us to Tau, so soon after the collapse of Narmer and the deaths of Ballas and Erra. It is a little…unbelievable." The Tenno were silent for a few moments, out of respect for the Sentient that had turned against Ballas and had aided them in defeating the Orokin tyrant ruler of Narmer. Though Erra had not survived to see Ballas's death, the Tenno respected the Sentient for his sacrifice. After the death of Ballas and the collapse of Narmer, the Sentients had vanished, with Hunhow and the Shadow Stalker promising to find them, wherever they now lurked. The Tenno's brief and hasty alliance with the Grineer and Corpus had was summarily ended, and now both factions were occupied with hunting down the remains of the Narmer loyalists, along with fighting each other once again. This suited the Tenno just fine, as they had other work to do. This team had been meditating when the Lotus alerted them to an Orokin beacon activating in a previously unknown section of the Tau System that was reachable from Origin. This portion had been seemingly revealed by the actions of Ballas, and now, the Tenno intended to travel there themselves. But this time, they would be ready for whatever conflict should arise. "Are we set?" Excalibur Umbra asked Ordis. "We are ready and waiting to…jump to certain death…depart for Tau, Excalibur Umbra." Ordis replied, his speech tick as present as ever. “All supplies are stowed, and systems on the Railjack are one hundred percent.” "There’s no turning back now." Excalibur continued, turning back to his team. "This is your last chance to stay behind." There was no response, as the Tenno knew what they had been tasked with. One by one, they took their seats, ready for the jump to Tau. "Then we're set. Ordis...you're clear." Excalibur nodded. "Confirmed! Initiating Void jump!" As the Orbiter and the coupled Railjack blasted off into the Void, the Tenno heard a voice speak in their minds, a voice that belonged to the Lotus. "Good luck, Tenno." Author's Note WARFRAME IS BACK! Yeah, I wanted to be absolutely sure that this story would start off strong. And after finishing the New War questline and defeating Ballas...Oh, my god it was so worth it to get this finally written. Next time - The Tenno arrive in the Tau System, discover Equestria, and upon landing in teh Crystal Empire at the source of the Orokin Beacon...things take a rather unforseen turn...
