Author's Notes:

New chapter since update... yadda yadda yadda, uploading is interesting. Sorry for the lack of updates. The story is going to start to moving into a more serious note after what happens in this one. Along with this I have been working on a side story attached to this!
Here it is!
https://www.fimfiction.net/story/366828/warframe-the-planet-equin-incident-mission-failed

I stood in the cockpit of the Liset, reviewing the stats of the state of the ship. Since the engine is in, after I get it started and set, I’ll put the panels back on and then work on the portal generator. Well it's clear it isn't damaged too bad since we're all still alive. That and Ordis would have told me. I rubbed my face, trying to decide what to do.

At the back of the ship, Twilight hummed happily as she entered the ship. She passed the foundry, arsenal, and mod station and up the ramp into the cockpit. She passed the two tables with a content smile. “Hello Nightmare,” she greeted happily. Both eyes shot open as she turned around and planted both hooves on the table. “Nightmare Moon!? How did you escape!?”

I glanced back at the panicking mare. “Relax Twilight,” I said while turning around and approaching the pair. “She isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.”

The purple mare glanced up at me, then back at the little gem in the antigravity field. “I… but… she’s evil!” she declared with a point of her hoof. “She overthrew Celestia! Plunged Equestria into eternal night-!”

“And she failed,” I added before glancing down at the little mare in the gem. She sat with her head hung low. “She’s mine from here on out.” I placed two fingers on the top of the gem and spun it rapidly, causing the mare inside to turn into a rapid blue mass as she spun with the gem. Turning around, I headed to the opposite table, glancing down at the Kuria as I opened the holo-feed.

Nearby, Twilight stopped the gem with her magic. “Right…” she turned to face me. “I was wondering if you wanted to join me and the rest of the girls for the upcoming Equestria Game’s qualification race?” she smiled happily. “Rainbow will be representing Ponyville in the pegasus relay! And we’re going to cheer her on!”

I lifted my head and shook it side to side as I thought about it. “I’ll see,” I replied before looking back at the screen. “When is it?”

“A few days from now,” she answered. “Why?”

“I’d like to have that new engine up and going. At least then I can get this sitting duck moving and concentrate on getting going on other key issues.” I glanced back at her and smiled. “But I do love a good race… I’ll be putting a lot down on Rainbow.”

“So you’ll come!?” Twilight replied with a squeal. “Ohhhh! It’ll be so much fun!”

I just rolled my eyes and went back to the numbers on the screen. “Remember, I said maybe. I-” I stopped as a bright flash on the other side of the screen caught my attention. Concerned, I stepped past the table, never taking my eyes off the anomaly. A loud crack of lightning and another blinding flash filled the cabin.

“What was that?” I could hear the concern in Twilight’s voice.

I grabbed my helmet from the table and held it up to my face. “Serenity, Drax? Meet me at the Liset!” I ordered. “We may have a situation!” I didn’t wait for a response before turning to Twilight. “Twilight, call Celestia and Luna, this is urgent!”

“Moving in now!” Serenity whispered over the radio. I didn’t like what I saw. Hopefully they can contain this incident before it gets to out of control.

“Stay on it!” I replied over the radio. “If anything comes through, keep it contained!” Loud crackling, lightning like effects this close to the ground only meant one thing.

“Excalibur?” Twilight nervously asked as she slowly went behind me, placing a hoof on my leg. I looked down at her before looking in the direction she was. Several feet away, surrounded by two guards, stood a former changeling queen. I could feel Twilight started to shiver and breath faster. I immediately dropped to a knee and grabbed Twilight by the shoulders.

“What is she doing here!?”

Oh, now what? My head snapped to the right as the girls started to walk up, Rainbow practically foaming at the mouth. “Rainbow. Girls? You come here!” I ordered.

“Not until I give this bucker a piece of my mind!” Rainbow spat before shooting off like a bullet towards the jet-black mare. She didn’t make it far as I activated my Slash Dash and grabbed her by the tail. With a yelp, she was dragged to the ground. “Let me go!”

I pinned the squirming mare down with my palm. “Rainbow…” I said firmly. “She has struck a deal with the crown!” I glanced up at the mare, who stood stock still, no expression whatsoever. “And it’s clear that she took it.” I stared back down at Rainbow. “You have no reason to attack her. Got it?”

The mare continued to struggle before consenting to defeat. “Fine…”

“Excalibur?” a different voice asked. Glancing up from the mare in my hand, I watched as Celestia and Luna landed with guards of their own, two Solar and two Luna bat ponies. “What is the meaning of this?” I rose from my feet and grabbed Rainbow, much to her displeasure. Planting her on the ground, I wiped my palms and approached the pair.

“This,” I replied while opening my palm. The screen opened to that of a recorded anomaly. It burst, crackled, and boomed as lightning shot out in all directions. “It’s called a Void Fissure. They are extremely dangerous.”

“What do you mean?” Luna asked, slightly confused.

“A Void Fissure is a literal tear in reality,” I explained. “Celestia?” I said, looking to the mare. “Sorry for bringing up bad memories but… you remember the neural mask?” both ears fell back as she averted her gaze for a moment before nodding her head. “This is the same thing. But more… sporadic.” I closed the feed and stepped to the side, facing the forest. “It will turn anyone in an instant… and there is no cure.”

“Should we be worried?” I turned to face all three alicorns…. Does Chrysalis count as an alicorn? I mean, all changelings are alicorns. Eh, whatever. I turned to face them. Celestia continued. “If this is as dangerous as you make it out… I must take the proper action for my subjects.” The look in her eye showed so much concern.

She truly cared for all.

Forgot what that even looked like. I simply nodded. “I understand… but these things are usually localized.” I turned my head towards the forest yet again. “They come, stay for about an hour, then leave. So long as they aren’t attached to an Orokin tower or ship… they will just corrupt anything living then close up all on their own.” I finished up with a final glance at the two rulers.

Both sets of ears fell flat. This was a massive hazard. But, my guess is that these things are extremely rare. I mean, they found that Ayatan oh-so-long ago. So, it’s apparent to me that they appear, but leave without much trouble. My worry is…

What did it drop this time?

“Excalibur?” Serenity addressed over the radio, causing me to drop my head slightly. “Uhm… you might want to come and see this.”

“What is it?”

She gulped. “Bad…”

I lifted my head and looked over my shoulder at Celestia and Luna. “Stay close,” I ordered. With that, we headed off into the woods. The walk was led by me in relative, worried silence. Everyone was tense, at least, everyone but Chrysalis. She just kept that same, stoic look. I tried to be fast, I didn’t like what I kept thinking. Bad can mean a lot of things, and being dumped out of a void fissure is even worse.

Stepping out from the foliage into a small opening, I froze. The area was charred and still smoldering. The air rank of raw energy. Nearby, my two teammates stood guard. And right in between them, sat what looked like a corpus proxy. It was deactivated by the way it sat with its head face down. But what I was looking at alarmed me.

It was built like that of a Bursa. Two massive legs like the standard corpus moa, but it was the massive head and cannon barrel. Stepping up towards it, the rest of the group busted out of the tree line. They all gasped at the sight.

“What… what is that thing?” Twilight asked, before she stepped away and to the other side of Celestia as Chrysalis stepped through, her jaw dropping at the sight. Thankfully, one of the massive design flaws of corpus heavy proxies is their hacking ability.

“I have no idea,” I admitted. The thing was massive, taller than me even. As I got closer, I examined its dark grey armor. “Jeez… this thing is a walking tank.” I ran a hand down its side as I examined the barrel of its plasma caster. “I’ve never seen anything like it.” I let my arm drop as a chill ran up my spine.

“A new weapon?” Serenity asked.

“Or a remodel…” I added with a worried glance towards the frame. I turned and headed for the back. As soon as I was there I tapped a little button, allowing the proxies holo-screen to appear. I started to swipe through its various stats and numbers. “Oh god…” I stopped on a particular screen.

“What?”

I glanced up at Serenity, I could see the fear in her form. “This is an Ambulas remodel…” I gulped slightly. “This thing is designed for killing…” I continued to file through multiple different screens. Each number, word, and stat. Causing my worries to continue to rise. “This thing is a killing machine! And it’s learning!” I continued to slide through the info. “Improved shields, heavy ferrite armor, I…” I ran a hand over my helmet before grabbing the front and tearing it off, letting it drop to the ground. “This… this thing....” It’s nothing I have ever seen before! If the corpus board approves, this proxy will demolish the colonies! I started to shake my head rapidly. “I…” I froze on an even more particular screen. My jaw hung loose as I stepped back, taking in the information.

“This thing killed twelve Tenno before ending up here…” Everyone gasped behind me as both my teammates lowered their weapons in shock. I swallowed what little saliva was left in my mouth. “In knows our abilities, some tactics and weak points.” My breathing was ragged. “No one attack is the same…” I lifted my head towards my teammates. “And there are hundreds…”

But who?

My fists clenched. I had a feeling I knew who was behind this mess. Bek… you son of a bitch! I’m going to have fun ripping out your larynx again! Of course, ever since his first prototype, he knew it was a massive fluke. So, he scrapped it and decided to rebuild. You got balls mister, but not a second time. “Ordis!?” I yelled, before grabbing my helmet and holding it up to my mouth. “I want you to wipe this thing and override its coding! Make it mine!”

“Yes Excalibur!”

I placed my hand on the screen as I transferred Ordis into the machine. I’m going to learn everything I can from this thing. I’m going to rip it apart, see how it ticks, and sick it on Bek! Not a second time to bastard, I saved your son and cut you off from Alad V! You are not escaping me again…

“Excalibur?” I turned my head towards the voice. Celestia ruffled her wings, seemingly agitated. “I have probably put this off longer than I should but…” she gulped. “Because of what you have proven to us as a race.” she glanced at the proxy before back to me. “What exactly are we facing?”

I glanced back at the chicken walker before back to the mare. “You truly want to know?” She nodded. I shook my head lightly. “Ambulas!? Activate!” Behind me, the behemoth proxy beeped as it spun its massive cannon atop its chassis and rose to its feet. Both my teammates flinched away with a “woah” or “oh shit!” as it rose. Its head and camera focused on me as it turned to face me.

I turned around to face it, slipping my helmet over my head. “Ambulas, target; south: 32 degrees!” A dead tree was its target. One that was demolished by the fissure. “Kick!” The proxy beeped in acknowledgement before charging off after the target. Its heavy, thunderous steps causing the ground to shake like a mini earthquake. It came to a quick stop next to the tree before slowly lifting its leg.

Its internal workings powering up for the most destructive ground slam know to date. It growled out as it slammed its massive foot into the dirt, cratering the ground and causing everyone to yelp. A massive wave of blue energy expanded from the crater, impacting against the tree, causing it to shatter with a loud, wooden explosion, sending splinters in all directions.

Celestia and Luna lifted their heads out from under their wings, their jaws dropping in awe of the destruction. I gave them little time to gawk. “Ambulas! Target: 15 degree southeast. Fire the main cannon!” The metallic tank, slowly walked to the side as the main canon charged. The barrel started to glow white hot before a single, massive beam fired out. It cut right through the tree, torching the wood and cutting it clean in half…

And through the next tree, and the next, and the next. As the proxy ended its volley, it spun its cannon once before leaning back and ejecting the spent canister and reloading a new one. It was most definitely the most efficient and powerful plasma caster I have ever seen by the corpus.

Turning around, I got to see everyone's limp and gawking jaw. Their eyes never left the Ambulas prototype as it approached us and stopped just behind me. Their eyes continued to switch between the robot, and the destruction it left in its wake. “A kick powerful enough to kill, armor thick enough to stop small arms and a plasma cannon powerful enough to tear through a warframe.” I glanced back at the machine as its head continued to twitch and turn as it waited for its next order. “A true killing machine.

No pun intended.

As we started to walk away, my head jerked to the side at the sound of a stick breaking. Nearby, Ambulas stood at guard while everyone started to head back to the ship. My eyes frantically scanned the area for so sort of threat. “Excalibur? You coming?” Celestia called.

“Yeah… be there in a sec…”

As I turned my back, I failed to notice the canine like shape scurry into the brush.

I sighed at the sight of the corpus proxy standing guard in front of the ship. All around, ponies would walk up and look, make silly faces, and do what they could to get a reaction. Most of the time the robot just turned its head and examined them in its own way. “Excalibur,” Ordis said, grabbing my attention. “Carrier has escaped again.”

I ducked just in time as the sentinel buzzed by and beeped. Its wings bobbed up and down as it hovered nearby. Its parrot like head turned to and fro as it searched around the area. “Always the rascal.” The little guy hadn’t been out in who knows how long, wouldn’t hurt to give him so fresh air. He continued to beep and buzz as he took his place over my left shoulder.

And yet we still haven't been able to figure what these things are. They just appeared. No explanation, no background, just a small group appearing from some rubble. Made of both flesh and synthetic materials, they are a simple A.I. that bonds to the first human they see. Loyal to the core, they are impossible to get rid of after they find a free owner. Mine however…

Looks like a parrot…

Not that I mind, Hydroid has one too. Carriers are exactly what the name entails, a little companion that gathers resources and converts ammo for me. Because I removed his weapon, he tends to live longer than most sentinels. Nice thing is that they require very little maintenance to watch over.

“AHHHHHH!”

Surprised, I cringed at the sound of a very high pitched, terror filled scream. Mt head whipped back towards the back of the Liset. “Ordis?”

“Origin was female in nature, roughly at the octave of-”

“Ordis!” I snapped. “Why is someone screaming!?”

“I do not know…”

“I -duh- mmmf!” Giving up on him, I bolted for the back of the ship without grabbing my helmet. My Carrier followed closely behind as Nightmare placed both front hooves on the inside of her prison. I whistled to Storm as I came out the back, I looked around frantically before deciding to head straight. As I entered the town, ponies of all shapes and colors headed in the opposite direction.

As I ran, both Serenity and Drax took their places at my sides. “Vhat’s ‘appening?” Drax demanded as he drew his Silvia from its sheath, igniting the blade.

“I have no idea!” I replied, swiping my right hand in front of my chest, I opened my right Venka before doing the same to the left. We came to a sliding stop at the end of the market district. Citizens ran for open doors before they were slammed shut. Many watched from open windows and peeked through curtain, pegasi poked their heads out from the tops of roofs.

“Run! Everypony run!”

All of us stood at the ready. Blades sharp and skills just as equal. Storm snarled and growled, her massive fangs dripping with saliva. She licked them ferociously, ready for her next meal. As we waited, a loud crashing from an ally grabbed our attention as a trashcan rolled out into the street. It slowly came to a rolling stop against a merchant cart.

“Strom…” I whispered. “Kill…”

With a ferocious growl, she was off. She charged towards the alley and vaulted off the wall before disappearing out of sight. It wasn’t long before growling and barking filled the air as her and whatever she had started to fight. Several seconds later, her and a bright orange and black canine came rolling out.

“What the hell is that!?”

Good question. Both rolled around as she bared her teeth and swatted it with her claws. The animal was orange and black in nature. Not to uncommon with what I have seen with kubrow and kavat patterns. As the duo separated with a roll, both stood in their defensive stances. She barked and swiped while it hissed and swiped itself. “Wait… that thing’s infested!” I shouted in a panic. “Storm! Kill! Now!”

With another growl, she jumped the beast. But… she didn’t sink her fangs into it. She… she was playing! They rolled around and playfully swatted at each other, her tongue lolling out of her mouth. While its mandibles? Were flared and its tentacles wiggled happily… I think? Nearby, Serenity lowered her gun.

“I am so confused…”

“Same.”

“Da…”

Slowly, I lifted my hands and sheathed my blades. Waving off my teammates, they did the same. All around, ponies watched us with an air of caution. The closer I got the wrestling duo, the more something caught my eye. “Is… that a collar?” I question with a turn of my head. I stepped out of the way as the dup rolled past. “It is!” The pair came to a stop and separated, tails wagging and tongues loose. “Fascinating!”

I slowly approached the animal. “Let’s see what you know…” I whispered to myself. “Sit!” both heads snapped towards my direction before both pets dropped to their haunches. “Down!” Both dropped to their bellies. I rubbed a hand over my mouth. This is incredible! An infested charger that can be controlled like a Kubrow!

Both Drax and Serenity approached with what I assumed to be looks of confusion. I chuckled at them, I couldn’t believe it! But how did it get here? Maybe the collar could give me something. I whistled, grabbing the animal's attention. “Sit,” I ordered with a point of a finger towards my feet. It wasted no time in jumping to its feet and running over to sit at my feet.

“Yep, that’s a kavasa collar alright,” I confirmed. The small I.D. and shield generator was as bright as day. Reaching out, I tapped the top, a large screen appeared with what appeared to be a Nidus class warframe. Tapping it, it started to play.

I regretted watching it.

He sat against a faded white and gold wall, stained in blood. He sat limp, his armor red and punctured from gunfire. In his right hand sat an Embolist pistol. He coughed profusely, the sound of blood splattering on the inside of his helmet. He slowly lifted the weapon and fired at a target off screen. The sound of a body hitting the floor followed close behind.

“Where’s his team?” Serenity questioned.

“Nidus warframes tend to work alone,” I explained, glancing back at her. “They consider themselves outcasts. Freaks. And that no one wants them.” I stared back at the screen as he fired again. “They suffer from very serious genetic deformations.”

“How?”

“They have both Tennogen and Tennocyte viruses in their blood,” I continued. “The only frame to control the disease.” I simply shook my head. “They feel shunned… even though they are a great addition for any team…” I took a deep breath through my nose. “Even Nidus Prime is like that. He sees himself as a freak and considers all of us as acquaintances… even though he’s closer than he realizes.”

We all turned back to the video. The warframe in question started to hiss at the animal. “What’s he saying?” Serenity question.

I swallowed. “He’s saying that he's not going to make it. And that he wants his pet to run. As fast and as far as he could.” The video panned over to see a lancer walk in the door before dropping dead from a dart to the head, joining his friends on the floor. It panned back to the still downed frame. “Go!” he yelled, while pushing his pet on the nose. “Run!” I continued. “Run… Spike…” I glanced down at the animal. “Your name is Spike… isn’t it?”

He reacted to his name by sitting up further. A simple name for a not-so-simple pet. We watched as the screen continued to pan back and forth between a hole in the wall and the frame. The Nidus gave one last “Go!” before the animal made a fun for it. Behind him, the frame hissed the words “Come on!”

The dog whimpered back at its owner before turning tail and running. The video continued for several minutes as he ran through the halls of the tower. As he continued to run, a massive golden tear opened before the animal jumped through. He landed with a roll in the dark underbrush of a forest. As he looked around, he sniffed the air before running off.

The feed ended.

I glanced down at the animal as it seemed to pant, both mandibles stretched out. I stared at h for several seconds. “Serenity?” I asked, glancing up at the woman. She ‘hmmd” in response. “I was wondering… and we talked about this… perhaps… you could watch over him?”

Her head went back slightly, eyes most likely widening. “I know you wanted a pet, and we discussed a Kavat but…” I glanced back down at the charger, placing a hand on its head. I scratched what I assumed to be his ear. “He’s here with us and he needs an owner…” I glanced back at her. “And I can't do it,” I admitted sincerely.

She sat still.

“I… uh… uhm…” she stumbled for words. She was lost in her decision. One hand held the companion she mentioned to me before while the other was the thought of controlling an infested pet. Yes, Spike seemed to be rather subtle and well behaving and his lack of airborne spores made him safe to be around, but it's the fact that he is something that is so dangerous that makes us weary. I didn’t want to kill it because of what he represented. This is a major step in dealing with a galaxy wide epidemic.

“I will,” she answered.

“You will?”

“I will!” she replied with a firm nod. “I’ll watch out for l… Spike?”

The infested dog hissed in response before standing and walking over to her. Reflexively she lifted her arms and tensed as he rubbed himself along her leg. Slowly but surely she started to relax and lower her arms before resting a hand on his head, stroking an ear. “Hey buddy,” she said softly, taking a knee and grabbing both ears with her hands. “Who’s a good boy!?” she said playfully, shaking his head.

A long wet tongue came out and liked from the bottom of her helmet to the top, coating it in mucus. Serenity groaned in disgust as both Drax and I burst out laughing.