Spartans Never Die, They're Just Missing in Actionby ArcAnge1 I4ChaptersPrologueChapter 1Chapter 2Chapter 4Chapter 3ProloguePrologue "Spartans Never Die, They're Just Missing in Action" music-->song Forerunner Structure, Onyx “Kelly, Linda, this is it. The Forerunner structure Halsey told us to document.” Fredric stated as he pointed towards the large metallic structure, which easily stuck out from the surrounding plant growth. “Let’s move.” The three SPARTAN-IIs continued wordlessly towards the structure and out of the thick forest. Their half-ton MJOLNIR Mark VI Armor clanking against the ground. Despite being so similar to each other, they were very different, even in the way their suit looked. continuing variations for different situation had made all three look distinctly different. Kelly’s light blue armor and EVA helmet were all suited to be light and agile, the EVA helmet even having a visor that stretched across her entire face and over her forehead, giving it a sleek rounded look. Fred, on the other hand, was outfitted for more strenuous operations, his navy-blue armor and thick helmet providing stronger protection. Linda, perhaps the least noticeable of the three, was wearing the trademark SPARTAN Mark VI armor in the battle-faded olive green texture. Since they were soon being brought back from Onyx by Admiral Parangosky-along with being told news of the end of the Brutal Human-Covenant war, Doctor Halsey decided to gather with as much information about the shield world that was Onyx, and on the ancient, extinct race of the Forerunners, as possible. “It’s getting dark, let’s finish up and get back to Mendez and Halsey soon.” Kelly commented. “Duly noted.” replied Fred. Linda chose to remain silent, as she usually did. They approached the entrance to the structure. Despite nearly 100 thousand years of time passing, the facility was not only in good shape, but was powered on as well. Its gray metal providing a stark contrast with the bright lines of neon-blue lights running all along the edges and surfaces of the metal in smooth, elegant patterns. The three stepped inside, keeping their weapons at the ready. A they paused at the front of the structure, the entrance opened up, allowing them to head inside. Continuing on, they reached a large hall-like room with a few floating, small winged machines that had a small red light emitting from them. They appeared to be scanning different surfaces throughout the complex. “Sentinels!” Fred shouted through the comms. The team quickly raised their weapons at the drones, which they knew from experience could fire lasers at them during combat. Surprisingly, the Sentinels went about their own business. Then suddenly, a small, floating metal orb appeared. It approached them and ran a red scanner across the three. The SPARTANs quickly held their weapons at it, waiting for the slightest threatening action. “Reclaimer status recognized. Welcome to facility A32-B. It has been 84,652 cycles since the last check-up. All systems are running at optimal capacity. Please feel free to explore.” And with that, the small sphere left them to their own devices. They had, of course, left their helmet’s cameras online for documentation. They headed over towards the nearest console and examined it. Kelly reached out to touch the holographic orb on the console, that had symbols running across it. Fred quickly grabbed her hand. “We won’t find anything for the good doctor just standing around. Huh… nothing ventured, nothing gained.” Sighing, he released her, and she pressed her armored fingers upon the surface, each hexagon-outlined symbol glowing at the touch. Suddenly, the entire complex shuddered violently. “I sure hope you meant to do that.” Commented Fred behind his golden, MJOLNIR face-plate. “I do too.” Kelly replied. Then, from the building came a message. “WARNING. SELF DESTRUCT SEQUENCE INITIALIZED. SYSTEM SHUTDOWN….COMMENCING.” It boomed vigorously. The SPARTANs quickly looked around. The main entryway was sealed and the passageways started to fall out of their gravity locks, falling to unknown depths. The only remaining pathway was the one still powered light-bridges, which only led further into the facility. “Blue Leader to squad, continue on central pathway. Let’s move.” Fred’s voice commanded. Instincts kicking in, their acknowledgment lights winked green. Sprinting forward, they covered distance quickly. Kelly, with her near-invisible speed, taking the lead. Soon enough they were in another huge room, each platform shaking unsteadily. Fred quickly motioned to go right, and the trio quickly sped towards another corridor. The team quickly arrived at a small, white computer terminal. The ceiling started to fall, as did the platforms around them. Thinking quickly, Fred decided to do the stupidest, or perhaps the smartest thing he had ever done in his life. He decided to place his hand on the console. It flashed brightly, having activated. “Sir?” Linda inquired, still saying little. Fred didn’t answer. Suddenly, a black and purple dot appeared next to the three. With speed, it tore open, revealing a black, swirling portal. “Blue Two, any more options?” Fred asked. “No sir. Waiting on your go.” Kelly replied. “Well then. Let’s sure hope this doesn’t screw us over. Blue Team, through the portal. Move!” The SPARTANs proceeded to jump through the portal. Right before she jumped, Kelly looked back and saw something strange. there was one pillar which was not shaking, and on it stood a strange robot like figure. It's head and torso were much bigger than the rest of it's body, and on one arm it had a holographic sword-like appendage. Then as she headed into the portal, she saw the being's face-plate slide off, and a glowing skull stared at her as she jumped through the portal-narrowly escaping the collapsing structure. The SPARTANs looked behind them to see the portal close in on itself and disappear, ruining any last chances and hopes of returning. The three looked at each other. Then turning around, noticed they were in what looked to be a grand hall. In front of them, was what looked to be a winged, horned horse, sitting next to a six other horses, of(strangely) varying colors, and some had wings and horns. Surrounding the SPARTANs were even more horses in gold armor, all of which somehow held and pointed spears at the SPARTANs. “Am I the only one seeing this?” Fredric inquired through private comms, not moving a muscle. “No sir.” Kelly slowly replied, which was strange for her, since nothing she ever did was slow. “Great.” Chapter 1Chapter 1 "Do not underestimate them. But most of all, do not underestimate… him." -Doctor Catherine Halsey; concerning the SPARTANS and the Master Chief music-->song Royal Throne Room "Ummm...." Rainbow Dash started, looking right towards the things that had appeared in the center of the room. "Am I the only one seeing this?" She finished. She was the only one of her friends-the Elements of Harmony-who had even recovered. All of them, even Twilight, had their mouths dropped open to the point where flies could make comfy homes inside them. "Shhh. Rainbow Dash, please. I shall take care of this." Celestia stepped forward. "Guards, please lower your spears." They looked tentatively at their ruler, before complying. Despite this, they kept tight formation around the intruders, and it would take them seconds to raise their sharpened weapons again. After all, after the Changeling invasion royal guards underwent huge amounts of training and disciple in order to keep up security. "Hello. So, um..let's start with the basics. Do you speak Equestrian?" She asked. As excited as she was for a new race, Celestia only got one vacation day a year. She hoped this would end quickly and peacefully. Celestia returned her gaze upon the creatures. They seemed to understand what she had asked, but she couldn't be quite sure. Heck, she wasn't sure if that was some kind of clothing or if they were made of metal. But after living to be over a thousand, one becomes very observant. These 'creatures' seemed to make almost microscopic movements with what she assumed was their head. It was as if they could communicate telepathically, but that couldn’t be right-it takes magic to do such a thing-and they quite obviously did not have horns. Also, they each looked so different, yet so the same. Although the clothing, or skin, or whatever it was seemed to be shaped differently for each of them, as well as the color....they seemed to act as one. They stood in similar postures, and seemed to know each other's actions even when not looking at each other. They were....coordinated. Precise. Also, she recognized that they each seemed to communicate. Then, suddenly, the dark blue one in the front simply replied. "If that is the language we're speaking now, than I'd be inclined to say I do." Princess Celestia was shocked to say the least. Not only did they speak the ponies' native tongue, but also it spoke in such a smooth and educated way. Despite this, the voice of it was deep and intimidating in its own controlled manner. "So, what are you?" She asked. The creature seemed to think for a few seconds. "Spartans." Strange. Last Celestia remembered, the Spartans were an ancient and strong, war-like Pegasi tribe of the past. However, these creatures were definitely not Pegasi. But the way they all stood by each other in a defensive position also suggested they were not very peaceful. "What are your names?" Celestia asked, trying to salvage a sign of trust. To her dismay, the lead 'Spartans' answer was very dodgy. "You may refer to us Spartan's 104, 87, and 58." "Are those your real names?" The Spartan stopped. All three of them stopped staring at the guards and stared at her. from the Shiny gold that Celestia assumed they used to see, the 'Spartans' seemed to peer into her very soul. "No." The main one once again replied. She wasn't sure, but it sounded more defined and masculine. And it seemed the other two were also thinner. Maybe, he was male? And they were female? She decided not to judge yet, until she knew more. "Would you mind indulging me then, as to what your real names are?" Now she saw they definitely seemed to communicating. they nodded towards each other, and once again it seemed like they were communicating telepathically, but when she searched for anything on the telekinetic waves, which were used by magicians for any and all telepathic communications, she only found one link nearby. It seemed that Twilight had opened a link with her friends. 'What do you think Applejack?' Twilight asked.(Thought? Questioned?) 'Who knows? Ahm a bit disturbed by the fact they just dropped in like that out ah nowhere though, but 'ey, We teleported here, so ah ain't one ta judge.' Celestia chuckled inwardly, amazed at the fact that even in telepathy, Applejack was somehow able to project her strong accent. 'What if they're just space aliens who came here to party?' Pinkie said(Thought? Projected? Oh whatever-I give up!), somehow shouting within their minds. 'Or What if they are invaders, here to take over Equestria? If so, then they have another thing coming!' Rainbow added. They were about to continue but they heard a small cough. they all turned their heads to the creatures. "If we could get back on subject..." The dark blue one asked. All the ponies gasped. Could they read minds? "Of course." Celestia all too quickly replied. "We would prefer to keep our names private. You may refer to us, as I stated previously, as Spartans 104, 87, and 58." "WHAT?" Everyone looked towards the voice. It was Pinkie Pie. She looked depressed. Her hair (somehow) deflated. "How come you won't even give us your name? Do you not trust us? Are we not your friends?" She actually sounded pretty depressed and started heading through the formation of guards, towards the Spartans. She almost started to look angry. "Pinkie calm down." Celestia said, her voice tense. "Although I do not believe the way she is acting, you 'Spartans' obviously do not respect us, given that you intruded into Royal Equestrian Property and refused to show even the slightest trust to the rulers of this Equestria, I hereby detain you to the dungeons until we can further derive your motives. Please note that this is only for the safety of my subjects, and I do not mean to treat you as a criminal of any sort." Celestia had had enough. Today was her only day of rest the entire year, and she chose to spend it with her faithful student and her friends, the elements of harmony. But TODAY, of ALL DAYS, these so-called 'Spartans' teleport in like they own the place. She made her decision mostly to delay dealing with them-in all actuality. She needed a break. Besides, if they had planned on harm, it was obvious they could have done it buy now. They were not at all intimidated by having almost all of the royal guards point spears at them. If Celestia could guess, putting those 'Spartans' in the dungeon was going to bite her in the flank. She just knew it. On the way to the Castle Dungeons "Fred, you mind telling me why we're letting these 'Equestrian Horses' lock us up?" Kelly asked through the comms, not pleased with the situation. The three continued down the halls as they were lead by 'armed' horses. "Ask yourself how happy UNSC Command and ONI will be if we start another war with aliens. We just got news of the end of the war with the Covenant. Humanity, not to mention us, have been fighting for survival for over 25 long, grueling years. you think they want that again. Besides, look at these things. They have spears and possible telepathy-we have energy shielding, guns, and camouflage. That reminds me, weapons check." As the three of them walked through the halls while having spears pointed at them, they checked how many weapons they actually had. "I went for light setup, small weaponry. Still have a shotgun and the two SMGs." Kelly reported. "My rifle, and a magnum." Linda stated afterwards. Fred checked what he had himself. Being the stronger, he had a Spartan Laser magnetically clamped to the back of his dark blue MJOLNIR armor. In his hands, he had the UNSC's favorite cheaply made Assault Rifle-the MA5B. He knew that each of his team were also well equipped for ammunition as well. After all, there are about a thousand places to clamp, tie, and strap ammunition onto when you wore a half-ton suit of armor. He finished, and the Spartans kept quiet. Finally, they reached what Fred could safely assume was the dungeon. Compared to human prisons, it was dank, dark, and above all-extremely easy to break out of. But compared to the prisons where ONI kept the occasional Elite prisoner for interrogation-this place was a dream. The three were pointed into a cell in the far corner, and they watched two guard horses station themselves outside the dungeon doors. The cell grate locked shut. "Kelly, remind me to never let you touch anything related to a forerunner. Ever. Again." "Yes sir." After that, the three Spartans settled into a peaceful quiet. Linda, content with herself, simply rearranged the variations of parts for her sniper rifle. Fred seemed to be content on waiting, and Kelly....well Kelly was a bit restless. Spartans had the patience of a meditating monk during missions, but yet she was pacing like no tomorrow. Fred knew that was her flaw. Being the fastest Spartan, she had a natural dislike for sitting around and doing nothing. Kelly was used to getting things done quickly, and moving on. Fred realized that they may as well do something useful and get some rest before tomorrow's events. "Okay, let’s get some rest before tomorrow. Sleep in 2-hour shifts, I'll keep first watch." The other Spartans nodded and promptly fell asleep leaning against the wall, in case they needed to be ready quickly. Royal Chambers "So Tia, you’re to tell me that you meet new intelligent life, and then you throw them in the dungeon because it was your day off?" questioned Princess Luna. "When you say it like that Lulu, you make it sound plain evil!" "Whatever, I'm going to go see them." "What?!? Luna, are you insane? What if they're dangerous? They may be in our custody but I don't think the 'Spartans' appreciate that yet." "I'm not there to have tea sister. I will use an invisibility spell. I just want a good look at them so I know what to expect tomorrow." "What if they notice you?" "Relax, they'd have to have the most remarkable of vision to see the glimmers of an invisibility spell." Luna countered. Celestia hated to admit it, but Luna's logic had won out. "Fine, but make sure you get some rest for tomorrow." "I will." And with that, the Princess of the night walked off towards the dungeon, wanting to see the aliens. She had never told her sister, but during the time she was on the moon-specifically in the last 25 years or so- she had had visions of aliens locked in conflict against each other. Great battles across space. She once thought she had one where one spaceship sacrificed itself on a gas giant to destroy hundreds of the enemy's sleek, advanced vessels. And in her visions were warriors of the most unwavering courage and the most remarkable of determination. And just like the ancient Pegasi tribe, and now these new visitors, they were known only as...Spartans. Chapter 2"Asking's not my strong suit" -The Master Chief Castle Dungeons Fred heard something in the darkness, the doors across the hall opening. The SPARTAN quickly checked his motion sensor as he saw a white dot appear. This meant that either it was not a recognized covenant enemy, or it was an unknown lifeform.He tapped the floor with his boot just loudly enough for his two companions to hear him. Still, they stayed in a restful position as what sounded like a set of feet approaching. Through the bars the saw something shimmering in the air-exactly like the high-ranking elites in the Covenant looked like when they used their camouflage. "Looks like an Elite....on my signal, we break through the bars. If it is one, and the Covenant really hasn’t stopped fighting us, take out the threat. Anything else and we go with an interrogation, clear?" Fred ordered. "Roger" Both Linda and Kelly replied. The air shimmered as whatever it was looked through the bars. Then they heard a sharp gasp. The two teammates looked toward Fredric through their visors, and saw his hand clutched in a fist. Then, in a swift motion, it uncurled and a finger pointed forward. In an instant, all three SPARTANs jumped up and sprinted, straight through the thin stone wall and iron bars. They grabbed their opponent, with Fred holding his assault rifle to bear on it. SPARTANs could easily tear through thin steel, but after the thick bars and stone, it was might hurt in the morning. Then they saw it shimmer some more and uncloak, and what they found was surprising to say the least. "I'm sorry to have disturbed you, SPARTANs." said they now-visible, dark-blue horse which they held down before them. Her voice was not of fear, as one might expect, but in awe. "I can say I know that you have wrongly been imprisoned, but that my sister had quite frankly jumped to conclusions." "So, if you're here to let us go, why cloak yourself? That doesn't help your 'innocent intentions' act." Fred questioned. "I wanted to see if you were the Spartans I had seen in my visions. I promised my sister I would use an invisibility spell for reassurance. I can’t let you go now, but I’m here to tell you how you can help yourselves help, to make…peaceful relations. Oh, forgive me for not introducing myself, I am Princess Luna, co-ruler of Equestria." "So, what about the other one.... Celestia, was it?" "Yes, that's my older sister. I must say she acted rather brash. Any further and she would have gotten all of Equestria killed." For a second Fred couldn't stop himself from imagining the SPARTANs from killing all the guards and taking over the country. "Okay, so then what is she planning on doing?" "Well, you can't tell my sister tomorrow that I talked to you. She will most likely try to forge an alliance by showing you her superior power in numbers'" Luna burst out laughing as she said the last part. "Although she is usually peaceful and even values each of her citizens personally-as long as she thinks of you as a possible threat to the citizens of Equestria or that you have might inherently have evil motivation and objectives-then she will not trust you. Try and play along though, and this could become beneficial to you. I would rather it be so. In my visions, as well as tonight, I have seen what you can do…I hope that we decide on peace rather than violence." "That's preferable." "Good. And I shall try my best to make sure my sister acts civil and convince her to be a delegate of peace. Goodnight Spartans." Fred nodded his head as she slowly trotted off, deciding to hold off his questions about this so-called Equestria until a more appropriate time. Royal Throne Room "Captain Shining Armor, are you saying that these creatures have not attacked, yet when you magically scanned it, you found huge holes in the walls and bars of the dungeon? And still they chose not to leave?" "Yes Princess. We were trying to check up on the prisoners." "Hmmm….interesting. I guess we’ll know their motives soon enough. Please escort them here." "Of course Princess, I shall return shortly." Castle Dungeons "Kelly, Fred. They're coming." Linda reported. Quickly the other two SPARTANs stood rigidly and waited as they heard what they assumed to be multiple 'hoof beats'. Soon, six Pegasi holding spears waited outside the completely shattered cell wall. One of them, with slightly more intricate armor stepped forward. "Your presence has been requested by Princess Celestia. We will be your escorts." The three simply stood and one-by-one, stepped through the rubble. "Okay, secure comms only." Fred whispered through the private channel. He saw both Linda and Kelly's green acknowledgement light wink. For what seemed like hours, the guards led them through the endless corridors-most likely to confuse them. Too bad SPARTANs were trained to adapt and learn from their surroundings constantly. Although the corridors were well lit and decorated, they held an ominous complexity in the pathways that Fred noticed most people probably would be lost within. Only a few ONI bases were this complex-and that's saying something considering ONI was the Office of Naval Intelligence-and even the most grizzled army veterans watched their steps when they knew one of the ONI government spooks was nearby. The group stopped before a massive set of doors. "We're here." the leader guard grunted. The SPARTANs simply waited for the doors to open. The guards slowly opened up the doors and they found themselves in the same room the portal had led them to the previous day. "Well well, open sesame..." Fred commented to himself silently. At the end of the room Fred saw the two 'royal' sisters. It was quite a large room, and all across the walls were gleaming stained glass windows. Each one seemed to tell a different, captivating story. Now that he was able to more thoroughly examine it, Fred realized then that these monarchs were the real deal. They had power and a wealth of resources, and peace talks would definitely help if he wanted his team to be able to get back to the UNSC anytime soon. The moment of peace ended as the group of both guards and SPARTANs made their way towards the Princesses-tension dripping from the air. Fredric then used his visor to zoom in on the Princess, the one which he knew was still untrusting of them. Celestia. And as he saw her face, he knew that she was much more prepared than she was the day before. Her posture seemed to project an air of confidence, and the slight grin she had was one of somebody who knew they had an advantage. On her face she wore the glare of someone who knew they were in control. And she knew they knew it as well… Chapter 4Thanks to all of you readers great comments and suggestions, the Generator Defense mission on Reach was chosen. Also, please read the Author's note at the bottom. "Thought I'd shoot my way in, mix things up a little."-The Master Chief Princess Celestia's eyed the white square that was projected onto the wall. She silently wondered how it was that such a device was made if as they said, were magic-less. Then it cackled as sound was projected from the 'helmet' of Spartan-104. Then the screen changed and she saw sights that would be better left unseen. *0622 hours, August 30, 2552* UNSC Vessel Pillar of Autumn, Epsilon Eridani System over Reach. The screen seemed to turn down and glance towards what the Spartans had instead of hooves . They looked a lot like what Gryphons had. Celestia could already hear the scribbling of Twilight Sparkle writing every observation down with her quill. The claw-like appendages twirled a knife gracefully through the air as they moved despite the apparent bulkiness of the armor. Celestia's eyes were mesmerized by the speed of which the knife moved, and how every time it touched the armor there was a strange glow that formed near where it touched. The glow appeared to almost coat the armor. The Spartan's view moved around as it surveyed more of the Spartans putting the devices (that were currently attached to the backs of the Spartan three feet away from Celestia) into duffel bags and move around, the other Spartans quickly rushing back and forth. Celestia quickly noticed the one identified by armor as Spartan-087 was no longer doing such work. Spartan 104's view looked back toward the knife as the sharp tip balanced atop one of the small digits. Suddenly the whole view shook a bit as the room they were in appeared to completely shift. The knife started to fall so, using his other appendage grabbed it and in a single deft motion put it into a sheath on his shoulder. Princess Celestia looked up and saw the handle of the knife sticking out of the sheath on the Spartan's armor. One of the Spartans, one that had the same armor as Spartan-058, stood and walked over to a metal panel with a small screen atop it. Celestia squinted and saw the face of a creature that seemed to resemble the face of a monkey that was shaved. It had an official hat and uniform adorning it and was speaking vividly, although Celestia was not able to hear nor clearly interpret what it was communicating. She saw the slightest movement to the right side of the screen and did not think much of it until Spartan-104's view turned and saw Spartan-087's specific armor with her head staring right at him. He turned away and something else popped up on-screen. Initiating secure COM link with SPARTAN-087... ...Secured Princess Celestia heard them speak but it didn't seem to affect the others around them. She pondered if this was another function of the armor. ""Looks like we're in for more surprises." Said a voice she didn't recognize. Although she quickly came to the conclusion that it was Spartan-087 who spoke. Her suspicions confirmed that 087 was femine, her voice being higher and smoother than 104's. "Roger that. Though I think I've had enough surprises for one op." He replied. Celestia heard 087 laugh for a split-second before it was silent. On the projection Princess Celestia saw another message pop up. Closing COM link... ...Ended Spartan 104 seemed to understand what the other Spartan was communicating to the human, she guessed, through the panel but the ponies were unable to hear anything save for a slight mumbling. This continued for a good 30 seconds until the Spartan at the panel turned towards the other Spartans. Spartan 104 immediately arose from his sitting position, but before he could say anything Spartan-087 stood and queried. "Master Chief. Permission to lead the space op." She asked. Apparently talking to the 'Master Chief'. "Denied." Said the Master Chief. "I'll be leading that one. Linda and James, you're with me. Fred, you're Red Team Leader. You'll have tactical command of the ground operation." "Sir!" Spartan-104 replied. He paused if only for a second. "Yes, Sir!" Princess Celestia seemed to realize that Spartan-104 was 'Fred'. She wondered why he refused to give her his name. "Now make ready, we don't have much time." Master Chief said. All off the Spartans stood and Spartan-087 shouted out,"Attention!" Each Spartan seemed to give the 'Master Chief' a salute. Promptly another message appeared. Opening Pre-established COM w/ designated Red Team... ...COM secured "Let's move Spartans! I want gear stowed in ninety seconds and final prep in five minutes." Spartan Fred said through whatever a 'COM' was. "Joshua: Liaise with Cortana and get me current intel on the drop area—I don't care if it's just weather satellite imagery, but I want pictures, and I want them ninety seconds ago." Princess Celestia watched as the rest of the Spartans moved like lightning as soon as Fred stopped talking. Immediately gathering supplies and information, going about their designated job. About a minute later and all the Spartans were strapped into this large machine called a 'pelican'. Another of the creatures was at the front in the only available seat flipping switches. "Better hang on. Company's coming." the creature announced. The pelican seemed to tilt and move forward. As Fred tilted his visor toward where the creature was working and peering out a window,Celestia saw that not only was this so-called 'pelican' machine flying out an entrance, but it was flying out from within a ship. A ship that was in space. Princess Celestia knew that Twilight Sparkle was hard at work scribbling things down but right then not only was everyone surprised, but Twilight seemed to be stabbing the scroll she was writing with such vigor. Princess Celestia looked over to her sister Luna and saw not only a look of surprise but a look of recognition. The 'pelican' shifted and headed straight for the planet. Not much could be seen but suddenly something hit the pelican from it's side and a sizzling could be heard for a split-second. The creature, safe to assume a human at this point, spoke once again. "Bravo-One to Knife Two-Six: I could use a little help here." The creature turned a stick and the pelican seemed to roll, although it's hard to be sure as there was no 'bottom' in zero gravity and all items and the Spartans, as well as the creature, were securely strapped to their designated positions. Once again the creature twisted the stick, seemingly rolling the pelican, and narrowly avoiding a large piece of shrapnel. "Bravo-One to Knife Two-Six, where the hell are you?" The creature said in a very frustrated voice. Suddenly a few '<' shaped, black fighters flew into view. "Knife Two-Six to Bravo-One, Keep your pants on. Business is good today." Was heard over the COMs, spoken in a feminine voice. Some of them veered away to take chase a group of small purple ships, leaving one left in view. Suddenly, a white streak flew past them a incredible speeds, barely missing the pelican. "Bravo-One, adjust attack angle, You're coming in too hot." Said the feminine voice again. "Negative, we're getting to the surface fast—or we're not getting there at all. Enemy contacts on my scope at Four by Three O' Clock." Said the creature in the front. At this point Celestia thought it was fair to say it was one of the humans of 'humanity' that Fred wanted to get back to. A group of the small teardrop-shaped purple ships headed towards the 'pelican'. "Affirmative: Four by Three. I've got 'em., Bravo one. Give 'em hell down there." Said the voice. Through the window the '<' shaped ship headed straight into a group of the purple ones, distracting them long enough for them pelican to plummet past them and towards the planet. The pelican lurched as the pilot in the front seemed to atempt to slow it's descent as flames formed around the pelican, falling through the atmosphere. All the Spartans, Fred included, grabbed on tightly to the various parts of the pelican. Again another message appeared on the projection. Opening secure COM FLEETCOM 7... Secured. "Brace yourselves!" Spartan-087 edged closer and opened a COM channel with Fred. "Chief, we'll get that COM malfunction squared away once we hit planetside." Celestia noticed that at this Fred seemed to have an annoyed posture despite being still in order to project this 'mission'. "Thanks." Fred replied. He closed all COMs and monitored biosigns in order to check the health status. The Spartans' all checked out but the pilot human's heartrate seemed to be off the charts. Spartan-087's hand bumped into Fred's shoulder for a second as the pelican lurched forward. "Rough ride ahead." Stated the pilot. The Spartans braced their knees as the other pilot's voice came back online. "Bravo Two-Six, engaging enemy fighters. Am taking heavy incoming fire—the voices stopped as crackling was heard and the pelican was rocked, small pieces of debris pinging off it. An explosion rocked the back of the pelican as the armor broke away, several of the purple fighters could be seen in pursuit. "Gotta shake 'em, hang on!" Shouted the pilot. As the pelican moved parts of it creaked off from the stress. Soon the pelican was completely out of control. Boxes and crates fell out of their strapping and flew about as the Spartans clutched the ship. "It's going to be a helluva hot drop, Spartans. Autopilot's progammed to angle. Reverse thrusters. Gees are taking me out. I'll—" His sentence ended with a flash of light. Chapter 3Some of you have been wondering how strong Celestia and Luna are compared to the SPARTANs. Well-in this story-the princesses will not be invincible warrior godesses. There are lots of definitions of immortality.(Plus, I don't take kindly to people messing with my SPARTANs. -Dr. Halsey) "Were it so easy." -The Arbiter, concerning the "death" of the Master Chief Princess Celestia had absolutely no clue what she was doing. She continued to try and look confident as the so-called Spartans were escorted to her. She wasn't scared of them, but rather-had very little experience in diplomatic situations with completely new species. Through her time, there had been lots of boring summits and treaties; but everyone knew each other and what they wanted. Nice and simple. This time she had told her faithful student Twilight Sparkle to write down all the events and to try and analyze them. Considering she knew next to nothing about this species or how advanced they were she realized that she should probably try to make a deal. By now, the Spartans were about twenty feet in front of her. She held out her hoof to stop them. "Hello Spartans. Have you thought about what it is you want?" She asked, hoping to encourage them to be more open. "We'd only wish to get back to where we belong." So they didn't mean to be here? Where were meant to be? So many questions that needed to be answered. "Oh?" She said, openly showing her curiosity. "And where might that be." The lead spartan took a second before answering. "Wherever humanity has need for us." "What's humanity?" "That is our species." She pondered this. How had she not heard of an entire species? They really must be from a different planet. She asked herself what types of technology they might have from which Equestria could benefit. "And why have you strayed from 'humanity'...if you want to get back to them." "A bit of an 'accidental teleportation might be the best way to describe it." That explained a lot. And meant they had no obvious bad intentions. But yet-how could they teleport without unicorn magic? And how were they able to teleport as far as another planet? She remembered a saying from her long past friend Star Swirl the Bearded:Every question answered opens up two more. She realized now just how true his words were. "So your species can use magic?" "Magic? I don't know about any magic-but we use cold hard technology." Celestia saw Twilight silently gasp as she jotted down the conversation-no doubt depressed that she could not learn any knew magic from these beings. "Okay..."She knew she would have to revisit the issue."How about this 'Humanity? I thought you said you were Spartans?" "We are. We are humans-but we are a type of military group known as Spartans." Military? She asked herself. This might not be as good as she hoped. But then again it explains why they wanted to go back to their species. "And how does one of your 'humans' become a Spartan?" She asked, still quite curious about the whole military and spartan thing. "I'm afraid that's classified." Fred saw Princess Luna do what he could best describe as a 'face-hoof'. "Who is it classified by then? Or is that also classified?" Celestia retorted, stress starting to creep into her voice. "Under order of the Office of Naval Intelligence and the United Nations Space Command." "What are those?" "Those would be the main intelligence, military, and defense structure of humanity." "What else can you tell me?" Celestia pried, trying to get as much information from them as possible. "I can tell you that we mean no harm towards your species unless you are working with the Covenant or make up a possible threat to the UNSC." "What is this Covenant?" She asked. Saw them seem to communicate between each other again. Finally, the main one spoke up once more. "What your about to see is not for the faint of heart. I'm sure your 'subjects' would appreciate leaving the room to make sure they do not have to see any gruesome sights. We have been in a defensive war for 25 years." "What type of gruesome sights? And a defensive war?" She asked back, a bit unnerved. "We'll show you, are you sure none of you want to leave?" The Spartan asked this question towards the guards and Twilight now. All of them shook their heads no. Finally, he pressed a button on the side of his helmet, or to the ponies-his metallic head. A light came out of the side and projected onto one of the walls. It seemed to project a dazzling image of the night sky. He pointed towards a small smudge against the blackness of the sky. "This object was seen from satellites orbiting the planet Harvest. A few ours later-February 3, 2525-contact with Harvest is lost. April 20 the ship Argo arrives in-system and sends confirmation of it's arrival. Contact with it ceased thereafter. A battle group was sent in and destroyed, but intercepted communications quote the aliens saying in UNSC language:Your destruction is the will of the gods...and we are their instrument." "Now I could go on for hours about the thousands of battles and how the covenant is hundreds of years more advanced than us. How they can turn the surface of planets into glass from their ships in orbit. But I'd prefer to get on with these 'talks' so I will show you some of the footage from a declassified operation." He quickly nodded his head and again seemed to be talking to the other Spartans, until they nodded and he continued. "You will see things that may shock you to your very core. Last chance to leave?" Nobody replied. "Okay then. Closing your eyes might help too. This was recorded using my helmet, if you ever wondered." Celestia made a mental note to see what they looked like now knowing that it WAS in fact not their bodies, but armor. The projection on the screen changed, and was completely black. "Start..."
ProloguePrologue "Spartans Never Die, They're Just Missing in Action" music-->song Forerunner Structure, Onyx “Kelly, Linda, this is it. The Forerunner structure Halsey told us to document.” Fredric stated as he pointed towards the large metallic structure, which easily stuck out from the surrounding plant growth. “Let’s move.” The three SPARTAN-IIs continued wordlessly towards the structure and out of the thick forest. Their half-ton MJOLNIR Mark VI Armor clanking against the ground. Despite being so similar to each other, they were very different, even in the way their suit looked. continuing variations for different situation had made all three look distinctly different. Kelly’s light blue armor and EVA helmet were all suited to be light and agile, the EVA helmet even having a visor that stretched across her entire face and over her forehead, giving it a sleek rounded look. Fred, on the other hand, was outfitted for more strenuous operations, his navy-blue armor and thick helmet providing stronger protection. Linda, perhaps the least noticeable of the three, was wearing the trademark SPARTAN Mark VI armor in the battle-faded olive green texture. Since they were soon being brought back from Onyx by Admiral Parangosky-along with being told news of the end of the Brutal Human-Covenant war, Doctor Halsey decided to gather with as much information about the shield world that was Onyx, and on the ancient, extinct race of the Forerunners, as possible. “It’s getting dark, let’s finish up and get back to Mendez and Halsey soon.” Kelly commented. “Duly noted.” replied Fred. Linda chose to remain silent, as she usually did. They approached the entrance to the structure. Despite nearly 100 thousand years of time passing, the facility was not only in good shape, but was powered on as well. Its gray metal providing a stark contrast with the bright lines of neon-blue lights running all along the edges and surfaces of the metal in smooth, elegant patterns. The three stepped inside, keeping their weapons at the ready. A they paused at the front of the structure, the entrance opened up, allowing them to head inside. Continuing on, they reached a large hall-like room with a few floating, small winged machines that had a small red light emitting from them. They appeared to be scanning different surfaces throughout the complex. “Sentinels!” Fred shouted through the comms. The team quickly raised their weapons at the drones, which they knew from experience could fire lasers at them during combat. Surprisingly, the Sentinels went about their own business. Then suddenly, a small, floating metal orb appeared. It approached them and ran a red scanner across the three. The SPARTANs quickly held their weapons at it, waiting for the slightest threatening action. “Reclaimer status recognized. Welcome to facility A32-B. It has been 84,652 cycles since the last check-up. All systems are running at optimal capacity. Please feel free to explore.” And with that, the small sphere left them to their own devices. They had, of course, left their helmet’s cameras online for documentation. They headed over towards the nearest console and examined it. Kelly reached out to touch the holographic orb on the console, that had symbols running across it. Fred quickly grabbed her hand. “We won’t find anything for the good doctor just standing around. Huh… nothing ventured, nothing gained.” Sighing, he released her, and she pressed her armored fingers upon the surface, each hexagon-outlined symbol glowing at the touch. Suddenly, the entire complex shuddered violently. “I sure hope you meant to do that.” Commented Fred behind his golden, MJOLNIR face-plate. “I do too.” Kelly replied. Then, from the building came a message. “WARNING. SELF DESTRUCT SEQUENCE INITIALIZED. SYSTEM SHUTDOWN….COMMENCING.” It boomed vigorously. The SPARTANs quickly looked around. The main entryway was sealed and the passageways started to fall out of their gravity locks, falling to unknown depths. The only remaining pathway was the one still powered light-bridges, which only led further into the facility. “Blue Leader to squad, continue on central pathway. Let’s move.” Fred’s voice commanded. Instincts kicking in, their acknowledgment lights winked green. Sprinting forward, they covered distance quickly. Kelly, with her near-invisible speed, taking the lead. Soon enough they were in another huge room, each platform shaking unsteadily. Fred quickly motioned to go right, and the trio quickly sped towards another corridor. The team quickly arrived at a small, white computer terminal. The ceiling started to fall, as did the platforms around them. Thinking quickly, Fred decided to do the stupidest, or perhaps the smartest thing he had ever done in his life. He decided to place his hand on the console. It flashed brightly, having activated. “Sir?” Linda inquired, still saying little. Fred didn’t answer. Suddenly, a black and purple dot appeared next to the three. With speed, it tore open, revealing a black, swirling portal. “Blue Two, any more options?” Fred asked. “No sir. Waiting on your go.” Kelly replied. “Well then. Let’s sure hope this doesn’t screw us over. Blue Team, through the portal. Move!” The SPARTANs proceeded to jump through the portal. Right before she jumped, Kelly looked back and saw something strange. there was one pillar which was not shaking, and on it stood a strange robot like figure. It's head and torso were much bigger than the rest of it's body, and on one arm it had a holographic sword-like appendage. Then as she headed into the portal, she saw the being's face-plate slide off, and a glowing skull stared at her as she jumped through the portal-narrowly escaping the collapsing structure. The SPARTANs looked behind them to see the portal close in on itself and disappear, ruining any last chances and hopes of returning. The three looked at each other. Then turning around, noticed they were in what looked to be a grand hall. In front of them, was what looked to be a winged, horned horse, sitting next to a six other horses, of(strangely) varying colors, and some had wings and horns. Surrounding the SPARTANs were even more horses in gold armor, all of which somehow held and pointed spears at the SPARTANs. “Am I the only one seeing this?” Fredric inquired through private comms, not moving a muscle. “No sir.” Kelly slowly replied, which was strange for her, since nothing she ever did was slow. “Great.”
Chapter 1Chapter 1 "Do not underestimate them. But most of all, do not underestimate… him." -Doctor Catherine Halsey; concerning the SPARTANS and the Master Chief music-->song Royal Throne Room "Ummm...." Rainbow Dash started, looking right towards the things that had appeared in the center of the room. "Am I the only one seeing this?" She finished. She was the only one of her friends-the Elements of Harmony-who had even recovered. All of them, even Twilight, had their mouths dropped open to the point where flies could make comfy homes inside them. "Shhh. Rainbow Dash, please. I shall take care of this." Celestia stepped forward. "Guards, please lower your spears." They looked tentatively at their ruler, before complying. Despite this, they kept tight formation around the intruders, and it would take them seconds to raise their sharpened weapons again. After all, after the Changeling invasion royal guards underwent huge amounts of training and disciple in order to keep up security. "Hello. So, um..let's start with the basics. Do you speak Equestrian?" She asked. As excited as she was for a new race, Celestia only got one vacation day a year. She hoped this would end quickly and peacefully. Celestia returned her gaze upon the creatures. They seemed to understand what she had asked, but she couldn't be quite sure. Heck, she wasn't sure if that was some kind of clothing or if they were made of metal. But after living to be over a thousand, one becomes very observant. These 'creatures' seemed to make almost microscopic movements with what she assumed was their head. It was as if they could communicate telepathically, but that couldn’t be right-it takes magic to do such a thing-and they quite obviously did not have horns. Also, they each looked so different, yet so the same. Although the clothing, or skin, or whatever it was seemed to be shaped differently for each of them, as well as the color....they seemed to act as one. They stood in similar postures, and seemed to know each other's actions even when not looking at each other. They were....coordinated. Precise. Also, she recognized that they each seemed to communicate. Then, suddenly, the dark blue one in the front simply replied. "If that is the language we're speaking now, than I'd be inclined to say I do." Princess Celestia was shocked to say the least. Not only did they speak the ponies' native tongue, but also it spoke in such a smooth and educated way. Despite this, the voice of it was deep and intimidating in its own controlled manner. "So, what are you?" She asked. The creature seemed to think for a few seconds. "Spartans." Strange. Last Celestia remembered, the Spartans were an ancient and strong, war-like Pegasi tribe of the past. However, these creatures were definitely not Pegasi. But the way they all stood by each other in a defensive position also suggested they were not very peaceful. "What are your names?" Celestia asked, trying to salvage a sign of trust. To her dismay, the lead 'Spartans' answer was very dodgy. "You may refer to us Spartan's 104, 87, and 58." "Are those your real names?" The Spartan stopped. All three of them stopped staring at the guards and stared at her. from the Shiny gold that Celestia assumed they used to see, the 'Spartans' seemed to peer into her very soul. "No." The main one once again replied. She wasn't sure, but it sounded more defined and masculine. And it seemed the other two were also thinner. Maybe, he was male? And they were female? She decided not to judge yet, until she knew more. "Would you mind indulging me then, as to what your real names are?" Now she saw they definitely seemed to communicating. they nodded towards each other, and once again it seemed like they were communicating telepathically, but when she searched for anything on the telekinetic waves, which were used by magicians for any and all telepathic communications, she only found one link nearby. It seemed that Twilight had opened a link with her friends. 'What do you think Applejack?' Twilight asked.(Thought? Questioned?) 'Who knows? Ahm a bit disturbed by the fact they just dropped in like that out ah nowhere though, but 'ey, We teleported here, so ah ain't one ta judge.' Celestia chuckled inwardly, amazed at the fact that even in telepathy, Applejack was somehow able to project her strong accent. 'What if they're just space aliens who came here to party?' Pinkie said(Thought? Projected? Oh whatever-I give up!), somehow shouting within their minds. 'Or What if they are invaders, here to take over Equestria? If so, then they have another thing coming!' Rainbow added. They were about to continue but they heard a small cough. they all turned their heads to the creatures. "If we could get back on subject..." The dark blue one asked. All the ponies gasped. Could they read minds? "Of course." Celestia all too quickly replied. "We would prefer to keep our names private. You may refer to us, as I stated previously, as Spartans 104, 87, and 58." "WHAT?" Everyone looked towards the voice. It was Pinkie Pie. She looked depressed. Her hair (somehow) deflated. "How come you won't even give us your name? Do you not trust us? Are we not your friends?" She actually sounded pretty depressed and started heading through the formation of guards, towards the Spartans. She almost started to look angry. "Pinkie calm down." Celestia said, her voice tense. "Although I do not believe the way she is acting, you 'Spartans' obviously do not respect us, given that you intruded into Royal Equestrian Property and refused to show even the slightest trust to the rulers of this Equestria, I hereby detain you to the dungeons until we can further derive your motives. Please note that this is only for the safety of my subjects, and I do not mean to treat you as a criminal of any sort." Celestia had had enough. Today was her only day of rest the entire year, and she chose to spend it with her faithful student and her friends, the elements of harmony. But TODAY, of ALL DAYS, these so-called 'Spartans' teleport in like they own the place. She made her decision mostly to delay dealing with them-in all actuality. She needed a break. Besides, if they had planned on harm, it was obvious they could have done it buy now. They were not at all intimidated by having almost all of the royal guards point spears at them. If Celestia could guess, putting those 'Spartans' in the dungeon was going to bite her in the flank. She just knew it. On the way to the Castle Dungeons "Fred, you mind telling me why we're letting these 'Equestrian Horses' lock us up?" Kelly asked through the comms, not pleased with the situation. The three continued down the halls as they were lead by 'armed' horses. "Ask yourself how happy UNSC Command and ONI will be if we start another war with aliens. We just got news of the end of the war with the Covenant. Humanity, not to mention us, have been fighting for survival for over 25 long, grueling years. you think they want that again. Besides, look at these things. They have spears and possible telepathy-we have energy shielding, guns, and camouflage. That reminds me, weapons check." As the three of them walked through the halls while having spears pointed at them, they checked how many weapons they actually had. "I went for light setup, small weaponry. Still have a shotgun and the two SMGs." Kelly reported. "My rifle, and a magnum." Linda stated afterwards. Fred checked what he had himself. Being the stronger, he had a Spartan Laser magnetically clamped to the back of his dark blue MJOLNIR armor. In his hands, he had the UNSC's favorite cheaply made Assault Rifle-the MA5B. He knew that each of his team were also well equipped for ammunition as well. After all, there are about a thousand places to clamp, tie, and strap ammunition onto when you wore a half-ton suit of armor. He finished, and the Spartans kept quiet. Finally, they reached what Fred could safely assume was the dungeon. Compared to human prisons, it was dank, dark, and above all-extremely easy to break out of. But compared to the prisons where ONI kept the occasional Elite prisoner for interrogation-this place was a dream. The three were pointed into a cell in the far corner, and they watched two guard horses station themselves outside the dungeon doors. The cell grate locked shut. "Kelly, remind me to never let you touch anything related to a forerunner. Ever. Again." "Yes sir." After that, the three Spartans settled into a peaceful quiet. Linda, content with herself, simply rearranged the variations of parts for her sniper rifle. Fred seemed to be content on waiting, and Kelly....well Kelly was a bit restless. Spartans had the patience of a meditating monk during missions, but yet she was pacing like no tomorrow. Fred knew that was her flaw. Being the fastest Spartan, she had a natural dislike for sitting around and doing nothing. Kelly was used to getting things done quickly, and moving on. Fred realized that they may as well do something useful and get some rest before tomorrow's events. "Okay, let’s get some rest before tomorrow. Sleep in 2-hour shifts, I'll keep first watch." The other Spartans nodded and promptly fell asleep leaning against the wall, in case they needed to be ready quickly. Royal Chambers "So Tia, you’re to tell me that you meet new intelligent life, and then you throw them in the dungeon because it was your day off?" questioned Princess Luna. "When you say it like that Lulu, you make it sound plain evil!" "Whatever, I'm going to go see them." "What?!? Luna, are you insane? What if they're dangerous? They may be in our custody but I don't think the 'Spartans' appreciate that yet." "I'm not there to have tea sister. I will use an invisibility spell. I just want a good look at them so I know what to expect tomorrow." "What if they notice you?" "Relax, they'd have to have the most remarkable of vision to see the glimmers of an invisibility spell." Luna countered. Celestia hated to admit it, but Luna's logic had won out. "Fine, but make sure you get some rest for tomorrow." "I will." And with that, the Princess of the night walked off towards the dungeon, wanting to see the aliens. She had never told her sister, but during the time she was on the moon-specifically in the last 25 years or so- she had had visions of aliens locked in conflict against each other. Great battles across space. She once thought she had one where one spaceship sacrificed itself on a gas giant to destroy hundreds of the enemy's sleek, advanced vessels. And in her visions were warriors of the most unwavering courage and the most remarkable of determination. And just like the ancient Pegasi tribe, and now these new visitors, they were known only as...Spartans.
Chapter 2"Asking's not my strong suit" -The Master Chief Castle Dungeons Fred heard something in the darkness, the doors across the hall opening. The SPARTAN quickly checked his motion sensor as he saw a white dot appear. This meant that either it was not a recognized covenant enemy, or it was an unknown lifeform.He tapped the floor with his boot just loudly enough for his two companions to hear him. Still, they stayed in a restful position as what sounded like a set of feet approaching. Through the bars the saw something shimmering in the air-exactly like the high-ranking elites in the Covenant looked like when they used their camouflage. "Looks like an Elite....on my signal, we break through the bars. If it is one, and the Covenant really hasn’t stopped fighting us, take out the threat. Anything else and we go with an interrogation, clear?" Fred ordered. "Roger" Both Linda and Kelly replied. The air shimmered as whatever it was looked through the bars. Then they heard a sharp gasp. The two teammates looked toward Fredric through their visors, and saw his hand clutched in a fist. Then, in a swift motion, it uncurled and a finger pointed forward. In an instant, all three SPARTANs jumped up and sprinted, straight through the thin stone wall and iron bars. They grabbed their opponent, with Fred holding his assault rifle to bear on it. SPARTANs could easily tear through thin steel, but after the thick bars and stone, it was might hurt in the morning. Then they saw it shimmer some more and uncloak, and what they found was surprising to say the least. "I'm sorry to have disturbed you, SPARTANs." said they now-visible, dark-blue horse which they held down before them. Her voice was not of fear, as one might expect, but in awe. "I can say I know that you have wrongly been imprisoned, but that my sister had quite frankly jumped to conclusions." "So, if you're here to let us go, why cloak yourself? That doesn't help your 'innocent intentions' act." Fred questioned. "I wanted to see if you were the Spartans I had seen in my visions. I promised my sister I would use an invisibility spell for reassurance. I can’t let you go now, but I’m here to tell you how you can help yourselves help, to make…peaceful relations. Oh, forgive me for not introducing myself, I am Princess Luna, co-ruler of Equestria." "So, what about the other one.... Celestia, was it?" "Yes, that's my older sister. I must say she acted rather brash. Any further and she would have gotten all of Equestria killed." For a second Fred couldn't stop himself from imagining the SPARTANs from killing all the guards and taking over the country. "Okay, so then what is she planning on doing?" "Well, you can't tell my sister tomorrow that I talked to you. She will most likely try to forge an alliance by showing you her superior power in numbers'" Luna burst out laughing as she said the last part. "Although she is usually peaceful and even values each of her citizens personally-as long as she thinks of you as a possible threat to the citizens of Equestria or that you have might inherently have evil motivation and objectives-then she will not trust you. Try and play along though, and this could become beneficial to you. I would rather it be so. In my visions, as well as tonight, I have seen what you can do…I hope that we decide on peace rather than violence." "That's preferable." "Good. And I shall try my best to make sure my sister acts civil and convince her to be a delegate of peace. Goodnight Spartans." Fred nodded his head as she slowly trotted off, deciding to hold off his questions about this so-called Equestria until a more appropriate time. Royal Throne Room "Captain Shining Armor, are you saying that these creatures have not attacked, yet when you magically scanned it, you found huge holes in the walls and bars of the dungeon? And still they chose not to leave?" "Yes Princess. We were trying to check up on the prisoners." "Hmmm….interesting. I guess we’ll know their motives soon enough. Please escort them here." "Of course Princess, I shall return shortly." Castle Dungeons "Kelly, Fred. They're coming." Linda reported. Quickly the other two SPARTANs stood rigidly and waited as they heard what they assumed to be multiple 'hoof beats'. Soon, six Pegasi holding spears waited outside the completely shattered cell wall. One of them, with slightly more intricate armor stepped forward. "Your presence has been requested by Princess Celestia. We will be your escorts." The three simply stood and one-by-one, stepped through the rubble. "Okay, secure comms only." Fred whispered through the private channel. He saw both Linda and Kelly's green acknowledgement light wink. For what seemed like hours, the guards led them through the endless corridors-most likely to confuse them. Too bad SPARTANs were trained to adapt and learn from their surroundings constantly. Although the corridors were well lit and decorated, they held an ominous complexity in the pathways that Fred noticed most people probably would be lost within. Only a few ONI bases were this complex-and that's saying something considering ONI was the Office of Naval Intelligence-and even the most grizzled army veterans watched their steps when they knew one of the ONI government spooks was nearby. The group stopped before a massive set of doors. "We're here." the leader guard grunted. The SPARTANs simply waited for the doors to open. The guards slowly opened up the doors and they found themselves in the same room the portal had led them to the previous day. "Well well, open sesame..." Fred commented to himself silently. At the end of the room Fred saw the two 'royal' sisters. It was quite a large room, and all across the walls were gleaming stained glass windows. Each one seemed to tell a different, captivating story. Now that he was able to more thoroughly examine it, Fred realized then that these monarchs were the real deal. They had power and a wealth of resources, and peace talks would definitely help if he wanted his team to be able to get back to the UNSC anytime soon. The moment of peace ended as the group of both guards and SPARTANs made their way towards the Princesses-tension dripping from the air. Fredric then used his visor to zoom in on the Princess, the one which he knew was still untrusting of them. Celestia. And as he saw her face, he knew that she was much more prepared than she was the day before. Her posture seemed to project an air of confidence, and the slight grin she had was one of somebody who knew they had an advantage. On her face she wore the glare of someone who knew they were in control. And she knew they knew it as well…
Chapter 4Thanks to all of you readers great comments and suggestions, the Generator Defense mission on Reach was chosen. Also, please read the Author's note at the bottom. "Thought I'd shoot my way in, mix things up a little."-The Master Chief Princess Celestia's eyed the white square that was projected onto the wall. She silently wondered how it was that such a device was made if as they said, were magic-less. Then it cackled as sound was projected from the 'helmet' of Spartan-104. Then the screen changed and she saw sights that would be better left unseen. *0622 hours, August 30, 2552* UNSC Vessel Pillar of Autumn, Epsilon Eridani System over Reach. The screen seemed to turn down and glance towards what the Spartans had instead of hooves . They looked a lot like what Gryphons had. Celestia could already hear the scribbling of Twilight Sparkle writing every observation down with her quill. The claw-like appendages twirled a knife gracefully through the air as they moved despite the apparent bulkiness of the armor. Celestia's eyes were mesmerized by the speed of which the knife moved, and how every time it touched the armor there was a strange glow that formed near where it touched. The glow appeared to almost coat the armor. The Spartan's view moved around as it surveyed more of the Spartans putting the devices (that were currently attached to the backs of the Spartan three feet away from Celestia) into duffel bags and move around, the other Spartans quickly rushing back and forth. Celestia quickly noticed the one identified by armor as Spartan-087 was no longer doing such work. Spartan 104's view looked back toward the knife as the sharp tip balanced atop one of the small digits. Suddenly the whole view shook a bit as the room they were in appeared to completely shift. The knife started to fall so, using his other appendage grabbed it and in a single deft motion put it into a sheath on his shoulder. Princess Celestia looked up and saw the handle of the knife sticking out of the sheath on the Spartan's armor. One of the Spartans, one that had the same armor as Spartan-058, stood and walked over to a metal panel with a small screen atop it. Celestia squinted and saw the face of a creature that seemed to resemble the face of a monkey that was shaved. It had an official hat and uniform adorning it and was speaking vividly, although Celestia was not able to hear nor clearly interpret what it was communicating. She saw the slightest movement to the right side of the screen and did not think much of it until Spartan-104's view turned and saw Spartan-087's specific armor with her head staring right at him. He turned away and something else popped up on-screen. Initiating secure COM link with SPARTAN-087... ...Secured Princess Celestia heard them speak but it didn't seem to affect the others around them. She pondered if this was another function of the armor. ""Looks like we're in for more surprises." Said a voice she didn't recognize. Although she quickly came to the conclusion that it was Spartan-087 who spoke. Her suspicions confirmed that 087 was femine, her voice being higher and smoother than 104's. "Roger that. Though I think I've had enough surprises for one op." He replied. Celestia heard 087 laugh for a split-second before it was silent. On the projection Princess Celestia saw another message pop up. Closing COM link... ...Ended Spartan 104 seemed to understand what the other Spartan was communicating to the human, she guessed, through the panel but the ponies were unable to hear anything save for a slight mumbling. This continued for a good 30 seconds until the Spartan at the panel turned towards the other Spartans. Spartan 104 immediately arose from his sitting position, but before he could say anything Spartan-087 stood and queried. "Master Chief. Permission to lead the space op." She asked. Apparently talking to the 'Master Chief'. "Denied." Said the Master Chief. "I'll be leading that one. Linda and James, you're with me. Fred, you're Red Team Leader. You'll have tactical command of the ground operation." "Sir!" Spartan-104 replied. He paused if only for a second. "Yes, Sir!" Princess Celestia seemed to realize that Spartan-104 was 'Fred'. She wondered why he refused to give her his name. "Now make ready, we don't have much time." Master Chief said. All off the Spartans stood and Spartan-087 shouted out,"Attention!" Each Spartan seemed to give the 'Master Chief' a salute. Promptly another message appeared. Opening Pre-established COM w/ designated Red Team... ...COM secured "Let's move Spartans! I want gear stowed in ninety seconds and final prep in five minutes." Spartan Fred said through whatever a 'COM' was. "Joshua: Liaise with Cortana and get me current intel on the drop area—I don't care if it's just weather satellite imagery, but I want pictures, and I want them ninety seconds ago." Princess Celestia watched as the rest of the Spartans moved like lightning as soon as Fred stopped talking. Immediately gathering supplies and information, going about their designated job. About a minute later and all the Spartans were strapped into this large machine called a 'pelican'. Another of the creatures was at the front in the only available seat flipping switches. "Better hang on. Company's coming." the creature announced. The pelican seemed to tilt and move forward. As Fred tilted his visor toward where the creature was working and peering out a window,Celestia saw that not only was this so-called 'pelican' machine flying out an entrance, but it was flying out from within a ship. A ship that was in space. Princess Celestia knew that Twilight Sparkle was hard at work scribbling things down but right then not only was everyone surprised, but Twilight seemed to be stabbing the scroll she was writing with such vigor. Princess Celestia looked over to her sister Luna and saw not only a look of surprise but a look of recognition. The 'pelican' shifted and headed straight for the planet. Not much could be seen but suddenly something hit the pelican from it's side and a sizzling could be heard for a split-second. The creature, safe to assume a human at this point, spoke once again. "Bravo-One to Knife Two-Six: I could use a little help here." The creature turned a stick and the pelican seemed to roll, although it's hard to be sure as there was no 'bottom' in zero gravity and all items and the Spartans, as well as the creature, were securely strapped to their designated positions. Once again the creature twisted the stick, seemingly rolling the pelican, and narrowly avoiding a large piece of shrapnel. "Bravo-One to Knife Two-Six, where the hell are you?" The creature said in a very frustrated voice. Suddenly a few '<' shaped, black fighters flew into view. "Knife Two-Six to Bravo-One, Keep your pants on. Business is good today." Was heard over the COMs, spoken in a feminine voice. Some of them veered away to take chase a group of small purple ships, leaving one left in view. Suddenly, a white streak flew past them a incredible speeds, barely missing the pelican. "Bravo-One, adjust attack angle, You're coming in too hot." Said the feminine voice again. "Negative, we're getting to the surface fast—or we're not getting there at all. Enemy contacts on my scope at Four by Three O' Clock." Said the creature in the front. At this point Celestia thought it was fair to say it was one of the humans of 'humanity' that Fred wanted to get back to. A group of the small teardrop-shaped purple ships headed towards the 'pelican'. "Affirmative: Four by Three. I've got 'em., Bravo one. Give 'em hell down there." Said the voice. Through the window the '<' shaped ship headed straight into a group of the purple ones, distracting them long enough for them pelican to plummet past them and towards the planet. The pelican lurched as the pilot in the front seemed to atempt to slow it's descent as flames formed around the pelican, falling through the atmosphere. All the Spartans, Fred included, grabbed on tightly to the various parts of the pelican. Again another message appeared on the projection. Opening secure COM FLEETCOM 7... Secured. "Brace yourselves!" Spartan-087 edged closer and opened a COM channel with Fred. "Chief, we'll get that COM malfunction squared away once we hit planetside." Celestia noticed that at this Fred seemed to have an annoyed posture despite being still in order to project this 'mission'. "Thanks." Fred replied. He closed all COMs and monitored biosigns in order to check the health status. The Spartans' all checked out but the pilot human's heartrate seemed to be off the charts. Spartan-087's hand bumped into Fred's shoulder for a second as the pelican lurched forward. "Rough ride ahead." Stated the pilot. The Spartans braced their knees as the other pilot's voice came back online. "Bravo Two-Six, engaging enemy fighters. Am taking heavy incoming fire—the voices stopped as crackling was heard and the pelican was rocked, small pieces of debris pinging off it. An explosion rocked the back of the pelican as the armor broke away, several of the purple fighters could be seen in pursuit. "Gotta shake 'em, hang on!" Shouted the pilot. As the pelican moved parts of it creaked off from the stress. Soon the pelican was completely out of control. Boxes and crates fell out of their strapping and flew about as the Spartans clutched the ship. "It's going to be a helluva hot drop, Spartans. Autopilot's progammed to angle. Reverse thrusters. Gees are taking me out. I'll—" His sentence ended with a flash of light.
Chapter 3Some of you have been wondering how strong Celestia and Luna are compared to the SPARTANs. Well-in this story-the princesses will not be invincible warrior godesses. There are lots of definitions of immortality.(Plus, I don't take kindly to people messing with my SPARTANs. -Dr. Halsey) "Were it so easy." -The Arbiter, concerning the "death" of the Master Chief Princess Celestia had absolutely no clue what she was doing. She continued to try and look confident as the so-called Spartans were escorted to her. She wasn't scared of them, but rather-had very little experience in diplomatic situations with completely new species. Through her time, there had been lots of boring summits and treaties; but everyone knew each other and what they wanted. Nice and simple. This time she had told her faithful student Twilight Sparkle to write down all the events and to try and analyze them. Considering she knew next to nothing about this species or how advanced they were she realized that she should probably try to make a deal. By now, the Spartans were about twenty feet in front of her. She held out her hoof to stop them. "Hello Spartans. Have you thought about what it is you want?" She asked, hoping to encourage them to be more open. "We'd only wish to get back to where we belong." So they didn't mean to be here? Where were meant to be? So many questions that needed to be answered. "Oh?" She said, openly showing her curiosity. "And where might that be." The lead spartan took a second before answering. "Wherever humanity has need for us." "What's humanity?" "That is our species." She pondered this. How had she not heard of an entire species? They really must be from a different planet. She asked herself what types of technology they might have from which Equestria could benefit. "And why have you strayed from 'humanity'...if you want to get back to them." "A bit of an 'accidental teleportation might be the best way to describe it." That explained a lot. And meant they had no obvious bad intentions. But yet-how could they teleport without unicorn magic? And how were they able to teleport as far as another planet? She remembered a saying from her long past friend Star Swirl the Bearded:Every question answered opens up two more. She realized now just how true his words were. "So your species can use magic?" "Magic? I don't know about any magic-but we use cold hard technology." Celestia saw Twilight silently gasp as she jotted down the conversation-no doubt depressed that she could not learn any knew magic from these beings. "Okay..."She knew she would have to revisit the issue."How about this 'Humanity? I thought you said you were Spartans?" "We are. We are humans-but we are a type of military group known as Spartans." Military? She asked herself. This might not be as good as she hoped. But then again it explains why they wanted to go back to their species. "And how does one of your 'humans' become a Spartan?" She asked, still quite curious about the whole military and spartan thing. "I'm afraid that's classified." Fred saw Princess Luna do what he could best describe as a 'face-hoof'. "Who is it classified by then? Or is that also classified?" Celestia retorted, stress starting to creep into her voice. "Under order of the Office of Naval Intelligence and the United Nations Space Command." "What are those?" "Those would be the main intelligence, military, and defense structure of humanity." "What else can you tell me?" Celestia pried, trying to get as much information from them as possible. "I can tell you that we mean no harm towards your species unless you are working with the Covenant or make up a possible threat to the UNSC." "What is this Covenant?" She asked. Saw them seem to communicate between each other again. Finally, the main one spoke up once more. "What your about to see is not for the faint of heart. I'm sure your 'subjects' would appreciate leaving the room to make sure they do not have to see any gruesome sights. We have been in a defensive war for 25 years." "What type of gruesome sights? And a defensive war?" She asked back, a bit unnerved. "We'll show you, are you sure none of you want to leave?" The Spartan asked this question towards the guards and Twilight now. All of them shook their heads no. Finally, he pressed a button on the side of his helmet, or to the ponies-his metallic head. A light came out of the side and projected onto one of the walls. It seemed to project a dazzling image of the night sky. He pointed towards a small smudge against the blackness of the sky. "This object was seen from satellites orbiting the planet Harvest. A few ours later-February 3, 2525-contact with Harvest is lost. April 20 the ship Argo arrives in-system and sends confirmation of it's arrival. Contact with it ceased thereafter. A battle group was sent in and destroyed, but intercepted communications quote the aliens saying in UNSC language:Your destruction is the will of the gods...and we are their instrument." "Now I could go on for hours about the thousands of battles and how the covenant is hundreds of years more advanced than us. How they can turn the surface of planets into glass from their ships in orbit. But I'd prefer to get on with these 'talks' so I will show you some of the footage from a declassified operation." He quickly nodded his head and again seemed to be talking to the other Spartans, until they nodded and he continued. "You will see things that may shock you to your very core. Last chance to leave?" Nobody replied. "Okay then. Closing your eyes might help too. This was recorded using my helmet, if you ever wondered." Celestia made a mental note to see what they looked like now knowing that it WAS in fact not their bodies, but armor. The projection on the screen changed, and was completely black. "Start..."
