ODST: Shock and Awe

Chapters

Cry for Help...
Ride the Hellfire
Standing on My Own

Cry for Help...

"ODST troopers to pods in five minutes!" Captain Alex Fangheart voice rang out inside of my helmet. I flicked my green light and continued preparing my equipment silently. I grabbed a few clips for a M7S Caseless Submachine Gun, M6S pistol, and a few pods for my own personal Type 51 Carbine I pulled off of a Sangheili when I ran out of ammo for my M7S. I put the guns to my pod, securing each weapon in the pod. I finished securing every weapon and equipment with two minutes to spare, so I sat in my seat and closed my eyes. Someone tapped me with the tip of a gun, jolting me from my dozing state. I opened my eyes and saw the captain eyeing me.

"You okay?" He asked. I flicked my green light on. "We leave in thirty seconds." He walked off, securing his battle rifle into his pod and closing the door. I closed the door, strapping myself into the chair and closing my eyes once more. Thirty seconds later, the pods launched and I closed my eyes tighter, waiting for the inevitable pulls and the impact. The pod started heating up slightly, signaling it was hitting the atmosphere.

"Pull!" The captains voice said, the fans on top of the pods shooting out and slowing the pods down. The pods struck in a close radius, a few hitting buildings and other debris, while others simply landing in the street. My bod landed in the side of the building, the blow nearly knocking me unconscious. I grabbed my gear, then popped the hatch and jumped outside, luckily my pod landed near the ground and the jump was only ten feet.

My carbine strapped to my back and my pistol strapped in its holster, I made my way to the waypoint set by the captain. Ten minutes of jogging and hiding from covenant patrols, I made it to the waypoint, a small building with an electric door. I walked in, M7S at the ready, when I saw the squad. Ten ODSTs in total, all ready to clear the city.

"All here? Let's move out!" The captain yelled into his comms, getting green lights from all. We split into two groups and took opposite ends of the city, splitting the city into the north and south side. I was put on the south side, along with a Lance Corporal, Gunnery Sergeant, the captain, and a PFC. We walked in the shadows for ten minutes, not meeting a single patrol along the way.

"It's too quiet..." The PFC said nervously, only his second mission as an ODST.

"I sense an ambush nearby." The Lance Corporal said, gripping his gun tightly and watching the roofs.

"Lieutenant, go to that building and scout out the nearby streets." The captain said, getting a green light from me. I ran to the building he pointed to, stealthily making my way up. I made it to the roof and looked around warily, watching for snipers and squads alike. I made my way around the entire roof, spotting a few lazy snipers with their snipers on their backs.

I pulled out my carbine and sniped the snipers, each getting a 8mm caseless radioactive projectile to the head. There were no squads anywhere for another two clicks, and I flicked on my green light.

"Good job taking out the snipers, get back down here and lets get moving." I flicked my green light again and jogged down the stairs. I reached the rest of the group, and we got moving.

"No squads for another two clicks." I said into the private comms, getting a green light from the captain. We continued through the streets, meeting a few squads and taking them down easily. I collected the ammo from a few brutes for my carbine, and continued down the streets. A few hours went by as the sun dipped down.

"Alright, we can take shelter in the building there." He said, pointing to an apartment complex missing a few of the floors from an unknown explosion. Green lights went up and we hunkered down in the building, grabbing a few firm beds from the next room.

"First up is Felix and Rookie, then Daniel and Barrett, then me and Rookie, then Felix and Daniel, then me and Barrett, in that order. Two hour shifts, wake us when there's trouble." The captain said, grabbing a bed and laying down. I stood at the door, kneeling in the shadows with Rookie on the other side. An hour and a half later, Rookie called out a squad of brutes and grunts heading this way.

"Captain, we got a large group of brutes and grunts, twenty plus, making their way to our position." He called out.

"Alright ladies, let's get to work!" The Captain said, sneaking outside with the other two. The brutes and grunts continued walking in their general directions, getting close enough to the point where the M7S is effective.

"Open fire!" The Captain yelled, doing so with his MA5B assault rifle. I opened fire with my M7S, using the entire clip to kill three brutes. Only two of the brutes remained, getting taken out by the rest of the ODSTs, then the grunts went crazy without their leaders and started running away. We quickly took care of them, the grunts armor no match for our armor piercing rounds. I reloaded the clip, putting the spare bullets into a small ammo pouch.

"Good job ladies. Finish up your shift then get some shut eye." The captain said, going back inside. I flicked my green light and went back to the shadows, watching the road intently. Thirty minutes passed by quickly, and we went back into the building. I took the firmer bed of the two, cutting the Rookie some slack, and was woken up an hour later to Daniel and Barrett calling out two large squads, each twenty plus each.

"Damn... Alright ladies, lets do this!" The captain yelled. I grabbed my equipment quickly, strapping it into the right places and came outside quickly.

"Use of grenades are authorized, but are only as a last resort." The captain said, pulling a grenade from his belt. He hooked the grenades ring and tossed it out into the street, it perfectly hitting a slope on the street and rolling under the feet of the first groups. The grenade blew up, attracting attention from the second group.

I emptied the clip into the group of grunts, killing nearly half of them. I reloaded quickly and turned around, seeing another group coming up on our side. Fifty plus with a pair of hunters.

"Captain, Fifty plus with hunters at six o'clock." I said, turning around and tapping him on the shoulder. He swore and finished off the second group, then hooked another grenade. I grabbed a grenade also and hooked the ring, and we both tossed at the same time. The grenades blew up under the feet of a hunter, killing it and a few surrounding grunts. The remaining hunter roared and charged us, firing it's plasma.

I hooked another grenade and tossed it behind the hunter, catching one of the brutes in the face with it. He caught it and looked at it, the grenade blowing up in his hands. It killed two brutes and most of the grunts, leaving a handful of grunts, a brute chieftain, and a few brutes. The hunter swung with it's large shield arm, nearly smacking into the PFC.

He turned around and fired at the captain, leaving him open to me. I hooked another grenade and stuck it into his back. He shuddered and the grenade exploded, sending orange blood and blue armor everywhere.

"Good job, now wipe the rest of the group." The captain said. I saw a sniper with his sights on me and I dived away from the shot, but not quick enough to dodge the shot fully. The plasma hit my shoulder, boiling my armor and skin, burning pain shooting through my entire body. I gritted my teeth and tried moving my arm, only to have slight movement coming from it.

"I'm hit." I said calmly, the pain residing slightly. I hooked my carbine in my good arm and aimed down the sights, my sights put onto the sniper. I fired and hit him in the neck, blood spurting from his neck and running down his armor. He squawked and fell off the side of the building, hitting the ground with a crunch. I looked for my M7S, only to find it behind a brute chieftain, a large grin on his face. He lifted his gravity hammer, bringing it back down.

I slid away, still catching a small fraction of it's power; Enough to send me flying and land across the street. I took out my pistol and fired, hitting his shield. I continued firing until the shield gave out and I ran out of ammo. I dropped the clip, then put the gun on the ground and took a new clip out. I slipped the new clip in and started firing once more.

The first few hit him in the chest, blood spurting out of him but only stopping him slightly. I aimed higher and fired, hitting him in the neck, stunning him slightly. I aimed a little higher and fired, hitting him right in his nose. He howled in pain and fell to the ground, dead. I got up and looked around, seeing my squad handling the group. I ran to the cover they had and fired the pistol, the shot piercing the methane tank of a grunt and causing him to explode, killing three other grunts.

"Nice work with the chieftain, but we got more trouble." He said, pointing to a group, another twenty plus with a few grunts clutching plasma grenades.

"Suicide grunts, a few brutes, and regular grunts, great." Barrett said, firing his M7S and hitting a brute in the face, the bullet piercing his skull and killing him immediately. The larger group wiped out, we reloaded and fired again, killing a few grunts and breaking the shields on brutes. The suicide grunts activated the grenades in their hands and started running towards us.

"Take them out!" The captain yelled, firing his assault rifle at them. I aimed the pistol shot the first in the face, causing him to drop the grenades and fly backwards into the second grunt, causing him to start rolling back to the group with the other one. The grenades grew brighter and exploded, the last of the three grunts stepping on them and being sent skyward. The two grunts continued rolling to the group and exploded, killing most of the group in a green and blue explosion. We finished off the rest of the group and reloaded, pulling back into the apartment.

"That firefight probably attracted every squad within a three mile radius, so lets lick our wounds and restock." The captain said, pulling out a biofoam canister. I walked forward and pointed to my shoulder, getting a plentiful bounty of burning biofoam in my shoulder. I gritted my teeth and growled in pain, the biofoam feeling like a thousand knives were being stuck in. He patted me on the shoulder and I walked away, nobody else getting biofoam for their minor wounds.

"Looks like Felix was the only one injured." Barrett said, checking his weapons. I flicked my green light and started checking my weapons, feeling returning to my arm. I moved my arm a few times, getting a feeling of it before I started working it. I checked my weapons quickly, running outside quickly and grabbing my M7S quickly. I checked the weapon, finding the clip missing, I reloaded and strapped my carbine to my back, then holstered my pistol.

"Rookie, go to the roof and keep an eye on the streets, and watch for snipers." The captain said, getting a green light from Rookie.

"Today is not your day Lieutenant." Daniel said, patting me on the shoulder.

"Yeah, some reason today all the covvies are after me." I responded, sitting next to the door. Five minutes past before the radio started crackling.

"Six squads converging on the apartment!" Rookie yelled into a radio, then silence.

"Damn it! Barrett, go check on Rookie." The captain said. Barrett nodded and walked upstairs. A few minutes later, the radio started crackling again.

"Rookie's down, sniper got him. Six squads, each fifty plus with a couple of ghosts, hunters and chieftains each." A shot rang out on his end of the comms, then a few steps.

"All ways are blocked, and either by the squads or the snipers littering each building. They knew we were coming the entire time." Barrett said.

"How do you know?" The captain said.

"Because, they're carrying the others with them." Barrett responded.

"Four of us versus an army of covvies... It's been nice knowing you all." Daniel said, looking out the door.

"We don't have a chance at surviving this shit, so rig the few entrances with explosives, then set some throughout the main room here and blow this place to hell." The captain said. Daniel pulled out a large set of explosive charges and started setting up charges along narrow spots in the room and at the doorways. I started helping him, sticking a few here and there. We were going to blow this place all in one go, so let them in the front door.

"Meet you on the other side." The captain said, pulling out a couple of cigars. He gave each of us a cigar, each of us lighting it. The captain pulled his helmet off, revealing a heavily tanned, and scarred, face. He took a puff and blew it out, relishing the smell. Barrett took off his helmet, revealing two different colored eyes and a pale face. Daniel took off his helmet, revealing a small stubble and an evenly tanned face, with a strong jaw.

I took off my helmet, revealing an equally even tanned face with a large scar running down my face. I took a puff and released the smoke through my nose, placing my helmet on the desk sitting in front of the room. I left the cigar in my mouth and accessed the "dumb" AI running the building, and locked all of the doors.

"Should keep the bastards at bay while I enjoy this." I said, leaning against the desk. They all nodded in agreement, while we heard some grunts and growls from outside.

"Here already? They are just asking to die!" The captain said, walking down a narrow hallway barely large enough for a hunter to fit down.

"We could use this hallway as a small choke point until we need to fall back, then we can fall back into this next hallway, and after that this room." The captain said, pointing down a hallway with one door down it.

"I'll keep an eye on the doors and tell you when to blow this place to high hell." Barrett said, walking down the first hallway. After a minute, all the doors burst at once with brutes running in with grunts closely behind. They were confused for a second, and grunted a few times, pointing down a hallway. A good portion of the main floor was occupied by the covenant, so Barrett gave the signal and Daniel blew the explosives. They went off, killing every grunt, brute, and hunter in the room and knocking down the walls quickly.

"Perfect." The captain said, puffing on the cigar. The debris exploded outwards as the next wave of hunters and brute chieftains came through, knocking aside pieces of debris.

"That was short lived." Barrett said. One of the hunters spotted us and charged its plasma, only to hit a wall that was behind us. We ran down the hallway, looking behind us occasionally. The captain turned around at the designated hallway to retreat down, the rest of us quickly stopping next to him. The first few chieftains ran down the hallways, only to get gunned down by the four of us. We reloaded, waiting for the next wave of covenant.

The lights dimmed slightly, and a sudden flash of blue came from the first hallway, bouncing off of the wall and hitting the floor, not even close to us. The grenade exploded, then a group of suicide grunts came down the hallway, all screaming like idiots. We gunned them down, the grenades sticking to a few hunters unlucky enough for the grunts to be killed quickly. The grenades blew up in a large blue and green fireball, taking out a large portion of the building itself. A sudden burst of plasma fire came from the hole, tearing into Daniel and Barrett.

"Down the hallway!" The captain yelled, grabbing my arm. I followed quickly, the plasma fire nearly hitting me.

"Two versus hundreds..." The captain said. I puffed the cigar, retreating to the end of the hall. The walls became white hot, the air around us getting very steamy.

"Damn it..." The captain said. I ducked, just as a large torrent of plasma tore through the hall and through him. I ran into the back room, pulling my grenades from my belt and chucking them out the door, the explosion ringing and killing a few hunters and brutes.

"Scarabs, hunters, brutes, suicide grunts, ghosts, banshees, wraiths I've fought them all! Ever since I was fifteen, I've been fighting against these damn covenant..." I said, a torrent of screaming grunts running down the hall. I fired my M7S and killed the first few, the grenades exploding quickly. I reloaded, only that I noticed my gun was glowing white blue and was growing hotter by the second.

"Well..." I said, puffing on the cigar and spitting it out as it exploded, and saw nothing but white.

"A soldier from another world, his comrades killed and he managed to take down a covenant super cruiser, survived the flood, taken out banshees, ghosts, wraiths, scarabs, brute chieftains, hunters, elites, and so on single handedly. What should we do with him?" An ethereal voice said in the complete white vastness.

"We should show him peace, something his kind hasn't known for twenty eight years. This human has done great deeds in battle, but we should show him there is always peace, and friendship in a land." An older version of the first voice said. I tried speaking, only to find my mouth, and body was gone.

"Well that's fuckin' perfect... A personal hell that'll drive me insane by boredom." I thought.

"Saddening that his parents died on his birthday... The same day he enlisted into this UNSC... Ever since that day, he has done nothing for himself." The older voice said.

"Can I get these fuckin' voices out of my head? Please, whatever god is watching over me?" I thought, knowing I wasn't going to get answered.

"Ah yes, I almost forgot he can still communicate with us. What would you want to become?" The older voice asked. I stopped in stunned silence for a few seconds.

"I would like to go back and win the war for Earth, then..." I couldn't think of what to do after Earth survived the war.

"From the deeds you've accomplished over the years of your military career, you have a very high value, maybe even high enough for an alicorn form in Equestria..." The younger voice.

"Alicorn? Equestria? The hell are those?" I asked, confused by these words.

"Alicorns are powerful beings able to use magic and fly, and are considered royalty in Equestria." The older voice explained.

"Actually, doing the math correctly, he has more then enough for his alicorn form." The younger voice said. then the sound of papers shuffling.

"Really, paper in this heaven, hell, or wherever the hell I am?"I thought.

"Actually sister, you're right. He has enough to get an alicorn form and more." The older voice said.

"Sure, I guess I can take this alicorn form. Whatever floats your boat, goddesses." I thought, shrugging my nonexistant shoulders. They giggled, hearing the word goddesses.

"Do you really want to become an alicorn? You will become immortal, have to deal with royal duties everyday, and will have females chasing you wherever you go." The older voice said.

"That will probably drive my ass insane from seeing people die while I stay a young age, plus corrupted politicians are something I hate. But, I can't really go anywhere else, so I guess I can accept." I thought.

"Great! Now think of a good name, since Felix can't be used here." The younger voice said.

"Fading Flare?" I said the first name that came to my head.

"That's... a name we needed for Equestria." The older voice said in surprise. There were a few pops, then the world went dark.

Ride the Hellfire

I woke up, and noticed a few things. One thing was that I was in a soft bed. Another thing was that it was quiet. No gunshots, screams of pain, orders being yelled, or grunts and growls of covenant troops. I opened my eyes, the darkness in the room almost unable to see through. I tried pulling my arms to my face, but the beds blankets were tucked tighter than I thought. I got annoyed quickly and ripped the fabric with pure muscles, pushing my arms forward. I dragged my hands over my face, both of them feeling strangely flat. I looked at my hands, only to see an ash gray colored hoof in front of my face. I yelled in surprise, falling out of my bed, and twisted around onto my back. I waved my two front hooves in front of my face, my jaw dropping in surprise, then twisted myself around and placed my hooves on the ground and pushed myself up.

I pushed my left front hoof forward, but I fell forward onto my face. I pushed my hooves onto the ground once more. I stepped forward and once more, falling onto my face once more. I growled in frustration and pushed myself up once more. After ten minutes of failing, I managed to walk around the room, and I started to trot around. I fell a few times, but I managed to trot around the room. I started running, fell once on my face, and sat down on the soft cushion next to the table. I looked at the vast amounts of books on the table with increased interest.

My childhood interest in books nearly sending me into an excited fit. I flicked what I thought was my tail in excitement, but felt a cold, silk-like thing touch my ass. I looked behind me, and saw two things. I saw an everlasting darkness, and my fear rose. The darkness started increasing and decreasing, and I thought of it to react to emotions. I thought back to my last fight, where I supposedly was killed along with my entire team. My rage and anger started boiling inside of me, and I watched as the darkness started enveloping the room, sucking the light from the room quickly.

I felt a sensation running along my head and neck and trotted over to the nearest mirror and saw that my hair(mane?) was the same way, absorbing the light from the room and driving darkness into every corner and crevice of the room. I thought of the happiest memories I had, and the light returned slowly to the room. I looked behind myself once more and saw a tattoo on my ass. The tattoo looked familiar for some reason. It was the all familiar helmet of the ODST, except there was a plasma burn on the top of it with what looks like a bullet hole in the middle of the visor with cracks running throughout the entire visor. Behind the helmet was two M7S's crossing behind the helmet, and below it was the word 'HELLJUMPER' engraved two inches below it, with blue flames surrounding the word.

I crossed the room to the table with a stack of scrolls on the table. I unraveled one of them and read it, my handwriting trailing itself down the page, and realized it was notes on magic.

"Pfft, magic." I growled, feeling a sensation on my forehead and the parchment burst into flame. I tossed it away in surprise, the page landing in an empty metal trash can. I felt something flick across my back, as if irritated, and looked behind once more, seeing a pair of large ash gray wings on my back. I moved my shoulder muscles and the wings flicked and shifted around my back. I sat on the cushion once more, picking up a book off of the top of the pile. I read the title, Basic Spells and Illusions, and decided to read it out of disbelief and amusement.

"Like I would be able to do any of these..." I said, flipping to the first spell.

"'Telekinesis', what bullshit." I growled, reading how to do it. "Focus your energy onto the object and picture in your mind lifting the object into the air." I read the first and only instruction. I looked at an apple and focused onto the apple, seeing a dark purple aura envelop the apple and lift it into the air. I pictured the apple flying against the wall and heard a splat, seeing pieces of apple and apple juice splattered against the bare wall.

"I'm guessing that was magic..." I said, surprised that this actually happened. I picked up a paper ball from a trash can and pictured it on fire, and the ball burst into flames, destroying the piece of parchment. I took another scroll from the pile and read the notes, this one with the different species of the world.

"Bunch of fucking mythological creatures here." I said, looking at the scroll with rising interest. I read the advantages that the creatures had, along with its weaknesses.

"Alicorns are one of the most powerful creatures listed here. They can live forever, unless gravely injured, have large reserves of magic, can fly, and are rare enough that they are considered royalty..." I read aloud, trailing off at the end. I walked over to the mirror, looking my entire body over. I finally noticed the horn on my forehead, nearly fifteen inches long, and the large set of ash colored wings on my back and realized what I became.

"I'm an alicorn?" I said in disbelief, sitting on the ground.

"I don't know if I should be excited, or terrified." I said aloud, picking up the scroll with my magic and continued reading.

"For the last thousand years, there have only been four Alicorns recorded in history." I read aloud. "Princess Celestia, the ruler of Equestria, goddess of the sun, Princess Luna, co-ruler of Equestria, goddess of the moon, Princess Twilight Sparkle, a recently unicorn turned alicorn, princess of friendship?" I started laughing at the thought of being the princess of something so mundane. I cleared my throat and continued. "And Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, married to Shining Armor, Captain of the Royal Guard, and ruler of the Crystal Empire." I continued reading aloud.

"There have not been any male alicorns in history since before Princess Luna's banishment." I scratched my head in confusion, and checked between my legs, confirming myself as a male.

"I'm a male alicorn, yet they don't have me down in history..." I mumbled.

"I'm kinda relieved that there isn't any trace of me. Don't want women swarming me every living second, or do I?" I said, grinning deviously. I walked over to the table and picked up another book, reading on more spells. A few minutes later, I heard the door open and I looked up from the book. Three alicorns stood in the doorway, One white, one purple, and one a dark blue color.

"Looks like he's finally awake." The dark blue one said.

"What the fuck?" I questioned, utterly confused by the sudden appearance of three alicorns.

"What's the matter?" The purple one asked.

"Where the hell am I?" I asked, getting up from the seat.

"Equestria? You know, the kingdom that you've been in for nearly two months?" The dark blue alicorn snickered.

"So I've been here for like two months? Jesus fuck, I can't remember shit..." I said, scratching my head.

"Maybe I can help." The white one said, her horn lighting up. I felt a prick at the back of my head and I blacked out. I woke up in a black abyss, and I started looking around.

"Hello? Where the hell am I now?" I yelled, walking around. Instead of an answer, a vision passed through my head. There were four alicorns standing over me, in what looked like a medical wing, three of them from earlier, and a pink one with a small smile on her face. I looked around and saw five different mares sitting against the wall, staring at me. A flash of light and another vision appeared. This one was my room, with the five alicorns arriving with some sort of mix matched thing standing behind them.

The fifth one looked like the dark blue one, except larger and with armor on her. Another flash of light and another vision, this one a large dining room with me sitting away from all of the others, and the alicorns and the strange beast beckoning me over to sit with them. Another flash, this vision showing me reading multiple books at once and making notes on all of them, and a torrent of spells hit my brain, causing a large headache. I grabbed my head as I dropped to my knees, my head feeling like it was splitting down the middle.

Another flash and vision, this one of a matriarchal court with guards and servants standing on both sides, with ponies lined up in front of the courts bowing and talking about their problems. A number of other visions popped into my head, making the headache even worse than before.I felt a jolt of lightning, and even more visions popped into my head, and I just wanted to blow my brains out from the massive headache I had right then and there. More visions just kept appearing, and I yelled out in the pain, finally giving in.

I felt another jolt, yet only more visions popped into my head, increasing the pain of the already head splitting headache. More and more visions popped into my head, until the suddenly stopped, and some soothing music started playing, the painful headache disappearing almost immediately. Another jolt, and I woke up in my room, the three alicorns standing over me with concerned looks on their faces.

"You've been out for nearly an hour!" The purple one yelled at me.

"Stop fucking yelling!" I snapped, covering my ears with my hooves.

"Come on you big baby, how bad was it?" The dark blue one said.

"My head split in half, then reformed and split again, then I got shot in the face with plasma, and got my head cleaved in half by an energy sword." I growled, rubbing my temples to sooth the migraine.

"It couldn't have been that bad, now could it?" The white one asked.

"How about I give you the headache I got with all of those visions popping into my head at the rate of a MA5B Assault Rifle." I grumbled.

"I bet it wasn't that bad." The purple one said with a grin. The white one's horns lit up and I felt the headache disappear, with grunts and yells of pain following. I got up off of the ground and wiped myself down, then walked over to the table, leaving the females writhing on the ground for a second. I thought of a spell and cast it, taking their pain and transferring it over to me once more.

"I split that between the three of us, and that was still unbearable." The white one groaned, getting off the floor slowly.

"I told you." I muttered, the headache dying down slowly. The other two got up slowly, brushing themselves off, and walked out.

"That wasn't even the worst of my pains either, but it was up there." I said, following the white alicorn out of the room.

"I don't even know your names yet either..." I grumbled to myself, but the white alicorn was still able to hear.

"Oh silly me, My name is Celestia, prin-" She said.

"Goddess of the sun and ruler of Equestria." I finished, the knowledge of the princess sliding off my tongue quickly.

"Y-yes." She said, surprised.

"Princess Luna." She continued, nodding her head to the dark blue alicorn.

"Goddess of the moon and co-ruler of Equestria." I said quickly.

"Princess Twilight Sparkle." Celestia said, nodding to the purple one.

"Princess of friendship." I said with a snicker. Celestia shot me an evil look and continued walking.

"Where are we going now?" I asked.

"Dining hall." Celestia said flatly. I stopped for a second, giving her a suspicious look, then shrugged and continued along. I thought about skipping whatever meal they were serving, but thought against it. We arrived shortly after, two large golden doors opened fully and showing a large dining table, with ponies dotting the seats and servants running around. I saw the alicorn from a few of the visions, and the strange beast sitting next to her, his crazy red eyes immediately shooting towards me.

I immediately turned around and started walking back toward my room, only to feel a hoof on my shoulder. I turned around and saw Celestia giving me a stern look.

"Eat with us." She said.

"Sorry, but I'm not hungry." I said, pushing the shoulder off and walking down the hall. I felt something tugging on me and I turned around once more.

"I told you to eat with us." She said sternly.

"I said I'm not fucking hungry." I growled, my anger starting to suck the light from the hallway. Her eyes widened a bit and she started backing off.

"I just wanted to feel at home while you were here." She said, turning around and walking away.

"If you want me to feel at home, send me to hell." I growled, turning away and walking back to my room. A few minutes of me stomping around with the lights out, I finally reached my room, and nearly ripped it off the hinges as I opened it. I slammed it shut and walked over to the balcony, looking up at the moon.

"Guess it's dinner now." I said to myself. I thought of another spell and cast it on myself, feeling a strange sensation envelop my entire body. I saw a flash of light and heard a few pops and cracks, then felt the familiar armor of the ODST. I sighed in relief as I felt the M7S in my hands, with the Covenant Carbine on my back and the two M6C's strapped to my hip, with the number of equipment lining my body. The room seemed darker than before, so I flipped on my helmet flashlights and the whole room lit up. I flicked my wrist and the dark purple aura enveloped my hands.

"Still got the magic? Fucking sweet." I said, grinning.

-Thirty minutes later-

Luna was walking to Fading's room to check up on him. She reached his door and was about to knock when she heard some scuffling. She opened the door and saw that his room had turned into a warfield. Bodies of humans and Covenants littered the ground, the bursts of plasma and bullets flying overhead. A pelican flew over her head, the roar of the engines nearly deafening, and the spin of a minigun was heard.

The pelican did a one eighty and the back of the pelican opened up, and the bullets started flying out the back. Luna looked where the bullets were flying and saw Covenant forces being torn apart. A group of monkey looking things got shredded by the gunfire, a few of them being literally torn in half, some heads being popped open like a pinata.

"Fading!" Luna yelled over the gunfire, and the entire battlefield froze at her word.

"What?" A voice said above her, and the sounds of a jetpack was heard. She looked up and saw the bipedal form of Fading flying down to her.

"Who the hell is Fading?" He asked, dropping to the ground.

"You're Fading!" She yelled at him, giving him an angry look.

"My name is Lieutenant Felix Vanhorn, not Fading." He said, holstering the M7S in his hands.

"In your alicorn form, your name is Fading Ember!" She said.

"Alright, but what do you want?" He asked angrily.

"Night court is in thirty minutes." She said.

"What's night court?" He asked.

"It's where ponies come to me and give their problems, and I deem them worthy. Celestia assigned you to night court." Luna explained quickly. He just growled and flicked his wrist, a dark blue aura enveloping his hand. He aimed it at the sky and shot a beam up, which struck the sky. The entire battlefield disappeared immediately, the smell of blood and plasma evaporating into thin air, and he shot a beam at himself. There was a flash of light, and the ash grey alicorn appeared where the human stood.

"I was having fun. Also, since when does Celestia have power over me? I was dead, then brought to this world. If I had a choice, I would've stayed dead." He growled, walking out the door.

"You would just accept death? How crazy are you?" Luna asked.

"I deserve to be dead, and I've probably went insane for being in a constant war zone for nearly ten years." He answered casually.

"Nopony deserves to be dead!" Luna snapped at him.

"I've killed countless covenant, destroyed their shit, had to kill my own men when they turned against me, fought and survived the flood, killed insurrectionists because someone higher up ordered me to. If that doesn't deserve death, then what the fuck does then?" He snapped back. Luna was speechless, having nothing to counter what he's brought out.

"Exactly." He said with finality, walking towards the throne room. Luna just followed him in silence. They arrived at the throne room and took their seats.

"Won't you just accept the peace that this world offers?" Luna whispered to him. He turned to her, giving her a tired look, and said.

"I wish for peace, but for all I know, humanity could be destroyed. I could've done something before I died, could've killed more covenant before I was killed, saved my squad before they were killed. For all of the things I could've done, I didn't do anything and now I'm sitting on some throne in a world where war has been forgotten. Do I really deserve peace? Hell no, but I still wish for it." He said, brushing a hoof over his mane, although it appears to have just whisked through to the normal pony.

"You're at peace here, but you won't accept it. You made your bedroom into a battlefield, and you're constantly fighting against the peace you wish for." Luna said, looking him in the eyes. He looked directly into hers, the emotions drained from them long ago, and the doors to the throne room were opened. Their eyes broke apart and they looked at the quickly forming line and sighed together.

"This is going to be a long night." Fading muttered.

"This is a normal night however, and we only do night court every three days." Luna responded, nodding to the first pony in the line.

"Thank God for that." He muttered. She ignored the statement and started listening to the ponies problems and demands.

-Five hours later-

"Night court is concluded." Luna announced, hearing the groans of the ponies that didn't get their problems fixed tonight, and the sighs of relief from some of the newer guards and Fading. Luna got up and stretched her legs, hearing a few pops and cracks. Fading followed suit, except he cracked more of his bones. He cracked his neck, which could probably be heard around the entire throne room, and walked back to his room.

"Immediately to sleep?" Luna asked.

"I'm turning back to my human form and exercising." He said, continuing back to his room.

"You're not tired at all?" She asked, surprised.

"I haven't ran fifty miles today and I haven't done daily exercises, plus haven't been dodging plasma all day, so no, I'm not tired." He said casually.

"What tartarus-filled world do you come from?" Luna said.

"Earth, but that's not my hell. My hell is on different planets, defending colonies from overwhelming Covenant forces, or in space fighting ships larger than this entire world by at least three times." He said. Luna turned around and looked at him.

"Humans have found a way to travel space, and has colonized different planets?" She asked.

"We've had a way to travel into space for nearly five hundred years, but only recently were we able to travel outside of our own solar system without aging that much." He answered, walking past her.

"You didn't look that old as a human." Luna commented, remembering his face.

"I started fighting when my parents and siblings were killed and the farm was destroyed. I was only twenty four when I died." He said.

"To fight and die so young, it's horrible." Luna said, shaking her head.

"We had to fight for the right to live, and the Covenant wanted to destroy humanity as a whole and destroy each of her colonies." He continued.

"You fought for the most basic right a being needs." She said.

"They attacked our outermost colony, Harvest, and destroyed it. Killed fifty thousand humans and they glassed the world. Second world we lost was Eridanus Two, which had already been evacuated. A number of other colonies were glassed as we were fighting over Harvest, with no survivors, and by 2535, we lost all of the outer colonies. They initiated the "Cole Protocol", which was an order for all vessels to ensure that the Covenant doesn't find Earth. I was on one of the ships that had to make a blind jump away from a battle, which the Covenant followed us. We managed to fight our way out, but the ship was badly damaged.

"A year later, the Covenant start attacking the inner colonies, and we thought ourselves dead because we won isolated victories with horrible casualties. 2552, we lost Reach, UNSCs largest naval base, even with super MAC cannons, and we thought that it was the end since Reach was on Earth's doorstep. So far, we lost nearly eight billion men, women, and children to the bastards." He finished.

"Eight billion...?" Luna said in shock. He just nodded and continued walking. She watched him go, trying to see what was going on in his head, only to see the emotionless eyes staring at her. She shook her head to clear her head and turned around, heading to Celestia's room. She arrived shortly and opened the door, ignoring the guards standing at the door, seeing her sister standing on her balcony.

"Sister, I must speak to you about Fading." Luna said, cutting straight to the chase.

"I was just thinking about him. What do you need to say?" Celestia said, turning around to see Luna.

"He just told me what the humans have to go through everyday, and also humanities losses..." Luna said.

"Please tell me what he said." Celestia said in a motherly tone. Luna repeated what he had said to her, and at the end, Celestia was as speechless as Luna was with him.

"Eight billion... Imagine seeing all of your friends and family just laying there, slaughtered because of these monsters." She said. She cast a spell and a small mirror portal appeared, looking into Fading's room. It showed the bipedal form of Fading, without his armor, doing push ups with one arm, using the other to read a book.

"I try to imagine what goes inside of his head as he just sits there, either reading or sleeping, but I imagined that humans were dangerous creatures. Now I know what they must go through for even the most basic of rights." Celestia said, watching as he continued reading.

"Should we try to see his memories?" Luna asked.

"No... At least, not yet." Celestia said. They watched him switch exercises, this time setting up a makeshift pull up bar and pulling himself up quickly.

"I don't think we should see what hes been through..." Celestia said idly, watching his muscles bulge every time he pulled himself up.

"We have no idea on what he went through before this peaceful world." She continued. They watched in silence as he continued pulling himself up for many minutes, which turned to hours.

"I'm surprised he can continue like this." Luna said after counting thirty thousand.

"From what we know, he lost his parents and siblings, and has been fighting for ten years straight. He's never loved another, and he's devoted himself to nothing but war. He's become a killing machine, but he's capable of being a normal man or stallion." Celestia explained.

"I've counted thirty thousand, and yet he's still going like he just started." Luna deadpanned.

"I've counted thirty-two thousand and nine hundred sixty two." Celestia said.

"I've must've missed a few." Luna said, scratching her head.

"How long until the night's over?" Celestia asked. Luna looked at a clock.

"Two hours." She answered.

"Do you really believe that humanity had over eight billion?" Luna asked.

"I can't imagine it, but humans have been around longer than ponies have, so it's understandable that they might have more then that." Celestia said.

"How do you know that?" Luna asked, turning to Celestia with a suspicious look.

"I've seen into his head, for pure educational purposes." Celestia said.

"Did you see the battles?" Luna asked.

"No, but I did see his childhood. He had a thing for books and taking care of equines on his farm." Celestia answered.

"Really? Interesting..." Luna said. They watched in silence for another five minutes, then Celestia said something.

"I wonder how much he can lift." Luna turned to her and said.

"The way hes been going, I would imagine a lot. Five hundred pounds at least." Celestia levitated over two seats and plates with slices of cake on them. Luna looked at the cake and said.

"I thought you stopped these late night snacking sessions with cake." Celestia blushed and took a bite.

"More cushion for the pushin'." She said with a grin.

"Although stallions send you marriage proposals everyday, you turn down each and every stallion that try any moves on you." Luna deadpanned.

"At least I've been laid." Celestia shot back. Luna blushed furiously and said.

"I wait for the right stallion, but you took any stallion and had a one night stand with them." Celestia blushed and said.

"That was one time!" Luna gave her a deadpanned look and said.

"How about the other fifty times that Dad caught you with a stallion in bed?" Celestia dug her face into her hooves and groaned.

"What was that nickname ponies had for you? It started with an M..." Luna continued. Celestia's eyes widened and she looked up.

"Don't you dare." She growled.

"Molestia? That was it!" Luna said, clapping her hooves together.

"What about what the colt Pipsqueak? Didn't he give you a nickname?" Celestia said with a devious grin.

"He mispronounced my name, nothing serious." Luna dismissed.

"Woona~!" Celestia said in a sing-song voice. Luna stayed silent, giving her sister the evil eye. They turned back to the mirror, only to notice that Fading was not there anymore.

"Where'd he go?" Luna asked. Celestia and Luna got up and walked out of Celestia's room, walking down the hall at a brisk pace. They reached his room quickly and opened the door, only to find a room full of strange equipment, with a few murmurs going on. They walked in, the smell of sweat hitting their nostrils.

"Phew..." Luna said, waving a hoof in front of her nose. Celestia cast a spell on her and the air smelled like lavender to her. Luna cast the same spell, but changed the smell to vanilla, and they both sighed in relief.

"That's better." Celestia said. Luna nodded in agreement, then they followed the sounds of the voices. They arrived in a far corner of the room, with five men standing around a water cooler with cans in hand.

"Fading?" Celestia called out. Four of the humans froze in mid sentence, while the fifth turned around and saw the two alicorns.

"Looks like the two princesses want to exercise with me!" He chuckled.

"What is this place?" Celestia asked.

"It's an exercising room, where the marines and ODSTs test how much they can lift." He answered, waving a hand over all of the equipment

. "Even have a corner for Spartans over there." He said, pointing to a back corner. A large boxing ring lay in the middle of the room, empty.

"Spartans?" Celestia said.

"Biologically augmented soldiers that only have one purpose, to fight the covenant." He said.

"Who were those people over there?" Luna asked, pointing a hoof over to the four frozen humans.

"They were my squad." He answered grimly.

"What happened to them?" Celestia asked.

"I can show you." He said, flicking his empty hand and shooting a beam at the sky, the room disappearing and being replaced with a large room with chairs lining in rows across the room, with a large screen in front of the room. He summoned a bag of popcorn and a large soda.

"Sit back, relax, and enjoy the show!" He said, summoning a remote and starting the memory of his last battle. By the end, the two princesses were in shock while the ODST trooper was finishing off the popcorn and soda.

"Last day alive." He said, tossing the bag and empty cup into the trash.

"This was your last day alive?!" Luna said, shocked on how he died.

"Yep. It happened before, except this time was a different ending." He answered.

"Five men were able to take down so many Covenant forces, and finally get cut down when they bring, what did they call them? Banshees? Wraiths? Scarabs?, into the battle." Celestia said.

"Two Scarabs, three wraiths, and five banshees." He said.

"The Ghosts weren't very effective." Celestia said.

"Those are the light armor, meat shields basically." He stated.

"Nearly two hundred Covies, and I almost lived to tell the tale on how we defeated them." He continued.

"You're alive right now." Luna pointed out.

"I'm actually technically dead, but was brought back to life by the gods as an alicorn." He shot back.

"True, but it still counts for something that you can still turn human." Luna pointed out once more. He paused for a moment, then said.

"Touche." Luna giggled.

"Killed one hundred eighty eight Covenant forces in all, leaving only twelve, plus the crews of the Scarabs, Banshees, Wraiths, and Phantoms alive." He said.

"That's a bit unhealthy that you keep track of how many you killed in your very last mission." Celestia stated. He just shrugged and flicked his hand, shooting another beam into the air. The castle room appeared around them, and Fading went over to the table and picked up a book.

"Is there a library in the castle, or is this all the books you have?" He asked, flipping to the first page.

"The library's down a hall in the dining hall." Celestia said.

"Great." He said with a smile, yet the emotion didn't reach his eyes. Celestia noticed this and frowned, then checked the time.

"We have to lower the moon and raise the sun in thirty minutes, so we must take our leave." Celestia said quickly, exiting the room. Luna followed behind her, suspicious about her sudden change in behavior. They reached Celestia's room quickly, and they stood on the balcony.

"Did you see his eyes?" Celestia asked her sister.

"No? Was there something wrong with them?" Luna asked confused.

"When he smiled, the emotion didn't reach his eyes. They were empty, emotionless pools." Celestia explained.

"I noticed that earlier, when we did night court." Luna said. Celestia summoned another mirror portal, only to see the room empty once more, except they heard the water was running.

"Taking a shower I think." Celestia said. She closed the portal, then looked up at the moon. She looked at the clock once more, seeing they only had ten more minutes until they switched the day and night.

"What happened to him and his men... I'm surprised he handle it so well." Luna said.

"He's seen enough death that it doesn't affect him anymore." Celestia answered. Celestia checked the time once more, then nudged Luna and closed her eyes. Luna followed suit, and both of their horns lit up. The cycle completed, they went to Fading's room to fetch him for breakfast. They knocked on his door, hearing him grunt on the other side.

"Time for breakfast." Luna said.

"Alright." He said, and a few minutes later, he opened the door, the alicorn form standing over both of them. They made their way down the hall, arriving at the dining hall shortly, and Fading finally sat at the table, except away from everypony. This confused Celestia and Luna, but they shrugged it off. The waiters took their orders, making idle conversation, while others arrived, like Blueballs Blueblood, Nightmare Moon, Discord, Twilight, and Spike.

"What's with Fading recently?" Spike asked Twilight.

"Nothing's wrong with him, that's just how he is." Twilight said, sighing and rubbing her temple.

"I would hate having to deal with him on daily basis." Spike said, patting Twilight on the back.

"He's seen a lot of bad things that most ponies couldn't imagine, so at least cut him some slack." Twilight said.

"Twilight, could you come here for a moment?" Celestia asked, catching her attention.

"Of course, Princess Celestia!" She said, jumping up and trotting over.

"I know that you don't want anything to do with Fading, but we've found out more about him." Luna said.

"Really, like what?" Twilight asked.

"We've found out that he wasn't actually dangerous, but that his race was fighting for the most basic right a being is allowed." Celestia said.

"Freedom?" Twilight asked.

"No. The thing he was fighting for was for the right to live. The Covenant were trying to destroy all of them, and they're losing this war." Celestia said. Twilight gasped, looking over at the statue like form of Fading.

"How many?" Twilight asked.

"Eight billion." Luna said.

"Eight billion?!" Twilight repeated out loud.

"Yes, eight billion men, women, and children have been lost to the Covenant. Multiple colonies were destroyed, with most of them being glassed." Celestia said. Twilight was in shock at the amount of lives lost because of a single war.

"He also died in the most horrible way possible..." Luna said with a shake of her head.

"He died?" Twilight repeated.

"Yes. He lost his squad, fighting over an abandoned city, eventually being killed himself." Celestia answered. Twilight looked back over at Fading, seeing him eating.

"How can a pony live with that on their mind and still be sane." Twilight said, worried about Fading.

"We've seen how he's died also. He's shown us. We were going to ask him if he could show his memories to us. What I worry about though, is that he blames himself for humanities destruction, and the deaths of his squad." Celestia said.

"Humanities been destroyed?" Twilight asked in shock.

"Most likely." Luna said. They looked as Fading got up and walked down the hall to his room.

'What are you planning Fading...?' Celestia asked herself as she watched him leave.

Standing on My Own

With a large yawn, I woke up in the soft bed that I've gotten used to for the last few days. I've noticed that the princesses have gotten more nervous around me, so I was planning on asking them about. I got up from the bed, heading in the general direction of the bathroom. I finally opened my eyes, seeing the door to the left a bit, but straight ahead, and quickened my pace. I reached the bathroom door and swung it open with a hoof, then walked in, seeing the large bathroom with an equally large shower, and walked over to the shower. I turned on the water, the momentary jet of cold water waking me up, with the hot water to follow behind. I washed myself up quickly, turned off the water, jumped out and dried myself. I looked myself in the mirror, seeing the nerve racking darkness just waving in the light.

"Guess I never have to comb this." I said to myself, touching the darkness mane. Although it was only a few seconds that I stepped out of the shower, it was near freezing cold. I brushed my teeth, then stepped out of the bathroom. I counted thirty minutes before dinner, so I decided to grab a book I pulled out from the library and read. A few minutes later, the door burst open with a guard standing there.

"Your majesty, Nightmare Moon and Discord are fighting once more." He said. I put down the book and growled. I switched over to my human form and ran out, hearing faint crashes. I followed the crashes for a few minutes until I was on the correct hallway, and a vase came flying out of a side room. I walked to the door, seeing the two combatants throwing things at each other.

"YOU TWO MAGGOTS GET YOURSELVES TOGETHER!" I yelled at the top of my lungs. They stopped immediately and looked at me, not seeing my angry expression behind my visor.

"Oh look, it's Fading. Come to join us in our little fun?" Discord said.

"CAN IT MAGGOT! YOU TWO MORONS ARE CONSTANTLY FIGHTING, AND I'M GETTING SICK OF IT! MUST I BEAT SOME SENSE INTO BOTH OF YOU DUMBASSES?" I yelled at them. They quickly shook their heads and dropped the items in their hands. I flicked my wrist and picked up all the shards of glass and other debris and repaired it immediately. I picked both of them up with my magic and slung them out the room through the door, nearly hitting the crowd of guards that watched the verbal assault.

"The next time I hear you two maggots fighting, I'll personally kick your ass around the Equestria and back, do I make myself clear?" I said to them. They murmured agreements, but I decided to be a jackass.

"I SAID, DO I MAKE MYSELF CLEAR?" I yelled at them. They stood up immediately and said.

"Yes sir!" I chuckled on the inside and said.

"DISMISSED!" They scrambled down opposite ways down the hallway, leaving me to stand there with the group of guards.

"Good job sir." A guard complemented.

"Thank you, now back to work." I said, dismissing the crowd. I walked back to my room, closing the door and looking at the clock.

"Five minutes..." I shrugged and walked back out, heading to the dining hall. I reached the dining hall relatively quickly, not even trying to switch my form from human to alicorn, and walked in. I took my seat away from the entire group, as always, with the princesses looking at me with the masked nervousness, and the waiters running around, throwing the occasional glance at me, and I popped off my helmet.

"What will you be having your majesty?" A waiter asked.

"Some bread, cheese, and a glass of water." I said, throwing my attention over towards the three princesses. They all looked away from me, avoiding my gaze, and I turned back to the table. A few minutes later, the same waiter arrived with a two plates and a glass full of ice and water. He put it in front of me and walked away, serving the princesses, and I turned my attention to the two plates, one full of different breads and the other with different blocks of cheese.

I took a knife and sliced a block of american cheese, then took some white bread and made a cheese sandwich. I took a bite, chewing slowly. I continued eating until I ate my fill, picked up my helmet and put it back on, then got up and walked back to my room. I opened the door and walked in, closing the door behind me with a leg, and walked over to the table. I picked up the book from earlier and continued reading.

-One hour later-

I finished the thick tome, and put the book back onto the table, looking at the stack of books I took from the library that I've already finished. I sighed, then flicked my wrist and shot it at the ceiling. It struck the ceiling, and the room started wobbling like it does when it's hot, and the room disappeared. The room was replaced with an endless library, with a couch with two nightstands with lamps on each one. I flicked my wrist once more and took a number of books from the endless amount of shelves, mostly non-fiction, and started with the uppermost book. I sat on the couch and turned on the lamp, then started reading.

-Thirty minutes later-

Luna sighed as she walked to Fading's room. Night court was starting soon, and he hasn't shown his face since dinner. She knocked on his door, only for it to sound like it was echoing on the other side. She opened the door and found the largest library she has ever seen, with a faint light shining a little ways away. She started walking, looking at each section of books.

'There are countless books here! These could supply every library in Equestria and still have enough knowledge to last an eon.' Luna thought as she continued walking. The light got brighter, revealing an oddly shaped couch with two stands next to it, and a stack of books next to the couch.

"Fading, it's time for night court." Luna said. She heard him grunt, a book being closed, and saw his hand replace the book on top of the stack, and him get up.

"Alright. I have a question for you and Celestia though." He said.

"What's your question?" She asked. He started walking towards the door.

"Why are you, Twilight, and Celestia acting so nervous around me? I haven't done anything recently that'll change your opinions about, now have I?" He asked. Luna stopped for a second, then opened her mouth.

"After night court, can you go to my sisters room? We have something to discuss. There, you'll get your answer." She answered. He just shrugged and opened the door to the hallway, leaving behind the endless library. He switched back to his alicorn form, then they started for the throne room. They reached the throne room, taking their seats, and started night court.

-Five hours later-

With night court done, I made my way to Celestia's room.

'All of this strange behaviors is suspicious... Something's up.' I thought as I reached her door, the two guards giving me a look, then stood aside, allowing me to enter. I knocked on the door.

"Come in." Celestia's voice called out on the other side. I opened the door and walked in, closing it behind me. I looked around her room, seeing her sitting in front of a fireplace, and walked over.

"Luna said that she wanted me to meet you here." I said.

"For a few days, as you may have noticed, we've been a little nervous. We wanted to ask you a question, although, it is completely understandable if you say no." She said, looking up at me.

"What's the question?" I asked, cocking an eyebrow.

"Would you allow us to see into your memories?" She asked. I stood there, thinking about the consequences this could possibly bring out. I shook my head, and said.

"I'll allow you to see into my memories, but... what you see in there might shock you." I said.

"Now we must wait for Luna and Twilight to show." Celestia said. Luna showed up with Twilight five minutes later, and they got situated.

"He has allowed us to see into his memories, but first, be ready for the worst." Celestia warned. Her horn lit up, and I felt a prick at the back of my head, and I blacked out. I woke up in my human form, with three females standing before.

"So this is what it feels like to be human..." Luna said, looking herself over. She had some sort of dark blue armor covering most of her body, her ethereal mane swishing in the non-existent wind.

"It feels very... strange." Celestia commented. She wore a large white dress, her tiara in her hair, the same as Luna's.

"This form is so very weird." Twilight said, cupping her breasts. Instead of a dress or armor like Luna and Celestia, she wore a Japanese style school uniform.

"So, where do we start?" I asked, in my ODST armor with my M7S in hands and carbine on my back

. "When you decided to join the marines." Celestia said. The scene turned from darkness to an old farm.

"Felix! Did you feed the horses?" A female voice yelled out.

"Yes, mama!" A young boy's voice answered. A teenage boy walked into the farmhouse, a pair of blue jeans and white t-shirt, a pair of muddy boots with a strange hat on his head.

"Alright, I need you to go to the market and grab these things." A skinny female walked into the living room. She handed him a piece of white paper then walked back into the kitchen.

"Yes, mama!" He repeated, walking back outside. He walked down a dirt trail, eventually reaching a black concrete street with some type of motorized carriage with no ponies pulling them. They roared down the street, picking specs of dirt and dust as they passed. He started walking down the street, towards a large town. He reached the farm a few minutes later and walked into a busy market. They heard some sort of roaring and looked up, seeing a strange purple flying thing heading towards the farmhouse.

"My first contact with the Covenant." The current Fading said, grinding his teeth together. They watched as it lowered itself to the ground, and some figures dropped from the sides of it.

"It's the Covenant!" A female voice yelled, and the entire market burst into panic. The teenage boy was knocked to the ground, but got back up and started running back to the farm. Screams of pain, gunshots, and burning plasma could be heard, but the boy was running back to the farm with no care with anyone else. He reached the farm, except all that was left is a roaring fire with dead bodies all over. He ran to the farmhouse, only to see four burned bodies huddled into the corner.

"NO~!" The boy screamed, running to the burnt bodies. Tears streaming down his face, he hugged each body for a certain amount of time, then walked out of the farm. A gun was lying on the ground next to a bloody body. He picked up the gun, then searched the body for clips of ammo, then grabbed a combat knife from the body. He reloaded the gun, then started walking down the street. A firefight was ensuing in the middle of the street.

"Hey you! Want to help out here?" A big burly man yelled at him. The teenager stayed silent, but ran up to the man and started firing the gun.

"Why are you here?" The man asked.

"My parents and brothers just got killed by the Covenant, I want my revenge." The teenager said.

"I'm sorry kid, maybe you should join the marines after this." The man said. The idea clicked into the teenagers head, and the kid smiled.

"That sounds like a great idea..." The teenager said to himself.

The memory ended, and the three princesses looked at the silent ODST just standing there.

"I'm so sorry, Fading..." Luna said.

"Save it for someone who actually cares for it." He growled. The next memory started, this one with a strangely outlined town. Felix knew that it was boot camp.

"GET YOUR ASSES UP MAGGOTS! YOU AREN'T HERE TO SIT AROUND AND PICK DAISIES, YOU GODDAMN PANSIES! GET UP, GET UP, GET UP!" A loud voice echoed throughout the large room. Lights flicked on and a banging on metal was heard throughout the entire building. The newest recruits were groaning from being woken up so early, while a few were already standing in front of their beds, standing in nothing but a small shirt and boxers.

"I'M GOING TO KICK EACH AND EVERY ONE OF YOUR ASSES IF YOU DON'T GET OUT OF MY BEDS THIS INSTANT!" A large man in full dark green yelled as he walked by each row of bunk beds. More of the recruits were standing in front of their beds at attention, while others shuffled around, fixing their beds and shirts. The large man stopped as he saw a small boy that was still in bed, with a small smile on his face.

"GET YOUR ASS UP MAGGOT!" The man yelled as he flipped the bed over, sending the small boy flying. The small boy got up and rubbed his eyes, then shuffled to the end of the line.

"PICK YOUR FEET UP YOU SACK OF SHIT!" The man said, pushing the boy to the ground, then picking him up and shoving him forward. Only one face was recognizable to the ponies, while the ODST was standing there, lost in memories of his boot camp experience. The one face recognizable was the teenager from earlier, the first one up and stone faced from the beginning. Once all of the teenagers were standing at attention and stopped rubbing their eyes, the man took his position in front of all of them.

"My name is First Sergeant Davidson, and you will address me as sir. let me tell you one thing. Your stay here will be hell. I will work your flabby bodies till I get fine marines from each and every one of you sacks of shit. DO I MAKE MYSELF CLEAR?" He yelled.

"SIR YES SIR!" Came from the teenagers.

"Bullshit, I can't hear you!" He yelled.

"SIR YES SIR!" The teenagers yelled once more, slightly louder than before.

"Get your asses out of my barracks and get yourselves some grub before morning exercises! You go to area 3C!" The man yelled.

"SIR YES SIR!" Came the response.

"GET GOIN'!" The man yelled, waving his hand towards the door. All of the recruits scrambled for the door. The mess hall was hectic, with the hundred teens scrambling around to eat and get outside to the designated area. In ten minutes, only thirty of the recruits arrived at the designated area, which were all standing in one straight line. In an hour, ninety arrived, and with another ten minutes, the last ten arrived.

"It took you an hour and twenty minutes to get your asses to the designated area. ARE YOU ALL FUCKING STUPID?" The man yelled at them.

"SIR NO SIR!" Came the response.

"I THINK YOU ALL MIGHT BE FUCKING STUPID IF IT TOOK YOU AN HOUR AND TWENTY MINUTES TO EAT A SIMPLE BREAKFAST AND ARRIVE AT AN AREA NOT HALF A MILE AWAY FROM THE BARRACKS!" He yelled at them. "TODAY, WE'RE GOING TO HAVE A BIT OF A JOG. FIFTEEN MILES ACTUALLY. GET YOUR ASSES INTO GEAR!" He yelled at them, blowing a whistle. Most of the recruits started sprinting immediately, while only a handful actually jogged.

By three miles, ninety five percent of the recruits had passed out from exhaustion. One of the remaining boys was the recognizable teenager, which was jogging past knocked out recruits on the side of the dirt track. To the ponies, it appeared that he was the only one that was still up. Nearly an hour and a half later, the teenage Felix had arrived at the checkpoint, where the first sergeant was standing with a face of disgust. He passed the finish line and started to stand at attention.

"What's your name son?" The staff sergeant asked, walking up to him.

"Sir, Felix Vanhorn, Sir." He said, saluting.

"I can tell you'll make a fine marine one day son." He said, walking back over to the finish line.

"Thank you Sir." He replied. The teenage Felix stood at attention for another three hours before he saw some more recruits arriving at the finish line. When it finally hit sundown, most of the recruits had arrived.

"ALL OF YOU ARE FAT SACKS OF SHIT! IT TOOK YOU ALL FUCKING DAY TO ACTUALLY JOG FIFTEEN MILES! THE ONLY ONE THAT ARRIVED HERE IN A REASONABLE TIME WAS CADET VANHORN! TOMORROW, I WANT YOUR ASSES IN BETTER SHAPE! DISMISSED!" The staff sergeant said, dismissing the recruits. Most of the recruits shuffled their way to the mess hall, while a few just went straight to showers and bed.

The memory ended with the teenage Felix climbing into his bed and falling asleep.

"How long did you have to put up with that brute?" Luna asked.

"The basic training was thirteen weeks, but I went for double and passed with flying colors." The normal Felix answered.

"Twenty six weeks with a man constantly yelling at you..." Celestia muttered. Felix thought of a marriage joke right there, but kept it to himself, although he allowed a small smirk to appear on his face. The next memory started, this one with a strange looking range with targets at the end of it.

"Today, you will be learning how to shoot a gun." The staff sergeant said, holding a rifle. Each recruit, which looked more tone than before, held the same rifles.

"First, take your positions at an ammo box." The staff sergeant continued. The recruits stepped next to an ammo box, filled with metal cylinders that the ponies were unfamiliar with.

"You can do this crouching, or lying down on your stomach." The staff sergeant said, walking to an individual ammo box and pulling out a clip. He inserted the clip into the gun, which the recruits followed without hesitation. He crouched down and put his eye against the scope, then with a bang, he shot the gun, the target at the top of the hill being hit straight on the small dot in the middle.

"You aim down the sights, line up your shots, and fire the gun when you think you have the shot. Now, practice until you get ten bullseyes." The staff sergeant said, replacing the clip and flipping the safety on the gun on. Most of the recruits crouched down, resting their arms on their leg, then started firing all over the range. The teenage Felix laid down, grabbing a few clips of ammo and putting it into a small pouch on his hip, then aimed down the sights. He lined up the shot in a few seconds, then fired.

He hit the target, but nowhere near close to the bullseye. He grimaced and relined his shot, then fired once more. The bullet was closer to the bullseye, but he only grimaced once more. He fired a few more testing shots, then finally hit the bullseye. He continued firing, almost every time hitting the bullseye until a small alarm sounded behind him.

"Cadet Vanhorn, you're finished!" The staff sergeant yelled to him. He replaced the clips of ammo he took from the box then ran over to the staff sergeant.

"Start jogging, twenty miles, and you have the rest of the day off. Dismissed!" He yelled.

"Sir yes Sir!" The teenage Felix yelled, then started jogging. Four hours later, he arrived back at the mess hall, which was relatively empty besides the cooks cooking food.

"Looks like Vanhorn's the first one again." One of the younger staff commented.

"How are you always the first to arrive back?" He questioned.

"The other recruits don't give two shits about what punishment they get for not arriving on time back to the mess hall. I take the stuff that Staff Sergeant teaches because it'll help me get my revenge on those bastards." He responded, walking up to the counter. He grabbed a bottle of water and cracked it open, drinking the ice cold water.

"Everything isn't about revenge son. I tried getting revenge for losing my mother to insurrectionists and got my leg blown off because I was careless." An old voice said.

"I want to get my chance to kill those Covenant bastards. They wiped out my entire family, plus they destroyed everything I ever loved." The teenage Felix snapped.

"You've acted all quiet for eight weeks, and that's your reason for joining." The younger staff member whistled.

"That's gotta be tough for you son, but you can't let it mess with your head. You'll get your revenge, but you have to be cautious about it." The older staff member said.

"I'm going to take everything with caution. I told you, I'm actually paying attention to what Staff Sergeant says. The rest of them, they joined for money or benefits, but I was the only one in this batch that has actually lost anything to them." The teenage Felix growled.

"I knew some boys that were just like you, except that they weren't cautious with what they did. The week they get deployed to the front lines, they got themselves killed." The older staff member warned.

"That's why you learn from your and others mistakes." Teenage Felix said, repeating one of Staff Sergeants sayings.

"I'm just saying, don't become obsessed with revenge and you'll live longer then three minutes in a firefight." The older staff member said. The teenager Felix nodded and finished the bottle of water off, throwing it into the trash can.

"I'm a bit famished, would love some food." The young staff member said.

"Cook it yourself then. I gotta get back to cutting the veggies." The older staff member said.

"You want anything Vanhorn?" The younger staff member said.

"I can wait until lunch." The teenage Felix said.

"What're you going to do while waiting?" The young guy said.

"Maybe go to the weight room, build a little muscle." Teenage Felix said with a grin.

"You can already lift two hundred pounds, don't need to push yourself." The older staff member said.

"Plus you need a spotter to be lifting the barbells." The young staff member added.

"That's why I'm not using the barbells. Using dumbbells and going to do push ups." The teenage Felix said smugly.

"How much?" The young guy asked.

"Fifty at the least, maybe push it to seventy five." Teenage Felix responded.

"Any younger with this training kid, and they might just consider you a Spartan and pump you full of chemicals." The older staff member commented.

"Hell no! I wouldn't want to be one of those bastards!" The teenage Felix responded.

"Why not?" The younger staff member asked.

"In the UNSC until they die? Complete property to UNSC? Only one purpose in life and that's war? I'd rather not go crazy from fighting constantly." He named off a few reasons.

"Rather have a life outside of war and destruction?" The older staff member asked.

"Win this damn war, then start a family, get myself a farm, live the simple life." The teenage Felix responded.

"What happens if we lose this war then?" The old man asked.

"I'll be dead before I see this war lost." Teenage Felix said.

"That's deep man, but what if you're still alive and the war is suddenly lost?" The younger staff member asked.

"I'll keep fighting for freedom or whatever happens to humanity, and continue fighting till I either die or I see humanity is finally free from the Covenant's grasp." The teenage Felix responded.

"That's a big goal for a single man. If you were a politician, then that'll get you votes." The older staff member snickered. They all had a chuckle together, then the Teenage Felix walked away.

The memory ended with the ponies staring at the ODST in awe or bewilderment.

"Mighty claims, yet, now... You can't fulfill them." Celestia said.

"That's one of the reasons I didn't like just waking up in a peaceful land." I mumbled.

"You didn't wish for peace until the war was finally won, and you can rest easy knowing that Earth and all of her colonies are safe?" Luna more of stated then questioned. The phrase that Dr. Halsey used rung in my head.

"You sound so much alike to a doctor I knew." I commented.

"Interesting..." Luna said thoughtfully.

"Graduation, or first battle?" I asked, finally turning to the princesses.

"First battle." Twilight said excitedly.

"I would like to how your squad was formed actually." Celestia said. I fell silent, grimacing behind the visor.

"Fading?" Luna asked. I looked up, realizing my silence unnerved them.

"I want to make this clear, this was my first squad, which had been KIA'd on our first real mission." I responded.

"You've had multiple squads?" Twilight asked.

"Yes, three actually." I responded. The memory started, this one a dirt track with the recruits in our first squads.

"These will be your squadmates for boot camp, and maybe afterwards if you sacks of shit get into the marines." The staff sergeant yelled. The Staff Sergeant started calling out names, and after an hour of slow moving cadets and yelling.

"Cadet Vanhorn, Cadet Tracey, Cadet Ticossi, Cadet Aberica, and Cadet Abbott, your squad thirty six!" The staff sergeant yelled out. He called the rest of squads, and all of the recruits moved to meet their new squadmates. The teenage Felix moved to the outlined area where squad thirty six was meeting, and saw one other there. It was a skinny female that was tossing her hair every which way, occasionally smacking the careless recruit that met her torrent of hair. I moved over to the designated spot and stood at attention, with the girl still messing with her hair. He looked straight ahead, seeing out of the corner of his eye another female moving towards the squads meet up spot.

**'A squad full of females... Great...'* I thought as I diverted my attention elsewhere. The next one was a boy with a bit of belly fat on him, and the last one was another female. The staff sergeant was naming off temporary squad leaders, which the recruits went crazy for a place of power. He made it to Felix's squad and grimaced.*

"Cadet Vanhorn, you'll be squad leader!" He said after a quick decision. He moved onto the next squad, which was all talking to each other. I heard whispers from behind me, but didn't do anything.

"Hey Vanhorn!" A loud voice said behind teenage Felix, and he felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned behind himself and saw it was the boy, so he grabbed his hand and crushed it easily.

"Don't touch me." Felix growled, going back to attention. The boy cried out in pain and fell to the ground, clutching his hand.

"The fuck was that for man?" He yelled at me. I just ignored him until I heard him getting up, then I turned around and looked him in the eyes.

"I said don't touch me, fat ass." He growled, giving his best death glare. He swung at me, which was a clumsy throw, but I dodged easily and grabbed his wrist, twisting him over my back and grabbing his other wrist, the put him in a submission hold. The staff sergeant came over.

"WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU TWO NUMBNUTS DOING?" He yelled at us. I let go of him and went to attention.

"Sir, Cadet Abbott thought it was funny to throw a punch at me, and I acted in self defense, Sir!" I yelled. The staff sergeant looked down at the tubby boy, who was clutching both of his arms.

"Is that true, Cadet Abbott?" The staff sergeant said.

"Sir yes Sir." He said weakly.

"I'll let this one slide, but if I catch you two fighting once more, I'm going to have you scrubbing the latrines with your toothbrushes for a week!" He yelled. Felix snapped into a salute, while the tubby boy was trying to get off of the ground.

"SIR YES SIR!" Felix yelled. The mumbled response came from Abbott a second later.

"GET YOUR FAT ASS OFF OF THE GROUND CADET ABBOTT!" The staff sergeant yelled at the struggling recruit. After a few seconds, the recruit finally pushed himself off of the ground, wiping off the dust.

"GIVE ME FIVE MILES CADET ABBOTT!" The staff sergeant yelled in his face.

"Sir yes Sir." Came the quiet response from the weak cadet, and with that, the cadet started jogging.

"The rest of you, I want you to follow me to a little surprise I have for you." He said, giving a mischievous grin. Some of the recruits grumbled, knowing it was going to be taxing on their bodies.

"GET YOUR ASSES INTO GEAR!" He yelled.

AN: The next chapter will continue this memory, as well as going into so many others. Might have to make a part three to this piece. Depends... Anyway, I want to make sure that I don't try to relate stuff to movies if I can help it, but sometimes it's funnier if I do. I really wanted to put Gunnery Sergeant Hartman in here, but it would basically a rip off. Oh well... You get what you get.

-Ghost