Chapter 2

A dim sliver of light shines through the window and I bolt up out of bed. I open the shades, dawn. I put all of my armor pieces back on. Upon snapping the torso pieces in place, my energy shields go up. I put on my last piece of armor: my helmet. I stand straight up. I fall forward onto the ground and catch myself in a perfect push up position. Wearing the heavy armor, I begin my morning exercises.
A few hours later, Applejack knocks on my door.
"Come in." I say. She enters and sees me doing push ups.
"Exercisin' Ah see."
"Of course… I don't want…hah, to get too soft, huf… now do I?"
"How many you at?"
"4,588; 4,589; 4,590." They start to slow down greatly. "4,596; 4,597; 4,598." I'm really struggling now. Sweat drips onto the inside of my helmet, more than before. "4,599." I go down for the last one. "Four, agh, thousand-" I'm stuck at halfway. "Six, urg!" Almost there! "Hundred!" I let myself drop onto my face. I take my helmet off. Applejack hands me a rag. "Thanks." I wipe my face and the inside of my helmet.
"Geez, forty-six hundred push ups? You give Big Mac a run fer his money. How much does that armor weigh anyway?"
"Too…damn…much." I take big breaths between words.
"Breakfast is ready. After that we can head into town to see the gals."
"Huf, sounds good." I painstakingly push myself up to my knees, then stand. I wobble a bit and feel lightheaded. Applejack helps me stay standing.
"Y'alright there sugarcube?"
"I'll be fine. Thank you." She leads me to the table and plops two eggs on a plate. She slides the dish to me and tosses two pieces of toast and bacon onto the plate. "Nice toss!"
"I'm pretty athletic ya know, all that farm work."
"I am too, what with training and whatnot."
"Trainin'? Like all them push ups?" She laughs.
"Yeah, those are horrible when you're wearing Spartan armor!"
"I believe it, well eat up. Got a big day ahead of us."

She takes me to a bakery in town. Someplace called Sugarcube Corner. I look up at the sign, then down at the door. 'Come on in!' The sign reads. I open the door and walk inside, holding it for Applejack. Soldier though I may be, I'm still a gentleman. A girl with very curly pink hair greets us.
"Hiya Applejack!"
"Hey Pinkie Pie, how are ya?"
"Oh I'm faaaantastic! Who's this?" Pinkie asks. She's dressed oddly; very colorful. She's wearing denim shorts with suspenders over a pink striped short-sleeved shirt. She has kept a smile on her face this whole time, and a genuine one at that.
"This is mah new friend Max. Max, this is mah friend Pinkie Pie." I take off my helmet and hold out my hand for a handshake.
"Pleasure to meet-"
"Ohmygosh! A new person in town and I wasn't told before now? Oh I have so many preparations to make! But it's no problem, I'll be ready by this evening!"
"She wants to throw you a party, if you'd like that is."
"Oh, that won't be necessary."
"Nobody's ever turned down a party before...you sure?"
"Perhaps another time would be better. I'm still getting used to this place you know, and I still have a lot to get used to." Like no Coveys.
"Well, if you really want to. Oh! But here, take this!" She hands me a delicious looking cupcake with pink frosting and blue sprinkles.
"Wow, thanks! I'd best be going now, it was a pleasure meeting you Pinkie Pie."
"You too Max! Take care! Say hi to the others for me!" We exit the bakery and she waves goodbye.
"Well, she was interesting."
"That's Pinkie for ya."
"Are all your friends like that?"
"No way, Pinkie's somethin' else for sure. Let's go to the library next."
"Whatever you say." I unwrap the cupcake and eat it. Even more delicious than it looked!

Next place Applejack leads me to is a giant tree with windows and a door. A tree with windows and a door huh? I guess I've seen stranger things before. Like aliens that have four mandibles or breathe methane. Like shields made out of light and weapons that are giant rings with biomes on them. Applejack knocks on the door. A boy in a purple hoodie answers. He has green hair and one sharp tooth that doesn't quite fit in his mouth.
"Hey AJ, what's up? Who's this?"
"Hi Spike, this is mah friend Max. Is Twilight home?"
"Yeah, hang on a sec." He shuts the door. A moment later a girl answers the door. Her hair is a dark purple with a streak of pink and a streak of light purple in it. She's wearing a white polo shirt under a light purple sweater vest, and dark violet slacks.
"Hi Applejack. Hi uh, Applejack's friend." She smiles at me.
"Hey Twilight. This is mah friend Max. Max, this is Twilight Sparkle."
"It's a pleasure." She says, holding out her hand. We shake hands.
"The pleasure's all mine."
"She knows magic by the way Max. She's really good at it too!" Twilight Sparkle blushes.
"Oh stop, I'm okay at it." She smiles and her face turns a brighter red.
"Magic eh? This I'd like to see."
"Well, okay." She waves a finger and levitates a book over to herself. Both her finger and the book are surrounded by some kind of violet aura. "See? Some people can do it, others can't."
"Hey, that's pretty cool!" I say. The kid from before walks back up.
"She can do a lot more than just levitation, by the way I'm Spike." I shake his hand as well.
"Maxwell Anderson, nice to meet you."
"We should get goin' Twi, we still gotta go to Rarity's, Fluttershy's, and Rainbow Dash's houses."
"Okay, bye then. Thanks for stopping by! It was nice to meet you Max."
"You too!"
"Bye Max!"
"Bye Spike!" We walk into town further. This time we stop at a clothes store. I look inside the windows. An expensive looking clothes store. We walk in and a bell above the door jingles.
"Rarity! Ah brought someone I think you should meet."
"Just a minute!" A voice calls in a sing-songy tone.
"She's probably workin' on a dress. Shouldn't be long." After about fifteen minutes, a girl walks up to us.
"Terribly sorry about that Applejack, I was struck with inspiration!"
"Don't worry about it Rarity." Rarity looks at me and sizes me up. She's wearing a white dress shirt with short sleeves and a purple skirt that goes down to just above her knees.
"No doubt you're the one Sweetie Belle told me about. Tall, metal suit, well-built physique, not a doubt in my mind you're the one."
"That sounds like me alright."
"I am Rarity, I run the local boutique."
"I'm Maxwell Anderson of the UNSC."
"Pleased to meet you, Maxwell Anderson of the UNSC. Say, Applejack, have you stopped by Fluttershy's yet?"
"Nope, we're headed there next though, why d'you ask?"
"Can you bring her this for me? She has been expecting it for quite some time, but I've been so full of ideas and orders recently, would you mind?"
"Not at all." Rarity hands her a small brown box.
"Oh, thank you so much dear. It was nice to meet you Maxwell."
"Nice to meet you too Rarity." She goes back to work and we leave. Rarity closes the door and we start to walk away.
"Say, Max, Ah've got a real important question for ya."
"Go for it."
"You kill, a lot right?" I sigh.
"Yes."
"Do you... Do you enjoy it?" I stop. She turns around and looks at me. "Do you?"
"One time. I enjoyed killing one Elite, that's all. Jul M'dama. He killed many good soldiers, and many of the men in my sector. The second I got my hands on him, I loved pulling the trigger. But what I think you're asking is whether I enjoy all of the mindless bloodshed, and the answer is no. I hate ending the lives of those I shoot, alien or not."
"I'm sorry, I just-"
"You figured since I'm a soldier that I enjoy my job? That I enjoy ending the lives of these creatures? I only kill them because I know that if I don't, they will kill me and everyone else in the UNSC if the get the chance. Now I have a quick question for you, not as deep as that one though."
"Alright."
"Do you feel the same way about me as you did last evening? Before our chat?"
"Honestly, a little bit."
"How so?"
"You don't like killin' so that makes me feel better, but still. Ah just don't like the fact that you still kill things or that you brought weapons around my little sister."
"I assure you, I will be careful. You can trust me. I will use my weapons only for the protection of the residents of this town, including your family. And I won't kill a single human being for the duration of my stay."
"Wait, what?"
"I can't stay forever, I have a duty to perform. I won't abandon the UNSC, I'm no deserter. I'll try to find a way back to wherever my ship was. I'm going to find my squad and assist in their endeavors 'til the day I die."
"But why? They took you from your home and transformed you into the man you are today, and you're gonna stay loyal to 'em? Why? Ah don't get you."
"I can't just leave them to die in the midst of a war, I can't risk the Covenant getting to humanity completely, and I can't risk the honor of myself. If I left, knowing how many people would die as a result of my absence would kill me inside. It would be a fate worse than death."
"Ah'm sorry for prying, let's get to Fluttershy's now." We resume the walk.

She takes me on a path that leads quite away from town. I don't love the idea of being so secluded, but I'll get over it. It's after noon now, and I'm starting to get pretty hungry.
"Don't worry, almost there." A bush to our right rustles. I whip my shotgun off my back and cock it.
"What was that?"
"Ah dunno, probably just some critter. Put that thing away would ya?" A small rabbit jumps out from the bush. I sigh and put the gun back on the magnetic plate on my back.
"Sorry."
"It's fine, you're just a little jumpy from all your war experience."
"I guess." We keep walking. Shortly, we reach a cottage.
"Can you take your guns off, maybe set 'em outta sight?"
"Sure, but why?"
"Fluttershy's real shy and nervous. I don't want her ta be scared of yer weapons. Yer already seven feet tall and covered in metal, which will probably shake her a little bit."
"Ha, yeah, good point." I take of my weapons and lean them up against the wall of the cottage. Applejack knocks on the door.
"Who is it?" A timid voice asks.
"It's Applejack, and a friend."
"Who's the friend?"
"Well gee, ya have to meet him ta find out." She chuckles. The door opens just a crack. A blue eye stares at me from the other side of the door.
"Hello there."
"H-hello. Who are you?"
"I'm Max. And you are?"
"Oh. I'm-" she trails off.
"Sorry?"
"My name is Flutter-" she quietly mumbles.
"Come again? Fluttersomething?" She opens the door completely.
"Fluttershy." She nervously holds out her hand. I gently shake it.
"Nice to meet you."
"What...are you? Oh, um, if you don't mind my asking."
"Seven foot tall man covered in metal? I would have questions too if I were you." She laughs softly.
"This is yours by the way." Applejack hands her the box.
"Oh yay! It's here!"
"What is it anyway?"
"Sewing supplies, I like sewing in my spare time." She seems obviously more comfortable talking with Applejack than with me, which is understandable. "Would you like to come in for some lunch?"
"No thanks, we'll probably eat in town. Then we're off to go see Rainbow Dash."
"Okay, goodbye then." She closes the door and we head out.
"She's probably at the track, that's where she spends a lot of her time. Ah think you're gonna like her." We arrive at a cross country track. One girl is running, and pretty fast at that. She has multicolored hair and she looks like she runs a lot. She's wearing a light blue sleeveless shirt and blue sweat pants. Another person is standing on the inside of the the track, he's holding a stopwatch. Rainbow Dash runs past him then slows to a halt. We walk up to the track.
"Plus point two seconds." The man says.
"Wow, not bad." Rainbow Dash pants. "But I bet I can do better! I'll beat that record!"
"What record is that?"
"Spitfire's record. I'm tryin' to beat it. I'm only a fraction of a second away. Hey AJ!"
"Hi Dash!" The two friends hug each other and I hold my helmet under my arm. They break the hug.
"Who's this?" She asks.
"Oh, this is Max. Mah sister and her friends found him in Everfree."
"What the heck were you doing in there?"
"Waking up."
"From what?"
"Well, judging by the giant metal pod I was in and the small crater it made, I'd say crashing."
"You were alone?"
"Yeah, I'm between AIs right now."
"AIs?"
"Artificial Intellegences."
"So, why'd you crash?"
"Wow you ask a lot of questions."
"Well, I'm curious."
"I guess you have reason to be after all. I don't remember. A lot of stuff before the crash is a blur. Last thing I remember is boarding to leave Requiem. Which is the planet I was on before I came here."
"Okay, well good luck on remembering all that."
"Thanks, you're pretty fast by the way."
"Hyeah, thanks."
"We should race sometime."
"Good luck on that too, I'm the fastest runner in all of Equestria!"
"Maybe. See you around then."
"Hey Max, Ah'm gonna stay here with Rainbow Dash okay? Here's some bits so you can go and get lunch in town." She hands me some coins. I put my helmet back on and watch my shields regenerate.
"Thanks, see you back at the farm."
"See ya." I walk into town and find myself back at Sugarcube Corner. I walk in and a skinny man is standing behind the register.
"How can I help you sir?" He asks.
"Is Pinkie here?"
"Yes she is, might I ask who wants to see her?"
"Max, a friend."
"Sure thing." He smiles. He walks through a door and comes out with Pinkie Pie.
"Oh, hi Max!"
"Hey Pinkie."
"Whatcha doin'?"
"Just stopping by. I was just wandering through town to find someone I met, and found myself here. You know of any good places to eat lunch?"
"Why don't you eat here silly?"
"Thanks, but I really don't have much of a sweet tooth."
"Oh, well you can always buy something from one of the stands on the street, or find a restaurant to eat at. There are tons further in town, can't miss 'em!"
"Alright, sounds good. Thanks Pinkie."
"You're welcome, hey!"
"Yeah?"
"Maybe we can hang out later? Whenever you're ready to have that party."
"Sure thing. Bye!"
"See ya!" I exit the bakery and head deeper into town. I stop at a stand selling sandwiches, and purchase one. I take off my helmet, lowering my energy shield, and take a bite. A child taps on my leg. I look down to see Scootaloo.
"Hey kid."
"Hi Max, did you meet everyone yet?"
"Yep, just met Rainbow Dash. She's really fast."
"Fastest in Equestria!" I pick her up.
"Well, we'll just see about that now won't we?" I hear a click in the distance. I turn to my right to see an Elite about 40 yards away, holding a UNSC sniper rifle. BAM! Scootaloo and I both scream as the bullet hits us and pain jolts through my right arm. I fall behind the stand, taking the child with me. My helmet hits the ground a few feet away, out of reach. Chaos ensues as the civilians flee, knocking over anything in their path away from the shot. Scootaloo's still screaming, I put my left hand over her mouth to silence her. I put my index finger of my other hand over my mouth. Everyone else ran from the scene as soon as the bullet left the barrel and now the town square is empty. I can faintly hear the footsteps of the Elite. I look at the girl and pull my magnum off my leg. I crouch behind the stand with my magnum in my left hand. "Alright, listen. You're gonna be fine okay? You're gonna be alright." The footsteps get louder. "I'm not gonna let you die like this Scootaloo. I promise." I wince at the pain in my right arm. The Elite stops. I listen. I see him in the reflection of the orange visor of my helmet that I dropped. My grip on the magnum gets tighter and the pain stops. I jump up and put the business end of the pistol between his four jaws and squeeze the trigger. It kills him instantly and blood splatters behind him. The pain in my arm comes back, so much that I drop my magnum and hold the wound with my left hand. I rush back to the stand.
"Scootaloo? Scootaloo!" I crouch down next to her. "Are you okay?" She takes her hand off her leg, both of which are covered in blood. "Aw shit. Okay, look. You're gonna be okay, alright? Where's the hospital?"
"I already called." I look up and see a man in a lab coat and spiky brown hair, sort of slicked back. "A nurse should be here any moment. Are you alright sir?" I look at my bleeding arm.
"I'll be fine, take care of her."
"Am I gonna be okay Max?" Tears are rolling down her face.
"You'll be fine. The bullet didn't get you very badly 'cause it went through my arm first. It saved your life, and probably saved your leg. You'll live." Fluttershy rushes to me.
"Max! Are you okay?!"
"I don't know."
"What happened? Scootaloo? Oh no!" I notice a green backpack that she's wearing.
"What's in there?"
"My sewing kit, it has the wrong color thread, I was on my way to Rarity's to get a new spool."
"Get it out." She fumbles with the pack and drops it. "Now please!"
"Sorry!" She pulls out a needle and some thread. "What do you want me to do?" I show her my arm, which is bleeding badly.
"Stitch it up, please."
"Oh, I don't think-"
"Please! That sniper slug punctured a big artery in my arm, if the bleeding doesn't stop then I'll die in a few minutes!" She starts crying.
"But I can't!" I put my hand on her face.
"Yes, you can. You have to. Try at least. Please." She wipes away the tears.
"...Alright. I'll try." I hold out my arm and sit down, she kneels beside me to work on it. She threads the needle and sticks it in my arm.
"Ack!"
"I'm sorry!"
"You're fine, keep going." My arm tenses up with her touching the area around the wound and with the needle going in and out of my arm. Damn Elite, hit me right in the bicep. I'm gonna blast the next one of those motherfuckers that I see. She cuts the thread and ties it at the end. I look down and see a line about and inch and a half long of sewn flesh.
"There. Finished." I look at Scootaloo, and the nurse holding her. There's a white bandage over a part of her shin with a blotch of red in the middle. I can tell the bleeding is stopping, she'll even get to keep her leg. Lucky girl.
"She's lucky. She can walk away from this with only a scar. She'll live, and even keep her leg." Fluttershy silences me with a tight hug. "I'll be fine too, thanks to you." I feel warm tears fall onto my mesh suit and I hug her back. "You okay?"
"Why did he do that? That, that, that thing?"
"He's on the other side of the war I fight. It's an Elite, a Covenant soldier. Stupid fucker almost got me. He would have too." She looks at me. On the ground, we're about at eye level.
"So, you'll be okay?"
"Yes. And thank you." She nods.
"Are there any more of them?"
"No, these things only travel in groups, especially when doing assault missions like this. I've fought enough to know. He must have been a straggler, maybe a survivor like me. But from a Covenant ship, maybe a Lich. I put my magnum back on the magnetic plate on my thigh. I pick up my sandwich and my helmet, then stand up. "I'm going back to the farm, to get some rest; let this heal up a bit. I'd appreciate it if you and Scootaloo would drop by when you can."
"We will." I toss the sandwich in a garbage can. I lost my appetite.

In the forest, another Spartan waits. He scopes in on the Elite's corpse, and on the injured soldier and little girl. Though he uses a sniper scope, he ran out of ammunition for his weapons long ago. All that he has left is his combat knife, which has remained sharp due to intense care.
"Impressive kill Spartan."
"He will pay for this." An Elite says. The Elite is standing next to this Spartan.
"That soldier ceased to be of use long ago, you know that as well as I do."
"The Spartan will prove to be a fight."
"How many soldiers are left here?"
"Two units, not enough if he has reinforcements."
"Well, I didn't. He is our only shot right now, I don't intend to miss it."
"The UNSC will crumble before our eyes."
"Indeed it will. I'll make sure of it." He puts the sniper down and looks at the small town through the hole in his visor.

Author's Note

Not sure if I'll continue this, but here's chapter two of my experimental story! Hope you guys like it, enjoy!