My Little Pony: Apocalypse

Earlier that day…

Golden Oak Library, Ponyville
Day 1
13:33 hours

Mickey found himself surrounded by the strange pulsating light. Every direction he looked, he could see only an empty white void and nothing more. The humming sound from earlier left a loud ringing noise in his ears. He felt strange. He couldn’t feel the floor of the laboratory beneath him. He blindly waved his hand and felt nothing below him. Was he hovering in midair? He received his answer when he abruptly landed on something flat on his stomach. Multiple objects broke and crushed under him. He brushed his hands through the things he landed on. It felt like he was on top of a pile of scrap metal and wires.

The white field around him slowly began to dim, though he could still see nothing. The ringing continued to buzz in ears. ‘What happened?’ he asked himself. He sat up and tried to look around. As he expected, he couldn’t see anything. He put his hand on the back of his helmet and tried to think about the last thing he remembered. The Hunters had entered the laboratory and blew the hell out of the place. One of their fuel pods exploded near him which sent him flying at least ten feet away from where he stood. After that, more Covies stormed the room. Some Grunts were watching him on the trigger ends of their plasma pistols. He had been just about to grab the maulers and shoot his way out when the light and hum emerged from nowhere. After that, he wasn’t sure what had ensued.

Slowly the ringing faded away. “What are you?” someone suddenly asked. Mickey jerked where he sat; the unexpected voice startling him. He didn’t recognize the voice; it did not belong to any member of his squad. In fact, the speaker was definitively female. He could not recall there being any women aboard the ONI station. Was it possible that he and his squad received reinforcements?

Mickey still could not see anything and so he was about to ask whom he was speaking to, when the nature of the woman’s query suddenly struck him. He just realized that she – whoever she was – had asked what he was, rather than who he was. ‘Did she really ask me what I am? What kind of question is that?’ He chose not to say something rude just in case he was speaking to a confused superior. The last thing he wanted to do was insult an officer. “That’s an odd question,” he warily said. “Haven’t you ever seen an ODST?” Asking a question like that was like asking someone if they knew who the Master Chief is.

“Odyessty?” the voice asked like it was one word. “I’ve never heard of that species before.”

‘Species?’ Mickey asked himself dumbfound. ‘Are you serious? You really can’t tell what I am?’ Mickey sightlessly rose to his feet and heard more components crack and break beneath his boots.

“Umm... Is this Vergil?” the woman whispered, apparently to someone else.

‘Vergil? Does she mean the Engineer? Is she asking me that?’ The white field in Mickey’s eyes dimmed to a jet black. He began to wonder if he’d gone blind.

“No silly. That’s not Vergil,” a second high-pitched female voice answered the former. “Are you one of Vergil’s friends?” the second voice loudly asked Mickey in anticipation.

“Be quiet, Pinkie Pie. I’m trying to carefully ascertain what this thing is,” the first woman quietly commanded.

‘Now they’re calling me a thing?’ Mickey decided to address the people around him. “Okay, that’s it. Who are you and what is going on here?”

There was a moment of silence before the former woman answered, “I think I can ask you the same question.”

Mickey tried a different approach. “What is your rank, soldier?” he demanded.

“Soldier?” the woman gasped, sounding a little offended. “I’m not a soldier. I’d like to consider myself a student. A diligent, hardworking student studying the magic of friendship I might add.”

“And I am a party-thrower extraordinaire,” the second woman eagerly added.

‘Some college student…? A party planner…? What the hell are these people doing on an ONI station?’ he asked himself. These two unknown people were not getting him anywhere with their strange answers. He really wished his vision would come back. He shifted his head in the direction he thought the first voice came from. “Okay then, ‘student’, how did the two of you get on this station?”

“Station? What are you talking about?” the second woman responded in place of the former. “We are nowhere near the train station. Duh!”

“Don’t be rude, Pinkie Pie. Can’t you see it’s clearly confused,” the first woman told the latter.

“Hold on a second,” Mickey said holding his hand out towards nothing. “Just what is going on here? Where am I?”

“You are in my library. Well, actually, you’re in my library’s laboratory,” the first voice explained.

“How did I get here? Did one of you bring me in here,” the ODST demanded pointing his finger in their general direction.

“Yes! I did!” the second woman happily cheered. Mickey tilted his head in her direction awaiting an elaboration. When the woman said nothing more he rotated his palm in a circle to get her to keep going. It took the first voice to explain what Mickey was trying to convey. Once the latter realized his intentions she explained, “I put together all these techno-jiggers and other doohickeys and PRESTO! here you are!”

Mickey fell silent. That was not the explanation he was expecting, nor one that told him how he made it from the ONI laboratory to someone else’s laboratory. These two were obviously toying with him, and he was not amused. “I need a real answer,” he demanded.

“But it’s…” the anonymous woman began to protest.

“Never mind,” Mickey interrupted, “I don’t want to hear excuses.” The two women fell silent. Though he still couldn’t see them, Mickey assumed that they may have been giving him dirty looks. He reached his hands out and tried to get a “feeling” of the place he was in. He couldn’t feel any walls or any type of support. Cautiously, he took a step forward and instantly tripped over a cord he didn’t see and landed face first on the pile of scrap with a loud CRUNCH!

“Are you okay?” the first voice casually asked him.

Mickey steadily pushed himself up. “Yes, I’m fine,” he replied. All at once, his vision returned. The first thing he saw was a strange silhouette inches in front of his visor. A moment later it materialized into a purplish blur. A second after that, Mickey’s eyes enlarged at what was staring into his visor: a purple horse. It had large violet eyes and was giving him a very curious, confused look. Atop its head was a dark purple-colored mane with a single pink streak running through it. Some of the mane was drooped over the horse’s forehead like they were bangs. But the single feature that stood out the most to him was the horn protruding from the strangely colored equine’s forehead. Mickey blinked, making sure he wasn’t just seeing things. He then got curious as to who was speaking to him. “That’s funny. I could’ve just sworn that that purple horse was talking to me,” he said aloud.

The purple horse pulled its head back and gave an apparent offended expression. “Hey! Who are you calling a horse?” it demanded in the same voice that Mickey had first heard. Mickey’s jaw dropped, unable to comprehend what he had just heard. “I’m a pony,” the equine corrected. “And I’m a unicorn for that matter.”

Mickey jumped up to his feet in shock. The purple unicorn gazed up at him as he towered a foot or two above her. “Y-y-y-y-you just talked!” he stuttered.

“Well, of course I talked,” the violet pony said rationally. “I’ve been talking to you this whole time.”

“Me too!” a second pony – the other female voice – eagerly said. Mickey shifted his focus to second pony in the room. This one looked a little odder than the unicorn. She was covered in a bright pink coat and had a dark pink, puffy mane and tail. This pony was staring attentively at him with bulging blue eyes.

Mickey was still stunned. “But… But that’s not possible. You can’t be talking. It’s just not possible,” he exclaimed.

“And how is that not possible,” the unicorn probed.

“For starters, ponies cannot talk… period,” Mickey bluntly simplified. The two ponies looked at one another like he was crazy. “And,” he said pointing a finger at the violet unicorn, “unicorns do not even exist!”

The unicorn gave him another insulted look. “What? Of course unicorns are real. I’m here after all,” she scolded.

Mickey shook his head and looked away. “This isn’t really happening. I’ve got to be dreaming. That’s it! This is all just a bizarre dream,” he concluded.

“You silly. If this was a dream, then really weird things would be happening,” the pink pony reasoned. Mickey glanced back at the pony wondering what could possibly be weirder than a talking pony. “You know like if the grass was made of cotton candy! Or maybe it started raining cupcakes and donuts! Oh. Oh. Oh. And all the houses in Ponyville were made of ice cream covered in hot fudge! Mmmm! Hot fudge,” the pink pony lazily licked her lips evidently enjoying the fantasy she just conjured.

The violet unicorn looked at the drooling pony. “Did you happen to dream that last night, Pinkie?”

“I sure did,” the pink pony leisurely affirmed. She continued to lick her lips, imagining she was in a pastry heaven. Mickey only stared in absolute wonder.

The unicorn returned her gaze to the ODST. “Anyways. I can assure you that this is not a dream. I’m real. Pinkie Pie is real. You. Are. Awake,” she simply stated.

Mickey sighed. “I guess you’re right,” he relented. He knew the futility in trying to argue with the unicorn. Strange as it may be, Mickey knew that she was correct. This did not seem like any kind of dream he’d have and he undoubtedly did not feel like he was sleeping. “You’ve just got to see things from my perspective, okay? This is obviously quite new to me. I’m clearly not supposed to be here, wherever here is.”

The unicorn took a step towards him. “Who are you, stranger? Where did you come from?”

Mickey took a breath and prepared to explain. “Your-name-is-Michael-Crespo-but-your-friends-call-you-Mickey-you-are-a-human-soldier-ranked-Private-First-Class-from-Crisium-City-Naniwa-Luna-in-orbit-over-the-planet-Earth-and-you-and-your-squad-were-just-in-a-battle-with-a-bunch-of-evil-aliens-on-a-space-station-orbiting-the-earth-while-protecting-Vergil!” the pink pony rapidly declared in one breath.

Mickey’s jaw dropped; he was completely speechless. The unicorn rolled her eyes. “Yeah, Pinkie,” she said sarcastically, “I’m pretty sure that that is not true.”

“Actually, your friend there is dead-on. More or less,” Mickey affirmed in bewilderment. How did this odd pink pony know so much about him? He’d only been in their presence for a brief time. And yet she knew his name, where he was born, even about the battle on the ONI station. Mickey was truly amazed. “How did you know?” he asked the pink pony.

“Call it a hunch,” she shrugged.

The violet unicorn looked back at Mickey, eyes spreading. “So you really are from another world?” Mickey nodded. “That’s remarkable! I’ve never met an alien before. Then again, I never believed that aliens even existed. What is it like where you’re from? Are there others just like you? Is your planet different from ours? Are you more technologically advanced than us? I have so many questions!”

‘Yeah. I’ve got plenty of questions for you, too,’ Mickey said to himself. It felt kind of odd for the unicorn to call him an alien. He certainly never thought of himself as an alien, after all. If anything, she was the alien.

The unicorn walked right up to him and tapped on Mickey’s armor with a hoof. “Are you some kind of arthropod? You’re covered in this exoskeleton.”

Mickey shook his head and chuckled. “No. Humans are not insects. This is armor, not an exoskeleton,” he clarified. He depolarized his visor to show them his face. “See? Underneath this armor I’m all skin and bones, as you might say. All humans are like this.” Mickey knocked on the side of his helmet and said, “This is just a helmet I’m wearing, in case you thought it was my actual head.”

The pink pony’s eyes widened in further awe. “Cool,” she whispered. “I wish I had a helmet like that.”

“So you’re a human, huh? I thought you called yourself an Odyessty,” the unicorn stated still examining Mickey.

Mickey laughed again. “No, ma’am. I said Oh Dee Ess Tee. It stands for Orbital Drop Shock Trooper. That’s my profession. I’m a soldier, just as your friend there said a moment ago. That is also why I’m wearing this armor,” he further explained. “Have you never seen a human before?”

“No,” the unicorn shook her head. “We don’t have humans in Equestria, or anywhere on our world. I think you are the first human to ever set hoof in Equestria.”

“Equestria? What’s that?”

“Oh, that’s the name of this land. We ponies have called Equestria home for centuries. I could tell you all about it if you want,” the unicorn eagerly suggested.

“That’d be great. But maybe later. For now I need to assess my situation,” Mickey said. The pink pony asked him what he meant by that. He explained that he needed to find out where he was and if he could contact friendly forces to come get him. Although, he considered that the possibility of calling for help on a planet he’d never heard of was slim to none. He tried to activate his helmet’s built-in COM but only received white noise. With no COM available, Mickey would need to learn more about how he ended up in this “Equestria”. If anything, the pile of crap that brought him here might also be able to send him back to Earth. “By the way, who are you two? If you don’t mind me asking, that is.”

“Sorry, where are my manners? My name is Twilight Sparkle,” the violet unicorn introduced herself, placing a hoof on her chest.

“And I’m Pinkie Pie!” the pink pony energetically indicated while leaping high into the air.

‘Twilight Sparkle and Pinkie Pie… Okay, those aren’t the strangest names I’ve ever heard before,’ thought Mickey. “It’s a pleasure to meet you both. As Pinkie here said, my name is Michael Crespo. But you can call me Mickey.”

“Okey dokey lokey, Mickey! Welcome to Ponyville, newest friend,” Pinkie Pie said. She jumped into Mickey, wrapping her forelegs around him in a big hug. Mickey was overwhelmed. He awkwardly looked down at Pinkie Pie and then glanced at Twilight Sparkle and gave a “Now what do I do?” look. The unicorn grinned and shrugged implying that she couldn’t do anything about it. Mickey mildly patted Pinkie on the head, his fingers slipping through her puffy pink mane. He didn’t know if it would have been insulting to her, petting her like an animal. But Pinkie didn’t seem to mind; in fact she only tightened her embrace.

As Pinkie continued to hug Mickey – with him still patting her head – he got a good look around the room he was in for the first time. Just as Twilight had said, he was in some sort of laboratory; though it utterly failed in comparison to the labs on the ONI station or any human lab in fact. Most of what had been monitors had been stripped apart and the wires ripped free. Behind Twilight was a staircase that led up to a doorway. Mickey assumed that it lead to the library she had mentioned earlier. Extending from the walls and ceiling were what appeared to be large roots. Was he beneath a tree?

“Ahem,” Twilight coughed. Pinkie Pie looked over at the violet unicorn. “Pinkie, I think Mr. Crespo gets the idea.” Pinkie Pie immediately released Mickey.

Mickey rubbed the back of his helmet in embarrassment. It was not that he didn’t mind being hugged; it just felt awkward that he was randomly hugged by a pony. He looked down at the pile of scrap metal and wires he’d been standing on, most of which looked like the stripped monitors in Twilight’s lab. Mickey stepped off the pile to get a better look at it. He was no scientist, but even he could see the implausibility of this jumbled mess being able to teleport him here. “So, Pinkie Pie,” he started, “you say that this pile of junk brought me here?”

“Hey. Don’t call it junk. This is my lab equipment you’re talking about,” Twilight disputed. “Or at least it was my laboratory equipment.” She gave Pinkie a stern look. Mickey was under the impression that the pink pony may not have been permitted to destroy Twilight’s laboratory.

“How does this junk… uh… I mean very important ‘contraption’ work?” Mickey asked Pinkie. Twilight shot him a look for his sarcastic remark.

Pinkie Pie was quick to respond. “I have no idea!” she expressed.

Mickey gave her a blank look. “You don’t know how this thing works?”

“Yes!” Pinkie replied.

“So then you do know how it works,” Mickey reasoned.

“Of course not.”

“Didn’t you say that you made this thing?”

“Yes!”

“But, you don’t know what makes it work.”

“No!”

Mickey threw his hands in the air and groaned. “Well that sure helps,” he sarcastically complained. “If I can’t call for an extraction then this thing could be my only other way of leaving. And you don’t have any kind of instruction manual?”

Pinkie Pie held a hoof over her mouth and gasped. “What? Why would you want to leave? We haven’t shown you to Ponyville… or even introduced you to our other friends… or had a party yet… or met the Princesses… or visited Canterlot… or…” Pinkie rambled.

As Pinkie continued adding things to her list of stuff for Mickey to do, the ODST stepped over to Twilight. He knelt in front of her so they were eyelevel. “You don’t happen to know how to work that mess in reverse, do you?” Mickey asked hopefully. Twilight solemnly shook her head. Mickey lowered his head and sighed. “Well, that’s just great.”

“… then we’ll need to go visit Sweet Apple Acres. After that we can take a hot air balloon ride to Cloudsdale. We can probably skip a trip to the Everfree Forest, but I must introduce you to Zecora. Oh, and then we…” Pinkie continued to ramble on. She had started pacing in a circle around the small laboratory, staring at the ceiling like she was in a trance. It was impossible to tell if she knew Mickey wasn’t listening. Mickey for one had no idea what she was talking about though he suspected he’d learn soon enough.

“She’s a strange on, isn’t she,” Mickey said in aside to Twilight.

“That’s a serious understatement,” Twilight commented. “Once you’ve been in Ponyville for a while you’ll start to somewhat understand her. Even I still don’t comprehend her much.”

“How can anyone create some kind of teleportation device and not know how it works?” Mickey asked in disbelief.

Twilight shrugged and said, “Pinkie Pie, evidently.”

Mickey looked at the pile of scrap metal and electronics and then back at Twilight. “So, did you still want to tell me about this world? I think I may be here longer than I thought,” Mickey said.

“That actually could take a while. How about I just lend you this,” Twilight suggested. Her horn oddly began glowing a shade of pink catching Mickey’s attention. A second after a book on a nearby shelf became enveloped in the same pink glow. In an instant, the book lifted up off the shelf and hovered several feet into Mickey’s hands.

“Whoa,” the private gasped. He watched as the pink field enveloping the book vanished. He looked at Twilight and saw that the pink glow around her horn had also faded. “How did you do that?”

“Magic,” Twilight said. “Levitation, to be exact. It’s one of the basic spells that every unicorn learns at an early age.”

“That’s incredible,” Mickey commended the unicorn. “Can Pinkie Pie conjure magic, too?” Twilight shook her head and told him only unicorns can cast spells, earth ponies like Pinkie Pie cannot. ‘I’m learning more and more about this place by the minute.’ “What other magic can you do?”

“Well, I’m not one for boasting but I am capable of casting all sorts of spells. Basic spells like levitation and illumination. Even more complex spells like teleportation,” Twilight said.

“You can teleport? Could you show me?” Mickey requested.

“Okay, if you insist,” Twilight agreed. Her horn glowed a shade of pink once more and half a second later she vanished in a flash. Mickey looked around the laboratory and spotted the violet unicorn at the top of the staircase. She waved at him before disappearing and reappearing in front of him.

“That was amazing!” Mickey cheered. “I’ve never seen anything like that before. You’re pretty incredible, Twilight!” Twilight blushed at the compliment and timidly looked away from Mickey.

“Oh, I’m sure you’re just saying that,” Twilight modestly said. “Surely there must be magic where you come from.”

Mickey shook his head. “No, there isn’t. Not that kind of magic anyway,” he said. Twilight looked surprised at the knowledge of there being no magic back at Earth, or any human planet. “Where I come from magic is just an elaborate trick or an illusion. While they can be amazing, they are not real.” Mickey examined the book Twilight had floated to him. It was titled ‘A Brief History of Equestria’. He tossed it into his pack to read later.

Mickey briefly glanced over his shoulder at Pinkie Pie who was still listing off activities to no one. Pinkie slowly paced past him still naming off a series of different activities. Mickey noticed that she had an interesting tattoo of balloons on her hip. When Pinkie turned the other direction he observed a mirror reflection of the balloon tattoo on her opposite hip. “Why does she have those tattoos on her hips?” he asked Twilight. “It’s not exactly the place I’d put them.”

“That’s her cutie mark,” Twilight said.

Mickey looked back at her and raised an eyebrow. “What’s a ‘cutie mark’?”

“A cutie mark is a symbol that represents a pony’s special talent. Once we’ve discovered what makes us unique, an image or icon appears on our flanks for the world to see,” Twilight explained. “Pinkie’s balloons indicate she’s an excellent party thrower and loves to have lots of fun.” Twilight designated her own cutie mark: a large pink six-pointed star surrounded by five smaller white stars. Mickey found hers to be more unique than Pinkie Pie’s. “My cutie mark represents my love of magic and fascination with astrology. Every pony in Equestria gets a cutie mark at some point in their lives.”

‘If I had a cutie mark what would it be?’ Mickey wondered. ‘Maybe a pilot’s badge or even an explosion. That would be cool. Although, I don’t think I’d want everyone to see some colorful picture on my ass.’

“Since I’ve told you more about us,” Twilight started, “could you tell me more about you? Or maybe what your world is like?”

“… and then we will wrap things up with one final party,” Pinkie Pie finished her mental list. She happily hopped up and down after “determining” what she and Mickey were going to do. Mickey and Twilight both turned to her. “That means we’ve got 75 things to do before you can leave! We don’t have much time Mickey! If we get started now we might just be done by next Wednesday.”

Mickey rolled his eyes and smirked; Pinkie Pie certainly was the most interesting pony he’d ever met. Of course, that being said, he’d never met any ponies prior to today. “I’ll tell you everything I can and am able to while I take this ‘tour’ of Pinkie Pie’s,” Mickey said to Twilight Sparkle.

“Do you Pinkie Pie Promise?” the odd pink pony asked.

“Uh, do you mean pinky swear?” Mickey questioned, extending his right pinky finger towards Pinkie.

Pinkie Pie’s eyes widened once again. “You have your own Pinkie Pie Promise, too? Whoo-Hoo!” she shouted in joy. “Show me! Show me! Show me!”

“Sure. First you extend your pinky finger like this and…” Mickey started to demonstrate.

“Uh, Mr. Crespo,” Twilight interrupted. Mickey looked back at her and asked “What?” Twilight directed his attention towards her hooves. Mickey was initially confused by her intentions. Finally it donned on him: ponies don’t have fingers. Therefore, it would be useless to demonstrate something as simple and childish as a pinky swear.

“Oh right,” the ODST admitted. “Sorry, Pinkie Pie. I guess I can’t show you that.”

“Aww,” Pinkie whined. “Oh well. I’ll just have to show you my Pinkie Pie Promise.” Pinkie Pie recited the outlandish promise in front of the amused human, concluding it by shoving a cupcake – which she pulled out of nowhere – into her eye. “Now you,” she instructed. Mickey asked if he would have to put a cupcake into his own eye and felt relieved that he could just put his hand over his eye. He removed his helmet and recited the promise back to Pinkie Pie.

After concluding the promise, Mickey slipped his helmet back on. Pinkie Pie resumed happily hopping up and down. “You better make sure you keep your promise, Mr. Crespo. Pinkie Pie will be watching,” Twilight wryly warned. She stepped next to Mickey and whispered, “She has ways of keeping tabs on those who make a Pinkie Pie Promise. And you do not want to see her get angry over a broken promise.” Somehow, Mickey knew she wasn’t kidding.

Unexpectedly, Pinkie Pie stopped hopping and stared intently at her tail. Mickey looked at her tail too which was erratically jerking back and forth. “Uh-oh. My tail is twitching.”

Mickey brushed off Pinkie’s apparent worries. “So? I get body spasms occasionally, too. I remember this one time I had a spasm behind my eyeball which lasted for the better part of a whole day! They can be annoying yes, but they’re nothing to worry about,” he said. “Right, Twilight?” The ODST looked back at Twilight who had ducked underneath a table in the corner of the room. “Uh, is everything alright, Miss Sparkle?” Suddenly, a large, heavy object landed on top of Mickey’s helmet with a loud CRASH! The ODST jumped into the air, having been taken by complete surprise. He grabbed the top of his helmet but felt nothing there. “What the…? What was that?”

“A flower pot,” Pinkie said.

“A flower pot?” Mickey asked confused. He looked down at his boots and sure enough saw shattered pottery, clumps of soil and several crushed flowers.

“Yes. A flower pot,” Pinkie repeated. She looked up at the ceiling and asked, “Where did that even come from?”

Mickey looked up at the ceiling as well, unable to fathom that a random flower pot could have just fallen from out of the blue. He eventually gave up and said, “It was just as well that I was wearing my helmet. That would have really hurt if I wasn’t.”

Twilight emerged from her cover and rejoined Mickey and Pinkie Pie. “I wish I had been wearing a helmet,” she said while rubbing her forehead. “It certainly would have saved me the headache. Literally,” she quietly whispered to herself.

“Don’t tell me a second flower pot somehow landed on you under there,” Mickey said to her.

“No,” Twilight shook her head. “I mean I wish I had a helmet the other times that has happened.”

Mickey didn’t understand what she meant by that. “Why did you dive for cover then? Did you know that there was a falling flower pot, Twilight?”

“No, silly. She was hiding because of my ‘Pinkie Sense’,” Pinkie Pie answered for Twilight. Before Mickey could inquire what “Pinkie Sense” was, Twilight explained it for him. She told him that Pinkie’s bizarre body twitches and spasms were vague predictions of the immediate future. For example, a twitchy tail indicated that something is about to fall. She neglected to tell him about the time she tried to disprove its existence and what had transpired as a result.

“‘Pinkie Sense’, huh? Well, I guess that makes as much sense as everything else,” Mickey said.

Twilight looked at him like she was unsure she had heard him right. “Seriously? You believe in ‘Pinkie Sense’ just like that?” she asked surprised.

“Yeah. Is that a problem?” Mickey asked her in return.

“No. It’s just that I assumed you’d be more of a skeptic at first like I was,” Twilight elucidated.

“Listen, Twilight. I’ve just ended up on a planet inhabited by magical talking ponies. At this point, nothing would surprise me about this world. You could tell me that you could physically manipulate the moon and sun here and I’d probably believe you,” said Mickey. Twilight grinned and humorously shook her head, giggling to herself. ‘And just what’s so funny, Miss Sparkle?’ Mickey thought. He didn’t care. “Was it your ‘Pinkie Sense’ that told you who I am?” he asked Pinkie Pie.

“Nope. My ‘Pinkie Sense’ does not tell me things like that,” Pinkie declared.

“Then how did you…? Never mind,” Mickey rejected the idea of asking her to explain herself further; he’d probably find out sooner or later how Pinkie Pie knew so much about him. “All right, then. Could we step out of this laboratory now,” Mickey asked Twilight.

“Of course we can. I can show you the rest of my library upstairs,” she insisted.

“That would be nice, but I meant could we step outside?” the ODST said.

“I didn’t say it earlier, but there’s a severe thunder storm raging outside right now. It might be best that we wait until it blows over,” Twilight explained.

Mickey listened attentively but heard neither howling wind nor thunder booming. “Are you sure? I don’t hear anything,” he mentioned.

Pinkie Pie held a hoof up to her ear and said, “Me neither.”

“Maybe it already passed,” Mickey suggested. “In that case, may we go outside?”

Twilight hesitated before agreeing. “Okay, I suppose we can show you around Ponyville. But you’d better let me do the talking to any of the townsponies. You might scare some of them if I don’t first introduce you,” the violet unicorn instructed.

“After you, ma’am,” Mickey held his hand palm out towards the stairs. Twilight started up the steps followed by Mickey and then Pinkie Pie. As they approached the top of the stairs, Mickey’s head came close to hitting the ceiling. He was forced to duck down until he was about the ponies’ height. His visor instantly came within inches of Twilight’s backside. He couldn’t help but eye her cutie mark. ‘If you really want others to look at your ass, a cutie mark is the best way to do it,’ he commented to himself. He looked away in discomfiture when he realized he’d been staring for one second too long. The ODST slapped his helmet and mentally criticized himself. ‘I can’t believe I was actually admiring her ass. Talk about creepy.’

Pinkie Pie stopped in her tracks and lifted her foreleg. “Uh-oh,” she freaked. “My knee is pinchy! My knee is pinchy!”

“Is that your ‘Pinkie Sense’ again? What does a pinchy knee mean?” Mickey inquired.

“It means something scary is about to happen!” Pinkie said in a panicked tone.

“What could possibly be scary in here?” Mickey questioned aloud. Twilight opened the door in front of him and entered the library. Mickey ducked through – literally – the small doorway and immediately ran right into Twilight’s backside. Mickey stared at Twilight who was virtually frozen in place staring straight ahead. “Miss Sparkle, is something wrong?” Mickey looked past her and saw what had clearly frightened her, and what Pinkie Pie’s “Pinkie Sense” had detected. Ripping through piles of books and papers was a violet-colored Brute Ultra. “Okay, I guess that can be a little scary.”

The Brute was crouched down on one knee and was tossing books all around Twilight’s library and didn’t notice Mickey and the ponies; it appeared to be looking for something. Mickey froze in place and fell as silent as Twilight had, not wanting to attract its attention. Pinkie Pie brushed past Mickey and loudly screamed when she saw the Brute. The beast swiftly glared at the trio and snarled, revealing its razor sharp teeth. “What is that thing?” Pinkie Pie shrieked. The Brute Ultra rose to its two feet and spread its arms like it was about to berserk.

“Remember what Pinkie said about ‘evil aliens’?” Mickey reminded the terrified ponies.

Pinkie ran around Mickey and Twilight in circles multiple times screaming at the top of her lungs. Eventually she stopped and calmly said, “Mickey? Twilight? Either of you want to panic with me?” They both said nothing to Pinkie. “No?” Pinkie screamed and resumed her senseless running around in circles. It would have been comical to watch Pinkie in her “state of panic” had it not been for the Brute. The Brute completely ignored her; it only fixed its rage-filled eyes on its human adversary.

“Twilight, you and Pinkie get somewhere safe. Now!” Mickey ordered.

Twilight and Pinkie Pie didn’t need to be told twice; they both quickly sprinted into the room and galloped up another set of stairs. The Brute briefly watched the two run for cover but primarily kept its attention on Mickey. The ODST sized up the Brute and noticed it did not have any weapon on it. However, Brutes did not get their names for nothing. They brutalize and mutilate their victims with a passion and they don’t need weapons to accomplish it. Even if unarmed, a Brute can easily rip apart any human with just its paws.

The Brute roared and charged the ODST. Mickey reached for his holstered maulers only to discover that he no longer had them. He looked up just in time for the Brute to body slam him into the wall. Mickey struck a bookshelf built into the wall and slumped to the floor; several books fell from their shelves. The Brute leaped over to him and lifted its foot in an attempt to stomp on him. Mickey rolled onto his side just as the Brute smashed the floor where his head had been.

Mickey snatched a book off the floor and chucked it at the Brute. The Brute caught the book in its paws and proceeded to tear it in half down the bindings. It tossed the two halves to the floor and grinned at Mickey’s foolish attempt. It reached down and seized Mickey in its paws. It lifted him over its head and pitched him against another bookshelf on the opposite side of the room.

The Brute Ultra casually marched over to him, kicking its way through the piles of torn papers and books. The ODST shot to his feet and dove into a somersault past the Brute Ultra. Mickey got back up and sprinted around the circular library, the Ultra hot on his heels. Mickey skidded to a stop and clenched his fist. Promptly, he spun around and punched the Brute across the face. Its head shot to the side from the impact. Menacingly, it turned back to him narrowing its eyes.

The Brute Ultra chuckled in its alien language right before swinging its fist at the ODST. Mickey ducked only to have the Brute bring its knee into his chest. Mickey’s chest armor absorbed the blow but it still knocked him to the ground. The Brute lifted its leg once again to crush him beneath its foot. Mickey rolled over and dodged the Brute’s colossal foot. Not stopping there, it proceeded to stomp the floor repeatedly. Mickey continued to roll and dive across the floor of the library pushing multiple books and assortments of paper out of the way.

Eventually, the Brute surrendered in trying to stamp Mickey out of existence. Instead, it reached down and seized him up around the neck with one of its massive paws. It held him a full three feet off the ground and maliciously stared into his visor. Mickey clutched the Brute’s paws, choking and coughing as it began to slowly and leisurely squeeze the life out of him. The Brute laughed at Mickey’s anguish, enjoying every second of his suffering. Mickey tried to call out for help but found himself unable to produce any sounds.

A sudden burst of energy struck the Brute Ultra’s back. It released Mickey who immediately dropped to his knees, gasping for breath. The Brute turned around, its shields flickering from the burst. Mickey looked between the beast’s legs to see Twilight standing on the bottom step of the stairs. Her horn was glowing pink. The Brute roared and charged at Twilight in frenzy. Right as the Brute was about to seize Twilight in its grasp, the unicorn vanished in flash. The Brute looked around baffled.

Mickey rose to his feet. ‘Thanks, Twilight,’ he said to himself. The violet unicorn had provided just the distraction the ODST needed. While the Brute Ultra looked for where Twilight had vanished to, Mickey took a step back and nearly tripped over a large object buried underneath a pile of shredded papers. He pushed the papers and other books aside and found a Covenant carbine. He realized the Brute must have been looking for its dropped weapon when he and the others entered the library.

Mickey picked up the heavy marksman rifle and took aim on the Brute. The Brute Ultra turned to face the ODST; its angry look turned to one of surprise upon seeing Mickey with its carbine. Mickey squeezed the trigger and the first green radioactive projectile traveled through the air and struck the Brute. The Brute’s shield flickered from the round. It roared and rushed at Mickey again. The ODST fired the carbine several more times; each round flaring the Brute’s shields.

The Brute came within arm’s reach of Mickey and brought its arm back to strike the human down. Mickey dropped to one knee and fired another projectile into the Brute’s chest. Its shields failed, greatly stunning the alien. It looked down at Mickey with what looked like fear in its eyes. Despite its rank, the Brute Ultra was still classified as being an infantry unit and thus had little protection for its head and face. Mickey curled the corner of his lip into a half grin and pointed the carbine’s barrel in the Brute’s face. He squeezed the trigger once more and the lifeless alien collapsed onto its back.

Mickey rose to his feet and searched the dead Brute’s body for anything useful. He looted five carbine magazines and two plasma grenades from its corpse. He reloaded the carbine and called, “Twilight. Pinkie. You can come down now. It’s safe.”

Twilight cautiously crept back down the stairs. Pinkie Pie, strangely, poked her head out of a vase a few feet away from the trooper. How had she gotten in there Mickey would never know. The pink pony pulled herself free from the vase and bounded over to Mickey. Twilight stopped at the base of the stairs and stared at the Brute Ultra. Her violet eyes were full of terror. Judging from the way she was eyeing the alien, Mickey assumed that she had seen one before. Twilight shifted her shocked gaze to Mickey. “Did you…” she hesitated, “… kill it?” Mickey put another carbine round through the Brute’s forehead; red-and-blue blood splattered the floor around its head. Twilight and Pinkie Pie both recoiled from the sound. Mickey looked back at Twilight and nodded.

“What is it?” Pinkie Pie inquired, leaning in to get a closer look at the Brute.

“That is a Covenant Brute. One of the aliens that you mentioned earlier,” Mickey answered.

“It’s ugly!” Pinkie Pie giggled. She proceeded to make silly faces at the Brute.

“It sure is. They’re even uglier when they’re dead,” Mickey joked. Reluctantly, Twilight took a closer step closer to fallen beast before sadly scanning her messed up library. Mickey felt bad about her library being wrecked. Once time allowed it, he would help her clean the place up. “You have my thanks, Twilight, for coming to my aid. The Brute would’ve killed me if you hadn’t distracted it,” Mickey said grateful.

“Hey, you looked like you needed it. But I wasn’t sure how I would have been able to further help, so I fled back to my room. I’m sorry,” Twilight apologized. Mickey told her not to worry about it. “I think you’ve got a lot of explaining to do, Mr. Crespo. Like why was this ‘Brute’ trying to kill you?”

“I’ll explain it later, I promise. We may have bigger problems right now,” Mickey declared.

“Such as,” Twilight probed.

“Pinkie Pie’s ‘invention’,” Mickey said. The pink pony stopped making faces at the Brute and looked curiously at the ODST. “If it was what brought me here, then it must have brought this Brute, too.”

“But if it did, why didn’t the Brute appear in the laboratory with you,” Twilight wondered.

“I don’t know. But if one Brute was teleported here, then there could be more,” Mickey theorized.

“More?” Twilight asked horrified.

“Yes. I was in a battle with dozens of aliens prior to arriving here. If that ‘teleportation device’ dragged me from my world, then it may have brought all the other aliens as well.”

“But if more aliens have ended up in Equestria, where are they?” Twilight wondered.

“EEEEEEEKKKKKKKK!!!!!!! MONSTERS!!!!” voices shouted from outside. Mickey, Twilight and Pinkie bolted for the front door. The two ponies ran out the door first followed by Mickey, who had to duck again due to his size. Outside, things were in absolute chaos. Smoke was rising in the air from nearby structures. Ponies of all colors were running and screaming in every direction. Horrifically, several of them were bleeding from horrid wounds; many were coated in blood. Mickey recognized the injuries having come from plasma weaponry.

Twilight stopped a passing pony and asked what was happening. “Monsters! Monsters are invading Ponyville!” she hysterically screamed. “They’re attacking everypony!” The pony fearfully gazed at Mickey before screaming again; unmistakably, she thought he was one of these “monsters”. Before Twilight could reason with the pony, she galloped away in the initial direction she’d been running.

BOOOM!!! A small building nearby exploded into confetti of wood and debris. More ponies dashed down the street towards the library and points beyond. The sounds of plasma fire and subsequent explosions added to the panicked screams. Mickey focused his attention in the direction a vast majority of the ponies were running from. Before he even saw them, he saw the shadows of multiple tangos stretch across a building down the street. A second later, a squad of heavily armed Grunts and Brutes emerged around the corner.

A cyan-colored Brute Captain Ultra, the highest officer rank for Brutes, stepped in front of the squad and lifted his fist into the air. “Leave no survivors! Kill them all! The Chieftain commands it!” the Captain Ultra barked. Following his orders, the Covenant squad broke apart and fired a salvo of plasma, needles, fuel pods and spikes at the fleeing ponies. Ponies who were unable to get clear in time were mercilessly cut down by the aliens. Most of those unfortunate to not find cover were blown to bloody giblets by the explosive projectiles.

A green-armored Grunt Heavy hefting a fuel rod cannon spotted Mickey, Twilight and Pinkie Pie. It aimed the ordnance launcher and fired a barrage of fuel pods. Mickey grabbed the two ponies and shoved them around the side of the tree-shaped library. The fuel pods detonated against the library door, blowing it to pieces. Mickey drew the carbine and spun around. The Grunt Heavy waddled around the tree. Mickey put a radioactive round through its skull before it could discharge another projectile. In an instant, more Covenant charged their direction.

Mickey turned and shoved Twilight and Pinkie away from the library. “Run!” he shouted. “We have to get the hell out of here!” Twilight and Pinkie both nodded, fear filling their eyes. The trio fled further into town pursued by the aliens.