Crossroads

by SomeGuyCamping

Rating: teen
Tags: Dark, Alternate Universe, Adventure, Crossover, Anthro
Length: 37544

The Covenant arrived and attacked without warning. Then some species called humans chased them off, but the Covenant retaliated in full force, reducing many of our cities to ruins.

(Alternate universes, disregard canon and lore ye who enter here)

Five months… five antagonizing long months. That's how long it's been since Babs Seed started surviving in the ruins of a now destroyed Manehattan. After months of surviving, most of it alone, what she now considered normal in her life was forever changed when rescue was within reach.

Crossover of Halo, Star Wars, and Aliens vs. Predator. Cover art was made by Superdale33
Warning: Contains antro ponies, alternate universe where some of the Changelings live peacefully among ponies, ponies have cars, massive amounts of magic powered technology, and guns. T for violence, some gore, sensual themes, and bad language but may move to M rating if need be.

Published 1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC
Last updated 2014-04-14 12:41:15 UTC

Chapter 1: Survivor [Edited]

Chapter 2: Contact [Edited]

Chapter 2: Contact

My eyes opened with the speed of a snail. Slowly, my vision cleared out the haze of sleep, bringing my bedroom window into focus. Celestia’s sun shone brightly through the glass window and the open, white plastic blinds.

I could hear the city bustle with activity, carriages’ engines humming, and Ponies chattering, all the way up in my fifth story room in apartment #502. It was the second of ten apartments, on the fifth floor of R and R Tower, opened by Filthy Rich and his younger brother, Richie Rich. Both of them had financed the construction of the modest, thirteen story apartment skyscraper.I cast aside my red blanket and white sheet, yawning as I stretched my arms and legs while still lying down. Smacking my lips, I threw my legs over the side of the bed, hooves not reaching all the way to the floor. Using my arms to propel myself with a small hop, I stood up, clad in two-tone green plaid sweatpants, and a dark, solid brown shirt.Moving over to my dresser, I pulled out my clothes for the day. A pink shirt that read “Girlz rule and Boyz drool,” purposely misspelled in bold, black lettering across the front, and a pair of simple blue jeans. My favorite outfit. I didn’t need a coat today, it was the middle of summer after all.After that, I exited my small room through a pine colored, wooden door. My room led out into the apartment’s living room where tan carpeting and white walls, decorated with family photos, greeted me.I strolled over to the dark wooden coffee table next to our couch and looked at it. The newspaper and porcelain mug of black, steaming coffee, sitting on its respective white saucer, was the coffee table’s usual morning decoration. Both a cup of coffee and reading the newspaper were part of my dad’s morning ritual before work. His absence on the couch led me to believe he could be in only one other room… the bathroom.And just like that, I heard the single toilet in the apartment flush. Moments later, a large grey coated stallion with crimson hair and tail, dressed in firmly pressed black slacks and blue button-up overshirt came out, struggling to get his red and blue striped tie centered just right on his chest.“Morning, Sprout,” my father Babs Day said, using my pet name.“Dad,” I grumbled as I rolled her eyes, “I’ll be fourteen in a few more weeks, you can quit calling me Sprout.”My dad wrapped his left arm around me and pulled me close, using his right hand to give me a noogie, utterly messing up my already bedraggled hair. “Listen here and listen good,” He commanded in a joking tone, “I’m your father. You will always be Sprout in my eyes.”He finally let go, but I wanted something more. “I know Dad. I love you,” I said, pulling my father close for a hug. Then, I got revenge for the nuggie by yanking his tie askew.My father let out a laugh as he tried to fix his tie again, “Love you too, Sprout,” he told me lovingly with a cheesy smile, “Now what would you like for breakfast?”“Pancakes,” I squealed out like a filly, blushing at the way my had sounded just then. I had hit puberty just a little under a year ago, but my voice still loved to crack up at the most inopportune times. Giggling as my blush deepened, I asked my dad, in my non-squeaky voice, “Doesn't mom usually cook us breakfast?”My dad laughed, “She does, but today she had an early appointment with Doctor Styles. I’m afraid after I leave for work, you’ll be stuck here by yourself.”“I’m not a kid anymore, I can handle being alone,” I declared, crossing my arms and trying to act tough, “You both have been gone long periods of time before.” In hindsight, I realize that crossing my arms made me look like a pouting filly.Nodding in agreement, my dad left for the kitchen. I, however, left to comb my messy hair and tail. As I prepared myself for the day, the sound of sizzling batter and pancakes wafted through the bathroom air vent above her head, prompting me to hurry up.Once finished, I raced from the bathroom and quickly sat down at my seat at the square table in the kitchen. As I waited for the food, I saw my dad spin around from in front of the stove, wearing mother's apron. The flower print caused him to look udderly ridiculous. He was carrying two plates of pancakes which had three in a stack on each, topped with whipped cream and blueberries, my favorite.“Thanks, Dad,” I said. Dad then moved to our apartment’s simple white fridge - decorated with magnets holding up crude crayon drawings I had made when I was a lot younger. Then he retrieved a plastic jug of orange juice, and one cup from a cabinet over the messy counter - Dad had his cup of coffee sitting patiently by his plate.After pouring me a tall glass of orange juice, he set the jug on the table in case I wanted more. Dad set it down right next to the bottle of syrup he must of had put on the table while I was combing my hair. Sitting down, he bowed his head and said a short blessing.We didn’t speak while eating, Dad had to hurry to get to work. Scarfing down his pancakes, he said a quick goodbye, and gave me a kiss on the forehead. I blushed and groaned from the unwanted sign of affection. I was getting too grown-up for kisses.After Dad left, I went back to my room, grabbed my pink wallet, my apartment key, and left a note on the table of the time when I left, when I expected to be back and where I went.It was a rule I had to follow every time I left the apartment. Exiting into the hallway that was just wide enough for two ponies to pass by without bumping, I made my way briskly to the elevator, entered, and pressed the ground floor button. That took me to the the lobby.Leaving the R and R Tower, I began walking the streets I knew like the back of my hand, listening in on conversations of those I walked behind. Sure it was impolite, but oblivious ponies say the stupidest things.Then, there was a rumble, not a natural earthquake… oh no. It reverberated from the sky to the ground, making me feel as if weights were being tossed on top of me. Shortly after, the sky ripped high above the city, and a sphere of the deepest purples and the blackest blacks formed, blocking out the sun.Ponies all around me began to panic, shouting different names of Gods and Goddesses who might be angry with them. A few disguised Changelings looked up with emotionless expressions… but then, the dark sphere began to arc with blue lightning, and the chaotic vibrations ended when a ship came through, the sphere collapsing in on itself after the stern of the spaceship cleared the sphere.The large vessel was a light silver and purple that seemed to make light bend around its many curved surfaces. The ship itself looking like a massively thick fishhook. I gasped at the sheer size of it. It was probably three or more miles long. The few Changelings present dropped their disguises, then began chirping and clicking their tongues, speaking in their language as their wings fluttered. The ship had managed to spook Changelings into being in their natural form in public, and that wasn’t a good sign.

<~Meanwhile~>

A lot of things had happened at once after being forced out of the slipspace jump. Alarms were blaring, sparks were flying from random consoles on the bridge of the Covenant CAS-class assault carrier, Forerunner’s Light, and a few non-vital systems had lost power.The engineers of the ship, the Yanme’e, trying desperately to fix the damage caused by the abrupt slipspace malfunction, stopped dead in their tracks. The insectoid aliens with V-shaped heads and orange compound eyes just froze stiff as boards.Tai ‘Seree, the Sangheili shipmaster - synonymous with the rank of a ship’s captain - noticed them willingly let the other engineer species, the Huragok, float around doing jobs they were meant to do. It was most unlike the Yanme’e to do such a thing.Both the engineer-savvy races often competed for positions, the Yanme’e being the jealous ones. The Huragok were often preferred for their reliability with repairs. The floating bags of gas and tentacles, who looked somewhat like floating blue and purple brains, were close to being biological supercomputers. They could assemble full machines from scrap metal and didn’t require any electronics. All they needed was cilla from their tentacles as circuitry.The fact that they were better repairmen than the Yanme’e often led the jealous bugs to physically harm the peaceful Huragok.Lexus, the captain’s Jiralhanae second in command - a title his Sangheili friend gave him since Jiralhanae normally held positions of power separate from Sangheili - was furious. Being a Jiralhanae meant he had an impeccable sense of smell, and the seemingly frozen bugs were releasing putrid pheromones to communicate amongst one another that made his nose itch. Coupling that with the alarms blaring overhead and the warning lights, his anger grew to a boil.In a fit of violence known to Jiralhanae, Lexus drew back and punched a nearby Yanme’e in the face. His rage fueled punch was so powerful, the unlucky insectoid’s head disappeared in a splatter of orange gore and cracked shell. The Shipmaster didn’t care, the Yanme’e were easy to replace.Luxus’ brutality caused the other Yanme’e to break out their trancelike state. They felt the death of their kinsmen through their limited hive mind, only to find the Huragok doing a better job than they ever could.Fights broke out between the two species, and the captain had to intervene. Getting up from his seat, the captain drew his energy sword. Two blades of transparent blue light sprung out the thick curving metal hilt with a mighty hiss of ionized air, stopping the Yanme’e dead in their tracks.“Now,” Tai ‘Seree yelled over the alarms in the lingua franca of the Covenant, his native Sangheili, “Stop your petty squabbling and get back to work.”The captain powered down his sword, and set back down in the purple hovering captain’s chair. It was a dishonor to do what he just did, but he needed to stop the fighting.In the Sangheili culture, a drawn weapon demanded blood, and he had drawn his weapon without taking life. He quickly forgot the dishonorable incident and gave a sigh of relief when one of the Yanme’e finally stopped the alarms, though his head still rung like bells.Clicking the lower two of the four separate mandibles of his jaw together, he craned his long leathery neck to call over a Yanme’e. When the bug arrived, Tai asked a simple question, “Why did you stop working?” The Yanme’e responded by clicking her tongue and rubbing her waxy wings together.A translation device built into her greenish-gold armor translated into Sangheili as, “We felt something.”With the simple answer not satisfying his question, he decided to attend to more pressing matters, “I want a full damage report, and someone to tell me where in the Forerunners’ holy names are we.”With the translator making the captains language a series a clicks and buzzes, the Yanme’e moved to spread the word to the bridge crew.A Sangheili crewman answered the summons, “Our slipspace drive is gone. Unggoy methane room sixteen, the aft-hanger, and the kitchen on deck fifteen have all caught fire. Our shields are down to thirty percent efficiency. Our Luminary tells us there are no Forerunner relics within scanning range but our other sensors have indicated we are directly over a densely populated city of several unknown species. Your orders, Shipmaster?”“Get fire control teams to extinguish those fires before they spread. Then contact the Prophets, we shall await their almighty instructions,” The Shipmaster chuckled, “We may soon have several additions to our ranks.”Hitting his left shoulder with his right fist, the Sangheili crewman quickly knelt. Coming up from the kneel, he set to work.Pressing a button on his chair, Tai ‘Seree spoke into the chair’s built in microphone and gave an order, “I want a scouting party with active camouflage formed right away. I want all the information I can get.”

<~Back on the ground~>

It was amazing how fast things went to chaos. Looting had already started in the mass panic of the ship’s sudden arrival. I repeatedly had to dodge rocks and bricks being thrown towards windows as heavily armored unicorns levitating thick metal shields tried to suppress the rioters with pepper spray and batons.I made the short distance between where I had stopped and R and R Tower, making my way inside as security guards stood behind hastily made barricades of furniture. They were armed with only stun clubs and beanbag-loaded shotguns.I had to run up the stairs to the fifth floor since the elevators had been taken offline due to the emergency situation. Running straight to my apartment door, I fumbled with my key, before making it inside.“Babs, thank Salus the Protector that you’re safe. You had me worried sick,” my mother, Apple Seed, a gold colored Earth Pony with a hot pink tail and hair said. Mom quickly wrapped me into a hug, a worried tear landing on my head.“What does the news say about this, mom?” I asked, breaking away from the embrace and heading into the livingroom where their television awaited.Sitting down together on our green faux leather couch, we began to watch the events unfold on T.V. that we were currently a part of.“We are talking to you live from the streets of Manehattan,” the reporter announced, making both mine and mother’s ears perk up. It was Dad, doing his job as a reporter.As screaming and the sound of shattering glass was heard in the background as Dad continued, “A massive vessel of unknown origin has appeared over our skies. We have no clue as to what its intentions are, or why it has suddenly appeared, all we know is that Celestia has declared martial law to-” Dad suddenly stopped as he reread the teleprompt.“We just received word that two more ships have appeared over Mareami and Detrot. A third crashing down near the Badlands, and a fourth in the middle of Ponyville. We do not know their origin at this time, though there are visible markings on the hulls of the two over Mareami and Detrot.”The screen cut to a clear image taken by a Pegasi photographer, a blue hexagon, with six blue lines coming from the six corners, meeting at a solid blue circle in the middle.There was a shudder, then a loud boom rocked the city. A second ship had appeared over Manehattan. The camera panned to the second ship, its whitish-grey hull donned with the same symbol that was just televised. It was massive, nearly two miles wide, and shaped like a donut with a large sphere in the middle. Countless lights ran down a band, encircling the donut shaped craft.A few minutes passed of them just hovering close together. Then the silver and purple ship fired on the newcomer with globs of blue cannonfire. The second ship retreated rapidly to mend its suddenly gaping and flaming wounds.

<~Minutes earlier, the bridge of Forerunner’s Light~>

Lexus was at his post - the chaos of the bridge rapidly fixed by the Yanme’e and Huragok - and noticed a rapid beeping at his station. Pressing a button revealed sensors had picked up a ship that had appeared. “Tai,” Lexus said, using his friend’s actual name instead of title, “A ship has been detected directly starboard of us.”“Scan them, this planet’s species may have a trick or two we need to be ready for.”The same Sangheili crewman from earlier responded from his post, “Only thirty seven life signs on board sir.”Tai knew it was a sparse crew for a ship that size, “Hail them. I wish to speak with the natives.”A different crewman, this one a Yanme’e, pressed a series of buttons in rapid succession on his console. A silver disk lowered from the ceiling, an image began to appear.“Hello, who is this? This is supposed to be a secure military channel,” A robot, a Trade Federation battle droid, responded in its tinny voice in a language Tai, or any of the other Covenant, had never heard before.The Shipmaster grimaced at it’s obvious possession of sentience and cut the transmission short. Of course the natives had to build the unholiest of things.Building artificially intelligent constructs that were sentient was the right of the Forerunners. And even they made mistakes with intelligent machines.In a war long past, one of the Forerunner’s creations nearly destroyed them, after being tricked into allying with their enemy, a sentient parasitic organism called the Flood which had since disappeared. Due to the betrayal, The Prophets banned the creation of artificially intelligent machines that were considered sentient. It was a way to prevent a repeat of history.Tai ‘Seree grew angry. The species below had violated the sacred laws of the Covenant. The Prophets had already given him full reign over the mission until a Covenant fleetmaster arrived with his own ships. He nearly growled out his order, “Raise the shields and prepare the turrets. I want that abomination reduced to slag. After it’s a burning wreck, send out the fighters to teach these charlatans a lesson.”Several crew members voiced their acknowledgement of the orders.  “If these lifeforms do not surrender their abominations, then we will stamp their blight out of the universe along with the human parasites.”

<~Canterlot palace~>

In a fortified room of Canterlot Palace, an emergency meeting was currently being held. Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, and several top representatives in the government were frantically pacing around a large circular wooden table. Papers were scattered everywhere, and a phone was ringing nonstop, but was nearly drowned out by the live news feed being televised from a large TV set built into the far wall.Everyone present stopped dead when the first ship shot the second. The second was on fire and quickly moved out of sight of the camera. The one cameraman was glued to his spot.There was a long pause of nothing happening. Then, like gnats compared to the larger ship, what seemed like thousands of small craft flew from the belly of the beast.The cameraman dropped the news camera and the sound of screaming was heard as fire rained from the sky.Celestia’s mood turned from frantic to angry, “I am declaring a state of national emergency. I want martial law in effect in every major city. We are being invaded and I will not sit idly by and watch one of our cities fall to these barbarians. I want to contact the ship that was fired upon, maybe understand why their enemies are attacking us… move,” she punctuated with a slam of her fist on the table.As the politicians and officials ran about, Celestia turned to her sister who was waiting patiently nearby in a corner of the room, “I want you to head to Ponyville. Contact Princess Twilight and have her send me a report on the craft that crashed there.”Luna nodded and was gone in a flash of blue magic. Sighing, Celestia rubbed her white furred temple, just below the horn, with her pointer and middle fingers. “And will somepony answer that damn phone,” she nearly yelled as she sat down in her chair.

<~Apartment #502~>

Mom and I ducked behind the couch. The aliens had started shooting at ponies from purple and green streamlined crafts, which spewed globules of blue fire from forward mounted guns.It had only taken a few minutes for Dad to run back to our apartment from the scene he was reporting from. When he made it back, he wrapped mom and I in a protective hug as screams and explosions rang from the city below.And as quick as the madness started, it ended when two smaller ships, no more than a third the size of the Covenant Carrier, arrived out of no where. From hangers in their gunmetal grey hulls, their own craft appeared going hoof-to-hoof with the other craft, while the smaller two ships fought the bigger ship with missiles until its already damaged shields dropped from the combined assault and departed for the protection of space, taking a few minor blows as it left what seemed like hundreds of purple dots behind.I didn’t know it yet, but the UNSC had already saved us with two Cruisers and their complements of Pelican Dropships.But, the protection only lasted three weeks before a whole Covenant fleet arrived from slipspace. The Covenant were convinced that this transgression made Equis allies with the humans in the war against them.

Chapter 3: Saddle Creek Park [Edited]

Chapter 3: Saddle Creek Park

I woke from my uneasy sleep, staring up at the ceiling with half-closed eyes. I wasn’t tired, though every time I dreamed about the day the Covenant had arrived, I was very sluggish the next day.

Getting up, I strapped my pistol belt and various pouches back on, which I had removed to sleep properly.I could tell I was getting ready at nearly a fraction of my normal speed. My mind was caught up in thinking about how lucky I had been during the Covenant’s invasion. It was sheer luck that two UNSC cruisers had arrived with enough firepower to chase away the massive carrier.Grabbing the last MRE from the shelving, I stashed it in my homemade backpack for later, after grabbing the spike rifle that sat by the couch. Then I leaned up against the door.I let out a grunt of frustration. Every day, I had to go further and further away from my home to find buildings that I, or any others for that matter, hadn’t picked clean of provisions.I took the wood beam off the door, then unlocked it. Taking a step outside, I crouched into a stealthily walk, while making sure to avoid my own trap.Manehattan was a large city, so I had devised a smart way to leave a trail. Using charcoal like it was chalk, I scratched arrows and symbols into bricks and concrete blocks. I was confident that the aliens wouldn’t be able to crack my code. All the symbols were made and memorized by me.Two vertical lines meant the building was searched. A plus symbol was danger I knew of, like my own traps. Things like that, that only I would know the meaning of.My unbreakable code had once given me the satisfaction of a grunt trying to decipher it, before haphazardly walking straight onto a tarp that was placed over a hole which led to the sewer. I nearly burst into tears from laughing so hard when the hapless Grunt rocketed back out the hole, propelled by a rupture in his methane tank while screaming in a high-pitch whine.

<~-~>

After sneaking around for hours I was nearing Saddle Creek Park, a massive plot of land dedicated to true nature in the concrete jungle of Manehattan. The park was a half mile wide, and one mile long, surrounded in wrought iron fleur-de-lis topped brick walls.I didn’t want to search the park, I knew what lay inside, but I still needed the supplies. Entering the park through a large hole blown into the brick wall from a rogue missile, I scanned my vision over what seemed like hundreds of rotting corpses and skeletons.The park was used as an alternate landing and takeoff area for Pelicans with extended troop bays, while twin bladed ‘Sparrowhawks’ as the humans called them, circled the park, shooting down attacking Covenant ‘Banshee’ fighters. The human pilots in the Hawks used wing mounted ‘auto-cannons’, as well as nose mounted energy weapons.But the Covenant forces were too much for the Sparrowhawks, and they were quickly overwhelmed. With barely any air support, that cleared the way for Pelicans full of refugees to go down in flames, often crashing into the ground and raining near molten shards of metal and jagged splinters from shattered trees onto nearby refugees.The Hawks did, however, buy enough time for most of the surrounding area and Pelicans to be evacuated, but not enough to save the few hundred ponies and changelings whose corpses now littered the park.Passing by the sun-bleached bones of many Equestrians, I moved further into the park. A collection of Elite, Brute, and Jackal corpses and bones lead up to the back of a troop bay of a Pelican.The Pelican had been shot in its right engine and crashed through a tree, burying itself partially into the ground with its nose, no doubt killing the pilot and most inside.Suddenly, the two skeletons awkwardly splayed out on the lowered ramp told a heroic story. The surviving two marines had fought bravely from the downed craft with battle rifles, taking as many bastards out with them as they could. The large pink crystals in their skulls, jutting from their helmets, told her that it was Jackals that had most likely killed them.Looting this place would feel like robbing a grave.I decided on taking Covenant weaponry instead. Taking from them seemed like the right thing to do after all they taken from me and Equestria.I was about to retrieve a plasma pistol to pair with her spike rifle from a fallen grunt, but a flash of light caught my eye.Looking up towards a shattered second story wall, the light began to flash from the sunlight in the mirror as it began to move. It was a signal. Whoever it was, was using the second story as a way to signal me over the wall.A smile grew across my face as I ran towards the signal. It wasn’t Covenant because they weren’t ones to lay traps. But still, I reminded myself to be cautious.Making my way out of the park from another hole in the wall, I passed by a burnt Warthog that was flipped completely over. The driver and machine gunner had been crushed under its massive weight.I made it to the front door of the store, its windows shattered out the wooden frames, and the wooden door was kicked in.Going up the stairs that were littered with the rubble from what once was the ceiling, I turned the corner at the top of the stairs and found the strangest sight ever. A dull grey robot, and a human in two tone grey armor.I was too freaked out to even say anything. I wasn’t expecting that… maybe a survivor, but not a human.The robot was around the same size as the human next to it, but resembled a skeleton in a way. Its head and body were dull grey, with two lightbulb like eyes. Most of the joints connecting the arms and legs, as well as pieces of the arms themselves, were a dull copper color.Three grey fingers clutched a solid black weapon I had never seen before, and a sword with a purple blade was attached to its back.The human however, had only two pistols in light grey holsters, attached nearly at hip level on the darker grey skirt that was over his two-color grey digital camouflage armored legs.“Hello, do not be alarmed,” The robot said in a deep and monotone voice.I had never actually seen a Trade Federation droid before. Sure, news about the droids occasionally popped up on the radio, but Manehattan was gone by the time Celestia worked out the political bullshit she needed to get help from the Droids while staying neutral in their war.It became an even more complicated situation when the Galactic Republic arrived. Which, being Celestia, she had to work out an agreement for the Republic to stop destroying the Droids and lend aid as well.The inability for the two sides to stop fighting each other while Manehattan fell only made me angry. I wanted to tell them off, yell and cuss for letting so many die. But I had to control myself, otherwise I might make my only rescue leave me without a second thought.The clone trooper, who was in a urban combat variant of the standard white armor, just shook his grey helmeted head, “Damn, we didn’t expect to find anyone alive here.”Suddenly, realization hit me like a freight train. After five months, I was nearly safe. I tried not to tear up in unbridled joy, but I did anyway.“Hey, don’t cry, you’re safe now,” The Clone said as he walked the short distance up to me. He dared not touch me though. Even if I was only fourteen, being an Equestrian meant I was around five and a half hooves, which was the same size as the human measurement of feet, tall. Just six inches shorter than the clone.The commando droid just let out a deep toned laugh, “I wish I could feel the same way, but I can’t. At least not truly.”“Who are you two, and why are you here now?” I asked, finished with my joy induced crying.The Clone just let out a chuckle, “Sparky-” He was cut off by the droid.“Use my name, or I start calling you by your designation number, CT-6109,” The droid demanded in deadpan monotone.You could see the clone stiffen, his fists clenching tightly in their black and grey gloves. I could only infer that rubbed him the wrong way.“Okay,” He said quickly with venom while balling his fists. He calmed down after a second, “I’m just not used to referring to you like you’re alive.”The commando droid just responded in the same deep monotone, “The Trade Federation allows most droids to have a limited level of emotion and sentience. It was proven that if we can think independently, we can fight better. I am designated Unit-777, known to others as Lucky.”The clone trooper laughed, “And my designation number is CT-6109, but screw numbers, call me Razzcat. You’re safe with us, I promise. And I will personally fly you out of this place.” I smiled at his bravado and the offer of protectionThe smile turned into a giggle when Lucky commented in deadpan monotone, “Ladies’ man.”“Clanker, I have plenty of opportunities to shoot you,” Razzcat joked.Lucky crossed his arms, imitating agitation as much as his unmoving metal face could, “But who will save you next time our position is compromised?”I interrupted before they could continue, “My name is Babs Seed, and you still haven't answered why you’re here.”Razzcat just chuckled, “You know the UNSC group, ONI, has some power when they can get us to do their dirty work.”Lucky looked out the window to gaze at the park, “The Office of Naval Intelligence has us searching for one of their Spartan’s AI chips. Razzcat told them after five months it should be in enemy hands, but they still sent us.”Razzcat snorted, “Even though it’s unlikely, there still is the possibility of the AI to be undamaged enough for recovery, though I don’t know why they sent us.”Lucky just let out an artificial laugh, his deep voice and unmoving face made it creepy. Stopping, he looked to Razzcat who just quickly shrugged.“It makes perfect sense sending us,” Lucky began to state like a college professor, making full use of his monotone, “They’re, how you clones say, ‘Saving their own men’s asses.’ When you die and I am destroyed out here, they don't lose anything except a shot at getting a synthetic intelligence that might already be damaged or gone.”“That bunch is a slimy lot,” Razzcat chuckled, “But now that you mention it, it does make sen- umph!” Razzcat didn’t finish before a pink sliver of crystal imbedded itself into his shoulder with enough force to knock him over.I gasped and ducked low, preparing my spike rifle to fire at any movement as the commando droid hid behind a piece of wall. Peering around the corner, he saw a flash from a window across the park before another sliver of crystal deflected off his metal chest and knocked him on his rear.Razzcat just writhed in pain as Lucky got up, quickly firing a volley of red blaster fire towards the sniper’s window. No one heard the shrill cry of the Jackal getting his face destroyed, but Lucky saw its teal colored needle sniper rifle fall from the window.“Suck it up,” Lucky commented, trying to sound funny as he stopped Razzcat from rolling and pushing the shard in further.I just watched as the droid yanked the shard from Razzcat’s shoulder with its three fingers. Lazily tossing the four inch long crystal out the destroyed second floor wall.“How bad is it?” Razzcat asked while repeatedly grunting in pain.I looked at his shoulder. It wasn’t bleeding that bad, “You’ll live. I saw a medical kit in the Pelican dropship.”Backing away as Lucky helped the clone to his feet, I decided to ask something, “What supplies did you bring?”Razzcat let out a pained laugh, “A backpack full, though one of the smaller Covenant, a Grunt… sort of threw a blue grenade onto it. We lost my friend Red and one of Lucky’s fellow droids in the blast… I didn’t ask his name.”Lucky just shook his head as I slowly began to lead them towards the park entrance, “Unit-612 had no name. Claimed it was too biological for a droid to take on one.”Sighing I knew I was going to regret asking this, “How many were there in your group?”“F-ouch-Four,” Razzcat replied through a grunt, “We dropped in using a LAAT gunship-”“Which was nearly shot down by a Banshee,” Lucky quickly interrupted.“After the Vulture Droids escorting us did jack shit in keeping them off our tail,” He replied.Lucky just shook his head, “Point taken.”We reached the Pelican, and I took the medical kit off the wall. It didn’t feel like I was taking from a grave if I was doing it to help someone else.Setting the med-kit down on the ramp, I opened the metal box with a red H on it. Most of the bandaging and items were missing, so I retrieved the only remaining thing, a green canister of biofoam.Biofoam was a UNSC medical invention that was sprayed on or injected into wounds, before hardening and preventing bleeding. I knew from experience that the drugs in the foam made it feel like having thousands of knives stabbing at once before numbing the pain, and the foam only lasted for a short time, so it was only good for first aid.“Shit,” I cursed.Lucky helped Razzcat sit down on the metal ramp of the Pelican before asking, “What is it?”“No long term solution, that’s what. Stuff’s only good for two or three hours before it wears off.”“No worries,” Razzcat said laughing, “The AI is supposed to be in the park. The only reason we didn’t jump right in here is we didn’t know if it would be a hot zone.”Groaning, I applied the biofoam to his shoulder wound, “Let me guess, you had to walk all the way here from Gods know how far.”“Eyup,” Razzcat commented with the exact same style as a certain family member, prompting me to freeze.“Where did you hear that?” I asked, her voice quivering.“One of your species actually, named Big Macintosh. You know him?” He asked nonchalantly. He began biting his lip as the burn from the biofoam made itself known.I felt a tear run down my cheek, “Know him? He’s my cousin.”Lucky let out a laugh, “Small world is it not?”His comment went unnoticed by Razzcat and I as he scanned the buildings for more snipers. Lucky knew the one he had killed was probably just a scavenger looking for some good loot. The information on the Jackals said they often search bodies when given the opportunity.Razzcat finally felt the pinpricks in his shoulder subside and began to talk again, “The big guy can look a Brute straight in the eye. He even wears a few pieces of their armor.”Razzcat just shook his head, “Only problem with him is that you get more of a conversation out one of General Grievous’ guards.”Lucky sounded like he let out a genuine laugh that time.“What’s so funny?” Razzcat asked the droid.“That you actually think one of the General’s guards would talk to a clone,” Lucky stated matter-of-factly.“That’s what I mean. The red giant doesn’t speak much.”I kept in a chuckle as my train of thought sought something smart to say, “You’re starting to piss your doctor off. That’s my cuz you’re talking ‘bout.”“I think it would be unwise to do so,” Lucky added before chuckling in his deep, artificial voice.“Who asked for your input?” Razzcat joked before letting out a sigh, “And to think we were enemies a few months ago.”Finished with applying the medical foam, I tossed the canister aside, making a loud clang on the metal floor of the Pelican. Helping Razzcat up, I decided to ask, “I never asked how any of you got here to Equestria.”Razzcat just snickered, “All I know is some crazy space portals started spitting the ships that first went through over random cities. After a while, it stopped spitting ships out all crazy, and made clear passages to this planet.”Lucky walked over to the two, his metal feet clanging on the ramp plating, “We were chasing a small Republic cruiser thought to contain General Kenobi and his top commanding clone. I was on the bridge of the Banking Clan frigate that arrived over the city you call Detrot. Kenobi’s cruiser crashed down somewhere outside the town of Ponyville, several hundred miles away.”“That doesn’t explain much,” I said sarcasticallyRazzcat just shook his head, “Better explanation than ‘wibbly wobbly timey-wimey stuff.’ No lie, some loon said that and stuck a flashlight against my helmet, nearly blinded me in the process. But enough talking, we need to find this AI.”“Or not,” Lucky commented.

<~Somewhere nearby~>

Stalks-Prey stood atop a roof overlooking Saddle Creek Park, the corpse of a changeling at his feet.The creature reminded him too much of the serpents, the Yautja’s main prey. Even the Yautja species right of passage to adulthood involved killing a serpent to become a true adult.And yet, he held a respect for the Changeling species. Upon fighting one many moons ago in close range combat, the Changeling took his form.Going from fighting a black bug, to fighting himself surprised him enough for the Changeling to deliver a few powerful jabs to his stomach. It might have even won if Stalks-Prey didn’t have his wrist blades.At least they didn’t bleed acid like the serpents.Stepping away from the bug that was slain not by his hands, Stalks-Prey walked to the edge of the brick roof. His vision was a mixture of reds, yellows, whites, and blues that told him differences in heat.He scanned his vision over the park, a sea of blue colored corpses from lack of body heat. He zoomed his helmet’s inbuilt binoculars to get a better look at the two yellow and red specks in the distance. One was a human in armor, the other Equestrian.But there was a third amongst them, its body all blue. A machine built to resemble a human, he realized. Zooming in closer, he noticed something even stranger than the machine.It was his throwing spear clipped to the belt of the Equestrian. The very same he had spared the day prior.To any that weren’t Yautja that were around, Stalks-Prey was growling and making a clicking noise, but to himself he was saying, “Let’s see if I can talk with her.”

<~-~>

Razzcat and I had been searching for the missing AI for the past six minutes while Lucky kept watch. So far we were unsuccessful at finding anything.When it was beginning to seem improbable that we would find the AI, or even the Spartan, I gave a quick glance over to a crashed Sparrowhawk. The quick look revealed the Spartan had been a pilot, and was now pinned inside the wrecked cockpit.From what was visible of the Spartan, he was dressed head to toe in all black armor. Only his helmet had an ice blue visor.Razzcat walked up to the remains of the craft, turning the corpse’s head to the side. Then I saw Razzcat pull a rectangular shaped chip out the back of the Spartan’s helmet.The light blue and green circle in the middle of the chip sprung to life, and a hologram appeared like magic.“Boo,” it said.“Ahh!” Razzcat screamed, causing me to jump as he dropped the chip, the AI laughing all the way down to the ground.Lucky ran up to us, blaster at the ready. “What is it?” He asked before looking down and seeing the ghostlike, mostly-blue image of a human female in a T-shirt and jeans. She also didn’t wear shoes but did wear socks, making her look more like a younger woman than a piece of military grade hardware.“Hey big boy, want my number?” She asked in a flirty tone.“What?” Was all Lucky could say to the AI. Meanwhile, I was trying to figure out of she just asked the robot out.Razzcat just laughed, forgetting to be angry at the AI, shaking his head as he did so, “I know love at first sight when I see it.”The AI crossed her arms and blew a strand of black hair away from her blue digital face, “You my rescue team?”I just gawked at her, the objective of their mission was no bigger than a postcard, “This is what all the fuss was over?”“What, I’m not good enough for you to spend a little time to rescue? Apparently not, he’s been stationary for five months,” The AI said as she motioned her blue colored, near transparent hand to the body of the Spartan.Sighing I looked to the fallen soldier pinned in the Sparrowhawk. “What was his name... did he suffer?” I asked sadly.The AI shook her head, “Chief Petty Officer David-461 was dead on impact with the ground. The speed of the crash were too much for his shields to handle. Whiplash snapped his neck as well. He didn’t feel a thing.”I let out a sigh of relief. Of course, it was bad that he had died, but at least he didn’t go out in pain like others I had seen. I had witnessed Brutes tear limbs from sockets and beat people to death with their own arms or legs… not a peaceful way to go.The AI let out a laugh, knocking me out my recollections of past battles, “Not even going to ask my name?”“I will,” Razzcat said, “What’s your name?”“It’s Joanna, now would you kindly pick me up?” she snarked, “I’m getting very bored of sitting here. I’d rather go rampant than stay here a second longer.”Razzcat picked up the AI and placed the chip into a slot added to the back of his helmet specifically for that purpose.“Great, now I have a voice in my head,” Razzcat joked.“Don’t all biologicals have voices in their heads, the thing they call a conscience?” Lucky asked.“Yes, but Joanna is talking to me,” Razzcat said, rolling his eyes as Joanna made a joke no one else could hear.“So, now what?” I asked.“Talk,” A new, more throaty voice said.The three spun around to see Stalks-Prey standing behind them, his hands behind his back, trying to look unthreatening. The effect was totally ruined by his grey helmet and seven foot tall stature.He was lucky that Razzcat, Lucky, or I weren’t as triggerhappy as others he had come across.All Razzcat could do was gape uselessly as Lucky aimed at Stalks-Prey.“Who are you?” I asked.“Sta… Stalks-Prey,” He stuttered. The translator in his helmet worked fast, but it was actually speaking the language was what troubled the Yautja.“Sounds ominous,” Razzcat said sarcastically as he looked at the skulls across Stalks-Prey’s chest. He pointed to the skull of a Unicorn, “A trophy?”“Yes,” He replied, “Nearly shot I with gun.”One could tell Stalks-Prey was having only minor trouble with the language.Razzcat nodded, a little uneasy at the sight and not sure how to respond, “If you don’t mind, I’m calling in for someone to pick us up.”“Go head,” Stalks-Prey replied.Razzcat tapped a button on the communicator on his wrist and spoke into it while Lucky lowered his blaster rifle. Stalks-Prey then pulled the leather sash of skulls and bones off his chest and tossed it aside. Though, he did it slowly so Lucky wouldn’t get jumpy.“Spear,” He said, looking to me. I could tell from the tone it was a demand, not a request. I quickly obliged, giving the Yautja his gold-colored weapon back.“Joana, I liked my heads-up display the way I had it,” Razzcat complained as Joana began messing around with the settings.I just let out a laugh, Stalks-Prey and Lucky remaining emotionless.“What did they say?” Lucky asked, referring to when Razzcat called in for a pickup.“Oh… yeah… we’re stuck here for at least thirty minutes,” He replied.“What was it about you flying me out personally?” I said crossing my arms.Razzcat just shook his head, “Sorry, the UNSC is picking us up… I can’t fly a Pelican.”“Don't make a girl a promise, if you know you can’t keep it,” Joana said to him, but Razzcat ignored her.Stalks-Prey looked to all the members of our group before asking, “What now?”Lucky answered him, “We find a building to wait in.”Razzcat nodded, “And as we wait, we’re going to have a nice, long chat.”

Chapter 4: Rescue

Chapter 4: Rescue

It had been several minutes since our little group had found an adequate enough building that provided stable cover, yet had easy access to the interior of the park. In that time, Razzcat had been ‘talking’ with Stalks-Prey. The one-sided questioning was nothing more than a semi-friendly interrogation.

“So, let me get this straight. You hunt sentient beings for sport?” Razzcat asked Stalks-Prey, the two sitting on ruined chairs while facing each other.“Yes,” Stalks-Prey replied. The more he spoke, the less errors occurred in his speech, “But only worthy game.”“Like armed civilians?” Joanna asked. Razzcat had removed her chip - by her request - from his helmet so she could speak freely. The chip itself resting on what used to be a decorative looking oak wood table, but now had to have one of its four legs supported by rubble.Lucky was standing near the frame of what once was a window. The window itself had been shattered inward from the concussive blast that could have come from either side’s weapon. There was a rather large pothole in the asphalt road close by.Meanwhile, I was sitting on a folding chair, staring at the ghost blue image of Joanna while listening to Stalks-Prey and Razzcat. I for one, actually was quite unfazed by the whole ‘hunting’ thing.“Yes. No honor with game that don’t fight,” Stalks-Prey responded in better, yet still slightly broken, Equish.Joanna let out a laugh, “Reminds me of what I learned of the Sangheili. Honor this and honor that,” She said, lacing every word with sarcasm, “Nearly every Elite we manage to capture kills himself before we can interrogate him.”Stalks-Prey began glaring daggers at the AI, even though the effect was lost due to the helmet covering his eyes. All the ghost blue hologram did was cross her arms and blow at a few strands of hair that covered her left eye.“Contact, Brute patrol, left. Kill chatter,” Lucky demanded in a hushed tone while hugging tight against the wall as everyone in the building got ready. Razzcat quickly placed Joanna’s chip back into the back of his helmet and drew one pistol, his left shoulder too injured to fire his other weapon.Stalks-Prey got low to the ground since he only had melee weapons, sans his spear being throwable. I followed suit, making my way to an open window, my modified spike rifle ready to fire.The patrol passed with the gunner not doing a very thorough job of searching the buildings. I let out some breath that I had been holding. With the threat gone, I walked closer to Stalks-Prey who was now standing back to his full height.I still had no idea why patrols still roamed the streets, nothing was left of value. Unless...“Have any buildings been constructed?” I asked in a whisper.Razzcat nodded as he kept his eyes glued to the window Lucky was near.“How big?” I asked.“Small, nothing more than a few methane stations and weapons crates in a glorified shed.” he replied.“That’s… good,” I said, unsure of really what to say. “How much time do we have left until pickup?”Razzcat turned to me, “See for yourself,” he said as he removed his helmet, revealing dark brown eyes and black hair cut into rows. A black curving bearlike claw was tattooed around his left eye, ending just under his nose.He quickly passed the helmet to me, which I slipped over my head, I found the helmet oddly comfortable, if not a little heavy. I noticed twin ammo counts for Razzcat’s pistols in the bottom left and right of the helmets vision, one-hundred-fifty-five and one-hundred-thirty-nine. The sheer number of shots surprising me. After that, I noticed a timer in the top right of the helmet’s vision. It said fifteen minutes and thirty-seven seconds.Taking it off I gave Razzcat back his helmet, and the group continued talking while Lucky kept guard. Eventually, Razzcat’s HUD countdown reached zero, and like it was a spell to summon a Pelican, the sound of massive jet engines were heard over the park.Lucky and I watched as the Pelican circled the park at lightning speed as the jet propelled, olive-green vehicle quickly descended as it lowered its ramp.Razzcat switched channel frequencies for his wrist communicator, using a UNSC com channel, “Pelican, we have the package, plus a few passengers.”I could only hear the buzz of a inbuilt helmet speaker.Razzcat nodded to Lucky, and he was first out the door, followed by him and I. Stalks-Prey brought up the rear.Blue plasma screamed towards us, Razzcat was the only one hit, the superheated rounds ripping through his armor and made him fall with a yell.The Brute’s Prowler wasn’t heard over the Pelican’s loud engine, and it somehow avoided the pilot seeing them.Stalks-Prey cloaked as I dodged the blue teardrop shaped rounds, tearing my way at max speed to the Pelican, dropping my rifle in the process.Looking behind me, I saw Lucky grab the wounded Razzcat and begin dragging him. They were halfway to the Pelican before the Prowler moved to get an angle on them, sending plasma screaming towards them and knocking them down, Lucky’s blaster rifle clattering away uselessly.I looked back to the pelican, entered, turned my head once again, and looked back. I felt a crushing wave of dread as I watched my friends now laying in a heap. I was helpless to do a thing about it. I didn’t see the Prowler, the wall of the park blocking my view.If I could of seen the gunner, I would have seen him smile as he saw that he had taken out two of the four in our group. But that smile quickly turned into a frown as the droid got up. He pulled something out the back of the soldier’s helmet, and threw it to the oblivious Pelican then drew his sword before picking up Razzcat again.I looked down as Joana’s chip clattered to my feet. I quickly picked it up, Joana springing out as the AI watched in horror as Lucky tried to drag Razzcat with him.The plasma had scorched Lucky’s metal body, melting the alloy that made up his back and left arm into oozing slag, but he still kept going.The Brute let out a yelp as a gold colored spear destroyed his gun, burning his hands. Turning to face the direction it was thrown, he didn’t have time to react as a blurry ghost jumped from a window. Two sick, jagged lines ripped into the Brute’s face like hot knives through butter, killing him near instantly.The driver saw his gunner die and the slight distortion in the air from Stalks-Prey’s camouflage, too late to save his head.Jumping off the Prowler, Stalks-Prey set off in a dead sprint, closing the distance between himself and the wounded soldier and droid in seconds.Grabbing Razzcat so Lucky could run without the extra weight, he hauled the Clone onto the Pelican and set him down near me. The copilot jumping in surprise as Stalks-Prey turned off his cloak when he strapped himself into the seat, Lucky making it on a few seconds later.Lucky had dropped his sword before he made it inside, along with most of his lower left arm… melted to the point of falling off.The pilot raised the ramp, and everyone felt a pit drop in their stomach, besides lucky, as the vehicle soared upwards to avoid a lone Banshee on an attack run.While the pilot dodged between buildings, eventually losing the Banshee, the copilot of the Pelican was busy using a medical kit to tend to Razzcat. Lucky and I had strapped ourselves into the seats, but I had to help Lucky since he was having trouble with only three large fingers on his remaining hand.After I had strapped myself into the seat, I tightly clutched onto Joanna’s chip within my hand as we watched the copilot tend to the injured clone.For the longest of times I just stared at him with a nearly calm expression as he writhed in pain, losing blood onto the metal floor of the Pelican, sending narrow crimson streams towards the aft ramp of the Pelican as it angled further upwards.I had seen ponies bleed out before, but fortunately for Razzcat, while we all were talking while waiting for the Pelican, he had explained to me that his armor was made to take high heat rounds.He had narrowly avoided extreme damage, although I could see he had several bleeding third degree burns from the shots melting the armor to his skin.I didn’t even cry anymore when people I knew were dead or dying… only my parents still got to me. Everypony else dying around me had become normal everyday thing.Silver Bells was an Earth Pony that I knew long before the invasion. The kind and always happy silver-grey mare ran a Hearths Warming Eve decoration shop, and I was a very close friend to her.I looked down at the floor, remembering how I had found Silver hiding in her shop, and two weeks later losing her to a Grunt.We had killed a red armored Elite Major, the leader of the group. Upon his demise, most the Grunts began to panic, but one of the little bastards pulled two baseball shaped plasma grenades from nowhere.The blast had left Silver in little smoldering pieces, I was completely unharmed and covered in my friend’s blood. I knew somewhere in my mind something died that day, seeing one of my closest friends ended in such a way only a short time after losing my own parents.I swallowed hard remembering that I had mercilessly killed every last Grunt that remained. I tried to not let death get to me and any other survivors I had found, I was never able to get close to them, and never developed any more friendships.Then one-by-one, the survivors I found started dying one after another. It was like death was attracted to me. Eventually, I soon stopped seeing survivors after patrols became a regular occurrence.Over some time, I felt the Pelican slow, heard the pilot say something illegible in untranslated human over the microphone, then felt the Pelican land with a thunk on metal plating.A few seconds after the Pelican landed, the ramp dropped revealing a massive hangar bay. A few men in white UNSC marine armor decorated with red crosses came in with a stretcher to get Razzcat to medical. Upon seeing Stalks-Prey, they called security before leaving with Razzcat. The copilot left to assist them since one medic was watching Stalks-Prey like a hawk. A hawk armed with an assault rifle, that is.When security arrived, Stalks-Prey gave no resistance when he was taken into custody and Joana was confiscated from me. They seemed to ignore me, and left like I didn’t exist. I was sitting in the Pelican with Lucky like we weren't even there.I was going to follow the medics with Razzcat, but when Lucky tried to move I had to stop myself from bursting into laughter.Lucky looked down at the deck as I stared, nearly losing it in a fit of giggles, “If I could be, I would be embarrassed right now,” Lucky stated in flat monotone. He was stuck to the metal wall of the Pelican after melted alloy from his body fused him to the hull.I shook my head, seeing his grey shoulder melding into the olive wall. “Should I get someone, a mechanic maybe?”“Yes. If you can, get one who has a roll of duct tape.” he said.I couldn’t tell if he was serious or not, but the pilot rushed from the cockpit, “This is my bird. If the Droid here is stuck to her wall, I’m going to be the one to peel him off so my pride and joy here doesn’t get all scratched up.”“Ooookay,” I drawled out, raising an eyebrow at why he would get defensive over a ship that looked exactly like every other Pelican that I had seen before.“Now I hate to be rude, but I’m going to be busy peeling him off the wall of my bird, so would you please give me some room to work?” The pilot snarked, going directly against his claim of not being rude.I nodded calmly, keeping my cool, “Sure, I was hoping to look around anyway.”The pilot didn’t give me a response, so I began walking towards the exit. Upon passing the rude pilot I flipped him the bird as he had his back turned to me.Stepping off the ramp, I found herself in a massive rectangular room. Grey metal plating dominated the area, as different colored crates and boxes were shoved seemingly everywhere. Looking around I noticed more Pelicans in neat rows and strange machines of unknown puropus lying around. Looking up, I spotted the yellow and black caution stripes of a massive cargo crane attached to the ceiling on rails.The whole scene was breathtaking to me after so long in the ruins of Manehattan, and upon looking forward, my jaw dropped.“I was wonderin’ when ya’d look down,” My normally silent cousin Big Macintosh said, giving a thunderous chuckle. He wore a gold helmet and gold armor that was patch-worked together with a few strips of various sized pieces of leather. A giant hammer was slung across his back by a white piece of rope.I immediately recognized it was Brute Chieftain armor. Shaking my head I ran forward, giving him a massive hug as he towered over me, “What are you doing here, cuz?”The red earth pony chuckled as he returned the hug, “I was wreslin’ some of the crew at a bar when they were called back to the ship. When they told me they were headin’ tah Manehattan, they asked their commanders on mah behalf if I could come aboard. I wanted tah pay mah respects… everypony back home thinks you’re dead.”“I’m not, cuz,” I said separating from the hug. With a slight hint of hesitation I asked, “How’s the family doing?”Big Macintosh let out a huge laugh, “Granny’s trainin’ the Equestrian Marines, AJ’s busy helpin’ Twilight, and Apple Bloom is havin’ a blast making her own contraptions with bits n’ pieces everyone gives her. She actually earned her cutie mark modifying mah hammer tah hit harder while lightenin’ the thing up.”My jaw hit the floor that time. My younger cousin had earned her mark?“What does it look like?” I asked quickly, both excited and curious.“Mah hammer hitting an oversized nail. Your friend, Sweetie, has ah microphone cutie mark. She got it singin’ to a few wounded soldiers. Scoots hasn’t gotten hers yet.”Glad that I wasn't the only crusader without a mark, and that my family was safe, I let out a sigh of relief. I then looked at Big Macintosh’s gold armor, “Why you wearing that thing?”Big Macintosh just rolled his eyes, “The UNSC won’t give me no mule-near armor.”“Huh?” I asked, never having heard of mule-near before.“Them Spartan folks wear it all the time. Has some crazy shield that keeps them safe from everything. Apple Bloom had tah fix this up for me as well, and it still won’t fit right.”I had only had seen what the UNSC called MJOLNIR armor once before, and that was on someone trapped in the cockpit of a Sparrowhawk. I decided to change the subject after visions of Big Macintosh sharing a similar fate darkened my mood, “I never knew you could say more than ‘eeyup’ and ‘nope’.”“Eeyup,” Big Macintosh stated flatly.“Seriously?” I deadpanned.“Nope,” Macintosh said with a smile, “I’m usually the listinin’ type, but I ain’t seen you in forever.”I saw Macintosh’s expression change, shutting his eyes in a grimace as he kneeled down to eye level, “Cousin Caramel and Braeburn, Uncle and Aunt Orange, half our family is gone. Getting one of us back is a victory in mah eyes.”From his eyes, I saw a few tears fall, darkening his light red face. Even the stoic giant had his emotional limits.Shaking his head to clear his emotions, he stood back up, “So, wanna meet some of mah friends?”Before I could respond a large flat winged aircraft flew over us before flying out of the giant hangar door. It soon disappeared into the clouds followed by more of the strange machines, all in formation. I seen one of those things before, I almost got killed by one as they bombed a part of Manehattan I was scavenging in.Turning back to my cousin I nodded, I soon was following his lead, passing by marines sitting on boxes who tensed up upon seeing him, a few even going for their sidearms.Being eight and a half feet tall, furry, and clad in Brute armor had them obviously on edge. I decided to point out that fact, “Aren’t you worried about being mistaken for Covenant?”I didn’t see it, but I could practically feel Big Macintosh roll his eyes, “Nope, already happened, and on both accounts the shield on this thing stopped ‘em dead.”That answered that. Afterwards I felt the ship we were on lurch forward, moving through the sky. We fell silent until reaching a room with several tables with round plastic seats and a few booths, a cafeteria with white walls, no windows, and a dull grey floor and ceiling.In one corner of the sparsely populated cafeteria was a group of three people at a booth, clad in black fatigues. I just followed Big Macintosh all the way over to them.Big Macintosh got their attention, “Listen up you dumb sons ah bitches, this is mah cousin. Ya’ll treat ‘er right.”I turned my head to look at him, a single eyebrow cocked up in surprise and confusion at my cousin’s sudden foul language.There was a blond girl with short cropped hair in the booth that had an empty seat. She patted on the cushion while motioning to me to come over.After sitting down, the marine gave me a smile “I’m Lance Corporal Rivenbark, the two corporals in front of me are Powers and Metz.”The two men nodded. All three of the humans were Caucasian, the men having brown hair. Rivenbark had grey eyes, Powers had blue eyes, and Metz had brown.Big Macintosh set his red hands on the table, towering over us since every seat was occupied, “These guys are ODSTs. The fools strap themselves intah’ metal coffins and drop ‘em from a perfectly good ship.”“Feet first into hell,” Powers said, his voice oozing with confidence. I hadn’t the faintest clue what they were talking about.Metz just shrugged at Powers’ comment, leaned back and set an arm across the back of the booth, saying nothing.“So the big guy is your cousin? I saw him last two rounds with a Spartan back in Ralneigh, quite a feat.” Rivenbark said to me.Big Macintosh chuckled, “He was out’a his armor and only had ta punch me once before I went down. Don’t lie ‘n make me somthin’ I’m not.”Metz laughed, quickly setting both elbows on the grey metal table, “You survived that fucking punch with only three cracked ribs. It was either dumb luck, or you’re tough as shit. Spartans can flip an overturned Warthog like it’s a toy.”I understood now why my cousin was used to using foul language.Powers shook his head, “Dumb luck. No offense, but if every Equestrian could survive a Spartan punch, then they wouldn’t need us.”Metz decided to begin arguing with him, “Actually, Princess Celestia did… she survived fifteen direct hits from ship mounted Covenant cannons, and Rainbow Dash survived a direct hit from a gravity hammer.”Powers shook his head in disagreement, “Princess Celestia, according to everyone, is immortal, and the Pegasi are built for impacts like that. Plus you saw how fucked up they both got. I was surprised Princess Celestia had any fur left. Also, who charges a Brute with only a combat knife?”I knew that Princess Celestia had singlehandedly used her magic to crash and disintegrate multiple Covenant ships from the invading fleet into each other before the surviving ships could fire on her as they attacked Manehattan, destroying the city within a single day. The Princess had bought the UNSC enough time to save most of the city… nearly at the cost of her life. She may be immortal, but not unkillable like they think she is.Rivenbark added her two-cents, “Apparently Rainbow does,” she looked down and sighed, “That girl would’ve made a fine ODST.”Metz laughed, “She didn’t even need a pod. All the crazy chick had to do was jump. Lucky as hell with those wings… anyone else see her break the sound barrier to slice a formation of Banshees into scrap?”Rivenbark laughed, “Someone’s got a hard-on for a local.”Metz blushed and looked angry as he held up his right hand with only the middle finger and thumb extended out.Rivenbark rolled her eyes as I watched the humans bicker with each other in a way only close friends could. It was a few seconds after that before Rivenbark seemingly noticed me again and facepalmed, “We forgot to ask your name.”“Don’t worry about it, I’m Babs Seed.” I said, shrugging.Shortly after, the door on the far end of the cafeteria opened with a loud hiss and the group turned to look at the newcomer.He wore what looked like a combination of a tan shirt and white clone armor. He had an air of authority that made me straighten up in my seat as his blue eyes scanned the cafeteria, while his brown hair was waving from a vent in the ceiling above.I soon noticed the silver cylinder attached to his belt.“Who’s that?” I asked turning her attention back to the ODSTs.Metz answered her, “Some big name general from that Galactic Republic. We have no idea why he’s on the ship, but ever since he came aboard, we’ve dodged so many Covenant patrols today it’s not even funny. That sixth sense he has is crazy, and floating everything with his mind… at least you can see magic.”Powers let out a small chuckle, “I still can’t get over the fact that a species here is called unicorns. When reports from ONI started pouring in about a whole new alien species that pissed off the Covies, I thought they were bullshitting us. Then we get here, not only to find a large variety of new species, but find out that most of those species share the same name and some looks of mythological creatures from our world. Who else gets creeped out by that?”Rivenbark crossed her arms and gave an eye roll, “Well, this is a different universe, you know that right?”“Huh?” The corporals and I asked in unison, confused.Rivenbark looked at me, and then at the two men, “You guys aren’t very observant, are you?” She asked the two men, “Not only do the names of a few cities here share similar names on our world, but we also made contact with people from another version of our world, Earth,” Rivenbark looked to my shoulder, “Babs, you’re actually wearing one of their uniforms.”Looking to my left shoulder; the gold W over the white Y was illegible to me, since it wasn’t Equestrian writing. I had found it a month prior, but forgot where exactly I had got it.“Weyland-Yutani is some big wig company from a different Earth. We checked and found out that our history books are nearly the same, give or take a few certain events and recent history,” Rivenbark laughed, “These two chuckleheads weren’t on the mission, but the company loaned us some of their Colonial Marines for a search and destroy mission after losing one of their ships to Covenant. We tracked its beacon, recovered a few of their nukes, and then set charges to blow the place to kingdom come. Pelican dropships got us out of there before the Elites could say ‘Wort, wort, wort,’ ” Rivenbark laughed, “The pussies left shortly afterward and we haven't seen them since.”Big Macintosh decided to break his silence and ask, “Can yah remind me what nukes are?”Metz gave a crazy smile before looking dead serious, saying, “To put it scientifically, little bomb, big fucking boom, deadly radiation gets left behind. But you Equestrians don’t have to worry much. You can take higher doses without ill effects, and the Changelings are like freakin’ cockroaches.”A new voice joined the conversation, making everyone but Big Macintosh jump, “I think relating them to common insects is… inappropriate.”We all turned to see the Galactic Republic general standing beside our table with his arms crossed.“Sorry, sir,” Metz apologized, backing away slightly while keeping his eyes on the metal cylinder on Kenobi’s hip.The general nodded, “It’s quite alright, just try and be more respectful,” He said in a calm and friendly voice.He then looked at me and nodded before calmly turning and leaving.I just stared as he exited the door, “Okay… that was just plain weird. Anyone else get a funny feeling around him?”The ODSTs exploded into laughter, turning the few heads that were in the room towards them. Big Macintosh just remained silent.Metz was the first to calm down enough to speak, “I’d rather deal with an ONI spook than that guy.”

<~-~>

Obi-Wan walked down the halls of the frigate, pondering on the disturbances in the Force that swam around the girl. He could feel her power, and it scared him to admit she was almost as strong as Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker when he found him.She would have had to be, to survive five months in an enemy occupied city.And that was another thing that bothered Kenobi… why did the Covenant occupy that specific city when others were wiped out? Sure it was the first one attacked, but why preserve this one instead of destroying it like the others?Getting answers to those questions was one of the reasons Kenobi temporarily joined on this ship.The other was to get away from Anakin Skywalker and the native party thrower Pinkie Pie… those two together were like tibanna gas and an open flame, extremely dangerous.Pinkie Pie confused Kenobi to no end as well, but he decided to quit attempting to find logic behind her after she threw General Grievous a, ‘you’re a super cool cyborg party’, right in the middle of a meeting. Surprisingly General Grievous played along, explaining it was to better relations with the Equestrian people… the whole experience was beyond unsettling, seeing the general partake in the party.Obi-Wan groaned, remembering his first day here when he and Commander Cody crashed down in Ponyville, injuring no one thankfully. The same mare had shot him with a cannon loaded with confetti.She explained shortly after when Princess Twilight Sparkle and Princess Luna provided spells to shove the entire Equestrian language into their heads, that she had shot him to prevent him from quote, ‘Sucking out my brains… WITH bendy straws,’He could hear her high pitch voice as he remembered the childlike explanation.Rounding a corner, Kenobi nearly ran into a Commando Droid missing his left arm and a majority of his back armor.The droid somehow managed to look pitiful as it shook his head and said, “Don’t ask,” before walking towards the cafeteria.Obi-Wan continued walking, thinking to himself, ‘The things you see.’He quickly switched his thoughts to how he would go about telling the girl that she had a gift that no other Equestrian had.

Chapter 5: Ralneigh

Chapter 5: Ralneigh

<~UNSC Carrier Megalodon, drydocked in heavily modified shipyard, receiving repairs~>

Admiral Konrad Volkov stood in front of his private bathroom mirror. A man dressed in a clean pressed white naval uniform decorated with a multitude of brightly colored medals stared back. The aging man rinsed his hands with water and smoothed his finely groomed black hair down, noticing the errant grey hair or two. After drying his hands with a nearby towel, he exited into his private office.

Looking around the spacious room dedicated solely to cater to his needs and fine taste, he spotted the datapad sitting on his spacious oakwood desk. Walking over to his black leather swivel chair that sat behind the desk, he sat down and picked it up, starting where he had left off.It was somewhere around six thirty planetary time when he awoke, shortly before drinking a lukewarm mug of straight-black coffee and compiling information into a slideshow for the monthly meeting later on that evening. Those in attendance would consist of himself, General Grievous and Obi-Wan Kenobi, along with Princess Sparkle and a multitude of other officials.He remembered his first meeting with Grievous, and honestly, Spartans were easier to talk to than a fully cybernetically augmented alien general hellbent on destroying his enemy. Lucky for them that the enemy was the Covenant.Last month’s meeting, the much-easier-to-talk-to Princess Sparkle said something about his race, the Kaleesh or some nonsense, were warriors who never backed down. How she managed to pry that information while keeping her head eluded him. General Grievous struck him as the ‘I will kill you for your insolence’ type of leader.Deciding it was better to stop thinking negatively, Admiral Volkov switched tabs and began to scroll through his datapad. He wished he hadn’t, and groaned at the dwindling resources: low Archer missile and MAC cannon round numbers, a few incidents that made it all the way to his desk involving the Grunts that defected to the Equestrian’s side, scattered reports of Changeling-human relationships, and numerous other problems that were well worth someone else’s time.‘At least the Republic was kind enough to sell us shield technology,’ Volkov thought.‘As a matter of fact,’ Volkov pressed a few buttons on his datapad and a black disk on his desk lit brilliant azure-blue. The disk itself could almost be mistaken in appearance for an ashtray, but it served a far more important purpose.“Hammerhead, what's the sitrep for our new shield generator?”The AI construct that appeared over the disk was dressed in an unzipped brown shark leather jacket while wearing dirty black boots, camouflage cargo pants, and was shirtless under his jacket. He also wore a necklace of shark teeth around his neck. In a cheap Australian accent, he gave a report in laymen's terms, “Our reactors will be able to handle the required energy output, but frankly, its going in like a square peg in a round hole.”“I thought as much with trying to jury-rig in a piece of alien hardware. Also I need you to get Captain Mundy down here. That’s all, Hammerhead.”The AI saluted and winked out.‘This keeps getting crazier by the day. First the Covenant, then we find Equis, and now we have an entire army of clones with better gear than us,’ Volkov thought as he recalled the details ONI had gathered on their allies. Then he recalled the details gathered about their arrival.For lack of a better way to word it, some sort of super slipspace fuckup happened. Point A and point B in the known universe became portals to Equis, while other portals were smashed into other universes. Everyone so happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.And the crazy thing was, with the reality bending effects human built Shaw-Fujikawa drives created, then what would happen if the Covenant’s version suddenly blew a fuse, or maybe an even more advanced version decided to break? The physics-destroying properties could, in theory, tear a hole in space and time.Admiral Volkov was no scientist, so he only had a basic understanding of slipspace. Basically, the Shaw-Fujikawa drive would punch a wormhole in normal space to the plane of slipspace, allowing for faster than light speed via a shortcut through said wormhole.The wormholes themselves seemed to violate normal laws of physics, and if Volkov’s theory was correct, the recently discovered extinct race called the Forerunners version of slipspace drives had something to do with it.

<~UNSC Frigate Frozen Earth’s cafeteria~>

Lucky had joined us shortly after the Republic general stopped by. He looked like he had seen better days. A large majority of his armor was missing.“So, Big Macintosh, tell your cuz how you got that stuff,” Metz said in a fast pace as he seemed to bounce with a bit of excitement.The ODST’s moods seemed all over the place, ranging from casual to sporadic. It was actually disturbing after all the time I had spent alone in the city.Big Mac apparently noticed my reaction, “Are you okay, cousin?”I was brought up to be honest, “No. I spent so long alone, talking with you all seems so strange.”They all nodded in understanding. Rivenbark turned her head to look over to me, “I think you may want some sort of counseling. You’ve been through a lot. Just how long were you out there?”“A little under five months. I kept track and I kept sane,” I snarked. I knew they weren't implying I was crazy, I just didn’t want to lie on a couch and have somepony prescribe me meds I didn’t need.Rivenbark jerked like something had struck her. I knew it was realization of something, and what it was, was revealed in her question, “But how did you survive all alone? I realize you’re a kid, I can hear that you’re young, even though you stand taller than me.”I shrugged both shoulders in a quick motion, not giving an audible response and I quickly looked down.How did I survive? So many days scratched onto the wall in tally marks as the sun rose and fell. The many nights slept underground as the city crumbled around me. The countless scores of patrols I had killed alone after everypony else had died.Even though my vision was to my legs, I could feel the entire group’s stare. I could even feel Lucky had whatever you call his eyes on me. I hated getting those feelings, like I knew everything happening around me without seeing it. Shaking my head I looked up see they indeed were staring like I was a ghost.“I’ve been through a lot. I need a little time alone,” I said suddenly feeling a pit drop into my stomach like a hard rock. I scooted over towards the edge of the seat, my breathing slightly sporadic.“Calm down, cousin,” Big Mac said as he kneeled to my level, looking into my eyes.I felt myself wither at all the stares. I had always been slightly self conscious, and with an entire group suddenly staring at me, I could only let my demeanor crumble like broken stone.“P-p-please stop staring,” I asked, meeker than Fluttershy. Even though I spoke so low, the stares relented, and I heard the click-clank of Lucky’s metal feet carrying him elsewhere.The reason I could compare myself to Fluttershy was that Applebloom had me meet her once. Very nice girl, almost like the dream schoolteacher; never yelling and understanding that even though I hadn’t earned my cutie mark, I still wasn’t any less special.During my visit she had made this some sort of herbal tea she said was from Japon, with these superb little oatmeal cookies on the side that practically exploded with flavor.The thought of food made my stomach grumble. I took off my pack, opened it up, and pulled out the MRE I had saved.They stared only a few seconds before peeling their gaze away and talking amongst themselves.Looking at the brown plastic package I was nearly about to open it before the PA system blared an announcement in untranslated human.“Time to get off this tin can,” Rivenbark said with a laugh.Groaning, I replaced the MRE in my bag and slung it across my shoulder before looking to Big Macintosh as I got up from the booth. He simply nodded in understanding that I wanted to get off this thing as fast as possible. The Covenant have no issues with adding nice neat holes into the hulls of the ships.I froze.

<~Manehattan, Skyfall~>

Explosions rocked all around me, rubble rained from the sky from buildings getting struck by blue spheres straight from Tartarus itself. Purple fighter craft zipped over everypony’s heads as fatter, more blue colored ones dropped wave after wave of aliens with mandibled jaws accompanied by little ones wearing masks hooked to triangle shaped tanks on their backs.I just kept running, not stopping as Mom and Dad held my hands. Dad was in front, I was in the middle, and Mom was in the back. An inseparable chain of ponies linked by clasped hands.Humans fired their guns in vain to try and save us as the tall aliens with mandibles ran dual bladed swords of blue fire through them. I could see gold shields flickering around them, deflecting the human bullets.A loud metal on metal screech paired with explosions rang from the sky, causing me to look up without slowing my run. The curving purple hull of one alien ship ground into another as wisps of golden magic ensnared them, a nearby human ship in flames was untouched by the golden tendrils.As soon as their shields completely failed, a bright flash that hurt my eyes engulfed them. After their burned in image cleared from my eyes, I realized there was nothing there anymore but smoke.As the cloud of black smoke parted, I saw a transparent sphere of gold, and inside the sphere was a magnificent, white dot.Princess Celestia, her eyes aflame with pure white magic.

<~UNSC Frozen Earth~>

I felt a wave of nausea as my sudden flashback ended. I nearly crumpled to the ground as my stomach started twisting into knots, trying to force the non-existent contents of my stomach out.Puking is bad, but when all you puke up is air, it leaves you down right miserable.Big Macintosh and Rivenbark got me back on both my hooves and kept me standing as Powers and Metz watched with concerned expressions.The nausea passed and I soon felt my strength to stand own my own return. Backing away from Big Macintosh I tried to reassure him, “Just a bad memory, no need to worry.”He shook his head, “Nope, ya’d looked mighty green right then, and that ain’t right.”I still felt like crap, but I tried to tell him I was okay, “Big Mac, I was just a little nauseous. No need to fret over me, cuz.”He shook his head, “Nope. As soon as we get to the city, I’m takin’ you to the doctor.”

<~Random rooftop in the middle of the city, ten minutes later~>

“Hey Dave, you ever wonder why we're here?” Miller, a UNSC sniper asked his spotter as he peered through the scope of an SRS 99 anti-material rifle, looking at the crowds of Clones and ponies walking around.His spotter remained silent only a few seconds before giving his reply, “I don’t know. It’s one of life’s great mysteries isn’t it. Are we the product of a coincidence or did some God decided we were supposed to be here at this exact moment in time... like he has a plan for us… anyway, it keeps me up at night.”Miller was stuck between outright confusion and wanting to facepalm, “No,” he said exasperated, “Why are we on this roof in the middle of the city? Shouldn’t we be on the outskirts watching for Covenant?”“Probably,” Dave replied.“What’s all this about God and stuff?” Miller asked, “You want to talk about it?”“No, no,” The spotter replied, his voice jittery all of a sudden. He quickly moved his high powered binoculars to spot a Pelican dropping its ramp shortly after landing, “Hey Miller, check out the legs on that girl.”Miller moved his scope to where his spotter Dave was suggesting.“That’s an Equestrian,” Miller deadpanned. She was a brownish-tan color, wearing black armor and a black helmet that covered her dirty and long, two-tone pink hair. She also wore a homemade cloth backpack. They had no idea they were looking at Babs.“Soooo?” Dave drawled out.“Don’t tell me you’re spending your free time off this damn roof contracting alien STDs.”Dave snorted out a laugh, “You see that orange chick with the skirt, always following that Anakin guy?”“That Jedi girl? Dude, for one she looks like she’s sixteen, second she’s an alien, and third and most important... she will not hesitate to kill you. I saw her go sword to sword with Elites after a whole dropship of them managed to slip in here.”“She’s still a nice piece of tail to stare at. And don’t get me started on the Changelings. The venom in their fangs leaves you hard for hours with nothing but screwing like a horney rabbit on your mind.”Miller rolled his eyes and sighed, “You’re hopeless man, you do realize that?”“So sue me,” Dave chuckled out.

<~Babs POV~>

Big Macintosh, Lucky, and I were the only ones aboard the Pelican. I hadn’t seen Razzcat or Stalks-Prey since getting off the Pelican the first time.When I exited onto the landing platform, I saw the city was just a populated version of Manehattan. Rubble lined the streets along with refugees of every race; Zebra, Griffon, Pony, even a few Diamond Dogs; all of them huddled together around barrels turned fire pits.Seeing the fires reminded me it was cold. With almost all of the weather factories taken offline, Equestria’s weather had begun to return to an untamed state that was unheard of since Celestia’s reign.That got me thinking of the clouds, so I looked skyward. Vaguely triangle shaped ships with greyish-white hulls with a few red accents floated in the sky, unmoving, as darker more sinister looking ships accompanied them.I would later learn that it was Republic and Separatist ships working side by side to defend the city. Enemies turned allies in the presence of a greater, common enemy.Turning my head again I spotted the UNSC Frigate that ferried me here. No other ships like it seemed to populate the sky.Big Mac tapped on my shoulder, drawing my attention out of the clouds. I reluctantly followed him towards my inevitable visit to the doctor, Lucky following us.“So you’re deciding to stick around?” I asked Lucky, emphasizing ‘stick’ heavily.“I detect a high level of sarcasm from that comment and I calculate that was a joke based off my previous predicament. I am unamused,” he stated in all monotone.Great, he’s a royal stick in the mud. Since jokes were out of the question, I decided to go for small talk, “So Lucky, why are you following us?” I asked.“I am not, we just so happen to be going in the same direction.”I raised an eyebrow, he couldn’t see me raise it, so I decided to voice my question, “Oh, and where is the area you want to go?”“The direction you are going.”I rolled my eyes, “So why aren’t you returning to your people to be repaired?”Lucky replied in a voice that almost sounded like it had a touch of sadness in it, “Droids are mass produced to be destroyed in battle. Repairs often cost more than building a new droid, so maintenance is normally not performed. This goes double for the Commando Droids; we normally go on suicide missions deep within enemy territory.”I could see Big Mac shake his head, and after that bit of information, we continued our journey in silence. Walking a little further into the city, conditions improved slightly in terms of structure, but refugees and vehicles still lined the streets.There were destroyed covenant motorcycle style vehicles and Wraith tanks. Six legged Republic tanks missing one or more of their titanic legs. And at least one UNSC tank with the picture of a black scorpion painted on it that was missing its main turret.Accompanying the refugees amongst the wreckages of vehicles were coal-black armored UNSC Marines with their assault rifles, along with men in bone white versions of Razzcat’s armor who were carrying heavy looking rifles. I even saw a few Equestrian Marines wearing tan uniforms covered by black padding and flak jackets. I once heard one of the humans say that Equestrian-made assault rifles look like ‘ancient AK-47s’.With the further inward we traveled, the more cleared up the wreckage and rubble became. Refugees still packed around barrels however, but there were also more and more military personnel; scores of men in white armor on top of fully functional walking tanks, UNSC Marines in Warthogs, Droids of different shapes and sizes on foot, and Grunts?“Big Mac, what in the name of Tartarus is the Covenant doing here?” I whispered lowly so they wouldn’t hear me.Big Macintosh looked towards a group of Grunts throwing stones at a scurrying brown rat, “We captured them. Ta’ half-pints are ferocious, but once unicorns started hittin’em with translation spells, they quickly changed sides. I witnessed them fire on their own kind during battles here, so I have only little doubts of their loyalty.”He then let out a large laugh, “Honestly, they possess lower than average intelligence, but they make up for it with persistence. They pull their weight around ‘ere and aim tah make us proud. From what Twilight says, they need strong leaders to guide them.”I nodded, “So they loyally follow us because were bigger than them?”He nodded, “And we treat ‘em better than the Brutes and Elites. If half the abuse they claim they receive is true, ah almost feel sorry for the ones I kill,” Big Mac smirked, “Almost.”“Big Mac, have they ever gone… suicidal?” At the question memories decided to worm their way back to the surface again. My stomach clenched in a knot and I nearly fell over as Big Macintosh and Lucky caught me.“We’re getting you to the hospital now,” Big Mac said, almost panicking.I wasn’t going to argue as I got lost in another memory.

<~Manehattan, two weeks after Skyfall~>

I barely had time to duck behind a piece of rubble, Silver Bells quickly but silently sliding beside me, panting slightly from our sprint away from the chicken heads the Humans once called Jackals. In front of us was an intersection and we were almost spotted by the inhabitants.“Spotted one squid-lizard, red armor,” I whispered using a nickname I created for the Elites. Peering up, I quickly counting before ducking again, “At least seventeen smaller ones I say around twenty-five hooves away.”Silver nodded, her unkempt silver hair dancing as she did so, “You think we can take them?” She whispered.I looked down at the weapon I held in my right hand. The soldier I met before - Samuel - told me it was a M6 magnum. It recoiled with the force of a freight train and could easily kill whatever I wanted it to - as long as I hit it.“Yeah,” I replied, almost death quiet. Silver was twice my age but I made the decisions. I didn’t know why I took charge over an adult but I did, “You remember how I taught you to use grenades right?”“Pull pin, throw, and don’t miss. That right?”I nodded yes, “I’m going to sneak around, when I shoot, toss the grenade.”She nodded as I stealthily flanked around to another spot of rubble close by. We weren’t that far apart, nearly a straight line between us. I lined the eight hoof tall reptile in my sights as the gas breathers around him paid little to no attention to their surroundings.My last five rounds in the pistol I had rung out in rapid succession. The recoil was massive but manageable, and three of my bullets struck home, energy shield flaring. In that time a little green sphere landed at his cloven feet. Two seconds later, his legs were missing. The aliens the humans had nicknamed ‘Grunts’, were flailing their arms and panicking like children. The image was punctuated by their high pitched whine.Silver Bells leapt from behind her cover, her own pistol in hand. It was an Equestrian-made Colt semi-auto pistol. When she did, I felt a sense of dread wash over me. I could feel in the air something was about to happen.I saw two blue spheres suddenly burning in a Grunt’s hands, so I charged towards Silver who was too focused on firing at other Grunts to notice.“SILVER!” I yelled so loud that my throat went raw straight away.Silver started to turn towards my voice before disappearing in a flash of blue fire and red mist; I was close enough that a spray of crimson stuck to my fur, tingeing my exposed coat with flecks of red.Her body lay in pieces around the intersection we were in, a few Grunts still alive.I felt rage boil in me as my senses sharpened. I saw the curving hilt of the energy blade the ‘Elites’ carried.I swept it up and activated it in one fluid movement. The Grunts around me saw that I had their deaths on my mind and regrouped.The ten that were left standing after the blast and Silver’s pistol barrage lost their heads in quick, scything swipes.When I was finished with the last Grunt, I heard a guttural gurgling sound. I peeled my gaze to the red armored Elite, his shredded legs trailing purple blood as he crawled towards a plasma pistol.I walked over and rolled him over with my left hoof before plunging his own blade into his chest.I walked away crying for my lost friend as the still activated sword slowly burned through the Elite. The sound and smell of sizzling flesh quickly filled the air.

<~Ralneigh Hospital~>

I lay back on the bed above the powder blue covers; my fingers locked together cradling the back of my head as I stared at the cracked, dull-white ceiling of the hospital roof.I was silent as the memories of the months of survival replaying in my mind. Getting rescued gives a mare time to think.Due to the obvious scarcity of medical supplies I wasn’t given an IV or anything, so Big Macintosh and Lucky were out of the room trying to find a nurse. When I was brought in I was visibly fine in my armor so the staff were all busy tending to those who needed care more than I did. Like ponies missing limbs.I knew I was definitely going to be here awhile, but that thought was shattered as a nurse finally walked into my room, Big Macintosh nowhere in sight.“Hello, Ms. Seed, I’m Nurse Sunshine,” She said in a way too chipper voice.“Hello,” I replied, sitting up in bed, “Where is my cousin?” I asked, instinctively reaching for the pistol on my hip in case she tried anything funny.“He’s waiting in the lounge, dearie. The checkup may get a little uncomfortable if any males are present. That being said, I’m going to have to ask you to strip to your undergarments so I can get a good assessment of the damage. You were out there five months according to your cousin.”I blushed, “About that,” I looked around like someone would see me, leaning close I whispered, “I’m only wearing boxer shorts under my clothing.”I had scrapped them from the remains of a male department store. A heck of a lot more comfortable than panties. And to me bras were just another article of clothing to drench in sweat and attempt to wash.I could see the nurse blush, “Okay, I’ll go look for a towel then,”I shook my head, “I just want to get out of here as fast as I can,” I blushed, “Quick question, are you a mare that’s into mares?”The nurse laughed, “No way,” She then pointed out her gold wedding band, “Married to the same stallion for the past five years.”I could tell she was being honest so I hastily stripped down to the pair of simple black boxer shorts. I was glad the button was keeping the fly tightly closed and the cloth covered my blank hips.When I finished removing clothes and allowed the nurse a good look, she gasped and began grabbing my arms and gawking at wounds.“I’m not that bad, am I?” I asked as she prodded a still raw spot on my side. A grazing cut from a needler shard I received a little over a month prior.“What part of you hasn’t been shot, stabbed, burned, or cut?” she asked, looking at the healing talon marks running down my back.“Or bitten, don't forget that,” I joked. But in reality, I was truly a mess and every wound on me told a story.I still had the fur missing from the Mongoose explosion, spike rifle wounds - cuts and spikes - a sadistic Griffon’s talon across my backside, a few bullet wounds from unkind survivors. I was pretty sure I broke a few ribs during my stay. In short, I was probably a chipped nail or hoof away from falling apart.Now that I thought about it, no wonder my mind was replaying bad memories. It wants me back in the constant state of fear for my life so I don’t break down.With that said, getting out anytime soon was out of the equation.“You’re thin as a bone, and covered in new and old scar tissue. From the state you’re in I can tell you’ve been to Tartarus and back.”“Eeyup,” I stated flatly as I nonchalantly lay back in the same hands behind head position while still bare chested. I had already undressed so why not get comfortable.That sounded way less sexual before it became a coherent thought.Thank you puberty for giving me the knowledge to understand the other half of the adults’ jokes.

<~Ralneigh Military HQ~>

Admiral Volkov sat at his chair around the spacious circular table and tugged at his collar nervously. The room he was in was nothing more than a reinforced steel box buried under concrete. The source of his nervousness was that the presence of General Grievous and two Magnaguards had fallen upon the room, dousing all previous conversations like water on fire.However intimidating he was, the cyborg general shared the same thought on why the military HQ should be set up in Ralneigh; it’s a big city that’s not hanging off a fucking cliff by little more than stilts and prayer.Looking to one seat in particular, Volkov noticed General Obi-Wan Kenobi was now officially running fashionably late, not yet arriving back from his ride aboard Frozen Earth which had arrived a little under two hours prior.Volkov swallowed hard and looked around the table; Princess Sparkle was dressed in dark-purple and ebony regalia, along with orange and yellow robes. She was with her personal aide Spike - an honest-to-God dragon that was as big as a human and dressed in blue jeans and a grey shirt - as well as her close friend Applejack Apple, dressed in a red and white checkerboard pattern shirt, stetson, and blue jeans.Also in attendance was Ahsoka Tano - who looked just as nervous around Grievous as himself - with Commander Cody, a clone in white armor accented with bright orange. He would probably be speaking on Kenobi’s behalf.Princess Sparkle spoke first, “Hello. As you know we are here for ou-”“Skip the formalities, Princess,” General Grievous growled out as he stood instead of sitting.Admiral Volkov wished someone else was here, tension between those two could get thick at times, but with the UNSC stretched thin as is, he was acting commander of the armed forces in Equestria since every other admiral and general was scattered around Equis.Volkov could almost literally see steam coming out of Princess Sparkle’s ears as she took a breath to calm herself, “If you have somewhere important to be, send a representative on your behalf. We respect each other in my command center.”“Princess, the longer we spend on formalities, the less time we have until the Covenant strike at us, now if you please,” the cyborg said in a threatening tone.‘If you had seen what Princess Celestia did to the Covenant, you wouldn’t threaten who you’re threatening,’ Volkov thought, remembering the Solar Princess meeting with him shortly before displaying that she did have the power of the sun on her side against the Covenant armada, ‘Which is probably why most of the cities on Equis are still standing.’Princess Sparkle just did her best to ignore him as her assistant visibly shook, “It has come to my attention that General Kenobi is not here, I suspect Padawan Tano and you Mr. Cody, are here on his behalf?”“We are, ma’am. Kenobi is busy dealing with... personal matters,” The clone responded causing Applejack to look at him funny.Volkov knew that was her nervous tic for when she was thinking someone was lying to her. He learned that from firsthand experience and having extensive ONI reports on his desk of every key player they could spy on.After the cover story was said, Commander Cody tapped a few buttons on a datapad that was linked to a holo-projector in the center of the table. Instantly a 3D image of Manehattan appeared.Neat thing about the datapads were that you could rapidly reconfigure them to display any language, as well as translate with nearly one hundred percent accuracy back to another language.Cody narrated the image, “Republic satellites have spotted something the UNSC didn’t. Signs that the Covenant are digging in this region,” A few taps and the image changed to a new location over Manehattan, “I was hoping you could enlighten us as to what resources are in this section of the area.”The image had changed to accommodate new developments within the city. Covenant mining rigs, methane stations for legions of Grunts, large piles of rocks, and a Scarab tank.Twilight shook her head, “When Manehattan was constructed one-hundred and fifty-seven years ago, Princess Celestia had the land surveyed for natural resources and it came up as nothing of value.”Admiral Volkov shook his head and raised his hands to speak, “If I may Princess, I know what they are doing. They are building a temporary underground city to house troops. I can dispatch the Frigate Frozen Earth to drop Helljumper units with a HAVOK tactical nuke.”Princess Sparkle shook her head, “No nukes within the cities. We have more and more radiation burned refugees coming in from New Yoke.”Volkov lost his temper at the Princess denying him the only effective weapon the UNSC had, “What you are suggesting is I drop my men into a Covenant hive to be slaughtered!”Princess Sparkle’s face twisted into a scowl as she flared out her wings to make herself look bigger. It was an intimidation tactic she learned from Celestia, “What I suggest is dropping your men in with a bomb of Equestrian design,” Twilight tapped on her datapad to pull up an image.Admiral Volkov was unimpressed. The displayed weapon was paired with a holographic height chart, showing the rectangular shaped device was no longer than a meter with four by four inch squares making up the forward and back facing ends.The apparent features were the four handles protruded from two of its four one-meter long faces, making it look like some sort of medieval battering ram. The topmost face was covered in runic symbols, obviously some form of ancient Equestrian writing.Grievous seemed intrigued by the device, “How does this bomb work?”Volkov realized she was not hesitant to share the information, “It’s an enchanted block of metal filled with highly explosive material. The metal faces themselves are covered in enchanting runic symbols. When activated by a specially crafted magic crystal, it will explode within thirty minutes. I personally dedicated hours of work into this thing, and I guaranteed to render that dig site into a crater. Its original purpose was to slip onto a Covenant ship.”Admiral Volkov decided to triple circle his mental note of not pissing the Equestrians off. The first two circles were courtesy of Princesses Celestia and Luna; the former for disintegrating the Covenant over Manehattan before serious injury in battle, the latter for the ability to enter one's dreams.Volkov gave a shudder remembering being pulled from a nightmare about a space battle into a lucid dream of being an admiral of a cruise ship fleet with Princess Luna as the captain of the E.S.S Dreamscape. That was a Hell of a weird night, and put in plain view that there was a major security breach regarding dreams.Coming back to the here-and-now, Volkov shook his head. He tried not to come off as rude, but his wording and tone said otherwise, “If it’s your equipment, you will have to drop your men in as well. The ODSTs can drop in to secure the area, but your own people will handle their own bomb.”Cody nodded from across the table, “I respect those men and women. They fight like Clones, never backing down even after taking heavy casualties. I can see if General Kenobi will divert a few LAAT gunships and AT-TE tanks to supplement your lost Pelicans and Scorpions with complimentary crews. My men want to see some action, but we cannot divert any heavier ships due to running the risk of leaving the city under-defended.”Admiral Volkov understood completely, with the combination of all sides’ ships scattered across the planet, moving any one ship from defense could result in the Covenant swooping to any location on planet for a weaker target.“My Helljumpers will secure landing areas for the gunships and Pelicans only, we can’t divert tanks to a sight we’re blowing. Princess Sparkle, will you send your men in?”She frowned, “I have no choice if it will keep you from nuking the site.”Cody decided to voice his opinion, “General Grevious, you seem like you have something to say.”The cyborg nodded, surprisingly calm, “I can ensure this mission gets done. I could spare two battlecruisers from Mareami with Vulture fighter craft and Hyena bombers.”Admiral Volkov shook his head, “With all due respect General, we cannot risk losing Mareami to the Covenant. One should suffice.”“Very well,” he begrudgingly replied.Admiral Volkov then stood up from his chair, tapping on the datapad to reveal his latest news, “The alien you see reveals that we have yet another new player involved.”Before the assembled officials, the hologram of Stalks-Prey stood tall.

<~Ralneigh Hospital~>

Boredom. It was a feeling I hadn’t felt in five months and it was a strange feeling to reconnect with. Scrounging for scraps and means of survival keeps you occupied.Sitting on the bed, completely redressed so my cousin could return, I was slowly coming to terms with how strange it was being back in civilization. So long alone yet I survived. How do I even speak to others now?Before I could explore the thought any longer, I felt the familiar twinge in the back of my mind. Something was about to happen.My room door opened and General Kenobi walked in flanked by two clones.The air of authority emanating off the General permeated the air causing me to sit up and look to him. The clone to his left had a strange air around him as well, I couldn’t quite place it. The clone to his right I recognized as Razzcat since he wasn’t wearing his helmet.“Legion, Razzcat, could you two step outside?” General Kenobi requested with only a quick glance to the two clones.“Yessir,” They both said with the same voice.This was getting real fishy, real fast. I reached for my pistol, but was quickly reminded that the nurse had finally confiscated it from me.“No need to be alarmed youngling, I am General Obi-Wan Kenobi, Jedi Master and a General of the Grand Army of the Galactic Republic,” He said as he splayed his hand and floating the silver cylinder over to me, dropping it onto my black pants, causing me to slightly yelp in surprise at the sudden weight.The reason it surprised me was because I was too transfixed on the strange feeling when he levitated the cylinder. I honestly was at a loss for words even after he ‘handed’ me the cylinder .“You felt my presence when I entered, did you not? I noticed your body language upon my arrival.”I was already caught so I nodded yes and looked at the cylinder on my legs.“Are you wondering what the feelings mean?”Feelings. How he worded it was strange. I instantly recalled the ODSTs talking about his sixth-sense, and felt like a large weight was dropped on me.How could I be so dense?Babs Seed you stupid, stupid filly, you got the same feeling twice around him, felt him move the cylinder through the air without magic, and survived in an occupied city mostly on gut instinct and ‘feelings.’“Somehow in the name of Tartarus I’m connected with you?” I said, connecting all the dots in my head.“You could say that. Care to take a walk? I always find it helps clear the mind.”With my only other option being staying in here and waiting, I agreed. Getting up I noticed I was taller than the general. I held his weapon in my hand, eyeing it suspiciously before it was slowly taken from my grasp by General Kenobi’s powers.“Where is my cousin and Lucky?” I asked before we left.“They were made aware I was visiting you, as well as the possibility that you may be away from your room for a while.”With that, we exited to the hallway and passed by two ponies I actually knew; Mr. and Mrs. Cake from Ponyville. Mrs. Cake was holding their four year old daughter Pumpkin, both of them in tears but otherwise quiet.I heard the doctor speaking to Mr. Cake as Kenobi and I passed. He mentioned something about ‘cancer’ and ‘too quickly’, their son Pound Cake wasn’t with them.The couple had lost a child.We continued walking in silence down the halls of the hospital. General Kenobi had heard the doctor as well. The fact that the two parents lost a child so young obviously weighed heavily on General Kenobi’s mind. I could practically feel his sadness.I on the other hand felt sick.It was sickness directed at myself. I felt nothing after overhearing about Pound Cake’s death. I had actually played with him during the few times I visited Sugarcube Corner with my cousin Applebloom.After all the death I dealt with in Manehattan, I was stoic around death. It was normal to pass by the corpse of a foal in the embrace of a protective mother, both run through by a single Elite energy sword.We continued our silent journey, Kenobi in silent respect, me battling with resurfacing memories.I had enough awareness of my surroundings to be surprised that the halls weren’t lined with sick and injured. With how the Covenant was constantly attacking all our cities, I was sure many would be injured.“General-” he cut me off.“Please, call me Kenobi.” He said with a smile as we exited out the long hallway and into the spacious white tiled lobby of the Hospital.“Sorry, Kenobi,” I answered as I looked quickly around the room. I saw Razzcat and the other Clone talking with Lucky and Big Macintosh around a group of wooden tables and seats. Big Mac saw me and waved, to which I replied by waiving back.Before Kenobi and I exited the building, I made a quick stop by the receptionist’s desk to check myself out and asked for my pistol back. Upon getting my weapon back, I holstered it at my side and followed Kenobi out the two automatic sliding-glass doors that surprisingly still had glass and functioned correctly.Exiting to the outside world once again, I took a good look as I stood on the dull concrete steps of the hospital. Rusted and damaged Equestrian cars mixed with battle damaged Warthogs as battle droids marched in perfect formation down the roads. Their metal feet making a rhythmic clang like a train chugging along, all to the backdrop of a barely alive city.My mind began telling me this was going to turn into another Manehattan. I told it back that I’d be damned to Tartarus before I let it fall.Shaking my head quickly to clear the grisly thought, I looked to my left to see Kenobi waiting patiently. He asked, “I see hope that this place can return to what it was once was. What do you see Babs?”He must have gotten my name from Big Macintosh before speaking with me.As for his question, it seemed like an odd question at the time, but I still gave him an honest answer, “A repeat in history waiting to happen,” I replied, my mood dipping towards the macabre.He nodded like he understood. But it was a slow, reserved nod that screamed that he knew what I was feeling even when he asked me the question. “I’m going to say a few things that may be hard to accept, but please understand that I speak the truth.”He took a deep breath in preparation for a long speech, “You are known in the Republic as ‘Force Sensitive.’ That means you have a connection to something called ‘the Force’. The Force is a great power in the universe, it permeates every living thing, and binds us all together. There are a few who can control this power, like me. I am a Jedi Master, and the Jedi use their affinity to the Force to keep the peace. I serve on the High Council of Jedi based on Coruscant, a planet in my universe. And you, Babs, you have the potential to become a Jedi yourself.”I looked at him like he was crazy, but all his words were true.“But with this great power, comes great responsibility. I can sense the anger and sadness in you. If left unchecked these feelings will destroy your better judgment and lead you down a dark path you may never be able to come back from.”I looked to the cracked and broken pavement beneath my hooves, giving a heavy sigh, “I guess this is one of the reasons why we took this little walk, to clear my head.”I could feel in the air his change in mood, “Yes,” Kenobi said in a low, near somber voice,“There is great good in you, but your heart also holds fear, anger, and the lust for revenge. I can feel that you suffered a great loss.”I clenched my teeth and balled my fists tightly. Five months of bottled up emotions poured out in one moment of anger, “I lost both of my parents during the invasion, my home is rubble as well as the city it was in, I was covered in my best friend’s blood after a Grunt went suicidal, and I recently learned half my family is gone!”I took a few breaths to calm myself, my voice quivering with sadness, “Loss is what I had to deal with for five months straight… every night I lay down on whatever I have to sleep on, pull out the photograph of my family and cry myself to sleep. Tell me I haven’t ‘suffered a great loss’.”I looked to Kenobi, anger burning in my eyes, sadness welling up in his. His face fell into a look of sorrow, “I’m sorry for all that you have had to go through.”His words were genuine, but they fell on deaf ears. I was sad, utterly confused, and my stomach felt like it was going to flip inside out if I didn’t eat anything anytime soon.So, I walked away from the confusion. Mulling over what the strange being from another universe claimed as I searched for a spot to eat my MRE before returning to Big Macintosh.I may have been young, but I didn’t need a foalsitter watching my every move.

<~-~>

Obi-Wan Kenobi watched as Babs walked away. She was force sensitive, but he knew she was too old to train. But still not too much older than Anakin when he discovered him.The only other thing wrong other than her age was that she was going down the path of a Sith with her views towards the Covenant, subconsciously bent on revenge against them.‘But is that not all the more reason to train her in the ways of a Jedi to stop her path of self-destruction?’ Obi-Wan thought in the voice of his long dead master, Qui-Gon Jinn.

<~Babs’ POV~>

I only had to walk a minute before I came across the lit neon light of a bar. That meant there was a hot meal ready to be eaten right away and cold alcohol.I was only old enough to order a few beers, but that would be fine, and lucky for me I still had a few paper bitnotes tucked into my wallet.Entering through the door, my ears tried to bend down in the helmet I wore as they were assaulted by some drunkard singing karaoke… badly. The reek of alcohol wafted to my nose, as well as the smell of food, reassuring me that I could order something that didn’t come in a package.Looking around, I spotted booths running along the wall, each with its own overhead light. The booths were only interrupted by a low wooden stage where a brown stallion in dirty Equestrian Marine fatigues was singing drunkenly. Towards the middle of the room were some tables and chairs, as well as a pool table. On one of the far walls was a sign for bathrooms as well as two doors for mares and stallions respectively. The bar’s counter was a few steps to the left of the bathroom doors. On another wall was a dartboard porcupined by multiple red and blue darts.I looked at the inhabitants; many were Equestrian of course, ranging in all shapes, colors, and sizes. A booth with three undisguised changelings chatting away also caught my eye, as well as a few Clone Troopers who had their helmets on the table.I now realized why they were called Clones: because they literally were clones. They all shared the same eyes and face, with the only differences being scars, tattoos, and hair colors along with styles.After looking over the others, I peeled my gaze to a dark corner booth where the overhead light had blown. There I spotted a thick-muscled human body builder in a grey shirt, but the low light made it hard to make out any other details of his body.I squinted and stared as I tried to make out details and instantly regretted it when the easily seven-hoof tall human got out of the booth.Who I thought was a male bodybuilder, was in fact a female. As she began sauntering my way, she wore something that was a cross of a smile and sneer befitting of Nightmare Moon.She walked closer and I could feel a chill start running through me. I wanted to run, but somehow I couldn’t. I seemed to be rooted in place by the glare of the human one-hoof taller than me.“Hello, Joanna says hi,” The giant human said in a powerful yet feminine voice. As she said that, she turned her head and pointed to what looked like a phone’s wireless earpiece, then to a familiar piece of postcard sized technology attached to a metal necklace.“Hello… and may I ask, who are you?”“Petty Officer First Class Carter 0-9-3, ma’am,” she responded in a quick military manner. I recognized the three digits at the end of the last name.“You’re a Spartan?” I had only seen one, and he was trapped in the cockpit of a Sparrowhawk.“Yes,” She answered casually.I was curious so I asked, “How many confirmed kills do you have?”“Would that be Covenant or Insurrectionists?” She asked like I would know what the latter were.Since I had no idea what Insurrectionists were, I simply said, “Covenant.”“None since I go on missions where confirming kills can’t be done. But unconfirmed, I range in the low thousands. Most of them Grunts though.”I had only one word, and it came out nearly in a whisper, “Damn.”I was going to ask another question, but a low, mournful wail screamed throughout the city and sent chills down my bones.

Chapter 6: Attack

Chapter 6: Attack

<~Ralneigh~>

I knew that sound. That high-then-low wail of an air raid siren. Everyone in the bar began scrambling. The Clones put on their helmets and grabbed pistols, the Changelings jumped up and made a mad dash for the door, all the while the drunken Equestrian Marine nearly seemed sober before falling on his face.

The Spartan however… she was gone before I could register the sound of the siren in my head.I ran outside and looked up into the sky. What I saw made my heart skip a beat. Covenant and human ships crisscrossed over one another, raining streaks of fire on each other as puffs of black dotted the sky.I counted one big Covenant Assault Carrier, dwarfing its two accompanying Corvettes.As the human and Droid ships pounded the Covenant shields, small craft were literally swarming from the belly of the Assault Carrier like somepony had made a giant silver beehive angry.The cacophony of battle finally found my ears as I drew my pistol. I noticed several purple-blue bulbous landing craft accompanied by purplish-pink tuning fork shaped craft. Between the tongs of the ‘fork’ I saw vehicles suspended in a blue field of light.Crowds were panicking in the streets, I managed to make out one refugee yelling, “They haven't sent this many before!”Waves upon waves of hostile aliens jumped out the craft as fully crewed Wraiths went toe to toe with the walking tanks from the Clone army. Fighter craft from all sides waged intense aerial war.I ducked as a giant ball of green plasma ripped the air above my head. I felt the heat from it before hearing the explosion.The Grunt that fired the plasma was carrying a giant launcher that seemed twice as big as him, but I managed to end him with my pistol before he could fire another shot. Running back towards the hospital, I planned on meeting up with Big Macintosh.As I ran, I looked to the sky again. There, a V-shaped pattern of Covenant dropships the humans called Phantoms stuck out from the chaotic formations of craft above us.Chaos, the Covenant had us all in chaos. Their bombers rendered tanks to scrap as Elites poured out of the small dropships with what seemed like thousands of Grunts.Running through the streets, I passed by a whole platoon of Droids fighting Grunts. I could tell the normal Battle Droids were fairly useless in a fight, their aim wasn’t worth shit and they were easily dispatched by Grunts. The bulky grey ones, however, were taking out Elites with wrist mounted laser guns.Passing the platoon I turned a corner and a blue rocket screamed over me. It was intended for the Wraith down the street and hit its mark.Getting up and looking to where the shot came from, I noticed two Grunts and a small squad of Clones waiting behind a small sandbag wall with a walking tank. One Grunt waved me over, and to my own surprise, I ran to the sandbags and lept behind cover.The Grunt that waved me over looked up to me. His eyes held great fear, but they also contained an almost hidden, ferocious fire, “Thank the nipple you came! Yipyap and Flipflop reporting for duty!” He shouted over the raging battle as he gave me a salute with the wrong hand.A Clone brushed him to the side, “Ma’am, I need you to get to the nearest-”He never finished. A large smoking hole replaced a large portion of his helmet, hitting the Clone behind him in the chest and killing him as well.I ducked low, “Get down!” I yelled as the gunner of the tank fired at the sniper, blowing chunks of rubble down from the roof.The remaining Clones didn’t follow my warning and charged forward while Yipyap and Flipflop crouched low beside me. While crouched, I noticed that both of their gas tanks were colored purple with white stars.Flipflop looked to me as Yipyap fired his plasma pistol over the wall, “Clones get killed too often. Us follow you now,” he said in a voice squeakier than Sweetie Belle’s.I didn’t like the idea of those suicidal things following me, but they could be useful as shields. “Keep up, gas-suckers,”  I said back as I put my pistol in my holster.I then darted off as I picked up the dead Clone’s rifle. It was heavier than most of the rifles I’d dealt with before but I wasn’t going to complain. It did keep me from fighting with just my pistol.Looking behind me as I ran, I noticed the short-legged Grunts were surprisingly keeping pace with me.I was almost to the hospital before a blast of green sent me flying through the air like a marionette with cut strings. Looking back on the event I never did remember hitting the ground.

<~Three minutes later~>

My eyes felt heavy as I stared at the closed lids. My body ached like I had been slammed into repeatedly by sledgehammers and I could hear the battle still raging, but it was echoing like I was down a very deep well.When I did open my eyes, I was staring at a ceiling as well as one one of the Grunt’s heads.“You’re alive?” He asked, almost shaking as he stared at me.“Ungh…” I moaned as unconsciousness took over me again.

<~Big Macintosh’s PoV~>

I looked around for Babs outside the doors of the hospital while panicking like I never did before. I’d just found out she was alive today and I may have already lost her again. Only General Kenobi had returned to tell me she had gotten angry with him and left him behind.She shouldn’t have left with him even if he was completely honest about everything. The only reason I ever trusted the particular human was because my sis trusted him.I looked down the street, Kenobi was hacking away at the Elites with his fancy blue sword as the Clones were on the roof defending the hospital from Jackals. We’d learned quickly that those chickens loved to roost on top of buildings before putting a nice neat hole in your head from one of the many Covenant sniper rifles.Noticing that the Elites were thinning in number, I unslung the hammer off my back. The Brutes always come after Elites. Always.I’d seen them hurt too many of my friends. Rainbow Dash is still in bad shape after diving in front of a gravity hammer swing to save a scared filly.I had killed the varmint too late to save Dash from getting seriously wounded. I made sure to get her help before I relieved him of his hammer and then later of his armor.Looking to the sky, I made a hobby out of learning the names of every ship over Ralneigh. The Galactic Republic Star Destroyer Hades and the two unnamed Droid Battlecruisers were pockmarked with plasma holes and a few flaming wounds as the UNSC Carrier Megalodon took off from its spot in Ralneigh harbor, a few spots on the freshly repaired hull were already damaged before its new shield was activated.I couldn’t see the UNSC Frigate Frozen Earth, but I didn’t have to wait for long before an ear splitting bang roared overhead.The large magnetic cannon on the Frigate punched through the weakened Covenant shield and blasted a gaping hole into the biggest of the attacking ships, spilling fire and electronic innards.With the main ship damaged along with no shields, every Covenant craft that hadn’t been shot down raced back to the ships.We had won, but they never had launched an assault this big before.I needed to find Babs. The Gods have mercy on General Kenobi if she’s hurt.

<~Babs PoV~>

My eyes once again felt as heavy as stones, but I had them partially open. I ached and I could feel my leg bleeding painfully below the first bend in my right leg, but not much else. Equestrian legs were jointed like the Elites, barring our hooves.If I wasn’t in pain, I would be down right humiliated at that moment because I was being dragged unceremoniously by Yipyap and Flipflop by my arms over their shoulders.From my half conscious state I could make out Yipyap bragging about his new gold colored cannon across his back after killing the Grunt that shot me, while Flipflop kept silent.The headache I had was only being compounded by Yipyap’s high pitch voice.And then I fell into unconsciousness. Again.

<~One day later~>

My eyes peeled open slowly like my eyes were fighting a snail in a slowness contest. My mind felt foggy, giving me a hint that I had been drugged.With my eyes now completely open, I stared at the distinct white of the hospital ceiling. There was a rhythmic beep-beep of a heart monitor to my left so I turned to the sound. Sure enough white cords hooked up the offending device to me, I could feel the chill of the pads that stuck to my skin. I even had an IV of clear liquid running into a vein in my arm and I could feel that I had a catheter… gross.Turning my head on the comfortable pillow, I could also feel gauze and padding over parts of my head.Looking around, I realized there was a white plastic curtain to my left, and a wall to my right which had a crutch leaned up against it. The window on the wall on my right was dark from the night sky outside. Turning my head left again, I knew if the curtain was drawn that somepony was in this room with me.“Hello?” I called out, hoping my roommate could shed some light on the situation.“Yeah?” I heard a scratchy, tom-coltish voice call back. I only knew one mare who spoke like a tom-colt beside myself and Scootaloo, and that was-“Rainbow Dash?” I asked incredulously. I never thought I would find someone else I knew. Spending time with cousin Applejack had allowed me to meet her.“Yeah, kid, it’s me. Applebloom’s been by a few times just so you know. Hopefully her idea works. It will do so many ponies a lot of good. You especially.”“What?” I asked confused. I don’t know what it was, but I decided to check under the covers.I blanched white at the absence of my right leg, seeing where it was once connected now wrapped in clean cloth bandaging.My stomach churned in knots and I wanted to puke at the alien feeling of missing a limb. Seeing it gone but still feeling like it was there had me in a such a state of shock, I didn’t realize Rainbow Dash had brushed the curtain aside.When I did notice her, I looked at her in even more shock. She was standing with the support of two crutches. Her left arm and leg were missing, and I stared with an open-mouthed expression of confusion and horror. Her leg was gone, but her arm was replaced by some sort of metal prosthetic that melded into where the shoulder joint should have been.I stared blankly and noticed that her new metal shoulder was engraved with human letters.She noticed me staring at the engraving, “It reads as such, ‘Honorary Helljumper - Rivenbark, Metz, Powers,’ It was from a few humans I know.” As she spoke, I noticed her left eye was a milky white and I couldn’t see her left wing.All the damage was on the left side of her body. “Wha- what happened!?” I stammered seeing her, somehow forgetting about my missing leg.She took a breath and sighed, her voice cracking with sadness as she spoke.

<~Ralneigh two months prior, Rainbow’s PoV~>

We had killed all the Elites and Grunts that dropped down, and it was time for the Brutes. I reloaded my assault rifle and took flight, seeing Clones battle with the ships the humans from the UNSC call Seraphs.A wave a Brutes came down in fork shaped Spirit dropships. The oversized monkeys jumped out in no apparent order but all ready to kill without the restraint the Elites seemed to posses.I flew right where they landed, firing a blast in their faces before they could register I had even moved in front of them. As I flew off, I left a present by their feet.A pretty little flaming blue present of death.I had cleared the Brutes out in under ten seconds flat, but as I thought I had killed them all, a Spirit crashed into a building in a giant flaming wreck. Two arrow-head shaped Republic starfighters, one pink and grey, the other yellow and grey, zipped over the building.It was General Skywalker and Pinkie Pie; both of them harassing the enemy pilots to no end.Hopefully, there weren’t any survivors from the crash.I flew through the gaping hole in the wall, my wings beating furiously. I spotted movement from the rubble of the Spirit and angry forms began to peel themselves from rubble and wreckage to take up arms.In the confines of a building, I had to land. Taking up a spot behind some rubble, I pulled a curving banana shaped magazine from the black combat vest I wore. I popped my half empty magazine out and replaced it with a fully loaded one as white-hot spikes sailed over my head.I had already used my sole grenade to kill the Brutes outside, so now I only had two options, gun A: my rifle, or gun B: my pistol. I wouldn’t even think of attacking them with my knife.Popping up, I sent lead flying downrange, killing a Brute whose shields failed during the crash. Ducking back down, I waited for the firing to stop. I couldn’t reload since it was my last magazine, so I just waited a second as spikes pelted my cover. After what seemed like an endless barrage of spikes, the Equestrian Marines finally arrived.When my cavalry had arrived, the Brutes’ attention shifted to them, allowing me to throw caution to the wind and jump over the rubble. What I saw on the other side made me sick.A Brute Chieftain had a little filly by the neck, holding her high in the air. Her green coat paling as her life was squeezed out her throat.I began firing but I only had a few rounds left. Discarding my rifle without thinking of my still half-full clip, I drew my pistol and fired as the Brute just stood there, watching the poor girl die slowly in its massive fingers. All the other Brutes were distracted by the Marines, and the Marines distracted by the Brutes.I kept firing and walking forward until I ran out of ammo. When that happened I drew the knife on my side and flew almost top-speed straight for it.There Brute tossed the filly down before raising a giant hammer to end her. He then took that point in time to notice me and a whoosh followed by a boom cracked the air inside the building like a whip.I landed on the ground, hard, but I never passed out. That came later.

<~Babs PoV~>

“Big Macintosh was the one that killed the Brute, but not before it killed Chocolate Mint, and he wasn’t content with just killing her. I tried to save her, honestly,” Rainbow said frantically as she began getting caught up with telling her story, “Then after he killed her, he snapped my left wing like it was a twig and ripped my leg off, before Big Mac shot him.”She then got really angry, “I passed out like a useless filly with a papercut! And when I woke up, I found out that most of my left side was mush, and my left arm was utterly destroyed… I-I-I’m rambling about my injuries again aren’t I?” She asked, calming down.I simply nodded.“Sorry, Babs, I’ve just been cooped up here for two months with broken ribs and missing limbs. The UNSC luckily had this metal robot arm in my size. Crazy how short those humans are, right?” She asked with a fake smile and equally fake chuckle.I looked down to the depression in the covers where my leg should be, “I wouldn’t judge size. A Grunt was the one that took my leg.”She grimaced, “Fuel-rod cannon or plasma grenade?” She asked darkly.“I don’t know, just some gold colored weapon as big as the Grunt that fired it.”“Fuel-rod it was then. Lucky you aren't missing both legs. I’m going to go tell Applebloom you’re okay.”“What about Big Macintosh?” I asked, curious as to why he wasn’t in here with me.“He’s in jail. When he saw you were injured he punched General Kenobi in the face and left a big shiner over his eye before giving him a bloody nose. Also, Kenobi stopped by with some Clone and a Commando Droid, apparently they all know you.”“Yeah,” I sighed defeatedly, “Can you just go get Applebloom? I need some time alone.”She looked to the spot where my leg should be under the covers and nodded before slowly limping off with her crutches.

<~Canterlot Palace, night, Azure Whisper’s PoV~>

I looked up to the sky from the courtyard of Canterlot Palace, the Dreadnought of the Seventh Sky Corps was hovering just above the massive shield spell Princess Luna and Celestia had cast. In the inky darkness of the night it loomed over us like a bad omen, but in the day it was like a protector to all who dared walk the streets in these troubling times.Looking around the courtyard, finding nothing else here but grass and statues, I spread my leathery wings and took flight. The Solar Guards should be getting off their shift, and I, as one of Luna’s Lunar Guard, had the all important task of guard duty.All I did on guard duty was listen to the Princesses argue about the war before getting sent out when things get too heated and they start breaking eardrums with the Royal Canterlot Tone.Landing on a balcony, my ears twitched at the sound of a bat flying from its roost, a favorite pet amongst my race.I smoothed down my short, blond hair that was blown in random directions from the flight, before reaching into the side pocket of my pitch black trenchcoat to retrieve my solid-black shades. Since I was a Thestral with a rather rare birth defect, my eyes were extra adept seeing in the dark, but painfully sensitive to bright light. The little trade-off forced me into wearing shades most of my life.I didn’t really care; it intimidated the new recruits when paired with my training style. One of my recruits even had the audacity to whisper one time, ‘Oh shit, here comes Captain Whisper.’Of course you can’t whisper a secret around Captain Whisper and I not overhear, and as a result he ran drills until he doubled over puking. But that was all before the Covenant arrived. Now I was busy with guard duty - an obvious waste of my natural talents - which I still needed to report for.Entering the palace proper from the balcony, I made a few twists and turns to get to the Throne room.I gave the guards on the outside of the doors an intimidating smirk and entered, taking position inside the throne room by the doors. There I could hear Princess Luna and Princess Celestia argue, but I couldn't see them.“-you suggest goes beyond cruel. I cannot use my talent to wage such warfare,” I heard Luna complain.“The Covenant kills our little ponies by the score and threatens the existence of the humans as a species. Even after months of this madness you refuse to throw away your petty moral choice for the common good.”“But to achieve that common good involves me implanting nightmares into the minds of the Covenant. It tears at me to sit idly by as I see them suffer through their own nightmares, but to create the nightmares for them… I can’t. You haven’t seen inside their nightmares. General Grievous was bad, but some things the Covenant dream of are horrific to the point I’m beginning have nightmares of my own.”“You have obviously seen the nightmares, so you can’t or you won’t do your duty to Equis. Luna-” Celestia paused, “We face an enemy that refuses to negotiate with us, they even fired upon me instead of running after I threw myself at them full force. And as you can see, it has taken quite a while to grow my fur back.”“I won't, dear sister. What you suggest goes beyond all that is wrong.”“Then I guess I have no option but to authorize Project Spearhead,” I heard the distinct sound of a heavy paper folder landing swiftly on the table and the rustle of paper.I heard Luna shuffle a few of the papers - obviously speed reading them - before gasping, “Sister, this is unacceptable. I will not allow this project to start.”I heard Celestia sigh, “I knew you were going to say that, so I took the liberty of beginning phase one.”Luna shouted, “Monster! How could you do this?!”“You know we can't stop the Covenant without abandoning a few morals we used to cling dearly to. Times have changed, it is high time we take on the mantle of responsibility and lead our people against these invaders.”I then heard the sound of Luna teleporting off.Most nights the arguments were big, but this took the icing on the cake for actually grabbing my interests. I wasn’t briefed on any projects codenamed Spearhead, and I’m one of the higher ranking commanders of the Guard.Something very wrong was up with that project, and I was considering committing treason to find out.

<~Babs PoV~>

It had only been around five minutes since Rainbow Dash left the room, but it felt like an eternity as I was slowly coming to terms with the fact that I had lost a major part of myself.No more running or playing kickball with Applebloom; and even if I get one of those clunky prosthetics, I’m never going to be able to truly be as good on the field as I once was.I felt a wave of despair wash over me like a tidal wave. One never knows how much they’re going to miss something until it’s gone.I knew I should be thankful. Rainbow, since she’s a Pegasus, must have been going through an extremely difficult time with one wing constantly reminding her she wouldn’t be able to fly again.A missing leg wasn’t that bad when I looked at it that way, but I knew it was going to be a long ways to go before I fully accepted that it was gone.

Chapter 7: Bloom

“Now son, in the Corp when I was a lot younger, we didn’t have these fancy-schmancy assault rifles. We had two sticks per pony, and a rock. And the whole platoon had to share that rock.” - Gunnery Sergeant Granny ‘Mean n Green’ Smith, to the new cadets of the 76th Equestrian Rifle Platoon.

Chapter 7: Bloom

<~Babs’ PoV~>

After a few short minutes of staring at the ceiling and coming to terms with my missing leg, Rainbow returned to our shared room with Applebloom. I couldn’t believe how much she had changed.For one, her favorite giant bow that she always wore was now missing from her hair, which was now hanging loosely, as well as her tail. And instead of the normal blue overalls and t-shirt she wore, she was dressed in UNSC armor without a helmet. Another thing was that she seemed older than me somehow, with grey streaks that shouldn’t belong in a mare that young.Her eyes were glassy with unshed tears as she stared at me in awkward silence with a weak smile. Rainbow was sitting quietly on her bed, her one leg swaying back and forth as she seemed to be resisting the urge to hum. Applebloom opened her mouth like she was going to speak before closing it, then suddenly found the words she was looking for, “I can’t believe that, after all this time, you’re still alive.”She ran over and gave me a hug around my neck while finally shedding the tears from her eyes. The wires hooking me up to the heart monitor and the IV in my vein kept me from returning her loving hug properly.Of all the things I could have said to her in that moment, I chose to ask, “Can I see your cutie mark?”She let go of my neck and backed away, the expression on her face was priceless, “Wha-?” She half murmured out.I flashed a wide grin, “Big Mac said you got your cutie mark. I want to see it for myself.”What happened next wasn’t as I expected. Her face turned red as she got angry with me, “Damn it, I haven’t seen you in almost half a year, and when ya finally show up, you ask me about my cutie mark!?”She then let out a sigh before smiling softly as she playfully punched my shoulder, “Not right now. You lost your leg. I don’t want to be flaunting around what I gained.”“Yeah,” I said slowly as I rose what was left of my leg uselessly under the covers, “Thanks,” I said sincerely for her respect and set the stub down.I looked to Rainbow Dash who was still sitting in bed, and then back to Applebloom, “Rainbow said you were doing something that could help me?”Applebloom nodded slowly, “Yeah, but I need you out'a here to help you.”“How so? Wouldn’t you be able to help me here just as fine as when I am out of the hospital?”“Not necessarily. I’m going to find a nurse ta see if you’re in the clear to leave.”With that, Applebloom walked out.I idly scanned the room before looking over to Rainbow Dash. I couldn’t believe how much punishment she had taken and survived. I wanted to say something, but Applebloom returned with a smile on her face. “Guess what Babs, you’re free to go.”“I thought only adults or myself, could check me out of the hospital.”She rolled her eyes playfully as she made a motion with a hand, “Nope. The staff here wants to get as many people out of here as they can before the next attack. Keeps from overcrowdin’ the rooms.”I turned my gaze to Rainbow Dash. She seemed fine enough given how long she said she was here. “So why haven’t you checked out, Rainbow?”She just looked down to the ground and mumbled, “Rehab.”I guessed that losing vision in her left eye, as well as two limbs impeded her progress towards being ready to check out the hospital.After that, Nurse Sunshine came into the room to give me my clothing as well as remove the heart monitor pads, IV, and catheter tube. Applebloom and Rainbow Dash kindly left the room so I could change.“How long was I out?” I asked as I slipped on my washed clothing. Feeling the clean body armor on my washed fur felt strange; I was so used to being covered in dirt and grime, I had forgotten the feeling of cleanliness.Nurse Sunshine replied in her annoyingly chipper voice, “Just one day. You healed at a rate I haven’t seen in anypony before. Your missing leg was actually scabbing when the two Grunts pulled you in here with Macintosh’s help.”“What? The Grunts saved me?” I asked as I recalled being dragged by Yipyap and Flipflop. I guess I owed them my gratitude.“Yep, they sure did. Most ponies don’t trust them, but they have brought in so many wounded humans and Equestrians for help, that I have no choice but believe they’re on our side.”I nodded slowly, “I have to admit, I probably would have bled out if it wasn’t for them.”“That would probably be the case. Now,” She said, her voice going from chipper to stern, “make sure you drink plenty of fluids and eat healthily. You’re nearly dehydrated and underweight by a few pounds.”“So, am I free to go now?” I asked. Hopefully, I didn’t have to visit here for a long time.“You sure are dearie. Hopefully I won't see you in here again.” She said while smiling as she handed me the crutch from against the wall.Hopping up from the bed as I put the crutch under my right shoulder, I said, “I fully agree with that idea.” Then I slowly managed to hobble to the door, open it, and enter the hallway. There, Rainbow Dash and Applebloom were waiting, but Rainbow slipped back into her room without saying a word, while her face read an expression of mild anger and sadness. She slammed the door as soon as she was back in her room.“What’s eating her?” I asked, noticing the look and how she didn’t speak to me.Applebloom gave a short but heavy sigh, “Babs,” she paused, “Rainbow is the Element of Loyalty. I could tell she was feeling betrayed by you for leaving shortly after waking up. The war keeps mah sis and her friends from visitin’, so Rainbow is mighty lonely here.”“Oh,” I mouthed silently in sadness as I stared at the tiled floor. Now my conscience was telling me I was a horrible pony.Applebloom began walking and I hobbled after. She noticed my trouble with using a single crutch to walk, and quickly threw my right arm over her shoulders, taking my crutch in her right hand. I had seen wounded Marines do the same thing in old war photographs my grandfather owned. Heck, they were sometimes missing legs as well.“So, how long is it to where you want to carry me?” I asked. With any luck it wouldn’t be far, otherwise, my only leg would cramp up and the two of us would be in quite a situation.“Only five blocks. Not really that far considerin’ how enormous the city is.”That was true.As we walked, we both stayed silent as civilians and soldiers mixed together with each other in the streets. I couldn’t help but feel that one of these days, all of this would be ashes and rubble.

<~Canterlot, Azure Whisper’s PoV~>

A Thestral in public is a bizarre sight to see. A Thestral in broad daylight is an even stranger sight, especially if they’re wearing a long and baggy, black-leather trench coat with gun holsters underneath as well as shades. I was a prime example of said sight.I was sitting on an outside stool at a nearly empty Pony Joe’s Donut Shop and Café, waiting on a guy who knew a guy, who was owed a few favors from some higher-ups. I hadn’t met my contact in person, but the first guy told the second guy a code phrase to use when he meets me. Normal cloak and dagger dealings.Ever since overhearing the fight between the Princesses over Project Spearhead, I was calling in as many favors as I could without generating enough attention to get caught.After half an hour and three cups of java, I was ready to call it a quits. Getting up from the stool, someone from behind me spoke.“Can you keep a secret from a whisper?”That was the passphrase, so I sat and returned my own code phrase, “No, because secrets are whispers.”The whole thing may have sounded a little narcissistic on my part due to my last name, but in reality, the entire Thestral race is known for plots and espionage. The only race better suited for those jobs are the changelings, but there are counter spells against their disguise magic.My contact spoke again, his voice old and scratchy, “Don’t turn around. We both will go to the gallows or worse if we’re caught.”His voice sounded familiar, but I couldn’t place it. “Won’t it look even more suspicious if two stallions are speaking with each other from different tables?”I heard my contact groan loudly then move. A few seconds later, an elderly brown coated Unicorn stallion in the dark blue and purple robes of a Lunar Mage sat across from me. His hair was black with a single wide streak of white, and his goatee was as white as the streak in his hair.I gasped, when I saw his ruby red eyes “Discord?” I asked lowly. He currently was public enemy number one after being blamed for the arrival of the Covenant by Princess Celestia.Discord rolled his eyes, “Is it really that obvious?” He asked skeptically.I nodded quickly before darting my gaze around. If I was caught stealing secrets from Celestia, the worst she probably would do is execute me on the spot. But if I was caught with Discord, the very being she blamed for all this mess, I couldn’t imagine what would happen. I could be slowly tortured, or sent to the sun, or slowly tortured after being sent to the sun.“Why are you here?” I asked in an even lower voice than when I found out it was Discord who I was talking to.“I’m giving you Celestia’s closetful of skeletons,” he said as his horn flashed grey, causing a miniature closet to appear on the circular table our stools sat around. The closet’s tiny oak doors swung open and a large pile of bones fell out. I watched in a stupor as the bones reformed into five pony skeletons before marching single file off the table, shattering into dust on the ground like glass. I swore I heard one of them say ‘lemmings’ as it fell.I gritted my teeth after I got over the distraction, “I meant, why are you still in Canterlot? The entire Solar Guard is hunting you down like a lost million dollar bit,” I gave a sigh, “Even the Lunar Guard is being pressured into searching for you, but none of us believe it was you who caused all of this.”Discord’s shoulders slumped, his ancient eyes weary. “Thank you,” he whispered, before picking up volume, “For believing I’m innocent that is. I’m the living incarnation of chaos itself, not a mass murderer. Why would I ever bring such horrid monsters into this reality?”“You wouldn’t. You actually created the Thestrals if our history serves correct.”He chuckled before saying, “That isn’t the case,” and rolling his eyes.He then frowned and let out a grunt along with a motion of his hands, “Enough of this, I have a schedule to keep and I believe you came for this, not to hear me ramble,” Discord said as he lightly tossed a manila folder filled to the brim with white paper onto the table, right next to the miniature closet.He then whistled to catch my attention, “I need to go. If Sunbutt catches wind that I’m still amongst her, her desperation and anger alone will send me to the sun.”I nodded and he teleported off in a flash of grey along with the dust of his miniature skeletons and the tiny closet they had come in.Looking back down at the folder, I grabbed it and took flight for my apartment. The caffeine from the cups of java I had drunk was wearing off. Thestrals are normally nocturnal, and it was way past my bedtime. Luckily I didn’t have guard duty that night.

<~Ralneigh, Babs’ PoV~>

We had made great time during our walk and we were nearing the building where Applebloom worked during the day. It was a nearly windowless brick and cinder block building which Applebloom explained was a workshop dedicated to reverse engineering along with research and development. She was actually right under the lead engineers of both departments in terms of status.No wonder her hair was going grey. She was working as the assistant head engineer of two project departments trying to fight and win a war. She had my utmost respect.We stopped right outside a slate-grey metal door with an electronic card-scan lock. She gave me back my crutch before pulling out her ID card.“When we get inside, stick ta me and don’t touch anything,” she ordered sternly with a glance back to me, “Covenant plasma weaponry tends ta explode when disassembled and jostled.”I gave a quick nod, showing I understood completely. We then entered the building after she swiped her ID badge and typed in a code – for which I had to look away – and began walking down a cliché, featureless, and long hallway with a white floor and walls.We both stopped at the end of the hallway, Applebloom staring at the red metal double doors that blocked our way into the building.I then realized we stopped at a security checkpoint from a quick glance to my left. I could see the room beside me was a typical office with a clear glass window that looked into the hallway. A microphone on a counter next to a fax machine connected with an intercom system. The stallion in security guard clothing gazed at us from his swivel chair through the barrier of wire reinforced, bullet proof glass.“Assistant Head Engineer,” He addressed in a stern tone as his lips twisted into a frown. I could tell he didn’t like addressing Applebloom as his superior, “Who is the filly without a badge?”Applebloom gave him a sideward glance, not even turning fully to address him. I never heard her so irritated in my life, even when I had bullied her with Silver Spoon and Diamond Tiara, “Mah cousin, and she’s here on official business. Now would ya please buzz us in?”I could see the guard flinch in his swivel chair and fumble for a button. When he pressed it, there was a resounding buzz as well as the unmistakable click of a lock. Applebloom opened the door for me and ushered me inside with a slight bow.Upon entering the complex, my ears were assaulted by the sound of idle talking, welding torches, and machinery as I scanned my vision over a large room. It was filled to the brim with workers in rather clean clothing, working in near clinical workspaces at tables and vehicles. Most of the vehicles being Covenant.I was amazed at the cleanliness. Every inch of floor was clean, besides the few workstations dedicated to vehicles that had dirty vehicle parts scattered around them.“Princess Celestia spared no expense with this place because we get results,” Applebloom proudly told me as she patted my back. The feeling of her hand on my shoulder broke me out of my almost-trance.“That’s for sure. What is it you wanted to show me?” I asked, my voice oozing intrigued curiosity at the building I found myself in. I never imagined I’d ever see a place other than a hospital that was this clean.Applebloom didn’t respond verbally, but she did pass by me and wave for me to follow. As I did we entered a simple locker room dedicated to mares, obvious from all the pink splashed onto the walls like Pinkie Pie had a field day. Following Applebloom up to a green painted locker, she dialed in a combination for the built-in lock before opening the door, and pulling out two lab coats along with two pairs of protective plastic eyeglasses.She handed a coat and glasses to me. It was hard putting the coat on over my armor while simultaneously balancing my weight on my remaining leg and the crutch and Applebloom offered to help, but I refused. I didn’t need to be dressed by somepony like I was a little filly.After getting the coat over my armor and donning the glasses. Applebloom somehow lost her country accent to take on a near scientific tenor and posture as she donned her own white coat with nametag and glasses over her armor, “Wear the eye protection at all times. The Covenant has developed explosive crystals that break into several razor sharp fragments. I had to deal with at least five missing eyes before safety glasses became mandatory in all work areas.”“Okay,” I said nodding. I then pointed to the name tag on the coat I wore, which wasn’t hers, “Who in the hay is Ginger Lambda?” I asked, noticing the grey coated mare’s fire orange hair.Her scientific act continued, “She’s my coworker slash coffee fetcher. Space is limited here so everypony has to share lockers. Luckily she’s off today, otherwise she would have insisted on getting us both a cup of coffee.”I gave an amused snort and said absentmindedly, “I prefer hot tea,” then I felt a tickle of dust in my nose and sneezed into the crook of my left elbow. Shaking my head to clear out the sudden pressure I asked, “Now can we see what you want to show me?”She nodded and I followed, now walking with the crutch with precision like an expert. It was surprising how fast I had adapted to my missing leg.It didn’t take long to get to Applebloom’s workstation. And what the table contained made me do a double-take.I walked - or more accurately limped - forward to touch my hand against the smooth surface of one of the many prosthetic legs. They were Covenant purple and blue with a few plasma green lights, obviously made from the metal skin of Ghosts and Wraiths, and they ended in what appeared to be black rubber cups attached to straps. A quick look revealed that they were designed to bend like Equestrian and Elite’s legs.Applebloom noticed my amazed expression, “You like?” She asked.I nodded swiftly, “Do they come in anything other than purple?”She shook her head, “We used the lightweight alloy from Covenant vehicles to develop an ultra-lightweight prosthetic. It moves in the same way as a natural leg, and is powered by what was once a plasma pistol battery. A few sensors and enchantments in the leg allow for an almost realistic feeling of the missing limb. A downside to that though is the sensory feedback.”“What?” I asked.Applebloom shook her head, explaining slowly, “The leg feels so real while being worn, you feel pain whenever it gets damaged.”“Oh, well in that case, I strap it on and feel like I have my leg back?” I asked, excitement bubbling in my gut.“Yes and no. Sadly while you will have most of the feeling in your leg returned, such as the sensation of pain or touch, it’s not flesh and blood so it won’t stop phantom itches that you can’t scratch.”I knew what she was talking about. I had tried to scratch itches on my missing leg in the hospital. I had heard some stories from old soldiers during show and tell at school talking about the phantom feelings – some inconsiderate filly or colt asking how sompony’s grandfather lost his leg.I had to admit, the feeling of the ghost of my missing leg wanting a scratch was beyond strange… and creepy. Very, very creepy.Applebloom then grabbed a leg that was sitting on the table. Like the others it was Covenant purple, with a few specks of blue.“So, when do I put it on?” I asked.“In a few minutes; but first you’re going to have to take your pants off to properly strap the prosthetic onto the remainder of your right leg.”I nodded then asked “Applebloom?”She replied with a simple, “Yeah?”“What happened to your country accent?”Her face twisted into a smile and she burst out laughing. A second later she was calm enough to speak, “Working with idiots requires one to speak clearly and professionally,” Applebloom said in a mockery of Sweetie Belle’s big sister, Rarity.I cracked a smile. Then a group of two large stallions and a male Zebra jogged up in silver-grey armor, lit with plasma-green lights. Taking some time to look at them, I noticed that painted on their armor was a white gear encircling a white skull. They also carried large rifles in their hands that had bayonets and had pistols at their sides.The biggest one, a dark tan coated Earth Pony wearing a black doo rag with a scar running down his face spoke up, “Applebloom, you have the rifles we requested?” He asked in a gruff tone.“No, I don’t, Phoenix,” Applebloom responded in an annoyed tone, “Seriously, who in their right mind straps a chainsaw to an assault rifle?”Phoenix shook his head, “I’m telling you that it works ten times better on Covenant armor than bayonets.”A light-yellow unicorn stallion with blond hair and blue eyes butted in, “We were held up in a hardware store, no ammo, and our bayonets’ blades broke off after stabbing a few Elites. Phoenix had the bright idea of using a chainsaw, and it scared the Elites into leaving us alone after he cut one of them in half. Their shields didn’t do shit against it.”I leaned against the wall and watched Applebloom roll her eyes, “If Bird says you need chainsaws, then I’ll give you chainsaws, but that would require a complete overhaul of the current assault rifle prototypes to accommodate this chainsaw bayonet.”The Zebra let out a victory ‘Whoo’ before nearly shouting, “Ain’t nobody gonna stop the Coal Train now baby!”After the Zebra’s outburst, the entire group either high-fived, or fist bumped before moving on. After they all had gone out of site, I noticed Applebloom facepalming and shaking her head.Taking a firm hold on my crutch, I stood straight up again, “Who were they?”She un-facepalmed and looked me in the eyes, “You just had the privilege to meet Delta Squad. A group of gun obsessed Marines who, if it wasn’t for Bird, would have less brains than a retarded parasprite.”“Okay,” I said slowly, “did not expect that to come out your mouth, but alright,” Then I remembered the strange armor they wore, “What on Equis were they wearing?”Babs chuckled, “The R and D department calls it Combat Operations Gear, COG for short. It’s currently in the prototype stage and-” She stopped abruptly as she was caught in a fit of hacking coughs.I moved forward to help her, but she waved me off, “Sorry, bad chest cold been bugging me all week. How about we get that leg put on you now?”I had no problem with that.

<~Azure Whisper’s PoV~>

I sat in the middle of my bed in my pitch-black bedroom. A potion was sitting beside me on the nightstand, which my nighteyes allowed me to easily see. Inside the little glass bottle was a concoction of nightshade, moon sugar, and the sap of the sleeping tree.I had made it myself easily since all Thestral guards serving under Luna were required to know basic potion alchemy.Moon sugar and sleeping tree sap alone was a legal sleeping potion, but the addition of nightshade turned it into a highly illegal sleeping potion, with a specific side effect. It caused nightmares.Hopefully, Princess Luna would be drawn to my nightmare so I could speak with her.Drinking the potion and laying down, I was under its spell in an instant.As soon as the blackness of sleep engulfed me, it rolled away like the foam of a beach, replacing itself with fire and the death throes of a town.I remembered this place… it was Ponyville during the Covenant attack.Ponies ran about while Elites ran swords through them. The town militia’s outdated weapons were useless against the shields they wore. In the distance, I gasped in horror at the sight of a Hunter.Hunters were no single creature, they were a walking colony of eels or worms or something, and they always fought in pairs.I looked down at what I had in my hands during this dream. It was the standard issue Equestrian assault rifle.Just as I did in the past, I raised my weapon and fired, the behemoth of worms moving fast and then, all was calm.I heard the sound of gulls and the roll of waves. I was on a beach.There was the sound of hoof steps behind me and I turned, “Bad memories?” She askedUh-oh, I had wanted to talk with Princess Luna after reading the contents of the files on Project Spearhead.I began stuttering “Princess C-C-Celestia?”She shook her head slowly then sighed heavily. Sadness overtook her normally powerful tone, “You honestly thought you could steal sensitive and top-secret documents without me noticing? I’m actually standing right beside your sleeping body. A sloppy hiding spot a nightstand drawer is,” She said tisking before taking on a stern glare, “I’m sorry,” she said in an apologetic tone, “but espionage against either myself, or my sister is a capital offense and with the already damning evidence against you, I have no choice but to carry out your sentence effective immediately.”Her horn then flashed gold.Oh shi-Everything went bright gold before fading to black.

<~Over Manehattan, Third Person~>

The UNSC Frigate Frozen Earth floated on the very edge of space, aiming down at the city below.Helljumpers raced across rubber padded deck plating to SOEIV pods in racks hanging on rails that led to doors in the ship’s hull that opened into the void of space between them and the ground.The Single Occupant Exoatmospheric Insertion Vehicles were, in layman's terms, giant single man pods fired from space towards the ground. The choice vehicle for the 105th Orbital Drop Shock Troopers, aka the Helljumpers.The Helljumpers’ target for this mission was the Scarab anti-air platform defending the dig site. Remove it from the playing field, and the Clone’s LAAT/i gunships and UNSC Pelicans could have a relatively safe trip down, as well as keeping the infantry from getting slaughtered without tank support.Powers, Metz, and Rivenbark waited; their black armor with sky blue visors ready for combat.Then they dropped, careening towards ground at unimaginable speed.It only took a few seconds before fifty SOEIV’s parachutes deployed in near unison, slowing down the otherwise deadly descent towards the ground below.A moment passed, and there was a resounding clang of metal on metal. Metz’s pod’s door burst open. He jumped out, SMG at the ready.Metz had landed on the Scarab itself, a perfect spot as well, since it was near the door to the core keeping the Scarab running.The Grunts manning the defense of the Scarab were so surprised to see a human drop from the sky that they instantly began running in endless circles. Endless until Metz shot them with his silenced SMG that is.The Scarab was turning quickly now to fire on all the other ODSTs that had hit the ground or rooftops. Surprisingly none that Metz could see had buried themselves into the ground, of crashed down hard enough to dig the occupants an early grave.Quickly thinking, Metz grabbed two plasma grenades from a fallen Grunt, then proceeded to clear the rest of the walking gun platform. Entering the heart of the beast, Metz threw both plasma grenades at the core, running towards the exit as they exploded and the Scarab collapsed low to the ground.He never made it past the door; two blades of blue hellfire lifted him in the air, pierced his lungs and heart while boiling his other organs as it did. Killing him instantly.The Scarab exploded right after, taking the active-camouflage Elite, and a nearby Wraith with it.Outside, the remaining ODSTs fought, some from the roofs they landed on, others from the ground.Jackal snipers died before they could get a shot off. ODST snipers had better aim.Within a few short seconds of the Scarab exploding, seven Pelicans and fifteen LAAT/i gunships landed in the fray. The Clones in the gunships, under the command of the Clone Marshal Commander Cap, were first to clear out the troop bays, allowing for the giant white and red boxes with wings to circle the landing area to shower a solid beam of green energy down on the Covenant forces from the bubble shaped turrets on each side of the troop bay.Razzcat fired his DC-15a blaster rifle at the Elites, the heavy rifle ripping through the energy shields quickly. The Elite died with a defiant gurgling growl.Looking to his right, Razzcat spotted Equestrian Marines lugging the bomb and detonator crystal towards the sloping mouth of the covenant dig site, legions of Grunts swarming out while snarling like rabid dogs.Razzcat sent a hail of blaster fire towards the Grunts, making sure the superheated rounds of energy would detonate the methane packs they wore, ‘This is too easy,’ Razzcat thought with a smirk under his helmet.The Clone Trooper’s smirk quickly vanished as six Hunters emerged from the mouth of the dig site. A single thought flashed through his mind, ‘This is going to be a long fight.’

Chapter 8: Crusaders

Chapter 8: Crusaders

Razzcat waited for death as the six hunters barreled out the Covenant dig site towards him. All six of their shields were raised high in preparation to crush him to a bloody smear. He knew he couldn’t escape, they were moving at speeds unimaginable for creatures of their size.

Razzcat knew a lone Hunter pair was bad, but three pairs… how would the rest of the ground troops alone stand up to that kind of armor?His question was answered when the high-pitch whine of Vulture Droids screamed overhead, strafing the six armored juggernauts with missiles and blowing orange chunks of the squishy eelworms that populated the inside of the armor everywhere.Looking high, Razzcat spotted the droid battlecruiser hanging over the city, Vulture Droids swarming like gnats against the Banshees now in the air from landing pads scattered across the cityscape.‘Well damn, General Grievous kept his word,’ Razzcat thought as he returned to firing into the many Grunts swarming from the mouth of the cave. His blaster rifle sent hot hellfire towards potentially explosive opponents. The explosiveness of the methane the Grunts breathed allowed Razzcat and his fellow Clone Troopers to tear through the small army with little use of ammo.A loud bang cracked the air, and Razzcat looked up. The prow mounted cannon of the battlecruiser was tearing into the shield of a smaller Covenant ship that had arrived over the battlefield. Every time the Covenant ship was hit, a blue sheen would ripple like a pond from the sight of the impact.“Get your fucking head out of your ass and move it!” Razzcat heard an annoying and youthful voice command. Looking back to the ground, he spotted one of the Equestrian soldiers dressed in tan and black armor. The earth pony mare was soft pink with a purple and white tail. Her long, purple and white hair stuck out underneath her helmet which was decorated with a cartoonish painting of a grey crown.“Yes, ma’am!” Razzcat addressed the mare as she fired an Equestrian assault rifle into the Grunts. She was most likely the one in charge of the Equestrian bomb carrying squad that came down in one of the UNSC’s Pelicans.“You will address me with as much respect as you give a male, soldier!”“Sorry, my mistake, sir!” He corrected.As Razzcat faced the near endless swarm, he asked, “And you are?”The mare ducked under an orb of green plasma before saying, “Sergeant Diamond Tiara.”Razzcat and Diamond dove behind the armor plating that remained of the Scarab as over a hundred Clones and Marines pushed forward towards the mouth of the cave. Then the mass of troops found their own cover as Vulture Droids strafed the near endless sea of Grunts with red blaster fire.Razzcat looked over to Diamond, “Aren't you a little young to be fighting?”Diamond laughed as she lobbed a frag grenade towards the mouth of the cave and into a swarm of Grunts that were missed by the woefully inaccurate Vulture Droids. She then said with a light chuckle as she reloaded her rifle, “Probably. But as someone with leadership as their cutie mark, I get rank as well as a squad, which gets me into situations like these.”As she said that, Diamond waved the bomb carriers over. The four bomb carriers made their way to her, and one, a male earth pony, complained, “Why did Twilight make this thing a four pony job?”Diamond rolled her eyes, “Probably because the egghead wants to promote teamwork or some shit.”The nervous laughs from the bomb carriers told Razzcat the joke had helped lighten up the fact that a seemingly endless amount of Grunts were swarming out the cave.Peeking around a corner, Razzcat noticed something. As a clone, he had been trained since coming out the growth tube to fight and notice things on the battlefield. One such thing was the slight shimmer of air from stealth armor.“We have active camo Elites, watch your flanks!” Razzcat said over the UNSC/Republic com channel.“This day just keeps getting better and better,” Diamond Tiara snarked sarcastically as she overheard the announcement.

<~Meanwhile in Ralneigh, Babs’ PoV~>

I stared at the new leg fixed perfectly to the stub of my old one. The feeling of the rubberized cup and the heavy duty straps on my fur were the only thing that told me that the purple and blue hunk of metal was fake. The leg felt so real due to the enchantments and sensors to the point it was like the leg was made for me.Slipping my pants back on, I made sure to cover the false appendage.Looking to Applebloom, I chuckled, “So where to now?”“To my place obviously,” Applebloom said with a roll of her eyes, standing in front of me, “Scoots and Sweetie will be glad to see that you’re awake again.”

<~Manehattan~>

Razzcat and Diamond walked down the slope of the cave towards a large door of Covenant design; it was obvious, due to the purple and dull grey colors. The lights that were normally bright blue were now a dull blood red.At least forty Clones were packed in a formation, covering the door. Most were hugged against the wall of the cave, ready to charge in when the door opened, but there was a line of Clones on a knee pointing at the door, with a line standing behind them, aiming at the door as well.A purple holographic terminal beside the door provided the only means of opening it. Cap, the Clone Commander in charge, ordered a Clone with a toolkit on his back to inspect the terminal. As soon as the clone beared the doors opened without him pressing a single button.“Covenant are lettin’ us in?” The Clone Engineer asked. The Clones at the door were too surprised by the door opening for them to rush in.Burning blue orbs, too many to count, swarmed out the open door, right into the waiting Clones.Cap, Razzcat, and the others had to shield their eyes from the blue fireballs and explosions. When the flash and smoke subsided, there was only a crater filled with dismembered body parts, and shattered Clone armor.Razzcat heard a loud thump to his left side. It was Diamond Tiara, a jagged shard of white Clone armor jutting from her chest plate, but she wasn’t bleeding.Her eyes stared at his emotionless T-shaped visor with a look of panic. She was hyperventilating and obviously in shock.While Razzcat was looking at Diamond, a blue plasma bolt hit him in the helmet.Diamond snapped out of her trance when Razzcat flopped over, dead; the side of his helmet melted clean through by a lucky shot.She quickly blamed herself for his death. If she hadn’t been knocked down, Razzcat would still be alive.She drew her sidearm as blue blaster fire from the remaining Clones further up the slope fired towards the door. Diamond Tiara fired with them, the death of Razzcat still on her mind. She managed to take out the shield of the Elite responsible for Razzcat’s death, right before her last bullet in that magazine ripped off the Elite’s lower left mandible, making the toothy appendage spill purple blood as it fell.Looking to the bomb carriers, all she had time to see was the left forward carrier be blown in half from the waistline in a shower of red and pink, the right forward carrier caught in the blast.As pink shards embedded themselves into her arms, legs, and stomach, she yelled with unbridled fury, “Die, you squidhead Covie bastards!” Pain didn’t register to the dying filly.Then two of the pink crystal shards embedded in her left leg was struck by a third.Diamond’s life flashed before her eyes as the crystal shards hummed with energy and began to glow bright pink, but at a slow pace. Of all the things Diamond could have said then - any number of creative vulgarities - all she did was mutter solemnly, “Sorry, Cutie Mark Crusaders.”The crystals finally exploded but to Diamond’s surprise, she was still alive, but being dragged by the two remaining bomb carriers out of the cave.Before blood loss, pain, and shock rendered her world into the inky black of unconsciousness, she heard one of the carriers yell to the Clones, “Bomb’s armed, time to leave!”

<~Ralneigh, Babs PoV~>

Applebloom and I walked for what seemed like a silent thirty minutes - but was more like twenty. The streets were now void of both civilians and soldiers after the Frozen Earth had returned in flames from Manehattan. The absence of life in the streets made me feel strange, as if I was back in the accursed city of Manehatten.And, of course, the image was punctuated by the only sounds around being mine and Applebloom’s hoofsteps. My prosthetic leg’s hoof made a soft clink of metal on pavement, but was almost muted. I also had to listen closely to hear the soft whine of gears bending the faux joints.“Why is my prosthetic leg so quiet?” I finally asked, breaking our silence as I looked over to Applebloom. I didn’t even know why we were silent in the first place.She gave a subdued laugh, “The Covenant alloy is surprisingly easy for Unicorns to enchant. So I had the Unicorns under me put a muffle spell on it. I couldn’t have future recipients have one more thing to remind them they’re missing a limb.”“Oh,” I said, wondering how loud my hoof would be without the enchantment, “It certainly works for me. With all the enchantments, I actually feel like I have my leg back.” It was true, the contraption of Covenant and arcane technology felt near realistic. Then I had a new question, “Who else has new legs like these? And why doesn’t Rainbow have one?”She sighed, “Only around fifteen ponies so far. They take a while to make. As for Rainbow Dash, there wasn't anything to attach the prosthetic to. Her entire left leg is missing.”I should have guessed that. I shifted my thoughts to why only fifteen ponies had received new legs, “So what was with the small stockpile back at the labs? Did I take someone else’s leg from them!?”I was obviously worried that I had taken somepony else’s leg - thus their only way to walk around - from them. Sure it was nice being able to walk right again, but I couldn’t be a selfish ass. After my problem with bullying Applebloom and the other CMCs, I didn’t like being uncaring to others.Applebloom dispelled my fears by saying, “No, you didn’t. You see, not many ponies want a leg made of Covenant metal with the power core of a plasma pistol powerin’ it.”I could see where there was a problem. I hoped my leg didn’t spontaneously explode on me.Applebloom stopped - causing me to stop - and stared at an apartment complex’s door. She let out a confused groan, mumbling, “We’re here already?”Looking at the building the door was attached to, I noticed it was made of red brick and was two stories tall. The bottom floor had nothing but multiple, evenly-spaced doors and windows; but the second floor had a walkway accessed by a spiraling set of concrete and brick steps. The balcony/walkway on the second story also had even spaced doors, and brass railing to keep ponies - or whatever the occupants of the apartments were - from falling off the walkway, which hung over the doors of the bottom floor like a roof.“Ground floor, third door from the left side,” Applebloom said as we walked towards said door.When we reached it, Applebloom reached into one of her armor’s many pockets to retrieve a small brass key. She then put the key it in the lock, turned it, opened the door, and ushered me inside with the wave of a hand.Two steps inside the apartment, I was nearly bowled over by a white Unicorn in UNSC armor and helmet while being pulled into a hug that was way too tight.“I’m glad you’re okay Babs!” I blushed from the awkward closeness I was pulled into and tried to push her away. It was a practice in futility; Sweetie had an iron grip around me.Applebloom closed the door then let out a loud, frustrated groan, “Let ‘er go, Sweetie Belle!” The bone-shattering hug relented with an ‘awww’ from Sweetie Belle.Taking a quick look around, I saw the apartment’s hallway walls were lime green, and the single window by the door was framed with white wood.Sweetie Belle piped up, her thirteen year old voice not so squeaky anymore, “Come on in, I’ll give you the tour.”What followed was a tour of a small four room apartment - five if you count the hallway. The main room which connected to the lone bathroom, bedroom, and kitchen, had red carpeting, the same lime green walls of the hallway with no decorations, a couch with a table in front of it, and a T.V.The table had an assortment of junk strewn about on it such as drink cans and food wrappers, but what caught my eye was the UNSC magnum pistol engraved with a an embossed microphone on the grip. Sweetie’s cutie mark I guessed.“Like my gun? I’ve managed to kill five Elites with it so far. The recoil on that thing is crazy,” she finished with a slight squeak of her voice.I just knew from experience, and just hummed out ‘mm-hmm’ and nodded my head.Next was the kitchen dining area combo with linoleum flooring. The area contained a rather clean wooden table with four wooden chairs. As well as a tall white refrigerator with its back against the wall, the white stove/oven to the left of it and to the right was a sink with a plastic dish drainer filled with clean dishes.“Nice place you have here,” I commented as Sweetie, Applebloom, and I walked towards another room.“You haven’t seen it all yet. Oh, by the way, through that door is the bathroom. No need to give you a tour of it,” Sweetie chuckled out while pointing with her left hand’s thumb.That was fine with me.Next, we went into the bedroom with pale-green walls and gray carpet. It was pretty bare, containing only a small closet with white wooden doors and two bunkbeds. The two bunkbeds made a total of four sleeping areas, and they all were clearly in use from the wrinkled sheets. Then I finally noticed Scootaloo was sleeping under a light blue cover in the bottom left bunk.I looked to my tour guide – who should be fired due to not narrating the tour – as she smiled mischievously at the sleeping form of Scootaloo. Sweetie took one big breath of air, and yelled, “Wake up!”The orange filly awoke with a jump and yelp as a blue blaster bolt fired from a pistol in Scootaloo’s right hand. Sweetie and I jumped as it missed us by a mile to harmlessly strike the room door. The single blue bolt left a wicked black mark burned into the wood.I felt the temperature in the room increase drastically and I could practically hear steam coming out cousin Applebloom’s ears, “Damnit Scoots, Ah told you ta’ never sleep with yer guns!”Scootaloo replaced her pistol in its holster and ran her left hand through her fuschia hair. All the while her orange face turned bright red, “It wouldn’t be a problem if the aliens weren’t here and if psycho bitch didn’t have a death wish!”Sweetie seemed unfazed by the name calling as she stuck her tongue out.“Fuuuck you, Sweetie,” Scootaloo griped. It became apparent Scootaloo wasn’t one that someone could wake up with a prank and not get cussed out.“Love you too,” Sweetie said giggling. After she said that, Scootaloo actually put forth the effort to get out of bed and ran over to Sweetie. With one quick motion she pulled Sweetie into a headlock.I was actually surprised Scootaloo slept in full body armor. It looked like clone armor, but was painted to look grayish silver with dark blue trim. The armor plates themselves were attached to a light black bodysuit. She also had two, brown leather holsters on a brown colored utility belt. She even had dark-grey and silver-grey leg armor accented with blue, as well as gloves the same shade of black as the bodysuit.As Scootaloo held Sweetie in the headlock, Scootaloo asked, “Oh really? You think I’m into mares now, huh?”Sweetie did her best to struggle out the headlock as Applebloom and I watched. Finally, after futilely struggling, she said, “No, not really,” but her chin was caught by the bend of Scootaloo’s elbow so it came out more ‘mm, mot ally.’“Thought so,” Scootaloo said as she released the headlock and kicked Sweetie’s legs from under her. That caused Sweetie fall backwards onto the grey carpet with a loud thud, hitting her head, but luckily the helmet absorbed the blow.The end result from that dirty blow was for Sweetie to pull Scootaloo to the floor by her legs and start rolling around, swinging obviously held-back punches. Since Applebloom didn’t make a move to interrupt, I was sure this was a common thing between the two girls. Thus, I watched the catfight with a large grin on my face, wondering who would be the winner.A question came to my mind for honestly no real reason. I leaned close to Applebloom as Sweetie and Scootaloo tussled on the floor between the two bunkbeds and asked, “Are those two… you know… together?” I settled with that wording since I didn’t know a polite euphemism for mares that were into mares.She made a motion with her hands while shaking her head, “Nope. Button Mash is too busy with Sweetie every other night for her to be queer. The fact that she gets laid makes Scoots madder than Tartarus. As for Scoots, she claims she’s not, but we’re not sure if her barn door swings both ways.”Figured.Then the fact she nearly spelled out that Button Mash and Sweetie Belle have sex, I said with concerned tone, “But you three are only thirteen.” Which, the legal age of consent for citizens of Equestria is fourteen, but still, Sweetie was still too young in my opinion.Applebloom took on a low, near sad sounding, tone, “Who really gives a damn anymore? We all have our ways of distracting us from the war. And for Sweetie, it’s Button.”I was going to ask how she found out about Sweetie and Button, and what her distraction was, but the rapid uttering if the single word ‘Uncle’ drew my attention back to the floor. There Scootaloo had Sweetie pinned to the ground while sitting on her chest. Scootaloo was straddling Sweetie’s body as she pinned Sweetie’s arms to the floor, which allowed Sweetie to freely kick her legs wildly, but to no avail.“Uncle, uncle, uncle, uncle, uncle!” Sweetie yelled over and over, thrashing her head from side to side. Then I saw the long line of snotty drool slowly falling from Scootaloo’s lips towards Sweetie’s face. Just as the strand reached the point of nearly breaking and falling onto Sweetie’s face, Scootaloo sucked the spit and snot back into her mouth, right before letting it slowly fall again.I grimaced; that was way beyond gross.“Scoots, I think she’s had enough,” Applebloom finally said to stop the fight.Scootaloo sucked up the drool again and swallowed, “Aw man, we were just having a bit of fun.”Sweetie groaned, tried to move her arms while bucking her legs, “No we weren’t, you filly-fooling dyke!”Applebloom rolled her eyes. The next words to pass her lips were saturated with sarcasm, “Another prime example of why my hair is going grey at thirteen.”Meanwhile, the orange fur on Scootaloo’s face turned tomato red as she ignored Applebloom’s comment, “What did you just call me!?”Sweetie smiled wickedly, obviously knowing she was getting under Scootaloo’s skin, “Fillyfooler, dyke, lesbian, you get the general idea.”Scootaloo punched Sweetie in the face. Not a friendly tussle punch, but a full-out, rage fueled blow. Seeing the play fight had turned real, Applebloom rushed to pull Scootaloo off of Sweetie Belle. As she did so, Scootaloo screamed, “I’m straight, dammit!”Sweetie rolled and got up while clutching her bleeding nose, “Could’ve fooled me from the way you were straddling me and holding me down.” Sweetie jerked her hand and I heard a pop.Did Sweetie just set her own broken nose? Or more importantly, did she even feel any pain?Looking to Scootaloo, I saw her face turn from angry red too embarrassed pink as she quit struggling against Applebloom’s hold. “Sorry for breaking your nose Sweetie,” Scootaloo full-heartedly apologized, “But you kinda asked for it.”They got over it that fast?Sweetie removed her blood stained white furred hand and wiped it on her UNSC armor, leaving a wet, crimson stain “It’s nothing. What’s a friendly fight between friends that results in me finding out you’re gay?”When Scootaloo tensed up for another swing, I decided to add my input. Groaning loudly I said, “Oh, for the love of the Gods, just kiss and make up already.”Scootaloo turned her head and looked at me up and down like I was a ghost before blurting out, “Babs, what the fuck happened to your hoof!?” Apparently she didn’t know I had lost my leg.In the most sarcastic and smartass of a tone as I could muster, I replied, “Tis but a scratch.”“Just a scratch!? Your hoof is purple and made of metal.” She did a double take; processing the fact I said it was just a scratch, along with the fact my hoof was now made of metal. Her face twisted into a frown as her ears splayed back, “Shit... I’ve been a total asshole, haven’t I?”Sweetie decided to be evil again, “No, you haven’t been a total asshole. You are a total asshole.”That perked Scootaloo’s ears up. “Can I please shoot her, like I don’t know, now maybe? I won’t kill her, just nick her a little.”Sweetie laughed, “Then you’ll have to deal with Button, and I’m sure he would make you pay for hurting me.”“At what point did the fillies I know get replaced by you two?” I asked, noticing their far from normal behavior.Scootaloo shrugged, “Probably the point where aliens fucked us over.”We all said in unison, “Probably,” then there was a silent moment between us before there was a rapid knocking at the door.“I’ll get it,” Sweetie said. Blood still stained her snow white fur a wicked crimson as she made for the door.We all heard a low, masculine voice yell from the door, “Sweetie, you got into another scrap with Scootaloo, didn’t ya?” That was followed by the sound of two pairs of hooves clopping down the hall, along with a pair of human feet.An all too familiar sensation tingled in the back of my mind as Sweetie entered first, followed by Big Macintosh and General Obi-Wan Kenobi. The latter still had a faint black ring over his left eye from a painful Macintosh right-hook.“General,” I addressed, standing straight like a soldier in his presence.Scootaloo looked confused as she asked, “General?”That caused Obi-Wan to look at Scootaloo, and I felt a subtle change in the air around him. If I could place the feeling radiating off of him, it would be… concern? Yeah, it definitely was the grating feeling of concern.Knowing that this ‘Force’ power nonsense was connected to him, I didn’t really feel all that surprised when I sensed his trouble, “Something bothering you Kenobi?” I asked sincerely. And from the curiosity as to why his mood changed when he saw Scootaloo.“Yes, actually there is something. Who is your friend in repainted Clone armor?” Kenobi asked.“I’m Scootaloo, but you can call me Scoots.” Scootaloo said, outstretching her hand for a shake. As a Pegasus, she was only around five and-a-half hooves tall, but that was the average height of full grown human males.The human returned the shake, “And you may call me Kenobi. Pardon me not giving your question a direct answer, Babs,” He said addressing me before refocusing on Scootaloo, “but I have to ask if you have a helmet?”Scootaloo nodded and dove under her bunk. She pulled out a hooflocker, and opened it to retrieve two things. One was a strange backpack with aerodynamic cones and exhaust nozzles, while the other thing was a helmet she slipped over her head.The helmet was a Clone’s, but painted silver-grey and dark blue. It was also decorated with red and black markings. One such marking was over where each eye would be; a pitch-black triangle with a red slash running parallel with the forty-five degree slope. The red slashes kept running on past the triangles until they nearly met each other to make a ‘V’ shape.“So, the Clones let you dress up like a Mandalorian warrior,” he cupped his chin in his left hand, “Strange. What did you do to earn that much respect from them?”She laughed, but Sweetie Belle answered, “She had a death wish, jumped off a roof and used her underdeveloped wings as a glider to sail over a pack of Brutes. As she did that, she dropped a plasma grenade into the middle of the pack, saving three squads of Clones who already had injured and dead. They gave her the armor later on, but due to our legs bending differently than humans the leg portion of the armor came from some rather short Elite we found. Applebloom washed, repaired, and repainted it all to the Clone’s specifications.”Scootaloo then added, “You’re wrong, it was five squads. Also I used four plasma grenades, and a frag for good measure.”Kenobi seemed somewhat amused by the story before saying, “Now for Babs’ question as to what was wrong. Every time I have met someone in armor like that, they tried to kill me. The Deathwatch has almost succeeded several times as well.”I then felt another emotion wash over him. I could swear it was heartache and loneliness.I dared not press the matter and decided on asking, “So why are you here? And how did you find me?”Big Macintosh and Obi-Wan chuckled, and I felt Obi-Wan’s calming and leader-like atmosphere return as he spoke, “After deciding that Macintosh had spent enough time in confinement, I worked with Princess Twilight to obtain him an official pardon. We checked at the hospital, then Applebloom’s place of work, and finally we arrived here to find you.”“Oh, is this about the, ‘I’m a Jedi’ thing?” Sweetie Belle, Applebloom, and Scootaloo gave me a mixture of strange and concerned looks.“Actually, you’re Force sensitive, but yes. On the walk from the jail where Macintosh was held, I talked to him about your unique gift. With his permission and your agreement to come with me, I would like for you to meet someone who could quite possibly change your life forever.”“And that is?” I asked curtly.He stood with his hands behind his armored robes and muttered two words, “Master Yoda.”

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Chapter 1: Survivor [Edited]

Crossroads

Chapter 1: Survivor

I ran as fast as I could between the charred husks of burnt out motorized carriages. My hooven feet making soft clops on the sidewalk as I sprinted past gray concrete, rubble-filled buildings that had their glass windows shattered to pieces. I was a blur of black armor, gamboge colored fur, and light and hot pink hair against the ruins. I carried on the belt I wore a single pistol and knife.

The armored uniform I wore I had scavenged, the only thing I needed to make it my own was a name tag saying ‘Babs Seed’.I carried a white sack, tied to my back with an old rope like a single strapped backpack, filled with provisions I pilfered from buildings that I knew were safe.I slowed my pace as I made my way down the crumbling avenues of my home city, Manehattan. My green eyes teared up as I sighed in a fit of nostalgia, remembering what it was like before the sky ripped, and stars began to fall.So many ponies once packed the streets, making them abuzz with chatter. Pegasi, Unicorns, and Earth Ponies had once made their way down the now silent walkways.I stopped completely when I heard a low, threatening rumble. It was one I knew all too well. Diving into the remains of a carriage, I nearly screamed in shock when I came face to face with the charred skull of the unicorn driver. I managed to stop myself though, because if I didn’t, they would find me.The rumbling came closer and closer, before stopping nearby. The sound of the machine powering down told me I had chosen a bad hiding spot. If I moved, I would be ripped to shreds by the gunner of the silver craft. But if I stayed, the creatures that looked like crossbreeds of apes and bears would sniff me out.They would kill me slow and painfully, breaking bones and cutting where it would cause great pain.I held my breath as I heard the footfalls get closer. I heard the Brute driver sniff the air.If I could see it, I would notice its dark blue armor was in stark contrast with the ruined cityscape.Suddenly, the gunner of the Prowler transport vehicle yelled a single loud, gurgling cry before death overtook him. I couldn’t see the long golden spear jutting out of his neck.The asphalt crunched as the driver spun on his heel. I knew the bastards thick hair standing up on end as he sensed danger was close.I heard the sound of of him quickly unholstering his spike rifle, a weapon of cruel intent that fired white-hot spikes and could be fired with one hand that was bayoneted with two crescent moon shaped blades.Then, he too cried out in a gurgling death, impaled from behind by two serrated blades from an unseen enemy.Despite the fact I wanted to stay hidden, I knew someone had just saved me, so I poked my head up to see who saved my life. What I saw made me gasp and quickly duck back down.The shimmering air told me the ghost of the city had saved me, and now it was claiming its trophies.I knew it wasn’t really a ghost, but whatever it was, no one could see it until it struck.I had seen the ‘ghost’ once before, its body looking like hot air radiating off the pavement, its eyes glowing a yellow that could only come from Tartarus itself. I also saw what it did to the bodies of those it decided to invoke its wrath upon it.I heard a loud crunch as the ghost ripped the Brute driver’s head from it’s shoulders, most likely dragging a few vertebrae with it. Once the horrific act was complete, it let out a roar that would make a dragon flinch.I whimpered too loudly in sudden fear, and I knew all too well that whatever the ghost really was had heard me.I knew it was true when the creature dropped the helmeted head of the Brute with a loud thunk on the asphalt street. No Covenant soldiers had escaped it before, so I knew all I could do was accept that death was approaching.I felt an invisible hand grab my neck and violently wrench me out the shattered window of the carriage.The creature tightened its grip as I came face to glowing eyes with it, my legs dangled limply. I closed my eyes and waited for the ghost to tear me asunder, but all I heard was rhythmic breathing. Even with my eyes closed tight, I had the prickling feeling in the back of my mind that it was somehow gazing right through me.I felt its steely cold gaze on me, making my veins run with ice as it scanned me like I was an animal ready for the slaughter. Then, its eyes stop scanning. I knew it was coming, and all I could do was wait as my lungs began to burn for air.Then, for some reason, it let go. As I gasped for air, I finally opened my green eyes to see that the apparition had begun to become a clear, visible image.I let out a startled gasp when I saw the alien. It was wearing segmented armor which was a dirty gold color, with light grey gauntlets, one with twin serrated blades protruding from it.Its helmet was also dark gray, with no visible mouth. The forehead of the helmet was marked with an alien symbol I couldn’t even begin to recognize the use for. It also seemed to have short, black tentacles, decorated with a few gold metal bands, instead of hair. The tentacles themselves bore an uncanny resemblance to Zebrican dreadlocks.Then I noticed the alien wore a leather sash across its chest. What decorated it sent shivers of fear all the way to my soul.The sash was decorated with skulls and bones; some Equestrian, some human, and the others Covenant.“W-Why didn’t you kill me?” I stammered, fear in my eyes as the alien didn’t respond, only playing back a distorted version of my question. It played it a few more times, distorting and twisting the audio into a twisted macabre version of my voice.Then it disappeared slowly with the press of a button on its gauntlet. The hot-air-on-pavement distortion of the cloak sprinted away from me down a nearby alley.I was frightened and a little confused by my close encounter, but that didn’t stop me from looting the corpses of the Brutes.Climbing on top of the prowler, I grabbed all that I could carry. The fancy spear poked my curiosity - pun fully intended - and I also grabbed the oversized Brute gunner’s helmet - I wasn’t even thinking of touching the decapitated head.With the spear and helmet in my grasp, I slid down the curved silver-grey armor of the Prowler. When I was on the ground, I slipped the helmet onto my head. It was a bit too heavy for comfort, but it was better than getting a projectile in the brainpan.Looking by the body of the backstabbed Brute, I smiled as I grabbed one of the Brute’s spiked club grenades and one spike rifle. Stashing the spare clips of spikes in the sack on my back. Afterwards, I took off, putting distance between myself and the scene.When I felt like I was far enough away, I looked over the spear. It was bronze and gold, with a little strange arrangement of red lights. Pressing one light with my thumb, the spear collapsed to a mere fraction of the size, allowing me to see the dual spearheads. The two spearheads were the same: four razor sharp blades coming to a point. I somehow managed to clip the spear to my belt on my black armor.Confident that I could now defend herself, especially with the spear, I set out for home. Moving further down the street, cautious of more Brute patrols, I passed the still burning remains of one of of the Equestrian Army’s Magic Acceleration Cannon tanks. It was basically an armored carriage on tracks, with a large grey enchanted metal tube, with two large red crystals on the back end of the tube.Strangely enough, it worked similarly to a human weapon with the same acronym.The MAC Carriage worked by Unicorns charging magic crystals with their own magic, then a crystalline projectile being loaded into the chamber. From there, the projectile was suspended in a levitation field between the two crystals on the back. The magic in the crystals would then be discharged into the projectile, propelling the magically imbued projectile out the opposite end with enough velocity that it could bring down one of the alien’s smaller ships with a lucky shot.It may have been powerful, but it was of no use to me. Being a mounted weapon, it was too bulky to scavenge, damaged by the fire, and took way too long to charge the crystals. Not only that, one would need to have a Unicorn to charge the crystals in the first place.After seeing the sight, I moved onwards, towards the safe house I had made.Passing by looted shops and piles of refuse, I ducked into an alleyway, making sure to avoid setting off the tripwire tied to a frag grenade I had set up before hand. Such precautions were needed after a close call with a Jackal.The Jackals were a few inches shorter than the average adult pony, and they looked like a mashup between a bird and a lizard. I still had the bandaging from the bite mark on my left arm, the invader having sunk its teeth into my flesh after it jumped me on a supply run.Luckily, at the time, I had managed to get ahold of one of the Manehattan police force’s revolvers, along with twelve rounds of ammo, looted from the body of a blue uniformed police sergeant. I had emptied the entire six shots that was in the revolver into the scaled avian’s gut.It died with a shrill, birdlike cry that was laced with a snarling reptilian hiss that still scared me a bit to think about.I walked down the concrete steps to a basement level, which lead me to a solid, rust covered metal door that was unlocked whenever I left. There was no one left to steal anything from me anymore.Opening the door, I stepped inside, making sure to lock the door and replace the solid wooden beam that added protection from the door being kicked in. A precaution after my first hideout was discovered when a Brute tracked my scent. It was only by its own stupidity with a grenade and a support column that saved my flank, but nearly buried me under the roof and rubble above me.Flipping on the light switch that was next to the door, I illuminated the windowless basement fortress.The bulb was powered by a magic crystal battery which I had wired up herself. I had carved a nice little home in the ruins of Manehattan, complete with a red, dirt covered carpet, piles of supplies and scavenged material, and a dusty plaid couch, right in front of a radio and television. The latter of the two having no signal or power, but the battery operated radio I had modified to pick up signals from greater distances still worked fine.‘Seems I take after my cousin’, I thought as I looked around the cluttered basement that was filled with projects I started to keep myself sane in the loneliness of Manehattan.One such project was a workbench made from a bunch of two-by-fours and an old wooden door. It was the first thing I built in this safe house. I had made it so I could have a spot to cobble together my other inventions designed to trap, trick, or even outright kill the Covenant.I had become quite the expert at taking out Brute patrols when I was prepared. All it took was a few of their own grenades to kill an entire Prowler column, especially if I managed to get my hands on the blueish-purple, baseball shaped ones that exploded really, really big and bright.I carelessly discarded the spike rifle beside the workbench and made my way past shelving stocked with canned goods, bottled water, and tools, ready to put away my collected supplies.“Let’s see,” I whispered to herself in my thick, Manehattan accent, as I reached into the bag, pacing around the not-so-neatly organized shelves.“Five clips of spike ammo,” I added them to the vacant spot on a shelf reserved for ammo, “One can of potatoes, and three bottles of water,” I added them to the near empty food section, “Two MREs courtesy of dead humans,” I kept one off the shelf to eat, I needed the calories. The rest of the canned goods weren't loaded with enough to sustain my energy consumption and barely had any nutritional value, so any super-high calorie meal was a gift from the Gods themselves.Tossing the package towards the couch, it landed just short, hitting the carpet with a loud thunk. Though I missed, I continued to talk and unpack, “Two marksman rifle clips - now all I need is the rifle - and one human two-way radio,” I put the clips away and placed the radio in a pocket over my breast. I searched more and more through the bag, hoping I hadn’t missed some small thing.Turns out I did, “Ah-ha, got you, you little bugger,” I said as I clutched the pointed end of the Phillips screwdriver.“Glad I double checked, I needed you.” Tossing the empty sack, it landed on top of a hatrack by the door, making a perfect landing right next to a black helmet.The helmet had a Brute spike jutting out the side at an down-sloping angle which was why I wasn’t wearing that helmet, plus it wasn't designed for pony ears which were bigger and further up on the head than humans. Although, I could if I wanted to, the structures like the jaws and skulls of ponies and humans were very similar, barring unicorns.The spike damaging the helmet was a generous donation from a Brute who had shot me from a single story rooftop. I was too busy fighting a group of seven Grunts to notice him. The little methane breathing punks had me pinned down behind what one of the human soldiers called a Mongoose. The little black and green four wheeled, all terrain vehicle was really loud, but was fun and easy to drive... before it blew it up when the Grunts shot it.I still had a few patches of fur missing from my arms and legs. The burns themselves healed by some some crazy human medical gel stuff that tickled and soothed the burns, replacing charred flesh with near-healthy, hairless patches of skin. That was back when humans were still around. All I did now was find their desiccated corpses strewn about the city.They were so nice after magic-smart Unicorns like Princess Twilight cast translation spells so we could speak to them, but the humans were gone now. Hunted down by packs of Brutes, unfortunate victims of the ‘ghost’, or left to protect other cities.Mareami had gone silent, Canterlot couldn't communicate through the energy barrier, the Crystal Capitol had one too, but it was too far away to make a difference, and Ralneigh was still transmitting radio signals last time I had checked. There were many other cities, but I either wasn’t in range, or they didn’t have their own radio station, such as Ponyville, the town where my cousins, Applejack, Applebloom, and Macintosh lived with our grandmother, Granny Smith.Walking over to my radio, screwdriver now in a pouch on my belt, she turned it on to Ralneigh’s radio station.“Welcome back ponies, and any of our human allies who speak Equestrian,” the female announcer said in a forced tone that was too damn cheery for the dire situation we all were in, “This is Crystal Beat reporting live from our studio here in the heart of Ralneigh itself. I’m telling you my little ponies, stocks are up, unemployment is down, and the Covenant wants world peace for everypony... now for the real news,” She added with a chuckle.“Today, the Ralneigh Defence Force, in conjunction with the humans of course, managed to shoot down an astonishing seventeen alien troop ships. If I’m not mistaken that’s a record number held previously by Mareami with thirteen, who by messenger, reported that the Mareami radio station’s tower was badly damaged by an alien craft, so all of you hearing static, it’s only temporary. Now, how about that weather, Sunny Day?”The voice of the male Ralneigh newscaster floated out the speakers like liquid gold, his message, however dark, was lighthearted and meant to lighten the grim mood that had the whole planet in its grip, “Well, Ms. Beat,” He said in a smooth tone, making the radio announcer giggle like a schoolfilly, a rehearsed act that was getting rather old, “Today's forecast, cloudy with a chance of Covenant air raids, followed by fires, later in the evening. Bring your umbrellas.” I smiled grimly. Of course it was air raids, same as yesterday, and the day before.“Now for some music,” His voice cut off as the sound of an old record began to play. It was an old trumpet and piano tune.It seemed that the music, as sad as it was, somehow drove away the bleak depression the situation brought upon everyone, be it pony, human, changeling, or the rare griffon.Listening to the slow, sad beats, I began to hum along. Getting up from the couch, I swung in beat with the music and danced. As I spun slowly with an invisible partner, a sad smile creeped across my features as a lone tear dripped out the corner of my left eye.Stopping my dance by the couch, I picked up the MRE off the floor, sat down as music played, and tried to read the labeling… but it was in English, not Equish. The translation spells only worked with the spoken language, but if I could have read it, I would have known it was spaghetti in meat sauce, and wouldn’t have cared anyway. Food nowadays was food, no holds barred. Even I was on the menu before, but a gunshot to the Pegasus stallion’s head remedied that problem, although it had used the last bullet I had for the police pistol.Sitting on the couch, I ripped open the heavy brown plastic of the MRE and poured out its contents on the cushion next to the one I sat upon, greedily licking my lips at the sight of the cardboard boxes containing the packs of food, the candy bars, the chips, and the drink powders. Getting up, I quickly grabbed a bottle of water from the shelf for the water activated food heater.I nearly cried at the thought of a warm meal. All I had to do was fill the heater bag with water, put the food pack in after I removed it from the box, wait for a few minutes, then I could eat a warm meal.Following the picture instructions like I had done before with a human instructing me, I filled to the black line, put the spaghetti package in the heater bag, then the heater bag in the cardboard box the spaghetti package came in, letting the water activated chemical reaction heat the food.As I waited, I tore open the brightly colored bag of salty corn chips that came in the MRE. I gobbled the chips down, followed by the one chocolate and one cereal bar, in a matter of seconds.I felt guilty for imbibing on the snack foods and not savoring every last bite, it probably was the last bag of chips and candy bars in all of Equestria for all I knew. Forgiving myself, I poured a package of red colored drink powder into the bottle and shook it vigorously. Afterwards, I gulped down the bottle of fruit punch flavored water that mixed horrendously with the flavor of salty corn chips and sweet chocolate.I had only needed a small portion of that bottle for the heater, which was still heating and should be done soon.After another minute, the food was heated. Opening the plastic that mummified my fork, napkin, and salt and pepper packets, I clutched the disposable white utensils and removed the steaming pack of spaghetti.Ripping open the package at the ‘tear here’ line, I nearly burnt herself with steam. That only made my stomach grumble in anticipation of the warm meal. Digging my fork in, I speared a saucy chunk of meat, accompanied by several red sauce drenched noodles.I stopped myself from eating, and bowed my head. ‘Just like mom used to do,’ I thought, before giving thanks to Messis, the Goddess of crops and food, for my meal. Even if it did contain meat.After my very short prayer, I dug into the warm and sauce covered meal. Eating each warm bite like it would be my last, savoring the taste of the tomato sauce, and eating only a few noodles at a time.After my meal, I bagged my trash - one reason was for general cleanliness, the other was so that the Brutes wouldn’t easily smell me out - then retrieved my damaged helmet from its spot on the hatrack.I compared it to the heavy blue Brute helmet that I was wearing, and much preferred the lighter headgear. Putting the Brute helmet on the hatrack, I tossed the black helmet to the workbench. Moving to my tool shelf, I retrieved a pair of pliers, a piece of scrap metal that I didn’t know where it came from, and the two tubes of epoxy for keeping stuff stuck firmly together.Moving over to the workbench, I yanked the spike out the helmet with the pliers. Seeing how deep the spike went, I thanked Salus for protecting me. The spike could have easily killed me if it went any deeper. Sizing up the damaged spot with the patch of metal, I discovered it to be the correct size and rough shape for a repair.Counting my lucky stars, I set to work epoxying the metal patch to the helmet. After I was finished, I let the epoxy set, then put the helmet on, glad that the lighter material took the strain off my neck.After I was done with the helmet, I picked up the spike rifle I threw beside the workbench earlier and removed its ammo. Fishing the screwdriver out of my pouch, I set to work removing the two chipped, crescent shaped blades attached to the bottom of the spike rifle.“What is it with the Brutes and bladed weapons?” I asked no one in particular, using the befitting name that the human soldiers used for them.I remembered my first Brute weapon. It was a spike rifle like the one I was currently modifying. I also remember being surprised that the Brute weapons could easily be taken apart by simple Equestrian tools, such as my screwdriver. Thus, removing the blades was an easy task.The reason I wanted to remove the blades was so that I could hold the weapon with two hands to steady the rifle more. More accuracy meant less ammo wasted.Finished with removing the blades, I yawned as my fatigued body told me that I had been up far too long. Replacing the ammo in the spike rifle, I stretched my aching muscles and checked the metal door, then the door that lead from the building above to the basement. I had permanently shut that door, barring it with a wooden beam I had found down here when I moved in. After that, I made my way over to the couch, placing the rifle within arms reach.I took off my black armored over-shirt, the black kevlar-laced fabric drenched in sweat. Putting the armor close by, I removed my belt and pouches, then sat down after retrieving a photo of three ponies from my pink plastic wallet. Both were gifts from my mother that I kept close at all times. It was the only thing I had left to remember her by.Still clad in my black pants and my white undershirt that was covered in dirt and sweat stains, I gazed at the picture. My mother, my father, and me, all smiling with a still intact and bustling city in the background behind us. The whole scene was illuminated in the vibrant oranges of Celestia’s setting sun.The picture was taken from our favorite picnic area in the countryside. A nice little hill that had a perfect view of the city at sunset.Tears welled up in my eyes as I lied down on the dirty couch. I didn’t care about my personal cleanliness, I had grown used to being filthy. The last time I had a bath was when the humans still held control over parts of the city, trying to evacuate the wounded and the children first.I could still hear the haunting wails of parents at the airport as they kissed their children goodbye. For most, it was the last time.As I lay back on the couch, staring at the photo in the wallet, I couldn't get the memory of my parents kissing me on the forehead as reflective purple fighter craft dodged streams of tracer rounds and puffs of greyish-black flak bursts in the air. A loud cacophony of ponies crying, everypony clammering to be first to board the human ships named after birds, and gunfire from the anti-air weapons of the humans.Naturally, I didn’t want to be separated from my parents, and in the madness of the moment, I had managed to slip away unnoticed and attempted to find them. I just barely managed to catch a glimpse as they were the last ones to board a UNSC Pelican, its ramp closing tight.I remembered all too well the blue plasma fireball from the damaged ship that slammed itself into the green colored vessel that wasn’t even in the fight, setting it into a flaming, uncontrolled spin after clipping the metal bird’s left wing.In full sobs at that point, I gripped the wallet close to my chest and closed her eyes. My tired body and mind slipped into an uneasy sleep as the drone of the engine from a Banshee fighter craft roared over my building.

Chapter 2: Contact [Edited]

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