Crimson

Five waited with a smug grin as the purple alicorn rose from the brush of the mostly charred forest and stepped into the ashes of the crash site. She was glaring daggers at Fang while trying to look non-threatening (an easy task from Five's point of view). When she stopped, she simply sat and waited while Five looked between the pony and the Changeling.

"So, we're off to a shitty start," Five said, stepping into the space between them. "I take it you've met before?"

"I'm not sure," Twilight started with a tone, "I'm having trouble remembering which one he was amongst the armies that almost destroyed my brother's wedding!" she shouted.

Fang stumbled backwards and took cover behind Five's legs, peeking out at her from the sides of his boots. Five was surprised by this, and decided to push an investigation.

"Care to explain?"

"Their Queen took my sister-in-law hostage, tried to mind-control my B.B.B.F.F-"

"Your what?" Five interrupted. "The Hell is that?"

Twilight looked up at him with a raised eyebrow.

"'Big Brother, Best Friend Forever,' you didn't know that?"

"How the fuck would I?" Five replied.

Twilight paused and thought for a second before returning to the subject matter.

"Anyways, it's kind tried to invade Canterlot and feed on everypony's love."

Five stood still as a statue, despite wanting to face-palm so badly that he thought it would break his visor.

"That has got to be one of the most ridiculous things I have ever heard in my entire life," Five droned out in a monotone.

"Well it's true!" Twilight protested. "Just ask that!" she said while pointing a hoof at Fang.

"His name's Fang, and he's clearly not going to try anything."

"How would you know? They're a deceptive, sneaky, evil, unpleasant, rude, anything bad you could think of, all rolled into one! I bet it's just waiting for an opportunity to strike!"

"His name," Five corrected, "is Fang. Besides, look at him. He's half your height, thin as a twig, and trembling in fear of you."

Twilight gaped in shock, and looked back at the Changeling in question. True to Five's word, the Changeling was cowering in fear from her gaze. She took a few seconds to examine its body, and saw that it was, indeed, much more frail than her right now. For pony's sake, it looked like it was looking at a demon! And here it was, taking cover behind an unknown alien for protection from her, a Princess of Equestria. It was that realization that hit Twilight the hardest. She was supposed to be an exemplar of good morals and fairness that Equestria holds up so dearly. What kind of Princess would she be if she showed nothing but contempt for another, regardless of their race?

The Princess took on a saddened look as she sighed in defeat.

"You... you're right," she admitted. "I've been acting like some kind of-"

"Over zealous xenophobe?" Five suggested.

"I was going to say jerk, but I guess I can't really decide that, huh?"

"I'd be lying if I said my kind were better."

Their conversation was cut short as static began to broadcast in Five's helmet communicator, causing him to raise a hand to his head.

"Who's there?" he spoke into the static.

White noise filled his ears as he focused on trying to get a signal, mentally cutting power from parts of his armor to boost the communicator. He was rewarded with a marker placed on his Heads-Up Display, 3.19 kilometers South by South-East, deeper into the forest. With a swift motion, Five drew his Assault Rifle and locked in the destination.

"I just got an objective location," Five spoke to the other two.

"What does that mean?" Twilight asked.

"It means there's a UNSC signature in that direction, and it's calling for help. Twilight, go back to your place and bring my weapons. We'll be right here."

Twilight nodded before disappearing in a flash of purple light. Five turned around to speak to Fang.

"If there's anything you know about any kind of unknown... anything, in that direction," Five pointed towards the marker, "tell me now."

Fang shifted on his hooves as he swallowed a lump in his throat.

"Well... our Queen, she found... a ship..."

The moment another flash erupted behind Five, he reached out and grabbed the dull-green duffel bag and bolted in the direction of the signal, ignoring the calls behind him as he plowed through shrubs and trees.

\\\//////

Chrysalis rushed down to where she could sense her subjects fearfully retreating, keeping her horn lit for when she ran into whatever was causing the panic. If the images the nymph had broadcasted were anything to go by, these were another type of alien that weren't supposed to be on this ship.

"Sid, are you sure that I emptied out the last of the crew!?" she asked while rushing down another hallway.

"I only tagged members of the crew. By your description, it seems that the Covenant had sent boarding parties during the collapse of Requiem."

'I don't have time for all these questions you keep making me think of!' she thought as Sid used foreign words, again.

"Why and how are they here!?" she managed while jumping down another empty elevator shaft.

"They are likely here to recover any data they could on the UNSC Infinity or our operations concerning Requiem. As for the how, they likely came in a boarding craft, which would explain the disruptions I've suffered, as of late."

Chrysalis was going to ask something about how they could survive for as long as they did before a blue bolt of energy connected with the wall by her head, burning away the strengthened metal like it was made of bread. She took cover behind a magical barrier, and got a relatively "good" look at the assailant. It held a strange device in its claws that was barely long enough to measure up to a small sword, but smoked at the end where the bolt of death had likely come from.

Her hypothesis was confirmed as a series of blue bolts spewed out of the weapon and flew at her with a vengeance. The barrier she held up stung her brain as it barely withstood the barrage of liquid death. With little time, Chrysalis sent a bolt of kinetic energy at it before bringing down her own shield to collect her focus. When it impacted, a blue field of energy cracked around the creature as it flew backwards, its weapon flying out of its grip as its arm twisted unnaturally.

The weapon landed only a few paces away from the hooves of the beast, and already it was growling in pain while clutching a smaller weapon it drew from its hip. Without thinking, Chrysalis pulled the weapon off the ground and aimed it at the alien, trying to activate it any way she could. When she squeezed a part under the handle, several blue bolts penetrated the neck of the alien as it gurgled out its rage before dropping to the floor.

The Queen of the Changelings looked at the weapon closely as she hovered it before her in a green aura. The curves and ends were perfectly elegant, making it as beautiful as an instrument as it was deadly as a weapon. Her admiration was cut short, however, when she heard another set of hooves stomping towards her. With a quick turn, she saw a white one charging at her with two smaller weapons, each one holding a generous amount of pink, needle-like crystals. A swarm of pink assaulted her vision as they flew towards her face. A quick duck behind another wall proved to be a smart move by Chrysalis, but it was short lived as the walls glowed pink for a fraction of a second before the corner exploded into a cloud of dust and shards. Some bits of shrapnel lodged themselves in her barrel, while the blast sent her onto the ground.

A firm hoof to her gut made the Queen cough up all the air in her lungs as the white beast looked down upon her. It muttered something in a strange language before a glowing knife of energy came out of a port on its wrist. With her last bit of will, Chrysalis grabbed the weapon she had and smacked the alien across its mandibles, getting it to step off of her torso. As it stumbled, she pulled a blue sphere off of its belt and accidentally pressed a button on it. The sphere glowed blue before sticking to its arm and whining in a high pitch before her world was consumed in a blue flash of heat and death.

\\\//////

Creak held on to the neck of the older Changeling as the red alien continued to chase them down corridor after corridor. It gave several curses as it slashed at walls and air, missing its target as it tried to slice them apart with a glowing, double-bladed sword. After what seemed like a lifetime of dodging through hallways, Creak and Sputter found an open door that led straight to the dirt of the Everfree Forest.

The older Changeling took the chance and ran for the exit at full speed. Just as they were about to pass through, a humming sound came from the red alien, and a green light cast massive shadows of the Changelings as Sputter cried out in pain. The two tumbled onto the dirt as Creak buzzed his wings to balance himself out. When he landed, he ran over to Sputter and gasped when he saw the spot here her left hind leg had been. He began to cry as the stomping grew louder from the ship.

"Run," Sputter wheezed out. "Creak, run! I'll be fine, just run!"

Creak wanted to protest, but panicked when he heard the stomping stop as massive hooves came down on dirt, sending small tremors as the beast stomped towards them. With one last glance at Sputter, the nymph ran into the woods as the red beast continued to chase him.

\\\//////

Twilight panted as she strained to keep up with the Spartan through the thick barriers and hurdles of the Everfree. Five ran so far ahead of her and Fang that the only indication that he hasn't turned or stopped was the color of his armor that stuck out obviously. She spared a glance to her side and saw that Fang was managing to keep up as well, though he was having an easier time. He used his small wings as boosts as he jumped from tree to tree, easily avoiding hurdles and branches with his small frame.

The alicorn switched her focus on keeping up with the Spartan ahead of her as she felt her lungs burn in protest to her chase. Just as she did, however, she noticed a sliver of something over the tree line and pumped her wings rigorously. With a burdened breath, she managed to clear the treetops and gaped at what she saw.

Not even a full kilometer ahead of her was Ghastly Gorge, with a massive metal object lodged in it. The massive structure cut across perpendicular to the valley below, and sunk in enough to bury almost the entire front half of it, exposing massive cylinders on the opposite end, where two blunt wing-like protrusions hung on both sides. Behind the behemoth of metal was a massive trail that scorched into the open field, similar to what she saw Five's ship make when he crashed.

The realization clicked then that this ship was a larger one that Five had yet to mention. An alien spaceship. Right in front of her.

With renewed energy, Twilight shot forward and stayed by the red blur within the forest.

\\\//////

Spike sighed as he continued to sweep the floor of the Library, waiting for Twilight and/or Five to come back. He had seen them take off almost two hours ago, and hadn't heard or seen them either since. Just as he was about to finish the main room, the door opened and sent a light breeze that scattered all of the dust he had accumulated into a pile.

Another sigh escaped his lips as he turned to see Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and Rarity walk in.

"'Sup, Spike?" Rainbow asked.

"Well, I was cleaning up, but since you're all here, have you seen Five, the alien, or Twilight? They left a few hours ago, and they haven't come back."

The three mares exchanged a glance before Applejack spoke.

"Spike, which way did they go?"

"Towards the Everfree Forest, why?"

"Spike," Rarity started, "would you like to keep me company while Rainbow and Applejack go get them?"

The dragon perked up at the offer.

"Sure thing, Rarity! I'll go get some drinks, what would you like?"

"Oh, anything's fine, deary," she dismissed with a wave of her hoof.

Spike took off for the kitchen while the three mares conversed.

"Alright, I'll keep Spikey here, while you two go find Twilight," Rarity stated.

"If that alien hurt so much as a hair on her," Applejack threatened.

"Let's go, AJ," Rainbow finished.

They all nodded in unison before they split up with their tasks in mind.

\\\//////

Five rammed through three more trees before charging into a small clearing by a river before coming to a screeching halt. He looked around to try and find the others before hearing a rustling from the bushes. The Spartan readied his weapon as the sounds came closer, the rifle leveled at the bushes. Twilight and Fang stopped by his sides and waited as another form burst from the canopy. Five lowered his rifle when he saw Fang run for the smaller Changeling.

"The Hell?" he mused.

Fang rushed back over to Five as the younger one screamed.

"Help! M-monster!"

"What monster?" Twilight asked.

Before an answer could come, a roar was heard from the opposite end of the clearing, and out stepped an Elite Zealot, wielding an Energy Sword.

"Shit! Zealot, get behind me!" Five yelled as he leveled the Assault Rifle.

The Zealot gave one more roar before charging.

"DEMON!"

Five squeezed the trigger and unleashed a torrent of bullets towards the Elite, trying to crack its shields as Twilight and the two Changelings hid in the bushes. The Zealot's shields held strong, though, and the Elite was on him before they could break. It raised the sword above its head and swung down at Five. The Spartan raised his rifle as a barrier as he stepped back, releasing his grip as the rifle was split in half.

Another swing was sent at Five as he ducked to the left and rolled out of the way before drawing out his Magnum. When Five found his balance, he fired at the Zealot, only for the bullets to deflect off of the flat of the Energy Sword. The Magnum clicked when the trigger was pulled again, leaving Five without ammo as he jumped back from a straight stab by the Zealot.

Five raised his fists up as the Zealot stared him down and reached for its opposite hip. The Spartan was panicking inside as he watched the Elite pull out a second Energy Sword. It swung its arm back and...

... threw the sword to Five.

The Spartan caught it at the last second and quickly inspected the alien weapon. It looked like every other Energy Sword he had held (all 2 of them) and didn't have anything out of the ordinary for its design. A quick squeeze on the handle caused twin blades of plasma to materialize before him, glowing a hot whitish-blue before him. Five brought the sword out to his side and slowly began to circle the Zealot as it did the same, though far more relaxed as both of its arms were at its sides.

In the blink of an eye, both took a fighting stance, the Zealot with the sword pointed away from the Spartan, and Five with the sword close to his chest. Time seemed to stand still as the forces of nature backed off from the two warriors as they charged each other, swords raised and war cries escaping their maws.

\\\//////

Sharpshot limped down the hall with Kickback and Hardshell behind him, rushing to save their beloved Queen. Minutes ago, they had woken up in this strange place of metal, but they still kept their trained minds on their objectives: protect the Hive and Queen, above all else. They had felt the pain their Queen suffered when she had been attacked, and it was that white, hot pain that fueled the soldiers of the Hive to fight the alien aggressors. Several more of them were pushing the infiltrators out of the strange structure, determined to fight for what little their kind had. Even with the massive strain in their movements, the veterans were determined to make prove their worth by keeping the Queen safe.

After turning onto another hallway, Hardshell called out to the others and located several signs of battle. The walls were all burned and twisted, and two bodies lay in the corridor, while burnt flesh was scattered about. One of the limp forms was, without a doubt, the Queen. With a heightened pace, the three veteran Changelings managed to spark their horns enough to carry the Queen between them. Without pause, they all rushed down the halls to find where they had woken up, as the spirit known as "Sid" had told them to bring her.

Kickback checked the condition of their beloved ruler and found that she had several large burns across her chitin, as well as fractures in her legs and ribs. He barked out her status to the others as he gave word to the rest of the Hive: the Queen was safe.

\\\//////

Rainbow Dash flew over the trail of destroyed trees as Applejack weaved through the bush beneath her, determined to locate the alien and their friend. The pegasus heard several lighting cracks coming from up ahead, but was confused by the sound, as there wasn't a cloud in the sky. She nearly lost her balance as she watched the familiar form of Five clash against a larger, more alien form as they swung glowing blades at each other.

\\\//////

Five held the sword up sideways as the Zealot delivered a downward strike with its own sword, sending sparks around them yet again as the dirt seemed to jump on their every clash. When the Zealot backed away, Five slashed across in an outwards motion, trying to catch the Elite by the arm. It was ready for the strike, however, and used Five's momentum against him, as it grabbed his left arm and pulled him in for a, what would be, devastating knee-shot to the gut.

The Spartan staggered away from the blow as his shields broke off from the impact, causing several alarms to go off. While it waited to recharge, however, the Elite was already on him with an upward swing that narrowly missed Five's jawline. Five saw the opportunity and went in for a stabbing motion while the Zealot spun on its heels, and intercepted the blade. While the blades were crackling against each other, the Elite delivered a punch to Five's head that sent him spinning for a moment before shaking it off.

The two glared at each other in stillness before Five took off for the Elite, weapon low as he held out his left arm with a defiant yell. Five swung the sword towards the head of the Zealot with a twist of his body. The Zealot expected this, and raised its sword in defense, seconds before the blades would collide. What it did not expect, however, was the Spartan deactivating the sword mid-swing. The handle flew over the Elite's outstretched arm and landed in Five's left hand, where the twin blades sprouted anew.

Without hesitation, the Zealot prepared to block the next strike, but was caught off-guard as Five's right hand gripped its arm and pulled it down with the momentum from the first swing. Five swung the blade in his hand as he continued to spin, bringing the Zealot to the ground as he brought the Energy Sword down through its neck. A sizzling sound filled the air around Five as his maneuver caused him to roll onto the ground three or four times.

Five shook his head as he scrambled to his feet, and smiled widely as he gazed upon the decapitated form of the Zealot. He gave a low chuckle as he approached the body, deactivating the Energy Sword before holstering it to his left hip. The Spartan used his left boot to kick the head of the Elite around, and crouched to look into its dead eyes. Five felt a warm, proud feeling as he gazed into the dead eyes of the Elite, filled with surprise and fear.